Upon reading the first extract from The End of Books — Or Books Without End?: Reading Interactive Narratives I was instantly reminded of the Pottermore website launched by J.K. Rowling in 2011. The site provides an interactive way to experience the Harry Potter books. Users are initially sorted into one of the four houses after taking a quiz. They are then able to brew potions and compete in duels to earn points for their house. The website also allows users to go through the books chapter by chapter. Each chapter features an interactive scene where users can click on items, such as potion ingredients or coins, to collect them. Users are also able to unlock unpublished content, including character biographies and short stories.
I remember when we first heard about the site, my friends and I were quite excited, registering for early access and being glued to our computers each day for the challenges for the chance to gain access to the site. We were excited about the prospect of having some new Harry Potter content, considering all the books and films had been released by then so we no longer had those to look forward to. When we first started using the site it was exciting as they were staggering the dates users were allowed access, so only a few of our friends (myself included) initially had access. We liked being sorted into houses and reading some of the new content but the novelty wore off very quickly and I haven’t used it since it was initially launched. It had that sense of being a child’s computer game with little games and challenges. I would still like to read all the unpublished content but I would much prefer if it was published altogether in a book — sort of like an encyclopaedia — as I can’t be bothered going through all the chapters of Pottermore searching for new content.
