JK Rowling invites all muggles into Harry Potter world to help children beat isolation boredom

JK Rowling and Harry Potter are casting a spell to banish* coronavirus* boredom.

The author of the boy wizard books is giving muggles* the opportunity to enjoy her Harry Potter world from the comfort of their homes after launching an immersive* new Hogwarts website.

“Parents, teachers and carers working to keep children amused and interested while we’re on lockdown might need a bit of magic, so I’m delighted to launch HarryPotterAtHome.com,” tweeted Ms Rowling.

Harry Potter fans will be enchanted* with promises to bring “Hogwarts to you” with “interactive craft videos, fun articles, quizzes, puzzles and plenty more for first-time readers, as well as those already familiar with the wizarding world”.

Whether fans are in the house of Hufflepuff, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, or Gryffindore, they will be able to test their knowledge of Hogwarts’ myths and legends with a Triwizard Tournament word search, quizzes and crossword puzzles based on the fantasy series.

Haven’t read any of the books yet? Don’t worry. The website provides a guide to reading Harry Potter books for first-timers, complete with a glossary of wizarding terms from “muggle” (a person lacking magical ability) to “quidditch” (the popular high-flying sport at the Hogwarts school).

If you’ve always admired the paintings and artwork in the movies, art lovers are invited to take a guided tour of Hogwarts’ possessed* paintings or learn how to draw a niffler, a money-grubbing mole first featured in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

If that’s not enough to cure your lockdown blues, there is also an online store, fan club, J.K. Rowling archive and even Harry Potter mobile games available for download on the App Store or Google Play.

LISTEN TO HARRY POTTER FREE

As part of the Harry Potter At Home initiative, Audible is making the audiobook of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone free as part of its recently launched Audible Stories collection.

Children can stream the first Harry Potter audiobook instantly for free in English, Spanish, French, Italian, German and Japanese. The English language version will be performed by Stephen Fry. Stories.Audible.com can be accessed on a desktop, laptop, phone or tablet. No login or membership is needed.

Additionally, Audible members can listen, for free, to the newly released audiobook of J.K. Rowling’s The Tales of Beedle the Bard.

GLOSSARY

• banish: send away
• coronavirus: a virus that causes a variety of diseases in animals and humans
• muggles: people lacking magical abilities
• immersive: an experience that surrounds the user
• enchanted: magical like being placed under a spell

EXTRA READING

Australian eSports teen wins almost $5 million

Veterans go back to hell in VR films

QUICK QUIZ

1. What is the name of the immersive website?
2. Why is JK Rowling making it free to use?
3. Name the four houses at Hogwarts.
4. What is a niffler?
5. Which famous actor reads the free Harry Potter audio book?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY
to come

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
Prep to Yr 2
Imagine that you are a wizard at Hogwarts. Draw three magical objects that you might see. Label each magical object with a name.

Years 3-4
Imagine that you are a wizard at Hogwarts. Draw three magical objects that you might see. Write a couple of sentences describing each magical object and what it does.

Years 5-6
Imagine that you are a wizard at Hogwarts. Write about what happened on the day you arrived. Make an illustration to go with your writing.

Years 7-9
Imagine that you are a wizard at Hogwarts. Write about what happened on the day you arrived, paying particular attention to capturing the mood and feelings of the occasion and building the foundations of a relationship (positive or negative) that you might have with another character. Make an illustration to go with your writing.

Time: Allow 35-45 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Visual Arts

VCOP ACTIVITY
Use your VCOP skills to highlight all the sentence openers in this article.
Once you have your list, work with a partner to make them into flash cards.
Place the flash cards face up between the two of you and create a new story using a fact or topic idea from the article.
See if you can get through all your flash cards.

HAVE YOUR SAY: If you could be in two Hogwarts houses, which two would they be?
No one-word answers. Use full sentences to explain your thinking. No comments will show until approved by editors.