harry potter

This morning’s big Oscar nominations announcement had to contend with an even more major and affecting piece of breaking news. A few days after David Bowie passed into the next dimension, cancer has taken another sixty-nine-year-old Brit from us: esteemed actor Alan Rickman. Flip to the word “arch” in the newest editions of the Oxford Goes To Hollywood dictionary, and there you’ll find a photo of Rickman, single eyebrow raised, his tone of dour bemusement audible even from the printed page. The man gained the most international recognition from a choice role in a certain franchise about a boy wizard, but he was an actor of boundless versatility who gifted audiences plenty of fond moviegoing memories.

Alan Rickman, the tremendously talented British actor behind such iconic roles as Hans Gruber in Die Hard and Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films, has died at the age of 69 following a bout with cancer.

Holiday dinners can be a stressful, trying times. Lots of cooking, cleaning, weird relatives, hyper kids… If you’ve had enough of the usual and want to get away and do something completely different, here’s one Christmas dinner you’ll never forget: eating at Hogwarts’ Great Hall.

The final Harry Potter novel was full of grand battles and grander revelations, but it also featured a tiny detail that radically changed the saga’s timeline. Although J.K. Rowling’s first book in the beloved series was published in 1997 and the final book in 2007, a date on a gravestone revealed that the events of the final novel take place in 1997. That means that Harry Potter himself was born in 1980. Which means that he’s 35 in 2015. And according to Rowling herself, that makes today, September 1, 2015, the first day of school at Hogwarts for Harry’s eldest son.

Move over Harry Potter and your Quidditch buddies. Otto Dieffenbach just brought fantasy to reality with the creation of his latest versions of the Witch and Wizard Broom Flyers!

Harry Potter had a devil of a time with his muggle Uncle Vernon but sadly he will no longer have to deal with him because the man who played him, Richard Griffiths died Thursday from complications after heart surgery. Regardless of if you had your nose in Harry Potter books or are a fan of the films, Richard's career was rather extensive past what he was lately famous for.

Some sad news to report this morning: Richard Griffiths, who co-starred in the 'Harry Potter' films as Vernon Dursley, has died following heart surgery in London. He was 65.

If you love 'Harry Potter,' you just might be happier than a Muggle with a new wand after you go through this list. What better way to indulge your Potter fantasies than by visiting some of the actual places made famous by the films? Check out these spots and start planning your Harry Potter adventure today!