Pottermore

Pottermore
Type Privately held company limited company
Headquarters London, United Kingdom[1]
Area served Worldwide
Founder(s) J. K. Rowling
Key people
Owner J. K. Rowling
Website www.pottermore.com
shop.pottermore.com
Alexa rank 10,380
Type of site Harry Potter website
Registration Registration Required Past Chapter One
Available in English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese and Only E-Books and Digital Audio books in Portuguese.
Current status Public Access

Pottermore is a website focusing on the unknown parts of the Harry Potter series and re-telling the story in an interactive way. The author, J.K. Rowling, partnered with Sony[3] to develop the site. The site features Rowling's thoughts, several pages of unpublished text, and a sales resource for e-book and audiobook versions of the seven Harry Potter novels.[4][5][6] On 31 July 2011, registration for the limited beta release began. The limited release allowed the first million fans registered to complete The Magical Quill challenge. The original registration was intended to be October 2011 but was delayed until 14 April 2012.[5][7][8][9][10] Currently, the first six books are available.

In April 2014, it was announced that Pottermore had concluded its relationship with Sony and entered its next developmental phase both creatively and commercially.

Development

Pottermore was incorporated in April 2009 and was in a developmental stage for two years.[1][11] The Leaky Cauldron's webmaster, Melissa Anelli, has been involved with the project since October 2009.[12] On 15 June 2011, various Harry Potter fan sites, began releasing coordinates that led to letters on SecretStreetView.com. This website, created by Rowling, used Google Maps to reveal hidden letters that spelled out the title of her secret announcement.[13] The first webpage to announce the project appeared in June 2011.[14] The webpage linked to a YouTube channel that featured a countdown.[3][15] Pixelated owls gathered on multiple Harry Potter websites that linked to this countdown page.[13] Rowling also revealed some details about the new site in a YouTube video on 23 June 2011.[5][15]

Features

Exploring the books

Pottermore visitors participate in interactive reading. They create an account and are given a unique username. They begin with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone[16] and go through the chapters, following Harry and his friends through several Hogwarts journeys. They collect potion ingredients, books, Chocolate Frog cards, galleons, candy, and more along the way. These various finds earn users house points after they are sorted by the Sorting Hat. The Sorting Hat places them in one of the four different houses at Hogwarts. The user is given a special quiz to determine what house they belong in. The four different houses are Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw. Users can visit Diagon Alley, where they purchase different wizarding supplies for school. They can learn spells, duel with other users, and brew several different potions. Students from different Houses compete with each other for the House Cup by earning House points through dueling, potion making and collecting objects for the first time.[16][17]

Brewing potions

Pottermore users can make their own potions using three different cauldrons that are made of either pewter, brass, or copper. Each cauldron can make potions at different speeds. Pewter is the slowest cauldron and copper is the fastest cauldron. Pewter cauldrons cost fifteen galleons, brass cauldrons cost 21 galleons, and copper cauldrons cost 25 galleons. Users can make nine different potions with ingredients that can be bought in Diagon Alley or found while exploring the chapters. If completed successfully, each potion earns them House points. However, a potion can fail if the wrong amount of an ingredient is added. It can also ruin the cauldrons. This can happen if a user leaves it to brew for too long, does not keep the temperature within the correct range, stirs the potion the wrong way, or crushes ingredients too finely (or not finely enough); when this happens, the player may have five house points deducted.

(From Magical Drafts and Potions):

(From Moste Potente Potions)

(From Book of Potions)

Spells

Users can practice spells and later use them against other members of Pottermore in the wizard's duels. There are four spellbooks and they are The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1), The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection, Curses and Counter-Curses, and The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 2). Each spell has a different effect on the victim. The spells that are currently available to members of the site include:

(from Curses and Counter-Curses)

(from The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self Protection)

(from The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1)

(from The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2)

Wizard's duel

Every member of Pottermore can duel with other users. Participants choose a spell to use against their opponent and the winner is determined by how well the spells were cast. In these duels, certain letters in the spells' names are displayed on-screen and the user must click on each one twice before moving on to the next letter. Users can practice against members of their own House, but they can only challenge members of other Houses. The students of Pottermore duel each other by using spells that help them win House points. The winner receives five points for their House, while the loser receives nothing.[8]

House points and House Cup

Members of Pottermore win and lose House points as they duel, brew potions, and explore the books. These points are then added and subtracted from that member's House (Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, or Hufflepuff) point total.The members of each House work together to gain more points than any of the other Houses. Every so often, a House Cup is awarded to the House with the most points, after which the points are reset. The first House Cup was awarded on 5 July 2012 to Slytherin, who also received early access to the first four chapters of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The second House Cup was awarded to Gryffindor on 21 November 2012, whose members received screen-savers and desktop backgrounds for electronic devices. The third House Cup was awarded once again to Slytherin on 25 April 2013. As a reward, Slytherins gained early access to a Montrose Magpies badge.[18] The fourth House Cup was awarded to Hufflepuff on 12 September 2013. As a reward, all members of the Hufflepuff house gained early access to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The fifth was awarded to Ravenclaw on 30 March 2014. This was much celebrated as this was the first house cup that was won by Ravenclaw house. The reward was announced on 4 April 2014 as being that members of Ravenclaw will enjoy early access to the final installment of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, as well as commemorative desktop wallpapers.[19] On 26 September 2014, Ravenclaw retained their House Cup with Gryffindor being a close second.

Comments

On 13 April 2015, Pottermore announced a deactivation of their comment boards in various sections of the site. This was greeted by a storm of protest. Earlier that day, the site had frozen up. Comments were finally removed the next day.

Artwork

A UK art studio, Atomhawk Design, created drawings of key scenes from the books in two and three-dimensional styles.

History

Early registration: The Magical Quill Challenge

When the website was launched on 31 July 2011, an overwhelming number of people tried to access it. Those who could get into Pottermore were informed of The Magical Quill Challenge. Users that completed the challenge could compete for the early registration for the site. The challenge spanned across seven days, with each day corresponding to a certain book in the series. Each day had a clue, which had to be solved by the user in order to enable his or her right to register before October. The website picked a user's name randomly. Only a certain number of people each day were allowed to use the Magic Quill clue for registration, but this quickly added up to a total of one million users at the end of the challenge (6 August 2011).[20] While many accounts were created by fans during the early registration phase, many other users created multiple accounts and sold them for high prices on eBay. This was done despite the warning given by the Pottermore blog and the fact that users were assured that the website would remain a free site. Some of these accounts were created by cyber criminals hoping to target Harry Potter fans.[21][22][23] These criminals posted promises of early previews and access to the site, which led people to unintentionally buy malicious software and allowed hackers to gain access to their accounts.[23][24] Clues on the first three days were more difficult than the clues on days four through seven.[25] For North Americans, the final clue was released on 5 August 2011 instead of 6 August 2011. The following table is an overview of the Magical Quill Challenge.

DateTimeClueAnswerPageReferences
31 July 9:00 a.m. BST "How many owls are on the Eeylops Owl Emporium sign? Multiply by 49." 245 Sony's US homepage [26][27]
1 August 10:00 a.m. BST "What is the number of the chapter in which Professor McGonagall cancels the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff? Multiply this number by 42." 588 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, site hidden in the photos of the film. [26][28]
2 August 11:00 a.m. BST "In the Gryffindor versus Slytherin Quidditch match in Harry's third year, how many points ahead is Gryffindor before Harry catches the golden snitch? Multiply this number by 35." 2100 Online article on The Guardian's website [26][27][29]
3 August 3:30 p.m. BST "How many students take part in the Triwizard Tournament during Harry's fourth year? Multiply this number by 28." 112 Sony Harry Potter page, later skipped due to issues [26]
4 August 6:00 p.m. BST "What is the house number of the headquarters for The Order of the Phoenix in Grimmauld Place? Multiply this number by 21." 252 Scholastic's Harry Potter page in an ad space at the top of the page. [26]
5 August 2:00 p.m. BST "How many chapters are there in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince? Multiply this number by 14." 420 The Wizarding World of Harry Potter's website [26]
6 August 1:00 a.m. BST "How many Deathly Hallows are there? Multiply this number by 7." 21 Warner Brothers' Parseltongue Translator [26]

Philosopher's Stone: beta release

"I think Pottermore has the potential to be a lasting focal point for the "Harry Potter" brand. I think the fact that it incorporates new content, a social networking element, and is also the only place people will be able to buy the eBooks will prove to be quite a potent combination..."

—Charlotte Williams, The Bookseller[30]

On 10 August 2011, Pottermore sent a congratulatory email to registered users that confirmed early entry. This signified that the beta period began once the sign-in button reappeared on the website.[31] On 15 August 2011, the sign-in button reappeared, welcome emails were sent out, and the beta period began.[32] A very small number of users were invited to begin their use of Pottermore on the first day.[32] More users were invited until 27 September, that marked when the final invitation emails were sent.[33][34] Early users also said that even though the site did not bring back the same feelings of excitement from when the books were released, it did add an extra layer to the reading experience.[35]

Public launch

Pottermore was originally scheduled to become publicly available at the end of October 2011, but the beta period was extended.[36] The Pottermore Shop (which sells Harry Potter eBooks and digital audio books) became available on 27 March 2012.[8][37] On 8 March 2012, it was reported that Pottermore would open to the public in early April 2012. The website officially opened on 14 April 2012, but the interactive experience was only available for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.[10]

Chamber of Secrets

On 15 July 2012, the first four chapters of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets were released to only Slytherin House, as their reward for winning the first house cup; it was released to the other Houses on 16 July. On 18 September, chapters five through eleven were released. Accompanying these releases were many new features. These features included badges, the ability for users to see their own all-time House points as well as the number earned since the last House Cup, second-year schoolbooks, more galleons to spend in Diagon Alley, and a status field for user profiles. The final installment of chapters, including chapters twelve through eighteen, were launched on 31 October 2012.

Prisoner of Azkaban

The first seven chapters of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban were released on 20 December 2012. Chapters eight through fifteen were later released on 10 April 2013. Chapters sixteen through twenty-two were released 31 July 2013, Along with a new layout of Pottermore that includes a new gateway, a separate way of going through Harry's story and your own, and 3 more moments added to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

Goblet of Fire

The first 11 chapters of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire were released on the site in October 2013.[38] In these chapters, users can do things from the book, such as see The Dark Mark, watch the Quidditch World Cup, and find a Chudley Cannons badge in Ron Weasley's room. Chapters 12 through 20 were released on 16 January 2014. The final chapters, Chapter 21 through 37, were released to Ravenclaw members on 30 July 2014, and then to the public on 31 July 2014. Chapters 2, 22, 29, and 33 of Goblet of Fire have no interactive moments to explore, however, their descriptions are still available to read when each chapter is clicked.

Between April to July 2014 while Chapters 21 through 37 of Goblet of Fire were in development, the site periodically released "articles" from the franchise's fictional newspaper The Daily Prophet, pertaining to 2014 Quidditch World Cup. Written in-universe by character Ginny Weasley (by then married to Harry), the articles detailed the various matches of the sporting event between sixteen countries such as Bulgaria, the United States, Japan, and Brazil. A further article, written in-universe by reporter Rita Skeeter, was released on 8 July, and detailed various, never-before-seen tidbits on the lives of the story's protagonists.

Order of the Phoenix

On 17 October 2014, the Pottermore Insider introduced a Trick or Treat event that posted a new Trick or Treat daily. On even days, there would be a Trick and on odd days, a Treat. Treats consisted of a piece of artwork or sneak peek to be released in the new update on Halloween. Tricks consisted of a puzzle or game that needed to be solved to provide hints of things included in the new update. On 31 October, Pottermore released the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix chapters to the online experience. In the fifth book, users can read new content from J.K. Rowling including Professor Umbridge's backstory, the mystery of Thestrals, the history of the Ministry of Magic, and more.

Half-Blood Prince

On 5 December 2014, Pottermore gave users early access to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince if they answered the riddles correctly. There, you can find more information about Inferi, Florean Fortescue's forgotten plot to help Harry, the Order of Merlin, Draco Malfoy's secrets, and more.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Pottermore Limited - WebCHeck". United Kingdom: Companies House. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  2. ↑ "Pottermore Team Biographies and Company Profiles" (PDF). Pottermore. 23 June 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "New Rowling mystery project spellbinds". Sydney Morning Herald. 17 June 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
  4. ↑ "Pottermore Shop". Pottermore. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Cooke, Sonia Van Gilder (19 June 2011). "'Pottermore' Secrets Revealed: J.K. Rowling's New Site is E-Book Meets Interactive World". Time. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  6. ↑ Solon, Olivia (23 June 2011). "J.K. Rowling's Pottermore reveal: Harry Potter e-books and more". Wired UK (Ars Technica). Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  7. ↑ "Pottermore Press Release" (PDF). Pottermore.com. 23 June 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Pottermore Insider (30 September 2011). "Beta and Beyond". Retrieved 30 September 2011.
  9. ↑ Pottermore Insider (28 October 2011). "Making Pottermore even better". Retrieved 28 October 2011.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Waiting for Pottermore?". Pottermore Insider. 8 March 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  11. ↑ Flood, Alison; Brown, Mark (23 June 2011). "Harry Potter next chapter? Wizard website tells and sells all". The Guardian (UK). Retrieved 3 August 2011.
  12. ↑ "Melissa Anelli's Twitter". Melissa Anelli. 23 June 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2011. All right, I can say this now. I have been working with @pottermore since Oct 2009...
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Witt, Emily (2 August 2011). "Harry Potter and the Interactive Digital Environment". The New York Observer. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
  14. ↑ DeMara, Bruce (16 June 2011). "More ‘Harry’: Pottermore website raises fan hopes". Toronto Star. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "J.K. Rowling has mysterious new Potter website". The Sacramento Bee. 16 June 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Flood, Alison (23 June 2011). "Pottermore website launched by JK Rowling as 'give-back' to fans". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  17. ↑ "New Pottermore Website Will Offer Interactive Reading Experience and Harry Potter Ebooks". 23 June 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  18. ↑ "PottermoreInsider".
  19. ↑ "PottermoreInsider". The sixth House Cup was awarded on 26 September 2014 and - second time in a row - it was won by Ravenclaw.
  20. ↑ "Pottermore Help – The Magical Quill and site access". Retrieved 3 August 2011.
  21. ↑ Yin, Sara (5 August 2011). "Harry Potter Fan? You're a Prime Target for Cybercriminals". PC Magazine. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  22. ↑ "Harry Potter hit by hi-tech conmen". BBC News. 5 August 2011.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 "Harry Potter website Pottermore users 'targeted by cybercriminals'". The Daily Telegraph (UK). 5 August 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  24. ↑ "Harry Potter website Pottermore hit by scammers". Metro. 5 August 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  25. ↑ Memmott, Carol (1 August 2011). "Pottermore's Magical Quill Challenge underway". USA Today. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 26.4 26.5 26.6 "The Magical Quill Challenge: clues and solutions". Pottermore Insider. 10 August 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 "Pottermore: your experiences". The Guardian (UK). 16 August 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  28. ↑ Cockburn, Harry (2 August 2011). "Pottermore: my quest to find the magical quill". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  29. ↑ Kirch, Claire (4 August 2011). "Harry Potter and the Muggle Quest for More". Publisher Weekly. Retrieved 9 August 2011. [...] We embarked upon a noble quest worthy of Harry Potter himself: entering Pottermore sooner, rather than later.
  30. ↑ Flood, Alison (15 August 2011). "Pottermore: A first look inside Harry Potter's digital world". The Guardian (UK). Retrieved 15 August 2011.
  31. ↑ Pottermore (10 August 2011). "Pottermore's Twitter". Retrieved 11 August 2011. Don't worry if you haven't received your email confirming early entry. There’s a million to send out so it may take a little time to arrive.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 Pottermore Insider (15 August 2011). "Beta testing (and registering for October)". We’re excited to announce that early access to Pottermore has begun...
  33. ↑ Pottermore Insider (27 September 2011). "One million Welcome emails delivered". Retrieved 27 September 2011. Earlier today, we sent out the one-millionth Welcome email...
  34. ↑ Young, Bryan (15 August 2011). "A Look Inside Pottermore: First Impressions". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  35. ↑ Walker, Harriet (16 August 2011). "First Sight: Pottermore.com, the internet". The Independent (London). Retrieved 17 August 2011. Judging by its first showing, Pottermore will not change the world.
  36. ↑ Pottermore Editor (28 October 2011). "Making Pottermore even better". Pottermore Insider. Pottermore Insider. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  37. ↑ JEFFREY A. TRACHTENBERG (27 March 2012). "Finally, E-Books for Potter". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  38. ↑ "Pottermore Insider: ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’ is available to explore on Pottermore.com.".

External links