March 28, 2024

Pottermore

Joanne Rowling, or J.K. Rowling as her fans have come to know her, is the author responsible for bringing the cultural phenomenon of Harry Potter into the lives of countless readers. The series has sold more than 400 million copies and has made Rowling the world’s most successful author.

Fans followed the adventures of Harry Potter and his friends Ron Weasly and Hermione Granger from adolescence to adulthood as they struggled with typical teenage problems, like crushes and bullies, and the not so typical problems, such as fighting an evil dark lord, Voldemort, and his legions of Death Eater followers. Oh, and did I mention, they’re wizards? The epic saga combined magic, drama, love, death and suspense to create the best-selling book series in history.

Along with the novels, movie adaptations hit the silver screen beginning in November 2001. The final movie installment premiered in theaters July 2011. Just like the series, the movies became incredibly successful. All eight films have been on the list of highest-grossing films worldwide.

After the final movie premiered, fans were at a loss of what to do next. Should they just have hung their cloaks in the closet and shelved the books? What would the future of a Harry Potter-less world bring?

Luckily for fans, Harry Potter is nowhere close to over. In August 2011, Rowling debuted Pottermore, an online gaming experience for Potter enthusiasts, to a small number of people. Since the site opened to the general public in April 2012, over two million people have joined.

“Pottermore is the place to explore more of the magical world of Harry Potter than ever before and to discover exclusive new content from J.K. Rowling,” the Pottermore site explains.

Users are offered the experience to follow the story chapter by chapter and are even sorted into one of the four houses: Hufflepuff, Slytherin, Gryffindor, or Ravenclaw. Members can earn points for each of their respective houses through competing in duels, finding things in the story, and brewing potions.

It is in this online world that enthusiasts can relive the story over and over. But that’s not all that is in store for fans. Last week, Rowling announced that she is working on a Harry Potter encyclopedia.

“For a long time I have been promising an encyclopedia of Harry’s world, and I have started work on this—some of it forms the new content in Pottermore. It is likely to be a time-consuming job, but when finished I shall donate all royalties to charity,” Rowling reported on her website www.jkrowling. com.

Shereportedly told The Daily Magazine that “there’s no point in doing it unless it is amazing,” though Rowling also said that it may take up to 10 years to complete.

While this may seem like an eternity away, there is something else new in store for older fans of Rowling’s work: The Casual Vacancy, Rowling’s first novel for adults.

“When Barry Fairweather dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock,” the book’s description reads on the website.

“Seemingly an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils…Pagford is not what it first seems. And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?”

The novel is set to be released September 27, 2012. So for now, as the Harry Potter legacy is beginning to catch on to Pottermore, there are new things in store outside of Harry’s world. What the future holds next, who knows?

When asked if there will ever be another Harry Potter, Rowling answers this on her website,

“I have always refused to say ‘never’ to this question, because I think it would be foolish to rule out something that I might want to do in a few years’ time. However, I have no immediate plans to write another Harry Potter novel, and I do think that I have rounded off Harry’s story in the seven published books.”

For now, fellow Potterheads, our mischief is managed.

ccarr2@capital.edu 


Gryffindor

by Kevin Smith
contributor 

What does it truly mean to be a Gryffindor? The Sorting Hat says we are brave, and brave we are. Just yesterday my friends and I saw Albus the squirrel under attack by a fearsome hawk. Being the only Gryffindor in the group, I immediately charged out to save him, yelling “FOR HARRY!” At any moment the hawk could have swooped down and attacked me, but I knew what was right, and Albus was saved.

Like our friends the Hufflepuffs, we stick to our peers, but only if they are doing the right thing. We don’t play along if something is against our morals. Nothing is worth compromising who we are. We are daring, always the ones to tempt fate and take risks. We don’t walk the safe route and find the road that is clear of pitfalls, we choose to take the path with the most reward and the most chances to fall. We never slither away when times get tough; Gryffindors are the ones who know they might fail, and yet have the nerve to try anyway. Nerve means you have the ability to stay firm under stress, and the impunity to say what needs to be said. Gryffindors are the ones on campus who don’t give a damn when something needs to be said:

Random Student A: “Does this dress make me look like a hooker? You can only kind of see my thong when standing.”

Gryffindor Student B: “Yes. It really does.”

Wherever you see movers and shakers, those who speak with power and fight until the end, you will find Gryffindors. I’m proud to have been sorted into the house that has produced such wizards as Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore (plus some 30-odd other great witches and wizards). At Capital, our bravery, daring and nerve will speak for us. Be great. Be Gryffindor.

ksmith5@capital.edu


 Hufflepuff 

by Shannon Schilling
editorial staff 

What is a Hufflepuff? I will admit that I asked myself this same thing until I was sorted into Hufflepuff a few weeks ago. At first I did not know what to do with my sorting placement because I knew very little about Hufflepuff. It is the house least explored in the Harry Potter series and the only common room that Harry does not visit during his time at Hogwarts (in fact, no outsider has ever seen the common room). Because of this, people tend to think that Hufflepuff is less important or that its members are stupid and lazy, but this is not true.

A number of great witches and wizards have come from Hufflepuff house, but by nature they are not as boastful about their accomplishments as members of the other houses. Hufflepuff has also produced the least amount of dark witches and wizards. Besides being particularly good finders, we pride ourselves on being friendly, patient, true, loyal, trustworthy, and just. Like our mascot the badger, people tend to underestimate us. We know how to lay low and stay out of the spotlight, but when the time comes we know how to protect ourselves, our families, and our friends.

As a Hufflepuff, I acknowledge that each house has something great to offer and it’s not that any house is better than the rest, it’s that one house is simply better for me.

You can make fun of us Hufflepuffs all you want. I see that we are often the butt of everyone’s jokes and that’s fine. We know who we are and we don’t need anyone’s approval. I like to think that we have a pretty good sense of humor and we’re not afraid to laugh at ourselves so feel free to continue. Just don’t expect us to take your insults

 sschilli@capital.edu 


Slytherin 

by Becca White
reporter 

From the beginning of my relationship with the Harry Potter series, I had been lead to believe that I, if the Sorting Hat were reality, would have been sorted
into Gryffindor. Bravery and loyalty are two of the most important traits for a true Gryffindor to have and in an effort to be humble, I believe I represent these quite well. But I began to realize as I continued to grow that my personality began to resemble a house fitted in green and silver, rather than red and gold. I knew once Pottermore had been released to the Beta users I had to know for sure. I secured my spot as an early user and made through the book to get sorted. Low and behold, my suspicions were proved correct as the banner for Slytherin showed brightly on the screen.

As much as I wish I could say I loathed being placed in the same house as Crabbe and Goyle, I couldn’t help but find it a bit…fun. Slytherins aren’t all bad peo- ple, despite popular belief. We are cunning, sleek, and powerful – just like the snake! And Merlin was a Slytherin…what other house can say that the most powerful wiz- ard of all time used to walk amongst their common room? None. So while you Raven- claws relish in your intelligence, you Gryffindors believe yourselves to be superior and you Hufflepuffs do…..well, whatever it is that you do, remember that Slytherins will always have pride in their traditions and house and will stop at nothing to bring honor to it….well, I mean we would if this was all real.

 rwhite406@capital.edu 


Ravenclaw

by Aaron Butts
reporter

Ravenclaw represents the pinnacle of academic excellence and intellectual superiority. Everything about Ravenclaw is better than the rest. It is the only house that doesn’t need to hide the entrance to it’s common room or allow only students of the same house inside. Rather, any person who can answer a question asked by an enchanted door knocker can gain admittance into the common room. It is the arrogance and sureness of the house that claims that only a Ravenclaw can be so smart and cunning to be able to answer the door’s riddle, therefore alleviating any worry of a Hufflepuff getting in.

I find myself honored, and even undeserving, to be considered a person who soars above all others when it comes to intellect, yet I find the merits of the house to be a code that is something valuable. Ravenclaws pride themselves on how they do at exams, not how they do in Quidditch. It’s surprising to me that there are so few in Ravenclaw (it has the least amount of members in Pottermore). Perhaps it is a sign of our society where courage, caring, and craftiness are more highly valued attributes than intelligence or wisdom.

Personally, I am proud to be a part of this fictitious organization. Pottermore has been a way of flattering people in their house placement by breaking them down into types, like a personality test. I was always hesitant of wanting to jump on the Gryffindor bandwagon, as many who I talked to who aspired to be in that house, seemed to be a tad bit self-centered. And on the opposite side of the spectrum there were the anti-Gryffindors, the Slytherins who thought of themselves as cool for not going with the flow. I saw rather the fringe houses, the forgotten houses, as more appealing. Ravenclaws know they are better, even though everyone else may not recognize it, and that is what made them so appealing to me. Self-sureness and self-respect are just as core of values as intelligence and wisdom, and they are what makes Ravenclaw such a prestigious house to be a part of.

abutts@capital.edu

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