Willow's Peek

Ok, I need to add a fourth reason (which I won't call a theory because I think it has been happening) to why the student numbers have decreased. Thank you to iceflight64 for reminding me. So what's the other reason?

Since entering Pottermore, I was able to finish the first book within 24 hours, and I was able to collect all of the hidden objects within two days. Now what’s left to do are to earn points for my house (Go SLYTHERIN!) and to try to think of ways to improve the site before it opens to everyone.

  While I have many suggestions on the site, which I’ll mention on a different post, some of my other Pottermore Family noticed that the student population posted in the Great Hall has decreased. Since I just entered Pottermore Sunday morning and was too eager to get started, I did not notice this at all.

  So last night, I took a screenshot of the numbers in the Great Hall to keep track of the points and number of students. I posted it earlier, but here it is again:

  These numbers were as of Monday, September 5, 10:30pm in the Philippines (September 5, 10:30am in the U.S.A)

Then this morning, Tuesday, September 6, at 10:15am in the Philippines (September 5, 10:15pm in the U.S.A.), I checked the numbers again and found this:

  Notice that the student population has decreased from 144,224 to 144,210. So far, no explanation has been given by Pottermore so there are several theories about this. Once again, these are theories some of us in the Pottermore Family have, so they may be true or may not. As hardcore Potterheads, we just want to try and make our own guesses.

  The theories:

  1.    After SeekerRose184, pointed out to Pottermore and to the rest of us that there have been cheaters roaming around Hogwarts, one theory is that Pottermore might have been able to identify these individuals and have “expelled” them. (For more information about this issue, please visit: http://seekerrose.wordpress.com/)

  2.   Another common theory amongst us is speculation that Pottermore may be trying to use different servers to accommodate the growing number of students in Hogwarts. We are guessing that one effect may be that we are all going to “different Hogwarts”, and thus, we have different student populations, scores, etc.

  3.   And lastly, since the site has been experiencing glitches, we cannot deny that there is a possibility that this is just another glitch in the site.

  Once again, I stress that these are merely THEORIES that may be true or not. We are all waiting to hear any updates from Pottermore, and I hope they explain what’s happening so at least we have a clear understanding of what’s going on in Hogwarts.

If you’ve read my earlier post, you know that I got my owl in the wee hours of the morning here, Sunday at 12:30am to be exact. So while I was planning to sing my last song, watch one last movie and call it a night by 1:30am, I couldn’t do that anymore because, well…DUH! I GOT THE FREAKING WELCOME EMAIL AFTER A MONTH OF WAITING!

    So naturally, I just had to sign in and try the site out. And of course, I wanted to get my pet, my wand, and get sorted.

    So I spent almost the next two hours going through the chapters and I finally got all three. And here they are:

    My pet is an owl, a Tawny owl to be exact. I always wanted an owl.

    My wand is Alder with Dragon Core, Eleven and Three Quarter inches, Slighty Springy. I wish I could make a real one that looks just like it.

I woke up this Saturday thinking that it would be a normal and uneventful day, as it has been the past month. Having been disappointed the night before, I tried to not think about Pottermore, and most especially, my owl (a.k.a. welcome email). I spent most of the day doing a marathon of one of my favorite TV shows, FRIENDS. Once in a while I would check on my twitter, just to see how the rest of the Pottermore Family were doing.

    As night time fast approached, I it was time for some karaoke. I have found that in this past month of hoping, waiting, and disappointment, singing has helped make it more bearable. 

    So there I was, innocently waiting for my mom to finish her song so that I could finally sing Spice Girl's "Goodbye", when I decided to randomly refresh my inbox since I couldn't see any of my mentions on twitter. 

    2 new messages, 1 in my Yahoo! mailbox, the other in Gmail. 

    So I check on my Gmail inbox and find this: 

    Confusion, since I first thought someone from twitter or tumblr (the only mail I’d received from my Pottermore dedicated email account) had sent me something related to Pottermore as they were the only messages I had been getting for the past month.

    Shock, as I realized that Pottermore wasn’t the subject, but rather the SENDER.

    So with a shaky hand I open the message and behold:

    Pure happiness and excitement, as I finally understood what this meant. Yes, MY OWL HAD FINALLY FOUND ME. The Pottermore gods heard all my prayers, pleas, complains, and more pleas, and finally decided to end my suffering by sending me my owl.

    And so, in a matter of just 5 minutes, I had gone from patiently waiting form my turn at the karaoke, to giggling and screaming beside my mother, who was trying to sing through the last few lines of her song. I couldn’t even type properly as I tried to send the good news through twitter.

No Owl Party Song 10: Steven Curtis Chapman’s I Will Be Here (Lyrics by: Willow Night)

  Tomorrow morning when we wake up

And our owls are still not here

We will still wait

If in the night, we lose some hope

Go online, and have no fear,

Cause we will be here

  We will be here

When you feel like it’s not coming

When you need to speak your mind

We will listen

And we will be here

When the jokes all turn to true fears

Through the waiting, hoping and losing

We’ll be together

We will be here

  Tomorrow morning when we wake up

And the next wave is not here

We will be here

Just as sure as we’re Potterheads

Our emails must be on their way

So we will be here

  We will be here

To complain to one another

When our inbox still remains owl-less

We will cry too

And we will be here

To watch each wave that’s passing

And tell each other our owls are coming

We will be here

  We will be true to the promise we have made

To remain Potterheads for all our lives

  Tomorrow morning, when we wake up

And our owls are still not here

We will be here

No Owl Party Song 9: Matchbox 20’s Unwell (Lyrics by: Willow Night)

  All day

Staring at my laptop

Making friends with people on twitter

All night

Having people telling me

That I will soon get in

Because tomorrow might have my owl coming

  Hold on

I’m feeling like I’m headed for a

Breakdown

I just know why

  I’m not crazy, I’m just a little owl-less

I know, right now you can tell

It’s been awhile and maybe then it’ll be

The wave just meant for me

I’m not crazy, I’m just a little hopeless

I know, right now you don’t care

But soon enough you’re gonna think of me

And send me my own owl soon

  Talking to myself in public

Stealing glances at my mail

I know, I know they’ll soon be emailing me

I can hear them clicking

But it makes me think there must be something wrong with me

Out of all the people waiting

Somehow, they’ve lost my owl

  I’m not crazy, I’m just a little owl-less

I know, right now you can tell

It’s been awhile and maybe then it’ll be

The wave just meant for me

I’m not crazy, I’m just a little hopeless

I know, right now you don’t care

But soon enough you’re gonna think of me

And send me my own owl

  I’ve been stalking my inbox

Pretty soon my owl will come here

Yeah, they seem to take their time

  I’m not crazy, I’m just a little owl-less

I know, right now you can tell

It’s been awhile and maybe then it’ll be

The wave just meant for me

I’m not crazy, I’m just a little impaired

I know, right now you don’t care

But soon enough you’re gonna think of me

And send me my own owl

Hey, send me my own owl

Send me my own owl, yeah

Well I’m just a little owl-less

Send me my own owl

  1.    I have read all seven Harry Potter books in order at least six times.

  2.    While waiting for the fifth book to be released, I tried to memorize the Sorting Hats rhyme from the first book, and…

  3.    I also tried to memorize the book itself. (Only succeed in memorizing the first paragraph because I couldn’t help but to read on)

  4.    I watched all eight Harry Potter movies on the day of their release in the theaters so that I can have my own unbiased opinion, and…

  5.    …I watched each one at least twice in the theater. (Not including DVDs since I’ve watched them countless times already.)

  6.    For the first movie, I had my mom line up at 8am to buy tickets for me and my friends, when the theater only opened their ticket booths at 12 noon. (She was pretty mad at me for this.)

  7.    For the seventh movie, I skipped work so I could line up at the theater at 10am to buy tickets for the last full show at 11pm.

  8.    I asked my mom to buy me the set of Harry Potter books because it was “required” at school.

  9.    When the first movie came out, I asked the cinema management if I could buy the movie tarpaulins from them. (They said no because they had to return them to Warner Bros.)

  10. I once had diskettes full of pictures of Harry Potter and its cast. (Yes, CD burners and USBs where not yet readily available at that time.)

  11. When my high school literature teacher asked us to make a paper either defending or arguing against Harry Potter, I took the paper seriously and ended up with a mini-thesis. (I got top marks for it too!)

  12.  Every time I read and watch any of the Harry Potter installments, I cry.

  13. While reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, I had to stop reading when Sirius died because my eyes were full of tears that wouldn’t stop. I cried myself to sleep that night.

  14. I had to read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in my room because I kept on crying at different chapters. (When Ron and Harry fought, when Ron came back, when Dobby died, when Snape showed his memories to Harry, when Fred, Tonks and Lupin died, when Harry saw the ghosts of his loved ones, when Harry’s friends were devastated to hear that he was dead, when Mrs. Weasley fought Bellatrix, when the end finally came)

  15.  When my younger brothers wanted to try to read the books, I would quiz them first on the book they just read to make sure they understood what happened before lending them the next book. (They tend to just read books without trying to use much of their imagination, which would then make it just useless.)

  16.  Whenever I watch the movies, I know exactly what parts they removed or changed from the book.

  17. I cried when the trailer for the last movie came out.

  18. I have video clips of everything related to Harry Potter, J.K. Rowlings speech at Harvard, her interview with Oprah, the trailers of the movies, cast interviews, video of the last day of shooting, etc.

  19. I turned my other friends into Potterheads by lending them all my books.

  20. I stayed up late during the first two days of when Pottermore released the clue for the Magical Quill.

  21. I had my books ready everyday so I could answer the clue, and I knew where in book to find the answers.

  22. Even though I found the Magical Quill on Day 2, I still looked forward to answering the clues on Day 3 to 7 just to see if I knew the answers.

  23.  I made a twitter account dedicated to my Pottermore account, and have used twitter more than I ever had before this.

  24. When I first and last two things I do everyday since Pottermore started are to check my twitter time line for any news, and to check my inbox for my welcome email.

  25. I find myself praying that my welcome email will be sent to me whenever I hear a wave is coming.

  26. I have started a tumblr blog (this one) dedicated to all this Harry Potter.

  27. Whenever I listen to a song on my phone, I try to see if I could make it into the next No Owl Party song.

  28. I currently have eight songs dedicated to the No Owl Party, all re-written in dedication to this wait.

  29.  I am currently searching for anniversary editions of all the books. So far, I’ve only got one for the first book.

  30.  I get excited whenever I get a new email, and get all depressed when I find our it’s not from Pottermore.

  31. I got overly excited and jealous when I heard that Universal Studios now has Butterbeer.

  32.  On my Christmas wish list this year is a complete DVD set of the Harry Potter movies.

No Owl Party Song 8: The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night (Lyrics by: Willow Night)

  It’s been a real hard wait, and I’ve been hoping for so long

It’s been a real hard wait, I should be playing Pottermore

But every time I’m online, I find that others got in

It makes me feel all right.

  You know I work all day, but I’m distracted most recently

But it’s worth it once I get my owl, it’s gonna give me everything

So why on earth should I cry, cause soon I’ll get my own owl

Then things will be just great

  Once I’m in everything will be all right

Once I’m in playing with all of my friends, yeah

It’s been a real hard wait, and I’ve been hoping for so long

It’s been a real hard wait, I should be playing Pottermore

But every time I’m online, I find that others got in

It makes me feel all right.

  Owww

  So why on earth should I cry, cause soon I’ll get my own owl

Then things will be just great

  Once I’m in everything will be all right

Once I’m in playing with all of my friends, yeah

It’s been a real hard wait, and I’ve been hoping for so long

It’s been a real hard wait, I should be playing Pottermore

But every time I’m online, I find that others got in

It makes me feel all right.

And it will be all right

No Owl Party Song 7: New Radicals’ Someday We’ll Know (Lyrics by: Willow Night)

  Just five days until September

Can’t stop hoping

I don’t know why

So many people

Who need their owls

Two weeks later

There’s still just few owls

  Whatever happened to your first promise?

Who sends out all of the owls?

Is each wave just less than 10,000?

Did you just forget about my owl?

  Someday I’ll know if I’m really magical

Someday I’ll know what house I’ll be in

Someday I’ll get my own welcome email too

  Does anybody know the way they decide things?

Or how they choose whose owls to send?

I’m logging on to the website

For the 97th time tonight

  Someday I’ll know if I’m really magical

Someday I’ll know what house I’ll be in

Someday I’ll get my own welcome email too

Someday I’ll know what wand and pet I will get

One day I’ll go brew my own potion

Someday you’ll know all my comments about you

  I guessed the clue right on Day 2

I watched as some got in before me

If I could ask you just one question

When will you send my owl to me?

  Someday I’ll know if I’m really magical

Someday I’ll know what house I’ll be in

Someday I’ll get my own welcome email too

Someday I’ll know what wand and pet I will get

One day I’ll go brew my own potion

No Owl Party Song 6: Bruno Mars’ Marry You (Lyrics by: Willow Night)

  It’s a hopeful night

For those waiting for their owl

Pottermore

I really wanna get my owl

  Is it by day of the clue

Or is it random?

Who cares, baby

I really wanna get my owl

  Well, I know this little website

On the internet we can go

It just won’t tell

Oh, come on now

  Who cares if we’re trashed

Just wanna get our owl so we’ll go

Get our own wand

And it’s game on

  Don’t say no, no, no, no, no

Just say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Now go, go, go, go, go

Get them ready, coz we’re ready

  Cause it’s a hopeful night

For those waiting for their owl

Pottermore

I really wanna get my owl

  Is it by day of the clue

Or is it random?

Who cares, baby

I really wanna get my owl

  I’ll go check my mail

Coz there’s a new wave,

I hope, that my owl’s here

Let’s just hope, girl

  But then I wake up and see

It’s just a dream, that’s cool

Just go get my owl

Coz I want it

  Don’t say no, no, no, no, no

Just say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Now go, go, go, go, go

Get them ready, coz we’re ready

  Cause it’s a hopeful night

For those waiting for their owl

Pottermore

I really wanna get my owl

  Is it by day of the clue

Or is it random?

Who cares, baby

I really wanna get my owl

  Just say you will

Send me my owl, right now

Send me my owl, right now, right now

  Just say you will

Send me my owl, right now

Send me my owl, right now, right now

  It’s a hopeful night

For those waiting for their owl

Pottermore

I really wanna get my owl

  Is it by day of the clue

Or is it random?

Who cares, baby