If you're a serious Harry Potter fan, odds are you are still waiting around and wondering just where your acceptance letter to Hogwarts is. Now, you can finally visit the school you've always wanted to attend, sort of. September 1 is the official start of the new term at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and in celebration, the Harry Potter website has unveiled an interactive tour of the entire school, allowing you to visit every part of the famous castle and check out the places where all your favorite moments in the books and movies took place.
If you go to Pottermore right now and log in, you'll be able to explore a three-dimensional representation of the entire school. The art style is simple but inviting, as it seems to set the castle amidst a massive fog bank, making the whole thing feel ethereal. As you float around the school, as if mounted on a broomstick, you can click on any one of 100 hotspots which will stop and give you a piece of information about an important or humorous event from the history of Harry Potter. Here's what you'll see when you arrive at Hogwarts.
It's actually quite a bit of fun cruising through Hogwarts and seeing what there is to see. While we're all familiar with Hogwarts from the movies, this construction shows you exactly how all the various places from the books relate to each other geographically. If you've ever wondered exactly where Dumbledore's office was located in relation to the rest of the school, now you can find out.
In addition to visiting the castle itself, the new experience will also let you travel to the Quidditch pitch as well as the Forbidden Forest and Hagrid's Hut. While you can visit Hogwarts on any computer, the experience is designed for mobile, allowing you to visit Hogwarts wherever you are.
While September 1 is always an important day for Harry Potter fans, this particular September 1 is extra special, as September 1, 2017, is actually the day that Albus Severus, the son of Harry Potter, leaves for Hogwarts for the first time. It's the moment that takes place at the very end of the series, and it's also the launch point for the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
With 100 hotspots to check out, and we wouldn't be shocked to find there's more hiding within these castle walls, there will plenty to keep you busy at Hogwarts for quite some time. And if you ever need to travel to Hogwarts and escape reality for a bit, now it'll always be there for you.
