Britain’s young royals had a magical day out Friday with a visit to the studio where the “Harry Potter” movies were filmed.

Wizard duel: The Duke and Duchess pretend to battle during their tour of the Harry Potter sets in Hertfordshire

Prince William, the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry toured Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden near London, home to “The Making of Harry Potter” studio tour.

The royals, accompanied by 500 children and adults from charities they support, had a wand lesson, visited the Great Hall of Hogwarts School and saw props, costumes and models from the Potter series in the company of the boy wizard’s creator, author J.K. Rowling.

Don’t turn me into a frog! The princes joke about with their wands on Diagon Alley

William also seemed taken with props from “The Dark Knight” Batman trilogy. “I’m a very happy man,” he joked after exploring the Batmobile and sitting astride the Batpod motorcycle.

Kate, who is six months pregnant and wore a polka-dot dress, smiled indulgently at her husband.

In a speech to Warner Bros. executives, 30-year-old William said he was “over the moon just to have seen the real Batmobile and Batpod.”

“On the other hand Harry’s just excited to see a real life talking owl in the Harry Potter studios,” William said of his 28-year-old brother. “I haven’t told him yet that Harry Potter is fictional, so please keep the secret for a little longer.?

Woman behind the magic: Kate meets Harry Potter author JK Rowling

Friday is the official opening of Warner Bros.’ Leavesden Studios, a former World War II airdrome 20 miles (30 kilometers) northwest of London

Warner Bros. has spent 100 million pounds ($155 million) redeveloping the facility, where the eight Potter films were shot, into Europe’s largest filmmaking complex.

It was recently used for the upcoming Tom Cruise sci-fi picture “All You Need is Kill.”

The Polyjuice Potion has yet to be perfected and science can’t seem to figure out flying on a broomstick, but, finally, Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak is one step closer to reality.

Yes, you read that correctly Harry Potter fans: Researchers at the University of Texas claim to have created an invisibility cloak, similar to the one that saved Harry, Ron and Hermione countless times in the world-renowned seven-book saga.

In their study, published in the March 26 issue of the New Journal of Physics, researchers describe their ultra-thin cloak made of a material called metascreen, which consists of copper strips attached to flexible polycarbonate film. The cloak makes 3D objects invisible from any direction.

What’s the catch? As of now, it only works in microwave light.

The scientist’s cloak, dubbed a “mantle cloak” (we still like “invisibility cloak” better), successfully concealed an 18 cm cylindrical rod in microwave light.

That sounds great, you say, but when can I use it in the real world?

Although the mantle cloak doesn’t work in visible light yet, Professor Andrea Alu, one of the study’s authors, says there’s hope.

“In principle this technique could also be used to cloak light,” Alu said.

To create the cloak, these researchers took a different tactic than previous attempts, which tried to bend light rays around objects so the rays don’t scatter or reflect off the object. Instead, this cloak uses a technique called mantle cloaking to cancel out light waves that bounce off the object.

“When the scattered fields from the cloak and the object interfere, they cancel each other out and the overall effect is transparency and invisibility at all angles of observation,” Alu said.

Scientists have made objects invisible before, but previous methods have all involved bulky devices and cumbrous methods, unlike this 0.15 mm cloak.

Researchers say that if the mantle cloak works in visible light in the future, it could have practical uses, such as in noninvasive sensing devices or biomedical instruments.

But until then, Harry Potter enthusiasts will have to remain content with chocolate frogs that don’t jump, human-manufactured Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans and Quidditch tournaments on the ground.

Poll for International Children’s Book Day also sees Roald Dahl declared best author

The magic of Harry Potter has narrowly edged out the charms of the Gruffalo to see the boy wizard named the best ever fictional character by children. In fact the boy wizard was chosen by parents too as the best book character.

JK Rowling’s creation won 38% of kids’ votes in a survey of 1,037 parents and their children, with Julia Donaldson’s monster picking up 34%, and the Cat in the Hat 28%. But Rowling missed out in the competition to be named best ever children’s author, with kids voting instead for Roald Dahl. Dahl took half of children’s votes, with Rowling voted for by 30%. A surprise success for Beatrix Potter saw the Peter Rabbit creator come in third, with 20% of the vote from children.

Roald Dahl has beaten Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling to be named best children’s author of all time by parents and their children.

The much-loved writer remains a firm favourite of children today, more than 50 years since the publication of James and The Giant Peach – Dahl’s first major children’s book.

Parents and children were asked to list their top three children’s authors and top three characters for a survey to mark International Children’s Book Day today.

Children listed Dahl first, followed by J.K. Rowling and Beatrix Potter.

Their parents also picked Dahl as first choice, with Enid Blyton second and Rowling third.

The Gruffalo and The Cat in the Hat were second and third choice for children, while their parents picked Blyton’s Famous Five and Dahl’s BFG.

The survey was carried out by discount book chain The Works to mark International Children’s Book Day. “It’s great to see classic children’s books and characters are still holding favour with kids throughout Britain, with parents’ own preferences presumably swaying their little ones’ reading habits,” said chief executive Kevin Keaney. “More than half (51%) of the parents polled said their children read the same books as they did, showing tastes haven’t changed and classics remain popular.”

Keaney revealed that 29% of parents surveyed said their children owned e-readers, but 88% still read paper books. “It’s also great to see that ebooks aren’t taking over,” said Keaney.

You may be able to recite the Sorting Hat’s song and rattle off different spells, but don’t get into a “Who’s the Bigger Harry Potter Fan?” contest with Alice Finch. The certifiable Potterhead spent 12 months building an incredible 400,000-piece, 170-square-foot Lego replica of Hogwarts Castle that puts your fan fiction to shame.

In addition to its massive size, the most impressive thing about the Lego castle is its depth of detail. Clearly Finch is a smart woman (probably a Ravenclaw) who thought to include a Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom with a closet for a boggart (à la Prisoner of Azkaban), the Chamber of Secrets, and even the Grey Lady. She also helpfully uploaded a 79-photo Flickr album of the whole castle so fellow superfans can properly obsess.

In an interview with Lego blog The Brothers Brick, Finch explained she got inspired by Lego building with her young sons, and that they, along with her husband, helped her finish this massive project. She also discussed how much time went into getting Hogwarts ready for (toy) students. The castle was finally finished in October for the annual Lego festival Brick-Con, where Finch went on to win “People’s Choice” and “Best in Show” last year — not to mention probably about a million honorary house points.

Visitors to Making of Harry Potter attraction at Warner Bros’ Studios in Watford asked to pay £13 for a bag of sweets

Harry Potter fans doing the studio tour are being charged spell-binding prices for merchandise, the Sunday People can reveal.

Hard-pressed parents, forced to leave through the gift shop, are furious at being asked to fork out nearly £500 for a cloak, £25 for a plastic wand and £13 for a bag of sweets.

That’s after paying entrance prices of £29 for adults and £21.50 for children at the Making of Harry Potter attraction at Warner Bros’ Leavesden Studios in Watford, Herts.

After his tour, JeremyGC said on website TripAdvisor: “Warner Brothers, your pricing is obscene and immoral.”

The steepest price was £495.95 for a replica of the cloak worn by Professor Dumbledore – played by Michael Gambon, 72.

Dumbledore’s replica robes priced at £500

For £250 you would get a pink ballgown like the one worn by Hermione Granger – played by Emma Watson, 22, in 2007 film Harry Potter and the Order of The Phoenix.

A Gryffindor house jumper is priced at £75 with a matching scarf at £25.

The plastic replica of a wand like that used by star Daniel Radcliffe, 23, would set you back £24.99.

And for sweets, Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans cost £9 and 200g of sherbert lemons sets you back £13.

Prices on the tour, which takes visitors to the set where the eight films based on JK Rowling’s bestselling books were shot, have not gone down well.

JeremyGC added: “The tour was great, no doubt about it. The gift shop on the other hand, which conveniently ends the tour, was stocked with all sorts of wizardy wonderfuls that had the kids’ eyes out on stalks.

“I was expecting to pay above average and I understand they have the opportunity to make a profit but to try to take advantage of families in this way…

“I felt sorry for the poor parents whose kids had begged them into buying something.”

A second visitor called Alech described the prices as a “disgrace”, adding: “All the staff around the tour are friendly, helpful and very knowledgeable.

“The only bad thing about the whole tour is the price of merchandise.

“It is an absolute disgrace. £25 for a plastic wand, £25 for a scarf, £12 for a small jar of sweets, keyrings at £7, £8, £9… I don’t see why they need to price things so high.”

Other items available in the shop include a Harry Potter numbered 07 grey zip-up Quidditch top for £44.95, a red Gryffindor vest for £17.95 and witch hats for £24.95.

After its official opening last year, the Potter attraction came under scrutiny for being too expensive.

A family of four would pay £85 to get into the attraction, and that cost does not include a tour guide.

Visitors can listen to a pre-recorded audio tour if they’re willing to fork out an extra £4.95 for the privilege.

A spokeswoman for Warner Brothers insisted many of the souvenirs were at pocket money prices, while the pricier ones were exclusive items.

She said: “The gift shop offers a wide range of products, from pocket money items through to rare collectables and hand-signed artwork.

“More than a quarter of the items are under £10 and many of the products on offer are not available to buy anywhere else in the UK.”

King’s Cross Station is one of the main railway stations to serve London. More importantly, in the Harry Potter novels and films Hogwarts students use the station to access their specialized train on Platform 9¾. A sign was put up for Platform 9¾ at King’s Cross in honor of the series, but now the station has gone one step further.

Earlier this month, The Harry Potter Shop opened at the famous location to provide fans all their Harry Potter needs. The store, which will sell licensed merchandise from the ‘Harry Potter’ franchise, is the only one of its kind in London, and will also offer official photographs of visitors with the popular disappearing luggage trolley at platform 9 ¾, where Harry began his journey to Hogwarts in ‘The Philospher’s Stone’.

Ollivander’s wand shop?

Watch Warwick Davis, who plays Professor Filius Flitwick in the film series, open the store in the video below.

Extract of a review of the Harry Potter shop from The Guardian:

The shop is similarly styled to the wand shop imagined by JK Rowling, Ollivander’s. It is wooden panelled with lots of drawers and even has similar light fixtures. Though it’s not as dimly lighted and, sadly, the staff don’t come up to you and say: “The wand choses the wizard,” as you look around.

You can buy a generic Ollivander’s wand or replicas of the wands used by the cast in the films – Harry’s, Ron’s, Hermione’s, the professors’, or even the Triwizard champions’ wands. The prices vary but the cheapest was £22.99. It seems expensive but, if you have searched for Potter merchandise online before, this is pretty standard. The shop is under license from Warner Brothers so it makes sense that the prices match up.

There are also collectable items such as a time turner, a small Triwizard cup and – something I thought was really cool – a display of Horcruxes. You could buy the ring or the locket, again rather pricey but, at the same time, very tempting. Especially the time turner.

Items on sale at the Platform 9 ¾ store include character’s wands, Hogwarts clothing, collectors jewelry and crafted figures, as well as the series of books themselves.

Wonderbook: Book of Spells, a new game released exclusively for PlayStation 3 earlier this month, uses augmented reality to transport the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry into a player’s living room. The game, which relies on PlayStation’s Eye camera and Move motion wand, was created in collaboration with “Harry Potter” author J. K. Rowling and allows would-be wizards to learn and cast spells — Incendio, Wingardium Leviosa, Alohomora and many more that will be familiar to any Potter fan.

[Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=Gnns8lkyPYw]

How hands-on was J.K. Rowling in terms of the creative process?

A few years ago, Sony created a partnership with Pottermore, J.K. Rowling’s website. This gave the London Studio an opportunity to demonstrate the Wonderbook prototype to J.K. Rowling, which inspired an idea for a spell book and soon Book of Spellswas born. We had PlayStation Move motion controllers in our studio at that time, and this naturally became your wand. It was a match made in heaven. Every Hogwarts student needs a spell book and a wand, and these match perfectly to the Wonderbook and PlayStation Move controller…. What’s great about the “Book of Spells” is that it actually links to your Pottermore account and aligns your Pottermore wand and house.

A Hogwartian World

Augmented Reality

 More details and pricing info on Harry Potter: Book of Spells at – Amazon US | Amazon UK

As the madness around last year’s Pottermore launch revealed, any new content from J.K. Rowling that reveals more about the Wizarding World will be eagerly snapped up by fans. Next month’s launch of the latest in a long line of Harry Potter video games might just be the next thing to send fans running to their consoles as Wonderbook: Book of Spells features original, new writing from Rowling herself along with groundbreaking technology.

Wonderbook is a new accessory that works with your Playstation Eye camera and Move controller, it takes the augmented reality technology used in the successful EyePet games and improves it significantly to create an entire book.

The Book of Spells will be the first release using Wonderbook but there’s some pretty interesting games set for 2013 as well including Walking with Dinosaurs, a fascinating film noir style detective story for kids called Diggs: Nightcrawler, and naturally Disney has their fingers in this potentially lucrative pie as well.

The Book of Spells is set in the restricted section of Hogwarts library and is designed as an advanced textbook written by Miranda Goshawk over 200 years ago that will allow kids to learn how to cast spells from the series such as Incendio, Wingardium Leviosa, and Expelliarmus. Rowling has helped develop the game and has written history for many of the spells which I know I will be eager to read as I play. There will also be notes and spells scribbled in the book’s margins by previous students and a conundrum written by Rowling that leads you through the game as successful spell casting unlocks new stories.

I can’t wait to get my hands on the Wonderbook and have a go at casting some spells. Keep reading over the coming weeks to see our review of the game and our thoughts on the Wonderbook system. Expecto Patronum!

Wonderbook Book of Spells releases on November 13, 2012 (Nov 16 in UK). Pre-order your copy:

Pre-order in US | Pre-order in UK 

If you have a Harry Potter fan in your house, your shopping for the holidays just got easier. Harry Potter for Kinect spans all seven years of Harry’s life at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And with the Kinect camera technology, your child can scan his or her face into the game to create their own avatar to play through Harry’s world.

The magic starts just as it did for Harry, with a trip to Ollivanders Wand Shop to select a wand. Since you are playing this game on Kinect, there are no controllers. You simply reach out to pick up a wand proffered by the spry Ollivander. After casting magic (lifting your hand up and then flicking it down) with three wands that blow up various areas of Ollivander’s store, you finally land on one that works, and live through the famous scene where Ollivander pronounces that “the wand chooses the wizard.”

Selecting over 25 major scenes from the eight Harry Potter movies, “Harry Potter for Kinect” lets you play through these events in order. You get sorted by the Sorting Hat and then play through five events from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the movie depicting Harry’s first year at Hogwarts. Then it is on to the second year with four events from Harry Potter and the Chambers of Secrets and so forth through to the final confrontation with Voldemort in Harry’s seventh year. The mini-game recreates the movie’s sequences with animation that looks remarkably like the movie. While the voice talent isn’t the same, I don’t think anyone will mind.

There’s a lot of magic to play around this game. You cast spells with the flick of your arm while using a reticule on screen. And for the first time, you can call out which spell you want to use before casting it. You also make potions by stirring their cauldrons, adding ingredients and using a pestle to crush herbs.

As wizards-in-training, players study herbology, including donning ear muffs and pulling eardrum-splitting Mandrakes out of the dirt and repotting them into new containers. You also get to hit the Quidditch Pitch, even learning to tussle by throwing your arms out to knock opponents off their brooms. It is fast-paced and full of leaning, punching and quickly grabbing the hummingbird-like snitch.

Dueling (minigames about casting the correct spells against an opponent) occurs several times in the story mode. Kids take on Draco Malfoy, Professor Snape, and others. There is even a bonus mode called Duelling Club, where you take on progressively harder opponents.

Other bonus activities include Potions classes, Spells practice, and a Whomping Willow challenge where the willow gets progressively quicker at thumping while you dodge. As you play, you unlock bonus two-player mini-games of Duelling Club, Quidditch, and Cafe Duelling. You can even watch the sorting hat “sing.”

Harry Potter for Kinect is a magical game to explore. Even if you don’t know the story, it tells it to you; so you could be completely new to this universe and still enjoy the game play. By doing everything in the story (and seeing yourself play if you scanned yourself into the game) this game feels personal.

But it isn’t perfect. At times, the quirkiness of Kinect seemed to get in the way. For example, in the last game in Year 1, Harry Potter climbs onto a rickety broom and flies up among hundreds of whizzing keys to nab the one to open the Sorcerer’s Stone Chamber. This creates a game about using your arms to knock away the incoming bombarding keys. But we had trouble getting the Kinect to register our movements and had to replay this game several times to succeed. Contrast this to a similar game called Cornish Pixies found in the second year. Again the sweeping of the arms is used, and this time it worked like a breeze.

We also noticed some inconsistencies when taking on baddies like the Troll and the Basilisk. At times, it seemed that we couldn’t fail. We played on the casual level, but there is also an advanced difficulty setting.

Because of this game’s linear progression, if your children get stuck, they can’t move forward until they win the current game. This means that some kids will be replaying games over again. Luckily, most of them are fascinating to look at and exciting to replay.

Here’s the bottom line: Harry Potter for Kinect is a fun experience for young Hogwarts’ enthusiasts. The controls seem a little fuzzy at times, but the game is magical to behold nonetheless. The game earned an ESRB rating of 10+ for blood, mischief, and violence; but some kids will be fine with it at an earlier age.

Order Harry Potter for Kinect in USA | Order Harry Potter for Kinect in UK

Source: USA Today

With today’s publication of J.K. Rowling’s first foray into grown-up fiction, The Casual Vacancy, you’d think the Harry Potter author would be having a muggle-centric news day. But, even as The Casual Vacancy bows, Rowling has brought the magical world that made her famous back into the equation. Yesterday, in a BBC interview, Rowling opened the door to the possibility of more fodder for Potter fans.

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