I. Harry Potter Goes Interactive
In This Section
• So, What’s Pottermore Anyway?
• You Can Also Visit the Pottermore Shop
• How to Navigate Your Way Around Pottermore
• Your Adventure Is About to Begin
What started off as an international bestselling book series has grown into a global phenomenon. The best way to experience Harry Potter’s incredible adventures is to begin by reading the seven Harry Potter books, written by J.K. Rowling.
Then, you can relive Harry’s adventures by watching all eight blockbuster movies. Each is available separately on DVD, as a digital download, or on Blu-ray and will keep you on the edge of your seat.
There’s also a vast selection of Harry Potter-inspired toys, action figures, Lego® sets, puzzles, and traditional games, not to mention Halloween costumes, clothing, and fashion accessories designed for Harry Potter fans of all ages.
Plus, if you visit the Universal Studios Orlando theme park in Orlando, Florida, you can literally step into The Wizarding World of Harry Potter for a truly breathtaking and immersive experience. At this theme park, you get a whirlwind tour of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a look at the Hogwarts Express, be able to walk through Diagon Alley, plus visit Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands.
If you happen to be in London, you can get a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Harry Potter movies when you visit the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter attraction.
Or if you’re a gamer, you can take control of Harry Potter’s adventures at home by playing a series of action-packed video and computer games that are available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Windows PC, Wii, and Nintendo DS.
After you get to know Harry, Ron, Hermione, Professor Dumbledore, Hagrid, Lord Voldemort, and the rest of the incredible, unusual, and often heroic characters within the Harry Potter series, there are so many different ways to relive their adventures and, in some cases, create your own.
One of the latest video game projects that J.K. Rowling is personally involved with is called Wonderbook: Book of Spells for the PlayStation 3. It enables you to read and actually experience what’s inside the 200-year-old Book of Spells, which until now has been stored in the Restricted section of the Hogwarts library and available to select witches and wizards only.
And then, there’s Pottermore! Anyone who can surf the Web, using a PC, Mac, or tablet, can visit www.Pottermore.com and experience Harry Potter’s adventures in a unique and highly interactive way.
Keep in mind that some tablets (such as the Apple iPad) cannot display animations, which will limit what you can do during your visit to Pottermore. Other tablets, however, work with Pottermore just fine.
So, What’s Pottermore Anyway?
J.K. Rowling herself has teamed up with a group of talented website designers, game developers, artists, and other technological geniuses to create an online world based faithfully on the Harry Potter books. This unique website is called Pottermore.
Experiencing Pottermore.com is free. You can spend as much time as you want visiting and revisiting each area of Pottermore after you set up your very own account.
Pottermore isn’t an eBook, but it does highlight important scenes from every chapter of the Harry Potter books, and it enables you to delve much deeper into those scenes by reading exclusive information that J.K. Rowling has written and added only to the Pottermore website.
You can also read detailed descriptions of characters, creatures, magical objects, and enchanted items, plus many of the locations that were featured within the Harry Potter books.
These descriptions reveal previously unreleased details and convey J.K. Rowling’s personal thoughts and opinions, so you can discover things about Harry Potter’s world that were not included within the original books or movies.
Plus, as you’re making your way through Pottermore and experiencing each chapter of each book, two things happen at once. First, you follow in the footsteps of Harry, Ron, and Hermione and relive some of their awesome and magical adventures (in the order they happened within the Harry Potter books).
At the same time, however, your character within Pottermore has his own unique adventure, which you will help to control.
After establishing your Pottermore account, you have the chance to
• Obtain your own, unique magic wand from Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands.
• Select an animal avatar (an owl, cat, or toad) from Eeylops Owl Emporium & Magical Menagerie, which is located along Diagon Alley.
• Become a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, put on the Sorting Hat, and be placed into Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin.
• Collect dozens of items during your exploration.
• Cast spells with your unique magic wand.
• Participate in the Wizard’s Duel using your magic wand.
• Mix and brew magical potions.
• Earn house points based on your achievements and to help your house win the Pottermore House Cup.
• Share items and gifts with other Pottermore fans.
• Post your ideas and thoughts about Pottermore and the Harry Potter books so that other Harry Potter fans can discover what you think.
• Create and share your own Harry Potter-themed drawings and artwork.
Like the book series itself, Pottermore is divided into seven distinct areas, starting with Book 1, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Your online adventure begins in Book 1, Chapter 1, “The Boy Who Lived.”
You aren’t able to proceed beyond Book 1, until you’ve completed all 17 online chapters, which faithfully follow the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone book.
When Pottermore was first launched, only Book 1 was unlocked. Over time, each additional area within Pottermore will become available, giving you access to all new adventures and challenges.
For example, Book 2, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was unlocked on Pottermore in mid-summer 2012. Before you can access it though, you have to unravel all the mysteries and collect all the hidden items within Book 1 (which this unofficial strategy guide will help you do).
After you’ve acquired your own magic wand and the ability to cast spells (which happens as you explore Book 1 online), you can then visit the Spells or Potions area of Pottermore at anytime to perfect your skills as a young wizard or witch, plus earn points for your house.
One of the things you can do within Pottermore is learn how to brew potions, after finding or buying all the necessary ingredients.
You Can Also Visit the Pottermore Shop
While you’re visiting Pottermore.com, drop by the online-based Pottermore Shop. From here, you can purchase eBook versions of all seven Harry Potter books to read or reread on your digital eBook reader (such as your Kindle, Nook, or iPad).
The Pottermore Shop is also the only place you can purchase and download the digital audio editions for all seven Harry Potter books. With these audiobooks, you can listen to every word of each book and follow Harry Potter’s adventures in yet another exciting and fun way.
You need a debit or credit card to purchase items from the Pottermore Shop online.
How to Navigate Your Way Around Pottermore
To begin experiencing Pottermore for yourself, use any computer or tablet that has access to the Internet (with your parent’s permission, of course) and visit www.Pottermore.com. The Pottermore home page is displayed.
Use your mouse to move the onscreen cursor around on the Pottermore website. In some cases, the mouse cursor represents your magic wand, which you wave through the air to make things happen. If you’re using a computer with a trackpad, move your finger around on the trackpad to move the onscreen cursor around.
If this is your very first visit to Pottermore, click the Sign Up button that appears near the center of the home page.
If you’re making a return visit, click the Sign In to Pottermore button, and then enter your username and password when prompted.
During your first visit to this unique website, you need to create your own unique Pottermore account. Click the Sign Up button. What to do next is explained later in this guide within Section II, “Signing Up for Pottermore.com.”
You are then magically transported to Privet Drive, where your adventure officially begins. Pottermore Secrets and Mysteries Revealed: The Unofficial Guide walks you through every step of your adventure. This book helps you discover even the most difficult-to-find items, while giving you important clues about how to solve the puzzles you encounter and overcome the challenges you’ll soon face.
Don’t forget, your Pottermore adventure follows each book in the Harry Potter series, chapter by chapter, so grab your copy of each book and read along as you make your way through your online-based adventure.
Use the Magical Gateway to Navigate Your Way Around
Constantly displayed near the very top of the screen is the gateway. It consists of 10 circular icons plus the large Pottermore sign and your profile shield.
Perched on top of the Spells icon is the Messenger Owl. When you begin your adventure, the majority of the circular icons displayed within the gateway are locked. A lock symbol appears within most them, and when you click them, nothing happens.
Over time, as you work your way through Pottermore, new areas of the website are unlocked. By the time you’re done with Book 1, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, nine of the icons will be unlocked: Diagon Alley, Gringotts, Great Wall, Common Room, Spells, Potions, Trunk, Friends, and Favorites.
After an icon on the gateway is unlocked, click it to immediately access that area of Pottermore. For example, click the Trunk icon at anytime to display the contents of your trunk. This is where all the items you collect during your adventure are stored.
A bit later, you discover where you wind up after clicking each of the other unlocked icons that are displayed within the gateway.
At anytime, click the Pottermore title that shows near the top center of the screen to view the entire magical gateway.
The magical gateway serves as a map from which you can transport yourself back to any scene within any chapter of any book you’ve already completed within Pottermore.
During your first visit to Pottermore, only Book 1, Chapter 1, “The Boy Who Lived,” is unlocked on the magical gateway. Book 1’s icon, which by no coincidence looks like the Sorcerer’s Stone, is displayed near the top-left corner. By the time you’ve completed Book 1, all 17 of the chapter dots are gold colored and clickable.
Click a chapter dot that’s displayed within the magical gateway once to reveal a chapter title, or double-click to enter into that chapter.
Each circle within the magical gateway represents one of the Harry Potter books. The dots around each circle, and the dots that connect the seven circles, each represent a chapter of a particular book.
View Your Profile Page
When you first start your adventure, the icon below the Pottermore title looks like a silver shield. Click it to view your unique profile page at anytime.
After the Sorting Hat has assigned you to a house, the shield’s appearance changes. It will ultimately display your house’s color and insignia. This happens during your experience in Book 1, Chapter 7, within Pottermore.
Your profile page reveals information about your Pottermore character and her accomplishments.
As you progress through your adventure, the information within your profile page changes.
Your profile page is divided into several sections. Along the top of the screen, just below the gateway, a progress meter shows how far along you are in a particular Pottermore adventure. You can click any dot, each of which represents a chapter you’ve completed, to return to that chapter. The rightmost dot on the progress meter represents the chapter you’re currently exploring. Click it to return to where you left off in your adventure.
After the Sorting Hat has assigned to you a house, how many house points you’ve personally earned is shown just below the gateway on the left side of the screen. To the right of that, on the opposite side of the profile shield, is the total number of house points your house has earned.
Near the top left is (or will be) information about your unique magic wand. Near the top center are (or will be) details about how many house points you have personally earned. Near the top right of the profile page is a listing of any notifications you’ve received, either from the Pottermore website operators or from your online friends and fellow Pottermore users.
When you scroll downward a bit on your profile page, you find a Favorites section. A listing of the characters, spells, creatures, objects, places, chapters, and potions you’ve tagged as your favorites are accessible.
Remember, from each chapter introduction or chapter summary screen during your adventure, as well as anytime you unlock information about something new within Pottermore, you can click the Favorites button and add it to your Favorites list.
One of the great things about Pottermore is that you can meet friends online who are Harry Potter fans, just like you! If one of your real-life friends is also on Pottermore, you can meet online, as long as you know your friend’s unique username. Or while you’re exploring Pottermore, you can meet and interact with new friends online.
Some of the ways you can interact with other people include being able to post public comments, send and receive gifts, or challenge others to a Wizard’s Duel. You learn more about these aspects of Pottermore a bit later.
Access information about your Pottermore friends from the Friends section of your profile page, or simply click the Friends icon at the top of the screen within the gateway.
You learn all about how to meet friends on Pottermore from Section VI, “Making Friends with Fellow Witches and Wizards in Pottermore,” later in this book.
Another thing you can do on Pottermore is share your artistic talents with others by uploading your drawings and artwork to the Pottermore website, where it will be displayed for all to see.
You can also view galleries of other people’s art. From your profile page, you can manage the drawings that you’ve uploaded to Pottermore. You learn how to upload and share your drawings from Section VII, “Your Adventure Continues.”
The bottom three sections of your profile page allow you to view and access your inventory of spells and spell books, potions, and your trunk. During your adventure, you unlock new spells and potions. However, you can also learn how to cast new spells and mix new potions on your own.
Section IV, “Wizard’s Duels: Enhance Your Spell-Casting Skills,” helps you become a master at casting spells and winning Wizard’s Duels.
Also, be sure to check out Section V, “Potion Brewing for Hogwarts Students,” to learn all about how to find or buy the ingredients you need to brew your own potions.
Receive Messages from the Owl
Perched quietly atop the Spells icon on the gateway throughout your adventure is a dark-colored Messenger Owl with bright orange eyes. If a number appears within a circular icon next to the owl, this indicates you’ve received a message, either from the Pottermore website operators or from one of your online friends. To access the message, click the owl.
Notifications from the Messenger Owl can include the following:
• Friend requests from others
• Acceptance notices for friend requests you’ve sent
• Information about gifts others have sent you
• Challenges from other people for a Wizard’s Duel
• Results of a Wizard’s Duel challenge
• News about online events, such as the Pottermore House Cup
• Important messages from the creators of Pottermore
You can also access incoming messages (and respond to messages from your friends) by clicking the Friends icon within the gateway or by clicking the View and Manage button under the Notifications heading on your profile page.
Experience Pottermore Chapter by Chapter
After your adventure begins, you discover that each book within Pottermore is divided into chapters. Each chapter consists of two or three separate scenes.
Before each chapter, you see a chapter introduction page. It offers a preview of the scenes you’ll soon experience, plus the chance to add a particular area of Pottermore to your Favorites list.
As soon as you finish each chapter, a chapter summary screen reveals useful information and helps you keep track of where you are and what’s happening at that point in your adventure.
Throughout your adventure, a banner appears near the bottom center of the screen. It includes the name of the scene you’re currently in.
As you’re looking at the banner, click the left-pointing arrow next to it to move back to the previous scene. Click the right-pointing arrow on the opposite side of the banner to advance to the next scene.
By waving your mouse over the upward-pointing arrow near the top center of the banner, you can display a short description of the scene you’re in.
Manage Your Pottermore Account
After you’ve set up your Pottermore account, you can access the Account Settings options to update or change your information, such as your email address, country, language of choice, or your password.
On the Account Settings page within Pottermore, you can manage your account after setting it up.
You can access the Account Settings page in any of these three easy ways:
• Click your username near the top-left corner of the Pottermore screen and select Account Settings from the pull-down menu.
• Access your profile page and click the Account Settings button under the Notifications heading on the right side of the screen.
• Click the Account Settings link at the bottom of the Pottermore website.
From the Account Settings page, you can also delete your Pottermore account. However, if you click the Delete Account button on the Account Settings page, and then confirm your decision by clicking the Yes, Delete My Account Now button, your Pottermore account is erased forever.
As a result, all your account-related information, including your unique username, wand, avatar animal, what house you are assigned to, and all your items, are lost.
A Few More Menu Commands Are Available to You
At anytime, if you scroll down to the bottom of the Pottermore page you’re on, you discover a handful of links, including the following:
• About Pottermore: Read a brief description about what the Pottermore website is all about.
• Pottermore Shop: Access the Pottermore Shop to purchase Harry Potter eBooks and digital audio books.
• Pottermore Insider: Read the official online blog written by the creators of Pottermore. Discover what’s new on the site and read important announcements.
• Child Safety: Read basic tips that help you stay safe when communicating with people through the Pottermore website. Also, be sure to read Section VI for more information about communicating with your online friends.
• Privacy Policy: Discover what happens to the personal information you provide when you create a Pottermore account or make purchases from the Pottermore Shop.
• Help: If you have a question about Pottermore, chances are you can find the answer within this book. However, you can also check out the Help section of the website.
• Terms & Conditions: A group of lawyers who represent J.K. Rowling and Pottermore put together this long legal document that’s full of fine print about what you can and cannot do on the Pottermore website. Don’t worry; you can skip reading this section and go right to experiencing your adventure.
• Account Settings: Click this link to gain quick access to your Account Settings page while visiting Pottermore.
Your Adventure Is About to Begin
Now that you know the basics for navigating your way around Pottermore, you’re ready to start your interactive adventure. The next section of this book walks you through the Pottermore account setup process. Then, within Section III, “Your Magical Adventure Begins,” you discover everything you need to know to successfully make your way through all of Book 1, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
Thanks to Pottermore and all that it offers, there’s never been a more exciting time to be a Harry Potter fan. Just like Harry has done, you now have an opportunity to make your mark on the wizarding world by showcasing your skills as a witch or wizard as you encounter countless challenges.
Say goodbye to your days living as a muggle, and get ready to experience a magic-filled life as a wizard or witch who is a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Good luck!