J.K. Rowling’s Patronus Quiz and Other Geeky News We Loved This Week

Earlier this week, J.K. Rowling–sorry, Queen J.K. Rowling–hinted at a possible new quiz on her interactive Harry Potter website, Pottermore. Currently, users can find out which Hogwarts house they sort into and can be “fitted” for a wand through a short series of questions.

Sunday evening, Rowling took to Twitter to answer fan questions and dropped a bombshell: in addition to the Sorting Hat and Ollivander’s Wand Shop, fans may soon be able to take a Patronus test.

It’s a great week for Harry Potter fans. Actually, scratch that–it’s a great week for nerds in general. Here are a few more geeky things we’re currently fangirling out on, in addition to J.K.’s big reveal.

Batman fans get a sneak peek at the new Batmobile

Wednesday, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice director Zack Snyder tweeted a photo of the Batmobile that Ben Affleck’s caped crusader will steer around Gotham. With a set of gigantic, indestructible wheels that echo back to the Nolan era and a plethora of other cool gadgets, the new vehicle (if you can even call it that since it’s more like a tank) triggered a wave of excitement among the DC film’s fan base. Like The Verge said, “It was always going to be hard to top The Dark Knight‘s Tumbler, but the Batmobile in Zack Snyder’s Batman v. Superman puts up a pretty solid fight.” What do you think?

Destiny passes $500 million in sales to mark the largest game franchise launch in history

Gamers everywhere camped outside their neighborhood GameStop storefronts this week, eagerly awaiting the midnight release of the feverishly talked-about Destinyby Bungie, creators of the massively-popular Halo series. Any concerns over public reception were soon quashed as retail sales easily hit $500 million in the first 24 hours, with numbers still climbing.

Many point to the game’s clever genre mash-up of MMORPG (role-playing games wherein users can build character arcs and interact with other players) and FPS (First Person Shooter games like Call of Duty, Battlefield and Halo). Whatever the reason, Destiny is now on-route to become one of the most successful game franchises in gaming history. Eric Hirshberg of Activision, the game’s publisher, said, “We have more confidence than ever that Destiny will become one of the iconic franchises of this generation, and Activision’s next billion-dollar brand.”

The Walking Dead is getting a spin-off

While we were all still shaking in our boots and losing sleep over Terminus, the creative geniuses behind the beloved AMC series were busy crafting plans for a spin-off. While the idea of a companion show was previously discussed, it wasn’t until this past weekend that AMC officially confirmed reports that they ordered a pilot.

“Almost from the beginning of The Walking Dead on AMC, fans have been curious about what is going on in the zombie apocalypse in other parts of the world,” AMC President Charlie Collier told EW. “We all take our stewardship of the original franchise incredibly seriously and we are all proceeding with extreme care in order to ensure that we are offering fans something truly compelling, engaging and distinct.”

Creator Robert Kirkman has been clear in the past that the location and cast will be completely different compared to the original series, leaving room for new stories and character development beyond the struggling Georgia crew. While we may have to wait until 2015 to watch, we can at least keep ourselves busy with the newest season of TheWalking Dead, which debuts on October 12th.

Lionsgate releases an epic new poster of Katniss in Mockingjay Part 1

Lionsgate figured out how to successfully blow everyone’s minds and induce cataclysmic hysteria by releasing a new poster featuring heroine and protagonist Katniss Everdeen … at last. Until this point, fans were treated to Rebel posters and Capitol announcements featuring (gasp!) Peeta and Johanna, but it wasn’t until Wednesday that we got a full photo of the Mockingjay herself. Clad in intimidating body armor and a pair of black wings with her hair pulled back in her trademark braid, Katniss stares down the camera unshaken (cue the goosebumps). Fans went wild.

With a week this epic, it’s hard to imagine that anything could top it … except maybe Joss Whedon announcing another Shakespearean adaptation with Tom Hiddleston in the lead. And a Firefly reunion. One can dream.

Featured image via. Images via here, here, here, here, and here.