Category: Harry Potter

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J.K. Rowling Revealed the Hidden Meaning Behind the Hogwarts House Colors

If anything has become 100% clear in the decades following the publication of the Harry Potter books, it’s that author J.K. Rowling didn’t do anything by accident. Her website Pottermore is a testament to how many details are just there waiting to be discovered – outside the already-rich text – so it should come as no surprise for true Potterheads that the house colors were chosen for very specific reasons.

So why did the author choose blue (Ravenclaw), red (Gryffindor), green (Slytherin), and yellow (Hufflepuff) to color the fluttering house banners?

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Well, as she explained on Pottermore, it has to do with the elements.

“The four Hogwarts houses have a loose association with the four elements, and their colors were chosen accordingly.”

So Gryffindor, with its red and gold, is connected with fire while Slytherin’s greens and silvers represent a connection to water. Hufflepuff to earth (yellow and black), with Ravenclaws blues and bronzes connect it to the sky.

Fans, of course, have taken the symbolism even further, and you can find all sorts of expanded theories on mugglenet.com.  One suggested that the gold, silver, bronze represent the order of the points at the end of the first book, with Gryffindor winning the House Cup, Slytherin coming in second, Ravenclaw third. etc.

Another theory is that Hufflepuff’s association with the earth and plants could mean its home to the “stoners” of Hogwarts (which could also explain how they’re always so easy-going and friendly) and mean there’s a second reason the head of house teaches herbology.

Rowling hasn’t commented on anything above and beyond the connection to the elements, but at this point, Hogwarts and its mythology belong as much to popular culture as they do to her – so theorize away, Potterheads!

I’m right there with you.

The post J.K. Rowling Revealed the Hidden Meaning Behind the Hogwarts House Colors appeared first on UberFacts.

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A “Harry Potter” Beer Festival Might Be Coming to Your City

Have you been to Harry Potter World at Universal Studios in Florida? If so, then you know exactly how delicious butterbeer is in real life.

It’s like…cream soda but buttery and frothy and just an all-around delight. Get a load of this…

Adding alcohol seems like it would be the cherry on the butterbeer cake, and if you agree, you’re going to want to check out one of these Harry Potter inspired beer festivals when they wander close to your hometown.

Posted by Eventbrite for Organizers on Monday, May 20, 2019

The event is being organized by Rock Star Beer Festivals, and, according to the website, everyone who pays the toll will get access to samples of 20+ beers – including that adult butterbeer that is sure to knock your socks off.

Another option will be Snape’s Lair of Secret Cider Potions, which they claim is a cider, but I don’t know…Snape’s name is attached, so it could be polyjuice potion or something.

Make sure there aren’t any cats in the immediate area, is all I’m saying.

The venues will be “transformed into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter” for the event, with guests being transported to the Great Hall, Diagon Alley, and the Leaky Cauldron for the price of just $40 or $45 a ticket on Eventbrite.

You’ll also meet performers dressed as Hagrid and be able to dance the night away to the sweet sounds of the Sorceress Sisters and DJ Dumbledore, so it sounds like a magical event worthy of the Harry Potter name.

If you live in or near Fresno, CA (June 21), New Orleans (June 29), Philadelphia (July 13), or Boston (July 20), well…the rest of us are super jealous!

The post A “Harry Potter” Beer Festival Might Be Coming to Your City appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

A “Harry Potter” Beer Festival Might Be Coming to Your City

Have you been to Harry Potter World at Universal Studios in Florida? If so, then you know exactly how delicious butterbeer is in real life.

It’s like…cream soda but buttery and frothy and just an all-around delight. Get a load of this…

Adding alcohol seems like it would be the cherry on the butterbeer cake, and if you agree, you’re going to want to check out one of these Harry Potter inspired beer festivals when they wander close to your hometown.

Posted by Eventbrite for Organizers on Monday, May 20, 2019

The event is being organized by Rock Star Beer Festivals, and, according to the website, everyone who pays the toll will get access to samples of 20+ beers – including that adult butterbeer that is sure to knock your socks off.

Another option will be Snape’s Lair of Secret Cider Potions, which they claim is a cider, but I don’t know…Snape’s name is attached, so it could be polyjuice potion or something.

Make sure there aren’t any cats in the immediate area, is all I’m saying.

The venues will be “transformed into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter” for the event, with guests being transported to the Great Hall, Diagon Alley, and the Leaky Cauldron for the price of just $40 or $45 a ticket on Eventbrite.

You’ll also meet performers dressed as Hagrid and be able to dance the night away to the sweet sounds of the Sorceress Sisters and DJ Dumbledore, so it sounds like a magical event worthy of the Harry Potter name.

If you live in or near Fresno, CA (June 21), New Orleans (June 29), Philadelphia (July 13), or Boston (July 20), well…the rest of us are super jealous!

The post A “Harry Potter” Beer Festival Might Be Coming to Your City appeared first on UberFacts.

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Teacher Attempts to Simulate a Dictatorship in Her Classroom and It Did NOT Go Well

Diana Leygerman is a high school teacher who does a unit on George Orwell’s 1984 with her class every year. It’s a truly classic work with which to explore themes of totalitarianism and oppressive regimes. As part of the unit, she also turns her classroom into such a regime.

She starts by informing her kids that the teachers and administration have identified “Senioritis” as a serious problem, and are implementing a strategy that has had “immense success” in other schools across the country.

Photo Credit: Amazon

She hangs motivational posters adorned with quotes and falsified statistics, the whole nine yards. The students believe that in order for them to succeed, they need to follow her strict classroom rules. Each time they don’t behave as expected, they lose points. They gain points for reporting other students who don’t follow the rules.

“I tell students that in order for this plan to work they must trust the process and not question their teachers.”

Everyone joins in the school-wide effort, and every year, the students fall in line, one-by-one.

Photo Credit: Diana Leygerman

Except this year, they didn’t.

“A handful of students did fall in line as always. The majority of students, however, rebelled. By day two of the simulation, the students were contacting members of administration, writing letters, and creating protest posters. They were organizing against me and against the administration. They were stomping the hallways, refusing to do as they were told.”

And the rebellion began to spread.

The student government president wasn’t even in her classes but wrote her an email demanding she end the program, that it was “simply fascism at its worst” and that “statements such as these are the base of a dictatorship rule, this school, as well as this country, cannot and will not fall prey to these totalitarian behaviors.”

Photo Credit: Diana Leygerman

She fought the rebellion, bribing the president to publicly resign, but it did not deter the others, who began to fight harder, with more vigilance. They found a new leader and kept pushing forward.

The teacher ended the experiment two days earlier than planned and says she’s learned something important, something that gives her hope – and that should do the same for all of us: teenagers will not go down without a fight when it comes to the integrity of their futures.

“For the first time since I’ve done this experiment, the students won.”

Perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that kids weaned on books like Harry Potter and The Hunger Games are empowered, and that they realize the strength and abilities they possess despite their age. Kids saved those worlds, after all – who’s to say they aren’t going to save ours, too?

Photo Credit: WarnerBros.

Adults should take a lesson from the kids of today, teens like this teacher’s students and the kids from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. There’s no room for laziness or complacency when it comes to our rights, to fighting for the kind of society where we want to live and want our kids to flourish. There’s no time to give up.

In the words of one teacher who has witnessed their determination firsthand, “Do not get in their way. They will crush you.”

I, for one, couldn’t be more excited to see what sort of future they hold in their hands.

The post Teacher Attempts to Simulate a Dictatorship in Her Classroom and It Did NOT Go Well appeared first on UberFacts.