Harry Potter - Pottermore #8: New revamped Pottermore site is HERE! - Page 4

***L i N d $ @ y*** · 09-22-2015, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bec =) (View Post)

I'm not sure how I feel about the new Pottermore.

Basically same with me. I still need to see all the new bits but all there is to do is read there. I did say that I want new stuff to read but I don't want them to stop doing those House Cups. Maybe just make them more competitive, more interactive. It's still early days and I know they said they're working on improving the site so we'll see. For now I feel lost going there. I want my wand back, all my Hogwarts stuff back. I don't want to take another sorting hat test. I'm a Hufflepuff and will always be. Obviously these things matter a great deal to me. LOL.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlondieLeigh (View Post)

I'm really not a fan of the new pottermore either. They've pretty much just taken everything that made it unique, thrown it out and turned the site into a Harry Potter themed buzzfeed. No thanks.

This. That foreword from some Pottermore Correspondent made me scratch my head. I'm like "Is this a Buzzfeed correspondent?" And then the Fantastic Beasts portion was when I stopped reading.

**baileycat** · 09-23-2015, 04:37 AM

A new story was posted today! This is why I love the new site. She can post stuff like this whenever she feels like it, and it doesn't have to be pertain to Hogwarts now. This is brilliant!

Quote:

The wizarding world’s affection for the Scottish rugby team is all the more bizarre because a substantial part of wizarding society knows nothing about Muggle sports, which they regard as inherently dull and even silly. Yet the Scottish rugby team has become a wizarding meme – part in-joke, part genuine interest – which has its roots in the nineteenth century and is a tale both sad and uplifting.

The wizarding family of Buchanan lived in a village in the Scottish Borders for many generations. A reputation for aggression and drunkenness, coupled with their prodigious size (the daughters alone had won the village tug-of-war every year in living memory), kept their neighbours at a respectful distance and ignorant of their magical abilities. One by one, as they reached the age of eleven, the Buchanan sons and daughters would disappear to Hogwarts. The village whispered that the enormous, wild children were being removed to a corrective facility or even a mental institution.

By the mid-nineteenth century the Buchanan family comprised an overworked mother, a fierce father and eleven children. The household was loud and chaotic, but even so, it is surprising that neither of the Buchanan parents realised that their third son, Angus, was a Squib – a wizard-born child with no magical powers. It had always been the proud boast of Mr Buchanan senior that such an anomaly had never occurred in their family. The proud old warlock went further: a Squib in any family was a sign that they were in decline and deserved to be winnowed out.

His brothers and sisters were all very fond of Angus, who was the largest and kindest of them all, so they covered up for him in front of his parents. The deception was innocently begun, but as the time approached for him to leave for Hogwarts, Angus and his siblings became uneasily aware that they could not maintain the pretence much longer. No letter from school arrived for Angus, but his panicking sister Flora forged one, which kept the parents in ignorance for several weeks more. Shy, good-natured and frightened of his father, Angus could not think of any alternative but to play along with his older siblings. They took him to Diagon Alley, where they bought a wand and pretended that it had chosen him. On the appointed day, his big brother Hamish took him to Hogwarts on the back of his broomstick, hoping against desperate hope that Angus would be allowed to stay once they got there, or that the school might be able to tease some magic out of him.

It had never happened before and it has never happened since, but Angus got as far as the Sorting Hat before he was exposed. In sheer desperation he threw himself ahead of a girl whose name had been called and placed the Hat upon his head. The horror of the moment when the Hat announced kindly that the boy beneath it was a good-hearted chap, but no wizard, would never be forgotten by those who witnessed it. Angus took off the hat and left the hall with tears streaming down his face.

News of Angus’s humiliation reached his parents in a flurry of owls before their son arrived home on foot. He was met by his humiliated father, who barred his entrance, bade him never darken their door again, and fired curses after Angus as he fled.

Without any idea of what he would do next, without family or money, the eleven-year-old Angus walked to the capital, occasionally hitching rides on carts. In Edinburgh he lied about his age and managed to find work as a labourer.

To Angus’s surprise, Muggles were not nearly as bad as his father and mother had always told him. He had the good fortune to be taken in by a kind foreman and his wife who had no children of their own, and by the time he was eighteen, Angus had grown into a big strong man who was loved for his kind nature and admired for his physical prowess, but who never shared the strange secrets of his past.

Angus’s early childhood had been spent dodging curses on an almost daily basis, which meant that he was surprisingly fast for a man of his size. He found his greatest pleasure and pride in athleticism, and soon became adept at the relatively new Muggle sport of rugby. Years of helping his siblings catch Golden Snitches in the back garden also made him a natural at cricket.

In 1871 Angus found himself representing his country in the first ever international rugby match, which took place in Edinburgh between England and Scotland. Angus’s emotion can perhaps be imagined as he walked out onto the pitch and saw all ten of his brothers and sisters among the spectators. Defying their father’s contempt for all Muggle pursuits and his injunction against ever seeing Angus again, they had set out to track him down. Elated, Angus scored the first try. Scotland won the match.

Reunion with his family caused Angus to reevaluate his relationship with his magical roots and in 1900 he published the groundbreaking worldwide bestseller My Life As A Squib. Until this point, Squibs had lived in the shadows. Some clung to the fringes of the wizarding world, always feeling second-class and trying to fit in; others cut all ties and lived entirely as Muggles, often repudiating their beginnings. My Life As A Squib brought the plight of these individuals to the wizarding world’s attention.

Thus Angus Buchanan became world-famous among wizards whilst also being celebrated among Muggles, a hitherto unknown achievement. Wizards of many nationalities began turning up to watch him play sport. Unfortunately, cricket found little favour with wizardkind. As the chief sports writer in the Daily Prophet wrote in 1902: ‘a Beater who is unable to fly defends three sticks instead of a hoop, while a Snitch without wings is thrown at the sticks. That’s it. Sometimes for several days’. Rugby held more appeal. Wizards could not help but admire the strength and courage of Muggles prepared to engage in a sport so brutal, without recourse to Disapparating out of the way, or access to Skele-Gro to repair broken bones. It must be admitted that there was an edge of sadism to some wizards’ enjoyment.

When Angus Buchanan died, he was honoured by both wizarding and Muggle worlds, an almost unique achievement in the annals of history. A shining example of a person who had made the most of the hand that life had dealt them and emerged triumphant, Angus was too modest to realise the impact that he had had. The Angus Buchanan Cup for Outstanding Effort is awarded at Hogwarts each year and My Life as A Squib is on its 110th printing.

When it comes to wizarding sports and games (Quidditch, Quodpot, Creaothceann – officially banned but still played illegally – broom-racing, Gobstones and so forth) wizards are naturally fiercely partisan and support their own country, but it is considered infra dig for wizards to support any rugby team other than Scotland. Over the nearly 150 years since Angus Buchanan helped win the first international rugby match, discussing Scottish rugby has become one of several covert identifiers for wizards meeting in front of Muggles and seeking to establish each other’s credentials. Eavesdropping Muggles might be puzzled as to why two Peruvians are so interested in a Scottish team, but it is generally agreed that this is preferable to arguing about Quidditch or comparing wand lengths in public.

Shortly after Angus’s death, the Wizarding Supporters of Scottish Rugby Union was set up in his memory by his devoted fans. The WSSRU, which exists to this day, has both Scottish and foreign wizarding members. They meet on the eve of every Scottish international match to toast Angus’s memory and anticipate a happy eighty minutes of watching Muggles trample each other into the mud. The International Statute of Secrecy expressly forbids wizards to participate in Muggle sport, but there is nothing illegal in supporting a Muggle side. However, the WSSRU has often had to deny the persistent rumour that its secret mission is to smuggle a talented Squib on to every Scottish team. Current suspects include Kelly Brown (possible cousin of Lavender’s), Jim Hamilton (strong resemblance to Hagrid) and Stuart Hogg (enough said).

blue winter roses · 09-23-2015, 10:03 AM

I'm confused (and really behind - I never finished collecting from the book moments). Are all the accounts gone because I don't even see where you login now. All it really looks like is you hit side arrows until you find a page you want to read.

Bec =) · 09-23-2015, 11:45 AM

Yeah, it looks like the accounts are gone.

They really should have asked us what we wanted out of Pottermore. They don't know what we want or what we are interested in. I think we want the whole fricking universe, and yet... we want the interactive bits such as the games, duels, and house cup competition.

**baileycat** · 09-23-2015, 01:31 PM

Yes there is no login or accounts anymore. I'm sure they, as most site programers/managers do, studied the activity on the site very closely. The fact that the games are gone leads me to believe they came to the conclusion that they were not being used as often as they use to. Traffic was up when the new chapters and content were released then probably shot way down when they were finished. That's the logical explanation anyway.

They have confirmed sorting hat will return and a patronus test is forthcoming along with other stuff unmentioned.

If they had as me, I would have gladly done away with the games and interactivity. I only came to Pottermore for the new canon content, so it looks like they're sticking to that model to start with. No doubt, this is just a base point in which to build and grow upon.

Bec =) · 09-23-2015, 01:59 PM

I don't know... like, I would like to discuss the canon with other Harry Potter fans. I know we have

but there's only so many people that come to the Harry Potter board, you know? There's probably ten or fifteen of us, and yet there are thousands upon thousands more out there... most of whom may be on Pottermore, and not

you know? It'd be nice to interact with them.

Of course, at some point, ship wars and character bashing are bound to arise. Then that brings up the con list of interacting with other fans. We know each other here on

and we know where not to go to avoid trouble. But out there, we don't know what the hell to expect and where to expect it.

**baileycat** · 09-23-2015, 02:03 PM

Creating a message board on that site would cause too much headache as you've suggested and negative behaviors from those less mature would not coincide with JKR's objective for the site. There's plenty of other places for trolls to inhabit and Pottermore just won't be one of them. its an information site now, not a community and I think they're perfectly ok with that.

***L i N d $ @ y*** · 09-24-2015, 07:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blue winter roses (View Post)

I'm confused (and really behind - I never finished collecting from the book moments). Are all the accounts gone because I don't even see where you login now. All it really looks like is you hit side arrows until you find a page you want to read.

For now it's gone. I do hope it's not completely gone. I enjoy finding stuff on Pottermore and getting to collect items and earning House Points. What I didn't like was the Potion-making and dueling. Admittedly most of us who joined the site don't regularly check it now that we're all sorted. I guess we were all just curious back then. But it doesn't mean that I wanted everything to be gone, of course.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bec =) (View Post)

I don't know... like, I would like to discuss the canon with other Harry Potter fans. I know we have

but there's only so many people that come to the Harry Potter board, you know? There's probably ten or fifteen of us, and yet there are thousands upon thousands more out there... most of whom may be on Pottermore, and not

you know? It'd be nice to interact with them.

Sadly forums aren't as popular as they once were. Everyone's on Tumblr these days. And people want apps for just about everything.

Bec =) · 09-24-2015, 09:33 AM

Tumblr and Twitter are just so antisocial. I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't say that considering I work with social media. But what ever happened to proper social interaction on message boards? I think

is the only message board still in existence that is also popular. I never download apps, because they want access to everything, from your phone camera to your contacts. I don't think so!

**baileycat** · 09-24-2015, 10:48 AM

Message Boards and comment sections are breeding grounds for trolls to abuse their privileges as much as they can get away with. And if young kids were using a Pottermore message board they'd eventually come in contact with someone of questionable values and that's just not what they're about. Its much easier for everyone involved to keep the site informational and leave the community aspects to others places on the internet.

Bec =) · 09-24-2015, 11:32 AM

Not all message boards are filled with trolls. I was on one fandom-based message board long before I joined

and there weren't trolls on there. We had cliques and were exclusive, sure, but there were hardly ever trolls. I remember this one time, this girl thought characters were actual people. She got banned immediately. The moderators just don't have the tolerance for that kind of rubbish.

If a message board is filled with trolls, then they either don't have moderators in place or the moderators are total rubbish/biased.

I will agree with you on the comments part, though.

**baileycat** · 09-24-2015, 02:46 PM

But with Pottermore, the site is still attracting a young audience so they wouldn't want to be bothered with patrolling something that potentially messy. It makes perfect sense to stay out of it. I'm sure they had there share of troubles hence the elimination of the interactivity.

Pottermore explains Cursed Child's news:

Quote:

J.K. Rowling has just revealed that the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will be staged in two parts.

The new stage play by Jack Thorne is based on a new and original story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, and will premiere in London’s West End in summer 2016 at the Palace Theatre.

At 10pm today, J.K. Rowling tweeted: 'Due to the epic nature of the story we’ve been working on, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will be in two parts!'

Like you, we had so many questions and luckily for us, the play’s director John Tiffany and its writer Jack Thorne were on hand to answer some of them.

Bafta-winning writer Jack Thorne was elated by the chance to delve deeper into the wizarding world.

‘Obviously I loved it when we decided to tell this story in two parts,’ Jack tells us, ‘because I got to spend more time with the characters and what an honour that has been.

‘It continues to be unbelievable and amazing that I’ve been given this extraordinary chance to bring Harry Potter to the stage. As a fan, who just devoured the books and the films, this couldn’t be more exciting for me.’

The significance of the stage play is not lost on Tony and Olivier Award-winning director John Tiffany. He feels that Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a unique production, and we’re inclined to agree.

‘I’ve never worked on anything quite like this before,’ he says. ‘Usually in theatre you’re adapting existing material or creating an entirely new play. With the Cursed Child we have been given the unique opportunity to explore some of the most cherished books and beloved characters ever written, yet work with J.K. Rowling to tell a story from that world that no one yet knows – it’s exhilarating.

‘It shares a scale and ambition with all the Harry Potter stories so in order to do this justice we have decided to present the play in two parts.’

John and Jack are two of the most successful and respected people working in theatre today. Their utterly charming nervousness about bringing J.K. Rowling’s characters to the stage only highlights what this extraordinary new story means to them.

'I just hope we do it justice,’ says Jack. 'I’m so constantly aware of respecting the previous seven stories…I hope people love this play like they loved the books. Everything we do is with that in mind.”

The production doesn’t just mean the world to its director and writer, but also to the entire team working tirelessly to bring the play to London’s West End next summer.

‘There are many people working on this production who grew up with the books, or discovered them with their kids,’ John tells us, ‘and it’s been thrilling and humbling to hear them say ‘We never thought we’d get Harry back. But he’s here…’’

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child comes to London’s West End summer 2016, with tickets going on sale this Autumn. You can register for priority booking at HarryPotterthePlay.com to have the first opportunity to purchase tickets before they go on sale to the general public.

***L i N d $ @ y*** · 09-25-2015, 01:56 AM

I'm reading a lot of mixed reviews about Pottermore: Is Pottermore Just Another Fansite Now? | MuggleNet

And I agree with this part:

This website’s major failing is that even though most of the old users were young adults, Harry Potter fans come in all shapes and sizes, and the official website should reflect that. The new site hasn’t been translated into other languages yet either, which is another significant teething problem – for a fansite like ours, perhaps it would be excusable… for the official Potter website, it absolutely isn’t.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bec =) (View Post)

Tumblr and Twitter are just so antisocial. I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't say that considering I work with social media. But what ever happened to proper social interaction on message boards? I think

is the only message board still in existence that is also popular. I never download apps, because they want access to everything, from your phone camera to your contacts. I don't think so!

That's what I hate about apps too: integration. I don't really need to broadcast everything I do onto twitter or FB. If you ask me, I think there's as much negativity in Tumblr as it is in forums. And I'm sure in another 10 years, Tumblr will be obsolete and there's another new thing everyone's on about.

**baileycat** · 09-26-2015, 10:54 AM

More NEW info about Professor Quirrell! Apparently it's his birthday (or it would have been) today!

Quote:

Professor Quirrell

Harry’s first Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher is a clever young wizard who took a ‘Grand Tour’ around the world before taking up his teaching post at Hogwarts. When Harry first meets Quirrell, he has adopted a turban for everyday wear. His nerves, expressed most obviously in his stammer, are so pronounced that it is rumoured the turban is stuffed full of garlic, to ward off vampires.

I saw Quirrell as a gifted but delicate boy, who would probably have been teased for his timidity and nerves during his school life. Feeling inadequate and wishing to prove himself, he developed an (initially theoretical) interest in the Dark Arts. Like many people who feel themselves to be insignificant, even laughable, Quirrell had a latent desire to make the world sit up and notice him.

Quirrell set out deliberately to find whatever remained of the Dark wizard, partly out of curiosity, partly out of that unacknowledged desire for importance. At the very least, Quirrell fantasised that he could be the man who tracked Voldemort down, but at best, might learn skills from Voldemort that would ensure he was never laughed at again.

Though Hagrid was correct in saying that Quirrell had a ‘brilliant mind,’ the Hogwarts teacher was both naive and arrogant in thinking that he would be able to control an encounter with Voldemort, even in the Dark wizard's weakened state. When Voldemort realised that the young man had a position at Hogwarts, he took immediate possession of Quirrell, who was incapable of resisting.

While Quirrell did not lose his soul, he became completely subjugated by Voldemort, who caused a frightful mutation of Quirrell's body: now Voldemort looked out of the back of Quirrell's head and directed his movements, even forcing him to attempt murder. Quirrell tried to put up feeble resistance on occasion, but Voldemort was far too strong for him.

Quirrell is, in effect, turned into a temporary Horcrux by Voldemort. He is greatly depleted by the physical strain of fighting the far stronger, evil soul inside him. Quirrell’s body manifests burns and blisters during his fight with Harry due to the protective power Harry's mother left in his skin when she died for him. When the body Voldemort and Quirrell are sharing is horribly burned by contact with Harry, the former flees just in time to save himself, leaving the damaged and enfeebled Quirrell to collapse and die.

J.K. Rowling's thoughts
Quirinus was a Roman God about whom there is not much information, although he is commonly associated with war - a clue that Quirrell is not quite as meek as he appears. ‘Quirrell,’ which is so nearly ‘squirrel’ - small, cute and harmless - also suggested ‘quiver,’ a nod to the character's innate nervousness.

***L i N d $ @ y*** · 09-27-2015, 01:40 AM

https://www.pottermore.com/features/...ogwarts-ghosts

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Fan Forum > Sci-Fi/Fantasy > Harry Potter > Pottermore #8: New revamped Pottermore site is HERE!