Ever since JK Rowling's Harry Potter series ended in July 2007, millions of fans have been waiting for something, anything, to fill the Harry-shaped hole in their lives.

And what could be better than more Harry? JK Rowling's Pottermore seemed to be the answer - an interactive website for fans.

The truly enticing thing about the site was not just the beautiful website and artwork, but the promise of new Potter material. It was stated that JK had written over 18,000 words for the site.

For an indescribably obsessive Harry Potter fan like me, it was the Holy Grail.

Then, disaster struck. I was on holiday, without an internet connection, so couldn't sign up when the offer of trial access was made for a million lucky fans last July!

I was only consoled by one thing, the promise of the general opening in October. Now it is late February, and I, along with millions of other fans, am still waiting.

Pottermore's "beta" period, which has early users testing the website to check the software, has been extended, potentially indefinitely.

The million Potter fans who have been accepted are only a small fraction of the huge fanbase salivating to get inside the website. So what's going on? What could possibly be taking so long? Whispers and doubts are being cast about, with some questioning if it will ever open.

I've tried to get in touch with JK's Pottermore people directly, but they say they you can only contact them via the site. It's not obvious how to do that but I gave it a go, and my request went into a queue to be answered. To their credit, they responded the next day and told me that "we have decided to further extend the beta period so we can improve Pottermore before giving more people access. This means the site will not be opening to new users in the immediate future".

But today, undeterred, after months of waiting and wondering, I'm about to find out the truth. I've been given a username and password by one of the lucky members, and I'm poised and ready to take that magical click into the world of Pottermore.

Once you're in, a purple screen greets you. It's fronted by an intricate design depicting a gate with padlocks on the top. There are seven circles cast within the gate, after each book. I have to admit, it's incredibly exciting.

I click on the shield at the top, which takes me to a homepage of sorts. There are sections for your wand, your house points, notifications, friends and favourites. Most exciting are the sections for Spells and Potions, showing you "how to manage your potions".

I'm told that my owl will take me to my notifications, something I feel every media site should adopt. At the top, I see the Beta sign, and when I click on it, it takes me to a questionnaire asking for my view of the site.

After all this I'm ready to start exploring! In Beta you can't progress further than The Philosopher's Stone, so I choose the circle for the first book. A detailed animated picture of Privet Drive appears, complete with cat. You can move about the picture, and click on objects to find out information.

I learn that number 4 Privet Drive is based on JK's childhood house (I did already know that, but that's only because I'm an über fan.) I move forward, and see pictures of key moments in Chapter 1, each beautiful and exciting but with not much else.

The site crashed after a while, which goes some way to explaining the delay in opening it up to more people. As a member, you lay your own trail, and I didn't want to spoil the fun for my friend, the real member, so I retreat, waving goodbye to my Potter fun.

So...is it worth the wait? Well, yes, I think. It's quite magical, and it gives fans a chance to duel with each other or exchange Potterchat to their hearts content.

But in all honesty, I feel slightly unsatisfied. It does all it promised, and yet, somehow, I expected more. I wanted to get lost in the site in the way that I got lost in the books, but in the end you're just a muggle with a mouse.

And therein lies the problem of Pottermore. The millions waiting won't get bored and move on, not true fans. Even as I was writing this, I found a website full of people urgently asking how to sign up.

But their expectations will get higher and higher and when they're finally allowed in, unless there have been big changes, I expect that there will be a bit of a backlash.
People are expecting a cure for Harry Potter blues, and Pottermore is rather like a plaster. It'll hide the cut, but it won't help you get 'beta'...

Has Pottermore lived up to your expectations? Can you suggest any improvements to the beta site? Email us at childrens.books@theguardian.com with 'Pottermore' in the subject line and we'll put your comments to Pottermore

Your thoughts on Pottermore

SaiWish0221
Unfortunately, I could not get into Pottermore Beta like other fans. But, I am really REALLY tired of waiting for the site to open to new users. I check the site every day, but of course it still isn't open. First, they said that it would open October. Then the beginning of 2012. Now, in the words of Pottermore, "The site will not be opening to new users just yet." I have a different question. When is just yet???? I really wish that they would just open when they say they will. This is getting really irritating.

Brenda
I feel lucky to be a beta tester but it is now time for beta to be over. I usually pop in a couple of times a week to see if my Ravenclaws (Claws) are higher than the Slytherian in points. I have brewed a couple of potions but I usually don't stay online long enough. Duelling wasn't what I expected either having had the first four video games on my PC. It has been announced that OverDrive is the official distributor of the Harry Potter e-books and audio downloads for Public and School Libraries worldwide and they have a date of April 30. Maybe the beta testing is within a couple of months of being over. Pottermore is supposed to be the exclusive source of the ebooks and why would they let the schools and libraries have the advantage of having the e-books before paying customers? Of course I have reserved my library's OverDrive copy of the audio to listen to again. My husband and I have listened to all 7 of the books with the wonderful Jim Dale narrating at least once and several of them twice on trips to the 2002 Winter Olympics, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and to the East Coast of USA twice (living as we do very close to the center of the USA). Chris
Pottermore was initially amazing! I loved every moment of it, grasping and awing and smiling as I got my wand and learnt what the various wood's and corse represent or do. Same for the house system (I was placed in Hufflepuff - amazing I know!). Anyhow after completing the Philosophers Stone I was raring for more knowledge of the Potter-world but I was sadly cut off after it. Sure Pottermore has reintroduced duelling and potions but I'm bored of waiting! I don't care if the website is not open to the public, I would like to have more access, wizard duels to me personally are rather dull but I wan't to be given more information! Dates, apologies... No more excuses to be totally honest! Sure they could argue that they wan't to create 'the best possible experience' but I think as much as myself and many others are huge Harry Potter fans, we want to have more access!

Also, could you suggest that they fix the bug which allows you to be re-sorted after sorting? I was able to re-fresh several times and re-start the whole test (incidentally I got Hufflepuff 3 times running so that's either me or the actual algorithm is fine).

Molly
I have been lucky enough to have been on the site since the summer and I agree that the site was very disappointing; the main section (the actual book bit) was not very fun, but I do love all the extras like spells and potions.

Fitz
I have been thoroughly enjoying Pottermore since I was allowed into the Beta last year as one of the first. My question is, could Pottermore's numbers be so low that they have given up before they've even started?

Joy
Unlike most mega Harry Potter fans, who are Pottermore Betas, I had gotten into Pottermore back when the Quill Challenge was up on the third day, but didn't get an email, even though I'd given the website my email address a few months earlier. I had even contacted Pottermore from their website, explaining the problem, and although they said the problems they were experiencing with the yahoo email accounts were fixed, I still didn't get a confirmation email from Pottermore. After trying repeatedly in successfully recompleting the Quill Challenge, I still didn't become a Beta. I didn't think this would be a huge deal, since Pottermore was going to open their site to everyone in October - I could wait a few months... When I checked on Pottermore's site at the beginning, middle and end of October, Pottermore wasn't opened to the public because of the extension for the entrance of Betas. OK, I had thought, I can wait; after all, the site will be open at the beginning of 2012, just like they reassured us fans that it would. 2012 rolled around, and Pottermore still hadn't opened to the public. I've since checked the Pottermore website a few months at a time when I hear that Pottermore has finally opened, only to be disappointed that Pottermore still hasn't been opened to the public. As you can imagine, this continuous disappointment is very frustrating and depressing.

Dana
Although I am an adult, I was really looking forward to Pottermore as I am a fan of the books and the movies. I am disappointed with the site as it is now. I have beta tested an online game that I play. The biggest mistake that Pottermore is making is not putting up all the content at the same time. You can't beta test one book and keep tweaking it. If they continue this way the site will take forever to open up to the general public. Are they going to beta test every book? I don't get it. All the content should go up so that testers can really get a feel for the whole site and what it has to offer and what changes need to be made. The way they are going it will takes years to get the site up and running. A BIG disappointment!

Romina:
I'm so glad of the page, it's amazing. But i think that it could be better, for example it would be nice if it had sound and some way to talk to the other students of Hogwarts, something like an inbox by owls.

A problem that I have with the page is the potions section; the time until the potion is done is too long.

I want to give my congratulations to all the people that make it a great page for all the fans around the world.

Cate:
I got into Pottermore, much to my joy, Potter fan that I am, and was allowed in relatively soon. However, I arrived to find that duels had been shut down the day before. Good start.

Progressing through the levels, I liked it. The new information was lovely, and the artwork breath-taking. Eventually, after weeks of glitching, my potions started working, and eventually the duels came back. Yes!

To be honest, I'm bored of it now. There's nothing new, and although I only really signed up from a desperateness to find out more about the world, the duels and potions - the nearest things to games and the only way to earn house points - are dull and extremely glitchy.

A new book would be brilliant (it was meant to come out in January, but that didn't happen) I can't see it anytime in the foreseeable future. If I'm honest, I find Pottermore Insider, where all the news is posted, more interesting.

Cory:
I got into pottermore, and honestly, I spent two days in it, and only log in every 3-4 weeks in hopes of something new having appeared in my protracted absence. It is an idea that is not fully realized, and that is sad. I have since given up on pottermore, and really only anticipate the opening of the pottermore shop so I can finally get my Harry Potter eBooks for my Kindle. I had been so excited at the prospect of being able to buy myself all seven eBooks for a christmas gift to myself. Now I fear I might have to wait till christmas 2013 at the rate Pottermore is progressing. Any chance you can ask the pottermore team if they will consider releasing the store seperately so people can get their eBooks while they work the kinks out of the rest of the site. I really see no reason why people wanting their eBooks should have to wait, seeing as they are technically not an item that depends upon pottermore's function as it is.

Chelsea:
I have been on Pottermore since summer and it has been a little disappointing. As a Harry Potter mega fan I expected to become addicted to the site and was looking forward to meeting people who were also big harry Potter fans. It was fun at first finding out new stuff and being sorted into a house and getting a wand and a owl; however, that is about as exciting as it gets and I think the lack of communication between members is because of this. When you are in your house you want to be able to have conversations with other members of the house and it is near impossible to do this with the application they have set up for chat. At one point our house attempted to name our mascot, however, it was very difficult to do and anyone who had not been online at this time would not even know we had named our mascot. I think if this area of the site is improved then it will definitely be worth the wait for all the fans still not on it.

Erin:
As another uber fan, I was super excited to get on the site when the Beta opened. I finished The Philosophers Stone section during a long layover in Atlanta, Georgia and was gutted that I couldn't continue. I occasionally go back to the site (every month or so) to see if it's updated, but nothing more. I was disappointed with the interactivity and think that you should learn spells and potions along with the story, like the characters do. I was certainly hoping for actual classes in some form.

My experience with the potions section has been disappointing and it was extremely frustrating to do in the airport with a laptop touch pad, so I gave up. The duelling and potions section is confusing to navigate and figure out what you're meant to do.

The back-stories of characters were interesting, but not exciting or plot-enlightening and read like a long obituary.

It would be great if they could just continue the story for beta members, because if they can't manage the site now with a handful of users (compared to what it would be if it was available to all) on one story, there is no way they will be able to stabilise it for the general public with all 7 stories.

Since there is no more Harry Potter films or books coming out, the franchise is slowly fading to the back of my brain so while I have all these great memories, Pottermore is slipping from my radar. If and when they update the rest of the books, I will definitely go through them, probably enjoy it and then just read the books to enter the world of Harry Potter.

Porthos:
The most important (or at least, exciting) aspect of the website for Potter Fans is the Sorting Hat. Finally discovering, essentially from JK's own online-mouth, that I was a Hufflepuff was wonderful. I wear the scarf now. Sadly, I've already heard troubling things about my fellow students' behaviour on the site. Many people are upset to find that they have been sorted into Slytherin. Or, more arrogantly, annoyed to be sorted into any house other than Gryffindor. Rumours online suggest that these people have simply left the site and plan to re-join and take the test again, and keep taking it until they get into the house they 'want'. How these cretins consider themselves faithful fans I don't know. I'd like to know whether the site plans on using IP addresses and/or asking for more personal details, to try and stop people cheating the sorting process? All credit to Pottermore, based on the people I know who have been sorted, I think the Hat is pretty spot-on.

Colin:
I understand that many other books are available. There are lots that include wizards and fun at boarding school, and some books even have characters called Harry. You could consider reading some of them.

Laura:
Hi!! I am lucky enough to have got access to Pottermore last year and I have to say I'm a bit disappointed by some of it. I LOVE Harry Potter, so the extra details you find out about the characters etc. are really interesting, but if you want to have a real discussion about the books it is impossible. Comments all come up in one long line regardless of the subject matter, and they often take a few minutes to appear, so if you do want to start a discussion, replies appear haphazardly in between people saying 'yay I'm not a slytherin' and 'please be my friend'!! I appreciate that this is probably done to stop any inappropriate discussions cropping up, but as the comments are all moderated anyway I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult to change it into more of a forum-like chat.

As an aspiring illustrator I really like the artwork on the site and the fact that you can add your own, but really as far as interacting with the site goes, the rest does not really appeal to me. Mixing potions and duelling are not particularly exciting (this may be because, at nearly 26, I am not in the target age group, but I'm sure younger people will get bored with it too.) After finishing reading through the philosophers stone I have hardly been back on, and until the next books are up I probably won't bother.