This summer will be huge for Harry Potter fans, as both book number seven ( "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows") and movie number five ("Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" ) will be released in July. While you are waiting, there are lots of Harry Potter sites to explore. Today's picks are all about free, online Harry Potter games. Enjoy!
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HarryPotterFans.com has a small collection of original Java games that include a slider puzzle made from the British cover of "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" and four word searches. My favorite is the MadLib Spellmaker. Just enter in the required nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs and numbers, and you'll be rewarded with a unique potion recipe and incantation. "Rumble fumble toil and tigerle. Whispius snakeius flispius."
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"No wizard or witch may play a game of Quidditch without practise!" Warner Bros. has produced dozens of Harry Potter games, including four fabulous Quidditch practice games: Beater Practice, Chaser Practice, Keeper Practice and Seeker Practice. These Shockwave games are topnotch, and I learned that being a beater is much easier than being a chaser! Other fun clicks are Homing Hippogriefs and the Staircase Game.
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KidsReads has a special section devoted to Harry Potter, including this page of twenty-five trivia quizzes. Some of the quizzes are organized by book, and others by topic (such as The Women of Harry Potter or Quidditch Through the Ages.) There's even a Harry Potter vocabulary test, quizzing your knowledge of words such as animagus, expelliarmus, apparate and quaffle. "A Centaur is: A) an abbreviation for Century; B) a powerful Dementor; C) something that is half horse and half man; D) a very old type of broom."
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"Voldemort is back and gaining strength and he wants revenge -- on Harry Potter. You play as Harry after being pulled into Knockturn Alley by a trick-Portkey. Now you must escape in the quickest time possible." The original Knockturn Alley game is just one of many good reasons to visit MuggleNet. Others include BroomstiX ("the most extreme and exciting broom sport") and Triwizard Tournament. For trivia quizzes and Harry Potter puzzles, look in the left-hand nav bar under Fun.
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At the time of my visit to the Scholastic site, the Wizard Challenge trivia quiz was closed, but there are still plenty of other interactive activities to amuse fans. Browse Rita Skeeter's Daily Opinion Poll, and cast your vote for today's question. Your vote is also solicited on seven-word book reviews submitted by other readers. I love this feature! In seven words or less, what would you say about your favorite HP book? Other cool clicks are the videos and the Harry Potter podcasts.
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By Barbara J. Feldman. Originally written on May 23, 2007. Last Modified on Jul 29, 2009.
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Buy Harry Potter Games Printable for $2.00 or try a FREE trial of the Printables Club
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Honorable Mentions
The following links are either new discoveries or sites that didn't make it into my newspaper column because of space constraints. Enjoy!
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