Win a Kindle reader, Flip UltraHD camcorder and more in Paste’s Great Harry Potter Scavenger Hunt (#pottergame)

Today, with the release of the sixth installment of the Harry Potter film franchise, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Paste launches an online game we've dubbed "The Great Harry Potter Scavenger Hunt." Players invoke a special command, complete tasks, and earn points toward entries in a random drawing for great prizes.

The goal of the game is to help you explore and learn more about PasteMagazine.com, have a little fun with our content—several times during the hunt your browser will do things you've never seen it do before—and challenge readers' Potter knowledge. Don't worry—mere muggles (or non-Potter experts) can still play and win (with a little help, available below and on Twitter).

The game will unfold over the coming week. One level opens now, and starting Friday, we'll unlock a new level each weekday. Each level has five tasks to complete, as well as bonus items with instant prizes and more. Prizes (of the non-instant variety) will be awarded after two weeks of play, on July 31.

 

Basic Game Play | Bonus Play | Prizes | Hints
Video Introduction & Hints | Legal

Basic Game Play

Basic game play is simple, once you know how it works.

1. Invoke the game. You need to type a special combination of keys. See hints below. (You can get out of the game by clicking the X on the spell box or by typing the invocation code again.)
   
   
   
   
2. Unlock the map. You'll need a spell. See hints below. (We recommend logging in when you first do this.)
   
   
   
   
3. Get the clue to your assigned task from the map. The tasks get a little harder as you go along, but we'll be here and on twitter to help.
   
   • Check the map to get a clue for your current task. The clue will be a question or reference to information posted on Paste. You must find the answer on the website and click it. In most cases, that completes the task.
     
     
     
     
     
     
   • On some tasks, something will happen, and you'll be asked to cast a spell. These tasks are where you'll see the coolest special effects.
     
     
     

The game continues with repetitions of step three until you reach the end. There are five levels (one level will be unlocked per day) and five tasks for each level. The fifth task of each level requires a spell to complete.

Each task you complete earns you points or, as we call them, Galleons (wizard money). Each Galleon you earn gives you a better chance to win one of the prizes.

If you want to save your progress, earn Galleons, and have a chance to win the prizes, be sure to sign-up and then login each time you play (login is available from the map). To collect prizes, you'll need to provide us with your email address.

Bonus Play

You can earn extra Galleons in bonus play. There are three ways to do this:

1. Bonus spells. We'll unlock one "bonus spell" each day (5 total). Guess these spells correctly and you win extra Galleons. Some bonus spells depend on regular spells (typically, they do the opposite of the spell you just cast), and some you can type in the spell box at any time on any page. We'll give you hints each day on Twitter, since there are hundreds of spells in the Potterverse.
   
   
2. Bonus items. As you browse the site while you're in the game, you can collect bonus items. You don't have to do anything to collect them; you just browse, and occasionally you'll get a bonus item. In addition to earning Galleons, these bonus items are good for instant prizes. (Prizes are limited to one prize-type per person. There's also a time-based restriction to prevent abusers from repeatedly hitting refresh.) There are 5 bonus items:
   • Love Potion. Worth 50 Galleons. Instantly win a 3-month trial to Paste Digital VIP (500 available).
   • Felix Felicis Potion. Worth 100 Galleons. Instantly win a 1-year Paste Digital subscription (50 available).
   • Tom Riddle's Diary. Worth 200 Galleons.  Instantly win a 1-year Paste Digital VIP subscription (20 available).
   • Marvolo Gaunt's Ring. Worth 1,000 Galleons. Instantly win 1-year subscriptions to Paste print and Digital VIP, plus a Paste t-shirt (5 available).
   • Salazar Slytherin's Locket. Worth 2,500 Galleons. Instantly win a $50 iTunes gift card (2 available).
   
   
3. Twitter. You can also earn Galleons by:
   • Following @PasteMagazine on Twitter (and supplying us with your Twitter name, which you can do by logging in to the game via Twitter or after you login through Paste).  Following Paste earns you 500 Galleons.

     Note: If you're already following @PasteMagazine, you don't need to do anything (other than login to the game via Twitter or add your Twitter name to your account).

   • Use the hashtag "#pottergame" when you retweet interesting Paste tweets or invite your followers to play and earn 50 Galleons. (We limit you to 5 Galleon-earning tweets per day; we don't want you spamming your friends, just sharing interesting information.)
     

     Note: If you've tweeted using the hashtag, you also don't need to do anything else to earn the Galleons. We will search for tweets with the hashtag multiple times a day and automatically award you Galleons.

Prizes

The following prizes will be given in a random drawing among eligible* registered players on July 31. Each Galleon you earn will give you an entry in the drawing.

1. Amazon's Kindle 6" Wireless Reading Device. (1 will be awarded)
2. Flip UltraHD Camcorder, 120 minutes. (1 will be awarded)
3. $25 iTunes Store Gift Card. (4 will be awarded)

In addition, players may win instant awards (see Bonus Items above).

Hints

We will give you hints for the game here, updated periodically. You can also follow us on Twitter for hints. (We may release some hints only to Twitter and some only here.) For each step, the hints get progressively easier. Some hints below are hidden (for those who are really stuck or want to put less thought into the game); to see those, highlight the area to right of the word "Hidden" with your cursor.

• Invoking the game / closing the game.
  • You can click the giant "Get Started" above to start, and you can click the "X" in the game window to close. But there's also a handy keyboard shortcut.
  • Type the Windows keyboard shortcut for our (shortened) name.
  • HIDDEN: Type Control-v (press the "control" key and the "v" key at the same time—just make sure that your cursor is NOT in a text field, such as the address bar or search bar).
• Unlock the map.
  • It functions like the Marauder's Map.
  • HIDDEN: The Weasley twins told Harry to say this and tap his wand on The Marauder's Map to activate it.
  • HIDDEN: Type "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good" with the map open.
• Tasks

  Many of the pages you'll be looking for (at least in early levels and tasks) will be found in major section of the sites, on the "most popular" list of articles (at the time the level is unlocked), or in the list of articles in the Harry Potter takeover. You can also use our search box or a search engine like Google.

  • Level 1
    • Task 1
      • Clue: What subjects did Emma Watson choose for her A Levels?
    • Task 2
      • Clue: What movie was number eleven on our Definitive All-Time Top 10 Rock 'n' Roll Documentaries List?
    • Task 3
      • Clue: What patronus do we imagine Amy Winehouse would have?
    • Task 4
      • Clue: We recommend following this filmmaker on Twitter. He dated Monica and then directed Robert Downey, Jr.
    • Task 5
      • Clue: Where did Paste writer Jesse Jarnow spend 9 hours reading "The Deathly Hallows?
      • Spell hint: Multiple spells will generate light. Only one makes your wand light up like a flashlight or butane lighter.
      • Spell hint: There answer is on this page.
    • Bonus spell
      • This one can only be done in the context of Task 5, after you've cast the spell.
      • It reverses the effect of spell you just cast.
  • Level 2
    • Task 6
      • Clue: Our reviewer loved Half-Blood Prince. We also recommend another film from cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel.
    • Task 7
      • Clue: What was the most important rule for Manchester's Zombie walk?
    • Task 8
      • Clue: This may be the buzziest band of the year. You could have watched Letterman in mid-July to hear.
      • Hint: There's one place on the site that's a great place to find (among other things) who's playing on TV.
    • Task 9
      • Clue: To mark Half-Blood Prince's release, we did a Paste takeover. What two music acts did we do takeovers for earlier this year?
    • Task 10
      • Clue: If you were sorted into Gryffindor, you too might sing this song.
      • Spell hint: Two spells will work. You can turn the spider to stone or otherwise impede him.
    • Bonus Spells
      • There are two available.
      • For the first, you have to be in the context of Task 10, after casting the spell.
      • Hint: Reanimate the spider
      • The second is the other spell that will work for Task 10, but you have to refresh the page and cast it to get points.
  • Level 3
    • Task 11
      • Clue: In book 7, I hold one of the hallows. In IQA, I am embodied by this.
    • Task 12
      • Clue: He may not be The King, but you should still want to win his autograph. I am proud to have produced his latest album.
      • Hint: Paste covers a lot of rock music. Who is The King in that context?
    • Task 13
      • Clue: We might be related to Hagrid, and we love science as much as Hermione. We've always had fun with history, and we love to sing for the tiny.
    • Task 14
      • Clue: The Oscar-winning effects wizard behind most of the Potter films built a 35-foot-long maze that had to do what?
    • Task 15
      • Clue: Click your heels, go home, and find yourself Around the Web.
      • Clue Hint: You'll click on an image
      • Spell Hint: STOP the magic. In book 7, Harry uses this spell to cancel the effects of Descendo, cast by Crabbe.
    • Bonus spells
      • Clue (1st spell): On any given page, you can cast this spell and make elements of the page disappear.
      • Clue (2nd spell, only 250 points): On any given page, you can confuse your browser (same effect as Task 15).
  • Level 4
    • Task 16
      • Clue: With his bone machines and swordfish trombones, he could have been a carny. He & Kathleen are top 10 songwriters for us & that's no blarney.
    • Task 17
      • Clue: They may never go on the road together, but they love the beat. One got to know the concrete; the other took to Big Sur like the hero he'll never meet.
    • Task 18
      • Clue: Chekhov, Lewis, Sartre and Campbell are embodied in its many layers. Few other shows directly tackle these two questions, worthy of a slayer.
    • Task 19
      • Clue: This MacArthur Genius writes of the chaos of her native land, and ambivalence towards the United States she well understands.
    • Task 20
      • Clue: The plight of youth can be quite heartbreaking, but staggering genius talks remaking school and community relations w/ the help of TED foundation.
      • Spell hint: In the movie, this spell saves Cedric from the maze. (In the book, it's used at a different time to different effect).
    • Bonus Spell
      • Hint: Orlean and Streep may help provoke what John Laroche will then revoke, a spell to know your wand's not broke. (Thanks @redpixel3 for putting our hint in rhyme.)
  • Level 5
    • Task 21
      • Clue: The Irish and Czech sure do mesh well. Once, and now twice, their records are swell.
      • Spell hint: In book 7, Gringotts placed this curse on the Lestranges' valut and Hermione cast the spell on Umbridge's locket.
    • Task 22
      • Clue: Cheerleaders & hula-hoopers & stereoscopic images, oh my. He may never finish his 50-state expressway, but we hope he tries.
      • Spell hint: Make it appear. Hermione tried this on Tom Riddle's diary in book 2.
    • Task 23
      • Clue: When it comes to healthcare, our iconic President has a purpose. Visitors to our sister site love it when _____ admits "___ _____."
      • Clue hint: The missing letters are highlighted when you do the spell for Task 22.
      • Clue hint: There was a little Internet pheonomenon around iconic Obama that Paste launched pre-inauguration.
      • Spell hint: In book 7, Mr. Weasley recommended this to his (disguised) son, who needed to stop the rain in someone's office.
    • Task 24
      • Clue: Funny, foxy, bored, freak or geek, he loves Extra Mayo & Indian tea. What he has in common with our fav Idaho singer, you can plainly see.
      • Spell hint: Hermione used a variation of this spell to keep muggles away from their campsite in book 7.
    • Task 25
      • Clue: Cate would be just great as the nation's first commander in chief. Grover would have it all over this guy, it's our belief.
      • Spell 1 hint: McGonagall used this to get the statues and suits of armour into the Battle of Hogwarts.
      • Spell 2 hint: Harry protected Ron from Hermione with this spell.
      • Spell 3 hint: Come now. How does Harry always defend himself in face-to-face battles with Voldemort?
    • Bonus spell
      • None, since you had 7 spells this level.

 

Video Introduction and Hints

Introduction:

 

First spell task:

 

Second spell task:

 

Third spell task:

 

Legal and Technical Stuff

The game requires Flash 9 or above as well as recent versions of Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer (the game will not work in IE 6.x and below).

 

*The contest is void where prohibited by law. Players must be 13 years of age or older. Winners must respond in a timely manner in order to redeem prizes. Employees of Paste, and their relatives, are not eligible. Paste makes every effort to ensure that the prizes are awarded fairly based on game play, but Paste winners are chosen solely as Paste's discretion and rules may change at any time. Paste is not liable for any problems in game play or point attribution. Paste cannot offer any support for technical problems with the game. Playing the game indicates acceptance of these rules.

The Great Harry Potter Scavenger Hunt is an unofficial bit of fun from Paste Media Group. It is not affiliated with or supported by Warner Brothers, J.K. Rowling or others associated with the Harry Potter franchise.

Got news tips for Paste? Email news@pastemagazine.com.