Room of Requirement
This is the most popular section of Jo’s site. The
door is usually closed with a “Do Not Disturb”
sign hanging up on the door handle, indicating you cannot
go in. But on some occasions, Jo opens up the door. Behind
that door are usually some pretty difficult and fun puzzles
for fans to figure out and win surprises after they figure
them out.
Here are the previous openings in order from the very first:
First Opening: June 28th - July 7th, 2004
Result:
The item released was the title of the sixth book:
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Instructions:
1. Click on the bricks in that order.
2. Then click on the fan to make all the papers
fly around. A page will come up with the title.
To replay this event click here.
Second Opening: August 16 – 26, 2004
Result:
A passage written on a scrap piece of paper that read:
"He looked rather like an old lion.
There were streaks of grey in his mane of tawny hair and his
bushy eyebrows; he had keen yellowish eyes behind a pair of
wire-rimmed spectacles and a certain rangy, loping grace even
though he walked with a slight limp.”
Instructions:
1. You will notice in the graphic below that the panel with
the switch is located just below the door handle. If you start
there and move across slowly clicking like mad then you should
hit it. The images below should give you a rough guide:
2. After that, you need to put the darts on the dart board
in order: The first dart on 7, the second on 1 and the third
on 3. Make sure you do it in order: 7-1-3.
3. Once the darts are in place, the board will move aside
and you need to type in the number revealed by Peeves in the
'Extra-stuff' page (302723).
4. Then you get inside the vault and there is a piece of
paper with the message on it.
To replay this event click here.
Third Opening: October 31 - November 15, 2004
Result:
3 chapter titles for HBP
Chapter 2. Spinners End
Chapter 6. Draco's Detour
Chapter 14. Felix Felicis
Instructions:
1. You can't open the door by clicking on the handle. You
must wait for Peeves to come through, at which point the keys
will appear.
2. Try selecting keys until one works. The fastest key is
the one, although randomly selecting works better.
3. Pull outward on the handle of the drawer
in the lower left hand corner.
4. Put the magnifying glass over the notepad on the left
side of the desk. It will bring up a riddle.
5. The answer to the riddle is "Chapters".
You will need to type it in. Then a file folder will appear.
You can grab three of the pages at the top of the folder.
They are three chapter names.
To replay this event click here.
Fourth Opening: December 20th - December 26th
Result:
A message from J.K. Rowling about the release of the new
book. Here is that message:
I know you all expected this to happen
on Christmas day, but I was sure that those of you who celebrate
Christmas have better things to on the day itself do than
to fight your way into my study, whereas those of you who
DON'T celebrate Christmas would definitely prefer not to wait
until the twenty fifth so...
'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'
is COMPLETED and has been delivered to my English language
publishers, who hope to announce the publication date within
24 hours.
Although I have joked about HP&THBP
racing my third baby into the world, I have in fact had all
the time I needed to tinker with the manuscript to my satisfaction
and I am as happy as I have ever been with the end result.
I only hope you feel that it was worth the wait when you finally
read it!
Wishing everybody a wonderful holiday
and a happy and peaceful 2005,
With love from,
JK Rowling.
Just the following morning, it was announced
that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was due for publication
on July 16, 2005.
Instructions:
1. Click on the door in the mirror. This closes
that door and opens the one in front of you.
2. Click on the Packages.
3. Each package brings up a different riddle: (left to right)
Answer: BLOOD
Answer: HALF
Answer: OTTER
Answer: BRISTOL
Answer: CORNED BEEF
Answer: PRINCE
4. Click on the middle Christmas card.
5. And that will reveal Jo’s message.
To replay this event click here.
Please note that many of these pictures are
thanks to Potters
Keys and from Dijares at Harry Potter's Page (can find
JK Rowling site thread here).
All reply activities are from HPLexicon.
Fourth Opening: April 1 - 4, 2006
During this opening, all of the fans were given
a chance to take the Wizard's Ordinary Magic Aptidude Test
(W.O.M.B.A.T.) test.
To take this test, fans had to take these steps:
1. Click on the eraser on Jo's desk
2. When the room of requirement opens, find the rock behind
the plant.
3. Drag it to the mirror. The mirror will break.
4. Get the key and put it in the door's keyhole.
5. Click on the message that is on the back
of the shelf behind where the mirror used to be
 .
6. Read the message, and then click on the 'close' button
to close it.
7. Type 'reparo' to fix the mirror (just type it on your keyboard
after the message returns to the shelf)
8. Click on the door handle of the door in the mirror to make
it close and the main door will open. The room reveals a desk
with a lot of papers and a graduation cap (Jo's desk!).
9. On top of the graduation hat, you take the tassel and turn
it to the left, or facing upward. It will then move to the
side. Underneath will reveal a booklet. Click on that booklet.
10. Then you must take the W.O.M.B.A.T. test. You only have
25 minutes!
11. After completing the test, you receive and
ID. Write it down, or (even easier) copy and paste it onto
a document, and save it in a save spot/file. This ID is used
to receive your results.
You can see screenshots of the entire test at
this
link.
Jo left this test open for about 48 hours. Nearly
24 hours later, a card appeared on her desk, laying on top
of her keyboard.
12. To get your results, you'd click on this
ID card. Enter your ID onto the card.
13. It would then take you to a room with a
clock and two shelves. The clock in this room had three sections:
Paper Being Marked, Results in the Post, and Results Delivered.
Once the results were delivered, you entered
your ID, and received your grade.
The results state that there will be more W.O.M.B.A.T.
tests to come! So, keep studying, HP Fans!
ROR Opening 21 December 2006; closing 28
December 2006
The Room of Requirement opened on 21 December
2006 to give us a fantastic Christmas gift! The title to Book
7!
Here's how the title was revealed to us!
After entering the Room of Requirement click
on the mirror to reveal the Christmas tree.
Then click on the top half of the mirror to
reveal a wreath.
Click on the top of the mirror to reveal a garland.
Next, click on the spider web to make the webs
dissapear.
Then click on the 4th chime in the window to
reveal a key.
Drag the key to the keyhole in the door. The
door opens to reveal a present.
Click on the bow on the package and it will
open to reveal a game of Hangman.
Click on the game to play it.
You have to play until you guess the title of
the book.
|
FAQ
In this section, Jo really gets in
touch with her fans. This section is
involved in a poll that all fans can
vote for a particular question in which
Jo will then answer with the highest
amount of votes. So here, in order of
the first FAQ poll to the latest:
FAQ Poll #1
Date Started / Ended:
May 15th, 2004 / July 6th, 2004
Runner-up questions:
- Is Severus Snape Lily Potter's (long-lost)
brother? - 12%
- Is Sirius Black really dead? - 42%
Winning question & answer (with
46% of the vote):
What is the significance, if any, of
Mark Evans?
"I couldn't
answer the poll question before now,
because I've been making arrangements
to take my family into hiding. It takes
time to arrange fake passports, one-way
air tickets to Bolivia and twenty-four
hour armed security.
Why should I resort to such desperate
measures? Because after you've heard
this answer, I'll have to disappear
for my own safety.
Now before I get down to it (you can
guess what's coming, can't you?) I am
going to put up a feeble pre-emptive
defence. Firstly, you were all spinning
highly ingenious theories about Mark
Evans, so I thought that you would welcome
the chance to hear the truth about him.
Secondly, I tried hard not to raise
hopes or expectations by adding the
crucial words 'if any' to the question.
Thirdly... there is no thirdly. I'm
just killing time.
(Takes deep breath)
Mark Evans is... nobody. He's nobody
in the sense that Mr. Prentice, Madam
Marsh and Gordon-Dudley's-gang-member
are nobodies, just background people
who need names, but who have no role
other than the walk-on parts assigned
to them.
(Checks that Neil has immunized the
dog and that Jessica has packed her
Gameboy, and continues)
I've got nobody to blame but myself.
Sirius Black, Mrs. Figg and Mundungus
Fletcher were all mentioned in passing
well before they burst onto the stage
as fully-fledged characters, so now
you've all become too clever, not for
your own good, but for mine. The fact
is that once you drew my attention to
it, I realised that Mark Evans did indeed
look like one of those 'here he is,
just a casual passer-by, nothing to
worry about, bet you barely noticed
him' characters who would suddenly become,
half way through book seven, 'Ha ha!
Yes, Mark Evans is back, suckers, and
he's the key to everything! He's the
Half Blood Prince, he's Harry's Great-Aunt,
he's the Heir of Gryffindor, he lives
up the Pillar of Storgé and he
owns the Mystic Kettle of Nackledirk!'
(Possible title of book seven there,
must make a note of it).
Then why – WHY – (I hear
you cry) – did I give him the
surname “Evans”? Well, believe
me, you can't regret it more than I
do right now. “Evans” is
a common name; I didn't give it much
thought; I wasn't even trying to set
up another red herring. I could just
as easily have called him 'Smith' or
'Jones' (or 'Black' or 'Thomas' or 'Brown',
all of which would have got me into
trouble too).
What else can I say? Many of the theories
you presented were highly plausible.
If you knew how often I've checked the
FAQ poll hoping that one of the other
questions might edge into the lead...
"Well, that's that. The car with
false license plates is at the door
and I've got to glue on my goatee. Goodbye."
FAQ Poll #2
Date Started / Ended:
July 19th, 2004 / October 4th, 2004
Runner-up questions:
- Is Percy working undercover for any
secret organization/boss? - 20%
- Where has Peter Pettigrew been since
the end of 'Goblet of Fire'? - 20%
Winning question & answer (with
60% of the vote):
What did Dumbledore's Howler to Aunt
Petunia mean? ('Remember my last'?)
Well, it is a relief
to move on after the Mark Evans fiasco.
This time, two out of the three poll
questions had interesting answers (or
so I think) and thank goodness you chose
one of them.
So: Dumbledore is referring to his last
letter, which means, of course, the
letter he left upon the Dursleys' doorstep
when Harry was one year old. But why
then (you may well ask) did he not just
say 'remember my letter?' Why did he
say my last letter? Why, obviously because
there were letters before that…
Now let the speculation begin, and mind
you type clearly, I'll be watching
P.S. It has been suggested that I am
wrong in saying that Dumbledore's last
letter was the one he left on the doorstep
with baby Harry, and that he has sent
a letter since then concerning Harry's
illegal flight to school. However, both
Dumbledore and I differentiate between
letters sent to the Dursleys as a couple,
and messages directed to Petunia ALONE.
And that's my final word on the subject
- though I doubt it will be yours :)
FAQ Poll #3
Date Started / Ended:
December 10th, 2004 / May 15th, 2005
Runner-up questions:
- How many chapters will Harry Potter
and the Half-Blood Prince have? (Subject
to editorial changes, of course) - 7%
- Will Ron ever manage to become more
than just good friends with a girl?
- 25%
Winning question & answer (with
68% of the vote):
What is the significance of Neville
being the other boy to whom the prophecy
might have referred?
Finally, I am answering
the poll question! I am sorry it has
taken so long, but let me start by saying
how glad I am that this was the question
that received the most votes, because
this was the one that I most wanted
to answer. Some of you might not like
what I am going to say - but I'll address
that issue at the end of my response!
To recap: Neville was born on the 30th
of July, the day before Harry, so he
too was born 'as the seventh month dies'.
His parents, who were both famous Aurors,
had 'thrice defied' Voldemort, just
as Lily and James had. Voldemort was
therefore presented with the choice
of two baby boys to whom the prophecy
might apply. However, he did not entirely
realise what the implications of attacking
them might be, because he had not heard
the entire prophecy. As Dumbledore says:
'He [the eavesdropper] only heard the
beginning, the part foretelling the
birth of a boy in July to parents who
had thrice defied Voldemort. Consequently,
he could not warn his master that to
attack you would be to risk transferring
power to you.'
In effect, the prophecy gave Voldemort
the choice of two candidates for his
possible nemesis. In choosing which
boy to murder, he was also (without
realising it) choosing which boy to
anoint as the Chosen One - to give him
tools no other wizard possessed - the
scar and the ability it conferred, a
magical window into Voldemort's mind.
So what would have happened if Voldemort
had decided that the pure-blood, not
the half-blood, was the bigger threat?
What would have happened if he had attacked
Neville instead? Harry wonders this
during the course of 'Half-Blood Prince'
and concludes, rightly, that the answer
hinges on whether or not one of Neville's
parents would have been able, or prepared,
to die for their son in the way that
Lily died for Harry. If they hadn't,
Neville would have been killed outright.
Had Frank or Alice thrown themselves
in front of Neville, however, the killing
curse would have rebounded just as it
did in Harry's case, and Neville would
have been the one who survived with
the lightning scar. What would this
have meant? Would a Neville bearing
the lightning scar have been as successful
at evading Voldemort as Harry has been?
Would Neville have had the qualities
that have enabled Harry to remain strong
and sane throughout all of his many
ordeals? Although Dumbledore does not
say as much, he does not believe so:
he believes Voldemort did indeed choose
the boy most likely to be able to topple
him, for Harry's survival has not depended
wholly or even mainly upon his scar.
So where does this leave Neville, the
boy who was so nearly King? Well, it
does not give him either hidden powers
or a mysterious destiny. He remains
a 'normal' wizarding boy, albeit one
with a past, in its way, as tragic as
Harry's. As you saw in 'Order of the
Phoenix,' however, Neville is not without
his own latent strengths. It remains
to be seen how he will feel if he ever
finds out how close he came to being
the Chosen One.
Some of you, who have been convinced
that the prophecy marked Neville, in
some mystical fashion, for a fate intertwined
with Harry's, may find this answer rather
dull. Yet I was making what I felt was
a significant point about Harry and
Voldemort, and about prophecies themselves,
in showing Neville as the also-ran.
If neither boy was 'pre-ordained' before
Voldemort's attack to become his possible
vanquisher, then the prophecy (like
the one the witches make to Macbeth,
if anyone has read the play of the same
name) becomes the catalyst for a situation
that would never have occurred if it
had not been made. Harry is propelled
into a terrifying position he might
never have sought, while Neville remains
the tantalising 'might-have-been'. Destiny
is a name often given in retrospect
to choices that had dramatic consequences.
Of course, none of this should be taken
to mean that Neville does not have a
significant part to play in the last
two novels, or the fight against Voldemort.
As for the prophecy itself, it remains
ambiguous, not only to readers, but
to my characters. Prophecies (think
of Nostradamus!) are usually open to
many different interpretations. That
is both their strength and their weakness.
FAQ Poll #4
Date Started / Ended:
Runner-up questions:
Winning question & answer (with
54% of the vote):So how DO the members
of the Order of the Phoenix communicate
with each other?
I was surprised
that this particular question won the
poll, because the answer (as I've already
said) can be found in an already-published
book (Goblet of Fire), whereas the other
two questions related to book six. But
perhaps I was influenced by the fact
that I knew the other two questions
had interesting answers – and,
of course, you will shortly know the
answers to those questions anyway!
Members of the Order use their Patronuses
to communicate with each other. They
are the only wizards who know how to
use their spirit guardians in this way
and they have been taught to do so by
Dumbledore (he invented this method
of communication). The Patronus is an
immensely efficient messenger for several
reasons: it is an anti-Dark Arts device,
which makes it highly resilient to interference
from Dark wizards; it is not hindered
by physical barriers; each Patronus
is unique and distinctive, so that there
is never any doubt which Order member
has sent it; nobody else can conjure
another person's Patronus, so there
is no danger of false messages being
passed between Order members; nothing
conspicuous needs to be carried by the
Order member to create a Patronus.
And, as many of you have deduced, Dumbledore's
Patronus is indeed a phoenix.
FAQ Poll #4
Date Started/Date Ended:
December 25, 2005/February
21, 2006
Runner up questions:
Does the destruction of a Horcrus
involve more than the destruction of
the object?
Why did Voldemort
want the Philosopher's Stone if he already
had his Horcruxes?
Winning question and answer:
What happens to a
secret when the Secret-Keeper Dies?
(46% of the vote)
I was surprised that
this question won, because it is not
the one that I'd have voted for…
but hey, if this is what you want to
know, this is what you want to know!
When a Secret-Keeper
dies, their secret dies with them, or,
to put it another way, the status of
their secret will remain as it was at
the moment of their death. Everybody
in whom they confided will continue
to know the hidden information, but
nobody else.
Just in case you have
forgotten exactly how the Fidelius Charm
works, it is
"an immensely complex
spell involving the magical concealment
of a secret inside a single, living
soul. The information is hidden inside
the chosen person, or Secret-Keeper,
and is henceforth impossible to find
-- unless, of course, the Secret-Keeper
chooses to divulge it" (Harry Potter
and the Prisoner of Azkaban)
In other words, a secret
(eg, the location of a family in hiding,
like the Potters) is enchanted so that
it is protected by a single Keeper (in
our example, Peter Pettigrew, a.k.a.
Wormtail). Thenceforth nobody else –
not even the subjects of the secret
themselves – can divulge the secret.
Even if one of the Potters had been
captured, force fed Veritaserum or placed
under the Imperius Curse, they would
not have been able to give away the
whereabouts of the other two. The only
people who ever knew their precise location
were those whom Wormtail had told directly,
but none of them would have been able
to pass on the information. |
Wizard of the Month
This is where each month, JO announces
a witch or wizard that has either created,
developed or done something that deserves
(with JO) to be placed into her calendar.
Here is a complete archive list:
May 2004 (Felix Summerbee)
June 2004 (Gwenog Jones)
July 2004 (Donaghan Tremlett)
(Picture unavailable)
August 2004 (Honoria Nutcombe)
September 2004 (Uric the Oddball)
October 2004 (Glenda Chittock)
November 2004 (Devlin Whitehorn)
December 2004 (Ignatia Wildsmith)
January 2005 (Derwent Shimpling)
February 2005 (Artemisia Lufkin)
March 2005 (Mungo Bunham)
April 2005 (Gondoline Oliphant)
May 2005 (Felix Summerbee)
June 2005 (Elfrida Clagg)
July 2005 (Chauncey Oldridge)
August 2005 (Bridget Wenlock)
September 2005 (Gaspard Shingleton)
October 2005
Fifi LaFolle
(1888 – 1971)
Author of the 'Enchanted Encounters'
series
November 2005
Carlotta Pinkstone
1922 – present.
Famous campaigner for lifting the International
Confederation of Wizard’s Statute
of Secrecy and telling Muggles that
wizards still exist. Ms. Pinkstone has
been imprisoned several times for her
blatant and deliberate use of magic
in public places.
December 2005
Bowman Wright
1492 – 1560
Famous for developing the Golden Snitch
January 2006
Jocunda Sykes
1915 - present.
Famous for flying across the Atlantic
on a broomstick - the first person to
do so.
February 2006
Yardley Pratt
1446 - 1557
Serial goblin-killer.
March 2006
Daisy Dodderidge
1467 - 1555.
First landlady of the Leaky Cauldron.
April 2006
Grogan Stump
1770 - 1884
Popular Minister for Magic, appointed
1811.
May 2006
Fabius Watkinn
1940 - 1975
Legendary Captain and Chaser of Montrose Magpies. Died in
freak collision with helicopter.
June 2006
Daisy Hookum
1962 - present
Wrote bestseller 'My Life as a Muggle', after giving up magic
for a year.
Married to celebrity gardener Tilden Toots.
July 2006
Tarquin McTavish
1955 - present
Imprisoned for crimes against Muggle neighbour, who was discovered
trapped inside McTavish's kettle.
August 2006
Erica Stainwright
1932 - 2001
Disgraced 1950s housekeeping guru who made fortune selling
'cleaning' potions that really generated more mould and grime.
September 2006
Hambledon Quince
1936 - present
Author of controversial theory that wizards originate from
Mars, Muggles from mushrooms.
October 2006
Idris Oakby
1872 - 1985
Founder of the S.S.S.
(Society for the Support of Squibs)
November 2006
Lorcan d'Eath
1964 - present
Heartthrob singer, part vampire, nineteen weeks at number
1 with hit song 'Necks to You.'
December 2006
Laurentia Fletwock
1947 - present
Celebrated breeder and racer of winged horses. Has campaigned
for tighter restrictions on broomstick use.
|
Birthdays
Molly Weasley (October 30th, 2004, 2005, 2006)
Filius Flitwick (October 17th, 2004, 2005, 2006)
Minerva McGonagall (October 4th, 2004, 2005, 2006)
Hermione Granger (September 19th, 2004, 2005, 2006)
Percy Weasley (August 22nd, 2004, 2005, 2006)
Ginny Weasley (August 11th, 2004, 2005, 2006)
Harry Potter (July 31st, 2004, 2005, 2006)
Neville Longbottom (July 30th, 2004, 2005, 2006)
Bill Weasley (November 29, 2004, 2005, 2006)
Hagrid (December 6th, 2004, 2005)
Charlie Weasley (December 12th, 2004)
Severus Snape (January 9th, 2005, 2006)
Arthur Weasley (February 6th, 2005, 2006)
Ron Weasley (March 1st, 2005)
Remus Lupin (March 10th, 2005)
Fred and George Weasley (April 1st, 2005, 2006)
Pomona Sprout (May 15th, 2005, 2006)
Draco Malfoy (June 5th, 2005, 2006)
Dobby (June 28th, 2005, 2006)
Gilderoy Lockhart- 13/12 (not sure of year)
Thanks to WickedWitchoftheWest for
this list.
|
