I know there are several JK Rowling/ Harry Potter fans here. You can go to the site JK Rowling.com and find several easter eggs that will reveal several clues to the site. Some are difficult to find. So, I will give you the answers. I'm such a nice guy!
SPOILER WARNING: If you don't want to cheat, don't continue...
1. How many secret items (or easter eggs) are there?
There are currently seven items.
2. How do I find the secret items?
--On the cell phone on the front page, type in the numbers 6-2-4-4-2.
--Click on the key (it should say Fan Sites), once in the trophy room you should see two medals and two empty boxes on the shelf, place a medal in each of these boxes.
--Click on the pen (it should say Links), once in the library, locate the book with a question mark on it. Click on this book and drag it over to the left. This should reveal a key. Drag the key over to the locked box on your right.
--The Scavenger Hunt #1 - You must find four items on four different pages and click on them in order to get the last easter egg. The items you must click on: The potion flask on the Links page, the leaves on the Extras page, the feather on the fansites page, the spider on the main page. Once you have clicked on all of these items, you will receive the easter egg.
--Scavenger Hunt #2 — You must find three items. On the new Rubbish page, click on the pen on the left-hand side. If all goes well, you should break the pen in half (satisfying isn’t it?) and your new potions ingredients will be revealed. The egg shells can be found in the upper right corner of the rubbish page. The “scrubbing bubbles” (or blue rocks) can be found on the fan site page. You know that extra medals box on the top shelf? Click and drag that box over to reveal them. The blades of grass (or toothpicks, or whatever they are…) are on the bulletin board on the Extras page. Look for them below the blank sheet of paper.
--On the main page, you will see a marble beside the cup of pens. You must wait for Peeves to make an appearance on the page. When he does, the marble will begin to glow. Click on it immediately to receive the sixth item.
--And speaking of Peeves…The final item can be found on the cell phone. You must type in the numbers: 7-3-3-8-3-7. Hats off to the person who figured this out. They obviously posses an otherworldly command of mathematics, which I, as a mere mortal shall never have.
3. I can't find the spider you just mentioned!
I promise you that the spider is found on the main page. If you don't see it, then you probably already clicked on it without realizing. The best way to test this theory is to go ahead and collect the other items, if you receive the easter egg, then I speak the truth and you've already caught the spider.
4. What is this mysterious door everyone speaks of?
The "door" can be found by clicking on the hair scrunchy, (black doughnut, call it what you like) on the main page. After clicking on it, you will be transported to a room with a door. Now, you too can join in the fascinating past time that many here at HPANA (including myself) indulge in on a daily basis. Namely: Door watching! Not to mention its off-shoots: Door cursing, Door obsessing, and Door theorizing.
The bottom line on the "Door": If the "Do Not Disturb" sign is up, no amount of clicking, staring, or swearing will open it. The door will only open when the Do Not Disturb sign is taken away by JKR herself. She will periodically take off the sign and give us tidbits about the new Harry Potter book.
5. When will the "Do Not Disturb" sign be taken away?
If I could answer that question, then I would be packing my bags and shipping off to take up the position of Divination Teacher at Hogwarts.
6. What happens if I click on the fly in the "Door" room or the moth/butterfly on the main page?
I, for one, will be highly impressed if you actually click on either of them. Your lighting fast reflexes would warrant that you should consider a career in swordplay, Vegas card dealing, or magic. In other words, they are not meant to be caught. They are more like motion sensors that will automatically fly away the second your cursor touches them.
7. Hey! What just happened?! Something just flew across my page and made the watch act possesed!
This will periodically happen on the main page if you leave it idle long enough. Peeves is responsible for knocking over the pens. The best guess is that a doxy is that strange creature flying by. As for the watch, it has been puzzled over by many here at HPANA. No one's sure exactly why it goes through that magical transformation.
8. Technical issues--a.k.a.--"Hey, why won't my computer let enjoy me J.K. Rowling's site?!"
Various members have reported problems accessing the site from time to time. These problems can include screen-freeze when trying to access certain rooms, or still having the "Do Not Disturb" sign when others report that it's been taken down. Don't panic! Your computer is not conspiring against you.
--First, try clearing your Internet Temporary Files (also called cache on other operating systems).
--If this doesn't work, try accessing the site from another URL address:
http://www.jkrowling.co.uk
http://www.jkrowling.com
--WizKid pointed out that some people may have pop-up blocker software installed on their computer. The layout of JKR's site will trigger the software and keep you from accessing the main page. The solution is to disable the pop-up blocker when browsing the site.
--Another option pointed out by Khat is to go to
www.jkrowling.com/en. Apparently this version of her site is configured in such a way that the pop-up blocker is not triggered.
--Finally, I have noticed that the site will tend to act a little funny when there are a large number of visitors trying to access a given page (for example, my computer kept freezing when I tried to check out the FAQ's Poll the last time she updated. You might just try waiting a little while. The problem could clear itself up.
**Thanks to Serge, WizKid, and Khat for this question and solution!**
9. "My Computer is channeling JKR from beyond the...er, wait a minute..."
On the main page, you may notice that the cell phone will ring periodically. If you answer it, you will hear a woman's voice saying: "Hello? Hello? Is anyone there?". As yet, there doesn't seem to be any reason for this, beyond "coolness" factor.
10. My moth/butterfly has turned into a butterfly/moth.
If it is during the daylight hours, a butterfly will flit across the main page. Once the sun goes down, it turns into a moth. I like the nightlife, I want to boogie... Sorry, I'm okay.
11. Peeves woz ere, and ere, and ere...
Peeves will make an appearance in various rooms around the site if left idle long enough. Though harmless, he does tend to knock things over, scatter papers, and occasionally, reveals a clue (think bulletin board). I, for one, am pleased to see our resident poltergeist since he was so unfairly left out of the movie adaptation
12. The radio—a.k.a.—“I never pegged JKR as a “muzak” listener.”
In the Extras room you will find a radio that turns itself on. Like the dog barking (will someone please take that dog in?!!), the radio is there to add mood and sound effects. No more, No less.
13. What’s this rubbish?
As many have noticed, JKR has added a new section to her website. Dubbed the Rubbish Bin, it gives fans a chance to hear the truth about the many rumors floating around the nether regions of news reporting. I’m personally waiting to see her debunk the rumor of water skiing budgerigars. I mean come on! Their feet are tiny!! I can’t even get mine to jump on my finger! Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, the rubbish bin can be found by clicking the gum wrapper immediately to the right of the welcome note on the main page.
14. It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s...a spinning toy?
Located in the upper left corner of the rubbish bin is a contraption that looks like a cross between a compass and Dr. Evil’s time machine. When you move your cursor over this device, a shrill whistling erupts as it spins maniacally. Some have speculated that it’s a sneakoscope, others contend that it fell to earth in a fiery ball, presumably from outer space. The truth? We may never know. As yet, the device doesn’t seem to hold any secrets, but we’ll be watching it...oh yes, we will.
15. Image capture—or—“I know there’s a clue there somewhere!”
The sheer intricacy of JKR’s site demands closer scrutiny on occasion. At these times we must turn to image capturing, so that we may zoom in, sharpen, and filter every inch of those papers to our heart’s content. According to Serge (who I will place my complete faith in—I’m more clueless than a dementor at a barn raising when it comes to these sorts of things), you can capture an image of the screen by pressing the button on your keypad that says: “Print Screen”. After pressing this key, open an imaging program such as paint or photoshop and click on the “Edit” menu and select “paste”. To find the actual flash files, you must go to your “internet temporary files” immediately after visiting the site, and find the appropriate documents (they will have “.swf “ after them). Once you find the images, you must use a Flash decompiler in order to extract and view the images.
Thanks to Serge and ScretWitch for this question and answer.
16. Are all your eggs in one basket?
Several people have asked which pages should be in your scrapbook. As of right now, you should have:
Ancient Drawings: pg 1, 2, 3, 4
First typed manuscript of Philosopher’s Stone
Very early page of Philosopher’s Stone
Doodlings: pg 2
Lots of people have noticed that JKR has only released the second page of doodlings. This has led to many conspiracy theories involving undiscovered easter eggs, government suppression of the truth, and shifty men in bowler hats carrying violin cases. Okay, I admit that I made those last two up. But seriously, according to those who have looked at the website from a technical perspective, there are only seven easter eggs to be found. However, they also say that there are spots in the “code” of the site that would allow more eggs to be added later. In other words, JKR is letting us know that there will be at least one more page of doodlings to come sometime in the future.
Just remember, I'm looking out for you guy's. I don't want you to get stuck on her site. Enjoy!!!
