What Is Pottermore?
Four years have flown by since the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It seems like only yesterday, but I guess it is time we’ve heard from Rowling – what’s she up to?
A new website called Pottermore depicts a logo with Rowling’s signature and an owl on each side of the webpage. Clicking either owl will lead you to Rowling’s youtube channel. She will be making an announcement in 3 days 9 hours 38 minutes and 41 seconds!
I’m assuming this announcement has to do with the website, Pottermore… The name suggests there will be more “Potter.” But what could it be?
Immediately, the first thing that came to mind was a virtual encyclopedia. In more than one interview J.K. Rowling has hinted at the idea of creating an encyclopedia of everything “Harry Potter.” I honestly thought it would be a published hard copy encyclopedia, though it makes sense for it to be online. It seems like almost everyone has access to the internet these days… but I’m sure there are fans who don’t. Another benefit for having the encyclopedia online is that Rowling can post links to all of her charities so that fans can easily donate. With all the Harry Potter fans out there it would be dumb not to do that.
Some other speculations:
An 8th Harry Potter book? Maybe, but I seriously doubt it. We’ve already heard Harry’s story. It would have to be from another character’s point of view to be interesting and then it wouldn’t be called “Harry Potter”, would it? Also, none of the actors from the movies know what the announcement will be (so they claim) and I’m sure they’re ready to move on after 10 years of Harry Potter.
Digital Webcomic – That would be pretty cool.
Online Game – That would be really cool. Actually, a lot of fans think Pottermore will be an MMORPG – Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game.
Social Networking Site – The new site Pottermore could in fact be a social networking site in itself – people from all over the world sharing their thoughts and theories about Harry Potter on an official Harry Potter site. And perhaps Rowling could publish new stories on the site?
Out of all these speculations, I stand firm on the idea that this site will be a virtual encyclopedia. And if I’m wrong, that’s okay. It’s nice to be surprised every now and again!
What do you think Rowling’s announcement will be?
Favorite Fan Art
I want to give a shout out to The Geek Can Paint. This artwork is fantastic and truly magical.
Summer Reading 2011!
- Harry Potter (All 7) by J.K. Rowling
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
- The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics by C.S. Lewis
- The Hunger Games (All 3) by Suzanne Collins
- Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer
Self-Proclaimed Righteousness
This summer I will be writing an essay explaining the Christian themes within the Harry Potter series. I was doing some research and I stumbled upon a website called “Accio Quote.” It is dedicated to quotes that have anything and everything to do with Harry Potter. I found hundreds of quotes by Rowling herself – in particular, religious quotes. One stood out in my mind. – “It is perfectly possible to live a very moral life without a belief in God, and I think it’s perfectly possible to live a life peppered with ill-doing and believe in God.”
I had been thinking about this concept for a few days before I saw the quote. On Monday, for some reason, I think God wanted me to learn a bit about Mormonism. I was surfing through the channels on TV. Three networks (TLC, Lifetime, and the History Channel) were broadcasting shows about Mormonism at the same time! I kept flipping back and forth between the three networks and I decided that the documentary about the history of Mormonism on the History Channel was most interesting. What I saw got me thinking… Joseph Smith, Jr. was the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement – predominant theology Mormonism. Within the first decade, he preached the same practices, however after ten years he decided to take multiple wives. This bore confusion among his followers because it happened so suddenly. Joseph Smith, Jr. claimed that God told him it was his duty to take multiple wives. After that, the church split. People were torn between believing Smith’s new concept of polygyny and following the old ways of Mormonism. This didn’t sit well with me. I could be wrong, but what if Smith made it up in order to get what he wanted? I have a really big problem with people who use God as an excuse to justify something that is morally wrong… But who knows? Maybe he did in fact have a revelation. I’m not him and I’m not God.
This is what really got me. On Tuesday, when I got home from work, there was an article on CNN about Elizabeth Smart. She had testified against her culprit. I didn’t really know the full story before then. Apparently, when Smart was 14, she was abducted by a man named Brian Mitchell. He held her at knife point, forced her to become his plural “wife” and raped her every single day during the nine months she was held captive. He had a self-proclaimed calling as a prophet of God and called himself “Emmanuel.” He also claimed to receive revelations from God and then acted out according to what he was told by those revelations. Others testified that Mitchell used these so called revelations only to manipulate others and for self gratification. In my opinion, by claiming to be a prophet, he was putting himself on par with Jesus or God which is one step below believing he was God. According to C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity, this is pure pride. St. Augustine wrote, “Pride is the commencement of all sin because it was this which overthrew the devil, from whom arose the origin of sin; and afterwards, when his malice and envy pursued man, who was yet standing in his uprightness, it subverted him in the same way in which he himself fell.” Think about it. Every other sin derives from pride. Murder, adultery, rape – putting yourself above the other person. I hope that I am not right, but I think there might be a special place in Hell for someone who uses religion as a way to do all the wrong things and claim they are just.
Rainbow Veins 