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[heidi8]

So, recent discussions about readings of the HP series have brought to my attention the fact that a lot of people here may not have read the two 2001 schoolbooks that JKR wrote for Comic Relief UK. In a few days, I'll explain more of the why behind this post, but I don't want to skew the results, so I won't at this point. If you've read the six HP

Comments

[titti]

Oops, you can ignore Charlie, that was me forgetting to log out and in again. Sorry.

[heidi8]

Ha! Personally, I think the books were edited versions of what the kids actually read - I mean, FB is implied as being much, much longer in the series itself - so I'd love to get a canon character's take on it. ;)

[tiferet]

I laughed a little when you said not to be upset by folks who hadn't read the schoolbooks, because I hadn't either. I suppose I should. I've never written anything where Quidditch was a plot point and I've always grabbed my magickal creatures direct from mythology. If there's interesting historical material in them, though, I'd be glad to read them.

[ex_ajhalluk585]

The nasty politics about why merfolk and centaurs are beasts, and Scamander's commentary on that is quite important.

Put it this way: I suspect they'd get up your nose, but they do clarify some quite interesting aspects of her thinking.

[gehayi]

I couldn't offer an opinion about the books because I've never actually seen them in any bookstore or in any library.

I know that I'm never going to read QttA because...well...it's about Quidditch. Quidditch bores me, and I doubt I'm ever going to use it in a story. I don't see any point in buying or reading a book whose subject I'm not interested in.

[thistlerose]

They're both fun, but since you don't like Quidditch, I'd only recommend the magical creatures book. I got my copy from Amazon. That's how I found out about Crups, Erumpents, and all the other livestock. The commentary from Harry and Ron is cute, too.

[edenfalling]

I consider the schoolbooks to be a sort of supplementary canon. That is, they're not canon on the same level as the novels themselves, but they're more canonical than interviews with JKR, which are more canonical than the movies.

[gehayi]

See, I don't consider the interviews to be canon at all. I consider them to be commentary on canon, which is not at all the same thing.

As for the movies...I think of bookverse and movieverse as being parallel universes. Having only seen the first two movies (and having no desire to see the last two), I try to ignore the movies and operate strictly in bookverse. Because I actually HAVE the books.

[edenfalling]

Well, yes, most of the interviews are commentary and opinion, which I feel free to ignore. But now and then she'll drop a 'fact,' so to speak -- like people's full names -- and those I do pay attention to. (Um. And by 'interviews' I seem to mean 'interviews and website entries.' I should try to be more precise.)

As for the movies, I saw the first three, didn't see the fourth, and have no particular urge to hunt it down. When they give concrete form to something that wasn't mentioned in the books, and which doesn't actively contradict the books -- like Lucius Malfoy's appearance, beyond pale, blond, cruel, and disdainful -- then I consider it fair game for incorporation into book canon. Beyond that, they're ignorable.

[a_t_rain]

To expand on what I said in the comments, I think they're a fun read and useful for background canon details in fics -- but at the same time, I think many people in the fandom take them too seriously. It's humor writing, and JKR doesn't seem to have been too careful with the details when she was working on them, so I don't believe constructing elaborate conspiracy theories based on throwaway bits of information in the schoolbooks is likely to lead anywhere useful.

[ani_bester]

I treat it like I do her interviews. Anything that adds to the canon I keep, but anything that contradicts book canon I throw out. The book canon rules all . . even JKR's interviews 'cause she should not need to explain her own canon for me to get it and well .. there's always math. =P

I agree they are humor writing and not meant o be bible, but it is interesitng backgorund none the less, on some of the creatures. I wish she's do anone creature one. I want to know about hp-verse goblins and all these goblins wars binns drones on about.

I would *love* History of Magic *.*