| | Harry Potter...
Mayank Shekhar, Guest critic, NDTV
 
The first thing you notice about this gigantic movie Harry Potter's sixth part, The Half Blood Prince, is how, as compared to the other Harry Potters, it's so much darker. But of course it's not quite dark in the intelligent Dark Knight sort of way.
Young Harry Potter is whisked away by Professor Dumbledore, from his one-minute crush at a cafe. At Hogwarts, Harry finds a new teacher. He learns new lessons. He also finds an old book on potions with notes and scribbles that belongs to a mysterious half-blood prince. It turns out Hogwarts itself is not such a safe place anymore. | |
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| | Potter hits bookstands
(20 Images)British author JK Rowling reacts during a photocall for the release of her latest Harry Potter book titled Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at the Natural History Museum in London. | | | | Potter mania
(10 Images)Pottermania | | | | Harry Potter stamps
(7 Images)Britain's Royal Mail Harry Potter stamps being loaded onto Royal Mail trucks at a mail centre in London to be dispatched to post offices across the UK. | Harry Potter Premiere in LA
(16 Images)Emma Watson, left, reacts as she looks at pictures of Daniel Radcliffe while interviewed by Extra's Carlos Diaz, right, at the premiere of Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix. | | | | Harry Potter's UK premiere
(14 Images)British author of the Harry Potter series of books, JK Rowling poses for photographers as she arrives with her husband Neil Murray for the premiere of the latest Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, at a cinema in central London. | | | | | | |
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| | Who's who in Harry Potter
NDTVMovies.com
(18 Images)As the latest Harry Potter movie gets ready to hit the big screen, we give you a roundup of the major characters in the films and the books - who they are, where they are from and most importantly who are the actors playing them. | |
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| |  | Animagus: A witch or wizard who has the ability to transform into one particular animal. | | |
Boggart: A shape-shifting creature that takes the appearance of your greatest fear. | | |
Butterbeer: A frothy, buttery drink, a favourite among students of Hogwarts. | | |
Firewhisky: An alcoholic drink, not very different from whiskey. | | |
Broom: Not something to clean with, but a means of transport and the basic requirement for flying. Also essential for Quidditch. Brands include Nimbus, Cleansweep, and Firebolt. | | |
Centaurs: Half-human, half horse creatures that live in the Forbidden Forest. | | |
Death Eater: People who were followers of Lord Voldemort and accompanied him in all his dark, horrible crimes. They are all branded with the Dark Mark that lights up when Voldemort is calling them. | | |
Dementor: Creatures who guard the magic prison called Azkaban. They feed on human emotions, sucking out the happiness and leaving a cold, sad feeling wherever they are. A Dementor's Kiss is when they reveal their faces to the accused and suck the soul out of them. | | |
Gnomes: Small creatures with leathery skin and bald heads. They live in holes in gardens and have very sharp teeth. The solution to them is to pull them out, whirl them around and throw them high up in the air. | | |
Goblins: Unfriendly magic creatures that are very short, look ugly and old and guard the magic bank called Gringotts. | | |
Golden Snitch: The most important ball in Qudittich is the Golden Snitch. It is difficult to see and rarely remains in one spot for too long. It has wings and keeps flying away. The Seeker of the team has to catch it. The team that catches the snitch wins. | | |
Grim: A big black dog that symbolises death. | | |
Great Hall: The main hall at Hogwarts where the students assemble everyday for their meals and announcements. It is here that the sorting of students into houses takes place. It is an enchanted hall that decorates itself according to the occasion. | | |
Hippogrif: A magical creature that has the face, front legs and wings of an eagle, and hind legs and tail like a horse. | | |
Horcrux: An object in which a person has preserved and hidden a part of his soul. | | |
Howler: A redletter sent by an angry person to whom he or she is angry with. The letter opens and starts shrieking out the message in a loud tone, enough for everyone around to hear. It them crushes and burns itself. | | |
House-elf: A magical creature that isn't very attractive, and is usually very small in stature. Elves are house servants and enslaved to a particular family for generations. If they betray the family they punish thmselves. They never change their clothes and if they are ever given clothes by their masters it means they are dismissed from service. | | |
Keeper: Quidditch team member who guards the goal posts. | | |
Knut: Bronze currency used by wizards. | | |
Mandrake: A medicinal plant whose roots look like an old man. The plant cures victims of petrification. The cry of the mandrake is fatal to the human ear. It is also known as mandragora. | | |
Muggle: A person who has not a drop of magic in his blood. What lay people call human. | | |
Occlumency: A practice used by powerful wizards to protect their thoughts and memories from others who are adept in the art of reading minds. | | |
Parselmouth: The ability to understand and speak to snakes. | | |
Phoenix: A rare bird that bursts into flames every few years to be reborn of its own ashes. The tears of a phoenix have healing powers. | | |
Portkey: An object that can transport a person to a pre-decided destination. Everyday objects are disguised as portkeys. | | |
Potions: Subject taught at Hogwarts that teaches students to brew magical potions. | | |
Put-outer: An object used to put out lights. Ironically, it looks like a lighter. | | |
Quidditch: The 'national' game of wizards. Like football, opposing teams have to score goals by throwing balls into their opponents' goal posts. Hitting opponents with huge bludgers is allowed. The game is over when one seeker catches the golden snitch. And of course, it is played with players flying on brooms. | | |
Remembrall: A magic ball full of smoke that turns a deep red to tell you that you have forgotten something. It doesn't say what though. | | |
Sickle: Wizard money. | | |
Skele-gro: A medicine that makes your bones grow back. It tastes awful and is painful. | | |
Transfiguration: Subject taught at Hogwarts. It is the art of transforming things or people. | | |
Veela: Magically beautiful women with white hair that men cannot resist. However, they are completely human. | | |
Verisatum: A powerful potion that makes the user blurt out the truth. | | |
Wand: The most basic requirement for all wizards. No magic is possible without them. | | | |
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| |  | Radcliffe supports gay group
| Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has extended his support to a homosexual support group by handing over a "generous" donation. | | | | | | | | | Harry Potter opens with $58.2 mn
| After a two-year gap since the last film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince opened with a whopping $58.2 million domestically in its first day. | | | | | | | | | | | | Potter star compared to Prince Harry
| It's a comparison not many people will mind, but 'Harry Potter' star Daniel Radcliffe is tired of being compared to English royal Prince Harry. | | | | | | | | | | | | Harry Potter's royal connection
| Queen Elizabeth II has given permission to the director of the next Harry Potter to shoot parts of the film on her property. | | | | | | | | | Harry Potter film in 3D version
| The 3D version of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince which is premiering on July 15 promises to give audiences an amazing experience. | | | | | | Emma Watson to quit Hollywood?
| Harry Potter star Emma Watson is considering giving up acting if she doesn't find any more roles she is passionate about. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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| | Accio
The summoning charm. | | | |
Alohomora
Spell used to open doors. | | | |
Anti-cheating spell
Used by Hogwarts professors to make sure students can't cheat in exams. | | | |
Aresto momentum
Stops time for a moment. |
Avada Kedavra
The killing curse. It kills instantly without leaving any trace of the cause of death. There is no counter curse for this. It is one of the Unforgivable Curses, and it lands the wizard who used it in prison. Author J.K Rowling revealed the origin on this word, "It is an ancient spell in Aramaic, and it is the original of abracadabra, which means 'let the thing be destroyed.' Originally, it was used to cure illness and the 'thing' was the illness, but I decided to make it the 'thing' as in the person standing in front of me. I take a lot of liberties with things like that. I twist them round and make them mine." | | | |
Banishing charm
The opposite of 'Accio', this charm repels thing away from the witch or wizard using it. | | | |
Crucio
The Cruciatus Curse is used to inflict severe, unbearable pain on the recipient. It is used as a form of torture. In Latin, crucio means, 'I torture'. | | | |
Evanesco
The vanishing charm, used to make an object disappear. |
Expecto Patronum
The Patronus charm is the manifestation of the happy memories of the user. Since it is the embodiment of joy, it cannot feel despair and it protects the user against dementors that try to suck the happiness out of their victims. A patronus takes on the form of an animal. | | | |
Expelliramus
The disarming charm is used to make your opponents wand fly out of reach. | | | |
Imperio
The Imperius Curse is used to make the victim obey the command of the wizard who casts the curse. It too is an Unforgivable Curse. | | | |
Legilimens
A curse to get inside the mind of another witch or wizard, reading their thoughts and memories. |
Locomotor mortis
A leg-lock curse used to make sure the recipient freezes over and can't move at all. | | | |
Lumos
The spell to light a wand giving light only to the wand-bearer. | | | |
Obliteration charm
A charm used to erase things or hide them. | | | |
Oblivate
The Memory charm is used to hide the memory of a thing or event. |
Obscuro
A charm that obstructs a person's view, causing them to be momentarily blind. | | | |
Reducto
Causes objects to blast into tiny pieces. | | | |
Reparo
A charm used to repair broken objects. | | | |
Riddikulus
Spell used against boggarts. It turns the boggart (which takes the shape of your worst feae) into something funny. |
Silencio
Spell used to silence someone. | | | |
Stupefy
The stunning spell puts the recipient in an unconscious state. | | | | | | |
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