Oldman, Gary
Born in 1958 in London, Gary Oldman was cast in the role of
Sirius Black in the
Harry Potter films.
Additional information about Oldman's career can be found at:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000198/
Order of the British Empire
Queen Elizabeth II awarded JKR the Order of the British Empire in June 2000.
The Order of the British Empire was created in 1917 during the First World War
by George V. After 1918, military and civil divisions were created for
recipients of the OBE, as George V intended that this order of chivalry
"should be used to reward services to the State, defined in a much wider sense to
acknowledge distinguished service to the arts and sciences, public services
outside the Civil Service and work with charitable and welfare organisations
of all kinds." The motto of the OBE is: "For God and the Empire."
The OBE sash medal is pictured at
http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page498.asp
In the centre is a gilt medal medallion of Britannia, encircled by the
motto FOR GOD AND THE EMPIRE set in red enamel, and mounted on a silver-gilt
cross patoncé enamelled in translucent pearl grey. Surmounted by
a gilt imperial crown, the reverse side features George V's cipher (GRI
- George Rex Imperator).
otter
JKR's favorite animal (Sch2).
Hermione's
Patronus is an otter
(OP27).
Ottery St. Mary
The Weasley family home,
The Burrow,
is situated near the village of Ottery St. Catchpole. The real village of
Ottery St. Mary
is located in Devon, just to the east of Exeter,
where Rowling attended university,
and is almost certain to be the source of
the Burrow's nearest
village.
Birthplace of poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge ("Rime of the Ancient Mariner"),
Ottery St. Mary has a rich history. Each year, the village inhabitants
celebrate Pixie Day on the Saturday closest to the summer solstice. Local
folklore holds that pixies once controlled the village prior to the establishment
of the church and that the pixies, in an effort to retain their power,
cast a spell on some monks to prevent their returning to the village with
church bells. The monks became disoriented as a result of the spell, heading
for the cliffs of the coast and certain doom, when one monk's foot was
pierced with a thistle and he cried out "God bless my soul and Saint Mary."
The pixies were banished to the outskirts of town to Pixie's Parlor (a
magical place located on the east bank of the River Otter).
