This is a great article about the “Magical Moments” users experience on Pottermore. It’s really quite fascinating to see how in-depth the team goes to create picturesque Potter images.

Many of you have expressed curiosity about how a Pottermore Moment is produced, so we’re going to take you behind the scenes for an insight into how a Moment is created, starting with the Magical Menagerie Momentfrom Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Before we get into rat tonic and transforming rabbits, let’s start at the beginning – how the Moments for each book are selected. In order to provide a faithful companion to the reading experience without replicating each and every passage from the books, we select key or interesting scenes from the stories to depict onPottermore.com.

Each potential scene is weighed against various criteria, from its relative importance in the narrative to how it might look when visualised and whether it lends itself to the inclusion of interactive features and content. We also like to highlight scenes that were omitted from the films, or those where the film depiction differs from the books.

With its cage-lined walls and the ‘squeaking, squawking, jabbering or hissing’ of their inhabitants, the Magical Menagerie Moment was selected because it is described so vividly in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. It provided an opportunity to introduce a new location and a narrative moment that was not shown in the film. It is also our first introduction to Crookshanks.

Like all Pottermore.com Moments, the Magical Menagerie Moment began its life as a black and white sketch that was drawn from a detailed brief based on thorough research into the location and moment being depicted.

Initial sketch

Finished product

For the rest of the steps, which I really recommend reading, visit the Pottermore Insider.