document_title: Notting Hill (film)

question_text: who plays anna scott's boyfriend in notting hill

question_tokens: who plays anna scott 's boyfriend in notting hill

text: Notting Hill (film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (March 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: William "Will" Thacker owns an independent book store, The Travel Book Co. in Notting Hill. He is divorced and shares his house with an eccentric, care-free Welshman named Spike and has a small, tight knit group of friends that includes his sister, Honey.

text: Will encounters Hollywood actress Anna Scott when she enters his shop. Minutes later, they collide in the street and his drink spills on her clothes. Will offers his house nearby for Anna to change. Before leaving, she impulsively kisses him and then asks him not to mention what just occurred.

text: Days later, Spike belatedly relays a message from Anna. Will calls and she invites him to visit her at the Ritz Hotel. On arrival, Will is mistaken for a journalist—in a panic he claims he works for Horse & Hound— and is made to interview not only Anna, but the entire cast of her new sci-fi film, which he knows nothing about. Anna calls him back in and says she has cleared her evening. Will is exhilarated, before remembering that he is expected at his sister Honey's birthday party; Anna surprises him by offering to be his date.

text: At the house of Will's friends Max and Bella, Anna fits in perfectly as they all share stories. Honey immediately recognizes Anna and declares them best friends instantly. She and Will share a private moment in a garden square as they walk back from the birthday party. The following evening they go to a restaurant, where Will overhears a group of patrons making crude remarks about Anna and attempts to defend her, before Anna steps in herself and humiliates them. As they walk back to her hotel, she invites Will up to her room. But when he arrives, she tells him he must leave immediately. Her American movie star boyfriend (who was never mentioned until now) appears and starts to bark orders at him, thinking he's a member of the hotel staff, as well as make unflattering comments about Anna's weight. Anna is apologetic and embarrassed, while a stunned Will leaves. Over the next six months, Max and Bella set Will up on a series of blind dates, trying to help him move on; however Will, still hung up on Anna, does not connect with any of them.

text: One day, a distraught Anna appears at Will's doorstep; some pre-stardom nude photos have been published in the tabloids (along with reports of a video filmed without her permission), and she needs a place to hide from the fallout. Once she calms down, they spend some time on the rooftop patio rehearsing lines from Anna's next film. She also apologizes for the previous incident, telling Will her boyfriend simply showed up out of the blue and the relationship had broken down long before then. When she sees a poster of the Marc Chagall painting La Mariée on his kitchen wall, Anna tells Will that "it feels like how love should be". That night, Anna goes to him and they have sex. The next morning, the press (inadvertently tipped off by Spike) besiege Will's house and get pictures of both him and Anna half-dressed. While packing to leave, a furious Anna accuses Will of exploiting the situation for his own benefit and declares that she regrets their time together, because the press will make sure it never goes away.

text: Seasons pass and Will, though determined to forget Anna, remains miserable. Spike and Honey find the numbers to Anna's New York and London agents, encouraging him to reach out, but Will decides to throw them away. At a dinner with his friends, Will discovers that Anna is now an Oscar winner and back in town making a period film. He visits her location shoot, where Anna sees him and invites him past security. Although things are not going well on set, she asks him to stay because there are "things to say". He is surprised to find that it is a Henry James film, something he had previously suggested would be a good role for Anna. Given headphones to listen to the actors over their microphones, Will overhears Anna bantering with her rude co-star, until the co-star mentions seeing Will and Anna refers to him dismissively. Saddened, Will leaves the set.

text: The next day, Anna comes to the bookshop with a present. Visibly nervous, she apologizes for her previous behavior and expresses a desire to rekindle their relationship. When Will points out her comments the previous day, she explains that she would never discuss her private life with "the most indiscreet man in England." Believing it inevitable that they would break up, Will turns her down, as her superstar status would mean he could never really escape the pain of losing her, and having it happen a third time would crush him. Although saddened, Anna accepts his decision, but reminds him that underneath all the fame—which is really just nonsense— she is "also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her."

text: Will meets his friends in a restaurant with the opened gift—the original La Mariée. They take turns supporting his decision to end the relationship by (halfheartedly) pointing out Anna's flaws. When Spike enters and is told what happened, he promptly calls Will a "daft prick". Will reiterates Anna's last comment and realizes his mistake. They pile into Max's car and race across London to Anna's hotel, where they find that she has checked out and is holding a press conference at the Savoy Hotel. When Will arrives, Anna's publicist is telling the crowd that Anna will be taking time off from making films and leaving the UK that night. Will, pretending to be a reporter again, admits he made the wrong decision and begs Anna to reconsider. After admitting she would, Anna announces that she will be staying in Britain "indefinitely." Anna and Will smile at one another from across the room as the press goes into a frenzy. A montage shows their wedding and arrival at one of Anna's movie premieres, before ending with them on a bench in the private garden, Will reading to a visibly pregnant Anna.

text: Cast[edit]

text: (in credits order)

text:
Julia Roberts as Anna Scott
Hugh Grant as William "Will" Thacker
Richard McCabe as Tony
Rhys Ifans as Spike
James Dreyfus as Martin
Dylan Moran as Rufus, the thief
Roger Frost as the Annoying Customer
Henry Goodman as the Ritz Concierge
Julian Rhind-Tutt as 'Time Out' Journalist
Lorelei King as Anna's Publicist
John Shrapnel as Anna's UK press agent
Clarke Peters as 'Helix' Lead Actor
Arturo Venegas as Foreign Actor
Yolanda Vazquez as Interpreter
Mischa Barton as 12-year-old Actress in 'Helix'
Tim McInnerny as Max
Gina McKee as Bella
Emma Chambers as Honey Thacker
Hugh Bonneville as Bernie
Dorian Lough as Loud Man in Restaurant
Sanjeev Bhaskar as Loud Man in Restaurant
Paul Chahidi as Loud Man in Restaurant
Matthew Whittle as Loud Man in Restaurant
Melissa Wilson as Tessa
Emma Bernard as Keziah
Emily Mortimer as Perfect Girl
Tony Armatrading as Security Man
September Buckley as Third Assistant Director
Phillip Manikum as Harry the Sound Man (as Philip Manikum)
Samuel West as Anna's Co-star (as Sam West)
Dennis Matsuki as Japanese Businessman
Patrick Barlow as the Savoy Concierge
Andy de la Tour as Journalist
Maureen Hibbert as Journalist
Rupert Procter as Journalist (as Rupert Proctor)
David Sternberg as Journalist
Ann Beach as William's Mother

text: Uncredited cast

text:
Alec Baldwin as Jeff King
Andrew Blackall as Journalist
Ian Boo Khoo as Journalist
Simon Callow as Himself in Film-within-Film
Kenneth W Caravan as Film Crew
Matthew Christian as Photographer
Joe Cornish as Fan Receiving Anna's Autograph
Sean Cronin as Walk On
Omid Djalili as Cashier at Coffee Shop
Ray Donn as Journalist
Michael Higgs as Man at Market
Stuart D. Latham as Market Stall Holder
Anthony Maddalena as Entertainment Journalist
João Costa Menezes as Journalist
Patrick Dempsey as Actor in Film-within-Film
Taylor Murphy as Journalist
Tim Packham as Reporter
Sally Phillips as Caroline (scenes deleted)
Moses Rockman as Wedding Guest
Vivienne Soan as Bystander
Leigh Tapper as Man in Market
Richard Woolfenden as Press Photographer

text: Casting notes

text:
Julia Roberts was the "one and only" choice for the role of Anna Scott, although Roger Michell and Duncan Kenworthy did not expect her to accept. Her agent told her it was "the best romantic comedy she had ever read".[1] Roberts said that after reading the script she decided she was "going to have to do this".[2]
The decision to cast Hugh Grant as William Thacker was unanimous, as he and Richard Curtis had a "writer/actor marriage made in heaven". Michell said that "Hugh does Richard better than anyone else, and Richard writes Hugh better than anyone else", and that Grant is "one of the only actors who can speak Richard's lines perfectly".[1]
Mischa Barton appears as the child actor whom Will pretends to interview for Horse & Hound.[3]
The casting of Bonneville, McInnerny, McKee, Chambers, and Ifans as Will's friends was "rather like assembling a family". Michell explained that "When you are casting a cabal of friends, you have to cast a balance of qualities, of types and of sensibilities. They were the jigsaw that had to be put together all in one go, and I think we've got a very good variety of people who can realistically still live in the same world."[1]
Sanjeev Bhaskar has a cameo role as a loud and offensive restaurant patron (who refers to Meg Ryan as the actress who has an orgasm every time she's taken out for a cup of coffee) in the restaurant Anna and Will visit.[4]
Alec Baldwin makes an uncredited appearance as Anna's boyfriend, Jeff King.[5]

text: Production[edit]

text:
"I would sometimes wonder what it would be like if I just turned up at my friends' house, where I used to have dinner once a week, with the most famous person at that time, be it Madonna or whomever. It all sprang from there. How would my friends react? Who would try and be cool? How would you get through dinner? What would they say to you afterwards?"

– Richard Curtis[6]

text: Richard Curtis developed the film from thoughts while lying awake at night. He described the starting point as "the idea of a very normal person going out with an unbelievably famous person and how that impinges on their lives".[6] Four Weddings and a Funeral director Mike Newell was approached but rejected it to work on Pushing Tin. He said that in commercial terms he had made the wrong decision, but did not regret it.[7] The producer, Duncan Kenworthy, then turned to Roger Michell, saying that "Finding someone as good as Roger, was just like finding the right actor to play each role. Roger shone out."[1]

text: Curtis chose Notting Hill as he lived there and knew the area, saying "Notting Hill is a melting pot and the perfect place to set a film". This left the producers to film in a heavily populated area. Kenworthy noted "Early on, we toyed with the idea of building a huge exterior set. That way we would have more control, because we were worried about having Roberts and Grant on public streets where we could get thousands of onlookers." In the end they decided to film in the streets. Michell was worried "that Hugh and Julia were going to turn up on the first day of shooting on Portobello Road, and there would be gridlock and we would be surrounded by thousands of people and paparazzi photographers who would prevent us from shooting". The location team, and security personnel prevented this, as well as preventing problems the presence of a film crew may have caused the residents of Notting Hill, who Michell believes were "genuinely excited" about the film. The location manager Sue Quinn, described finding locations and getting permission to film as "a mammoth task". Quinn and the rest of her team had to write to thousands of people in the area, promising to donate to each person's favourite charity, resulting in 200 charities receiving money.[8]

text:
"The major problem we encountered was the size of our film unit. We couldn't just go in and shoot and come out. We were everywhere. Filming on the London streets has to be done in such a way that it comes up to health and safety standards. There is no such thing as a road closure. We were very lucky in the fact that we had 100% cooperation from the police and the Council. They looked favorably on what we were trying to do and how it would promote the area."

– Sue Quinn[8]

text: Stuart Craig, the production designer, was pleased to do a contemporary film, saying "we're dealing with streets with thousands of people, market traders, shop owners and residents which makes it really complex".[8] Filming began on 17 April 1998 in West London and at Shepperton Studios.[1] Will's bookshop was on Portobello Road, one of the main areas in which filming took place. Other places within Notting Hill included Westbourne Park Road, Golborne Road, Landsdowne Road and the Coronet Cinema.[8] Will's house, 280 Westbourne Park Road, was owned by Richard Curtis and behind the entrance there is a grand house, not the flat in the film that was made up in the studios. The blue door was auctioned for charity. The current door is blue again. The Travel Book Store is located at 142 Portobello Road.[9] After filming for six weeks in Notting Hill, filming moved to the Ritz Hotel, where work had to take place at night, the Savoy Hotel, the Nobu Restaurant, the Zen Garden of the Hempel Hotel and Kenwood House.[8] One of the final scenes takes place at a film premiere, which presented difficulties. Michell wanted to film Leicester Square but was declined. Police had found fans at a Leonardo DiCaprio premiere problematic and were concerned the same might occur at the staged premiere. Through a health and safety act, the production received permission to film and constructed the scene in 24 hours.[8] Interior scenes were the last to be filmed, at Shepperton Studios.[8] The final cut was 3.5 hours long, 90 minutes edited out for release.[10]

text: The film features the 1950 Marc Chagall painting La Mariée. Anna sees a print of the painting in William's home and later gives him what is presumably the original. Michell said in Entertainment Weekly that the painting was chosen because Curtis was a fan of Chagall's work and because La Mariée "depicts a yearning for something that's lost." The producers had a reproduction made for the film, but had to get permission from the owner as well as clearance from the Design and Artists Copyright Society. Finally, according to Kenworthy, "we had to agree to destroy it. They were concerned that if our fake was too good, it might float around the market and create problems." The article also noted that "some experts say the real canvas could be worth between US$500,000 and US$1 million."[11]

text: The film features the book Istanbul: The Imperial City (1996) by John Freely. William recommends this book to Anna, commenting that (unlike another book in the store) the author has at least been to Istanbul. In reality, Freely taught at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul,[12] and was the author of nine books about the city.

text: In the very last scene of the movie, Will is shown reading the book Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières.

text: Music[edit]

text: Music was composed by Trevor Jones.[13] Several additional songs written by other artists include Elvis Costello's cover of the Charles Aznavour song "She", Shania Twain's remixed version of "You've Got A Way", as well as Ronan Keating's specially recorded cover of "When You Say Nothing at All"; the song reached number one in the British charts. Pulp recorded new song "Born to Cry", which was released on the European version of the soundtrack album.

text: The song played when Will strides down Portobello Road is "Ain't No Sunshine" by Bill Withers. Tony and Bernie play "Blue Moon" on the piano at Tony's restaurant on the night it closes.[14] Originally, Charles Aznavour's version of "She" was used in the film, but American test screening audiences did not respond to it. Costello was then brought in by Richard Curtis to record a cover version of the song.[15] Both versions of the song appear in non-US releases.

text: The soundtrack album was released by Island Records.

text: US version track listing

text:
"No Matter What" – Boyzone
"You've Got a Way" (Notting Hill remix) – Shania Twain
"I Do (Cherish You)" – 98 Degrees
"She" – Elvis Costello
"Ain't No Sunshine" – Bill Withers
"How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?" – Al Green
"Gimme Some Lovin'" – Spencer Davis Group
"When You Say Nothing at All" - Ronan Keating
"Ain't No Sunshine" – Lighthouse Family
"From the Heart" - Another Level
"Everything About You" - Steve Poltz
"Will and Anna" – Trevor Jones (Score)
"Notting Hill" – Trevor Jones (Score)

text: The film score and original music was recorded and mixed by Gareth Cousins (who also mixed all the songs used in the film) and Simon Rhodes.

text: Release[edit]

text: Critical reception[edit]

text: This article contains too many or too-lengthy quotations for an encyclopedic entry. Please help improve the article by presenting facts as a neutrally-worded summary with appropriate citations. Consider transferring direct quotations to Wikiquote. (March 2018)

text: The film had generally positive reviews, scoring an 83% "Certified fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes based on 93 reviews with an average rating of 7.1/10 , the website's critical consensus reads: "Charming performances provide romance aplenty.".[16] Variety's Derek Elley said that "It's slick, it's gawky, it's 10 minutes too long, and it's certainly not "Four Weddings and a Funeral Part 2" in either construction or overall tone", giving it an overall positive review.[5] Cranky Critic called it "Bloody damned good", as well as saying that it was "A perfect date flick."[17] Nitrate said that "Notting Hill is whimsical and light, fresh and quirky", with "endearing moments and memorable characters".[18] In his review of the film's DVD John J. Puccio noted that "the movie is a fairy tale, and writer Richard Curtis knows how much the public loves a fairy tale", calling it "a sweet film".[19] Desson Howe of The Washington Post gave the film a very positive review, particularly praising Rhys Ifans' performance as Spike.[20] James Sanford gave Notting Hill three and a half stars, saying that "Curtis' dialogue may be much snappier than his sometimes dawdling plot, but the first hour of Notting Hill is so beguiling and consistently funny it seems churlish to complain that the rest is merely good."[21] Sue Pierman of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel stated that "Notting Hill is clever, funny, romantic – and oh, yes, reminiscent of Four Weddings and a Funeral", but that the film "is so satisfying, it doesn't pay to nitpick."[22] Roger Ebert praised the film, saying "the movie is bright, the dialogue has wit and intelligence, and Roberts and Grant are very easy to like."[23] Kenneth Turan gave a good review, concluding that "the film's romantic core is impervious to problems".[24] CNN reviewer Paul Clinton said that Notting Hill "stands alone as another funny and heartwarming story about love against all odds".[25]

text: Widgett Walls of Needcoffee.com gave the film "three and a half cups of coffee", stating that "the humor of the film saves it from a completely trite and unsatisfying (nay, shall I say enraging) ending", but criticised the soundtrack.[26] Dennis Schwartz gave the film a negative review with a grade of "C-" citing "this film was pure and unadulterated balderdash".[27] Some criticised the film for giving a "sweetened unrealistic view of London life and British eccentricity."[28] The Independent derided the film for being unrealistic.[29]

text: Lists[edit]

text: Notting Hill was 95th on the British Film Institute's "list of the all-time top 100 films", based on estimates of each film's British cinema admissions.[4]

text: Box office[edit]

text: The film had its premiere at the Odeon, Leicester Square, on 27 April 1999.[30] It earned US$116,089,678 as its overall domestic gross, with a worldwide gross of US$363,889,678.[31] It totalled US$27.7 million over its opening weekend, an American record,[32] the biggest opening for a romantic comedy film, beating My Best Friend's Wedding (which also starred Julia Roberts).[33] Notting Hill made another US$15 million the following week.[34][35] One month after its release, Notting Hill lost its record for highest-grossing opening weekend for a romantic comedy film to Runaway Bride (again starring Roberts).[36] It was the sixteenth highest-grossing film of 1999,[37] and in February 2014 was the 215th highest-grossing film of all time.[38] In 1999, it became the then highest-grossing British film.[39] It opened the same weekend as Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, which did not affect its box-office takings, as Notting Hill opened at number 2.[citation needed]

text: Awards and nominations[edit]

text: Notting Hill won the Audience Award for Most Popular Film at the BAFTAs in 2000,[40] and was nominated in the categories of The Alexander Korda Award for Outstanding British Film of the year, and Best Performance by an Actor in a supporting role for Rhys Ifans.[41] The film won Best Comedy Film at the British Comedy Awards.[42] The film's soundtrack won Best Soundtrack at the Brit Awards, beating Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.[43] The film won Best British Film, Best British Director for Roger Michell, and Best British Actor for Hugh Grant at the Empire Awards.[44] The film received three nominations at the Golden Globes, in the categories Best Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical, Best Motion Picture Actor – Comedy/Musical for Hugh Grant, and Best Motion Picture Actress – Comedy/Musical for Julia Roberts.[45]


question_text: when does harry potter and the philosopher's stone take place

question_tokens: when does harry potter and the philosopher 's stone take place

root

text: Synopsis[edit]

text: Plot[edit]

text: The most evil and powerful dark wizard in history, Lord Voldemort, murders James and Lily Potter but mysteriously disappears after failing to kill their infant son, Harry. While the wizarding world celebrates Voldemort's apparent downfall, Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and half-giant Rubeus Hagrid place the one-year-old orphan in the care of his surly and cold Muggle uncle and aunt, Vernon and Petunia Dursley and their spoilt and bullying son, Dudley.

tag: p

text: For ten years, living at number Four Privet Drive, Harry is treated by the Dursleys more like a servant than a member of the family and is forced to live in a cupboard under the stairs. Shortly before his eleventh birthday, a series of letters addressed to Harry arrive, but Uncle Vernon destroys them before Harry can read them, leading to an influx of more and more letters. To evade the pursuit of these letters, Vernon first takes the family to a hotel, but when the letters arrive there too, he hires a boat out to a hut on a small island.

text: It is Harry's eleventh birthday and at midnight, Hagrid bursts through the door to deliver the letter and to tell Harry what the Dursleys have kept from him: Harry is a wizard and has been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where Hagrid is groundskeeper and Dumbledore is Headmaster. Hagrid takes Harry to a hidden London street called Diagon Alley, where he is surprised to discover how famous he is among the witches and wizards, who refer to him as "the boy who lived." He also finds that his parents' inheritance is waiting for him at Gringotts Wizarding Bank. Guided by Hagrid, he buys the equipment he will need for his first year at Hogwarts and as a birthday gift Harry receives a pet owl from Hagrid (which he names "Hedwig").

text: A month later, Harry leaves the Dursleys' home to catch the Hogwarts Express from King's Cross railway station. There he meets the Weasley family, who show him how to pass through the magic wall to Platform 9¾, where the train that will take them to Hogwarts is waiting. While on the train, Harry meets two fellow first years, Ron Weasley, who immediately becomes his friend, and Hermione Granger, with whom the ice is a bit slower to break. Harry also makes an enemy of yet another first-year, Draco Malfoy. Draco offers to advise Harry, but Harry dislikes Draco for his arrogance and prejudice and rejects his offer of "friendship".

text: At Hogwarts, the first-years are assigned by the magical Sorting Hat to houses that best suit their personalities. While Harry is being sorted, the Hat suggests that he be placed into Slytherin which is known to house potential dark witches and wizards, but when Harry objects, the Hat sends him to Gryffindor. Ron and Hermione are also sorted into Gryffindor. Draco is sorted into Slytherin, like his whole family before him.

text: Harry starts classes at Hogwarts School, with lessons including Transfiguration with head of Gryffindor, Minerva McGonagall, Herbology with Head of Hufflepuff, Pomona Sprout, Charms with Head of Ravenclaw Filius Flitwick, and Defence Against the Dark Arts with Quirinus Quirrell. Harry's least favourite class is Potions, taught by Severus Snape, the vindictive Head of Slytherin who seems to loathe Harry. Harry, Ron, and Hermione become far more interested by extracurricular matters within and outside the school, particularly after they discover that a huge three-headed dog is standing guard over a trap door in a forbidden corridor. They also become suspicious of Snape's behaviour and become convinced that he is looking for ways to get past the trapdoor to whatever it's hiding.

text: Harry discovers an innate talent for flying on broomsticks and is appointed as Seeker on his House’s Quidditch team, a wizards' sport played in the air. His first game goes well until his broomstick wobbles in mid-air and almost throws him off. Ron and Hermione suspect foul play from Snape, whom they saw behaving oddly. For Christmas, Harry receives an invisibility cloak from an anonymous source and begins exploring the school at night and investigating the hidden object further. He discovers the Mirror of Erised (backwards for "desire"), in which the viewer sees his or her deepest desires becoming true.

text: Thanks to an indiscretion from Hagrid, Harry and his friends work out that the object kept at the school is a Philosopher's Stone, made by an old friend of Dumbledore named Nicolas Flamel, which grants its user immortality, as long as it's constantly used. Harry is also informed by a centaur he meets in the forest that a plot to steal the Philosopher’s Stone is being orchestrated by none other than Voldemort himself, who would use it to be restored to his body and come back to power. When Dumbledore is lured from Hogwarts under false pretences, Harry and his friends fear that the theft is imminent and descend through the trapdoor themselves.

text: They encounter a series of obstacles, each of which requires unique skills possessed by one of the three, and one of which requires Ron to sacrifice himself in a life-sized game of wizard's chess. In the final room, Harry, now alone, finds Quirrell, who admits that he had tried to kill Harry at his Quidditch match against Slytherin. He also admits that he let a troll into Hogwarts. Snape had been trying to protect Harry all along rather than to kill him, and his suspicious behaviour came from his own suspicions about Quirrell.

text: Quirrell is one of Voldemort's followers, and is now partly possessed by him: Voldemort's face has sprouted on the back of his own head, hidden by his turban. Voldemort needs Harry's help to get past the final obstacle: the Mirror of Erised. When stood in front of it, the Mirror recognises Harry's lack of greed for the Stone and surreptitiously deposits it in his pocket. Quirrell promptly tries to seize the Stone, but his flesh burns on contact with Harry, proving lethal for Quirrell. Harry passes out and awakens in the school hospital, where Dumbledore explains to him that he survived because his mother sacrificed her life to protect him, and this left a powerful protective charm on him. It is also revealed that the invisibility cloak was left by his father for Dumbledore to keep and give to Harry. Voldemort left Quirrell to die and is likely to return by some other means. The Stone has now been destroyed. The school year ends at the final feast, during which Gryffindor wins the House Cup. Harry returns to the Dursleys' for the summer holiday but does not tell them that under-age wizards are forbidden to use magic outside of Hogwarts.

text: Main characters[edit]

text:
Harry Potter is an orphan whom Rowling imagined as a "scrawny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who didn't know he was a wizard."[2] She developed the series' story and characters to explain how Harry came to be in this situation and how his life unfolded from there.[3] Apart from the first chapter, the events of this book take place just before and in the year following Harry's eleventh birthday. Voldemort's attack left a lightning bolt-shaped scar on Harry's forehead,[3] which produces stabbing pains whenever Voldemort is present. Harry has a natural talent for Quidditch and became the first person in decades to get on their team in their first year.
Ronald Weasley is Harry's age and Rowling describes him as the ultimate best friend, "always there when you need him."[4] He is freckled, red-haired and quite tall. He grew up in a fairly large pure-blood family as the sixth born of seven children. Although his family is quite poor, they still live comfortably and happily. His loyalty and bravery in the face of a game of Wizards Chess plays a vital part in finding the Philosopher's Stone.
Hermione Granger, the daughter of an all-Muggle family, is a bossy girl who has apparently memorised most of the textbooks before the start of term. Rowling described Hermione as a "very logical, upright and good" character[5] with "a lot of insecurity and a great fear of failure beneath her swottiness".[5] Despite her nagging efforts to keep Harry and Ron out of trouble, she becomes a close friend of the two boys after they save her from a troll, and her magical and analytical skills play an important role in finding the Philosopher's Stone. She has bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth.
Neville Longbottom is a plump, diffident boy, so forgetful that his grandmother gives him a Remembrall, although he cannot remember why. Neville's magical abilities are weak and appeared just in time to save his life when he was eight. Despite his timidity, Neville will fight anyone after some encouragement or if he thinks it is right and important.
Rubeus Hagrid, a half-giant nearly 12 feet (3.7 m) tall, with tangled black hair and beard, was expelled from Hogwarts and his wand was snapped in half (resulting in him never to use a wand again), however Professor Dumbledore let him stay on as the school's gamekeeper, a job which enables him to lavish affection and pet names on even the most dangerous of magical creatures. Hagrid is fiercely loyal to Dumbledore and quickly becomes a close friend of Harry, Ron and, later, Hermione, but his carelessness makes him unreliable.
Professor Albus Dumbledore, a tall, thin man who wears half-moon spectacles and has silver hair and a beard that tucks into his belt, is the headmaster of Hogwarts, and thought to be the only wizard Voldemort fears. Dumbledore, while renowned for his achievements in magic, he shrugs off praise, he is aware of his own brilliance. Rowling described him as the "epitome of goodness".[6]
Professor Minerva McGonagall, a tall, severe-looking woman with black hair tied in a tight bun, teaches Transfiguration, and sometimes transforms herself into a cat. She is Deputy Headmistress, and Head of Gryffindor House and, according to the author, "under that gruff exterior" is "a bit of an old softy".[7]
Petunia Dursley, the sister of Harry's mother Lily, is a thin woman with a long neck that she uses for spying on the neighbours. She regards her magical sister as a freak and tries to pretend that she never existed.
Vernon Dursley is the husband of Petunia Dursley, is a heavily built man whose irascible bluster covers a narrow mind and a fear of anything unusual.
Dudley Dursley is an overweight, spoiled bully, and cousin of Harry Potter (who uses Harry as his punching bag).
Draco Malfoy is a slim, pale boy who speaks in a bored drawl. He is arrogant about his skill in Quidditch, and despises anyone who is not a pure-blood wizard – and wizards who do not share his views. His parents had supported Voldemort, but changed sides after the dark wizard's disappearance, claiming they had been bewitched. Draco avoids direct confrontations, and tries to get Harry and his friends into trouble.
Oliver Wood is Harry's Quidditch captain for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He plays as keeper.
Professor Quirrell is a twitching, stammering man who teaches Defence Against the Dark Arts. Reputedly he was a brilliant scholar, but his nerve was shattered by an encounter with vampires. Quirrell wears a turban to conceal the fact that he is voluntarily possessed by Voldemort, whose face appears on the back of Quirrell's head.
Professor Severus Snape, who has a hooked nose, sallow complexion and greasy black hair, teaches Potions, but would prefer to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts. Snape praises pupils in Slytherin, his own House but seizes every opportunity to humiliate others, especially Harry. Several incidents, beginning with the shooting pain in Harry's scar during the start-of-term feast, lead Harry and his friends to think Snape is a follower of Voldemort.
Argus Filch, the school caretaker who knows the school's secret passages better than anyone else except, possibly, the Weasley twins. His cat, Mrs. Norris, aids his constant hunt for misbehaving pupils.

tag: ul

text: Other members of staff include the dumpy Herbology teacher and Head of Hufflepuff House Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick, the tiny and excitable Charms teacher, and Head of Ravenclaw House, the soporific History of Magic teacher, Professor Binns, a ghost who does not seem to have noticed his own death; and Madam Hooch, the Quidditch coach, who is strict, but a considerate and methodical teacher. The poltergeist Peeves wanders around the castle causing trouble wherever he can.

text: In the book, Rowling introduces an eclectic cast of characters. The first character to be introduced is Vernon Dursley, Harry's uncle. Most of the actions centre on the eponymous hero Harry Potter, an orphan who escapes his miserable childhood with the Dursley family. Rowling imagined him as a "scrawny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who didn't know he was a wizard",[2] and says she transferred part of her pain about losing her mother to him.[8] During the book, Harry makes two close friends, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. Ron is described by Rowling as the ultimate best friend, "always there when you need him".[4] Rowling has described Hermione as a "very logical, upright and good" character[5] with "a lot of insecurity and a great fear of failure beneath her swottiness".[5]

text: Rowling also imagined a supporting cast of adults. The headmaster of Hogwarts is the powerful, but kind wizard Albus Dumbledore, who becomes Harry's confidant; Rowling described him as "epitome of goodness".[6] His right hand is severe Minerva McGonagall, who according to the author "under that gruff exterior" is "a bit of an old softy",[7] the friendly half-giant Rubeus Hagrid, who saved Harry from the Dursley family, and the sinister Severus Snape.[9] Professor Quirrell is also featured in the novel.

text: The main antagonists are Draco Malfoy, an elitist, bullying classmate[10] and Lord Voldemort, the most powerful evil wizard who becomes disembodied when he tries to kill baby Harry. According to a 1999 interview with Rowling, the character of Voldemort was created as a literary foil for Harry, and his backstory was intentionally not fleshed-out at first:

text: The basic idea... Harry, I saw Harry very very very clearly. Very vividly. And I knew he didn't know he was a wizard. [...] And so then I kind of worked backwards from that position to find out how that could be, that he wouldn't know what he was. [...] When he was one year old, the most evil wizard for hundreds and hundreds of years attempted to kill him. He killed Harry's parents, and then he tried to kill Harry—he tried to curse him. [...] And—so—but for some mysterious reason, the curse didn't work on Harry. So he's left with this lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead and the curse rebounded upon the evil wizard, who has been in hiding ever since.[3]

text: Development, publication and reception[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text: The book, which was Rowling's debut novel, was written between approximately June 1990 and some time in 1995. In 1990 Jo Rowling, as she preferred to be known,[a] wanted to move with her boyfriend to a flat in Manchester and in her words, "One weekend after flat hunting, I took the train back to London on my own and the idea for Harry Potter fell into my head... A scrawny, little, black-haired, bespectacled boy became more and more of a wizard to me... I began to write Philosopher's Stone that very evening. Although, the first couple of pages look nothing like the finished product."[8] Then Rowling's mother died and, to cope with her pain, Rowling transferred her own anguish to the orphan Harry.[8] Rowling spent six years working on Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and after it was accepted by Bloomsbury, she obtained a grant of £8,000 from the Scottish Arts Council, which enabled her to plan the sequels.[14] She sent the book to an agent and a publisher, and then the second agent she approached spent a year trying to sell the book to publishers, most of whom thought it was too long at about 90,000 words. Barry Cunningham, who was building a portfolio of distinctive fantasies by new authors for Bloomsbury Children's Books, recommended accepting the book,[15] and the eight-year-old daughter of Bloomsbury's chief executive said it was "so much better than anything else".[16]

text: Publication and reception in the United Kingdom[edit]

text: Bloomsbury accepted the book, paying Rowling a £2,500 advance,[17] and Cunningham sent proof copies to carefully chosen authors, critics and booksellers in order to obtain comments that could be quoted when the book was launched.[15] He was less concerned about the book's length than about its author's name, since the title sounded like a boys' book to him, and he believed boys preferred books by male authors. Rowling therefore adopted the nom de plume J.K. Rowling just before publication.[15] In June 1997, Bloomsbury published Philosopher's Stone with an initial print-run of 500 copies in hardback, three hundred of which were distributed to libraries.[18] Her original name, "Joanne Rowling", can be found in small print on the copyright page of this first British edition. (The 1998 first American edition would remove reference to "Joanne" completely.)[19] The short initial print run was standard for first novels, and Cunningham hoped booksellers would read the book and recommend it to customers.[15] Examples from this initial print run have sold for as much as US$33,460 in a 2007 Heritage Auction.[20]

text: Lindsey Fraser, who had supplied one of the blurb comments,[15] wrote what is thought to be the first published review, in The Scotsman on 28 June 1997. She described Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone as "a hugely entertaining thriller" and Rowling as "a first-rate writer for children".[15][21] Another early review, in The Herald, said, "I have yet to find a child who can put it down." Newspapers outside Scotland started to notice the book, with glowing reviews in The Guardian, The Sunday Times and The Mail on Sunday, and in September 1997 Books for Keeps, a magazine that specialised in children's books, gave the novel four stars out of five.[15] The Mail on Sunday rated it as "the most imaginative debut since Roald Dahl"; a view echoed by the Sunday Times ("comparisons to Dahl are, this time, justified"), while The Guardian called it "a richly textured novel given lift-off by an inventive wit" and The Scotsman said it had "all the makings of a classic".[15]

text: In 1997 the UK edition won a National Book Award and a gold medal in the 9 to 11 year-olds category of the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize.[22] The Smarties award, which is voted for by children, made the book well-known within six months of publication, while most children's books have to wait for years.[15] The following year, Philosopher's Stone won almost all the other major British awards that were decided by children.[15][b] It was also shortlisted for children's books awards adjudicated by adults,[23] but did not win. Sandra Beckett comments that books which were popular with children were regarded as undemanding and as not of the highest literary standards – for example the literary establishment disdained the works of Roald Dahl, an overwhelming favourite of children before the appearance of Rowling's books.[24] In 2003, the novel was listed at number 22 on the BBC's survey The Big Read.[25]

text: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone won two publishing industry awards given for sales rather than literary merit, the British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year and the Booksellers' Association / Bookseller Author of the Year.[15] By March 1999 UK editions had sold just over 300,000 copies,[26] and the story was still the UK's best-selling title in December 2001.[27] A Braille edition was published in May 1998 by the Scottish Braille Press.[28]

text: Platform 9¾, from which the Hogwarts Express left London, was commemorated in the real-life King's Cross railway station with a sign and a trolley apparently passing through the wall.[29]

text: U.S. publication and reception[edit]

text:
UK to American translation examples[30][31]

UK
American

mum, mam
mom

sherbet lemon
lemon drop

motorbike
motorcycle

chips
fries

crisp
chip

jelly
Jell-O

jacket potato
baked potato

jumper
sweater

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text: Scholastic Corporation bought the U.S. rights at the Bologna Book Fair in April 1997 for US$105,000, an unusually high sum for a children's book.[15] They thought that a child would not want to read a book with the word "philosopher" in the title and,[32][not in citation given] after some discussion, the American edition was published in September 1998[33] under the title Rowling suggested, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.[15] Rowling claimed that she regretted this change and would have fought it if she had been in a stronger position at the time.[11] Philip Nel has pointed out that the change lost the connection with alchemy, and the meaning of some other terms changed in translation, for example from "crumpet" to "muffin". While Rowling accepted the change from both the British English "mum" and Seamus Finnigan's Irish variant "mam" to "mom" in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, she vetoed this change in the later books, which was then reversed in later editions of Philosopher's Stone. However, Nel considered that Scholastic's translations were considerably more sensitive than most of those imposed on British English books of the time, and that some other changes could be regarded as useful copyedits.[30] Since the British editions of early titles in the series were published a few months earlier than the American versions, some American readers became familiar with the British English versions after buying them via the Internet.[34]

text: At first the most prestigious reviewers ignored the book, leaving it to book trade and library publications such as Kirkus Reviews and Booklist, which examined it only by the entertainment-oriented criteria of children's fiction. However, more penetrating specialist reviews (such as one by Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, which pointed out the complexity, depth and consistency of the world Rowling had built) attracted the attention of reviewers in major newspapers.[35] Although The Boston Globe and Michael Winerip in The New York Times complained that the final chapters were the weakest part of the book,[21][36] they and most other American reviewers gave glowing praise.[15][21] A year later the US edition was selected as an American Library Association Notable Book, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 1998, and a New York Public Library 1998 Best Book of the Year, and won Parenting Magazine's Book of the Year Award for 1998,[22] the School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, and the American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults.[15]

text: In August 1999, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone topped the New York Times list of best-selling fiction,[37] and stayed near the top of the list for much of 1999 and 2000, until the New York Times split its list into children's and adult sections under pressure from other publishers who were eager to see their books given higher placings.[24][35] Publishers Weekly's report in December 2001 on cumulative sales of children's fiction placed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 19th among hardbacks (over 5 million copies) and 7th among paperbacks (over 6.6 million copies).[38]

text: In May 2008, Scholastic announced the creation of a 10th Anniversary Edition of the book[39] that was released on 1 October 2008[40] to mark the tenth anniversary of the original American release.[39] For the fifteenth anniversary of the books, Scholastic re-released Sorcerer's Stone, along with the other six novels in the series, with new cover art by Kazu Kibuishi in 2013.[41][42][43]

text: Translations[edit]

text: By mid-2008, official translations of the book had been published in 67 languages.[44]By September 11, 2017, official translations of the book had been published in 74 languages.[45] Bloomsbury have published translations in Latin and in Ancient Greek,[46][47] and the latter was described as "one of the most important pieces of Ancient Greek prose written in many centuries".[48]

text: Style and themes[edit]

text: Philip Nel highlighted the influence of Jane Austen, whom Rowling has greatly admired since the age of twelve. Both novelists encourage re-reading, because details that look insignificant foreshadow important events or characters much later in the story-line – for example Sirius Black is briefly mentioned near the beginning of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and then becomes a major character in the third to fifth books. Like Austen's heroines, Harry often has to re-examine his ideas near the ends of books. Some social behaviour in the Harry Potter books is remininiscent of Austen, for example the excited communal reading of letters. Both authors satirise social behaviour and give characters names that express their personalities. However in Nel's opinion Rowling's humour is more based on caricature and the names she invents are more like those found in Charles Dickens's stories,[21]:13–15 and Amanda Cockrell noted that many of these express their owners' traits through allusions that run from ancient Roman mythology to eighteenth-century German literature.[49] Rowling, like the Narnia series' author C.S. Lewis, thinks there is no rigid distinction between stories for children and for adults. Nel also noted that, like many good writers for children, Rowling combines literary genres—fantasy, young adult fiction, boarding school stories, Bildungsroman and many others.[21]:51–52

text: Some reviewers compared Philosopher's Stone to the stories of Roald Dahl, who died in 1990. Many writers since the 1970s had been hailed as his successor, but none had attained anything near his popularity with children and, in a poll conducted shortly after the launch of Philosopher's Stone, seven of the ten most popular children's books were by Dahl, including the one in top place. The only other really popular children's author of the late 1990s was an American, R. L. Stine. Some of the story elements in Philosopher's Stone resembled parts of Dahl's stories; for example, the hero of James and the Giant Peach lost his parents and had to live with a pair of unpleasant aunts—one fat and one thin rather like Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, who treated Harry as a servant. However Harry Potter was a distinctive creation, able to take on the responsibilities of an adult while remaining a child inside.[15]

text: Librarian Nancy Knapp and marketing professor Stephen Brown noted the liveliness and detail of descriptions, especially of shop scenes such as Diagon Alley.[22][50] Tad Brennan commented that Rowling's writing resembles that of Homer: "rapid, plain, and direct in expression."[48] Stephen King admired "the sort of playful details of which only British fantasists seem capable" and concluded that they worked because Rowling enjoys a quick giggle and then moves briskly forward.[51]

text: Nicholas Tucker described the early Harry Potter books as looking back to Victorian and Edwardian children's stories: Hogwarts was an old-style boarding school in which the teachers addressed pupils formally by their surnames and were most concerned with the reputations of the houses with which they were associated; characters' personalities were plainly shown by their appearances, starting with the Dursleys; evil or malicious characters were to be crushed rather than reformed, including Filch's cat Mrs Norris; and the hero, a mistreated orphan who found his true place in life, was charismatic and good at sports, but considerate and protective towards the weak.[52] Several other commentators have stated that the books present a highly stratified society including many social stereotypes.[53] However Karin Westerman drew parallels with 1990s Britain: a class system that was breaking down but defended by those whose power and status it upheld; the multi-ethnic composition of Hogwarts' students; the racial tensions between the various intelligent species; and school bullying.[54]

text: Susan Hall wrote that there is no rule of law in the books, as the actions of Ministry of Magic officials are unconstrained by laws, accountability or any kind of legal challenge. This provides an opportunity for Voldemort to offer his own horrific version of order. As a side-effect Harry and Hermione, who were brought up in the highly regulated Muggle world, find solutions by thinking in ways unfamiliar to wizards. For example, Hermione notes that one obstacle to finding the Philosopher's Stone is a test of logic rather than magical power, and that most wizards have no chance of solving it.[55]

text: Nel suggested that the unflattering characterisation of the extremely conventional, status-conscious, materialistic Dursleys was Rowling's reaction to the family policies of the British government in the early 1990s, which treated the married heterosexual couple as the "preferred norm", while the author was a single mother. Harry's relationships with adult and juvenile wizards are based on affection and loyalty. This is reflected in his happiness whenever he is a temporary member of the Weasley family throughout the series, and in his treatment of first Rubeus Hagrid and later Remus Lupin and Sirius Black as father-figures.[21]:13–15, 47–48[49]

text: Legacy[edit]

text: Sequels[edit]

text: The second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, was originally published in the UK on July 2, 1998 and in the US on June 2, 1999.[56][57] Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was then published a year later in the UK on July 8, 1999 and in the US on September 8, 1999.[56][57] Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was published on 8 July 2000 at the same time by Bloomsbury and Scholastic.[58] Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the longest book in the series at 766 pages in the UK version and 870 pages in the US version.[59] It was published worldwide in English on June 21, 2003.[60] Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was published on July 16, 2005 and sold 11 million copies in the first 24 hours of its worldwide release.[61][62] The seventh and final novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was published on July 21, 2007.[63] The book sold 11 million copies within 24 hours of its release: 2.7 million copies in the UK and 8.3 million in the US.[64]

text: Illustrated Version[edit]

text: An illustrated version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was released in October 2015, with illustrations by Jim Kay.[65][66] The book carries over 100 illustrations and will be followed by illustrated versions of all seven books from the series by the same artist.

text: Film version[edit]

text: In 1999, Rowling sold the film rights of the first four Harry Potter books to Warner Bros. for a reported £1 million ($1,982,900).[67] Rowling demanded that the principal cast be kept strictly British but allowed for the casting of Irish actors such as the late Richard Harris as Dumbledore and of foreign actors as characters of the same nationalities in later books.[68] After extensive casting,[69] filming began in September 2000 at Leavesden Film Studios and in London, with production ending in July 2001.[70] Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was released in London on 14 November 2001.[71][72] Reviewers' comments were positive, as reflected by an 80% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes[73] and by a score of 64% at Metacritic, representing "generally favourable reviews".[74]

text: Video games[edit]

text: Five unique video games by different developers were released between 2001 and 2003 by Electronic Arts, loosely based on the film and book:

text:
Developer
Release date
Platform
Genre
GameRankings
Metacritic
Notes

KnowWonder
15 November 2001
Microsoft Windows
Adventure/puzzle
67.35%[75]
65/100[76]

Argonaut
PlayStation
Action-adventure
66.98%[77]
64/100[78]

Griptonite
Game Boy Color
Role-playing game
73%[79]
N/A

Game Boy Advance
Action puzzle
68.37%[80]
64/100[81]

Aspyr
28 February 2002
Mac OS X
Adventure/puzzle
N/A
N/A
Port of Windows version[82]

Warthog
9 December 2003
GameCube
Action-adventure
63.31%[83]
62/100[84]

PlayStation 2
57.90%[85]
56/100[86]

Xbox
61.82%[87]
59/100[88]

text: Uses in education and business[edit]

text: Writers on education and business subjects have used the book as an object lesson. Writing about clinical teaching in medical schools, Jennifer Conn contrasted Snape's technical expertise with his intimidating behaviour towards students; on the other hand Quidditch coach Madam Hooch illustrated useful techniques in the teaching of physical skills, including breaking down complex actions into sequences of simple ones and helping students to avoid common errors.[89] Joyce Fields wrote that the books illustrate four of the five main topics in a typical first-year sociology class: "sociological concepts including culture, society, and socialisation; stratification and social inequality; social institutions; and social theory".[53]

text: Stephen Brown noted that the early Harry Potter books, especially Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, were a runaway success despite inadequate and poorly organised marketing. Brown advised marketing executives to be less preoccupied with rigorous statistical analyses and the "analysis, planning, implementation, and control" model of management. Instead he recommended that they should treat the stories as "a marketing masterclass", full of enticing products and brand names.[50] For example, a real-world analogue of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans was introduced under licence in 2000 by toymaker Hasbro.[50][90]

text: Release history[edit]

text:
Country
Release date
Edition
(Hardback/Paperback)
Publisher
Pages

Canada
1 December 1998[91][92]
Hardback Children's Edition
Raincoast
223

Paperback Adult Edition (Original)

1 November 1999[93]
Hardback Signature Special Edition

31 August 2000[94]
Paperback Children's Edition

16 October 2002[95]
Paperback Magic Edition

4 October 2004[96]
Hardback Adult Edition (Re-issue with new cover)
336

12 January 2011[97][98]
Paperback Adult Edition (Re-issue with new cover)
Bloomsbury
223

Paperback Harry Potter Signature Edition

27 August 2013[99]
Paperback Adult Edition (Re-issue with new cover)

United Kingdom
26 June 1997[100][101]
Hardback Children's Edition

Paperback Children's Edition

11 September 1998[102]
Paperback Adult Edition (Original)

27 September 1999[103]
Hardback Signature Special Edition

8 October 2001[104]
Paperback Special Edition

10 July 2004[105]
Hardback Adult Edition (Re-issue with new cover)
336

4 October 2004[106]
Paperback Adult Edition (Re-issue with new cover)
223

1 November 2010[107]
Paperback Harry Potter Signature Edition

18 July 2013[108]
Paperback Adult Edition (Re-issue with new cover)

6 October 2015[109]
Hardcover Illustrated Edition (Illustrated by Jim Kay)
256

United States
1 September 1998[110]
Hardback
Arthur A. Levine/
Scholastic
309

8 September 1999[111]
Paperback

1 November 2000[112]
Hardback Collector's Edition

1 November 2001[113]
Mass Market Paperback
400

September 2008[114]
Paperback (Exclusive Scholastic School Market Edition)
309

1 October 2008[40]
Hardback 10th Anniversary Edition

27 August 2013[115]
Paperback (Re-issue with new cover)
336

6 October 2015[116]
Hardcover Illustrated Edition (Illustrated by Jim Kay)
256

text: Footnotes[edit]

text: Notes[edit]

text:
Jump up ^ J.K. Rowling was christened Joanne Rowling, without a middle name, and adopted the nom de plume J.K. Rowling for publication.[11] She says that she was always known as "Jo"[12] The book's copyright page gives her name as "Joanne Rowling".[13]
Jump up ^ The Children's Book Award, The Young Telegraph Paperback of the Year Award, the Birmingham Cable Children's Book Award and the Sheffield Children's Book Award.

tag: ol