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JK Rowling On Pottermore Memes: ‘Harambe Is Not A Patronus,’ But ‘Very Funny’

By Patrick Frye
Published on: 06:17 PST, Sep 23, 2016

J.K. Rowling unveiled Pottermore’s latest update recently, proving that she is far from done with “the boy who lived.” The site allows visitors to answer a few questions, and the result reveals what the visitor’s Patronus would be.

The Patronus is based on one of the most terrifying creatures in the Harry Potter universe: ghoulish monsters known as the dementors. Introduced in Prisoner of Azkaban, the monsters were initially used to guard the titular prison for magic-wielding criminals. They approach and feast on the victim’s soul, but not enough to kill (though in one case, it almost killed Harry Potter in the middle of a game of Quidditch). After Sirius Black escaped, the dementors were given the freedom to haunt Hogwarts and search for him. As a result, Professor Lupin taught Harry the Patronus charm. The key was to picture the happiest moment in your life and yell “expecto patronum,” and the result would be a glowing animal that would fend off the dementors.

J.K. Rowling’s Pottermore site caters to the fans who like to pretend that Hogwarts is real, immersing themselves in the world of Harry Potter and the thrills and dangers of magic.

There was even a petition after the release of Pokemon GO to make a version of the game for fans of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It may have gained enough proverbial steam to be made, as the signatures showed a definite interest. Harry Potter fans were that eager to bring the world of magic into ours, even through an augmented reality video game. Of course, now that Pokemon GO has been updated with features the fans clearly didn’t like, the original game has lost popularity.

Niantic may be giving in to the fans’ persistent requests, says GamenGuide, as they are are rumored to be giving us an augmented reality version of the Harry Potter world. Combined with J.K. Rowling’s Pottermore site and its Patronus quiz, the magic doesn’t appear to be stopping anytime soon.

Some users of the site have taken the idea of the Patronus animal and made a joke about it with a reference to a gorilla that had been shot to save a child. Harambe was photoshopped into the result page, complete with his name, making it appear to be an actual option on the site.

Had the Harambe meme been real, J.K. Rowling’s Pottermore might have faced public uproar. However, the writer and creator of the Harry Potter universe has publicly stated that the late gorilla is indeed “not a Patronus.”

Time says Rowling didn’t take offense to the meme and actually said she found it “very funny,” which itself could have brought the internet swarming her with backlash. Harambe’s death had been considered the lesser of two evils as he had allegedly endangered a child who had fallen into his enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Of all of the possibilities you can get from J.K. Rowling’s Pottermore Patronus quiz, Harambe is not among them. Instead, there are numerous real-world animals as well as fictional ones, mirroring those of the students and faculty of Hogwarts. Harry had inherited the stag from his famous father, Hermione found hers to be an otter, and headmaster Dumbledore had a phoenix. This was probably a bit of foreshadowing placed in Order of the Phoenix to predict his fall later in the series, since the phoenix bursts into flame and then rises from its ashes.

Whatever result you get from J.K. Rowling’s Pottermore Patronus quiz, just know that Harambe is not really one of them.

[Featured Image via s_bukley /Shutterstock.com]

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