Wizarding World (website)

"I'm thrilled to say I'm now in a position to give you something unique. An online reading experience unlike any other. It's called Pottermore. It's the same story but a few crucial additions; the most important one is you."

- J. K. Rowling's announcement on 23 June, 2011. Pottermore is an official Harry Potter website to be opened publicly in October 2011. It is a joint venture of J.K. Rowling and Sony, and will offer an experience centered around the reading of the Harry Potter series, with interactive features, new information from Rowling's extensive collection of notes, and e-book editions of the books available for purchase for the first time. One million people will get a chance to preview the site before its general launch starting on 31 July, 2011.

Announcement and unveiling
As a teaser for Pottermore's announcement (then a complete mystery, other than not being a new book, although something "equally exciting"), a challenge consisting of finding letters, using coordinates being revealed among ten Harry Potter fan sites, to piece together a word with the subject of her announcement on 15 June, 2011 was set up. A while after all letters were revealed (E-T-O-T-O-P-E-R-R-M), Pottermore.com was launched with a "coming soon" message and Rowling's signature, as well as an official Twitter account. By the next day, a new YouTube account entitled "J. K. Rowing Announces" was revealed to show a countdown which noted the official unveiling of Pottermore's nature was take to place on 23 June, 2011.

Some fan sites reportedly had access to a sneak preview of Pottermore and, while telling they'd made "an unbreakable vow concerning its secrecy", they reported it is "breathtaking in scope, detail and sheer beauty" and "perfect".

The only thing known about Pottermore prior to its revelation as an interactive website was that it was not another book. A representative of Rowling's told The Guardian on 16 June: "All we can say is that Pottermore is the name of J.K. Rowling's new project. It will be announced soon, and it is not a new book". Most fans tended to guess it was either an online game, a new fan site, or a digital encyclopedia.

On 23 June, J. K. Rowling made an announcement via her Youtube account, informing fans of what Pottermore truly is: "Pottermore will be the place where fans of any age can share, participate in, and rediscover the stories. It will also be the exclusive place to purchase digital audiobooks and, for the first time, e-books of the Harry Potter series.''" Rowling also revealed that Pottermore will be open for everyone from October, 2011.

J.K. Rowling announcement on YouTube:
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Notes and references
Pottermore Pottermore