'Harry Potter' fans teased with second trailer

The release of the Harry Potter film will come one tantalising step closer today with the launch of a new trailer showing the young hero learning to fly.

Fans will also glimpse John Hurt, Alan Rickman and Zoe Wanamaker in the promotional clip released as the film's director, Chris Columbus, broke his silence to promise to stick as closely as possible to the original book.

But the special effects which will bring to life the famous game of quidditch – a kind of wizards' hockey on broomsticks – are to remain tightly under wraps for a while longer.

"I want people to be intrigued and excited about seeing the film, but I don't want to spoil the experience for anybody," Mr Columbus said.

The film of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is due for release on 16 November with an all-star British cast. JK Rowling's eponymous hero is played by 11-year-old newcomer Daniel Radcliffe.

Its makers, Warner Brothers, are eking out all potential publicity in carefully staged teasers for the millions of fans who have made the four Harry Potter novels international bestsellers.

The two-and-a-half minute trailer, released on AOL yesterday and on the Harry Potter website from today, opens with Robbie Coltrane, as the wizard school teacher Hagrid, breaking the news to young Harry that he has special powers: "Have you ever made anything happen, things you cannot explain? You're a wizard, Harry."

It also shows Harry learning how to fly, handle a broomstick and cast spells and introduces Harry's close friends Ron and Hermione, played by Rupert Grint and Emma Watson. It concludes with a cliffhanger when the headmaster Albus Dumbledore, played by Richard Harris, warns his pupils to stay out of the woods.

The trailer comes three months after the release of the first clip, which was broadcast continually for an hour in 200 cinemas across the country.

Mr Columbus, who also directed Mrs Doubtfire and the Home Alone films, has promised the American press he would not betray the spirit of the Harry Potter books. "It was a passion for me to be as faithful as possible," he told USA Today. "We've kept the edginess and moodiness of the books, as well as the magic and fun."

Mr Columbus hinted that fans would get to see a taster of the game of quidditch before the film was released.