Once ‘Goblet’ Is Read, What’s a Muggle to Do? Try the Internet

It’s only been a week since the fourth Harry Potter book hit the shelves, but your kids have read every word on those 734 pages. Maybe even twice. If they’re still itching for more from the magic world, conjure up a few Web sites by folks who could tear their eyes from J.K. Rowling’s pages long enough to create them.

Scholastic (https://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/home.asp): The official Harry Potter home page includes an e-letter you can personalize and send from the Hogwarts School, a pronunciation guide and a screen saver that sketches and describes everything from the Whomping Willow to the Marauder’s Map. Also included are trivia, book descriptions and an interview with the author.

Bloomsbury (https://www.bloomsbury.com/harrypotter): Choose from doors marked “Muggles” and “Witches & Wizards” to see two different versions of this site, designed by Harry Potter’s British publisher. One door opens to a straightforward list of reviews, order forms and such. The other takes you to a site where you can send your own “howlers” and “owlers” e-mail and play a trivia game in which answers appear at the wave of the mouse. Wonder which door is which?

The Unofficial Harry Potter Web site (https://www.homestead.com/harrypotterbymegz/home.html): From getting sorted into a Hogwarts house and shelling out sickles (or even galleons) for your own virtual owl, to taking classes in potions and charms, this site, created by a 14-year-old girl, has become a vast repository of Harryana. Check out the “Wizards Duel” bulletin board.

DiagonSoft.com (https://www.diagonsoft.com): You, too, can play Quidditch, with freeware versions of the popular Hogwarts broomstick sport. Also available is “Harry Potter and the Final Battle,” a game for those who want to explore what might happen to Harry when he graduates from wizard school and takes on the real world.

Muggles for Harry Potter (https://www.mugglesforharrypotter.com): Sick of hearing charges that Harry Potter is Satanic or too violent? Become a Muggle for Harry Potter and join the ranks of the National Coalition Against Censorship and the Assn. of American Publishers. The groups are fighting attempts to censor or ban the books in at least 13 states.

The Unofficial Harry Potter Fan Club (https://www.harrypotterfans.net): The site includes suggestions for a Harry Potter party, rules for playing Quidditch and a sign-up for a Harry Potter fan e-mail address (yourname@quidditch.zzn.com). Surfers can participate in a storytellers’ club or check out the fan art and fiction.