The Sorting Hat

Image via WikipediaFrom the site:

Congratulations

WitchNight127

The Sorting Hat has placed you in

Gryffindor

I can't tell you my surprise at being Sorted into Gryffindor. For years I have considered myself a Ravenclaw - I even have the socks to prove it.

The Sorting Ceremony is quite interesting. You are shown seven sets of images and are asked to choose one image from each set.

Your results are calculated and voila! You are Sorted into your house.

I have heard a few people mention that they were a
Hat Stall - in other words, the Hat took their choice into
account by showing them images from two different houses and asking them to choose.

I, however, was not a Hat Stall, and so my choice of Ravenclaw was not taken into account.


Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with Gryffindor, it just gave me a surprise (and a bit of an identity crisis and wardrobe issues as I scurried out to get some scarlet and gold socks).

But, as one of my fellow Gryffindors pointed out, we are "as clever as Hermione, as loyal and fun as Ron and as brave as Harry". Thanks @SecretWizard7 for that inspiring tweet!

I am now a proud Gryffindor!

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The Owls of Eeylops

As I mentioned in an earlier post, choosing your pet from Eeylops means choosing your avatar - so choose wisely!

There are 14 choices in the shop. This post will introduce you to the owls that are available and their magical significance.

The owl has long been associated with wisdom, one look at a statue of the Roman Goddess Athena will tell you that much. Owls, with their large round eyes and nocturnal habits are also associated with the moon, and as an extension of that, with the feminine.

It is said that magical folk with an owl familiar have the power of clairvoyance and prophecy, and the ability to see deep inside others. It is said to be impossible to deceive an owl person. 

These are the owls you can choose as your familiar on Pottermore:

Barn owl: this familiar has the strongest connection to clairvoyance and the ability to "see beyond the veil"

Tawny owl: this familiar is useful for someone who wants (or needs) to appear more powerful than they actually are, as a protective measure

Brown owl: this familiar is said to give you the power of both imagination and passion, as well as the ability to be in the right place at the right time

Screech owl: the scream of the screech owl is unmistakable and undeniable. This owl is closely associated with courage, bravery and the ability to defend oneself and others from danger.

There is a great deal of English folk belief surrounding owls. Owls were used in past centuries to predict the weather, ward off evil (and lightning!) and treat diseases such as alcoholism and whooping cough.

Will you be choosing an owl familiar? If so, which one will you choose, and why? Let us know in the comments!

Beta Extended!

The Pottermore Insider blog posted today that the Pottermore beta period has been extended to the end of October in order to work out some issues and to collect more feedback from the beta group.

The blog reports that, with 1 million users now granted access to Pottermore and 55 million page views, user interaction has been "phenomenal".

Well, Pottermore is pretty awesome so the page views don't surprise me. The Unauthorzied Trio accesses (or tries to access!) Pottermore every day.

Unfortunately, the level of interaction has led to slow loading times and times when we haven't been able to access Pottermore at all. This will be even more of a problem once everyone is let onto Pottermore unless a solution is found before open access is granted.

So, I'm glad that's something they're going to address, even if it means a later general access date.

The blog post mentions that beta users will be surveyed to determine which aspects of the site need to be enhanced, and which aspects need to be simplified.

And I'm happy to report that apparently Wizard Dueling will be available again soon!

You can read the entire blog post here

Chapter 15: Into the Forbidden Forest

Image via WikipediaHover over the spider web and the spider will climb the tree, hover over the bird and she'll fly away. You can also collect wolfsbane and unicorn blood from this screen but you'll have to search closely!

Move as far in as you can and you'll see something frightening.

Choosing Your Pet Means Choosing Your Avatar

Image via WikipediaI love going shopping in Diagon Alley!

During your first visit to Diagon Alley, you need to collect (and purchase) a number of things before you can move on.

The next screen is locked until you collect all of the items on your shopping list - but first, you have to find the shopping list!

Pick your pet from Eeylops Owl Emporium and Magical Menagerie very carefully - the pet you pick becomes your avatar. There are 14 choices - owls, cats and toads.

I have yet to meet anyone in the beta group who has chosen a toad, but that just might be because the toads are on the second page (you have to click the "more pets" button on the top right-hand side of the screen to see the toads). 

Most of the pets I've seen are owls, slightly less are cats, and so far none are toads.

In my next post, I'll tell you a little bit more about the pets you get to choose from.

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Our first week on Pottermore

Image by Genevieve719 via FlickrWell, I finally got my owl last weekend - September 24th to be exact! Apparently those of us who made the beta-testing pool with a Yahoo mail address were put on the bottom of the guest list. Oh well.

The first thing I can say about Pottermore is that I love it - mostly.

There are some bugs that need to be worked out, it needs some music and/or dialog (the silence is deafening, trust me!) and it is sloooooow.

I hope that when Pottermore goes live they will be using more servers or it's going to be too painfully slow for me. Patience is not a virtue that I have.

The second thing I can say is, it really is better than I thought it would be. There's a lot to discover in Pottermore. More of that to come in later posts.

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