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Wizarding World Digital

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Pottermore
Type of businessPrivate limited company
Type of site
Harry Potter website
Available inEnglish, German, Spanish, French, Italian & Only E-Books and Digital Audio books in Japanese.
HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom[1]
Area servedWorldwide
OwnerJ. K. Rowling
Founder(s)J. K. Rowling
Key people
URLwww.pottermore.com shop.pottermore.com
RegistrationRequired
Current statusPublic Access

Pottermore is a website that serves as the permanent home for the Harry Potter book series. Developed by J. K. Rowling, and partnered by Sony,[4] the site provides an area for fans to engage in a unique online experience that coincides with reading the books.

The site features many of Rowling's thoughts, several pages of text that were not included in the novels, a service that sells e-book and audiobook versions of the seven Harry Potter novels,[5] and over 18,000 words of additional content. This additional content includes a large number of background details and settings.[6][7]

Registration for the limited beta release began on 31 July 2011 (the birthday of both Rowling and her character Harry Potter). This allowed for the first one million fans to complete The Magical Quill challenge. Registration was originally intended to open to all in October 2011,[6][8][9] but the beta period was extended.[10] Pottermore opened to the public on 14 April 2012.[11] As of 31 October 2012, the interactive experience is only available for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Development

Pottermore had been in development for two years since its incorporation in April 2009.[1][12] The Leaky Cauldron's Melissa Anelli has been involved with the project since October 2009.[13] On 15 June 2011, various Harry Potter fan sites including The Leaky Cauldron, MuggleNet and HPANA began to release geographical coordinates to letters that could be found on SecretStreetView.com. This website, created by Rowling, integrates Google Maps to reveal hidden letters that would spell out the title of her secret announcement.[14] A webpage announcing the project first appeared in June 2011,[15] where the webpage linked to a custom interactive YouTube channel featuring a countdown.[4][16] Owls gathered on various other Harry Potter pages linked to this countdown as well.[14] Rowling revealed some details of the site via a YouTube video on 23 June 2011.[6][16]

Features

Exploring the books

Visitors of to the website are able to participate in interactive reading experiences or moments beginning with the first book Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.[17] Users can move through the chapters and follow Harry while collecting items for themselves such as: potion ingredients, books, galleons (a form of wizard currency), and candy. These feats earn users House points once they are sorted by the Sorting Hat. Furthermore, users are able to visit Diagon Alley, learn spells, duel other users, and brew potions. In addition to exploring the books, students from different Houses can compete with each other for the House Cup by gaining House points mainly through dueling and potion making.[17][18]

Brewing potions

Pottermore gives users an opportunity to make their own potions in three different cauldrons made of pewter, brass and copper. Each cauldron can make potions of increasing speed, with pewter being the slowest and copper the fastest. Pewter cauldrons cost 15 galleons, brass cauldrons cost 21 galleons, and copper cauldrons cost 25 galleons. With ingredients bought in Diagon Alley or found while exploring moments, users can make six different potions, each of which rewards them House points if completed successfully. However, a potion can fail if the wrong amount of an ingredient is added. This can happen if a user, leaves it to brew 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.

The potions that can be made in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone are antidotes to Common Poisons, Cure for Boils, Forgetfulness Potion, Herbicide, Sleeping Draught and Wideye, Awakening Potion, Swelling Solution, or Polyjuice Potion.

Spells

Users can practice spells on their own and use them later against other members of Pottermore in a Wizard's Duel. A select amount of the letters in the spell are displayed, which the user has to click each twice before moving on to the next letter. There are four spellbooks: 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). The spells that are currently available to members of the site are as follows:

  • The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)
    • Fire-Making Spell (Incendio), conjures flames
  • The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection
    • Curse of Bogies (Mucus Ad Nauseam), gives the opponent an extremely runny nose
    • Knockback Jinx (Flipendo), knocks opponent over
  • Curses and Counter-Curses
    • Full Body-Bind (Petrificus Totalus), paralyzes opponent
    • Jelly-Legs Jinx (Locomotor Wibbly), collapses opponent's legs
    • Leg Locker Curse (Locomotor Mortis), binds opponent's legs
    • Pimple Jinx (Furnunculus), causes pimples to erupt on the opponent
    • Stickfast Hex (Colloshoo), sticks opponent's shoes to floor
    • Tickling Hex (Titillando), tickles opponent
    • Tongue-Tying Spell (Mimble Wimble), ties opponent's tongue in a knot
  • The Standard Book of Spells, (Grade 2)

Wizard's duel

Each member of Pottermore has the ability to duel with other users. Each user can choose a spell to use against their opponent, and the winner is determined based on the rating of the spell cast. Users can practice against members belonging to their same House, but can only challenge members of other Houses. The winner receives five points for their House, while the loser receives zero points. The Wizard's Duel was shut down shortly after the site opened, but was restored on 13 December 2011.[9]

House points

Each member of Pottermore wins and loses House points as they duel, brew potions, and explore the books. These are then added and subtracted from the total for that member's House (Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, or Hufflepuff). All the members of each House work together to give their House more points than any other House. Every so often, a House cup with a special reward 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 Chapters 1-4 of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The second House Cup will have a different prizes and is expected to be awarded on November 21st 2012. [19]

Artwork

The concept of exploring key scenes from the books in a 2D/3D style and the beautiful illustrations crafted for each of the scenes were created by leading UK art studio Atomhawk Design. Atomhawk is also known for it's visual designs in several other interactive games and platforms, such as Kinectimals (2010), Enslaved: Odyssey to the West (2010), Mortal Kombat (2011), Dead Island (2011), Driver San Francisco (2011), and Dr Who - The Adventure Games (2011).

History

Early registration: The Magical Quill Challenge

The website was launched on 31 July 2011, with an overwhelming number of people trying to access the site. The site subsequently had a page refresher and those who could get into Pottermore were informed of The Magical Quill challenge. This allowed users who completed the challenge to complete the early registration for the site. The challenge spanned seven days, with each day corresponding to a certain book in the series; with Day one corresponding to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Day two corresponding with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and so on. Each day had a clue, which corresponded with the related novel which the user must solve to enable their right to register before October. The website would pick the person's username randomly showing five names to choose from, for child safety. Only a certain number of people each day were allowed to use their Magic Quill clue for registration, to total to 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 users created multiple accounts and sold them for high prices on eBay, despite being warned by the Pottermore blog and being 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] They posted promises of early previews and access to the site, leading people to unintentionally buy malicious software and allow people to hack their accounts.[23][24] The following table is an overview of the seven day challenge. Clues on days 1–3 were more difficult than the clues on days 4–7.[25] For North Americans, the final clue was released on 5 August 2011 instead of 6 August 2011. This was due to the fact that the clue was released at 1:00 am BST (British Summer time).

Date Time Clue Answer Page References
31 July 9:00 am 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 am 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 am BST "In the Gryffindor versus Slytherin Quidditch match, in Harry's third year, how many points is Gryffindor leading by 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 pm 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 pm 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 pm 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 am BST "How many Deathly Hallows are there? Multiply this number by 7." 21 Warner Brothers' Parseltongue Translator [26]

Beta period and early access

"I think Pottermore has the potential to be a lasting focal point for the Harry Potter brand – The Leaky Cauldron for the fans. 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 congratulations email to registered users, confirming that they would get early entry and that the beta period would begin once the sign-in button had reappeared on the website.[31] On 15 August 2011, the sign-in button reappeared on the website, 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] with more users subsequently being invited until 27 September, when the final invitation emails were sent.[33] The site received positive reviews from users and the media during the beta period. They praised the beautiful artwork on the site as well as extra content revealed by Rowling.[30] Bryan Young[disambiguation needed] of The Huffington Post has said, "to say that Pottermore is an immersive experience might be an understatement." He commented that the beta site still had a few problems, but also said that "the experience [was] smooth and utterly absorbing."[34] Early users also said that even though the site did not bring back the feeling of excitement from when the books were released, it did add an extra layer to the reading experience, similar to the maps and additional content released for The Lord of the Rings series.[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. Pottermore has also included an introduction video an its home page stating the same.[37][9] 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.[11]

First House Cup

In June 2012, it was announced that the first House Cup would be awarded on 5 July 2012. To keep the winner secret, the House points hourglasses were covered from 29 June - 4 July 2012. On 5 July, the Winner was revealed to be Slytherin, who also received early access to chapters 1-4 of Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets. Gryffindor received second; Ravenclaw was Third; and Hufflepuff was last.

Second House Cup

The Second house cup began on 5 July 2012 and on 7 November 2012 it was announced that it would be awarded to the winning house on 21 November 2012 with a prize different from the first house cup.

Chamber of Secrets release

On 15 July 2012, the first four chapters of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets were released for Slytherin House only; it was released to everyone else on 16 July. On 18 September, chapters 5-11 were released. Accompanying the release were new features. These included badges, 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, launched on 31 October 2012.

Reception

The website has attracted Harry Potter fans of all ages.[27] Fans of the series responded well to the overall experience and quality of the website. They have considered the website to be a magical portal, amazed at the detail and thrilled with the images coming to life before their very eyes.[38] Entertainment Weekly gave their approval of the website and praised that it was not just a marketing ploy to sell e-books and audiobooks, but a place that "will at least let you experience some of the fun of living in the world of Harry Potter. While the reaction from users has generally been positive, this new type of virtual reading experience has generated concern about the potential reaction of established online book retailers such as Amazon.[39] Buying books, e-books and audiobooks is not directly related to anything else on the site."[40]However, the site has also been recently critiqued due to its prolonged beta period and technical difficulties.[citation needed] The Pottermore blog reported that the delay was due to a platform change "invisible" to users that was meant to address capacity problems before opening to much larger audience.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b "Pottermore Limited - WebCHeck". United Kingdom: Companies House. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  2. ^ a b c "Pottermore Team Biographies and Company Profiles" (PDF). Pottermore. 23 June 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  3. ^ "Pottermore.com Site Info". Alexa Internet, Inc. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
  4. ^ a b "New Rowling mystery project spellbinds". Sydney Morning Herald. 17 June 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  5. ^ "Pottermore Shop". Pottermore. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  6. ^ a b c 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. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  7. ^ 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. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  8. ^ "Pottermore Press Release" (PDF). Pottermore.com. 23 June 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  9. ^ a b c Pottermore Insider (30 September 2011). "Beta and Beyond". Retrieved 30 September 2011.
  10. ^ Pottermore Insider (28 October 2011). "Making Pottermore even better". Retrieved 28 October 2011.
  11. ^ a b c "Waiting for Pottermore?". Pottermore Insider. 8 March 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  12. ^ Flood, Alison; Brown, Mark (23 June 2011). "Harry Potter next chapter? Wizard website tells and sells all". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
  13. ^ "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...
  14. ^ a b Witt, Emily (2 August 2011). "Harry Potter and the Interactive Digital Environment". The New York Observer. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
  15. ^ DeMara, Bruce (16 June 2011). "More 'Harry': Pottermore website raises fan hopes". Toronto Star. Retrieved 23 June 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  16. ^ a b "J.K. Rowling has mysterious new Potter website". The Sacramento Bee. 16 June 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  17. ^ a b Flood, Alison (23 June 2011). "Pottermore website launched by JK Rowling as 'give-back' to fans". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  18. ^ "New Pottermore Website Will Offer Interactive Reading Experience and Harry Potter Ebooks". 23 June 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  19. ^ [insider.pottermore.com "Pottermore Insider"]. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  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. ^ a b "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. ^ a b c d e f g "The Magical Quill Challenge: clues and solutions". Pottermore Insider. 10 August 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  27. ^ a b c "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. ^ a b 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. ^ a b 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). "Making Pottermore even better". Pottermore Insider. Pottermore Insider. Retrieved 2 August 2012. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help); Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  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. ^ Kirch, Claire (17 August 2011). "The Magic of Pottermore". Publisher Weekly. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  39. ^ Frommer, Dan (23 June 2011). "Harry Potter And "Pottermore" Could Force Amazon To Open Up The Kindle". Retrieved 2 July 2011.
  40. ^ Staskiewicz, Keith (15 August 2011). "Pottermore: First impressions of the new interactive Harry Potter site". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 17 August 2011.

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