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Pottermore: The Magical Quill Challenge

After 14 years, 10 books, 8 films, and 1 short story, the Harry Potter franchise that fans grew to love came to a close this summer. With the release of the final film (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II) and no foreseeable hopes for any sequels, many Harry Potter fans found themselves grieving for the end of a huge part of their childhood. And then J.K. Rowling offered a life-vest to those sinking in despair; she announced the coming of Pottermore.

According to the declaration on the site, Pottermore is “an exciting new website from J.K. Rowling that can be enjoyed alongside the Harry Potter books. You can explore the stories like never before and discover exclusive new writing from the author. It is FREE to join and use, and is designed to be safe for people of all ages.”

The site promises all sorts of fun and magical experiences for Harry Potter fans but other than that, it has remained very much a mystery.

Still in its beta form, Pottermore is currently available to a very small group of fans, and it will remain so until its public opening sometime in October of 2011. Until then, only 1 million fans are allotted early registration and invitation to the site, a privilege they earned during Pottermore's “The Magical Quill Challenge.”

This challenge took place over the span of seven days, starting on July 31st and ending on August 6th. On each day (at a random time), one clue was released on the Pottermore site, and remained on the site until the day's registration slots were filled up. The clue, a question with a numeric answer, was to be figured out and then place at the end of the url: quill.pottermore.com. If the answer was correct, you’d be taken to a new site, then you'd have to find the Magical Quill and click on it to make it levitate. Once the quill levitated, you'd be transported to a registration page on Pottermore, and then you'd get to be one of the lucky fans to register and receive your Pottermore username.

Because of Harry Potter's world-wide success, the time of release of the Pottermore clues were scattered and unpredictable. Because of this, not only did many fans miss the chance to register but they missed the chance to see the clues altogether. For those of you who missed it, here's a list of the Pottermore clues (and below, at the end of the article, will be a list of the answers). If you didn't participate before, see if you can figure out the answers now:

Clue #1:

How many owls are on the Eeylops Owl Emporium sign? Multiply by 49.

Clue #2:

What is the number of the chapter in which Professor McGonagall cancels the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff? Multiply this number by 42.

Clue #3:

In the Gryffindor versus Slytherin Quidditch match, in Harry's third year, how many points is Gryffindor leading by before Harry catches the Golden Snitch? Multiply this number by 35.

Clue #4:

How many students take part in the Triwizard Tournament during Harry's fourth year? Multiply this number by 28.

Clue #5:

What is the house number of the Headquarters for The Order of the Phoenix in Grimmauld Place? Multiply this number by 21.

Clue #6:

How many chapters are there in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince? Multiply this number by 14.

Clue #7:

How many Deathly Hallows are there? Multiply this number by 7.

After finding the quill and registering for the site, fans (im)patiently awaited the first of their activation e-mails. This first email included an activation link that needed to be clicked to complete each user's registration. On August 10th, the second round of e-mails began being sent out. This “Congratulations” e-mail informed users to keep an eye out for their official “Welcome” e-mail, which will finally allow them entrance into Pottermore. And on August 15th, the first set of precious “Welcome” e-mails were sent out to a “very small number” of very lucky Harry Potter fans.

Since those first Welcome e-mails were released, there have been a number of articles, blog posts, and Twitter tweets raving about the site. While many of them have turned out to be hoaxes and fakes, one journalist, Bryan Young (editor in chief of Big Shiny Robot!), has written and released a legitimate look into the wonderful world of Pottermore.

In his article, “A Look Inside Pottermore: First Impressions,” Young describes Pottermore as truly being an 'exploration into the world of Harry Potter.' He goes on to say that “each chapter of each book has been rendered into Flash-based paintings that can be explored, zoomed into, and clicked on. Navigation bars above, below, and to the side lets you know what you can read about and explore and move through, taking you to pages and pages of backstory, behind the scenes information, and expanded encyclopedia-like entries of just about anything you could think of.”

For many Potter fans, finally receiving their “Welcome” e-mails will be the closest thing to ever getting their long awaited Hogwarts acceptance letter. These small snippets and sneek-peaks from those who have seen the depths of Pottermore, only serve to fuel our curiosity and our desperate yearning to be re-immersed in the magic. They wait, on the edges of their brooms, to re-enter Rowling's world of stunning magic and interact with the millions of Potter fans across the world.