Harry Potter At Home: JK Rowling launches new website to beat coronavirus boredom

J.K. Rowling is hoping a dash of Harry Potter will help families confined to their homes during the coronavirus pandemic.

The author has launched an online initiative, Harry Potter At Home, which features quizzes, games and other activities.

For the month of April, Rowling also has partnered with the audio publisher-distributor Audible and the library e-book supplier OverDrive for free audio and digital editions of the first Potter book, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.” (The U.S. edition is called “Harry Potter’s and the Sorcerer’s Stone”).

Rowling’s British and American print publishers, Bloomsbury and Scholastic, will contribute materials to the Potter web site and to their own web sites.

“The teachers, parents and carers working to keep children’s lives as normal and happy as possible while we’re all on lockdown deserve a bit of magic,” Rowling said in a statement Wednesday.

“I hope these initiatives will give children and even adults a happy distraction during their enforced stay-at-home time.”

It also allows users to create their own accounts and find out their Hogwarts house.

“The Harry Potter At Home hub aims to help inspire you, your family, your friends, and especially children all around the world to read for pleasure and enjoy the stories, as well as bring some magic-infused joy and entertainment to all the family,” the website reads.

“But the hub is also a place for those of you who have loved Harry Potter for decades: a place for you to feel the warmth of the fire in the Gryffindor common room or a much-needed hug from Mrs Weasley.”

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Originally published on 7News.