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HOGWARTS — Just when you thought you had escaped the graded education system that held you for so long, some really enthusiastic Harry Potter fans made you want to go back to school.
Hogwarts Is Here is a site dedicated to getting a magical education exactly like the ones in the series about the boy wizard and his friends. Run entirely by volunteers, the site kicks off by sending you an electronic owl — the acceptance letter you thought would never come.
“Due to the increasing use of technology of Muggle-born students, Hogwarts is introducing a new digital interface,” the letter says.
Students work their way through readings and essays — seven nine-week courses that will certify you as an expert at magic when you have accomplished the tasks. Web developer Kevin Cardin, the 24-year-old who designed the site, told the Washington Post that 62,000 students have signed up so far.
Grades are awarded by humans who spend time combing through essays, and they’re not all fun and games. Alex Heimbach at Slate discovered his essay was only average.
#poll
“My essay, which discussed how you might circumvent the law against creating money by transforming less valuable items into more valuable ones, received a C, thus proving wrong the kids who teased me for being such a Hermione,” Heimbach wrote in a Slate article.
According to Twitter, the site has had to set up a second server to accommodate Potterheads who are eager to learn magic. The sense of community on the site is almost overwhelming, with chat rooms for “dorms” and people “milling about” the Great Hall, it can feel like you’re really at Hogwarts, connecting with fellow students.
The site makes it clear it is not affiliated with Warner Brothers or JK Rowling, but The Wire reckons it will give sanctioned site, Pottermore a run for its money.
