Potter Whiz

CoS and House Cup on April 25! Mark Your Calendars!

2013-04-21T06:30:00.000-07:00

These are the announcements in my notification page after almost a year of hiatus. Great. So house cup's nearing and CoS is ending. Aaargh! I'm still not over the second book. Gee. I'm sorry if no updates came through. I was busy making a living for myself.

And I think Slytherin's going to win. AGAIN.

So I'm going to play CoS for a while and update this blog hopefully later. Eek.

Gilderoy Lockhart

2012-08-03T14:13:00.001-07:00

Outrageous book prices! I went shopping today at Diagon Alley to buy some books for my second year in Hogwarts and geee, all the books of Gilderoy Lockhart are sooo expensive. He must be fined for this one. My Galleons almost trimmed down! This is one form of injustice even in the Wizarding World! Education mustn't be expensive. :P

At Flourish and Blotts

Second Year List of Books

2012-08-01T23:30:00.000-07:00

Letter Cheat in Pottermore

2012-08-01T17:13:00.001-07:00

If you want to get pass that wicked letter on your own (I've tried several times to get it right), STOP reading this post. BUT, if you so desperately wanted to pass that moment without the fuss, WELCOME! This is the right post for you. :)

Instruction

Below is the order of the envelope.

De-gnoming the Weasley's Garden

2012-08-01T03:24:00.000-07:00

Want to de-gnome the garden? The above image would be the instructions. You'll have around 90 seconds to throw gnomes out. You don't need to swing your mouse to swing the gnome; just click the head of the gnome that will appear on the bush and the rest will follow.

I had a hard time realizing it but you need to throw the gnome to the RIGHT side. Bonus if you can throw it past the cut trunk. :)

Sample of the de-gnoming I did. :P

Keep that Pudding Floating!

2012-08-01T03:18:00.003-07:00

The objective of the game is to keep the pudding in the air for 15 seconds, i think it's 14... Whatever. So yeah, keep clicking it and that's the only time you can continue to the next moment. Goodluck! :)

Hidden Objects in Pottermore Book Two and Where to Find Them

2012-08-01T03:12:00.003-07:00

Since I'm only starting with the Chamber of Secrets, the following are just some of the list that I have found so far:

Hanging Flower - before entering the house of the Dursley's, click on the hanging flowera (i forgot what's it called), right corner of the screen; chapter 1 moment 1

Bertie Bott's Sprout Flavoured Bean - zoom once and head to the cupboard. Right in the middle the lower portion of it, you'll find a teensy dot; chapter 1 moment 1

Honey - zoom all the way. Find right at the top of Dudley's head; chapter 1 moment 1
Pruning Shears - zoom once, hover your mouse to the warehouse and you'll find the object right in the middle of the shelf; chapter 1 moment 2

Dried Nettles - zoom all the way, on the top of the wheelbarrow; chapter 1 moment 2

Rose Thorns - zoom all the way, left side of the flower bush; chapter 1 moment 2

To find the eyes, hover your mouse to the small black gap, left side of the tree trunk. Just trace the line of the rose bush and you'll find it. :)

Bertie Bott's Sugared Violet Flavoured Bean - zoom once, near the pillow space in Harry's bed; chapter 2 moment 1

Chapter 2 moment 2 is one of the most interactive things so far. Click here for more details.

Bertie Bott's Pepper Flavoured Bean - zoom out once, in the left side of the bed; chapter 3 moment 1

Bertie Bott's Toast Flavoured Bean - zoom out once, click the lamp near the stumbled chair, you'll find it near the leg of the chair; chapter 3 moment 1
Bertie Bott's Chocolate Flavoured Bean - zoom out once, left shoe of harry; chapter 3 moment 1

Bertie Bott's Baked Flavoured Bean - zoom out once, right top of the screen, you'll find a shelf; chapter 3 moment 1

Horklump Juice - zoom all the way (since I can't seem to find any interaction in before doing that); find the little violet stuff on the left side of the Weasley's house - it's in there garden; chapter 3 moment 2

Chapter 3 moment 3 is the de-gnoming of the Weasley's Garden. It's waaay fun than the pudding. Trust me!

For the information on the order of the letters, click here.

Brownish book - top of the fireplace, the position is inclined; chapter 4 moment 2

Dark brown book with an emerald-like shape in the book spine - top right of the fireplace; chapter 4 moment 2

Blue book - directly at the top of the fire; chapter 4 moment 2

Fire tongs - near the HUGE cauldron, left side of it

Key - directly at the top of the fire tongs

Floo Powder - on the left side of the shelf with books (that's still at the top of the fireplace), find the pot then drag a handful of ash and put it on the fire

Mask - zoom once, find the goblin like face in the left side of the screen - hanged, chapter 4 moment 2

Dragon Liver - zoom all teh way, the flask at the right side of the display window, at the top of the moving hand; chapter 4 moment 2

Slimy Seaweed - left side inside the basket carried by a witch with a violet cloak; chapter 4 moment 3

Hairpin - hover your mouse to the braided hair of a woman wearing a blue cloak; chapter 4 moment 3

Magical Me - on the display, the book with a man in a violet robe; chapter 4 moment 4

Book - zoom all the way, afloat near Gilderoy Lockhart; chapter 4 moment 4

That's all for now. :)

OMG OMG OMG! Chamber of Secrets NOW OPEN!

2012-07-31T04:42:00.001-07:00

I can't believe the HP and CoS is now open. How could I have been so stupid to miss this! So I'm just gonna let you explore it on your own and I'll do the same. Let's explore the first five chapters of CoS! Kapish!

The Inaugural House Cup

2012-07-05T02:39:00.000-07:00

The Slytherins won :( Ravens came in third. Aaargh. And all my points are now in zero. So that means, the 2nd year is comming. I'm sad but Congratulations to the snakes. We'll do better next time!

Pottermore Announcement!

2012-06-27T00:58:00.002-07:00

I received an email a couple of days ago bearing this loathsome reminder:

So, I'm calling all my fellow Ravenclaws (And to other Hogwartians as well)! If you want your house to win the inaugural House CUP, brew, cast spell, ~~kill,~~ and brew some more. Geez, Ravenclaws crashed - from top to bottom. But, if you still want us to win, brew potions, or your own house for that matter.

They didn't exactly indicated when will this be but since the third week of June is the end of the year for Hogwarts, expect to witness the House Cup awarding at the end of this month.

Good luck!

Pottermore Suggestions

2012-06-13T21:59:00.000-07:00

After the successful launch (I hope) of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, billions of fans are now waiting intently for the opening of Chamber of Secret. How soon? No one knew. But I’m really crossing my fingers that it’ll be SOON. Now I haven’t been visiting Pottermore that much nowadays as work and other stuffs are preoccupying my already busy life. Tehe. But I know that there are still improvements that we, as fans, are really trying to get across the JK and Pottermore developers.

Have you tried using the feedback form as identified in the Pottermore Insider? I know I did. I mean, it’s one of the things that we can tell JK that we fully support her and Pottermore. But at the same time, it’s also a way for us to suggest the good stuffs (especially the beta users) that the fans would want to see in the site. SO, if you haven’t participated in the survey, go here.

Now, of course, there are still things that you can’t completely put in there; suggestions that you just now realized, and pointers that you wanted to get the developers know. What do you want to improve in Pottermore, really? Here are my lucky 7 suggestions:

The first thing that I came across with was that portion where you register your account, or make an account for that matter. The part where you check the books that you read and movies that you watched. Yeah, that one. Unfortunately, as I was so excited in exploring the site, I overlooked the check box where I can affirmed that I have read and watched all the HP books and movies. DUH. And now I can’t edit it. :( I feel like a total loser for doing that. I mean, it’s shameful. No really. :P

Second would be to create your own avatar. Is it just me or did they changed that already? I’ve seen avatars from the latest users and they have different avatars than the beta testers. I wish we could customize them. OR if not, they can just make a lot of images that we can choose from to be our avatars. That’ll be fun.

I’m also waiting for that they that they will shorten the time of brewing potions. Or at least we’ll have an array of potions that the usual Herbicide, Wideye Awakening, etc. Although that part will be imminent once they open CoS. Ohhh! Can’t wait!

More Galleons please! Need I say more?

Quidditch-we-wanna-play. And MORE games. Mini games or anything. Just so we’re not stuck in brewing and dueling, RIGHT?

One of the most important things that they need to repair is the bugs, glitches, et cetera. Whatever you wanna call it. It’s like ruining a good ingredient for a lousy algorithm. Such a waste of Galleons.

And lastly, I wish to experience Pottermore in 3D. Have you played a game in other HP releases (not sure if they are authorized or not but it’s pretty good but I forgot what it’s called) where you can play as Harry and find Galleons along the castle. You get to fight the big plants and jump across the stairs of the Great Hall, get to visit the lair of Aragog, fight his sons and daughters and do magic in a 3D way. Have you played that? Pottermore would be soooo cool if they’d do something like it.

What’s yours?

How to Earn Points in Pottermore

2012-05-29T17:13:00.001-07:00

Recently, the ever anticipated Pottermore’s been opened to the public. You get excited, you find the galleons, the chocolate frogs, the potion ingredients, you shop at Diagon Alley, brew potions, meet fellow Hogwartians, cast spells, and so on. But what do you do to maintain those precious rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and golds (?) in their containers? Enjoying Pottermore is one thing, but contributing points to your respective houses is different.

Today, I will give you some tips on how to win the house cup. Even though I am a Ravenclaw, I’ll still be willing to help everyone. :D

One of the things that you can do to earn house points is to completely find all the chocolate frogs and potions ingredients throughout the course of the game. Each object has a corresponding point. If my memory serves me right, one object is worth 2 points (Please comment if I have put some horrible mistakes here).

Another is finding all the galleons as well. The more galleons you find, the more potion ingredients you can brew. Although the galleons is only limited to a certain amount, finding them all won’t hurt you.

Brewing potions is, for me, the very source of house points—more on its points here. You can brew it, leave for an hour or so, and then earn those golden points. But of course, you need to “cook” them properly because if you don’t, you can also lose points if you brew then incorrectly.

Dueling can earn/lose you points. You can challenge anyone—even from your own house, win and earn (so far I have only won a 5-point duel) points! But it would be unwise to challenge someone from your own house if you’re after winning the house cup. The key to win a duel is to use a strong spell that will over power the spell used by your opponent.

That’s all I know for now. Comment for suggestions, violent reactions and other tips too! Cheers for the house cup! :D

Potter Whiz Opens Quizzes!

2012-05-07T21:52:00.006-07:00

PotterWhiz Quiz » fun quizzes

Galleons in Pottermore Book 1 and Where to Find Them

2012-04-25T22:51:00.000-07:00

Image by PotterWikki

Some of the Potterheads from my house said that once you ran out of Galleons—from constant buying of potion ingredients or equipments (telescope, brass scale, etc.), they will regenerate, much like the other potion ingredients that you can collect throughout the whole book one. I’m not sure though how accurate this information is since I still have around 300+ Galleons. I try not to spend that much galleon because there is no assurance if Pottermore will still give you that same amount in the next book. According to some, Pottermore will give you 500 Galleons when it opens its second book. Yet, no word of it can be found on the Pottermore Terms and Conditions. So, yeah. Just be careful AND be RESOURCEFUL. A lot of potterheads are not that active so they tend to just buy stuffs and give it away to those who will really brew potions. Of course, it’ll help if you give it to your own house. But be warned: Do not cheat. Do not create another account just so you can give your galleons—in the form of potion ingredients—to the house you’re most loyal with. I just feel like in the spirit of fairness, we should all abide by the things that we were given. Let me tell you a little trivia.

I have read all the books of HP and if you do too, you will know how JK built the reputation of Gryffindor. Slytherin chooses pureblood, they are brave but up to a certain point—they’ll save themselves if it will ever comes to that, and they tend to practice evil magic; Ravenclaw chooses smart witches and wizards, values fairness, snobbish or some would say know-it-all; Hufflepuffs chooses those who chooses them, they don’t have the same qualifications as the other three and they love all the magical folks (reason for them to be viewed as the lowest of the three houses) and Gryffindor, the mighty Gryffindor, brave to the point of being heroic, will stand up behind his friends, crowd favorite, tends to disregard rules and I think JK somehow added the ingenious quality along the way. When I was reading the first HP book at the age of 11, I unconsciously was favoring Gryffindor to be my house. And as a result, I was totally disappointed to be put in Ravenclaw. But along the way, I realized how lucky I was to be in that house. Everybody is so kind and they’re helping each other and I dunno, I feel like I truly belong. :)

Chapter 7, moment 1 near the railing on the 4th step up on the staircase
Chapter 8, moment 1 on the railing (staircase)
Chapter 9, moment 2 inside the second suit of armor’s helmet, zoom in once
Chapter 10, moment 1 just open the third drawer, right side
Chapter 10, moment 2 on the right side of the desk, zoom in once
Chapter 11, moment1 left windowsill, zoom in once
Chapter 12, moment2 left of the cracker on the table, zoom in once
Chapter 12, moment 2 right side of harry’s arm in the mirror of erised, zoom all the way
Chapter 13, moment 2 beside the second brush on the left
Chapter 14, moment 3 the door to the left
Chapter 15, moment 1 right of the quill on the desk
Chapter 17, moment 3 in the center of the hallway

Pottermore Shop Now Opens!

2012-04-24T22:11:00.000-07:00

Click the picture to visit Pottermore Shop

I know, I know. I haven't been that up to date with the current happenings of Pottermore but here it is, Pottermore recently opened their e-shop where you can buy ebooks of all the HP books. It's in English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish. :)

Pottermore Now Open to EVERYONE!

2012-04-19T22:07:00.002-07:00

For the lack of something to do, I visited Pottermore, and viola! They are now accepting new wizards and witches! AMAZING! Although I have already my beta account, I still get excited for the other billion fans of HP. And no, I'm not changing Houses-and some do-which I think is unfair and not true to what house they should belong. GO RAVENS! Let's win the housecup! :)

Don't forget to add me up. My username is FelicisStar3. :)

Pottermore Update

2012-04-15T22:07:00.000-07:00

It’s been a while since I visited Pottermore. I stopped brewing and visiting Pottermore. As bad as it may sound to come out from a fan of Harry Potter, I’m still going to say it. I’M BORED. There. I said it. Finally. Now people are gonna hate me for it. There aren’t any changes or improvement at all. I think that the new stuff that ever happened during the whole time that I was in hiatus was them offering e-books.

I just think that the whole beta thing is taking so long that we (beta testers) can’t move on to the next book unless it’s open to the public. The worst part was that they kept on saying that it will open in this month and then it won’t and then they would announce again that the long wait is over, then it’s not gonna open again. I mean, come on. I can access the site but I still get pissed whenever they do that. How much more to those that have not won the Magic Quill Contest. I felt cheated. HAHAHA! That was a strong word. But uhm, yeah, I feel like they should figure out when the dates should really be and stick to it.

I have no doubt that they are doing the best that they can but I see no improvement. I still get the lousy “Pottermore is currently unavailable. Please come back later and try again”—the purple screen of death. UGH. And they said that they will be opening this early April. Hmm. I wonder when the next post will be saying that they have postponed giving access to other people.

Then I was worried that there will be a major catastrophe going on when the site goes public. They had a hard time letting people in before—beta time—how much more this April that there are billions of people who’ll probably be registering.

Let’s just hope for the best. Having said all that, I’m still grateful that they created Pottermore. And I know that they are doing the best that they can to improve it further. Just my two cents.

Books in Pottermore and Where to Find Them

2012-04-09T22:50:00.006-07:00

As an avid fan of Harry Potter, I did my homework. Although I have already told you that I won't be telling you how to solve/find hidden objects on the Pottermore adventure, I decided to help you now SINCE I had a hard time finding some of them myself. So..without further ado, let me present you the hidden books (chocolate frogs and my Galleons are not yet completed) in Pottermore Book One: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

Hogwarts: A History

Location: zoom in until windowsill is visible, near the bottom of the stairs; chapter 8 moment 1

Quidditch Through Ages

Location: Hermione's (middle) backpack, red book; chapter 9 moment 1

A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry

Location: bookshelf on the left; chapter 12 moment 1

Important Modern Magical Discoveries
Location: zoom in once, first bookshelf, towards the bottom; chapter 12 moment 1

Notable Magical Names of Our Time
Location: zoom once, second shelf, second row from the bottom; chapter 12 moment 1

Great Wizard of the Twentieth Century
Location: zoom once, second shelf, 2nd row from the bottom; chapter 12 moment 1

Curses and Counter-Curses

Location: don't zoom, left side on the bench; chapter 12 moment 2

Modern Magical History
Location: zoom once, left of ron, on the second row; chapter 14 moment 1

From Egg to Inferno: A Dragon Keepers Guide
Location: zoom twice (towards the shadowy figure of Hagrid), second row from the bottom; chapter 14 moment 1

Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland

Location: don't zoom, left side, book shelf facing you, book is gray, second row from the bottom; chapter 14 moment 1

Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit
Location: don't zoom, on the table near the cup and candles; chapter 14 moment 2

A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration