Leaky's Pottermore First Impressions Live Blog and Review
J.K. Rowling
Posted by: Edward
August 18, 2011, 10:15 AM
This morning, Leaky was lucky enough to gain early beta access to Pottermore, J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter online reading experience. As I go through the process of exploring Pottermore, this post will live blog my latest reactions, experiences, and discoveries. Those who wish to wait to experience Pottermore for themselves please do read with caution as this post will contain details on the process and moments from the online experience. A full review of Pottermore is due shortly. Enjoy!
- Even after the first few pages and tutorials, you can tell just how much detail and how many things there are to do in Pottermore. You can zoom in and out, up and down to find clues and info.
- Privet Drive contains so many little elements from the story in just one image.
- Click everything! :)
- Pottermore follows the story in such a way that you are introduced to places, characters, objects, etc. as they become important in the story.
- Even after a few days, the drawings and comments for moments and parts of the story are very high quality.
- Shooting stars and put-outers!
- Determined to transform the cat into McGonagall (I don't know if they even do that!).
- Friend and nicknames is a great feature. Gives a little breakdown of their house. Hope to run into them in the hallways :)
- Character bios seem to start very basic and then expand as you get deeper into the story.
- Four moments in Chapter 1. Now for chapter 2!
- Little lock images appear over red quills indicating you haven't yet unlocked the special new JKR content on the site.
- Electric meter numbers? In Harry's cupboard?
- Still can't get over the detail. In the zoo, lights flickering, reptiles slithering around, the glass disappearing.
- Another great feature: You can see when your friends are in the same chapter as you.
- So many objects to collect for your trunk. Very interested to see how these things add up.
- Loving how Pottermore puts you in the story but lets you imagine the characters and moments as you remember them while reading the books.
- Going shopping for school supplies! Never had this much fun doing this ever before.
- Do I want a cat a toad or an owl?
- A Brown Owl, it is!
- WAND time!
- The wand chooses you, of course. Asked a series of questions about yourself. Some are difficult to decide upon!
- My wand: Hawthorn with Unicorn Hair, thirteen and three quarter inches, surprisingly swishy.
- The detail about Mr. Ollivander is among the most fascinating yet.
- I wonder, if one buys a Rememberall, will it light up when you've forgotten something in the story?
- Even if we don't see the character in the Pottermore moment, if they were featured or introduced in the chapter se get a short bio about them.
- Made it to Hogwarts, now for the Sorting Hat.
- Lovely video from Jo pops up to speak more about the sorting ceremony.
- Sorting questions are HARD!
- Well, I have a new house. I'm a Slytherin.
- Have now unlocked the Common Room, Great Hall and a number of other features
- Exploring the Potions area. Seeing what I can make.
- Should say: always considered myself a Ravenclaw. Slytherclaw?
- Potions is as precise as it is in the books. Takes skill and patience. Great experience, perhaps soon I'll get one right!
102 Comments
128 Points
A bit of gentle googling will reveal that details of all the houses have been posted online. Reading the others made me even happier that I ended up where I did.
Another tip – where the screens only have one level, it is often possible to use a ‘reveal background’ via mouse buttons, and then save it. At long last (always knew/hoped I was a Ravenclaw) have an official picture of my common room!
128 Points
Just a reminder – okay to save a copy of images, but please don’t host online!
12.2 Our content includes any information or other material found on or via Pottermore, including text, databases, graphics, software and all other features on Pottermore. For all content, you may download any individual page on Pottermore onto one hardware device or print one copy of such page or view any video or images provided that this use is non-commercial and you keep intact all and any copyright and proprietary notices and do not edit the same. Apart from that, none of our content may be republished, posted, transmitted, stored, sold, distributed or modified without our prior written consent.
Very interesting and detailed, sounds like fun! Can’t wait!
how do you add stuff to your trunk? ill click on the put outer and see information about it, but my trunk remains empty
128 Points
You cannot collect the deluminator, or quite a few other things – they are just garnish. It will be clear when you can collect something.
5156 Points
I’m having seriously mixed feelings. I’ve always concidered myself a gryffindor priding myself on doing things most people would say no to and always trying to do the right thing. Or maybe a ravenclaw as I value intelligence and have been fortunate with my inteligence, and then I have huge ambition and determination which I questioned that I have sltherin qualities. … And now … I get sorted into hufflepuff. It’s nice and everything and I love helga casue she wanted everybody to be able to study magic, but I’m too competetive and cocky to be a claw. When I read the description after I got sorted I found it hard to place myself into that. :/
I’ve heard quite a few pwople wondering whether they’re in the right house and I’m thinking that there should be a question as to what house you want to be in. Afterall it’s common knowledge that the sorting hat takes you preferences into account
528 Points
True. I hope I’m not in Slytherin. Not Slytherin… Not Slytherin….
38 Points
So sad……….
I did not get in. Congrats to all of you who got in anyway…….I’ll probably get in on
OCTOBER!!!!!
hey guys, anyone know how to give them like a proper written feedback? cos i tried giving them feedback but its only this survey and i was planning on asking for them to extend the maximum number of characters you can put in the comment box so people can actually talk about stuff… like we do here. like, i understand that they have so much stuff to do but at the same time i dont know they expected us to give them proper feedback with the very limited questions they have on the survey
128 Points
I’ve added comments on the different pages, I think they’ve all been read as have only recently been owled that the comments have been accepted -
“Hi QuillMirror121,
We’re pleased to tell you that the recent comment you posted about chapter 17 has been approved by the moderators."
4852 Points
Gonna wait for my experience in October! :)
Sadness. I had actually managed to get into beta twice. Once my browser crashed when I submitted the answer due to the site load. Never got a validation for when I did manage to register the next day. so yeah, was looking forward to playing in October, and now it seems they have no idea when the site will actually be open.
A bit of gentle googling will reveal that details of all the houses have been posted online. Reading the others made me even happier that I ended up where I did.
Another tip – where the screens only have one level, it is often possible to use a ‘reveal background’ via mouse buttons, and then save it. At long last (always knew/hoped I was a Ravenclaw) have an official picture of my common room!