New Pottermore Book Club Will Be a 'Harry Potter' Fight Club

In honor of the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (or Sorcerer’s Stone for Americans), J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter fan community site, Pottermore, is starting a book club. Officially named the “Wizarding World Book Club,” the club will give Harry Potter fans new and old the opportunity to read Potter books at the same time as millions of others. Chaos will, inevitably, ensue.

The announcement came Friday, May 5, on the 20th anniversary of the Philosopher’s Stone’s original publish date. Described as “a free, online club to examine and debate every book in the Harry Potter series,” the club is gearing up to be a full-on fandom war.

The Wizarding World Book Club kicks off in June, and to take part you just need to read (or re-read) a Harry Potter book each month — or more, as the books get longer. You can then join in a conversation about it on Twitter, or simply check Pottermore to learn more about each story … Whether you’re a newcomer, or have read the books a thousand times over, the Wizarding World Book Club is the place for everyone to join the discussion on each of the seven Harry Potter stories.”

Because the Harry Potter fandom has been a powerful, emotional, bickering entity for the past 20 years, Rowling’s new club will undoubtedly be a hit. If there’s one thing Harry Potter fans love to do, it’s fight endlessly talk about Harry Potter. But since the series has been going on for two decades, there’s very little to discuss outside of wild fan theories and, of course, which characters might have secret love affairs with other characters. The Twitter feed and discussion boards will undoubtedly be inundated with Drarry (Harry and Draco Malfoy), Wolfstar (Remus Lupin and Sirius Black), and Dramione (Draco and Hermione Granger) shippers.

But, who knows, maybe the conversation will remain civil and respectful. Best of luck to the mediators.

The Wizarding World Book Club launches in June.