Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Release Date Announced

Croakyvoice writes "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling, the seventh and final book in the best-selling series, has been scheduled for release at 12:01 a.m. on July 21, 2007, Scholastic announced today." A deluxe edition for collectors and enthusiasts is also planned with a simultaneous release.

Comments

Regardless of the release date

[Tebriel]

I'm sure someone will have posted spoilers to the internet months in advance, and if you care about Harry Potter, you'll have inadvertently stumbled upon them and cursed loudly.

Re:Regardless of the release date

[SoulDrift]

Dumbledore dies?!

You insensitive clod!!

Re:Regardless of the release date

[porcupine8]

I've honestly never seen an honest-to-god HP spoiler. Where do you find them? There's always tons of speculation, but the only real info is whatever JKR releases on her site - which is rarely to never anything really useful. There were some supposed "spoilers" of Dumbledore's death, but there were just as many sites saying it was going to be Hagrid (or one of several other characters).

Re:Regardless of the release date

[Rebelgecko]

Warning: Spoiler alert!

Re:Regardless of the release date

[bladesjester]

So's the guy who played him.

I know the guy was a method actor, but dang, that's just taking it a little too far...

Re:Regardless of the release date

[geminidomino]

Snape shot first!

Live Blogging from B&N

[thesupermikey]

Just letting people know i started camping out in front of my local Barnes and Noble This afternoon. If anyone could bring me some coffee, that would be super-sweet.

Im going to get back to writing my erotic fan fiction where Hairy and lee adama from Battlestar Galactica become close friends (wink wink)

Re:Live Blogging from B&N

[Firehed]

Oh that's just so wrong. I bet he'd go for Starbuck though. Actually, probably Boomer, seeing that he had a thing for Asians :)

Re:Live Blogging from B&N

[Firehed]

Hm, 50% Insightful? I love my karma as much as the next guy, but I think some moderator is taking these slightly-perverted erotic fanfic ideas a little too seriously. But, whatever, I can't complain.

So...

[Hsensei]

wonder when the "Harry dies on page..." shirts come out?

So does this mean

[jlechem]

I can finally kick my habit of dirty nasty but delicious harry on ron on hermoine on snape fanfics and get into some real book reading?

Harry Potter's Deathly Hallows breakfast cereal

[j00r0m4nc3r]

I can't wait to eat a bowl of Deathly Hallows. I might even mix in some C3POs if I'm feeling saucy.

Cue spoiler t-shirts.

[Kadin2048]

I'm sure the T-shirt printers are getting ready: "Harry Potter dies on page 573, I just saved you 15 hours and $29."

Re:Cue spoiler t-shirts.

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm sure the T-shirt printers are getting ready: "Harry Potter dies on page 573, I just saved you 15 hours and $29."

It's going to be hilarious when you're torn limb from limb by a horde of enraged 12 year old girls.

Re:Cue spoiler t-shirts.

[DarkAxi0m]

It's going to be hilarious when you're torn limb from limb by a horde of enraged 12 year old girls. ..>mmmm i had a dream like that once :S

Re:Cue spoiler t-shirts.

[miyako]

Actually, it's the last book because since the beginning of the series, she planned on making 1 book for each of the seven years at Hogwarts.
I don't think that it's fair to criticize the fans of the series. There are certainly people who are fans of the series who are young, or who are older and not well read, but there are also many people who are well read and can appreciate the stories.
As for the comments regarding the plotlines being predictable, the series does make use of a number of themes that are common to the fantasy genre, and certainly in retrospect it is easy to see how the plot has followed those common themes. I think this applies especially to the large thematic arches of the series. There are, however, surprising and interesting subplots that can be enjoyed.
The thing is though, even these subplots are not exceptionally intricate, and I do not think that the series is meant to be read like a standard mystery or thriller, where you spend the book trying to figure out who done it, where, how and why. The series isn't really about telling a new story and trying to figure that story out. I think that the real strength of the series is it's implementation of common fantasy themes. To use the cliche`, it's about the journey, not the destination. Reading the Harry Potter series is about seeing how these traditional events unfold in a certain time and place. The author understand that, and focuses on those elements of the story- creating a vibrant living world with three-dimensional characters and exploring how these recurring themes effect them and the world they live in.
It is perfectly fair to not like the series, but don't completely dismiss it or the people who enjoy it.

Re:Cue spoiler t-shirts.

[rucs_hack]

A reasoned response with well thought out arguments? On Slashdot?

Dude, I mean really, that's just not the way its supposed to happen....

Re:Cue spoiler t-shirts.

[David Horn]

With the greatest possible respect, you Sir, are a moron. The vast majority of people find Harry Potter an enjoyable read - primarily because they're not approaching it expecting War and Peace and looking to criticise. Bear in mind that it's got millions of kids reading, and for that alone the Harry Potter series is priceless and JK Rowling deserves to be applauded.

Re:Cue spoiler t-shirts.

[Flyboy Connor]

When I was a kid, I read everything I could get my hands on. I even read my mother's old pockte books. The ones about girls at boarding school. For kids, you know, not what the average adult male thinks books about girls at boarding school are. I am virtually certain Mrs. Rowling read these books too. And I can tell you now: Harry Potter is the modern variant of the girls-at-boarding-school books, with some cliche fantasy thrown in for good measure. It is almost nostalghia when I read them.

Re:Cue spoiler t-shirts.

[cHALiTO]

It's not shitty any more than any other easy-read, fantasy novel. They're not all Tolkiens or Ecos, you know. And that doesn't make a book BAD (or good either).
Sales don't mean shit. HP sells like mad, and though it's certainly not shakespeare, it's quite enjoyable as a light, fun fantasy series. On the other hand, the Da Vinci Code also sells like hotcakes, and it's one of the biggest and smelliest piles of shit I've read in a long time.

Re:Cue spoiler t-shirts.

[strider44]

True about the Da Vinci code. I would like to mention though the interesting comparison between JK Rowling and JRR Tolkien. It's pretty clear that JRR Tolkien is master worldbuilder, but the difference is sort of redundant. The main thing that sets JK Rowling apart is that she is a master of story telling. Harry Potter is simply a bloody good yarn - very well planned and very well told. The characters are complex with subtle habits and realistic traits. Dumbledore's habit of always referring to people by their first names rather than family names which seems to be the norm in the wizarding world is a good example of this, highlighting his indifference of family and blood where he believes it doesn't matter who's belly you came out of but rather the person you are. JRR Tolkien on the other hand was never a brilliant narrator, just a damned good one. You would get lost in his world, but not so much his story.

Just my thoughts.

Summary of the story

[Frogbert]

1. Harry goes to school.
2. After a few weeks something weird starts to happen.
3. Ignore it until just before the school year ends.
4. Find out what was causing whatever was weird to happen.
5. Defeat it/Showdown with Voldemort.

But seriously I love the books.

Re:Summary of the story

[Broken scope]

I think you for got 2 steps. N: ?????????? N: PROFIT?!

Re:Summary of the story

[ocbwilg]

1. Harry goes to school.

Ha! You're obviously wrong, as Hogwart's was closed at the end of book 6 and Harry wasn't planning on going back anyways! Loser!

Re:Summary of the story

[Anonymous Coward]

Missed one:
2.5 Harry stars in the school production of Equus, and gets rave reviews.

Re:Summary of the story

[melikamp]

GP is spot-on.

1. Harry goes to school. 2. After a few weeks something weird starts to happen.

The doors are locked, teachers and students are nowhere to be found, Quidditch match seems to be canceled.

3. Ignore it until just before the school year ends.

Harry wonders the halls and checks the owl-mail every half an hour.

4. Find out what was causing whatever was weird to happen.

After adding up all of the clues he gathered throughout the semester, Harry decides to check the Message Board. It reveals that the school is not in session. Harry suspects that Voldemort is to blame, but no one believes him.

5. Defeat it/Showdown with Voldemort.

To confirm Harry's fears, Voldemort finally shows up. He explains that he spent all this time looking for Harry, but he never expected him to be in a closed-up school, out of all places. He is tries to cast Avada Kedavra, but fails because he cannot stop laughing. Harry escapes victorious once again.

What? NOT a Vista article?

[GFree]

Unless this new Harry Potter book has some gratuitous Microsoft/Vista-basing incorporated somehow, it has no place on Slashdot!

Since when do books have more than one edition?

[Anonymous Coward]

"A deluxe edition for collectors and enthusiasts is also planned with a simultaneous release."

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Deluxe Edition
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Ultimate Edition
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Home Premium Edition
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Home Basic Edition
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Business Edition
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Enterprise Edition ...

Don't think it won't happen.

Re:Spoilers

[taustin]

Page 608? I would think she'd wait until the last half of the book, at least.

Re:Sci Fi

[bennomatic]

Didn't Clarke say something along the lines of, "Any science, sufficiently advanced, is indistinguishable from magic."? The it's Ma-Fi (magic fiction, but maybe someone thought the reverse was true, and that this magic was indistinguishable from science.

Gotta give her credit

[edwardpickman]

All jokes aside it's impressive accomplishment to go from a single mother on the dole to the most successful author of all time and she's still relatively young. The big question really has to be what next?

Re:Gotta give her credit

[Bwana Geek]

I'm guessing we go 2 or 3 years with nothing, then out comes Harry Potter Jr. and the Redundant Storyline of Destiny.

Re:Gotta give her credit

[koreth]

Or, perhaps, that it does, and the people who say that are often trying to convince themselves that it's okay their finances are a mess?

Re:Gotta give her credit

[dr_dank]

The Harry Potter series may not be Ulysses, but it did weave a tapestry of fantasy that not only appealed to a wide range of readers, but also grew with the kids that they were primarily aimed at. The protagonist went from having normal adolescent troubles being the most of his worries to being thrust into adulthood to face a showdown with a frightfully powerful antagonist and his followers. Green Eggs and Ham, this ain't.

All this aside, when has there been this much hoopla over a book in recent times? People will camp out in front of stores for the latest game consoles, hottest movies, etc, but its truely unique to see that kind of reception for a book. Instead of rotting their brains in front of the tv sets, kids are exercising their imaginations with these books and *gasp* even picking up other books along the way. Kids who may not have otherwise gotten into reading for pleasure have been introduced to it from reading Harry Potter.

If this is "catering to the lowest common denominator", then I say we need much more of it.

Re:Gotta give her credit

[NMerriam]

She's the literary Britney Spears.

In their own times, so were Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare. Don't even get me started on Dumas.

The only question is whether the story and craft appeals across generations, which Harry Potter seems to do very well so far.

Re:Gotta give her credit

[daviddennis]

i have enjoyed reading her books.

I have never, at any point, enjoyed the "music" created by Britney Spears.

The fact that people ranging from kids to Slashdotters to more or less typical adults have enjoyed the books seems like an excellent tribute to their quality. It's very hard writing something a general audience enjoys. In particular, very few science fiction/fantasy authors have done it.

I think fans of SF/fantasy should be congratulating her on her success instead of trying to cut her down.

The general public sometimes shows surprisingly decent taste. This is one of these times.

D

Re:Gotta give her credit

[R_Ramjet]

Welcome Back Potter?

Re:Gotta give her credit

[Reality Master 101]

All jokes aside, I know what she should do. I think she should write a book of short stories. With her imagination, she probably has a zillion of them. And the book would be of sufficiently different type that it would be hard to compare to Harry Potter. It also improves the odds of there being *something* that most people would like, so it wouldn't be the inevitable reaction of, "this book is okay, but it's not as good as Harry Potter."

Re:Gotta give her credit

[Nakoruru]

The GP poster probably did not mean to demean Seuss, but was just looking for an example and missed the mark. Perhaps the Bearinstein Bears would have been a better example.

Seuss's books tackled topics like racism, the tragedy of the commons, and even the nuclear arms race. The Cat in the Hat can be thought of as being fairly subversive but mostly harmless. Most people probably only thing about the more traditional children's topics like accepting people who are different and not being afraid to try new things (like Green Eggs and Ham).

Before his books he created propaganda for the US government during WWII.

Re:Gotta give her credit

[halovaa]

Yeah, but has she helped the Doctor prevent the destruction of the Earth, like those guys did? I didn't think so! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shakespeare_Code http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unquiet_Dead

Re:Gotta give her credit

[PCM2]

In their own times, so were Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare. Don't even get me started on Dumas.

Meh, it sounds witty but I don't see the evidence. The mere fact that all these works have lasted the ages is evidence that they are not the schlock you're painting them to be. There were other writers working in each of these gentlemen's eras whom you've never heard of.

Example: A contemporary of Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes, published the first half of his novel, Don Quixote, in 1605. He wouldn't publish the second half until ten years later. But the first half was such a critical and popular success that it inspired another writer to publish a spurious sequel before Cervantes was able to get out his own conclusion. So I guess, by the standard of mass popularity, you could say Cervantes, like Shakespeare, was "the Britney Spears of his age." And yet I guarantee you that you can find a copy of Cervantes' legitimate second half of Don Quixote in your local library -- possibly several different translations -- but you will not find a copy of the fake sequel. One is timeless literature. The other is forgotten schlock.

Just because something is popular doesn't make it schlock. What makes it schlock, after the roar of the crowd has faded, is whether it's actually any good.

And, that said, I'm not a great fan of the Harry Potter books but I don't know if I'd categorize them as schlock, either. Great literature? No. But they have every indication of standing the test of time and remaining some of our most-loved juvenile fiction.

(Rabid fans, take note: Juvenile fiction.)

Re:Gotta give her credit

[miyako]

I suggest you read books 5 and 6, and to a lesser extent 4. What you point out is pretty heavily used in the first three books, and a bit in book 4 as well. By the end of book 4 and during 5 and 6 however, things definitely begin to change. Harry still wins for the most part, but it becomes less about serendipity and hidden powers, and more about paying the price for good. There is a scene early on in book 6 where harry confronts malfoy, and ends up petrified on the floor with a broken nose from malfoy stomping his face in. Not to mention the deaths of Sirius and Dumbledore.

Re:Gotta give her credit

[GospelHead821]

I agree with your assessment that the Harry Potter books are juvenile fiction, but they are also a refreshing deviation from the spineless stories that have passed for juvenile fiction for years. They are, furthermore, entertaining enough to be enjoyable light reading for adults. Although they may be targeted at adolescents, they appeal to a larger audience, which is a noteworthy attribute. In my opinion, the Harry Potter books are a model of quality juvenile fiction. They are literary enough and bold enough that they are likely to inspire readers to continue reading even after they've grown out of juvenile fiction. Previously, I was of the opinion that most juvenile fiction set kids up for disappointment when they found failure, death, and other unhappy endings in more adult fiction.

Re:Gotta give her credit

[phoenixwade]

well, that depends on how you spin the numbers....

    In the years released, each of her books outsold the bible
    All of her books outsold the bible in average yearly sales (total units and total sales)
    if you divide the number of estimated units sold by the number of (Human) Authors (20+ something for the Bible), and do the same For the HP books, She becomes more successful than any given Author.
    Seems like the only thing the Bible beats the HP books in is total copies distributed (over 400 or so years).

    Is she the most successful author of all time? In terms of total wealth derived from her work (the 'Common' definition of success). She's close enough that the 7th volume and the 5th movie coming out this year should put so much space between her and any other author. As of March 2006 she was worth 1 billion USD, making her the most wealthy Author of all time, 100% of that wealth derived from her works. Forbes magazine listed here as the wealthiest career author, and the second wealthiest woman in entertainment (behind Oprah). Ultimately, I'd have to say yes, she's the most successful author in history, in any Genre she is categorized in (Childrens Books, normally - but SF/F would apply as well) and as a total.

In terms of total copies of all books, I think that Agatha Christie still has sold more total copies than any other author, though.

Re:Gotta give her credit

[SuiteSisterMary]

Harry Potter: The Next Generation. Starring Wil Wheaton as Wesley Potter. Make sure you watch for the school councillor with the huge tatas. "I sense....frustration. Deep frustration and confusion. And...an obsession with wands."

Then: Harry Potter: Hogwarts Brine, wherein Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft opens a new campus, deep under the ocean, near a magical portal to a different world. Make sure you watch for the local wife (with huge tatas) of the muggle arcade owner.

Soon to be followed by Harry Potter: Voyager, wherin a group of students, attempting to prank some townies/muggles, accidently transports themselves, and the townies/muggles, to a distant land, and they must make their way back. Make sure you watch for the evil alien who they try to convert to Hogwartsim, but it turns out that she was the daughter of a Hogwarts-funded research expedition; she has huge tatas.

Lamentably followed by Harry Potter: Dumbledore, wherein we find that Dumbledore used to be headmaster at a DIFFERNET school, that was NEVER PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED as existing, and infact CANNOT have existed given the existing canon, where they teach magic that is somehow MORE ADVANCED than what is later taught at Hogwarts. Make sure you watch out for the muggle school administrator with the huge tatas.

s/wand/wang/g

[frogstar_robot]

http://www.bash.org/?111338

Good news for OOTP movie

[nebaz]

I'm sure the producers of the fifth Harry Potter movie are jumping for joy, as their movie comes out very close to that time (July 13). The publication of the last book would generate much more buzz about Harry Potter than any thing they could come up with for the movie on it's own.

Re:Good news for OOTP movie

[Frogbert]

Wow what an amazing and fortunate coincidence!

missed opportunity

[jtcm]

I can't believe they're not releasing the book 2 weeks ealier!

The 7th book should really be released on 7/7/07.

Re:missed opportunity

[maxume]

Great. All we need is 363 more terrorist attacks and nobody will be able to do anything anymore for fear of not being sensitive enough.

Ma-Fi???

[Wilson_6500]

We already have a genre for "Magic Fiction."

Fantasy.

Re:Ma-Fi???

[User 956]

We already have a genre for "Magic Fiction." Fantasy.

I thought that was the genre for those novels at the supermarket with Fabio on the cover?

Re:Ma-Fi???

[rblancarte]

We already have a genre for "Magic Fiction." Fantasy.

I thought that was the genre for those novels at the supermarket with Fabio on the cover? No that is called Trash.

RonB

Spoilers...

[penguin_dance]

I've got the scoop the story:
"The school and Harry's friends are scandalized when he shows up to the prom naked on a horse."

Ooops...sorry, wrong story.

Re:Spoilers...

[ralphc]

Must...resist...magic...wand...jokes...

Re:in the future

[Duct Tape Jedi]

have you read any of the books? they are good! I don't care how old you are! Yes I might be a little drunk right now cause I discovered a liquor store that lets me make my own 6pack of beer but these books are great! I sure I'm not being as coherent as I usually am due to my BAC but yeah . . . . . . oh yeah I would also go as far to say that reading these books might be considered at least a little bit nerdy and therefore might explain why its on /.

The release date will be delayed 17 times

[Anonymous Coward]

And when it's finally released, the middle 300 pages that promised all kinds of things will be missing.

That'll make it a Vista article.

Re:Harry Potter and the Grammar Nazi?

[Yosho]

"Deathly" is a perfectly good word. It means "like or resembling death." "Deadly," on the other hand, means "causing death."

Re:Sci Fi

[1u3hr]

And WTF is the idea of linking to a random gaming forum for this "news"?

The publisher's press release is here. Why does Slashdot indulge people who cut and paste from a primary source to their lousy site/blog/forum/Piquepaille to get clicks? Aside from the clicks, it often gets distorted and cut to the submitter's agenda, or just cluelessness.

Re:in the future

[SEMW]

have you read any of the books? they are good! I don't care how old you are! Yes I might be a little drunk right now... Woah... An increase in teenage drinking... Record-setting Harry Potter book sales...

I think I spot a connection!

No he doesn't

[OzPeter]

RMS says boycott buying the books, not reading them. Read your own link.

Re:Sweeeet!

[Anonymous Coward]

omg you should do that while dressed up as wizards, having sex

Re:Harry Potter and the Grammar Nazi?

[dbIII]

Is this a difference between (UK) English and American English

Yes, and it tends to "loose" something in translation :)

I cant wait

[indraneil]

I agree that the basic storyline has always been the same, but I find it readable none the same and it is to the credit of JKR that she manages to keep me as hooked now as I was, a decade ago (when I was a teen).
The difference between the two editions is not in the content but in the book binding and the covers of the same
You may see the differences in covers here.
The top row is the children's version, incase, you fail to get it!!

Re:'scifi'?

[jmorris42]

The same sort of mental disease that infects the Sci-Fi Channel. The kind that called John Edwards (The biggest Douche in the Universe) Sci Fi. The sort of idiots who call Freddy and Jason Sci Fi. Bugger em all.

Harry Potter is FANTASY people, not Sci Fi. If it has 'magic' and elves in it is NOT Sci Fi. Not that I won't be reading this final installment, I will. But it is a pet peeve, especially when the Sci-Fi Channel wastes such a large portion of their day running stuff that is NOT Sci-Fi.

Re:Sci Fi

[jmorris42]

> And WTF is the idea of linking to a random gaming forum for this "news"?

Can I get an AMEN?

It needs to be a rule that only primary sources get linked. That means a blog can't be linked unless the primary content of interest to the /. crowd is the actual creative output of the blogger and not some asshole's opinion about a link to a primary source. Commentary from random assholes is what SLASHDOT is for. Lets not get all circular with slashdot posting a link to a forum talking about a blog post that said something interesting about a piece on a newspaper's website about a piece of proposed legislation on some congressman's website. The potential for a huge circlejerk here is massive.

Besides, when the article links to a site with comment posting discussion should be taking place on that site, not slash. So Hey, Taco! Why the hell do you want to drive those valuable comments (pageviews) to another site? Huh?

Re:Spoilers

[grnbrg]

Harry kills Voldemort on page 608!

What, again?

Maybe he'll stay dead this time....

grnbrg.

Re:Sweeeet!

[aaza]

I put on my robe and wizard hat...

Re:Semi offtopic

[BCW2]

Order of the Phoenix will be out on July 13. Should make for an interesting 8 days. From everything I've picked up there will be at least one more. I can't believe that anyone would willingly turn off this money machine.

Re:Sci Fi^H^H^H^H^H FANTASY!!!

[rblancarte]

AMEN.

This is my biggest problem w/ people posting their own works. Because while maybe they have some good stuff to contribute, I know they are really just looking for people to get clicks on their page.

And overall, I think the official release on site or any of the numerous sites that cover this would have done better.

And why no props for JK Rowling herself?

RonB

Re:Sci Fi

[Mateito]

Harry Potter is neither. That's fantasy.

No. Daniel Radcliffe with his shirt off is fantasy.

Couldn't resist.

[Kadin2048]

The problem with the Harry Potter books is that my wife cheats ...

To be fair, I'm not sure why that's Harry Potter's problem.

Re:Harry Potter and the Grammar Nazi?

[mrchaotica]

"Deathly" is a perfectly good word.

Are you sure you don't mean "cromulent?"

You didn't hear?

[jd]

On page 421, it is revealed that Salazaar Slytherin was actually a secret co-founder of Microsoft and contributed Clippy to Windows.

SPOILER

[csrster]

I have it on good authority that Dudley Dursley turns out to be the last horcrux. Harry cleverly kills Voldemort by stuffing Dudley down Voldermort's throat.

Re:'scifi'?

[Gabrill]

Still Fantasy. Sci-fi is the genre that imagines human progress, especially through technology. Anything that starts in another timeline that is obviously contradictory to our history, or anything from a completely fictional timeline such as another planet or reality, is fantasy.

Re:Sweeeet!

[mu22le]

On the other hand if you don't need a reference then you should definitely read this Little Gamers strip.

Re:Sci Fi

[plankrwf]

Oh dear, another Slashdotter who doesn't know his literature. A true Slashdotter, believing everything he (or she???) reads at slashdot, would immediately know that in a recent slashdot article (http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/ 01/2049239) an article was mentioned (http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id= 116&art_id=qw1170340561317B216) in which this quote was made:
"It is a machine mechanism that is going to take molecular machines a step forward to the realisation of the future world of nanotechnology. Things that seem like a Harry Potter film now are going to be a reality."
So, obviously the tagging of thís story as "SciFi" is indeed wrong, as it should by "SciFu" (Science Future) ;-0
(Yes, this is a joke, pun intended!)

Excerpt from page 608

[HeWhoMustNotBeNamed]

[Harry enters Godric Hallow where Lord Voldemort awaits and casts an unforgivable curse]
Voldemort: "Crucio"
Voldemort: "Good heavens ... are you still trying to win? You've got an overdeveloped sense of vengeance. It's going to get you into trouble someday."
[curse missed harry]
Harry: "My name is Harry Potter, you killed my, father prepare to die"
Voldemort: "Stop saying that"
Harry: "My name is Harry Potter, you killed my, father prepare to die. Avadacadavera"
[Voldemort dies]

Re:'scifi'?

[egyptiankarim]

I'm not familiar with the books, but I have seen the movies (if that counts for anything), and it always felt that magic in world of Harry Potter was treated as a branch of science. The kids go to school for it, there's an experimental element to most of the things they learn, they seem to follow a "scientific" process in that they seem to make hypothesis and then test them, and the subjects have scienc-y sound names that end in -ology :) Perhaps the classification of Harry Potter as sci-fi has to do with the fact that they treat magic more as a science than a mystical force (???). I totally get the point you're trying to make, though, and it is valid. Personally, I more willing to call Harry Potter sci-fi than I am Star Wars (which I feel is actually closer to fantasy than anything else), but that's just IMHO.

Re:'scifi'?

[mikeisme77]

That is the current thinking in the English Literature Academia world, yes. Science Fiction/Sci Fi (Sci Fi is a sub-genre of science fiction--where science ficition contains real science and sci fi is for cheap thrills), fantasy, and horror (technically the proper labeling of horror is dark fantasy) all fall under the umbrella term "Speculative Fiction". This is due to the fact that they often have overlapping elements. For example, Star Wars has both science fiction (spaceships) and fantasy (the Force/magic) elements in it; Frankenstein has horror (scary monster) and science fiction (reanimating a corpse through electricity) elements to it, and so on and so forth.

So while it would be ok to label Harry Potter speculative fiction, it would not be okay to label him with the sub-genre label of sci fi (since there is neither fake nor real science in it)--Harry Potter is clearly made up of almost entirely fantasy elements (although at a stretch one might be able to say there are some dark fantasy/horror elements). One of my professors as an undergrad was the co-editor of Science Fiction magazine and I took his class on science fiction. I'm also friends with an English literature professor and have taken my fair share of literature classes (as required to graduate with a degree in creative writing).

Re:'scifi'?

[spun]

I would say that anything where technology is used as a drop-in replacement for magic is fantasy. Science-fantasy, maybe. For instance, if people use blasters instead of wands of fireball, what's really the difference? Spaceships are just metal dragons. The force is just magic.

The effect of technology on humanity (or some human-like entity) is a major theme in real science-fiction. The science and technology don't even have to relate to our universe, but they do have to be internally consistent. Science isn't just thrown in as a special effect, it and it's impact on the characters and society must make sense. This is what makes science-fiction great, it helps us imagine the consequences of scientific development ahead of time.

Re:'scifi'?

[Kemanorel]

Having submitted this same story, it is in the Sci-Fi sub-catagory simply because there is no Fantasy sub-catagory. It's a case of best fit in limited resources.

When all you have is a nail, the whole world looks like a hammer.