The Yak Shack Forum

I went onto the JKR site recently and the pot containing the 4 pens was lying down on the desk. After looking at a few articles it was standing back up again in it's usual position. I have no idea what this means and it has never happened again. Has it happened to anyone else ???. I promise I had not hit the gin after a particularly bad day at work - honestly.

Peeves comes through the site periodically and makes a mess on the desk.  If you stay on the site long enough, it will happen again.  I don't think you see him, though.  You just hear him and then things on the desk get scattered.

Its happened to me and I don't know why either.  It didn't seem to make any difference to anything.
I still don't get that thing with the cauldron and ingredients on the notice-board.  Do you?  I know I must be really stupid but the only puzzle I've managed to solve is the mobile phone and that's only because its so obvious!
I don't mind cheating if somebody wants to tell me!!!!

i havent been on here in ages!

on the main desk if you watch it for about 10 minutes without clicking on anything you see a doxy come along and knock the pens over and at the same time the watch face changes.

the ingredients thing, you have to search the site for the things shown, i cant remember where they are sorry! you just have to click on them.

theres a key behind a book in the links section which opens up the chest next to it. have you got that one?

JK's site has been updated and mugglenet has been named fan site of the month! About time as well - I have been visiting it for years and found it very informative and easy to read. :)

I thought it may be useful to modify this thread to discuss the site in general as it seems that JK is rather fond of updating it - go Jo ;) I'll sticky it as it will be an ongoing thread I hope!

So any discussions, rumour mongering ;) questions about easter eggs etc, this is the place to do it! Which brings me to my next point...

There a 3 guaranteed new easter eggs on there as of today - in addition to the old ones. Hints and cheats on request, though I think it would be more fun for everyone to have a go at cracking the secrets themselves first! So no posting answers yet :)

FTY

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE!

The best updates in a while, check out the rubbish bin and especially the FAQ section - she answers alot of questions posed to her by an open letter from the mugglenet/HP lexicon sites - and she has indicated that she may answer alot more in the future:D. She also answers the FAQ poll q (What does Dumbledore mean by his Howler to Aunt Petunia 'remember my last?')

Looking forward to Book 6 even more than PoA update - is that even possible? ;)

Umm.. I know it's been a while but where's the rubbish bin and FAQ section ??  :-\

*EDIT*

I have wandered around in the trash.. but not spotted anything in particular... rumours about her husband giving up work etc... and as a warning to anyone who ever wants to trade with me - I just set the sneakoscope off!!!

The only thing that was added to the bin was the rumour about her cousin being the person she based the character of Harry on. The FAQ is the best bit though - incase you have not found it, its the paper clips that rearrange themselves into the shape of a question mark when you move you mouse over them!

In the rubbish bin there is a broken egg on the floor, it disappears if you click onto it. Apart from that and the marble that has appreared by the pen pot and the that the butterfly is now a green colour instead on blue I have not noticed anything else. I like the new rubbish bin and hope the new poll shows up soon. Has anyone found anything else?

If you wait on the main desk for a while, a doxy? will come across, and the marble near the pen pot will change colour-click on it!  ;D

Click on the pen to the left of the rubbish bin, and the ink will reveal Easter eggs  to collect for more site content.

Also there is 2 numbers you can type into the cell phone on the desk  ;)

The site has been updated today, Halloween.  There is new information behind the locked door!

I can't open it!

The US site (.com) still has the DND sign on it
The UK site (.co.uk) does not have the sign, but the door does not open!

 :-\

If you wait a while, a whole bunch of keys appear.  Click and drag them one at a time to the key hole until one unlocks the door.  Then click the handle.  Door opens, shows the desk from above, but I dont know what to do now....

HA - I will never laugh at that task they had with the flying keys iN Philosophers stone now!

Pull open the drawer - then use the magnifying glass

ah ha! any clues to the riddle?  ::)

Do you reeeeeeeally want one? ;)

Okay then :)

Its got something to do with what all HP fans want JKR to do more of.

There you go. I don't want to spoil it too much for you :)

Thank you!  :D

looks interesting....new people introduced by the look of it...

ugh! i cant figure out the riddle? can u give another clue??

look at the post two above yours...

Ok,i'm rubbish! What can you do with the phone? It's rung a few times but otherwise no joy. Help!

 ???
I've hit a wall.  where do I find the object that matches the symbol on the paper next to the eggs?  To be more specific, once in the rubbish bin, break the pen, and what is the middle symbol and where do I find it?
 Some of the things you guys mention aren't on the site that I go to.  Do things change everyonce and a while?  I have just recently started going to the site.
Any pointers or advice?
Thanx

It's been a while since I've done this, but I think the three rocks can be found on a shelf on the fan site page.

Well, after a few weeks of messing around, I have decided there are NO rocks on my JK rowling website.  I haven't clicked on the before either.  so, I'll just have to wait and see what happens next.

Try one more time!  Go to the fan site page.  On the top shelf in the middle is an empty, red medallion box.  Click on it and hold, moving it aside.  The blue rocks are behind it.  Let me know if you find it!

Can anyone help me out with the phone, i'm stuck!! ??? ;D

Click on the numbers that correspond to the letters in  "Peeves."

Thanks!!!!!
I was concentrating on trying to find numbers to put in, i didn't even think of putting words in! ::) Any others you can put in, i tried a few but didn't get anywhere.

Ok, I got the rocks!  Thanks, never would have found that!  Also found the key to open the box, and peeves phone number.
But in my scrap book I only have "ancient drawings" page 2,3,4      
where is page 1?
Also I have the doodles page 2 (again page 1?)
I also have the manuscript
Is there another Phone number?

Can someone tell me where the bin is. I can only ever find it on the text only site and I have been going to her site for ages. ???

The link to the rubbish bin is the gum wrapper between the spiral-bound notebook and the coffee cup.

I looked in my scrapbook on the site to see what I have:

ancient drawings 1-4 (sorry Avalon, I can't remember how to get it)
first typed manuscript of Philosopher's Stone
page of doodlings -- page 2 (I don't have page 1, either)
very early page of Philosopher's Stone

I honestly thought I had everything, but maybe I'm missing some things, too.

Ahhhhhhhh. Thanks, all this time and I never spotted that one doh!

There are currently 7 things you can have in your scrapbook :)

Thanks!  I guess she hasn't set up the puzzle for the first page of doodlings.  She's about due to answer the FAQ poll question, too.  When the baby let's her have a little free time, that is!

Does the sneak-o-scope serve any useful purpose?

Unless the thousands of HP fan sites have not found that first doodle page, I think you are right!

I am more concerned about when the door is going to open again! ;D

Not yet. ;)

I don't think the door will open again for a while, I think we have had our excitement for the moment.

Right now I have found the bin and broken the pen can someone tell me what the first thing is on the list and where to find it. I have the rocks and eggs but not that whatever it is.

Thanks.

Porcupine quills - pinned on the Extra things notice board

Thanks ;D

The Rumors section of her site has just been updated!  Maybe we'll be lucky and she'll update other sections, too. :)

I just want her to answer the fan question about the significance of Neville as the other boy the prophecy might have referred to! It's been there for MONTHS! :P

More updates in the FAQ section.  She makes a very interesting comment about HBP -- she said that some people won't like it!  I wonder if this means she's going to kill off another popular character. :-\

Yeah that concerned me a lot ::)

i hope not i mean sirius was enough for the entire series i think.no more major characters please JKR

i think it could be a piece of information that will startle us all, and that some of us will not like. like the holy grail in the da vinci code.

There are lots of updates on the site today!  Check out FAQ, news, rumors, and fan sites.  She has some big events planned for the launch of HBP and people from both the Leaky Cauldron and Mugglenet will interview her.

*sighs*

It's times like this that I wish I was a child again... :'(

Thanks for the info Cindy :)

Aw why do kids get to have all the fun ::)

coz we are special! ;D

Oh no!!  I hope I like it!!  What a bummer it would be if I didn't!!

JK has answered the poll at long last! Very interesting. Although I'm not sure it should be read if you haven't read OoTp :-\

Where is the poll located? I cant find it?

Go to the FAQ (paper clips).  Then click on "About the books."  You'll see two sheets of paper.  The sheet on the left has tabs, and the poll question is the last tab.

oh I couldnt find that, but I found it on the leaky caluldron so am reading it now.

Thanks heaps

Who could not have! Begone from this forum of Harry Potter obsession! ;D

Well actually I think some haven't  :o

Can you believe that? I had to lock mine in a cupboard to keep me away (I had exams to do before I could read it) and gave the key to my friend to keep for me (reminiscent of Harry, very symbolic ;D)

New poll on the site

New Wizard of the month Chaucey Oldridge

When the phone rings and you answer it. Who's the voice is it JK?

Is anyone else surprised that, one week from the release, there haven't been any recent HBP updates or tidbits on JK's site?  I'd hoped to read a short passage or something, like what was released for OOTP.

It is being very hush hush they have told us nothing. We haven't even been offical told what was on the back (if you know what its supposed to be please don't tell me  :-X )

Be careful, Dawn.  An official picture of the back cover of the Scholastic version is now on the web.  It's only the picture on the cover and not the back flap with a short synopsis of the book, but I've seen it and it does appear to have at least one spoiler.

I'm trying not to look after all its only a week now   :-X

I know, it's so hard!  I promised myself that I wouldn't look at any of the HP sites (except here ;) ), but I admit I've been checking the JK and Leaky Cauldron sites for news. :)

Well my homepage has HP news (what else) but I have been very selective over what I have gone at looked at these days. I have seen the headline about the jacket but managed not to go and have a nose. I am so scared what will happen in is book :(

JK has answered the poll question about how member of the Order of the Phoenix communicate.  It isn't what I expected!

http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/faq_poll.cfm

Me neither... but its a stroke of genius! :D

Me neither - sheer brilliance.

But I voted for that question too - we never know how soon she will answer them and after all - we will know the answer to the other two (almost) imminently

What were the other two questions?  I can't remember them, even though I looked at that part of her site yesterdayl ::)

I think one of them was something about would Ron be able to speak to a girl.  The other was about would Harry still be taught Occulannncccyyyyy (well I can't spell it but you get the gist  ;) )

I love the anser to the question so cool :)

Its a bit disspointing there is nothing celebrating up on her sight :( maybe she's sleeping off last night or thinks we are all too busy ;)

Lots of new bits on the site  ;D

There are some new rumours and a new FAQ Poll.  I am now going to try and sway the voting and call on all Shackers to vote for number 1  :o=  I just think that is going to be something so important  :o

I didnt vote for Number 1, sorry Sharon.

I voted from Number 3 which happens to be this burning question I've been trying to figure out but its only got 14 percent ::)

The site has been re-vamped and there is at least one new secret to find.  Needless to say I can't solve it at the moment but I will keep trying  ;D

I have just re-read the lastest FAQ answer.  The question was:

What happens to a secret when the secret keeper dies.

Part of the answer explains what we already knew - once the spell is cast the only person that can divulge the secret is the secret keeper.  Even if they tell someone else that person cannot pass this information to a third party ie you must hear the secret from the secret keepers own lips.

Now here is my problem - Pettigrew was the secret keeper for the Potters.  He told Voldemort the secret and, well, the rest is history.  But how did Hagrid or Dumbledore find out the Potters were dead or even find out where they were?  How did Sirius find the house for that matter?  The Potters death was tragic and would have been reported in the Muggle news but only after quite a few hours.  I certainly got the impression that Hagrid and Sirius were there within the hour.  Any thoughts??

Maybe pettigrew told so many people it soon got about.

Well....and correct me if I'm mistaken here (I'm at work so I have no chance of verifying any of this).....didn't Sirius briefly talk to Harry about this?  Near the end of PoA he explained why he had been at the house that night.  Something about how he decided at the last moment that he didn't trust Pettigrew, or was worried about the Potters - So he showed up to check on them, but it was too late.  If anyone has a copy of the books (do I really need to ask this? ::) ::)) on hand, could they look this up quickly?

  Sirius knew that Pettigrew was the secret keeper, so he obviously knew the location of the house.  I don't know how Hagrid or Dumbledore would have known so quickly.  Perhaps the Order has some sort of means of long distance communication (not owls, but lack walkie talkies of sorts), and Sirius let DD know as soon as he found the Potters to be dead. 

  Then we know he loans his bike to Hagrid, saying that he won't need it anymore.  Now here is the only part that bugs me -  In the movie, Mcgonagall tells DD that she had been watching the Dursleys all day long.  Just then Hagrid shows up on Sirius's bike.  Did it really take Hagrid THAT long to get to Privet Drive, that Mcgonagall was able to get their first and then sit around for hours? 

   

JK wrote:

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.


In order for Sirius and Hagrid to find the Potters, Peter had to divulge the secret to them.  Sirius already knew Peter was the secret keeper, because it was his idea to switch that responsibility from himself to Peter.  But, if Peter revealed the secret to Hagrid, then Hagrid would have known Peter was the secret keeper -- that was something Dumbledore didn't know until the end of POA, when Sirius was being held at Hogwarts awaiting the arrival of ministry officials and the Dementors.

Peter must have found a way to pass the info to Hagrid without making Hagrid suspicious.  There was never any time that Sirius could have given the info to Dumbledore or Hagrid, not even after James and Lily died, because he wasn't the secret keeper.  Also, if Hagrid or Dumbledore knew that Peter was the secret keeper, they would have known it was Peter, not Sirius, who betrayed the Potters.

Lastly, I can't recall anything in the books that indicated Dumbledore knew where the Potters were hiding.  I don't think Peter would have taken the chance to reveal the secret to Dumbledore, considering Dumbledore is a Legilimens.  But, this brings me to something that has bothered me for years.  Since Dumbledore is a Legilimens, how did Peter hide the fact that he was a spy?  Dumbledore should have been able to look into Peter's eyes at least once during the year preceding the Potters' deaths and known that something was up with Peter.

There has been a lot of discussion about the missing 24 hours from the time that Hagrid took Harry away on Sirius' bike to the time they arrived at the Dursleys'.  Some people think JK made a mistake with the timeline, but most think that there is a whole lot more to the story.  I think that's a given.  I vaguely remember reading an interview with JK where she said that there was more to this part of the story (and more to the Shrieking Shack incident with Snape and the Marauders) that would be revealed by the end of the series.

Maybe the one thing Peter is good at is Oclydodar

Do you mean Occlumency?

But it shouldn't matter whether or not Peter is talented at Occlumency.  He would still have to tell the secret to someone directly (or similar to the manner in which Harry received the secret from DD in OoTP).  And as we know, the Potters hadn't lived in Godric Hollow very long because only Peter and Sirius knew the secret.  Well you can include Voldemort.  But theoretically if anyone else knew the exact location of the Potters they would have been able to finger Pettigrew as the betrayor. 

Even if people knew exactly where the Potters were located, once the Fidelius Charm had been performed, those people would not have been able to find them unless Peter divulged the secret to them.  Flitwick made a comment in POA that unless you had been told the secret by the keeper, you could look right into the Potters' sitting room and not be able to see them.

Back to the secret... has anyone worked out what to do with the red and green potion vials in the locked door room?

Here you go (straight from the Leaky Cauldron):

Click on the hairbrush on the main page to get to the “Extra Stuff” section. Turn on the radio. Wait a few seconds until you get an announcement that tells you to use 6 drops of red potion followed by three drops of green potion to revive a particular type of plant. Go back to the main page and click on the eraser, which will take you to the mysterious door page, where the plant in question is located. Use the potion bottles next to the plant to revive it as the radio instruction had told you to do.

Thanks Cindy :)

I admit that I sneaked a peek at Mugglenet's hints section for the answer :-[

Cool! Thanks for the info Cindy - I haven't checked her site for a few weeks so I've missed all the changes/upgrades that have been done to it in that time. ;) ;D

Any one know what to do with the words at the bottom of the rubbish bin bit? they say; ring tap times five and within in you Iam no get here

you can shuffle the words around but i havent worked out what they are meant to say yet. though the capital letters give a hint, and i think some have punctuation attached if i can remember right (i looked at them a few weeks ago)

If you rearrange the letter they spell out how to open something in the links section ;D

But how Mike!

PM on the way  ;D

The sign on the Room of Requirements door is gone ;D

it is indeed, and you can open the door, and take the WOMBAT test  ;D

Oh great something else to work out ::)

Ok can't even get the door open thats not a good start  ::)

How to get through the door *BIG SPOILERS*









1. Click and drag the rock behind the plant to the mirror to smash it
2. Click and drag the key on the shelf to the lock (the mousetrap does nothing, I don't think)
3. Click and read the note: it tells you that you must fix the mirror to continue
4. Type 'Reparo' on your keyboard; the mirror will fix itself
5. Close the open door in the mirror
6. Open the door, you should see Jo's desk.
7. Swing the tassel on the graduation hat to the 12 o'clock position
8. Click on the sheaf of papers underneath the hat, and ta da - the WOMBAT test!

Even with the key in and the mirror fixed I can't get it. (I did set the mouse trap off)

Ahhh you need to close the door in the mirror

Oooooops, sorry dawn, I was posting that from memory and forgot about closing the door :P

I corrected my walkthrough post now - thanks! :D

So how/when do we find out the results do u think?

wow i thought that was a difficult test!

I thought it was fun, wonder when we do find out.

Oh theres a WOMBAT thing on the front page to go and check on your results mine are still being marked. Also she has changed her note on the front page ;-)

I've been marked and my results are in the post  ;D  I don't know why I am so happy - I couldn't even cheat and find the answers  (not for want of trying I should add) :rofl:

Yup mine are in the post too I hope the owl gets here soon (do you recon we'll see the owl?)

Depends if you are out on the razz tonight  :rofl:

Oh well you know what owls are like ::)

my results have been delivered; i got an "acceptable". gotta be happy with that  ;D

I thought I failed, but I got an "outstanding!" :)

Well done Cindy  ;D  I am Acceptable along with Kate but did you see there will be a grade 2?  Better start swotting  ;)

What's "swotting?"

Revising your coursework! ;)

Swotting is what we do in the UK when we revise for exams.  There is probably a really good story about how the saying came about but I couldn't find it on Google, which is now my favourite toy  :rofl:

I do wish we could find out what the answers were though.  I did try to look some of them up when I was doing the exam (I had the Lexicon open on another window) but couldn't find any answers.  The two I want to know most is which animal was not considered a pest and the one about which plant had no medicinal use.


Ps Jules just beat me  ;) ;D

*Rushes in waving her results* YAY I got Outstanding which is great I never do well in exams (usuallay passable), I see where is my field of experize ;-D that exam was actually fun. Maybe my fan ficing actually helped me ;-D

Being hopelessly American, I will assume that "revising your coursework/for exams" means studying. ;)

It does indeed. Revising is like cramming for an exam, re-learning and re-vising (re-viewing if you will) the work you have done in the past, studying here would be learning from scratch rather than revision

Swotting is madly working hard, 'the swot' is the nerdy guy/gal at the top of the class ;) Hermione is the class swot

I got Acceptable ::)

I got Acceptable too  8) mind you I was doing it at work so I was concentrating minimal...I will try for an Outstanding next time  :P

I got exceeds expectations, but the questions did seem really tough.

Hi All ;) ;D ;),

It's been a few years since I sat down and did an exam,but slightly digressing away from the subject slightly,I was lucky enough to meet the cast of the films (Harry Potter) before the 1st film was released as I was a security manager/advisor for a particular film company and had to keep eye on them. Also after I left that place of work, i did return to see a former colleague and saw the author in all her beauty from afar (i was sitting in the reception area ,and she approached the desk which was a distance away),after she left I said to whom I was visiting I wished I had my Goblet of fire book on me that I had lent him and he replied he had lost it I was well gutted that day.
The cast are fantastic,very polite and this goes for Robbie Coltrane and Alan Rickman ,and the late Mr Harris who was the original Dumbeldore!!.
Yes before you all ask it is a true story and not just a figmant of one's imagination!!

Cheers

Paul

Ps I also have an original Chamber Of Secrets A1 poster which are quite hard to come by with Dobby The Elf on.These were only really given to film companies,cinemas and special events.

Wow, Paul what a memorable experience-one that so many would love to have.   :)

I always wondered if Mr. Harris was as charming and friendly in person as he was on screen as Dumbledore.

Treasure that time always and thank you for sharing!  :)

Hi All ;) :D ;D,

Thanks for the kind words, the poster I have has been rolled and kept in poster tube it's a little creased on outer edges but would look good in a frame if anyone is interested in it let me know maybe trade for a good HP costume card if anyone has spares.

Cheers

Paul

I'm too nervous to do it :-[ :-[ :-[ :P

*snorts with laughter* ... yeah ... roight *said in a Hagrid-type-of-voice* ...  :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

The new WOMBAT exam has just opened ;D ;D ;D  Good luck everyone  :o=

 :( I bet I miss it.

I wasn't too late, that was a hard one. The most surpising thing was I found my way to the paper before Mugglenet had even loaded.  :o

The door is unlocked.

Yes it is.
JKR has left a really nice acknowledgement note in there thanking various people along the years!  ;) ;D

If anyone wants to see beautiful Christmas decorations and festive good cheer don't bother looking at the JKR page.  Not a bit of tinsel in sight, just a new snipe about the encyclopedia :(

Yeah she doesn't need us anymore.

Did anyone see the ITV documentary - A Year in the Life.......

It was excellent  ;D.  Even though she has done a lot of things I don't like recently this program showed her as a very genuine nice person.

JK site has been updated; check it out behind the door...

... and check out the time turner standing next to the mirror!! :o
If you hover your mouse over the handles the pointer turns to a hand so when you click on it the hand spins the date. If you then hover your mouse over the round glass it will glow blue so click on it and see what happens!!  :o
Tip: click on the top of the two handles to move forward in time and the bottom handle to move back in time!  :o
I don't think the door opens each time but I'm sure it will be fun trying ...  :rofl: