First Sight: Pottermore.com, the internet

3.00

Millions of Harry fans want more, and Pottermore – sort of – delivers

It's what weeping children and sullen teens have been waiting for since the author J K Rowling unveiled the project in June; the official Harry Potter website, Pottermore.com, came online yesterday, to the relief of a select group of fans among those left broken-hearted by the conclusion of the film franchise this summer.

More than a million early doors "beta" accounts were released to fans around the world. We waited for more than two hours to receive our secret login information as the launch was delayed until 4pm.

There has been drama off and on the site, with high-tech conmen selling fraudulent Pottermore accounts on eBay for as much as £100. There have been more than 22 million views of the homepage, which contains only a registration form and welcome blurb.

Rowling and her developers said the site is designed for users of all ages and is free to join when it officially opens in October. Once they enter, visitors can participate in challenges, collect trinkets, and generally immerse themselves in the fictional realm that has captivated generations since the first of the seven books was published in 1997.

The site is supposed to be a sort of add-on rather than a standalone entity and it is laid out in a way that prioritises reading the books rather than just logging on. Essentially an interactive theatre set, it takes visitors through the story, scene by scene, allowing them to click on frames and features to learn more. Soon I find myself reading a comment from Rowling herself on exactly why she named Harry's childhood home 4 Privet Drive.

"I have never been fond of the number 4, which has always struck me as a rather hard and unforgiving number," she explains in a side-bar that unfurls like parchment and has her signature at the bottom.

It's a sort of interactive York Notes, should the Potter books ever find themselves on the syllabus and one can't help wondering how it would be to navigate, say, The Waste Land in this format, with T S Eliot's spidery notes laid alongside a barren landscape of stony rubbish and red rock.

Within five minutes of entering the site, I have received four friendship requests from other fans – all of whom have given themselves rather more adventurous names than mine (my email address), names that plumb the depths of Pottermania, referencing obscure mythical creatures and rarefied spells.

In only a few seconds, an entire community has blossomed, with message boards detailing every minute reaction to each scene and revelation. "This is all so wonderful!" says one. "I'm shaking right now," says another. I can only presume these are children since, despite the catch-all age range, the visuals and facts are very firmly of the sort enjoyed only by 2ft pedants. Judging by its first showing, Pottermore will not change the world. It will not bring back that feeling of excitement before each of the books was released – but it might just add an extra layer to reading, encourage a few to explore a little further. It's the modern equivalent of all those extraneous hobbit maps and elfin dictionaries that a groaning J R R Tolkien found himself under pressure to produce.

And it's comforting somehow to know that a modern, mass-multimedia movement such as this could have started on a bookshelf – which would be a far better place to look for entertainment and inspiration.

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
News in pictures
World news in pictures
Arts & Ents blogs

Friday Book Design Blog: Blurb special

Let's talk book blurbs, those quotes you get, usually from other writers, that are meant to entice y...

Something For The Weekend in London: May 17-19

Fela Kuti, Jewish food and The Great Gatsby are just some of the reasons why the rainy weather ahead...

SPOT festival: Bob Dylan, TopShop, and René Descartes

Sat in a hotel lobby amidst a music conference in Aarhus around 4am in is a great way to argue, and ...

       

ES Rentals

    The price of pacifism: Refusing to go to war is finally being recognised as a brave act

    The price of pacifism

    From the Second World War refusenik to the 19-year-old Israeli, Holly Williams talks to five people who risked shame and suffering to take a stand as conscientious objector.
    'It was mass hysteria': Jason Isaacs on groupies, theatre bores and snogging James Bond

    Jason Isaacs: Groupies, theatre bores and James Bond

    To millions, Jason Isaacs is one of Harry Potter's arch enemies – but his wife prefers him as a Scottish TV detective.
    Notes from a small island: Is Sealand an independent 'micronation' or an illegal fortress?

    Sealand: 'Micronation' or illegal fortress?

    Thomas Hodgkinson spent a week at the tiny platform off the Suffolk coast to find out.
    Not a bad bone: Mark Hix cooks with cutlets and ribs

    Mark Hix cooks with cutlets and ribs

    If you ignore cutlets and ribs, you'll risk missing out on some delicious and easy meals, says our chef.
    Sir James Dyson’s latest project: Cleaning up hospitals

    Sir James Dyson’s latest project: Cleaning up hospitals

    Doctors are hailing the revamp of a Bath neonatal unit, where babies sleep more and feed better, as the model for patient care
    One man returns to Argentina's town that drowned

    One man returns to Argentina's town that drowned

    Epecuen was submerged under 10 metres of water in 1985. Now the floods have gone – and 83-year-old Pablo Novak has moved back in
    The real thing? Historian publishes Coca Cola's 'secret formula'

    The real thing?

    Historian publishes Coca Cola's 'secret formula'
    Gordon Ramsey's worst nightmare: A restaurant he cannot save

    Gordon Ramsay's worst nightmare: A restaurant he cannot save

    The pugnacious chef finally met a shambolic restaurant he couldn't save. John Walsh on when TV makover refuseniks fight back
    Join Ryanair! See the world! But we're only paying you for nine months a year

    Join Ryanair! See the world! But we're only paying you for nine months a year

    Glamorous myth of the flight attendant lifestyle undermined by angry employee's claims of 'exploitation'
    Braising saddles: Did the recent furore scupper sales of horse meat? Neigh, far from it!

    Braising saddles: How to cook horse meat

    Did the recent furore scupper sales of horse meat? Neigh, far from it! Will Coldwell hoofs it to the kitchen.
    Why bitters are back on the bar: A few little drops pack a big punch in cocktails

    Why bitters are back on the bar

    A few little drops pack a big punch in cocktails. No wonder we're learning to love them again...
    The 10 Best barbecues

    The 10 Best barbecues

    Whether you're cooking on gas or are a convert to charcoal we've got the perfect way to cook when the sun is out.
    Style icon David Beckham calls time on his long retirement

    Style icon calls time on his long retirement

    David Beckham never disgraced himself but former England captain ceased to be a major player years ago. Remember him at his United peak
    Steve Harper: My darkest times

    Steve Harper: My darkest times

    As the popular Newcastle goalkeeper bows out after 20 years at the club, he tells Martin Hardy about the private battle with depression that threatened his career
    Sir Torquil Norman has designed a flat-pack OX truck for the developing world

    The flat-pack truck with big ambitions

    After making a fortune from Polly Pocket and a doll's house shaped like a teapot, the entrepreneur has turned his creativity to a transporter truck for the developing world. Simon Usborne meets him.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/first-sight-pottermorecom-the-internet-2338170.html
www.independent.co.uk
crawl=CC-MAIN-2013-20
109226
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:GEYUGNQTM2E74CFFCVPRTNRZEIDUOSI2
<urn:uuid:c597332c-3cd0-4f1c-80bd-82b5611c914d>
2013-05-18T13:34:49Z
184.51.126.56
sha1:YIK6CRYXXNYTOAWJI5K3NDGN3QWDPFBW
<urn:uuid:d70c9e09-58fb-4da5-986f-a18042f7a6e3>
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/first-sight-pottermorecom-the-internet-2338170.html
response
<urn:uuid:26deeacd-78fb-4a46-a8e2-17d4b5441055>
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)/CC WarcExport 1.0
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2013-20
operator: CommonCrawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web with URLs provided by Blekko for Spring 2013
publisher: CommonCrawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf