The Harry Potter at Home initiative was launched by J.K. Rowling last month to help people in lockdown at home through the magic of Harry Potter. As part of Harry Potter at Home, the first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s/Sorcerer’s Stone will be read out loud by various contributors. Each reading will be available on video and audio for all fans to enjoy.
The first chapter, “The Boy Who Lived,” has been released on May 5 and it is read by none other than Daniel Radcliffe, the actor who played Harry Potter. The 25-minute video is available on the Wizarding World website, and the audio-only version is available on Spotify.
A new recording will be released weekly, and each chapter will be read by some top names in entertainment, like David Beckham, Stephen Fry and Dakota Fanning. All 17 chapters of the book will be released, one week at a time, until the middle of the summer.
Harry Potter at Home Helps People During Lockdown With Activities & Resources
The Harry Potter at Home project is a team initiative from J.K. Rowling, the Wizarding World team, the U.K. and U.S. publishers of the series Bloomsbury and Scholastic, Pottermore Publishing, Audible and OverDrive.
The first project for Harry Potter at Home was making the seven Harry Potter books available on open license for teachers to read them out loud to their students on video sessions. Additionally, the first Harry Potter audiobook has been made free for everyone on Audible in six different languages: English, Spanish, French, Italian, German and Japanese.
The Harry Potter at Home website also has activity kits for kids, craft videos, activities and puzzles. As the site says, “We’re casting a Banishing Charm on boredom.”
Social Media Reacts to Daniel Radcliffe Reading the 1st Harry Potter Chapter
As soon as the Daniel Radcliffe recording of Harry Potter was released, social media immediately reacted to it, with many people happy to re-experience the magic of the series.
Daniel Radcliffe is reading the first chapter of Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone for us all!!!
I’M CRYING! YOU’RE CRYING!
This made my quarantine 😭😭🥺❤️❤️
The user wrote: “Daniel Radcliffe is reading the first chapter of Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone for us all!!! I’M CRYING! YOU’RE CRYING! This made my quarantine.”
Another posted:
They wrote: “daniel radcliffe reading chapter 1 of harry potter and the philosopher’s stone is something i never knew i needed until now.”
Another person posted:
They wrote: “don’t mind me, just crying tears of joy over Daniel Radcliffe himself narrating the first chapter of ‘The Philosopher’s Stone.'”
Another person posted:
DANIEL RADCLIFFE READING THE FIRST CHAPTER OF PHILOSOPHER’S STONE IS JUST TOO MUCH FOR ME TO HANDLE 😭😭😭 #HarryPotterAtHome
The tweet reads: “DANIEL RADCLIFFE READING THE FIRST CHAPTER OF PHILOSOPHER’S STONE IS JUST TOO MUCH FOR ME TO HANDLE.”
Another joked:
They wrote: “me falling asleep to daniel radcliffe reading the first chapter of harry potter and the philosopher’s stone every night from now on.”
Fans who are interested in the recordings can wait for each recording to be released one week at a time, or they can subscribe to the Harry Potter at Home hub to receive notifications of new content and activities.
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