‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ Final Cover Released!

At Scholastic’s NYC headquarters yesterday, illustrator Kazy Kibuishi presented the last of the new Harry Potter book editions. You can check out the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows cover below. The event coincided with Harry Potter and author J.K. Rowling’s birthday! Happy belated birthday Harry and Jo!

At the same time the spines of each book were released. Together they create a photo of Hogwarts! I might just have to buy the set again.

The box set also includes a new photo of Hogsmeade:

You can check out all of the covers right here!

Pottermore Plans Major Site Change to Attract New Fans

In a new interview, Pottermore CEO Charlie Redmayne has revealed that a complete overhaul of the website is in development to expand their audience.

Redmayne told The Bookseller that various changes are in the works that will appeal to more casual fans of the Harry Potter series. For example, the new Pottermore will allow you to cast spells, take part in wizard duels, and get sorted into your Hogwarts house before even registering for the website.

Another big change: You will no longer have to go through the chapters in sequential order. You will now be able to browse any chapter you want if it’s available for the public. (Not sure if this is really that great of an idea…)

In a clear attempt to appeal to even the most basic reader, the site will boast new, basic information like, “Who is Harry Potter?”

“As it stands, if you don’t know the books you won’t get much out of it,” Redmayne told The Bookseller. “What we want to do is open it out for those people who haven’t read the books, or who haven’t seen the films, but perhaps come to it via the Lego, or the Harry Potter computer games.”

Other new features include the ability to “interact with their houses, or visit specific areas such as Diagon Alley without becoming engaged with the story,” but at this time we’re not sure what that particularly means and how it’s an improvement over the current website.

Elsewhere in the interview Redmayne rattled off a few interesting numbers about Pottermore’s usage: The site has hosted 45 million unique users and users have cast/brewed 180 million spells/potions.

Pottermore is currently in the midst of unveiling the Prisoner of Azkaban chapters. The remaining batch of chapters in the third Harry Potter book will open sometime in the next couple months.

J.K. Rowling conceived Pottermore as a thank you to fans of the series. The website’s best feature is the new writing about the Harry Potter series from the author herself.

Personally I loved Pottermore when it was first opened, but I still feel like it’s missing the magic that the books had, but hopefully some of these changes will improve the site and its interactivity with fans!

Quote of the Week

“I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book.”

J. K. Rowling