Oh So Geeky

In J.K. Rowling's spin-off series to Harry Potter, No-Maj Jacob Kowalski captured Potterheads' hearts in  Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald . Leading the franchise alongside Eddie Redmayne, Katharine Waterson and Alison Sudol, the rising star Dan Fogler made a fantastic appearance at MegaCon Orlando with a panel full of impersonations, tales from the set and questions about the series' future. A big topic of conversation at the panel was arguably Fogler's most popular character to date from Fantastic Beasts. Fellow Potterheads delved deep into the wizarding world about his time at the theme parks, his own favorite baked goods, and so much more. Here's a general transcript of fans' questions from the panel that are not included in the videos below.

Warner Bros Studios Pictures The importance of family, power of love, good vs evil – the Harry Potter series was a master at being a universal phenomenon. No matter where you came from or how you found the story, author J.K. Rowling offered a doorway into storytelling as easy as flicking your wand and make-believing you were a witch or wizard on your way to exploring her wizarding world. Ten years after her first series ended, and the start of a new chapter has begun, it's a little clearer with the Fantastic Beasts series that the story we loved is not as accessible as it used to be - whether you’re a die-hard fan of the series already or just curious about the franchise's future. Following Newt on his adventures, the second Fantastic Beasts film travels to the Paris wizarding world where Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) promises freedom for his growing, loyal band of followers who want to be liberated from the shadows of the No-Maj/Muggle world. In trying to stop ...

Photo Credit: Warner Bros Studios Ya'll know how much I love Harry Potter , but if you dived into the penseive with me for a second...you might be surprised to know my initial reaction to  Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them wasn't the rapturous adoration one might expect. Fast forward two years to today, and the first film has increasingly become one of my favorites of the series. I've watched it countless times to the point that I have it memorized, not to mention that I just want to hold Newt, Tina, Jacob, Queenie, and all of his magical creatures and never let them go. So it's pretty exciting that after a long, controversial wait for more news about the sequel, the official teaser has finally been released!  #WandsReady? Let's go! 

Harry Potter's been alive and well for two decades. While celebrating the 20th anniversary, I started wondering what bewitching memories I've been lucky enough to experience since I was a kid. From reading the books for the first time to visiting the theme parks, it's been one magical journey so far. Let's take a dip into my own little pensieve with a tour of my ten favorite memories as a Potterhead. What are your favorite memories of Harry Potter so far? Feel free to let me know in the comments!

On June 26th, 2017, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone turns officially turns twenty years old. As a devout Potterhead, I tried thinking back to the time when I was a kid during the very beginning of the series J.K. Rowling had created. I don't remember much about the nineties, and maybe that's a good thing, just by the lack of coherent trends that took place then. The memories that came to mind was just how much Harry Potter means to me, and the weird road it took from pre-fan to a hardcore one. Unlike an almost entire generation, I didn't grow up with Harry Potter in a typical way - dressing up and queuing at bookstores, anxiously reading each new adventure, chatting and befriending other Hogwarts students on forums and websites until the new book was released. Ultimately, being apart of the fandom culture that is so much more well-known and celebrated today in the open. As a pre-teen, my little town was very hush hush about the wizarding world. In class...

One of my favorite things to do on magical trips to Wizarding World of Harry Potter Orlando is to collect chocolate frog cards - the snacks Harry and his friends enjoy on their trips to Hogwarts and Honeydukes. Recently, I attended A Celebration of Harry Potter , where Universal Studios revealed new merchandise for their theme parks. One of the items I couldn't wait to get was the Gilderoy Lockhart chocolate frog card!

For the past few years, Universal Studios has held A Celebration of Harry Potter event at their theme parks in Florida. For an entire weekend, wizards and witches celebrate the  Harry Potter  books and movies at Universal Orlando and Islands of Adventure through demonstrations, Q&A’s and exhibits. I’ve been very lucky over the past few years to attend, and this year was no exception. Though I was only able to attend one day and aimed to pack in as much as possible, the event is held over three days. If I could’ve apparated to both parks I would’ve, but chose to stay at Universal Orlando to visit two of their expos and a cast Q&A. The day started off early with getting line for the first expo. Inside, Scholastic, Warner Bros Studio Tour, the Harry Potter Exhibition, and MinaLima had individual exhibits.

Photo Credit: Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them / Warner Bros. Pictures Five years ago the Harry Potter film franchise ended. I would've never believed then J.K. Rowling would be at it again. But her endless imagination apparates again to the big screen with an adaptation of the Hogwart's fictional textbook  Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them . Based in the 1920s, magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) briefly travels to New York City while en route to Arizona. Unaware of the U.S. wizarding government's ban on magical beasts, Scamander's creatures are in danger when they're accidentally set loose. No-Maj - American equivalent to Muggle - Jacob Kowalski (Dan Folger), a former Auror Tina Goldstein (Katharine Waterston) and her sister Queenie (Allison Sudol) team up with the British native to catch his critters before the wizarding world is exposed. Veteran Harry Potter director David Yates returns to helm this next franchise with Rowling t...

As far back as Pottermore's old beta-mode in 2011 for their initial interactive launch, the site has been promised a Patronus quiz for young witches and wizards. Finally, FINALLY, our dreams came true because  Pottermore released a Patronus quiz . Surprisingly, taking the test was a little emotional for me - not almost as emotional for me when I took the Sorting Hat quiz and was literally praying to the powers-that-be I ended up in Gryffindor ('cause I always was sorted in Gryffindor). Growing up, I always thought of my patronus as my dog Lola, a Jack Russell Terrier. As my best friend who was almost like a therapy dog for me, she was by my side for twelve years (half of my whole life) before passing away last year. She is still a source of so many happy memories, but like many important parts of our pasts, my time with her now has a subsiding grief over a lost companion. My only other consideration for a Patronus was a duck at one point. Only because one of my hobbies ...

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is finally out. It's the official eighth installment of J.K. Rowling's fantastical world as Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger pass the wand off to their children's experiences at Hogwarts. The book is a companion script to the play that will be begin on the London West End. On Harry Potter's thirty-sixth birthday, the special rehearsal edition of the play was published. Of course, I lined up for the  midnight release party  and was super excited to be apart of the phenomenon once again. Even though we're encouraged to "keep the secrets", the play is public now and I couldn't help but want to share my thoughts. WARNING BEYOND THIS POINT - this review contains spoilers.

It wouldn't be a surprise if fans were divided into different corners as the expansion of the wizarding world continues: some don't care about any new developments, many rightfully feel ostracized, others have trepidation but are still excited. I would be lying if at some point I didn't feel all three over the past several years. (After all I hope I don't have the emotional range of a teaspoon.) Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them hitting theaters? Yes, please. a part of my soul is already standing in line at the movie theater. Pottermore updates? haven't cared about it so much since the show was re-vamped the website as the wordpress encyclopedia J.K. Rowling promised us all those years ago. Harry Potter and Cursed Child play ? I'd be excited to see the play in person, but a nervousness creeps in with the book. Did I really want to see more of Harry's life post-Voldemort? Will the story live up to this wait we've had all these years? to ...

One of the best things about being a fangirl is when food, places, or merchandise come to life straight out of a book, movie, or television show. Every Harry Potter fan has wanted to live out fantasies from J.K. Rowling's series - receiving a letter from Hogwarts, having the wand choose us, and so many other things. We've all definitely wanted to snack on Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans from Honeydukes. When I got my hands on some Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans ( truly from HoneyDukes !), it was pretty freakin' magical. What's fun about Every Flavor Beans is that you never know what flavors you're gonna get. I'm not sure if the manufacturers have a quota for certain flavors to be in every package, or if it's just random. Mine had at least one of every flavor, so I felt very lucky. (If you're looking to try some of these out for yourself or haven't visited Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme parks yet,  you can also find them her...