25 Things You Might Not Know about Harry Potter - mental_floss List Show (Ep. 230)
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- Опубліковано 21 сер 2024
- A weekly show where knowledge junkies get their fix of trivia-tastic information. This week, John discusses everyone's favorite boy wizard.
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Number 27: Rupert Grint always wanted to be an ice cream truck driver. So with some of his money, he bought himself an ice cream truck. He often goes around his town and gives ice cream to kids for free. Which is awesome.
And he even drove it on set and gave the cast and crew some ice cream!
Did you know that he also bought exotic animals, including llamas? :D I wonder if any of the llamas is called French.
Hmmm...how Michael Jackson of him ...
YES
Scattered Moon Shards Okay, I'll bite - WHY would he call a llama "French?"
Tom Felton is truly a Slytherin. Sneaking candy into your robe pockets.
I'm sure Fred and George would have been the first to do that, and they're certainly no Slytherins.
True, maybe Tom just said he was the first to do it to seem cooler?
Gabriella Saucedo
ugh, typical slytherin
sk8rdman Nah, they would have figured out a cleverer way. Like turning the candy invisible or something.
Tom Felton would never have done well as Harry or Ron. He's a true Slytherin.
Sorry to break it to you, John, but the last word doesn't mean there's hope. :'( It's true that she had _planned_ on the last word being "scar", buuuut she changed her mind. Here's her explanation:
*_Meredith Vieira:_* The end of the book: I had read that the last word was supposed to be "scar." But the last--
*_J.K. Rowling:_* And it was for a long, long time. *For a long time the last line was something like: "Only those who he loved could see the lightning scar."* And that was in reference to the fact that as they were on the platform, people were milling around. And that Harry was kind of flanked by, you know, his loved ones. So they were the only ones who were really near enough to see it, even though peo-- other people were looking. And it also had a kind of ambiguity. So it was-- is the scar still really there? But I changed it because I wanted a more-- when I came to write it, I wanted a very concrete statement that Harry won. And that the scar, although it's still there, it's now just a scar. *And I wanted to say it's over. It's done.* And maybe a tiny bit of that was to say to people, *"No, Voldemort's not rising again. We're not going to have Part Two. Harry's job is done." So that's why I changed it.*
*_Meredith Vieira:_* To "all is well." And you knew when you came up with that line, that was it.
*_J.K. Rowling:_* It just felt ... I felt a kind of (SIGH). And that's--that felt right. And I really wanted Harry to have some (peace).
Hmm, I like the original line better! I just couldn't stomach how trite the actual ending was.
I too prefer her original ending, if only because it _isn't_ the actual ending, which was, as you said, nauseatingly trite. As much as I love Jo, she really phoned it in with that whack epilogue. :\
_That's a great quote._
Thanks for sharing.
Still, ...
Methinks JKR may _change her mind_ again-sometime.
YNK
_(Everyone lies to Meredith Vieira.)_
ツ
El Bug
Yes. When the book first came out I was defensive about the epilogue because I believed JKR could do no wrong. Now my perspective has shifted to the point where I'm disappointed that she could write such a complicated, nuanced series and then stick that sucker on the end like so much cotton candy after a gourmet meal.
I actually prefer the actual ending. "All is well." It meant that while the books are over, we can rest easy knowing Harry has had, and will have, a peaceful life after Voldemort. And to me it symbolized that Harry is no longer burdened by his past as the "Chosen One" and is at peace with his personal demons.
Read the title and took on watching this as a personal challenge lol
James Adams Some people pride themselves in knowing pretty much everything about the books. Even though I consider myself a really strong fan, I was surprised when I learned 3 of my friends had listened to each book about 6-7 times on average. Therein lies the hint, I think. Audio books makes it easier to focus on those little details.
Didn't all the potter heads ;)
I did too, there were sadly some facts I was unaware of, but most of them I knew.
3
The only one I didn't know was the thing about the other actors maybe playing Harry and Hermione, and I consider that pretty irrelevant xD
If this was Cracked or Buzzfeed the dingbat editors would have changed it to "25 Shocking, Sensational, and Scandalous Facts You Don't Know About A Beloved Children's Classic".
Unless it's a Bucholz article. In which case it will be titled "So You're Stuck In A Room With A Harry Potter Fanatic".
Ha! Dingbat. Love that word
jliller Lol. It's so sad that this is so true.
jliller And it'd be split into 10 pages.
You won't believe number 11!
Do Tolkien next! My favorite little known fact was that he most identified with Faramir's character. Also except for Gimli the fellowship cast got elven tattoos for "nine" (John Rhys-Davies had a bad skin reaction or something).
Yeah, he also got a bad reaction from the make up.
Also, that scream Aragorn does when he kicks that Uruk-Hai helmet in Two Towers? The reason it's so intense is because Vigo Mortensen broke his toe.
Didn't John Rhys-Davies' stunt double get it instead?
Yup!
Yes!
I love Faramir. He, Pippin, and Galadriel are my favorite characters (I couldn't pick just one.)
Tolkien also wrote a cameo of himself in The Fellowship of the Ring, as Hugo Bracegirdle, who is gifted a Bookshelf as a present from Bilbo as he is bad at returning Bilbo's borrowed books (just as Tolkien was in real life.
The woman who played Moaning Myrtle looked like an adult. She didn't even look close to age 13. It made the scene where she was peeping at naked Harry even creepier.
Makeup and SFX fooled me, but once I learned the truth that's the first scene I thought about, too...ugh.
I wouldn't have noticed unless I had read it on the internet, but then its a lot more obvious.
I find the last one hilarious; this will probably be my favourite HP trivia of all time.
tom felton once said during a convention that he prank calls Radcliffe as malfoy
My family are all Harry Potterphiles. We have round table discussions during the holidays discussing things like Harry Potter plot points resembling actual historical events. Yes, we are nerds! This is with my 70 year old parents and my teenage daughters.
Your family is awesome. I wish my dad would see me reading HP as more than reading a children's fairy tale... or trying to be more behaved.
I'm very jealous. I'm the type that can get into hour-long discussions, but everyone thinks I'm nuts
I'm a Loner potter in my home.
Well you can come over and we can discuss all things Harry Potter.
can I be part of your family ? haha
Ah, that number 25... gets me every time.
His excuse was, "I'm doing what Ron would do!" XD
Hahaaaa the last one proves that they were the perfect people for the job!
I love their real life essay's correlating so perfectly with what the likely respective lengths of their characters essays!
Love that their essays completely matched their characters
This was great! The last fact made me laugh. Also, another great wizard rock band is RiddleTM.
ooooooh, i love them! their stuff is so beautiful. i cry every time i listen to "for jo" haha
Yes! And their song, "Look At Me."
I would also mention Ministry Of Magic, amazing band :)
NoStressCrossfire i used to listen to them a ton, but when i figured out that luke is manipulative their music sort of lost that charm and greatness for me :(
hpispwn98 I think he deserves a second chance to be honest. While he was manipulative and all of that stuff Kristina said, it wasn't as bad as Alex Day and Sam Pepper for instance. I'm willing to give him a second chance, because I think he's a good guy, if you put the abusive/manipulative part thing with Whitney and Kristina aside. I hope he learned from it.
That said, even he had done something much more wrong, I don't think that would have kept me from listening to MoM stuff and his music before all that happened, because it's still great music and I don't really connect music with the artist that much (depends on the artist though)
The bit about the character essays might be my all-time favorite movie-making anecdote.
The last fact made me feel like the casting was absolutely PERFECT
The last fact is simply brilliant!
i am on the verge of tears this is solely the best episode of mental floss i have ever seen
As a 22 year old, Harry Potter feels like so long ago... I'm getting nostalgia tingles over here!
even though i knew about most of these already, it's always nice to revisit the old stories. harry potter has changed pretty much everyone's life in some way.
Oh shit!... I almost forgot to be awesome today. Thanks for reminding me.
"reading things without knowing everything that's going to happen stresses you out...." John Green, thank you for summarizing my literary life in one sentence.
Wow Emma really channeled Hermione by writing a 16 page essay
"Prisoner of Azkaban Director Alfonso Cuaron asked Emma, Rupert and Daniel to write essays about their character. Emma turned in 16 pages essay, Daniel's was one page long and Rupert never turned it in at all"
Haha, who would say they don't see Harry, Ron and Hermione in them ^^
I new 90% of this already ... I love Harry Potter too much
same!
Me too!
not me at all !!
btw why are we leaving exclamation marks at the end of almost every sentence?
Strategically placed 'might' in the title there. ;)
The Harry Potter manuscript was rejected by twelve publishers before being taken on by Bloomsbury. And in Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix it was Ron Weasley, not Arthur, that was almost killed off because of a depressive cycle that J.K Rowling was experiencing. (I'm sorry, but Harry Potter and it's trivia is sort of an obsession)
I'm pretty sure at one point she did consider killing Arthur off as well though didn't she?
It was Author who was supposed to die in Order of the Phoenix, Ron was supposed to die at the end of Deathly Hallows, but Rowling changed her mind and killed off Fred instead.
Actually, it was Lupin and Tonks that she decided to kill off instead of Arthur- only she didn't kill them until Deathly Hallows. Here's a link to the article released after the final book. www.today.com/id/20026225/ns/todaywild_about_harry/t/rowling-i-wanted-kill-parents/#.VGmP_4eeuhw
I knew almost everything. I am a huge HP nerd...
I know all of them. I am a huge fan.
Claudia Talbott I didn't know any of it, but I weigh in excess of 400 lbs. I am a huge fan too.
i didn't know expecto patronum and lestrange, I thought it just meant that she was strange because she was actually haha and Steven Spielberg was so wrong
HP? Hah! Compaq is where it's at!
;-)
JogInTheFog xD
You are a little mixed up on fact 12. Arthur survived, but Fred, Lupin and Tonks died in exchange, not Sirius. Arthur Weasley's death would have served two literary purposes: the loss of a Weasley (because all of theme surviving was unrealistic), and the lost of a parent. Fred is the lost Weasley, and Lupin and Tonks, leaving baby Teddy behind, show the loss of a parent.
Source: this Mental Floss article, #3
mentalfloss.com/article/54889/12-post-potter-revelations-jk-rowling-has-shared
The best part about this video is John saying Rowling correctly. If you could smell sounds, that's what amortentia would smell like to me.
Item 26: Some nerdfighters think Harry Potter is terrible, and that's OK.
Not me, but true. To each their own.
Yes, because all Nerdfighters are made of awesome, but some are, occasionally, still WRONG.
juststeveschannel Shrug, I'm sure I like things that you think are terrible. It's personal preference, and nobody is "wrong" based on what books/films/comics/whatever they choose to like or dislike. We nerds tend to hold to the belief that all of our friends must be enthusiastic about the same things that we are, but that's a ridiculous social fallacy IMO. Vive la différence!
While I disagree with your opinion I am impressed by the fact that there are 26 likes in addition to it being item 26. .
That's weird. I'm still getting notifications for this thread but my comments are gone.
It's weird and really cool hearing one of the best writers ever talk about another one of the best writers!
"No, no, no, I can't do that, I know what is going to happen AND YOU DON'T" Love those last 3 words, I knew about Jo telling Alan about Severus' feeling towards Lily, but the quoted part I was unfortunately unaware of.
I could never get in to harry potter. It has a great atmosphere, but all the magic is just deus ex machina after deus ex machina and then completely forgotten about the next scene.
you make a fair point. even though i adore the narrative in Harry Potter, i see where you are coming from and i agree.
Well, it is a fantasy series so... what else were you expecting? -__-
agentrikamcgee Good writing. As opposed to bad writing. Which is what the windguardium leviosa scene is, because it never fucking gets used again even though it would have solved a million problems.
Fantasy doesn't mean completely fucking stupid
David Bowie Sama Sensei Senpai Sama Sensei Kun Wingardium Leviosa only levitates objects and doesn't work on people.
SentsuizanXS When did I say it worked on people? Also when did the book or movie say that? What? None of the above said that? Oh. Oooooh.
I have to admit, that 25th fact about the essays is hilarious!
My heart...
I love the Harry Potter Series so much. Its stuff like that last one that makes me appreciate how great these characters are and how well they were portrayed in the film.
Ms. Rowling has declared to the Twitterverse that her patronus is actually a pine marten, not an otter (granted, they are both mustelidae).
I can only assume she knows this because she is actually capable of performing the charm.
I thought she said the books were rejected 12 times. She also said that she didn't want to end the books on a bad note, which is why she went with "well" instead of "scar".
Another fact! Rupert Grint and his family live in the village next to mine,and apparently ( although I've never tried it) if you go to their house at Halloween they give out these huge chocolate bars instead of regular sweets!
Mental Floss, John Green, sitting on the couch reading and getting into trouble are not the only options. Some kids still play outside and play video games, and don't smoke meth, shoot peers, slip ruffies, and steal cars...except in video games. (0:21)
Your HP nerd level is measured by the number of items on the list you already know.
the bit about the essays is just perfect.
I so want to read Emma's Hermione essay.
R MH I want to read Rupert's.
It's been a while since I watched this, so I can't remember if I never knew he wrote one or if I just forgot. I'm sure that would be interesting to read as well, though.
He didn't. It was a joke. xD
Ah. Well, in my defense, it's midnight where I am. My brain is not fully on right now, and yt still has not yet developed a font that conveys lol-smirks.
Hehehe. I understand. :)
One minor (actually, major) correction: Lord Voldemort did not kill Hedwig. She was killed by a Death Eater who was probably aiming to kill Hagrid instead.
Additional tidbits: in the Chamber of Secrets movie, during the dueling scene you can see one of the camera men kneeling at the corner of the screen; also in one of the films, I think Goblet of Fire, as they're walking through the trees, the branches spell out his name.
Fact number 25 made me laugh hysterically. It was just absolutely perfect.
Diane Duane's "Young Wizard" series predates the HP series, btw. And are great books.
They are good books, but they're very different from Harry Potter.
kay, so I knew most of these, but I'm pretty obsessed. Still I didn't know about the children in the ER thing. They should use have used that as a selling point, like "HARRY POTTER: Not satanic, and keeps kids out of the ER."
harry potter + John Green = PERFECT
I was always under the impression that both Arthur and Sirius were supposed to die in Book 5, but she couldn't bring herself to kill Arthur, so instead another father had to die, which was Lupin and Tonks in Book 7. Not sure where I got that idea from though.
John, how could you list your favorite wizard rockers and not mention your own brother?!
I figure I'm a true Potter geek. I realized that George Weasley was going to be the one to die in the war when I was reading "Order of the Phoenix". The entire scene when they took their leave from Hogwarts consisted of FRED talking back to Umbridge, Fred saying they'd "outgrown Hogwarts", Fred saying they were leaving, & George just saying "Yeah." She was *already* marking him as "the spare".
Except George wasn't the one who died... Fred was.
Which is exactly why - if one of them had to die - Fred had to be the one to go. It would be much tougher for George to live without Fred than for Fred to live without George. More emotions involved = bigger impact to the storyline. Me, I just pretend that they both made it - since it happened at the end of the last book, and I never had to grapple with a storyline showing Molly dealing with Fred's death. For some reason, that was the one death I just refused to accept.
Apledore Ugh I know! I even saw this tumblr post that said that Molly's boggart showed Fred and George dead together since even in her worst nightmares she couldn't imagine them apart. I seriously lost it after that...
About the last fact: The director asked them to write the essay in the style of their character.
Emma's was neat and long
Dan's was short and scribbled quickly
Rupert's didn't exist
1:55 I've often quipped that Harry Potter's ending was hastily changed when Rowling decided that she didn't like her original ending. There was tons of foreshadowing that Harry would have to sacrifice himself in order to kill the last part of Voldemort's soul, which he did. But I believe the original draft didn't include the deus ex machina that miraculously resurrected Harry in the final moments. This explains the inconsistencies on the final word of the series and also why Rowling has gone on record about her regret over putting Hermione with Ron instead of Harry.
I actually wouldn't call it deus ex machina, I think she did a fairly good job of hinting all long that love was the greatest magical power and that a sacrifice for love could save you.
She never said that she regretted that. She said that they would have had trouble in their marriage. Read the article.
He wasn't resurrected because he didn't actually die, only Voldemort's soul inside him did.
silverdragon As if no happily married couples have arguments and rows...
"For reasons that have very little to do with literature and far more to do with me clinging to the plot as I first imagined it, Hermione ended up with Ron." - JK Rowling on Ron and Hermione ending up together.
I don't know about you guys, but to me, that sounds similar to what I said! Not saying it's proof, but it's something consider.
Dumbledore also told Harry that he would have to choose between "what is right and what is easy" (Goblet of Fire). To me, nothing about Harry's sacrifice seemed difficult. I mean, it was definitely difficult to collect the phylacteries but it's always implied that the hero's journey would be difficult. Why call specific attention to it here, if it wasn't some kind of foreshadowing in the plot's original conception.
Again, this definitely isn't the only interpretation possible, but it food for thought!
Could've voldemort have killed Harry as a baby by, I dunno, stepping on him, or smothering him with a pillow? Kinda lame of him to give up after one failed spell.
THIS COMMENT. LOOOOOOOL
He literally did not have a body so I'm gonna go with no
molelimer Couldn't he have called up a nigga when harry was nine or something then? Been like, "kill this somnbitch"?
psyssi but he still didnt have a body and harry was being watched by mrs fudge and dumbledore
If he had a body maybe but Lily gave her life that sealed a contract that she die on Harry's behalf and THAT's why her love/sacrifice protected him so probably not even then. Voldy had to bring himself back using Harry's blood to even be able to touch him.
The last fact is hilarious. Looks like they were the perfect fit for their characters after all :))
I'm always tickled by the credits closer "With the help of all of these nice people" :)
lol, the essay assignment turn in matches the personalities of the characters they play! I guess that means they do understand their characters XD
Also, they tried to discourage the kids from stealing candy from the Honeydukes set by falsely telling them it was lacquer coated, though this was more to prevent continuity errors.
I'm surprised there was no mention of the 1986 movie, "Troll." Whether people like to believe it or not, it had greatly inspired the Harry Potter books.
I literally “awwed” out loud at Tom Felton wanting to play one of the protagonists, when he made such a lovable irritating rival/villain 🤣
"Things that might not know" CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!!
The only one I didn't know: 1.
Also, Rupert was dressed as his drama teacher (who's a woman) while he was rapping..
And she said in an interview that she felt the word change suited it better. (Of course that doesn't stop us from thinking she's just throwing us off the trail!)
I've said it so much times and I'll say it again, Harry Potter is one of the best things to ever happen. Like, ever.
Watched all the movies and read all the books several years ago but I forgot everything now... I think I have a serious problem with forgetting what happens in books and movies. But that aside, I get kind of emotional when I think about spending long hours as a kid reading those books and wishing I could live in that world, haha.
I actually knew the last fact. And when Rupert was asked why he never handed it in he replied "Ron never would have handed in that paper"
He would've but it would've been copied off Harry probably forgetting to change the names. :-D
True, but more likely Hermione's not Harry's because he knew that she always had the right answer.
Watching this made me vibrate in my seat with joy.
About the last point, when writing an essay about their character; didn't Rupert then try to get away with it by stating that "that is what his character would have done"?
There is a 8th book,called "Fantastic beasts and where to find them". And i hope this book's last word is not scar...
FBAWTFT doesn't end with scar but deathly hallows sort of does.
And the ninth is "Quidditch through the Ages" and the tenth is "Tales of Beedle the Bard". And we might as well have an eleventh book from all the stuff Rowling released on Pottermore.
God bless you, Mental Floss. I needed reassurance that I was not the only person interested in Harry Potter facts. I've made at least seven Harry Potter references in one of my classes this week, and all I get are blank stares. What is this world coming to?
Re: 23: She also did that to convince him to take the role in the first place.
Loved it, thanks! Am I the only one that couldn't stop thinking about the poor soul that has to dust those shelves?!
I was in the 3rd grade when the press release came out about the final word in the series being scar. I remember 8 year-old me thinking the last sentence must be something about how he looses his scar.
After reading the 7th book, I was surprised and confused to find that scar was not the last word. At least now I know I'm not the only one who noticed this.
I knew literally every one of these except for the expecto patronum one and the one about the herb names.
Good for me.
I remember reading that she was planning to kill Arthur Weasley originally at the end of Deathly Hallows. She ended up killing off Lupin and Tonks instead. As for The Order of the Phoenix I heard that she originally wanted to kill off Ron but decided to kill off Sirius Black instead.
Rupert Grint: "Fuck writing papers!"
Mah nigga...
And now I'm reading all the books again. See you in af few days!
Here is one that people know they just dont think about. Harry and voldemort were distantly related. They were both descendants of the peverell brothers.
Proud there were only a few of these I didn't know. And the ones I didn't know were mostly comments other people have made about the books or things outside the series.
omgosh you get it. seeing or reading things without knowing everything prior is just way too stressful for me
....the only things in this I /didn't/ know were things about the "real world" and filming and even some of those I knew....I'm obsessed.
16 PAGES!!! Mind blown
The first one makes me so happy for some reason.
It makes me so proud that I already knew all these facts -- though they were by no means obscure. :) Potterhead and proud!
Tom Felton hadn't actually read any of the books when he auditioned. When the director found out, he cast him as Draco, despite his failing the audition for Harry and Ron.
RE: Number 7 - I'm afraid JK Rowling said in an interview with Oprah: "For a long time the last word was going to be ‘scar’. It was just worded differently but I - and I had said that to fans. The last word would be ‘scar’ and then I changed my mind. I just wanted the last words to be ‘all is well’." So, no promise of another book :(
I don't know how to feel after watching this episode, I already knew all the things!
One of my favorite authors speaking about one of my favorite books or another favorite author of mine? Yeah! Pretty #LEGIT! I love Harry Potter, and I think we'll never truly give up on getting another book on the wizarding world and its wonders.
I watched the movies as they came out...except for the last 3. That was, until my son (who is only 3 months younger than Daniel Radcliffe, and a Potterhead in his own right) and I had a movie marathon after Alan passed away. I was completely taken over by the series. I read the books right after that. It completed the story for me. I was even able to hear the actors saying their lines in the book...even if they weren't in the movie.
Feeling like a true Potterhead- I knew half of these! I can't believe Moaning Myrtle was 36!
ikr!! My friend sent me a picture of Moaning Myrtle being the oldest one to play a student, she's 48 now
16 pages? I'm going to guess that Emma Watson really liked her character.
For Things #1, Can I understand it as, kids that read Harry Potter contribute to half of the ER visit? In other word, kids read Harry Potter get into trouble more often than the general population?
Ha! Interesting point!
Or maybe just half of the general population reads Harry Potter
CoyoteRaptor Or if not half, maybe a significant enough portion of the kid population lost their partners in crime for a short while after the book's release that they ended up needing less ER visits even though they didn't read the books themselves.
I thought it was that they were all reading therefore not getting hurt, then no longer contributing to half the ER visits
X Long Well, yeah. These are corollaries of that explanation.
Another interesting thing about Harry Potter is that there are a few Monty Python references throughout the series. Such as Cockroach Clusters and the titular character's name.
Alan Rickman is one lucky man. Or unlucky regarding the difficulties in keeping such a big secret.
The snake Harry set free in the zoo was the same one used for Nagini.
when John said " {...} which gives me hope for the book eight "
it's 2016 and there's really 8th book omg!
This was the first Mental Floss video for which I knew pretty much all of the facts!
Best episode of Mental Floss ever!1!!
Allegedly, Alfonso Cuaron later asked Rupert why he didn't turn in his essay to which Rupert responded that Ron wouldn't have turned his in either.
"No dragons were harmed"
House targaryen aproves