Pottermore News

At the cusp of launching the first four chapters of Chamber of Secrets to Slytherin House, Pottermore did some major renovating to the site. These are not only renovations, but also temporary changes.

I’ve compiled a list of all the changes to Pottermore and my prediction of their reasoning. I’ve also included a list of the locked sections and why I think they are locked. You can read the list below.

• The Great Hall: Pottermore has brought down the congratulatory House Cup banners, and today it resumes to its normal state. All the House Cup banners are gone and all you have are the four House banners. The only sign of the House Cup is a small badge next to the Slytherin House Crest. It was smart of Pottermore to get these out of the way before they launched the new book.
• Diagon Alley: Though the school-shopping chapter is unlocked, Slytherins are not able to buy any of their school supplies. This could be because Pottermore does not want Slytherin users to buy all their supplies before everyone else does. I would think it would be easier to let all of us go and buy our supplies than just one house.
• Diagon Alley: The shops are not yet updated to accomodate the new book. The books in Flourish and Blotts still carry our requirements for Year 1. Potage’s Cauldron Shop also lists another cauldron, a silver cauldron, even though it is not yet purchasable. Also, other shops that were expected to open are not. Again, Pottermore will likely wait until tomorrow to update these areas.
• Diagon Alley: Pottermore has currently locked Diagon Alley’s South Side to all Slytherin users. If you are in another house, you can still travel there, but all the shops are still unlocked. One of the reasons for this could be because all of our shopping will be done down in the South Side.
• Knockturn Alley: Since Diagon Alley’s South Side is closed, Knockturn Alley is too, even though we were travelling through it in chapter four. It will most likely be unlocked tomorrow. If not, then perhaps in book six(?)

We will be working through the night on a comprehensive guide for the four chapters. If you are in another house and waiting for Chamber of Secrets, you can use this guide tomorrow for help. Please come back tomorrow (around 8am) for that.

As we reported, Pottermore is now back online after a week of downtime. This time, the Pottermore team made an exciting new addition to the site: Sound. We think that this improvement is a step in the right direction and that Pottermore is finally listening to the fans. They are finally taking the fans’ feedback into consideration and initiating it on the site.

Now, if Pottermore sticks to their word, sound is only the first of many “exciting” new additions to the site that fans will be able to share and discover over the coming weeks. These changes will include new features and locations, according to the Gateway and Pottermore Insider. It is hard to predict what these new features and locations could be, but we’ve listed a few that we think fans could possibly see on Pottermore in the near future. Check it out below!

Games: Wizard’s chess is a game that many fans would love to play, and were disappointed when they found it un-playable in “The Chessboard Chamber” moment of chapter 16. Quidditch is also a fan-favorite that many were looking forward to playing.

Locations: Hogsmeade, which likely would be released during the third book and perhaps even the Ministry of Magic during the fifth book.

What we do know, though, is that Pottermore is an ever-changing journey that will evolve over many months and even years. We think that there is a lot in store for us fans over this seven-book tale.

Comment question: What features do you think Pottermore should add to the site?

The Pottermore Insider updated today with a post on their beta updates page.

In the post, they address the new changes to Potions and about making Pottermore better. 

Following the feedback you gave us in the Pottermore Beta survey, we’ve shortened brewing times and tweaked cauldron speeds to make brewing potions even more fun. 

Looks like taking the survey really paid off! At least we know they are taking what we said in the survey into consideration. 

They continued on and again asked for users to log in to Pottermore and use the features. They also stated that are monitoring the site and will be making “further changes” as the Beta continues. Though, there was no mention of Wizard Dueling at all! Shocked? We are!

Happy Friday! 

Pottermore is now online after about a week offline.

In the post on the update’s page, they explained that they were working on a number of enhancements during the down time. As told before, users may not notice the changes immediately, as they were focussing on the performance of the site. Though, they did say that users may find changes in the notifications.

We have been working on a number of site enhancements during this time. Once again, you may not immediately notice the differences, as some of the important work we have just completed focuses on site performance. However, you’ll now see some changes in the way notifications work, including a more streamlined dashboard and a refined owl messaging system. 

They are asking to come to the site to test the improvements. This can be done by brewing potions, uploading drawings, adding comments, and interacting with Moments and features. This will help monitor the site changes and observe how the site performs.

UPDATE: As a fan on our Facebook page pointed out, the brewing times for potions went significantly down, especially with the Cure for Boils, Sleeping Draught and Wideye or Awakening Potion.

Occupy Wall Street? Occupy Chicago? Occupy London? Wha? 

Over the past few weeks, people all over the world have been taking part in Occupy protests. Protesters chant and scream “We are the 99%!” and fight for economic equality and social justice, too. 

But, it didn’t take long until we heard from our “secret sources” that the Wizarding World is now taking their part in the protests. “Occupy Gringotts” is on its third day in a row this week. Thousands of witches, wizards, ghosts, and goblins galore headed down to Diagon Alley where they protested the recent magical financial crisis, in which many lost their jobs.

Perhaps, as we suggested, maybe Pottermore users should start a real Occupy Gringotts, where are list of demands will grow long and strong. What are some of the things you want Pottermore to change? Are you willing to demand it?

Tweet, email, message, ask, and even post on our Facebook wall your list of demands. Let’s get this revolution going. #OccupyGringotts

The source of this idea and post is an article posted on Cornell University website. It’s a really fun article! Check it out!

We are holding a special contest to see who can write the best article about “Occupy Gringotts”. The article must be written either as a Daily Prophet journalist, the Minister of Magic, or as a protester. All articles must be PG-13 appropriate, a minimum of 250 words (there is no maximum) and of reasonable size. The articles can be sent to pottermoreowl@aol.com with “Occupy Gringotts” as the subject. Please leave your name and TumblrBlog URL (if you have one). The deadline for the article is November 24, 2011 at 12:00 AM.