2010-2020 Decade In Review: Life Post-Potter

Jan 01, 2020

Posted by: Emma Pocock

Broadway, DH Film, Fandom, Fans, Fantastic Beasts Movie, Fantastic Beasts Round-Up, Harry Potter Round-Up, HP Cast, J.K. Rowling, Movies, News, Pottermore, Round-Up, Theater, Theater Round-Up, Warner Bros., West End

It may be the start of a new decade, but we find ourselves looking back through our pensieve today and recounting the highlights of our Wizarding World journey from 2010-2020.

From the premiere of both Deathly Hallows films, and the opening of theme parks, plays, tours, exhibits and celebrations, to navigating the ‘end of Potter’ and the various new content from Rowling and the fan community, it’s safe to say the Harry Potter fandom has had more of a resurgence than expected. The dust hadn’t even started to settle on the books and films before whispers of a promise of a Wizarding World beyond Potter started spreading!

In the same decade Harry Potter came to an end, Pottermore launched, then rebranded twice, eventually becoming Wizarding World Digital with Warner Bros., and heralding in a new era of J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World. The community may be slightly divided in our opinions on post-Potter content, but one thing’s for sure: we’re still just as passionate about the original messages and characters in the books!

Join us in opening some memory vials on New Year’s Day, and looking back over some of the big moments of the past decade below, and don’t forget to vote for your 2019 highlights and top moment of the decade in The Golden Cauldron Awards.

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2010

In the same year Leaky celebrated 10 years of being on the World Wide Web, J.K. Rowling’s co-founded ‘Children’s High Level Group’ was renamed to ‘Lumos’, and J.K. Rowling’s White House Easter Egg Roll reading took place. Warner Bros. also received approval on a public studio tour, paving the way for Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter.

Leaky attended private views of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Orlando (also here), ahead of the grand opening of Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade in June 2010, and we published a Deathly Hallows Part 1 set report preview.

In November 2010, the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One London and New York premieres took place, rounding off the beginning of a brilliant decade.


2011

In June 2011, Pottermore was announced, prompting a PotterCast special about the hints being given. In July 2011 J.K. Rowling left Christopher Little Literary Agency and moved onto The Blair Partnership, before Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part Two premiered (press roundup, Leaky’s coverage, images), ending an era of Potter and spurring the beginning of the Wizarding World era when the film released (July 15th).

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2012

2012 marked a big year for Rowling, who passed 1 million Twitter followers, and announced she was writing a novel for adults, revealed in April to be ‘The Casual Vacancy’, which published in September.

The Warner Bros Studio Tour opened in London in March, and with an introduction from J.K. Rowling, Pottermore launched to the general public:

“I’m thrilled to say that I’m now in a position to give you something unique, an online reading experience unlike any other. It’s called Pottermore.”

Pottermore

The first year without a Harry Potter book or film release then prompted a Guardian interview with J.K. Rowling: ‘Life After Harry Potter’.


2013

In 2013, J.K. Rowling said there would be ‘no Harry Potter prequel’ at Bath Literature festival, and later in the year was revealed to be the author of The Cuckoo’s Calling, under pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

The late Richard Griffiths (Vernon Dursley) passed away aged 65, the Hogwarts Express was confirmed for Wizarding World of Harry Potter expansion in Orlando, and in August Scholastic’s 15th anniversary interview with J.K. Rowling & 15th anniversary editions released:

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We got our first taste of the new Wizarding World era in September 2012, when J.K. Rowling confirmed she would pen the Fantastic Beasts screenplay and David Heyman was confirmed as producer. A Celebration of Harry Potter, Diagon Alley and The Leaky Cauldron were announced for the Wizarding World expansion in Orlando, and the Harry Potter play (later known as Cursed Child) was announced, heralding in a new age.


2014

The Casual Vacancy BBC adaptation was announced in 2014, as well as Bloomsbury’s anniversary Jonny Duddle cover editions:
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The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened at Universal Studios Japan in July 2014, and we learned that a park would open in Hollywood in 2016. The Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movie release date was announced, with David Yates confirmed as director. J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. also formed the the Global Franchise Development Team.

As Diagon Alley opened with a red carpet event at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando, Robert Galbraith / J.K. Rowling’s The Silkworm published. We also caught a glimpse of Potter characters in their present-day forms, as the Quidditch World Cup short story by J.K. Rowling released on Pottemore.

2014 was marked by many losses, as the late Roger Lloyd-Pack passed away aged 69, the late Dave Legeno (Fenrir Greyback) passed away aged 50, the late David Ryall (Elphias Doge) passes away aged 79.


2015 

16427662032_6d2fd21b62_bThe first ever A Celebration of Harry Potter took place in 2015, bringing together fans at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Orlando Resort.

Hogwarts Express had just been announced for Warner Bros Studio Tour as Eddie Redmayne was confirmed as Newt Scamander in Fantastic Beasts (along with the official logo and trailer), and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child became the first Potter story confirmed since Deathly Hallows, with new faces of the Golden Trio cast in Fall 2015.

Rebranding began as Pottermore relaunched, and Robert Galbraith / J.K. Rowling’s Career of Evil published, as well as the first ever illustrated edition of the Harry Potter series by Jim Kay, as Philosopher’s Stone published (October 6th).

This story appears to have been shared via a party dress (as Rowling revealed in a more recent interview in 2017),  but J.K. Rowling announced she was writing a new children’s book to BBC Radio 2 in 2015!


2016

2016 started with bad news, as the late, beloved Alan Rickman (Severus Snape) passed away aged 69.

The world of Fantastic Beasts was given more depth, as the Wizarding Schools World Map was announced at A Celebration of Harry Potter and History of Magic in North America released on Pottermore.

House of MinaLima was announced and opened in 2016, just round the corner from Cursed Child, which opened for preview performances after interviews with J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, John Tiffany on creating the play, followed by an official opening on the West End in July.

At the end of 2016, we bade farewell to the late Hazel Douglas (Bathilda Bagshot), who passed away aged 92 on September 8th.

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After the iconic Patronus quiz made its debut on Pottermore, Leaky’s Fantastic Beasts set visit reports released:

Fantastic Beasts   |   MACUSA   |   Drawing Board Room   |   Outdoor Sets   |   David Heyman   |   Eddie Redmayne   |   Colin Farrell

Jim Kay’s illustrated edition of Chamber of Secrets published just ahead of the Fantastic Beasts premiered in New York and London, awakening a new era in the Wizarding World, marked by the launch of the new JKRowling.com.

Interviews David Yates and David Heyman 1 & 2   |   Eddie Redmayne and Katherine Waterston   |   Ezra Miller 1 & 2   |   Alison Sudol and Dan Fogler


2017

Another loss greeted us in 2017, as we lost the late and beloved John Hurt, who passed away aged 77  on January 27th.

We celebrated a new year, however, with A Celebration of Harry Potter (1, 2, 3), and a new era was awarded when Fantastic Beasts won the first Wizarding World Oscar. 2017 turned out to be a record-breaking year all round, in fact, as Cursed Child broke records at the Olivier Awards prior to the announcement that Cursed Child would be opening in Broadway and Melbourne.

2017 also marked the first 20th anniversary of the book series, celebrated with 20th Anniversary U.K. House Crest editions of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by Bloomsbury. 10 Years Later, Leaky also celebrated the anniversary of the release of Deathly Hallows.

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The year closed with more celebrations took place on the day of 19 Years Later: the day of the epilogue on September 1st 2017, celebrated in true Wizarding World style at LeakyCon in Dublin, and virtually with Pottermore’s virtual tour of Hogwarts!

We also grieved at the loss of the beloved Robert Hardy (Cornelius Fudge) in the Fall when he passed away aged 91.

Jim Kay’s illustrated edition of Prisoner of Azkaban and Olivia Lomenech Gill’s illustrated edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them released, and the Hisory of Magic exhibition opened at the British Library (analysis by Dr Beatrice Potter here), accompanied by a History of Magic documentary on BBC Two.

We wrapped up 2017 with the promise of more Wizarding World news to come, as the second Fantastic Beasts movie title was announced: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, along with November 16th 2018 release date, and J.K. Rowling addressing Grindelwald casting concerns.


2018

Another A Celebration of Harry Potter took place in 2018 (opening ceremony, panels, expo, MinaLimaCrimes footage) — potentially the last ever, but we hope there will be more to come!

2018 also saw the Harry Potter books reach a milestone, with over 500 million Harry Potter books sold as of February 2018, before the launch of Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery and opening of Cursed Child on Broadway.

We bade farewell to the late and beloved Verne Troyer (Griphook), who passed away aged 49, and grieved the loss of favorite characters 20 years after the Battle of Hogwarts.

In the Summer we celebrated as Cursed Child continued to break records, winning six Tony Awards ahead of announcing that the play would be opening in San Francisco and Hamburg, and we were treated to Brian Selznick’s mural cover art editions by Scholastic.

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We published new J.K. Rowling interview material from Lev Grossman’s 2005 interview, written by Dr Beatrice Groves exclusively for Leaky (1, 2, 3).

At San Diego Comic Con in July, Warner Bros. debuted the Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald trailer at their panel, and Scholastic held a special 20th anniversary Harry Potter panel with our own Melissa Anelli). August 2018 gave us another LeakyCon, giving us exclusive interviews and panels with Devon Murray, Alison Sudol, Dan Fogler, Chris Rankin, and much more—definitely a highlight of the year!

We also FINALLY got to release our reports from the Crimes of Grindelwald set, almost 11,000 words of secrets and filmmaking revelations that we’d been holding onto for almost an entire year, and J.K. Rowling (Robert Galbraith) published Lethal White in September, after a long while of waiting for the fourth instalment in Strike’s journey.

In the Fall, Universal Orlando released an official teaser image of the new Hogsmeade ride, before Leaky got to attend a special Fantastic Beasts fan event in New York City where we met J.K. Rowling and participated in a Q&A with the cast of the film, watched the final trailer (which dropped the next day), and Jo and the cast appeared on The Today Show to introduce the trailer to the world.

Leaky appeared in a Newsweek Special Edition (Fantastic Beasts of the Wizarding World) ahead of the LA interviews with the cast of Crimes of Grindelwald, as well as the Paris world premiere and London regional premiere of the film.

Melissa Anelli reached the tenth anniversary of her New York Times bestseller, Harry, A History, and we helped her celebrate with a book group dedicated to re-reading the fascinating tale of the Potter fandom from an insider’s perspective.

With our spoiler lockdown lifted, we were finally able to start our Fantastic Beasts theorising, posting our biggest questions about the film, the parallels between the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts series, the importance of Eulalie Hicks and Nicolas Flamel, and speculations on the true identity of Credence / Aurelius.


2019

10. Wizarding World Gold_Discounts_Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry  Potter_  Gringotts Wizarding BankWarner Bros. Studio Tour opened the Gringotts expansion in April 2019! Pottermore and Warner Bros. then announced a huge rebrand, taking J.K. Rowling’s franchise from Harry Potter to Wizarding World with the formation of a new joint venture: Wizarding World Digital.

Leading into June, we witnessed the opening of Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, a new (and highly anticipated) thrill ride at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade at Universal Orlando Resort, as well as the launch of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, and the release of Lumos, an incredible wrock album by legends Harry and the Potters (their first full-length album in 13 years!).

Leaky then celebrated our 19 Years Later anniversary, followed by Back to Hogwarts and a Cursed Child rebrand marked by a Times Square take-over.

LeakyCon celebrated a ten year anniversary in Boston in October with Harry and the Potters, Dan Fogler, Chris Rankin, Stan Yanevski, Louis Cordice, Luke Youngblood and more, followed by the launch of Wizarding World Gold, the official fan subscription service.


And here we are: 2020! We look forward to seeing what a new era brings in the fandom, and what the next decade at Leaky will look like. It’s an especially exciting year for us, as Leaky will be celebrating its 20th birthday (July 5th 2020)! Look out for some exciting changes, coming very soon…

As always, thanks for sticking with us! Be sure to vote for your highlights of 2019, and your favorite Wizarding World moment of the decade in The Golden Cauldron Awards!

 





The Leaky Cauldron is not associated with J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., or any of the individuals or companies associated with producing and publishing Harry Potter books and films.