Warner Bros. has released a second ‘For Your Consideration’ video that shows various reviews of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II.  They are hoping that the film, and its actors are nominated for Academy Awards.  It can be viewed below, thanks to SS!  The first video may be seen in this post.

I, like many others I’m sure, hope Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II pulls a Lord of the Rings: Return of the King and gets nominated for a ton of awards and wins them all! I still remember watching the Oscars that year and screaming every time it won, hopefully history repeats itself with Potter!  It definitely deserves the recognition.

Many of you follow James and Oliver Phelps on Twitter so you have most likely seen them mention Harry Moseley and the charity his mother started in his honor, Help Harry Help Others. Harry was an eleven year old boy that recently lost his fight against brain cancer. He was an inspiration for James & Oliver, and they always wear one of his bracelets.  His charity, which raises money by selling bracelets, benefits Cancer Research UK’s brain cancer research.

Weasley Twins Community, the first James & Oliver Phelps Italian Community/Forum, is doing a Christmas Project for the twins. They are asking fans to  to buy a Help Harry Help Others bracelet (by a minimum personal donation of £2), take a picture or short video of themselves wearing it and send the picture/video to their e-mail (weasleytwinscommunity@hotmail.com).  They will then make a video using all the photos and videos from fans and send it to James and Oliver.

Thanks to Matthew-Lewis.com we have video footage of Matthew switching on the Christmas Lights in Ilkley. There is also an interview included in the video where Matthew discusses his upcoming projects.

In other Christmas news, David Bradley (Hogwarts Caretaker, Argus Filch) will be attending two Christmas events that benefit charities.

The Stratford-based actor will open the Save the Children event at the town hall on Saturday November 26 at 10am, to which admission is free. Ann Bailey, secretary of the charity’s Leamington, Warwick and Kenilworth branch, said: “We are again delighted by the demand for space at the fair. “The event is almost twice the size of last year’s. We are indebted to David Bradley for fitting us in to his very busy film schedule and look forward to welcoming him to Leamington.”

Mr Bradley will also be opening a Victorian-style Christmas event in Kineton next Friday. Kineton will come under a Victorian spell for the evening, when there will be mulled wine and mince pies, hot chestnuts, traditional live music from Silver Bough, carol singing, a host of stalls selling Christmas gifts and many other attractions. The opening will take place at the war memorial at 6pm and the event will run until 8pm.

[A special thanks to Nora who attended the event on behalf of the site!]  You may view a few photos from the day in the gallery, with more on the way later today!
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Walking into Harry Potter the Exhibition was like being transported back through time and into a magical world. The exhibition opens November 19 in the Powerhouse Museum Sydney, the first location to harbour it outside North America. Magical Menagerie was given the special opportunity to preview the exhibition two days early, with special guests James and Oliver Phelps who play Fred and George Weasley. They described the fun they had filming the Harry Potter series, reminiscing about the Halloween scenes where they got to enjoy real food and after 30 takes the actors were swearing off profiteroles. They also talked about the delicacy of the wands they had in the sets and how they’ve broken several wands on- and off-scenes.

Magical Menagerie asked the actors on upcoming projects and whether they plan to pursue their interests such as football and music. James Phelps said he wished he could be a football commentator, but for now he’s focusing on his acting and has lined up some jobs. Oliver is planning to go on a vacation before going back to work, and both boys are excited about pursuing their acting careers separately.

We also met Eddie Newquist, the Chief Creative Office of GES who described the complexity of putting together the exhibition. Robin Stapley, Exective Creative Director of GES, mentioned the hard work of selecting the different props to display in the Great Hall and then transporting the exhibition pieces in total of 23 containers to each sites. He then walked us through the exhibition and highlighted the details and intricacy of the pieces.

The exhibition shows you the different sets of Harry Potter movies, recreating some of the sets such as Harry and Ron’s bedroom and Hagrid’s Hut. The details that you get to see in the pieces are the main reason this exhibition is so worth seeing. We got to see up close the details on Buckbeak and Fawkes, the lovely creatures that appeared in the movies. There were numerous pieces that makes you appreciate how much thoughts J.K. Rowling must have put into the character. We saw the life-size painting of Professor Lockhart and all his narcissistic photographs and Professor Umbridge’s clothing and her kitten ceramic plates. It was also interesting to see how the different directors seem to influence the style of the uniforms worn by the different characters.

There aren’t really enough words to describe how magical the exhibition is. It really makes you relive the whole Harry Potter adventure, and you just have to be there to witness it. The enchanting series might be over, but it will forever live in our minds.

© Nora for Magical-Menagerie. Do not take text or photos without proper credit.

Harry Potter: The Quest has released another new featurette. This one is called Finding Luna: A Dream Come True and shows us one of Evanna Lynch’s first screen tests with Daniel Radcliffe!

Thanks Hypable!

As I posted back in October, Daniel Radcliffe launched a competition to find the UK and Ireland’s scariest story. Budding writers may submit their own original short story to The Woman in Black YouTube Channel with the winning entry recorded by Dan and included on The Woman in Black DVD. The winner will also win a trip to London to attend the Premiere of The Woman in Black in early 2012.

The competition closes on the 20^th of December 2011, whereupon ten finalists will be chosen and voted for by the public.  The winner will be announced on the 6^th of January 2012. Full details and official rules may be seen on the YouTube Channel.

Read the full press release here!