Magic for the muggles

A still from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Even if you are unfamiliar with the Harry Potter series, there's a good chance you've heard of the iconic quote, "Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light." Ensuring that this sentence really sticks with people through the tough times we're living in today, author JK Rowling launched a hub to bring Harry Potter and its undying spirit to people under lockdown around the world. Titled Harry Potter at Home, the website includes child-friendly activities, quizzes, puzzles and light reads. We requested a Potterhead from the city to give it a shot.

Tresa Dominic, an architect turned graphic designer and cartoonist can never forget the time a friend lent her the first Harry Potter book, urging her to read it nearly two decades ago. "At the back of the cover there was a picture of an old man with a beard long enough to tuck into his belt and I was immediately intrigued.

Tresa Dominic

Since then, there's been no looking back. I like to think I was lucky enough to start reading them before the movies came out so my mind could conjure up its own visuals without the boundaries of sticking to those from the film," she says. Of her first impressions of the website, Dominic, 32, shares that the layout and the royal colour scheme paired with sketches of the landscapes from the wizarding world were a nice touch. "It was quite user-friendly and what I particularly liked was the fact that it synced with my pre-existing Pottermore account, so I wouldn't have to go through a full registration process again," she adds.

The quizzes were interesting and she scored 100 per cent on the First Year Muggle Quiz. "I think the craft-related activities [such as one that teaches you to make a scrapbook] were created keeping much younger fans in mind. I wouldn't change anything about the site unless they come up with an interesting way to engage the older fans in addition to attracting new ones," Dominic shares, recommending the hub for pre-teens and younger kids, considering that Potter books are used to encourage reading among children.

Log on to https://www.wizardingworld.com/collections/harry-potter-at-home

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