Pottermore

Official preview screenshot of Pottermore

"I'm thrilled to say I'm now in a position to give you something unique. An online reading experience unlike any other. It's called Pottermore. It's the same story but a few crucial additions; the most important one is you."

— J. K. Rowling's announcement on 23 June, 2011.

Pottermore is an official Harry Potter website to be opened to the general public in October 2011. It is a joint venture of J.K. Rowling and Sony, and will offer an experience centered around the reading of the Harry Potter series, with interactive features, new information from Rowling's extensive collection of notes, and e-book editions of the books available for purchase for the first time. One million people will get a chance to preview the site before its general launch starting on 31 July, 2011.

History

Announcement and unveiling

Pottermore teaser page, 17 June 2011

As a teaser for Pottermore's announcement (then a complete mystery, other than not being a new book, although something "equally exciting"), a challenge consisting of finding letters, using coordinates being revealed among ten Harry Potter fan sites, to piece together a word with the subject of her announcement on 15 June, 2011 was set up. A while after all letters were revealed (E-T-O-T-O-P-E-R-R-M), Pottermore.com was launched with a "coming soon" message and Rowling's signature, as well as an official Twitter account. By the next day, a new YouTube account entitled "J. K. Rowing Announces" was revealed to show a countdown which noted the official unveiling of Pottermore's nature was take to place on 23 June, 2011.

Some fan sites reportedly had access to a sneak preview of Pottermore and, while telling they'd made "an unbreakable vow concerning its secrecy", they reported it is "breathtaking in scope, detail and sheer beauty" and "perfect".

The only thing known about Pottermore prior to its revelation as an interactive website was that it was not another book. A representative of Rowling's told The Guardian on 16 June: "All we can say is that Pottermore is the name of J.K. Rowling's new project. It will be announced soon, and it is not a new book". Most fans tended to guess it was either an online game, a new fan site, or a digital encyclopedia.

On 23 June, J. K. Rowling made an announcement via her Youtube account, informing fans of what Pottermore truly is: "Pottermore will be the place where fans of any age can share, participate in, and rediscover the stories. It will also be the exclusive place to purchase digital audiobooks and, for the first time, e-books of the Harry Potter series." Rowling also revealed that Pottermore will be open for everyone from October, 2011.

Early testers

On July 31st-August 6th there will be a Magical Quill challenge, a competition in which fans would have to solve a clue revealed on the main site, add the answer to the end of a special web address (http://quill.pottermore.com/) and then locate the Quill on the site they are taken to, after which they can then submit their registration details. Approximatly 1 million will be chosen from those that manage to locate the Magical Quill (about 150,000 a day) and once they are they will get their Hogwarts letter via email as soon as possible and will be able to try it out 2 months earlier then the rest of the world.

The Magical Quill challenge is open for seven days, from July 31st to August 6th, hence the tagline "7 books, 7 days, 7 chances" (though, in reality, registration will only be open as long as places are available). Each days, a new clue is revealed on the main page and the clue for each day will correspond to a different book (e.g. day 1's clue relates to book 1, day 2's clue relates to book 2 and so on). The riddles will also vary in difficulty, with clues 1-3 being harder than riddles 4-7.

For example if the below question were the clue and corresponding answer:

Clue: How many books are there in the Harry Potter series? Multiply this number by 10.

Answer: 70

Then one would have to add this answer to the end of the website address (making it "http://quill.pottermore.com/70"). One would then hit ‘Return’ to go to the website where The Magical Quill is located.

Access to Pottermore for the early testers chosen will not be instantaneous; due to the number of people seeking to register, one may have to wait several weeks before receiving the welcome email allowing them such access.

When all the early entry places have been filled, The Magical Quill links will be withdrawn. One will still be able to register on the homepage but not enter until Pottermore is opened to all.

Universal opening

A copy of the acceptance e-mail to Pottermore.

Everyone (including those who missed the early registration period and/or were not picked as early testers) will be able to register in October 2011.

Pottermore Validation Confirmation

The Seven Magical Quill clues

Below is a list of the riddles (a.k.a. "clues") involved in the Magical Quill promotion.

1. The first riddle, unveiled July 31st, 9:00 am London time, was "How many breeds of owls were featured on the Eeylops Owl Emporium sign? Multiply this number by 49." The answer was 245 as there are 5 owl breeds.
2. The second riddle, unveiled August 1st, 10:00 am London time, was 'What is the number of the chapter in which Professor McGonagall cancels the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff?
   Multiply this number by 42.' The answer was 588 as it is in Chapter 14.
3. The third riddle, unveiled August 2nd, 11:00 am London time, was 'In the Gryffindor versus Slytherin Quidditch match, in Harry's third year, how many points was Gryffindor leading by before Harry catches the Golden Snitch? Multiply this number by 35.' The answer was 2100, as they led by 60 points.

On the first day, keying in the correct link would redirect you to Sony USA's website, where a maroon screen reads 'Your journey begins here'. Click on it, and you will see a screen filled with floating feathers, but only one is the Magic Quill. It has an aura of luminous blue around it, and clicking on it will bring you to the registration site.

On the second day, keying in the correct link would redirect you to the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 photo gallery on the official Warner Bros. website. In the gallery a photo of a quill on a pink background was added. Clicking it would redirect you to the Pottermore registration page.

On the third day, keying in the correct link would redirect you to guardian.co.uk, where the page has the article of Pottermore. Usually where the calendar is, the Magic Quill box filled its space. You had to move your mouse quickly from side to side to levitate the quill. After levitating the Magic Quill, a link appeared to redirect you to the Pottermore registration page.

External links

• Pottermore.com
• Pottermore on Twitter
• "About Magical Quill"