New Pottermore Website Will Offer Interactive Reading Experience and Harry Potter Ebooks

Posted on June 23, 2011

J.K. Rowling and Sony revealed the new Pottermore website this morning. The site will provide an interactive reading experience for fans of the Harry Potter series. The Harry Potter books will also be sold on the site in ebook form for the very first time. It is about time the novels were available as ebooks.

The Pottermore site, located at pottermore.com, will open to all users on October 2011. Registration for the site will begin on July 31st and some users will be able to gain early access to the site by completing an online challenge.

A press release for the launch says the new site will also allow readers to interact with the books. Readers select a magic usename and can even get sorted into a house by the Sorting Hat. J.K. Rowling will also share new information about the characters and world of Harry Potter on the Pottermore website.

The release says the storyline can be navigated through interactive "moments." These moments also contain original illustrations. The storyline begins with the first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's (Sorcerer's) Stone.

J.K. Rowling attended a press conference at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London to announce the website. She says she has brought to life the Sorting Hat and Ollivanders experiences from her books for the first time on Pottermore. The site also promises to reveal the magic behind the Wand Chooser - which finds the perfect wand for each Pottermore user from over 33,000 possible combinations.

J.K. Rowling said in a statement, "I wanted to give something back to the fans that have followed Harry so devotedly over the years, and to bring the stories to a new digital generation. I hope fans and those new to Harry will have as much fun helping to shape Pottermore as I have. Just as I have contributed to the website, everyone else will be able to join in by submitting their own comments, drawings and other content in a safe and friendly environment - Pottermore has been designed as a place to share the stories with your friends as you journey through the site."

Here is J.K. Rowling's official Pottermore announcement. Her introduction includes animated book pages and an owl that forms from the pages of a Harry Potter novel. J.K. promises to share information she has been "hoarding for years" about Harry Potter on the new site. Take a look: