This past weekend was the first weekend that Pottermore was officially opened for everyone to enjoy.  Those who were in Beta certainly have an advantage there, considering house points, I believe, but it’s all good.  The purpose is to enjoy your time in there and get to know more about the Harry Potterverse.

I’m going to attempt to go over some of the highlights of the site.

When you go through the chapters, from an informational standpoint, you’ll want to read up on some of the insights and background of some of the characters and items and such.  There’s so many tidbits from author J.K. Rowling about how she created the Potterverse and why.  A couple of those tidbits included her “Ghost Plots” and “The Original Forty,” highly intriguing information, if I must say so myself.   Creating a whole universe for a story can be unique and painstaking at times, but very ingenius when done successfully (something very similar to the likes of J.R.R. Tolkein).

Given my inability to access Gringott’s my first time, it took a day to figure it out and then I was able to go shopping in Diagon Alley.  Of course I was excited to get my wand:

When you get your wand, you can look up the info on everything about your wand, including the differences in wood, core, and flexibility.  Pretty amazing information, and lengthy.  Having Laurel wood apparently cannot stand laziness in its possessor, so as long as I’m not lazy with my wand, then it can’t be won over.  A Phoenix Feather core is supposedly the rarest core type, but also the hardest to tame and personalise and can even act on their own.  Sounds like I’ll have a testy time with this one.  All in all, getting your own wand customized to your choices is pretty awesome and helps you feel pretty individualized.  Now if only they were to create such individual type wands at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Getting sorted is, of course, the ultimate highlight.  You pretty much already know which house you’d want to be in, but if you answer the test honestly, you might be surprised at what you find.  I did answer mine honestly, and I was a bit surprised.

When you get sorted, I believe you’re able to start gaining points for your house.  Here comes the fun stuff.  You’re also able to check your house standings  when you click on the Great Hall insignia at the top of the site, which is constantly changing.

Yep, my Gryffindor house is behind and needs to pick up speed!  You can either cast spells:

Or you can brew potions:

Personally, casting spells is probably the more enjoyable of the two, and you earn points by participating in wizard duels with other houses.  Practice is essential!  It’s also a lot easier to pick up than potions.  In potions, it can be very frustrating if you mess up somewhere along the line, because you’d have to start over, and that can mean more time wasted and also more money spent to buy the ingredients.  But when you do create the potions, it’s a nice sense of accomplishment.  So far, I’ve created 2 potions, but have messed up about 4 times.

I have completed the first book, and so far I’m blocked to continue on.  I’m not sure if I’m missing something in order to move on or I have to wait a certain allotted time, but so far, it’s definitely a unique experience and hopefully something that many can come back to time and time again.