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Pottermore sneak peek: The Moment chosen by you and an official Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban announcement.

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On Friday, we asked you to choose the Moment that you would like revealed in our sneak peek of the upcoming chapters of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Your votes are in and your chosen Moment is Hagrid's First Lesson:



In this Moment, Harry, Hermione, Ron and their classmates attend Hagrid’s first Care of Magical Creatures class and encounter the impressive Hippogriffs in their paddock.

We can now officially confirm that you’ll be able to explore this Moment in full for yourself from this Thursday, 20th December, when the first chapters of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban will be released on Pottermore.com.

Please make sure that you’ve collected all the items on your second-year shopping list in order to progress to the third book and explore these first chapters on Pottermore.com.

Share your excitement by spreading the news in the Great Hall and your common room. If you have Facebook and Twitter accounts, join the conversations happening there too!



Nous pouvons maintenant officiellement confirmer que vous serez en mesure d'explorer les premiers chapitres de Harry Potter et le Prisonnier d'Azkaban en totalité sur Pottermore.comà partir du jeudi 20 Décembre.
Assurez-vous que vous avez rassemblé tous les éléments de votre liste de courses deuxième année afin d'explorer ces premiers chapitres.

Possiamo ufficialmente confermare che potrai esplorare questo Momento interamente tuo da questo Giovedí, 20 Dicembre, quando verranno pubblicati i primi capitoli di Harry Potter e il prigioniero di Azkaban su Pottermore.com.
Per poter esplorare questi capitoli, assicurati di aver collezionato tutti gli oggetti della lista del secondo anno.”

Wir können nun offiziell bestätigen, dass du ab Donnerstag, dem 20.Dezember die Möglichkeit haben wirst, diesen Moment vollständig zu entdecken. Die ersten Kapitel aus Harry Potter und der Gefangene von Askaban werden an diesem Datum auf Pottermore.com veröffentlicht.
Stelle sicher, dass du alle Gegenstände von deiner zweites Jahr - Einkaufsliste besitzt um Zugang zu diesen ersten Kapiteln zu erlangen.

Ahora podemos confirmar oficialmente que podrás explorar este Momento completo a partir de este Jueves 20 de Diciembre, fecha en la cual los primeros capítulos de Harry Potter y el Prisionero de Azkaban serán lanzados en Pottermore.com.
Asegúrate de que hayas recogido todos los articulos en la lista de compras de tu segundo año para poder explorar estos primeros capítulos.


The first chapters of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban have arrived on Pottermore.com…

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The first chapters of
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban have now been unlocked on Pottermore.com.

Board the Knight Bus, enlist the help of Sir Cadogan, attend a Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, and much more.

There are also five new exclusive content entries from J.K. Rowling to discover, including additional information on Aunt Marge.

Remember that you need to progress through Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on Pottermore.com before you can explore Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. You will also need to collect all the items from your second-year shopping list, which can be found in Chapter Four, Moment One of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Share your discoveries with the Pottermore community and get the conversations going in your common rooms and the Great Hall. If you have a Twitter or Facebook account, you can join us there too.

It’s time to visit Pottermore.com...


Les premiers chapitres de Harry Potter et le Prisonnier d’Azkaban sont désormais déverrouillés.

N’oublie pas de rassembler tous les articles qui figurent sur ta liste de fournitures scolaires de deuxième année pour pouvoir découvrir les aventures de Harry Potter et le Prisonnier d’Azkaban.
Il est temps de te rendre sur Pottermore.com.


I primi capitoli di "Harry Potter e il prigioniero di Azkaban" sono stati sbloccati.

Ricordati di collezionare tutti gli oggetti elencati nella tua lista del secondo anno per andare avanti e vivere nuove avventure in "Harry Potter e il Prigioniero di Azkaban".
È ora di visitare Pottermore.com.


Die ersten Kapitel von „Harry Potter und der Gefangene von Askaban“ wurden entsperrt.

Vergiss nicht, alle Dinge zu sammeln, die auf Deiner Einkaufsliste aus der zweiten Klasse stehen, damit Du mit den Abenteuern in „Harry Potter und der Gefangene von Askaban“ fortfahren kannst.
Es ist höchste Zeit, Pottermore.com zu besuchen.


Los primeros capítulos de Harry Potter y el Prisionero de Azkaban ya están abiertos.

Acuérdate de recoger todos los artículos de tu lista de la compra de segundo para poder continuar con las aventuras de Harry Potter y el Prisionero de Azkaban.
Es hora de visitar Pottermore.com.

Two Sickles a scoop…Exclusive Content from J.K. Rowling

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If you've ever wanted to know who produces Floo powder, or the consequences of using a homemade alternative, you're in luck – there's now exclusive content from J.K.Rowling on Floo powder available on Pottermore.com.


Vote for your favourite Snape quote and prepare for a week of Severus...

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This week is all about Severus Snape, Harry’s curiously antagonistic Potions teacher.

From the moment Harry meets Snape in his first year of Hogwarts, he forms a strong dislike for the punishing and severe professor. However, whilst Harry detests the Hogwarts Potions master, we know that many of you are firm fans.

Today, we’re asking you to place your votes for the most memorable quote from Snape. Books One and Two, and the first section of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban are available to explore on Pottermore.com, so we’ve taken quotations from those first three books. What are your favourite lines; which quote do you think sums up his character the most?

The results will be revealed this Friday, so get voting now for your winning quote.

We’ll also be testing your knowledge of Snape throughout the week with quizzes and sharing your fanart, so return to the Insider for more. If you’ve got a Facebook or Twitter account, take part in our Snape week there too.

An exclusive look at an upcoming Moment from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

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To mark Severus Snape’s birthday today, we’re giving you an exclusive preview of the artwork for an upcoming Moment from the next instalment of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Snape's Office has proved one of the most popular Moments from Book Two on Pottermore.com - you’ve enjoyed sampling sandwiches, ‘borrowing’ supplies from his private stores to brew Polyjuice Potion and examining the jars of unusual items on the shelves – and we’re returning there for our exclusive preview.

In the new view of this office, we see Professor Snape summoning Professor Lupin after he is insulted by Harry’s ‘spare bit of parchment’, whilst Harry looks on, bewildered. You can see the fireplace from where Lupin will materialise via Floo powder.



The Moment is still a work in progress, but we hope that this provides an exciting teaser until you are able to explore the finished Moment – Zonko’s bag and all – in the next instalment of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

In the meantime, why not honour Snape’s birthday with the latest Pottermore Badge– brew three potions successfully in a row and earn the new potions Badge on Pottermore.com.

Your favourite Severus Snape quote is revealed…

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This week, in honour of the Hogwarts Potions master, you've been voting for your favourite Severus Snape quotes from the first three Harry Potter books. Over 20,000 of our Pottermore fans voted and the results are now in.

Your favourite quote from the demanding, hook-nosed Professor, winning by a clear margin is:

'I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death...'






If you have a Facebook or Twitter account, join the conversations happening there and share your other favourite Snape quotes with us.

The answers to our Snape quiz questions and some of our favourite Snape fan art…

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If you follow our Twitter or Facebook pages, you may have taken on our Severus Snape quiz questions this past week and seen some of our chosen Snape fan art from the Pottermore Galleries. We’re now sharing the answers to those questions, and the fan art here on the Insider.

If you haven’t done so already, take on the Snape quiz questions to test your knowledge. If you’ve already answered them on our Facebook and Twitter pages, you can now check your answers further down this article.

Question One:
What colour are Snape’s eyes?

Question Two:
In 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets', Professor Snape keeps Harry behind after a Potions lesson to scrape what off the desks?

Question Three:
How many house points does Snape take off Harry in his first ever Potions lesson?

Question Four:
What spell does Snape perform on Lockhart in their demonstration to the Duelling Club?

Question Five:
On what creature does Professor Snape try out a concoction of Shrinking Solution?

Question Six:
The number of points taken away from Gryffindor when Professor Snape catches Harry with a library book outside of school; multiplied by the number of bottles included in Snape’s potion puzzle; minus the number of rolls of parchment Snape requests on werewolves.

Question Seven:
What colour is the handbag that 'Professor Boggart Snape' is holding after Neville casts Riddikulus at it?

To find out if you are, as Snape puts it, ‘an insufferable know-it-all’, you can view the answers below this selection of our favourite Snape fan art from the Pottermore Galleries:


- Severus Snape -

by EspinoOesed212



by MidnightQueen85



by LeviosaFrog14437



by BludgerRose27393



by ShadowJinx155



by FelicisMoonstone20347



by NewtFeather6650



by PotionMidnight4


Answers to the Snape Quiz question:

Answer One:Black

Answer Two:Tubeworms

Answer Three:Two

Answer Four:Expelliarmus (the Disarming Charm)

Answer Five:Neville’s toad, Trevor

Answer Six:5x7-2 = 33

Answer Seven: Red (or crimson)

Behind the scenes of the Magical Menagerie....

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Many of you have expressed curiosity about how a Pottermore Moment is produced, so we’re going to take you behind the scenes for an insight into how a Moment is created, starting with the Magical Menagerie Moment from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Before we get into rat tonic and transforming rabbits, let’s start at the beginning – how the Moments for each book are selected. In order to provide a faithful companion to the reading experience without replicating each and every passage from the books, we select key or interesting scenes from the stories to depict on Pottermore.com.

Each potential scene is weighed against various criteria, from its relative importance in the narrative to how it might look when visualised and whether it lends itself to the inclusion of interactive features and content. We also like to highlight scenes that were omitted from the films, or those where the film depiction differs from the books.

With its cage-lined walls and the ‘squeaking, squawking, jabbering or hissing’ of their inhabitants, the Magical Menagerie Moment was selected because it is described so vividly in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. It provided an opportunity to introduce a new location and a narrative moment that was not shown in the film. It is also our first introduction to Crookshanks.

Like all Pottermore.com Moments, the Magical Menagerie Moment began its life as a black and white sketch that was drawn from a detailed brief based on thorough research into the location and moment being depicted.


Initial sketch:



Although the initial sketch was very strong, a location like the Magical Menagerie Moment has a lot of fine detail to include, from the poisonous orange snails to the pair of enormous purple toads. We wanted to thoroughly capture the noisy, lively inhabitants of the shop, so the above image was analysed for fictional accuracy and a number of changes were made:

• The Magical Menagerie looked too big (the book states that ‘there wasn’t much room inside’) so the back wall needed to be brought forward to maintain this feeling.
• The ‘gigantic tortoise with a jewel-encrusted shell’ and the snails would have to be juggled around to enable the inclusion of the toads in the tanks for more interaction.
• Crookshanks needed to be decidedly bigger (he is described as ‘huge and orange’) and the rabbit also needed fattening up.
• The skipping rats were missing and had to be added in.
• The witch’s hands needed to be re-positioned to accommodate Scabbers leaping from her grasp.


Revised sketch:



Once these changes had been implemented, the interior felt truer to the atmosphere of the crowded shop, but further fine-tuning was required:

• The shop still looked a little too spacious and the walls needed to be brought in further.
• The Puffskeins needed to be much bigger as they were getting lost in the background.
• The cage of skipping rats was far too small (it is described as ‘vast’) and had to be made larger for accuracy and to better showcase the movement.


Second revision:

With the walls narrower, Puffskeins enlarged, and rabbit plumped, the Moment went to colour for the first time.



First colour image:



The first colour pass enables the art team to lay down a foundation of lighting and shade. This then allows them to apply finer detail accuracy and at this stage several further amendments were made:

• The rat tonic had to be a small red bottle, rather than a clear bottle with red liquid in it, to be accurate to the book.
• The Puffskeins were not quite as yellow as custard and needed another coating of colour.
• A wider variety of colour was added, particularly on the tortoise’s shell, to make the scene brighter and more lively.
• Hermione has recently come back from holiday at this point in the story, so she needed to be a bit more tanned.


Revised colour image:

The final image is complete and the design of the Moment appears as you can now find it on Pottermore.com. Well – almost.

The final steps involve our animation and development teams who add all the individual animations and effects to the layers of the scene like the transformation of the fat rabbit into a silk top hat, the puffskeins and the skipping rats. Once the animations are complete it’s off to the sound studios to record the effects that will put the finishing touches to the Moment – cat, rat, toad, Puffskein and all…





We hope you enjoyed this behind-the-scenes look at how the Magical Menagerie Moment came into being. Instalment two of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is currently in development and we are following the same process to ensure that the Moments are both fictionally accurate and fun to explore and re-visit.

Which of Hagrid’s ‘pets’ has been your favourite?

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‘Hagrid had been known to befriend giant spiders, buy vicious, three-headed dogs from men in pubs and sneak illegal dragon eggs into his cabin.’

- Chapter One, Owl Post, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

As friends of the Hogwarts gamekeeper, Harry, Ron and Hermione encounter a collection of unusual, often dangerous, creatures cared for by Hagrid.

Which of Hagrid’s ‘pets’ has been your favourite? Vote for your chosen one in our poll.

Arthur Weasley’s birthday…

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“Mr Weasley liked Harry to sit next to him at the dinner table so that he could bombard him with questions about life with Muggles, asking him to explain how things like plugs and the postal service worked.”

- Chapter Four, At Flourish and Blotts, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Known for his fascination with the Muggle world, Arthur Weasley's enthusiasm for Muggle objects and technology led him to produce the flying Ford Anglia, one of Harry and Ron’s more unusual methods of returning to Hogwarts.

Today is Arthur Weasley's birthday so we’d like to share a selection of art from the Pottermore Galleries.

- Arthur Weasley -

by KeyHolly19986


by BladeGhost18081



by GlowElm30534



by StrikeSword18260


If you have a Twitter or Facebook account, join the conversations about which Muggle devices you think Mr Weasley would be most pleased to receive.

Learn more about the making of Wonderbook: Book of Spells

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Discover some of the secrets and techniques behind Book of Spells, the first title for PlayStation’s new Wonderbook, and the latest initiative to result from Sony’s partnership with Pottermore.

Meticulously researched, and featuring new writing from J.K. Rowling, Book of Spells brings Miranda Goshawk’s 200-year-old spell book to life, and gives you the chance to master powerful spells as well as read about some of the histories behind them.

In the video below, you can hear from some of the creative minds behind Book of Spells, including Dave Ranyard, Studio Director of SCE London Studio, Pottermore CEO Charlie Redmayne, and Partner at The Blair Partnership (J.K. Rowling’s literary agency) Lucy Hairsine, as they walk through the development of Book of Spells and how it brings wizardry to life in your living room.

You can watch the making of Wonderbook: Book of Spells here:


Buckbeak wins the vote for your favourite of Hagrid's 'pets'...

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A few weeks ago we asked you which of the unusual 'pets' cared for by Hagrid was your favourite. With the gamekeeper's fondness for extraordinary beasts, there were a number of interesting creatures to choose from...

Over 38,000 of you voted and we can reveal that your chosen favourite, winning with over 50% of your votes, is Buckbeak the Hippogriff.

View the results from our Insider and Facebook polls below and see how the votes added up for the rest of Hagrid's 'pets'...





Vote for Ron’s most heroic deed as we count down to his birthday...

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This Friday, the 1st of March, is Ron Weasley's birthday and to celebrate we’re carrying out a poll of Ron’s bravest moments.

Books One and Two and the first section of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban are available to explore on Pottermore.com, so we’ve taken some of Ron's most daring and chivalrous moments from these early chapters.

We want to know which of the following heroic deeds impressed you the most, so vote for your favourite below.

We’ll be revealing the results of your votes on Friday – Ron's birthday – so remember to come back and see if your choice is the winner.

If you have Facebook and Twitter, join the conversation there and tell us your favourite heroic Ron moments. Look out for our upcoming articles on Ron, including our top comedy moments and some great fan art from the Pottermore Galleries.

Happy Birthday Ron Weasley!

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“The door of the compartment slid open and the youngest red-headed boy came in. ‘Anyone sitting there?’ he asked, pointing at the seat opposite Harry. ‘Everywhere else is full.’ Harry shook his head and the boy sat down. He glanced at Harry and then looked quickly out of the window, pretending he hadn’t looked. Harry saw he still had a black mark on his nose.”

- Chapter Six, The Journey from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

Today we’re wishing Ron Weasley many happy returns on his birthday.

Before you take a look at some of the creative and brilliant fan art of Ron from our Pottermore Galleries, find out the results of our poll of Ron’s heroic moments.

Since Wednesday, over 13,000 of you have been voting for the most valiant of Ron's acts from the first three Harry Potter books.

The winning heroic deed is Ron sacrificing himself to the white queen on the giant chess set:







Be sure to check out our selection of fantastic pictures of Ron from the Pottermore Galleries below, and join us in wishing Ron a Happy Birthday. If you have a Facebook or Twitter account, you can join the conversations happening there too.


- Ronald Weasley -

by Chauve-sourisNiffleur191



by QueenPixie22619




by FangRose107



by HowlThestral118



by SilverScarlett44



by Magicfang186



by PurpleWombat23



by PhoenixCharm180



Revisit Sir Cadogan and hear new excerpts from the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban audio book

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For our English and German speakers, we recommend that you pay a visit to Sir Cadogan (and his pony).

You can now enjoy the Moment whilst listening to extracts from the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban audio book as Sir Cadogan completes his quest.

To hear these new readings, click on the figure of the knight as he races through the portraits...



Try our Teaser Questions

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We’ve reached the end of Chapter Seven in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban on Pottermore.com, and things are not what they seem. Where is the escaped convict, Sirius Black? What is the meaning of the Grim? What will happen to Hagrid and Buckbeak following the incident with Malfoy?

The next instalment of Chapters Eight to Fifteen promises even more mystery and intrigue, and in anticipation of this we’ve devised a series of audio and visual Teaser Questions based on details from the upcoming Moments on Pottermore.com.

Starting tomorrow, Friday March 15, a Teaser Question will be posted every day for the next ten days at 16:45 (GMT) on the Insider and at 17:00 (GMT) on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

These will increase in difficulty each time: some will challenge your attention to detail, some will require a good knowledge of the book, and some need only imagination and wild guesswork.


Before trying the Teaser Questions, read the tips below for how best to tackle them:

One– things are not always what they seem in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and nor are they in our Teaser Questions.

Two– look out for hints here on the Insider, and on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

Three– get help or help others by joining the conversation and sharing your thoughts, whether in the Great Hall, your common room, or on our Facebook and Twitter pages. If you follow us on Twitter, you can use the hashtag #pmteasers.

Four– consult your copy of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban to jog your memory or provide inspiration.

For now we are keeping the answers a secret, but all will be revealed soon enough.

Good luck.

Help change lives this Red Nose Day...

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If you are visiting us between March 14-18, you may have noticed that the Insider looks a little different.

If you’re confused about the funny red noses, let us explain: March 15 marks Red Nose Day, a UK-wide fundraising event organised by the charity Comic Relief every two years. People on this day, including some of the biggest celebrities in Britain, are encouraged to put their inhibitions to one side, wear a Red Nose and do something funny for money. It is a day that brings together the nation in making a difference to the lives of people across Africa and the UK who are facing terrible injustice or living in desperate poverty.

J.K. Rowling has long had an association with Comic Relief, since writing the two Harry Potter companion books for the charity – Quidditch Through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them– in 2001. Since their release, these stories have raised over £18 million for Comic Relief and helped to change countless lives.

As this is the first Red Nose Day that the eBooks have been available from the Pottermore Shop, we really wanted to help raise awareness and get into the spirit. We hope that you like our new look, and that those of you who haven’t yet discovered the eBooks might be persuaded to give them a try or send them to someone as a gift, in the knowledge that at least £1.15 from every sale goes to Comic Relief - so you can learn more about the world of Harry Potter whilst helping to change lives.

Visit the Pottermore Shop to buy the eBook editions.

If you have a Facebook or Twitter account, you can also see our artistic Red Nose Day take-overs there.


Teaser Question One...

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Try today’s Teaser Question: Who or what is about to get the axe?




If you need a reminder about how these Teaser Questions work re-visit our first Insider article explaining it all.

Teaser Question One Hint…

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It doesn’t grow in the ground or fly in the sky. If you still don’t know, take a look at Chapter Eight of the book.

Teaser Question Two...

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Try the second of our Teaser Questions by listening to this audio clip from an upcoming Moment on Pottermore.com.

Someone’s teeth are chattering, but what do you think they have eaten to make this happen?


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