I hope I get into Hufflepuff. Yellow ftw.

 

Someone's notes after an "informations session" with the people that made in on the LeakyCon. SPOILERS, obviously, so if you want to be surprised by ... yeah, right.

(I wish I had pictures of the site, but we weren’t allowed to take photos. I looked at my handwritten notes from the info session at LeakyCon and I just realized just how bad my handwriting got due to my excitement. I tried my best to decipher my own chicken scratch, but this is all I could get out of them. Sorry!!)

Pottermore is intended to be an interactive multimember experience in the sense that you can make friends and make comments about specific Moments.

You can buy pets and various other goods from Diagon Alley.

When you finally get to register, you can’t make your own username. You will have to choose from 5 premade names. eg: Wizardgalleon72. All of these names will have to do with the series. I was told that it was for “safety” purposes. It’s also to make sure that people are choosing “family friendly” names.

Everyone gets his or her own personal homepage.

The homepage, which many of us have seen leaked photos of, is just plain purple in the beginning. It will have a sort of timeline. Then it is customized according to what house you are sorted in. The gate changes shape and color. There are notches that represent every chapter you’ve been through. The major icons represent each book.

We all remember the awesome announcement of JKR’s 18,000+ words right?? Well, Holyhead Harpies. That was just what she had at the time. It turns out that she’s still writing. Let me try to explain this better; when we all finally get into Pottermore, we’ll have the opportunity to go through the first book Sorcerer’s/Philosopher’s Stone. Chamber of Secrets won’t be accessible until 2012. So she writes more words for each book, from what I understand.

Now to the good part. What do we get to actually do on Pottermore?? Well, it’s an online interactive reading experience, and there are specific “Moments” that JKR wanted to bring to life. Illustrators painstakingly created the concept art so it they wasn’t too detailed but gave a basis from which your imagination could fill in the rest. EVERYTHING was done with JKR’s approval. The Hogwarts Express that we all know and love from the stories is EXACTLY as described in the book, and actually differs from the movie a bit. This is also true of Gringotts, which we all know has those statues in the front. Moments are animated and layered. There are numerous rollovers in which you discover new things written by JKR within each Moment. During these Moments, you can find and collect items, which may prove useful later on in the story. The information from JKR is separated into two sections:“New from Jo” includes background stories. For example, how the Dursleys met. Apparently from the little bit I could read off the screen, “Petunia saw Vernon as the pinnacle of normality.” How romantic… haha. “JKR’s thoughts show her reflections. The presenter mentioned that an example of this: “Why he’s called Vernon.”

People get to comment on scenes and even upload photos. We got to see a sample of this in which people uploaded their own drawings of McGonagall.

Everyone will have access to a virtual bank, Gringotts, and currency will be used to purchase goods.

Pottermore will be TOTALLY free. They will never say, “Pay $10 now for 5 more Galleons!”

Of course, you will need to stop by Diagon Alley for school supplies.

You get to enter all of the shops (but their availability is per book order) and choose your own wizarding equipment like cauldrons and etc.

You aren’t a real witch or wizard until you have a wand! Ollivander’s wand shop features 33,000 possible wand combinations, made by JKR herself. The wand that chooses you is determined by an in depth quiz.

Your personal menu bar will include “Favorites, Friends, Spells, Potions, and your Trunk.”

YOU GET TO COLLECT CHOCOLATE FROG CARDS.

You are only allowed to be sorted once. BUT DON’T GIVE UP HOPE…THERE ARE HATSTALLS!!!!

Another sneak peek I got was into McGonagall’s background! (She reminds me of Hermione.) -She was muggleborn. -Her father was part of the clergy in a
Presbyterian congregation. -She was the best in her year. -She was a hatstall. -She experienced early heartbreak.
FOR ALL OF THE PEOPLE WHO THINK THAT THE SORTING QUIZ WILL BE EASY TO OUTSMART: JKR made the quiz herself. It was revealed that she had made such a large pool of questions that many may never get the same questions as others. If there are only 4 answer choices ≠ the 4 Houses. Yeah, that’s right, there may be more than 4 choices…

Once you get sorted, you get a house welcoming message from JKR! This includes background history. HUFFLEPUFFS GET THE MOST NEW INFORMATION.
Your House Commonroom is a chat area for other members of your house.

YOU CAN WIN HOUSE POINTS BY WINNING WIZARD DUELS.

The Great Hall is the place for open inter-house chatting.

You get to brew your own Potions (using bought ingredients and things you find within Moments).

They have a “Shop” page where you can buy the ebooks.

After you get sorted, you get your House Crest/Badges/Logo thingies. They were painstakingly chosen and done by JKR. Each different illustration has rich colors and textures. There is emphasis on the elements they represent. Official wallpapers and etc. will be released on the Pottermore site.
Pottermore Insider is a website that will be providing more information on the project.

IF YOU WENT TO LEAKYCON, YOU GET A SPECIAL EARLY CHANCE TO BE A BETA!!! (Check the email that you used to register for LeakyCon.)

The Chamber of Secrets continuation of the journey will be released in early to mid 2012.​

 

@yak: Yes, that's what I wondered too :lol:

Apparently, after a source that is down by now, a "hatstall" is what happened to Harry. When the hat can't decide, and leaves it up to the person. So if that quiz you take somehow ends in a draw between two Houses, you can decide which of them it'll be for yourself.

Edit: Ah, there's another site. Neat.

Btw:

... I didn't know that. Is he talking about the movie version or the book's one? I can't remember reading about statues in the books Edit: I mean, I know there are goblins standing on either side of the doors. But those are live ones, no statues. Perhaps the guy confused that.