Over the summer, just days before the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Potterheads were treated with the announcement of a new website created by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling herself. Pottermore was produced as an extension of the Harry Potter franchise that would give users an opportunity to be more involved with the story that they have grown to love over the years.

As expected, the response from fans was strong and full of enthusiasm: “I was excited [when I heard about the website]. I’m a big dork when it comes to Harry Potter,” remarked Junior Katie Wald. “I was incredibly excited! Harry Potter was what first got me into reading, and it’s been with me all my childhood. It was wonderful to know that the eighth movie wasn’t actually the end, and there was still more to discover,” said Senior Nia Hilton.

Since Pottermore was launched so close to the release of the last movie in the Harry Potter series, it has been helping some fans deal with “withdrawal symptoms,” now that there will be no future book or movie releases for the franchise. “Pottermore is definitely helping with Harry Potter withdrawal symptoms. Over the years, Harry Potter has become so much more than just a book series — I’ve met many awesome people through it and it’s good to know that we can all still get excited over a new Harry Potter release,” said Hilton.

When the website was first revealed in July, only a few simple instructions were given to fans on how to become a beta user before Pottermore’s grand opening to the entire public in October. As explained on the Pottermore website itself, users were challenged to search the site at a specific time of day for the Magical Quill that would grant them early entry into the website (Pottermore.com). The task spanned over one week in August, with users getting a new chance to find the quill every day of the week. The tricky part was that users had little idea as to when the quill would appear, so some fans were forced to stay up late at night for their chance. Wald was one of these fans: “I found the quill on the first day and I stayed up and refreshed the Pottermore page until 1 a.m.,” said Wald.

One of the most anticipated features of the website is the oppurtunity to be sorted into one of the four Hogwarts houses (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin) by answering questions written by Rowling. Most fans have always been curious as to which house they would belong to if magical blood ran through their veins, so the opportunity to be sorted by the author herself was one that could not be passed by many. The quiz was designed to sort users into the house they most identify with — if they answered quiz questions truthfully that is. “I was extremely happy when I was sorted in Gryffindor,” Hilton said while sporting a large grin.

The purpose of allowing early access to a limited number of people is to ensure that the website can be perfected and ready for its debut to the public. Beta testers are encouraged to comment on the website with any suggestions they have. “I just wish there was more interaction with some of the pages, but I’m hoping they’ll take our feedback into consideration and change a few things, because that’s the reason people were allowed early access in the first place,” said Wald.

As it is still a beta website, there have been several glitches with the website that have limited users from accessing some features on the site. The entry of hundreds of thousands of “Hogwarts students” has created various technical problems for the site. “I’ve noticed some glitches. Because of overwhelming demand, the site has crashed at various times, and there have been some instances where the potions section hasn’t worked. But of course they’re only in beta testing, so there are bound to be some problems, which I’m sure will be taken care of by the public opening of the site in October,” said Hilton.

Even with a few issues here and there, Pottermore has still managed to enchant the Harry Potter fandom with entertaning new material and new levels of interaction with the story that were never possible before. “Although there are currently some issues with the site, the experience of it all has been extraordinarily fun and exciting — the new information released about side characters and the artwork on the site make this another Harry Potter adventure for millions of fans all over the globe to explore together as a community,” said Hilton.