Inside look at Pottermore

Pottermore.com is a website that continues the legacy of the Harry Potter franchise. Hopefully, you don’t live under a rock and you already know what it is all about. But if not, you could Google what Pottermore really is. I’m not here to bore you with those details!

I’m here to give you an inside look into Pottermore so you can know exactly how much you’re missing if you’re not already a part of it

First off, I have to admit the tumult of new information completely surprised me. I thought Pottermore would be some sort of social forum where we would have to wait for Jo to post new stuff (probably subscribe to feeds to know immediately when she adds a comment or two). But no! Pottermore takes you through the chapters of EVERY book, and as you  browse, excerpts introduce you to “moments” in the book, which are then elaborately illustrated for you. These “moments” are visually stunning and they are animated so that you can zoom into three levels of focus, collecting chocolate frog cards, books, galleons and unlocking exclusive content from the author herself!

  

Above, you can see how you can zoom three times into Platform Nine and Three Quarters artwork.

To give you an idea of how much new content there is just for the first book, I’ll list some here:

1. Name origins: How Jo came up with names for Privet Drive, Platform 9 3/4, Hogwarts Express, and the first forty student names that she penned down not knowing how the characters would develop in the series. It is shocking to learn what Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger were initially called
2. Backgrounds of characters: Perhaps the most astonishing discovery is the background to the character of Professor Minerva McGonagall. Jo has shared her childhood, love life and marriage details that help you understand why Professor McGonagall is who she is. Then there is the background story to Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon in which of course Lily and James are involved and is the most emotional of all the exclusive information Jo has shared.
3. Extra scoop on magical objects: Mr. Ollivander’s personal notes provide in-depth analysis of the mysterious subject of wandlore. In his notes, he discusses wand cores, wand lengths and flexibility, wand woods and his own personal experiences at length.
4. Plot development: Jo shares how she materialised her wild imagination into seven books that have become a global phenomenon. For example, she writes about the Sorting Hat: “Finally, I wrote a list of the ways in which people can be chosen: eeny meeny miny mo, short straws, chosen by team captains, names out of a hat – names out of a talking hat – putting on a hat – the Sorting Hat.”

The art is gorgeous and rich in detail. Every nook and cranny is beautifully illustrated. It is interesting to note that no face has been shown. The characters are either shown from behind, wearing hoods or blurred out in the distance. Here are some screenshots to keep you interested till October:

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