For some time now fans of the Harry Potter books have been anxiously waiting for cunning Hogwarts mastermind JK Rowling to launch “Pottermore,” an online destination for fans that was so shrouded in mystery that even the most obsessed Potter addicts seemed to know nothing about it. Many thought, or were hoping, that it’d be a mega-orgy for Potter fans, filled with Harry Potter-related games and chat rooms and and all sorts of other interactive goodies. Others thought that maybe it’d be a new story, perhaps a prequel or a next generation series of books. Many were hoping that it’d be a combination of both.
But the site semi-launched today and the Potter fans are a bit up in arms because it appears to be, when it’s not crashing due to server overload, little more than an another outlet for Moneybags Rowling to sell more books and other Harry Potter-related stuff. Here she is officially introducing it in a YouTube video…
From the press release for the site:
For this groundbreaking collaborative project, J.K. Rowling has written extensive new material about the characters, places and objects in the much-loved stories, which will inform, inspire and entertain readers as they journey through the storylines of the books. Pottermore will later incorporate an online shop where people can purchase exclusively the long-awaited Harry Potter eBooks, in partnership with J.K. Rowling’s publishers worldwide, and is ultimately intended to become an online reading experience, extending the relevance of Harry Potter to new generations of readers, while still appealing to existing fans. As the Pottermore Shop develops, it is intended that it should include further products designed specifically for Harry Potter fans, offering a potential outlet for Sony products and services related to Pottermore.
So yeah, it’s a basically a place to sell Harry Potter e-books and other stuff. I spent some time searching Twitter and Tumblr for reactions earlier and OH MY GOD THE RAGE!
However, some like Henny Potter — perhaps the Internet’s most adorable Potter fan — is cool with bending over and taking a high hard one from Rowling, because it hurts so good: “I’m totes going to milk her cow. fast. slow. just the tip. i’ll do it however she likes. i’ll totes lotion her udders so long as she gives me more potter!!”
And the world spins madly on.