Don't try talking to Meta's AI about Robert Galbraith novels - it's 2 novels short and 3 years behind the times! (When I insisted, it did eventually admit to knowing about 'The Running Grave', but it had never heard of one of the main characters - the one who was revealed to be the murderer.)
I had a bit of a Harry Potter Christmas, how about you? (I've found inspiration for a few videos in the almanac...)
Trust Dumbledore to come to me in the strangest of ways! Two days ago I was lamenting the lack of the final character in my collection, the end of the promotion in the supermarket, and the (hopefully only temporary) disappearance of my fellow collector. How could it all end so frustratingly close to the full collection of 35? Then I stepped out of the supermarket as usual to find a table stacked high with all the HP flatpack people and the Street Cat Alliance there collecting for their charity! So I swapped a spare Yule Ball Ron (who doesn't always carry one in their bag?) for Dumbledore, dropped some money in the donation tin, and went home very happy. (I still haven't figured out what Harry Potter flatpack people have got to do with street cats, but I'm not arguing.)
My fellow collector has sourced the other Hermione for me! My inner Hermione is content now. Only 3 days left to find the final piece to the collection - Albus Dumbledore. It's not looking good because my local supermarket has run out of flatpack Potter people!!! I'll just have to hope I can find him somewhere else. In the meantime, I'm pondering why the flatpack Yule Ball Hermione seems to have neglected to use liberal amounts of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion on her bushy hair...
At last I have one of the two Hermiones - Yule Ball Hermione! (Given my YT profile pic, the wait has been difficult.) And also this week Fred, Yule Ball Ron and Crookshanks. So now there's only two characters to collect in the final week of the promotion: regular Hermione and old Dumbledore. Hopefully the fellow collector I've connected with can help me out. See if you can spot the differences between Fred and George...
Four new ones: Niffler (Teddy), Lucius, Snape and Dean! 6 more to go and only 2 weeks to do it in. I wasn't liking my chances until I discovered someone I know is also collecting, but she hasn't opened her packs yet to see what she has! We've agreed to do a swap, so maybe this will produce a couple more flatpack Potter people for me.
Sirius and Hagrid this week! It's lucky I have a friend staying with me for a couple of months because my increased grocery spend entitles me to more flatpack Potter people. Only 3 weeks left to collect Snape, Lucius, old Albus, Crookshanks, Dean, Fred of course, Niffler (or Teddy, to give him his proper name, which they don't), and two different Hermiones. At least I have my own cuddly Niffler to console me if I don't manage to collect the flatpack version.
Neville and Cedric this week. I now have 3 Georges but no Fred! I thought of cheating and labelling one of my Georges as Fred but a close look at the Collector's Guide reveals subtle differences in the hair between the two. I bought a chocolate wand for my daughter (so I can't tell you how it tastes just yet), but it looks great next to the time turner she gave me.
Five new ones this week: Quidditch Harry and Draco, Christmas Ron and Harry, and Ginny. Along the way I acquired 3 more Voldemorts, 2 more Bellatrixes and assorted others, and I also discovered the Harry Potter shelves at the supermarket! More HP merch than I've ever seen in one place before: chocolate wands and wooden wands, board games, figurines with Patronuses, crockery and cutlery, mugs and glasses, cushions and costumes, Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, and my favourite, the Knight Bus tin - a nifty container for my collection of flatpack Potter people! It would look great at home next to my time turner. Maybe I'll show you that next week...
As promised, here are the assembled Luna, Hedwig and Bellatrix. I've also managed to collect another 11 characters in the past week: Cho, Ron, Dobby, Harry and George, and also Queenie, Newt, Voldemort, McGonagall, Moody and Draco. 16 down, only another 19 to go, so I'm nearly half way there! Of course, at this point the 'I've already got this one!' disappointments become more frequent but maybe I'll manage to find a fellow collector to swap with.
Advertainment for wizarding folk, with laughs, tears and great Muggle music. Sit back, grab a Butterbeer and enjoy some FANtasy! (Hobbits also welcome.)
Nearly all the visual content and its accompanying soundtrack used in Wizarding World shopping channel Harry Potter/Fantastic Beasts videos is the property of Warner Bros. Other universes visited, such as Lord of the Rings, Death Note and Paddington obviously have their own copyrighted material used. All copyrighted music used, other than from the film soundtracks, is acknowledged at the end of each video and/or in its description. Occasionally, J.K. Rowling's writings are quoted or referenced and hopefully I remembered to acknowledge that in the video each time!