Clicking on the pink rubber eraser (“?“) portkey (formerly the hair elastic) brings you to “The Door”, which had a Do Not Disturb sign hanging on the handle.
Sometimes referred to as the Room of Requirement (from a clue on the Extra Stuff bulletin board during the second puzzle) Jo also referred to it as her “study” in her Christmastime announcement.
The portkey lands on the table under the window. Click on it to return to the desktop.
The table also held a vase of daffodils (holly at Christmastime) until replaced with the current plant and potion bottles. Use these items to obtain a Scrapbook extra.
The scene outside the window shows a hillside and a windchime blowing in the breeze.
Birds fly in the distance (the same birds as in the paintings in the Links bookcase).
The sky is overcast and clouds float by.
It changes from daylight into darkness and the moon appears at 8pm (according to your system’s clock).
Notice the tiny lights in the village on the hill after dark. See the Day to Night Changes page for more.
At night watch for shooting stars!
The fly is ticklish.
The light switch works.
The door at the end of the hall reflected in the mirror is open. The other two doors are closed. The candle flickers.
On Dec 1, 2004 and Dec 19,2005 the scene outside the window changed to winter, and it was snowing. There was a Christmas tree in the open door reflected in the mirror. The daffodils were replaced with holly.
On Jan 6, 2005 & 2006 the holly branches were replaced again by the daffodils, the little tree in the mirror was gone, and there was no snow outside the window.
On Mar 9, 2006 the daffodils were replaced with the sickly plant, red and green potion bottles. The wallpaper has also changed.
On Mar 31, 2006 the red potion bottle was shifted and a rock was behind the plant. When the door closed on Apr 4 the rock was gone and the bottles back in place.
after about 5 minutes Peeves graffitis the mirror and knocks over the vase. He doesn’t seem to heckle anything in the secret room.
Before Oct. 31, 2004 he knocked over the vase of daffodils, making it fall to the left. While the door was open (during the puzzle) it fell to the right. It continued to fall to the right even after Nov.15, 2004 (when the DND sign reappeared) until Dec. 1, 2004 (when Christmas decorations appeared) it fell to the left again. After March 9, 2006 he doesn’t bother the new plant.
The Do Not Disturb sign was removed eleven times. The first eight times, visitors were faced with puzzles to get to the secret behind the door. With the release date of the final book, the sign was gone.
1 – (28-6-04) First Door opening: June 28 – July 2, 2004
2 – (16-08-04) Second Door opening: August 16th -August 26, 2004
3 – (31-10-04) Third Door opening – October 31 (Hallowe’en) – November 15, 2004
4 – (20-12-04) Fourth Door opening – December 20 – December 26, 2004
5 – (31-03-06) Fifth Door opening – March 31, 2006 – April 4, 2006
6 – (29-09-06) Sixth Door opening – September 29, 2006 – October 4, 2006
7 – (21-12-06) Seventh Door opening – December 21, 2006 – December 28, 2006
8 – (13-06-07) Eighth Door opening – June 13, 2007 – June 18, 2007
9 – (20-07-07) Ninth Door Opening – July 20, 2007 – October 31, 2007
10 – (31-10-07) Tenth Door Opening- October 31, 2007 – ?
11 – (9-12-07) Eleventh Door Opening – December 9, 2007 –
First Door Opening: June 28-July 2, 2004
Click on the door handle it opens to show a brick wall with a loose, sparking, electrical wire hanging. There are 5 bricks that are clickable, two in the upper left area, one in the space below the wire, and two in the area under the plaster. You needed to click on all five in a certain order to see behind the wall.
If you numbered the bricks 1 -5 top to bottom the order is this, 3,4,2,5,1.
If you click the bricks out of order they pop back in place and nothing happens.
When you get the right order, the brick wall drops down, as though it is an elevator, revealing a secret room.
Click on the fan! It blows the papers around, one floats up and the title of book six types itself across the page.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
There was no hyphen in the title as shown in the secret door.
Curiously, if you click the hair elastic Portkey before opening the door, it buzzes like the loose wire instead of the usual “Portkey jingle”.
Second Door Opening: August 16th-August 26, 2004
The room is dark and you must click around for the light switch.
Next is a game of darts where you must put three darts in the numbers 7- 1-3 (The vault at Gringotts where the Stone was kept)
Then enter a secret code (from the Gobb Lynn card on the bulletin board 30-27-23) to open the Gringotts safe.
A torn strip of paper lies in the safe. Click on it, it floats up and unfurls. It reads:
(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.
NOTE: The secret code 30-27-23 is derived from the birthdates of Rowling’s husband Neil (June 30), her daughter Jessica (June 27), and her son David (March 23).
Third Door Opening: October 31 (Hallowe’en) – November 15, 2004
Wait for Peeves to knock over the daffodils and golden keys fly out of the vase and swirl around. (The vase will fall to the right instead of the left as before.)
The keys fly around in random patterns. Click on a key to catch it and drag it to the keyhole. Release it. If it is the right key it will glow and turn in the lock.
(No, it’s not the slowest key, and No you don’t right click, and No it’s not the 5th try, as I have seen mentioned other places.)
Here’s one location of a lucky catch.
Then click the handle, the door opens.
After you’ve unlocked it, if you leave the screen and return, the door stays unlocked, but not if you exit the site and return.
Once inside you will see an overhead view of her desk.
Grab the drawer handle and pull it out. (Be sure to have your cursor out on the end of the handle. Too close to the drawer it won’t work.)
Pick up the magnifying glass and drop it over the tablet on the desk to read the following riddle.
One by one we come to life,
Then side-by-side we wait
While our company swells in numbers
(Some come early, some come late);
And some of us may bore you,
And some of us enthral,
But you cannot choose between us
You must take us one and all.
We’ll be bound together tightly
For we’re naught if we break free.
If you’d like some clues about us
Simply answer: WHO ARE WE?
The right answer causes the riddle to melt away and show (in the magnifying glass) the cover of her HBP manuscript.
Pull up on the pages sticking out at the top to see the titles of three chapters.
SPINNERS END
DRACO’S DETOUR
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
FELIX FELICIS
Fourth Door Opening: December 20 – December 26, 2004
Click on the blinking tree in the mirror. The little door closes and the big door opens, revealing another Christmas tree with 6 wrapped gifts under it. On the tree are 6 unlit candles. Pass your cursor over the presents, their tags wave. There is a painting on the wall, a nativity scene by Carravagio. There is a string of 5 hanging Christmas cards (just like the ones around the site). The tags on the gifts are also like the ones seen around the site. There are also a couple of crackers on the tree, they are not clickable.
-
- Click on a present and its tag floats in bearing a riddle. Type the answer to the riddle. Wrong answers get a red X. Correct answers get a red check mark, (no need to press enter, just wait) then the riddle tag fades away and a candle on the tree lights. Presents can be clicked and answered in any order. The candles always light from the bottom most toward the top, regardless of which riddle is answered. Once a present’s riddle has been answered, its tag no longer waves. The riddles are assigned randomly to the gifts, each time you enter the site. Each color of gift is not always the same riddle.
Riddle answers:
Two in a whole and four in a pair
And six in a trio, you see?
And eight’s a quartet, but what you must get
Is the name that fits just one of me.
HALF
Say you’d never seek to lose me
While you live we cannot part
I must dwell lifelong inside you
Locked within your beating heart
BLOOD
I cannot be other than what I am
Until the man who made me dies.
Power and glory will fall to me, finally,
Only when he last closes his eyes.
PRINCE
What is Ronald Weasley’s
least favorite sandwich filling?
CORNED BEEF
Over which British city did the
one-year-old Harry Potter
fall asleep as Hagrid took him to
number four, Privet Drive?
BRISTOL
What form does Hermione Granger’s
Patronus take?
OTTER
and a
Happy New Year20th December 2004
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 do on the day itself than fight your way into my study,
whereas those of you who DON’T celebrate Christmas would definitely prefer no to wait until the
twenty fifth – so…
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,
{her signature writes onto the page}
Fifth Door Opening: March 31 – April 4, 2006
Drag the rock from behind the plant, and drop it on the mirror.
Drag the key (from behind the mirror) and place it in the lock. (Move your curser over the mouse trap, it springs! but it is useless.)
Click the notice on the shelf where the key was.
Read the riddle on the notice, and type (on your keyboard) the word REPARO. The mirror will be restored. Close the notice. (Note the notice can be closed before tying REPARO.) The notice read:
Repent the urge that made you smash my face
Else seven years’ bad luck will be your fate!
Put me to rights, my shattered pane replace,
And fear no more that tears and pain await.
Reflect upon reflections, gentle friend.
Or meet, in my destruction, your dead end.
(Note the first letter of each line spells out REPARO.)
Click on the open door reflected in the mirror. The door opens.
Once inside, move the tassel on the graduation cap to “straight up” (which symbolizes the switching of the tassel upon graduation). The cap slides away.
Click on the test booklet lying on the desk labeled W.O.M.B.A.T. Grade 1. Upon completion of the test it was important to save (copy or print) your Student Identification Code when finished. After completing the W.O.M.B.A.T.s, the code could be “copied” by traditional means and “pasted” into the box upon reopening the exam folder and choosing the YES option when asked if you have a Student Identification Code.
On April 5th, a W.O.M.B.A.T Student Identification Card Portkey appeared on the desk top for submitting your code, and Paper Being Marked.
On April 6th, Results in the Post.
On April 7th, Results Delivered and Certificate framed.
Here is the text of the instructions that appear throughout the Test:
On the cover:
Governor: Professor Griselda Marchbanks, CDMG, APMO, fdBB
W.O.M.B.A.T.
grade 1
(Wizards’ Ordinary Magic and Basic Aptitude test)
The W.O.M.B.A.T.s, unlike the O.W.L.s, consist exclusively of written papers. Therefore W.O.M.B.A.T.s could be sat by Muggles as well as wizards, although the Wizarding Examinations Authority does not believe that any Muggle would have the degree of inner knowledge required to achieve a pass.
The Grade 1 W.O.M.B.A.T. tests whether the sitter would be able to exist safely and effectively within the magical world. Would you fall foul of Magical Law? Would you know what to befriend/ avoid in the magical Natural World? Could you use Everyday
Magic to look after yourself and your family? And would you know how to Transport yourself within the world of wizards?
This is not a straightforward Harry Potter trivia test. While a thorough knowledge of the books is essential to achieving a good grade at W.O.M.B.A.T., you will need inspiration as well as information, applying what you know, whether by deducing the correct answer or by making intelligent guesses.
If you would like to sit the W.O.M.B.A.T, you will need 25 minutes.
It will take a few days for the Ministry to mark your test, after which a delivery owl will reveal your result in the form of a printable certificate.
Good luck.
—–
Would you like to sit the W.O.M.B.A.T. now?
O YES
O NO
clicking NO gives an option to CLOSE
clicking YES gives the option TURN OVER (to turn the page)
—-
After sitting the test you will be given a Student Identification Code. This will allow you to retrieve your test results.
Do you already have a Student
Identification Code?
O YES
O NO
clicking YES gives the option:
Enter Student Identification Code: (case sensitive)
SUBMIT
>clicking SUBMIT without entering a code returns a prompt in red to:
Please enter you Student Identification Code.
>entering a valid code gives:
Your Student Identification Code has been confirmed.
(red)You have already completed this test paper.
>entering an invalid code gives:
Your Student Identification Code was not recognised.
Please try again.
TRY AGAIN ( returns you to the Submit form)
clicking NO returns:
Thank you. You are now ready to sit the test.
Your time will start the moment you click TURN OVER at the foot of this sheet.
—
An hourglass timer counts down the time remaining on the test in 5 minute intervals.
Chosing an answer on the final question and turning the page gives:
TEST COMPLETED
You have reached the end of the test paper. You still have time to go back and check your answers. When you are happy with your answers please click the SUBMIT button below.
SUBMIT
When the timer runs out it says:
TIME UP
Your time is up. Please use the SUBMIT button to submit your answers.
SUBMIT
Your answers have been submitted and are now in the process of being marked. Call back to my desk in the near future to view your test results.
Your Student Identification Code is detailed below You will need this to retrieve your results. Make a note of it or click the PRINT button below for a printed copy.
clicking CLOSE gives a prompt in red:
Please make sure that you put your Student Identification Code in a safe place.
You will not be able to view your results without it.
Sixth Door Opening: September 29 – October 4, 2006
Instructions for working the puzzle behind the Secret Door (now closed)
Click the handle on the door to open it. You will see an overhead view of Jo’s desk, with many of the familiar items from the main screen. There is also a candle, a copy of HBP, three lucky charms: a four-leaf clover, a horseshoe, a rabbit’s foot, a timeturner (overhead view is simply a wooden circle), a quill and ink pot, and an open W.O.M.B.A.T. grade 2 exam.
To work the puzzle click on these items in this order
1 – the candle
2 – the quill (it will move into the ink pot)
3 – the exam (it will close)
4 – the four-leaf clover (it will turn into a key)
5 – drag the key and position it in the center of the desk’s drawer handle
the key will turn and the drawer will open
6 – the time-turner (it will turn and open the exam)
After completing the exam, be sure to save your code accurately, as the code is case sensitive and some characters are easily confused (such as the number one and a lower case L, or the letter O and zero). A good way to save it is to copy it with your mouse and paste it into a text document. (Be careful that auto-correct doesn’t change the case of the first letter!) Using the print option is a good idea too.
Seventh Door Opening: December 21 – December 28, 2006
Instructions for working the puzzle behind the Secret Door (now closed)
The secret Door on Jo’s site opened just in time for Christmas! But you still had to puzzle your way in. Here’s how it worked:
1. Click on the open door in the mirror, a small tree will appear.
2. Click in the top pane of the Door, a wreath will appear.
3. Click on the hall ceiling in the mirror, garland will appear.
4. Click on a spiderweb, to “clear the cobwebs”. (Either one will work.)
5. Click on the windchimes (second chime from the right), it turns into a key.
6. Drag the key to the lock, the Door opens.
7. Click on the gift, it opens.
8. Click in the box to play the game of Hangman. Type letters on your keyboard to guess the title.
Notice the shrinking candle flame. The first image is from June 2004, the center image from April 2006 and the right from Dec. 21, 2006.
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS
Eighth Door opening – June 13, 2007 – June 18, 2007
To open the Door and activate the WOMBAT:
1) Click on the fly that lands on the window, it will turn into a key,
2) Drag it to the lock and let go, the key will turn and the door will open.
3) Drag the ring onto the rod, it will sparkle if placed correctly.
4) Drag the triangle onto the rod and ring, it will sparkle and move to the desk.
5) Click on the WOMBAT paper to open the test.
Be sure to save a copy of your code!
Ninth Door Opening – July 20, 2007 – October 31, 2007
WOMBAT two
Tenth Door Opening- October 31, 2007
WOMBAT 3
Eleventh Door Opening – December 9, 2007
Rowling revealed this drawing of a family tree. This drawing revealed previously unknown information:
- The names of Bill and Fleur’s children: Victoire (which we knew from the epilogue), Dominique, and Louis.
- The fact that Charlie Weasley never married or had children.
- Percy Weasley married a woman named Audrey and had two children: Molly and Lucy.
- George Weasley married Angelina Johnson and had two children: Fred and Roxanne.
- Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger had two children: Rose and Hugo.
- Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley had three children: James Sirius, Albus Severus, and Lily Luna.
- Draco Malfoy married Astoria Greengrass and had one son: Scorpius Hyperion.
- Luna Lovegood married Rolf Scamander (grandson of Newt Scamander, author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), and they had two children: Lorcan and Lysander.
JKR's original site: The Door