Talk:Harry Potter

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This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Harry Potter article.
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Contents

[edit] Archives

Archive

Archives
1 2 3 4 5 6

Archive 1 covers December 2001 – July 2003. Topics:

  • Hogwarts is in Scotland
  • Discussions of religious objections to witchcraft
  • a link to generate parody clues

Archive 2 covers July 2003 - May 2005. Topics:

  • Homosexuality
  • Anti-Harry Potter
  • Infobox discussion

Archive 3 covers June 2005 - October 2005. Archived 13 October, 2005. Topics:

  • Slavery and homophobia
  • Size of article, expansion request

Archive 4 covers October 2005 - 1 July 2006. Archived 27 July 2006. Topics:

  • Religious beliefs of wizards
  • Book seven release date
  • Good Article status

Archive 5 covers 2 July 2006 - November 2006. Archived 18 November, 2006. Topics:

  • Connections to Tolkien
  • A few short discussions on specific details
  • 7th book

Archive 6 covers January 2007 – March 2007. Archived 29 March, 2007. Topics:

  • Feminist critique, controversy with the series
  • English vs. British
  • Parallel universe

[edit] To-do

To-do list for Harry Potter: edit  · history  · watch  · refresh
  • Convert all (web) references to use the {{citeweb}} template
  • Edit the lead to conform the WP:LEAD guidelines
  • COPYEDIT - remove redundancies, make text crisp and concise, specify when talking about size and avoid misplaced formality
  • See User:Tony1/How to satisfy Criterion 1a

[edit] Discussion

[edit] FA Drive

I think we should head this article towards WP:FA's way, but there's still a little work to be done. There are a few unsourced statemenets in the article, which seem to be general knowledge, so Googling to find a source shouldn't be too hard. Second, the length of the article is longer than appropriate, so I think splitting off sections (as I just did to the "films" sections, and as could also be done to the "controversy" section) is the way to solve that. "Themes and motifs" is currently split off, but the main article is in need of a lot of clean-up and the version in this article is much better. Then there's the general copyediting (like spaces between periods and references, spelling, passive voice, etc.). But this is really close and we should work hard to get this to top status! --Fbv65edel / ☑t / ☛c || 01:13, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

I would agree, did some referencing a few days ago. How about cutting off the bottom five characters, from Severus Snape to the bottom (or Ron and Hermione too?), because its included in the main characters article. RHB Talk - Edits 12:37, 12 February 2007 (UTC)
Regards adding Snape back in, is he really that major a character, on the same level of Harry/Dumbledore/Voldemort? This is only intended to provide an overview, from the main characters article. RHB Talk - Edits 17:56, 12 February 2007 (UTC)
Is the man who murdered Dumbledore, whose loyalty has been a constant question throughout the series, who betrayed Harry's parents, who has always gone beyond the stereotypical 'evil schoolmaster' role, a major character? What do you think? Remove Ron and Hermione - they are important to Harry, but irrelevant to the story arc. Snape is one of THE major characters, along with Dumbledore, Voldemort, and Harry. Michaelsanders 18:42, 12 February 2007 (UTC)
Or better yet, remove the section entirely except for the link to List of characters in the Harry Potter books. --Deathphoenix ʕ 18:55, 12 February 2007 (UTC)
I'm going to remove the section – I think it's too subjective to list the "major" characters, even though I agree with the current list. We may consider having just the bio of Harry with the link to the main article. --Fbv65edel / ☑t / ☛c || 21:21, 12 February 2007 (UTC)
How much of a section is needed for FA? More than just an article link surely? RHB Talk - Edits 22:03, 12 February 2007 (UTC)
Not, I believe, if the section is not crucial and the article would, with it included, be over the suggested length. --Fbv65edel / ☑t / ☛c || 23:14, 12 February 2007 (UTC)
Doing well then, 47kb. Much of Story section looks like OR, and is barely referenced - anyone want to help trim this down? RHB Talk - Edits@

[edit] Characters

The characters section was erased and replaced with a link to another article, yet none of the characters mentioned in the section are actually mentioned in that article. Serendipodous 17:07, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

I suppose you're talking about List of characters in the Harry Potter books. As I see it, the main characters are properly listed there, as well as the minor ones. There seems to be no problem. PeaceNT 17:18, 14 February 2007 (UTC)
That article makes no distinction between major and minor characters. Indeed it is purely for Harry Potter readers, as no one unfamiliar with the series would have a clue how to read it. This is supposed to be an introduction to the series for those unfamiliar with it. That article does not help. Serendipodous 17:37, 14 February 2007 (UTC)
Hmm, I take your point now. PeaceNT 17:43, 14 February 2007 (UTC)
I'd say that's more of an issue for the List, not for this article. This Harry Potter article is already far over the suggested article length, and that list is in need of major clean-up anyway. I'd suggest reformatting the list, not this character section. --Fbv65edel / ☑t / ☛c || 22:21, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Themes and motifs for adults

Someone removed this sentence from the Themes and Motifs section:

All the books are stuffed with these names and they provide some of the series' greatest pleasures for adult readers.

I can't find anything in the article that means the same thing as that sentence. It seems to be worth including if anyone can find a reliable source for it. Brian Jason Drake 02:54, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Country in infobox?

How can a book series have a nationality? Disinclination 22:19, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

Because that's where it was written. Wiki-newbie 22:22, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

Except it wasn't. Changed "English" to British and "England" to Scotland. +Hexagon1 (t) 00:15, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

I changed it to United Kingdom to avoid the entire argument, unless people really want this to end up on WP:LAME. Oh, and before anyone claims that the UK isn't a country, see [1] Koweja 18:48, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Familiars?

A recent edit changed "pet" to "familiar". At any point during the series are they actually referred to as familiars? I don't recall the term being used in the Harry Potter books, only in classic literature and D&D manuals. FeralDruid 20:19, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Harry's end?

There is a rumor that Harry Potter will die in the seventh book because JK Rowling does not want anyone to Continue her Series. Is this True? or is this just another Myth? Danipreteen11 preteen11|Dani preteen11]] 03:08, 5 March 2007 (UTC)Danipreteen11 —The preceding Wikipedia:Sign your postsk • contribs) 03:07, 5 March 2007 (UTC).

This page is to discuss changes to the Wikipedia article about Harry Potter - we cannot speculate about what will or will not happen in books which have not been published yet. -- Arwel (talk) 08:07, 5 March 2007 (UTC)
A very popular rumour, or a rumour that happens to have been confirmed by a reliable source, is relevant to the article. Rowling has stated that she can understand why authors would kill their main characters to prevent others from continuing their series, but there's been no word on whether she will do so herself (obviously). Brian Jason Drake 23:59, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

i heard the same thing. however, i do not think harry will die before voldemort. if he dies in book 7 it will be long after age 17Voldpotter 17:45, 4 April 2007 (UTC)voldpotter

This page is to discuss changes to the Wikipedia article about Harry Potter - we cannot speculate about what will or will not happen in books which have not been published yet. Skittle 17:53, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Ghosts?

I think the Moaning Myrtle article ought to be merged with the Hogwarts Ghosts article. She is, after all, a ghost as well as a resident of Hogwarts. --WoodElf 07:31, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

what is peeves? Rowling says he is not REALLY a ghostVoldpotter 17:32, 4 April 2007 (UTC)voldpotter

Peeves is a poltergeist. Skittle 17:53, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Summary wiki external link

I recently added a link to these summaries of the Harry Potter books. The site is a wiki under th GNU FDL license and is therefore "compatible" with Wikipedia. I've included the link as it contains detailed chapter summaries of each book which many Wikipedians may find useful. Geneffects 14:20, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Year Rowling thought of Harry

Rowling was on the train when she came up with this idea; this happened before she started writing the first book, which happened before her mother died in December 30th, 1990. Therefore, it was definitely not in 1991. Why do people keep changing it? Brian Jason Drake 23:56, 21 March 2007 (UTC)


What about the apparent influence of David Bowie on Rowling's HP creation? The evidence? 1) Harry's scar likeness to David Bowie's "Alladin Sane" persona's lightening bolt facial marking. 2) David Bowie dated a woman named Hermione in the 70's. 3) Three references in the movie "Labyrinth" to a character (correctly named Hoggle) as "Hogwart" (once by Jennifer Connolly's "Sarah" and twice by David Bowie's "Jareth"). There is a lot more, but such may be called circumstantial... intriguing, though.

????? Brian Jason Drake 02:07, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Accidental Vandalism

Sorry, accidentally reverted someone else's reversion of some vandalism. FeralDruid 19:40, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

No, it's not your responsibility - it's the responsibility of whoever programmed the somewhat dodgy "undo" function (I've seen this happen elsewhere as well). Brian Jason Drake 05:08, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Book Lengths

Would it be possible to add the page counts to the individual book pages? I believe I have seen that done for other written works on wiki. I can do it myself but I have only US paperback copies of the books and I don't know if they would count as the "official" page count (vs hard cover, UK editions, etc). 71.125.143.167 15:32, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fansites

Shouldn't some fansites like Mugglenet and The Leaky Cauldron be mentioned by name in the Cultural Impact section? These sites have millions of visitors per month, enjoy unparalleled access to Jo Rowling, Warner Brothers and other sources, and Mugglenet has even produced a best-selling book speculating on the contents of Book 7. Mugglenet has its own wikipedia entry, but surely it deserves a mention in this article.Ninquerinquar 04:27, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

I've made Harry Potter fandom a more prominent link in that section. Thanks. --Fbv65edel / ☑t / ☛c || 14:52, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Harry Potter Games?

If the harry potter films are linked from this page, I feel the games should also, at least links to the individual games. Any ideas? J S Firefox 18:06, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

The games are already linked in the box at the bottom of the page, which seems to be the only place where the films are linked. Brian Jason Drake 02:08, 4 April 2007 (UTC)
I think you'll find that the films also have a heading mid-way through the article. I know it's not that important, but I think we should get rid of the film heading, or add a game one, to conform to wiki standards J S Firefox 08:48, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Current protection until the 6th

Since there was no prior discussion, that I can see at this moment after skimming through the talk page, whats with the current ban against new/unreigstered users from editing until the 6th? A release of something? Disinclination 02:23, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Good question. I'd guess it's based upon the fact that this page gets vandalized 2-3 times a day. FeralDruid 07:42, 30 March 2007 (UTC)
But why the 6th? 86.154.109.210 12:58, 5 April 2007 (UTC)
It is a standard one-week semi-protection, started late on March 29, due to heavy vandalism by anonymous Internet trolls. If you wish to contribute to the article, either register yourself a "screen name" so we can then know "who you are" and determine that you can be trusted; or add your anonymous requests for editing below, until the semi-protection is lifted. Please understand that as July 21 approaches and arrives, we anticipate massive vandalism by trolls and such on HP articles, so semi-protection and full protection of HP-related articles may become the norm rather than the exception. So if you wish to contribute to HP articles over the next few months without interference, then it is your interest to get registered. --T-dot (Talk | contribs) 13:19, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Disambig

Should we delete the disambig page and modify the disambig notice on this page - I don't think we need the book titles on any disambig notice/link? Brian Jason Drake 02:02, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Other resources

I would suggest that The Harry Potter Lexicon would be added under "Other resources", since it, as the name hints, is a lexicon of almost every thing in the Harry Potter-world, if not everything. KMA "HF" N 06:28, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Other side

I have put List of Harry Potter films cast members up for a Request to Move. Simply south 09:53, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Other media

The Dresden files does not feature a one-time character who is a clever wizard - a wizard named Harry is the central character, but this is not a Harry Potter reference. The character's full name is Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden (named by his father after Harry Houdini, Harry Blackstone, Sr., and David Copperfield). I am removing this reference. Sapph42 14:22, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] American rights - some clarification needed?

The first Harry Potter book was published in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury in July 1997 and in the United States by Scholastic in September of 1998, but not before Rowling had received a six-figure sum for the American rights – an unprecedented amount for a children's book.

When Rowling was offered a six-figure sum for the American rights, was this before or after the book was published in the UK? I pretty much assumed it was the latter (after all, why would they pay a six-figure amount for a previously unpublished book by a first-time author?) but it isn't really clear from the text. 217.155.20.163 21:43, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

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