Archive-name: books/harry-potter/long-faq Posting-frequency: monthly Last-modified: June 9, 2009 Version: 1.79 URL: http://www.m5p.com/~pravn/hp/faq.html Maintainer: Petrea Mitchell < This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Disclaimer: Approval for *.answers is _base_d on form, not content. This is not the official FAQ for alt.fan.harry-potter, because there is no one true official FAQ. There are other FAQs, which can be found at <http://www.hogwartslibrary.net/ref/. Of all the general FAQs, this can only claim to be the wordiest. An HTML version of this FAQ is available at <http://www.m5p.com/~pravn/hp/faq.html. For the truly official version, the latest edition posted to Usenet can be found at (minus the line break) <ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/alt.fan.harry-potter/ FAQ%3A_alt.fan.harry-potter_Frequently_Asked_Questions. 1. THE NEWSGROUP 1.1 How does this thing work? 1.2 What's on topic for this group? 1.3 What do these abbreviations mean? 1.4 What's a spoiler ? 1.5 What sort of things need spoiler space? 1.6 What's canon ? 1.7 Do I need to check the Google archive before posting? 1.8 Eek! Is Tom Felton really reading this? 2. THE BOOKS 2.1 What are the official Harry Potter books? 2.2 When will the next book be out? 2.3 Why was there such a huge gap between the release of the fourth and fifth books? 2.4 Why is it the Sorcerer's Stone in the US and the Philosopher's Stone everywhere else? 2.5 Where can I download the books? 2.6 No, where can I download illegal copies of them for free? 2.7 Will there be an eighth book? 2.8 How are the adult editions different from the regular ones? 2.9 What are the differences between the US and UK editions? 2.10 I heard there was going to be a book called...? 3. THE MOVIES 3.1 What can you tell me about the release of the next movie? 3.2 Who will be in the upcoming movies? 3.3 Are the movies canon? 3.4 Where can I download the movies? 3.5 No, where can I download illegal copies of them for free? 4. ELECTRONIC VERSIONS 4.1 How do I get to the deleted scenes on the extras DVD for the first movie? 4.2 Is there another ending to the Chamber of Secrets tour? 4.3 Where can I find cheats for the video games? 5. WEB SITES 5.1 Where are the official sites? 5.2 Where can I find Harry Potter news? 5.3 Where can I find fan fiction? 5.4 What about reference sites? 5.5 What's the deal with the door on the Flash side of Rowling's official site? 6. LEGAL STUFF 6.1 Is my fan site illegal? 6.2 Is fan fiction illegal? 6.3 What's the Stouffer lawsuit about and how is it doing? 6.4 What's going on with J. K. Rowling suing Steve Vander Ark? 6.5 Did you just say Rowling doesn't actually own Harry Potter? 7. GATHERINGS 7.1 What are some upcoming Harry Potter-related events? 8. THE RESTRICTED SECTION This part is for questions that require spoilers to answer. Even the question list has spoilers, so you will find it buried underneath the spoiler space after section 7. 1. THE NEWSGROUP 1.1 How does this thing work? Go to the following URL and check out the What is Usenet and Usenet Netiquette sections: <http://www.faqs.org/usenet/usenet.html. If you're coming to us through Google Groups, it's possible that you can also access this newsgroup locally through your ISP with a dedicated newsreader. To test this, try going to news:alt.fan.harry-potter (no http !) with your browser and see what happens. If you stick with Google Groups, here's a quick tutorial on how to get it to use to Usenet-_style_ quoting, which will make your posts more comprehensible to the rest of the world: <http://www.safalra.com/special/googlegroupsreply/. 1.2 What's on topic for this group? Just about anything relating to the Harry Potter books, movies, or merchandise, or to J. K. Rowling. Fan fiction, and detailed discussion thereof, should go to alt.fan.harry-potter.creative. 1.3 What do these abbreviations mean? a.f.h-p, afh-p, afhp, AFH-P, AFHP - alt.fan.harry-potter AK - Avada Kedavra CoS, COS - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets D, DD - Dumbledore DA - Dumbledore's Army DADA - Defense Against the Dark Arts DE - Death Eater(s) GoF, GOF - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire HBP - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince JKR - J. K. Rowling LV - Lord Voldemort MoM, MOM - Ministry of Magic MWP&P, MWPP - Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs OotP, OOTP, OoP, OOP - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix PoA, POA - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban PS - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone SS - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone V - Voldemort 1.4 What's a spoiler ? In the broadest sense, any information from a book or movie someone hasn't seen yet. For instance, if you haven't read _Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets_ or seen the movie yet, an explanation of what the Chamber of Secrets is would be a spoiler for you. Articles which contain important spoilers should precede them with a warning