Hello, and welcome to Chamber Watch which will be the hub here on Blog of a Pottermore Beta for all news about the impending release of Chamber of Secrets on Pottermore…
THE FIRST CHAPTERS OF CHAMBER OF SECRETS ARE OPEN FOR ALL.
7/10/2012 @ 1:10 pm EST: Contrary to what they previously reported Pottermore has gone ahead and unlocked the new books for purchase. I guess they realized if they didn’t we couldn’t buy ANYTHING until they did. Spells are not yet usable in duels.
7/10/2012 @ 9:45 am EST: Books to be unlocked tomorrow according to this from the insider:
We are pleased to announce that the first chapters of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets are now available to explore on Pottermore.
There’s plenty to discover and enjoy: read more exclusive writing from J.K. Rowling; view The Burrow for the first time, de-gnome the garden and collect your second-year shopping list, along with more Galleons, for another visit to Diagon Alley.
Please be aware that all Pottermore students will be able to purchase their second year school books from Diagon Alley, as of tomorrow.
The Chamber of Secrets is being launched in three installments; with the next installment following in the coming weeks. We will keep you updated on the Pottermore Insider, as well as the Pottermore Gateway and the house noticeboards.
In the meantime, we hope that you enjoy discovering the brand new chapters on Pottermore.”
7/9/2012 @ 9:55 am EST: Without so much as a tweet or Insider update Chamber of Secrets has opened the first four chapters for Slytherin. If you are interested in reading my thoughts as I go through the Spoilers Entry is LOCATED HERE (password is spoilerme).
7/8/2012 @ 6:26 pm EST: The internet is a buzz with rumors about when to expect Chamber of Secrets. Before anyone gets too carried away with theirselves, I want to remind you that there is absolutely nothing solid stated by Pottermore as to WHEN CoS will open. Even when awarding the House Cup and the bonus award to Slytherin on the Pottermore Insider:
“As part of their reward for winning the Pottermore House Cup, Slytherin will be able to explore the new chapters of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, 24 hours ahead of the other houses.”
They were careful not to give any indication of WHEN this was supposed to happen. Then there is the notification that all Slytherins received when they won the cup:
“Congratulations on winning the inaugural Pottermore House Cup. As part of your reward, you will be able to explore the first chapters of HARRY POTTER and the Chamber of Secrets before members of other houses. You will receive an owl message with more information shortly.”
Once again, very vague. A lot of people have cottoned onto the word “shortly” and decided that it means a little sooner than I think they mean. Point I want to make here is that we don’t know when they will release Chamber of Secrets. We know that Slytherin will get 24 hours and then the rest of the Houses will be allowed in.
I would like to remind you of the looseness with which Pottermore has used terms before… such as “early April” and “very soon”. I’m hoping we will know more this week. As a Slytherin looking forward to early access I really hope for a solid release date in advance so that no Slytherin misses an opportunity for early access. It’s awfully hard to award a prize if you don’t tell them when to come redeem it. I do not believe the release of CoS will be like the opening of the site itself.
So don’t believe the rumors. Spin theories as much as you like, just remember that no one KNOWS anything more than you do. We just have to wait and see what Pottermore has to say on the subject in the coming days.
*steps down off her soap box*
7/2/2012 @ 12:16 pm EST: Today’s news from the Pottermore insider has prompted me to launch Chamber Watch a bit early. I had originally planned on doing so after the awarding of the house cup. Here’s what the Insider had to say today:
“Over the past few weeks on the Site Updates section of the Pottermore Insider, we’ve been letting you know about our progress developing Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on Pottermore.
We’re excited to announce that the first chapters of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets are coming very soon to Pottermore.
We will reveal more about this next week here on the Pottermore Insider, as well as the Pottermore Gateway and the new Pottermore house noticeboards.”
The part of this statement that has piqued maximum interest is the statement that the “first chapters” of the second book are “coming very soon”. This indicates an intention to release the book in parts as opposed to all at once. Now there isn’t any clarification as to if this is to “Beta Test” the second book before fully releasing it, or if they realized the wait has gone on very long and want to give us SOMETHING after the House Cup to keep us logging into the site.
This does, however, kill the idea that I have seen running rampant around the internet that the “bonus” for the House Cup winners will be access to Chamber of Secrets. Obviously this anouncement indicates that the early chapters of Chamber are coming to the site for everyone soon. I expect we will find out just how soon they mean after the cup is awarded this thursday. For all news relating to the house cup visit Countdown to the Cup and check back here at Chamber Watch for all news on the next book as it happens.
Ask Elm (Vol 5)
Welcome to the fifth edition of Ask Elm. I’m getting lots of questions now! To ask a question: CLICK HERE. Hope you guys are ready, this is a LONG one. And I STILL have questions in queue. I am also responding as quickly as I can to the questions via e-mail, so you don’t necessarily have to wait until the next Ask Elm publishes to get an answer.
Answers to questions below the cut… Read more »