J.K. Rowling and the Wizarding World in 2016

I believe it’s safe to say that 2016 was a massive year for J.K. Rowling and the Wizarding World. As a self-proclaimed Potterhead, I have to say I’m really excited to see how much we got from J.K. Rowling’s imagination last year, and I can’t wait to see what’s coming ahead.

Here are just some of the things we got in 2016:

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

The theater play opened up to the public in July and we got the script as a new book as well. This is a huge “opinion divider” for the fandom, but any Potter fan will agree that the story and friendship between Albus Potter and Scorpio Malfoy is truly worth it. The play might be getting to Broadway next year (2018), so this new story will definitely continue to influence our culture in the near future.

Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them

Are you a seeker? A seeker after truth? I’m more of a chaser, really.

Who would have thought that a tiny little book created for Comic-Relief back in 2001 could bring us one of the most exciting movie series we can expect for in the coming years? The story of Newt Scamander and his fantastic beasts will be divided in 5 movies with scripts written by J.K. Rowling.

The first movie was so amazing, and I can’t wait to see how this story will unfold. The movie also opened up so many great new questions and theories… which brings me to the next topic.

The History of Magic in North America

President Seraphina Picquery at The Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA).

Our favorite author has been intelligently using Pottermore to give us more detail and insight into this new realm of the Wizarding World. It’s fascinating so see how magic developed in a completely different way in North America and all the details involved in this world. For anyone interested, I highly recommend reading the Pottermore articles on this matter.

Wizarding Schools across the world

Since Goblet of Fire we knew there were more magical schools other than Hogwarts. But now we have a new unique opportunity to find out more about them.

We discovered there are eleven long-established and prestigious wizarding schools worldwide and we already learned a little bit about their history and culture.

There is a theory floating around the web that I love, and it might relate to this.

When asked to confirm how many movies the Fantastic Beast series would have J.K. Rowling responded on Twitter with this answer: “5. Five. Cinq. Fünf. Cinco. Cinque”. The number 5 in five languages, maybe matching the magic schools and countries we will see in those movies. North America (English – Five), France (French – Cinq), Germany (German – Fünf), Brazil (Portuguese – Cinco) and Italy (Italian – Cinque).

We discovered about Ilvermorny in the first movie and we do have rumors that the next movie will be set in Paris, so it might be that we will get to see the schools in these other countries as well!

A new JKRowling.com

The year was almost over, but J.K. Rowling had more up her sleeves. A new website, built from scratch. Her previous website was a bit neglected, but with this new one she promises to update more and keep it more personal.

In her first post Rowling also said she will be using the site as a debunking medium again soon, and she even used this post to answer some key questions raised after Fantastic Beasts.

In this new website fans can also find out more information about other publications outside the world of Harry Potter, and discover/contribute to the amazing work she has been doing with her charities (I’ll have a separate post about this soon, because I think it’s massively important to highlight this work).

The Harry Potter experience at Universal Studios Hollywood, a theme park near Los Angeles, California.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Studios Hollywood

Let’s not forget that an entire new theme park was opened to the public back in April of 2016, this time in the West Coast of America. Just recently (this year) Universal Studios has been forced to close its doors twice after reaching full capacity! Crazy! (read more).

By all accounts, 2016 will be marked as the year we returned to the Wizarding World. The fans are extremely excited and it’s invigorating to feel and listen to their excitement — for example in a recent episode of Pottercast, by the Leaky Cauldron (one of my favorite HP podcasts) we had a great discussion between John and Melissa. It felt like I was back in time!

“Whether you come back by page or by the big screen, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.” — J.K. Rowling.

I think you can sense how obsessed I am with J.K. Rowling and her magical world, right? Are you part of this fandom as well? Share your experiences in the comments below.

Fabio Fiss