I'M ON POTTERMORE?! Sort of!

You heard me right, I'm on Pottermore!!! But why sort of, you ask? Well, let me explain. This morning one of my friends got their welcome email. They know I am ridiculously excited about Pottermore, so she came over to my house and showed me! Then she even logged on to her account on my computer so I could play around and check it out!!! I was so excited and happy! So, today's blog post will be about my first thoughts on Pottermore. However, they will be a bit different seeing as it's not my account and I haven't gone through everything personally. Let me explain:

When my friend came over, she was already on Chapter 7, which is when you get to Hogwarts and get sorted. She was sorted into Gryffindor. So this means that I won't be able to tell you about the sorting questions, the wand questions, or anything like that. However, you can go back to past chapters on Pottermore, so I was able go back and look through them. I didn't really do much though, because she had already unlocked and collected everything. It was still fun though, and I have loads to talk about! As of right now, there are a total of 17,608 students: 3,991 in Gryffindor, 5,037 in Ravenclaw, 4,020 in Hufflepuff, and 4,020 in Slytherin. Slytherin is in the lead for house points, followed by Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and then Hufflepuff. Going along with the numbers of students, my friend that let me on her account has a theory that the sorting is random because the numbers are so close and even. You DO have to answer questions to get sorted, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the website actually uses the information! What do you think?! I'm not sure yet. I want to wait until I get sorted myself, to see if I am sorted into what I think I am, whether it's what I wanted or not.

First off, my first impressions are that it is very impressive, but it still needs a lot of works. Here are some things I like about it so far: One of my favorite aspects so far is the exclusive content that J.K Rowling wrote! Throughout the chapters, you collect and unlock new information about characters, places, and items. It really makes you feel like you are a part of Harry's world. It's also a lot more interactive with other members then I thought it would be. You can post comments on nearly every page, whether it's your house's common room, the Great Hall, or an information page. Also, you can add people as friends, and track their progress. I can tell a lot of detail was put into making this website as realistic and magical as possible. If I were a little kid, I would be blown away! Another one of the absolute best features is that you can go back to any part of any chapter at any time! There are also multiple ways to do so! At the bottom of the screen, there is sort of a menu that tells you what chapter you are on. If you click on it, it will take you directly there. There are also two arrows on either side, where you can quickly go forwards or backwards between slides and chapters. The second way to go to a chapter is on your profile page. At the top of the page (but below the very top navigation bar) there is a line of dots going across. Each dot is a  chapter, and you can click on one if you have completed that chapter. The third way is from the homepage. Again, there are dots, but instead of being in a straight line they are swirling around the page. You can click on a dot to go to a chapter. Both your profile and homepage also have dots and spaces for all 7 books, but you can only click on the ones for book 1 right now. Each of the books will be released separately.

Now let me express some of my complaints, suggestions, and things I didn't really like: My biggest complaint so far is that there is no sound. It just makes the whole experience a bit strange, because you expect there to be sound effects and music when you click on certain things. I hope they add this later. Another issue that a lot of people seem to be having trouble with is commenting, both in chatrooms and on pages. First of all, the comments are screened/monitored, so it takes forever for your comment to be posted. So essentially, you can't really live chats with people. I have also heard of some problems with having to edit comments before they are even allowed to be posted, such as deleting certain words. This is hopefully a simple glitch that will be fixed soon. As for the commenting, I don't plan on getting too excited, because it has to stay safe for younger audiences, so the comments will always be monitored and take a while to appear. The last two things that I wasn't that pleased with (although I haven't exactly tried them myself) were the potion brewing and wand dueling games. I have heard that these have had the most problems, and always glitch, freeze, or closes. I have not tried these yet, seeing as I don't have my own account and didn't think I should do that on my friend's account, but almost everyone I know that's on, has complained about them. Also, I heard that they are really difficult. This may be due to the fact that there are glitches, but some people are saying that they just can't figure certain parts out.

Other than those main things above, I am absolutely in love with Pottermore! I was worried that it was going to be more game-like, and you wouldn't be able to pause or save. It's completely the opposite though! Like I explained earlier, you can go back to any part at any time! It also automatically saves your progress, so every time you log in, you are just where you left off! Also, once you unlock Diagon Alley and Gringotts, they appear in the navigation bar at the top, and you can visit them whenever you like, from any chapter! I'm super excited for the store to open in October as well, because it's going to be great and full of exclusive stuff that has never been available before! Well, that is my first look/experience with Pottermore! Stay tuned for my actual and legitimate first experience, when I start from the beginning, pick my pet, get my wand, and officially get sorted!!! Until next time! :)

-Danielle