About the new Harry Potter book, and possible spoilers.

[Skinner]

A few people have asked about our policy on Harry Potter spoilers. Here it is:

Do not post spoilers in thread titles. If you put a spoiler in a thread title, the moderators are going to delete your entire thread. If you do it on purpose, you're an anti-social jerk and we might even ban you.

Other than that, here is what you need to know:

1. It is considered common courtesy to put something like "(Spoiler Warning)" or "(No spoilers)" in the thread title when posting about books or movies, so people will know if it is safe to read a particular thread. But the moderators are not going to enforce this. If there is no spoiler warning on a thread, CLICK AT YOUR OWN RISK.

2. If you do not want to know what happens in the Harry Potter book, YOU SHOULD NOT BE SPENDING TIME ON A PUBLIC MESSAGE BOARD. You probably also should not be watching TV or reading the newspapers. Because somebody is going to screw up and give away the ending.

3. Discussion of the Harry Potter book is not appropriate for General Discussion or Latest Breaking News or any other forum about politics, news, or current events. Discussion of the Harry Potter book belongs in the Lounge, The Books: Fiction forum, or the http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=279">Fantasy Literature Group.

Thank you for your understanding.

Skinner
DU Admin

[Haole Girl]

1. Thanks Skinner

I appreciate this. Especially since I never get to see a movie until it's been out for a year!

:yourock:

[Writer]

2. Spoilerus Interruptus!

[La Lioness Priyanka]

4. stupefy your spoiler!

[TechBear_Seattle]

42. Feh! ACCIO, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!

(shakes wand and mutters, "Twist and flick! Twist and flick!")

[XemaSab]

3. Thanks Skinner!

I personally will be finished with the book by suppertime Saturday, but you can count on me not to spoil! :bounce:

[PurpleChez]

10. With perhaps book 4 or 5 I was behind in my reading

and I remember running out of mall bookstores when I heard people start to discuss "Harry's Secret," which was one of the big deals of that particular book. Whatever it was it was something I think most fans had already figured out for themselves, and was not really a spoiler (i.e., didn't give away details of a climax of anything). If Hagrid dies I'll lose it. And of course I'm not at all certain that Dumbledore is out of the picture. I know Rowling won't do something so cheesy as to just have him pop back up and yell "it was all a dream!" or reveal that it was a Pantomime Dumbledore that was killed at the end of HBP. I'm also not at all convinced of Snape's or Malfoy's evil, which is one reason why I'm unsure about Dumbledore. I'm such a geek.

[dropkickpa]

5. Thank you thank you!!

I'm not getting mine until the 31st, so I've been freaking out about people spoiling it for me. I wa ready to ban myself from the internet, tv, and newspapers and wear a walkman everywhere. Now I can play here!!

[DS1]

6. Not even remotely a fan of the books, but right on

[La Lioness Priyanka]

7. my best advice to anyone who does not want to know the ending: go to india

with the last book i was in india, and it took over a month for anyone to talk about the harry potter book.

:rofl:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

8. Thank you, Skinner...

Very appropriate, and much appreciated!

:hi:

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

9. 9th.

[Debi]

11. Thanks Skinner

The things people will do to ruin it for others x(

[supernova]

12. Will you be using the Cruciatus Curse

on those who violate these principles, Skinner?

[underpants]

13. There *IS* a policy on Harry Potter spoilers???

You guys think of everything

[NMDemDist2]

14. kicking it for the Main Man n/t

[ghostsofgiants]

15. SPOILER!!!1~!

http://pottercrash.ytmnd.com/

[sniffa]

16. whew! i'm gLad this pressing concern was taken care of

oh, and harry potter dies.

[Harry Monroe]

17. This is NOT a spoiler...

...just my theory on something that will happen. Snape will help Harry defeat Voldemort. We all know from the last book that he killed Dumbledore and he is with Voldemort, but in the end, like Darth Vader, he will do the right thing and defeat the "Dark Side". Anyway, just a hunch. I also feel like a geek discussing this, but I LOVE the Harry Potter series after my son got me hooked!!

[LostinVA]

22. I don't think he is

With V, I mean.

[bigwillq]

18. So Skinner, who do you think dies?

:P :silly:




:hide:

[fishwax]

19. At first I wasn't going to read this thread because I thought IT would have spoilers

The punctuation in the title is a little ambiguous :)

Thanks for the reiteration of the policy, though :toast:

[Bluzmann57]

20. You say

"If you do not want to know what happens in the Harry Potter book, You should not be spending time on a public message board". What if I just don't care? There will be no spoilers from me. Like I said, I don't care.

[blondeatlast]

21. Thank you! nt

[Withywindle]

23. Thank you!

Just a little over 48 hours and I can stop being scared of the Internet. :scared:

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

24. Dayum, you're harsh.

But this is a GOOD thing. Well done, sirrah. Keep the kids in line and pray Bart doesn't come in and fuck it all up, but kick his ass when he does. That's the ONLY way to go.

:evilgrin:

[Fire Walk With Me]

25. Allow me to RUIN EVERYTHING for you!

Darth Vader is Luke and Leia's father, and they kill Kenny! You bastards!

[rpannier]

26. I heard the ending is...

scrub and elmer fudd invade hogwart to avenge the attack on the corn palace by the Romulans

[Fire Walk With Me]

27. Truth! Thanks for including the sub-plots!

Now those fools who paid $35.00 will all be SAD! SAD, I say! Moo-hoo-ha-ha! :silly:

(Inhale, exhale...inhale, exhale...)

[The Inquisitive]

28. Literally about 1 minute ago I just got slammed with major spoilers

While not particularly angry, I am a bit disappointed at the extent that others go to cause others grief as I know there are others who will be quite pissed if they visit a certain site known as www.ytmnd.com ... their kind of pricks...

[WindRavenX]

29. I've finished it.

I won't even discuss it publicly til it's officially released...

[Writer]

41. Can I at least ask if you enjoyed reading it?

[Fire Walk With Me]

30. I've read all of the spoilers and revelations. I won't say a word.

It's not that important to me. I have a glancing interest in the characters and storyline, but as anyone wishes for the things they enjoy to be more widely known, I wish that the much more socially-relevant Babylon 5 would have been as popular as this. Its messages about freedom and struggle, and the selfish lengths that people will go to, are important today.

Speaking of being selfish..solly old chaps. I hope that everyone loves the book as much as they'd hope to.

[EFerrari]

31. Yikes! I never realized Harry Potter was so big.

:wow:

[krispos42]

33. six books, 325 million copies sold

Stephen King must be green with envy...

[krispos42]

32. Hogwart's hits an iceberg and sinks. Hermione survives the fridgid waters, though.

Harry pushes her up on a wardrobe until the Lion and the Witch from the RMS Wardrobe appear to save her. Alas, it is too late for poor Harry...

:evilgrin:

[tanyev]

34. Harry Potter's secret identity?

;


:wow:

[AngryAmish]

35. Darth Vader = Luke Skywalker's father

[MissMillie]

36. Harry who?

:hi:

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

37. No Spoilers - in thread title...

Don't trust this, as somebody could post a spoiler halfway down the thread. Skinner's advice is right (as usual - does he ever get tired of being right every time?). If you want to avoid spoilers, don't go online (at all) or watch TV until you've finished the book.

[John Kerry VonErich]

38. spoilers in general

Spoilers were always a threat to authors, producers and directors. There has been a campaign to bring down spoiler websites like moviepooper.com, themoviespoiler.com, and thebookspoiler.com

[evilkumquat]

39. I Am Taking a Break From World of WarCraft...

...because Day One of the release of Half-Blood Prince some asshole spewed out the MAJOR event at the end.

I learned my lesson for this release.

Evil Kumquat

[mvd]

40. Thanks for posting, Skinner

I would add that the spoilers out there might not even be reliable. The book is one day away - I can wait.

[krispos42]

43. Harry Potter's out and about, so kick it for Saturday

[Ian David]

44. The Harry Potter Alliance: Sign up and Get Involved

About Us

Did you ever wish that Harry Potter was real? Well it kind of is. After all, both our worlds face "dark and difficult times”:

* Genocide, Poverty, AIDS, and Global Warming are ignored by our media and governments the way Voldemort's return is ignored by the Ministry and Daily Prophet.

* People are still discriminated against based on sexuality, race, class, religion, gender, ethnicity, and religion just as the Wizarding World continues to discriminate against Centaurs, Giants, House Elves, Half-Bloods, Muggle borns, Squibs, and Muggles

* Our governments continue to respond to terror by torturing prisoners (often without trial) just as Sirius Black was tortured by dementors with no trial

* A Muggle Mindset pervades over our culture…a mindset that values being “perfectly normal, thank you very much” over being interesting, original, loving, and creative

So Harry’s world is not very different than ours. And just as in his world, Dumbledore will remain here as long as there are those that are loyal to him. As long as there are those that are aware that the weapon we have is love and that more than ever, it’s time to use that weapon.

And so the HP Alliance is dedicated to bringing together Harry Potter fans from everywhere to spread love and fight the Dark Arts in the real world and we need your help!

Help us replace the Dark Arts with love. Help us build the real Dumbledore's Army. Help us create an Alliance in the name of Harry Potter.

Sign up and Get Involved

The HP Alliance is always growing and looking for more people to help it do so (on a volunteer basis). Any one who wants to contact the HPA should write Andrew at [e-mail]. Please send us all relevant experience, and whatever clips, resumes, examples, etc., you would like to send. If you have applied and not heard back, please be patient; we have received your application and will get to it as soon as possible. With EVERY application, please be sure to send in links to relative sites showing examples of your work; if you have attachments you'd like to send, mention it in the email and someone will get back to you about them. All current volunteers at the HP Alliance are welcome to apply if they seek to switch tracks. Thank you so much for your interest!

http://www.thehpalliance.org/involved.html

See also:

The Harry Potter Alliance: Sign up and Get Involved
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=106&topic_id=30985&mesg_id=30985

[muriel_volestrangler]

45. Just to re-emphasise what Skinner said:

-----------------------------

It is considered common courtesy to put something like "(Spoiler Warning)" or "(No spoilers)" in the thread title when posting about books or movies, so people will know if it is safe to read a particular thread. But the moderators are not going to enforce this. If there is no spoiler warning on a thread, CLICK AT YOUR OWN RISK.

If you do not want to know what happens in the Harry Potter book, YOU SHOULD NOT BE SPENDING TIME ON A PUBLIC MESSAGE BOARD.

-----------------------------

So, people, if you see a thread that says "post here if you've finished Harry Potter", it's fairly likely there'll be discussion of the book plot in it, isn't it?

And another thing: it would be a common courtesy to the moderators to not put spoilers in the alerts you make, when there aren't spoilers in the post you alert on. That way, the moderators can give the decision on what to do to moderators who don't care about spoilers.

[rug]

46. I thought that post was directed at Voldemort.

[fizzgig]

48. well said

:thumbsup:

[muriel_volestrangler]

47. Kick

for renewed visibility.