Magical Moments With Harry Potter Fans, An Interview With Pottermore’s Social Media Manager

The announcement and subsequent release of the Pottermore Patronus quiz quickly took over social media during September of this year, with die-hard fans and casual enjoyers alike sharing their results through various social media platforms.

At the core of this enthusiasm? Amelia Florence Simmons, the social media manager for Pottermore. She, along with her team, created a mysterious campaign that a drew in a wide audience.

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— Pottermore (@pottermore) September 21, 2016

“Those teasers — the mysterious all-black photos — were just the beginning of what proved to be an enormous social media success.”

In an interview with The Girls Who Lived – Bustle’s Harry Potter Podcast – Simmons described her experiences with fans in the wake of the Patronus quiz as something above the ordinary.

“We were overwhelmed. We’ve never had a day like that on social,” Simmons tells Bustle. “But it was truly amazing to see these stories that were shared. People would tell us beautiful tales — the whole part of the experience was to think about your happy memories… We had someone say, my happy memory was of my brother. He was called Robin. He died a couple of years ago, and I got a robin as my Patronus.”
“We are so lucky, so privileged to have people share these stories with us,” she adds.

Balancing the large-scale social media output of features such as Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Cursed Child, Simmons emphasizes the importance of these routine interactions with Harry Potter fans.

That part of her job, she says, is her favorite, because it reminds her of the true spirit of her job.

“We love seeing those stories, those amazing moments,” she says. “The magical moments.”

You can read the full article here, and listen to the episode of The Girls Who Lived with Simmons’ interview here.