J. K. Rowling's official site
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Home page of J. K. Rowling's official website
Thissite (jkrowling.com) is the officialwebsite ofJ. K. Rowling.
Launched on15 May2004, the site originally contained a large amount of information on theHarry Potter universe, as well as news and rumours, and an in-depth biography of Rowling herself.
InFebruary2012, Rowling announced the upcoming publication of a new novel, targeted at adults. The website was changed to a single-page announcement of the new book and a notice that the official site was being refreshed and redesigned and would be relaunched later in the Spring.
On12 April 2012, the redesigned J. K. Rowling official website was opened. However, it was relaunched again on20 December2016 with Rowling explaining she had decided to start again and return it to the early days of her website when things were more real and personal.
Original version[]
Originally, Rowling placed her work in many sections:
- Diary - A notebook where Rowling posted updates regarding her progress on Book 7 and her thoughts on writing the book.
- News - Set up as a newspaper, it was where Rowling made announcements concerning her books, personal life, and more.
- Rumours! - Set up as a magazine, it was where Rowling cleared up any rumours.
- Rubbish Bin - Rowling identified new stories about her or her books that are "more-fiction-than-fact".
- F.A.Q.- Rowling answered popular questions that she received.
- Fan Sites - Rowling featured her favourite HP fan sites, one per year. The winners were:
- 2008 winner - The Harry Potter Alliance
- 2007 winner -Harry Potter Fan Zone
- 2006 winner -Potterish.com
- 2005 winner - The Leaky Cauldron
- 2004 winners - HPANA (Available via Web Archive), MuggleNet, theHarry Potter Lexicon,Immeritus
- Biography - An in-depth biography about herself.
- Extra Stuff - Assorted notes, things that were cut, extra details about characters, and "completely useless information" that isn't actually useless, such as gags like Gobb Lynn Security Specialists.
- Wizard of the Month Archive - A previously unknown witch or wizard was profiled each month.
- Links - Links to sites of interest to Rowling. These included publishers, charities, etc.
- Scrapbook - This is where the users rewards were kept when they unlocked the secrets of the site.
- Room of Requirement - The purpose of which remained a mystery until it was unlocked for the first time to reveal the official title of Book 6 (with a little riddle at first). It was also used to house the W.O.M.B.A.T. test.
At some point, a message was posted stating that "Peeves not only causes trouble in Hogwarts, but he's also been up to some dirty work around Jo's desk, making appearances throughout the site. All of these visits from him require you to remain on the relevant page for a couple of minutes."
Revised version[]
Updated 2012 website displayed in timeline view
In2012, Rowling changed her website. She placed up an announcement of her new book,The Casual Vacancy and explained it would be relaunched in Spring 2012 with a new design.
On 12 April 2012, the redesign was unveiled. The website had three sections:
- A biography about Rowling along with news updates with an FAQ & Rumours page that mainly repeated content found on the original version of the site.
- A one-page announcement regarding Rowling's new book,The Casual Vacancy.
- Harry Potter, with information onPottermore,the books andthe films. The majority of the content was available through a "timeline" option.
When the website was relaunched, extremely high traffic caused access to be erratic at first, with content often refusing to load and text-only pages displaying HTTP 500 errors. The site later stated that some of theHarry Potter content had been removed and will be made available again on Pottermore.
Current version[]
Updated 2016 design of the website
On20 December2016, Rowling announced that the website had once again been redesigned and relaunched. She explained in an article titled "Welcome to my new website!" that when she relaunched her website in 2012, she did not feel any connection to it so she rarely ever wrote for it. She had given up writing for the original website when the Harry Potter books ended in 2007.[1]
She decided to relaunch it again in the hope of making it more real and personal. The website contains four sections, along with a home page:
- About - a biography about Rowling
- Writing - a collection showing every book Rowling has written
- News - any news from Rowling, such as the latest events Rowling has attended and anything related to her work including her books and charity, Lumos
- Opinion - Rowling's personal thoughts about a variety of subjects, such as politics and charity[1]
FAQ[]
Rowling hopes to use her website to answer a selection of in-universe questions about her work. So far, her website has answered the following:[1]
Long Distance Apparition[]
- "Why couldn’tNewt justApparate to theUSA? Why did he go by boat?"
- — Apparition becomes increasingly risky over long distances. As with most magic, much depends on the skill of the spell-caster: Apparition requires knowledge of the terrain to which one is moving, or the ability to visualise it clearly. Cross-continental Apparition would almost certainly result in severe injury or death.
Moreover, the beasts in Newt’scase had varying magical natures. Some could have Apparated with him, but others could not.[1]
No-Maj customs[]
Accio[]
- "Why couldn’t Newt use ‘Accio’ to retrieve all his beasts?"
- — ‘Accio’ only works on inanimate objects. While people or creatures may be indirectly moved by ‘Accio-ing’ objects that they are wearing or holding, this carries all kinds of risks because of the likelihood of injury to the person or beast attached to an object travelling at close to the speed of light.[1]
Veritaserum[]
- "Why isn’tVeritaserum used in interrogations?"
- — It is, but skilled wizards can avoid its effects by using antidotes and charms. A giftedOcclumens could also resist Veritaserum.[1]
Revelio[]
- "Why did ‘revelio’ undo the effects ofPolyjuice Potion?"
- — It didn’t.Grindelwald'sTransfiguration surpasses that of most wizards, so he used a spell, not a potion, to take on the appearance ofPercival Graves.[1]
Harry Potter's Obscurus[]
- "Why didn’tHarry Potter develop anObscurus?"
- — An Obscurus is developed under very specific conditions: trauma associated with the use of magic, internalised hatred of one’s own magic and a conscious attempt to suppress it.
The Dursleys were too frightened of magic ever to acknowledge its existence to Harry. While Vernon and Petunia had a confused hope that if they were nasty enough to Harry his strange abilities might somehow evaporate, they never taught him to be ashamed or afraid of magic. Even when he was scolded for ‘making things happen’, he didn’t make any attempt to suppress his true nature, nor did he ever imagine that he had the power to do so.[1]
Horcrux Harry surviving Basilisk venom[]
- "And finally, an oldie but a perennial favourite… Why wasn’t theHorcrux inside Harry destroyed when he was bitten by theBasilisk inHarry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets?"
- — A Horcrux can only be destroyed if its container is damaged beyond repair. Harry was healed byFawkes. Had he died, the Horcrux would indeed have been destroyed.[1]
External links[]
Notes and references[]
| J. K. Rowling'sHarry Potter series | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philosopher's Stone | book | film | games | television series | film soundtrack | game soundtrack |
| Chamber of Secrets | book | film | games | television series | film soundtrack | game soundtrack |
| Prisoner of Azkaban | book | film | games | film soundtrack | game soundtrack | |
| Goblet of Fire | book | film | games | film soundtrack | game soundtrack | |
| Order of the Phoenix | book | film | games | film soundtrack | game soundtrack | |
| Half-Blood Prince | book | film | games | film soundtrack | game soundtrack | |
| Deathly Hallows | book | film 1 | games 1 | film soundtrack 1 | game soundtrack 1 | |
| film 2 | games 2 | film soundtrack 2 | game soundtrack 2 | |||
| Cursed Child | script | play | play soundtrack | |||
| Fantastic Beasts film series | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them | book | screenplay | film | game | film soundtrack |
| The Crimes of Grindelwald | screenplay | film | film soundtrack | ||
| The Secrets of Dumbledore | screenplay | film | film soundtrack | ||