Harry Potter is one the biggest franchises in the world, with the 8 movies making billions of pounds, and the books making J K Rowling the first one to have made over a £1Billion from just selling books. If you don't love or haven't seen the Harry Potter films, then there is probably something wrong with you (no, seriously...who doesn't love Harry Potter?).
Here's 10 Things You Might Not Have Known About Harry Potter:
1. It's Pronounced Voldemor not Voldemort
According to J K Rowling, Voldemort isn't pronounced with the T. That means, for the last 15 years, we have all been saying the Dark Lord's name wrong, and all the characters in the film can't seem to pronounce it right either. No wonder he's trying to kill everyone, he's probably just sick of the misunderstanding. Another juicy little fact for you is that Voldemort has had the most actors play him in the films, with 6 actors playing the character over 8 films.
2. Head-lice On Set
During the filming of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, filming had to be stopped when an outbreak of head-lice struck the younger cast members! I want to know who sent their child to the set with head-lice! Perhaps it was Ron's dodgy wand that gave them all the itchy buggers.
3. Hermione Was Almost Called Hermione Puckle
J K Rowling almost called gave Hermione the surname Puckle. Thankfully, J K Rowling changed it to something less bitter sounding (it sounds a bit like pickle doesn't it?). Another juicy little fact about Hermione was that she nearly had a little sister, but Rowling never found a reason to put her in the books.
4. Hedwig Is The Most Inaccurate Owl Ever
After the first book had been accepted for publication J K Rowling found out that owls are diurnal, which means they live in cycles of 12 hours instead of 24 hours (which would change Hedwig's sleeping patterns). During the writing of the second book Rowling found out that snowy owls are silent so Hedwigs hoots and conversational noises weren't quite accurate. Of course, Harry Potter is a book about magic, so Hedwig could be a magical owl that doesn't follow the normal rules of nature. Another little fact for you is that even though Hedwig is female, she is played by a male Snowy Owl, because female Snowy Owls aren't as white as males. I think J K Rowling should have read a book on Snowy Owls before she put pen to paper...
5. Harry, Ron and Hermione's Wands Are Linked To Their Birthdays
J K Rowling discovered that she assigned Harry Potter a wand that was made from the wood of a Holly tree which is the same tree from his Celt Birth Tree Calendar. She also discovered she accidentally did the same with Draco, assigning him a Hawthorn wand. She then went on to give Ron (Ash) and Hermione (Vine) wands based on their Celt Birth Trees. These were the only four characters to receive a special Birth Tree wand.
6. Arthur Weasley Almost Died
Poor old Arthur Weasley was almost given the chop in The Order of The Phoenix. J K Rowling however, had a change of heart about the devastating decision and decided to kill of Sirius Black. As a consolation prize Arthur Weasley ALMOST killed by Nagini in the Ministry of Magic. Imagine how different the rest of the series would have been if those two characters had switched place!
7. The Snake From The Zoo Is Nagini
The nice snake that Harry Potter set free in The Philospher's Stone ended up becoming Voldemort's pet and final Horcrux, Nagini. This was something most of us missed, until J K Rowling kindly pointed it out saying that 'nobody realised it'. This is way I love J K Rowling! She's sprinkled so many little Easter Eggs like this through the entire series that we'll probably be discovering for years. (UPDATE: This one is only a rumor and J K Rowling didn't say this, but it's still a nice theory none the less)
8. Muggles Can't See Hogwarts
Hogwarts Castle has been enchanted so that Muggles can't see it. If a Muggle does accidentally wander towards Hogwarts all they will see is an old destroyed castle and a sign saying "Keep Out: Dangerous Building".
9. Michael Jackson Wanted To Make Harry Potter: The Musical
Michael Jackson was a Harry Potter super-fan, and he apparently wanted to make a musical out of the novels. J K Rowling revealed that Michael Jackson once approached her for permission to turn the novels into a Broadway musical, but she turned him down because she thought it would jeopardise the reputation of the franchise. Well done J K, not many people could have said no to Michael Jackson. (Anyway nothing can beat the Starkid ones)
10. Harry Potter Is Better Than Twilight (but everyone knows that)
If anyone dares to say that Twilight is better than Harry Potter, just remember this little fact...Harry Potter's least financially successful movie (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) made $90Million more than Twilight's most successful film (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2).
