This week, everyone in the Harry Potter community is excited about Pottermore! Back in June, it was announced that J.K. Rowling had a new project that was not a book. Over a few days, coordinates were given to multiple fansites, and if you put the coordinates into the map given, you would find a letter. The letters unscrambled to spell Pottermore. A website of the same name opened, and it lead to a youtube page which counted down to Jo's announcement. On June 23rd, I woke up early (for me) at 7am EST to see what Jo had to announce.
With the promise that on July 31st we would learn how 1 million fans would be given early access to the site, everyone went to pottermore.com on Sunday, to learn that every day for the next 7 days a clue would be given at a certain time. Every day the clue would pertain to a different book, starting with Philosopher's Stone. An example would be something like "How many spellbooks did Harry have to buy in The Chamber of Secrets? Multiply that number by 32." Once you have that number, you put it after the URL quill.pottermore.com/ to be redirected to a site where you will find the magic quill, and then click on it be able to register. You only have a limited time to do this, of course. You can see a list of all the questions so far here.
I feel asleep around 1 on the 31st, and decided to try my best for August 1st. I started checking the site at 7pm EST (midnight in London) and feel asleep at 1:30am. Luckily, my cat woke me up a little before 6 am, and I managed to register. You have to confirm your e-mail within the next 48 hours, then wait a few weeks for your "owl" to come, and you can officially use the site. Everyone can use the site on October 1st.
Pottermore will replace the promised encyclopedia by providing new stories and background information. The site itself is free, but you will have to pay for Harry Potter e-books and audiobooks. Everyone will be sorted into a house, and you can guarantee that more than a few people will be upset when they're sorted into Slytherin instead of Gryffindor (or whatever.) Honestly, I'd be very happy to be in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. I wouldn't be upset if I was placed into Slytherin or Hufflepuff, just confused, since neither really fit for me. The upside of not being placed in Gryffindor is that you get to learn new information about your house.
Some people are making multiple accounts and selling them on ebay. These accounts are invalid, and can be terminated by the site. You're not allowed to make multiple accounts or sell them. I've seen people making multiples for fictional characters, which is ridiculous. It would really suck if a big fan didn't get to take part in the beta testing all because someone registered themselves plus Kurt and Blaine. Also, it isn't smart to give someone you don't know your personal information for them to register you.
I'm really excited for this site! I think it's going to be beautiful and a lot of fun. I can't wait to get my owl! Plus, I just read on mugglenet that the next clue will be revealed in the next 3 hours! Good luck everyone!