--- title: These Dark Harry Potter Tweets Are Making Fans Go Crazy description: The cryptic images posted by the Pottermore account are driving fans wild as they continue to puzzle over their obscure meaning. canonical: https://time.com/4503336/pottermore-tweet-fan-reactions/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-21T20:21:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:38.454Z og:title: These Dark Harry Potter Tweets Are Making Fans Go Crazy og:description: The cryptic images from Pottermore are baffling the magical fandom. og:url: https://time.com/4503336/pottermore-tweet-fan-reactions/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: These Dark Harry Potter Tweets Are Making Fans Go Crazy twitter:description: The cryptic images from Pottermore are baffling the magical fandom. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # These Dark, Cryptic Harry Potter Tweets Are Making Fans Go Crazy > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ## Video: How To Make Your Favorite Harry Potter Treats: Butterbeer [Watch (HLS stream): How To Make Your Favorite Harry Potter Treats: Butterbeer](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/BIkOEVIY.m3u8) (0:51)  _Published 2016-07-25. Excited for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child? Learn how to make this Harry Potter treat: Butterbeer._  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Sep 21, 2016 8:21 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Sep 21, 2016 8:21 PM UTC On Wednesday, the official Twitter account of the online [Harry Potter](http://time.com/4413044/harry-potter-birthday-cursed-child/?iid=sr-link5) community [Pottermore](https://www.pottermore.com/) sent out not one but _two_ exceptionally cryptic tweets, each of a darkened image that appears as some kind of an illustrated forest. Maybe. Pottermore also changed its header image and profile picture to the darkened background. (Same thing [on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/pottermore/), too.) Predictably, the Harry Potter fandom freaked out about the opacity of the obscure posts. Was there a message in the muted tones, available to read with some Photoshopping? Was it foreshadowing for the upcoming [_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_](http://time.com/4434040/jk-rowling-harry-potter-fantastic-beasts/?iid=sr-link1) movie — or an allusion to something new altogether? Maybe it was just a reflection on the state of the world at large? > [](https://twitter.com/pottermore/status/778632767865323520) > [](https://twitter.com/pottermore/status/778576507476316160) While we’re still waiting to see what it could all mean, some Twitter users had a field day coming up with their own explanations. One popular explanation has to do with dementors — the [mythical, hooded creatures](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1637886%5F1638263%5F1638377,00.html?iid=sr-link2) that revel in darkness and suck the joy out of life (and your soul, too, if you’re unlucky). They’re [currently the “Beast of the Week”](https://www.pottermore.com/explore-the-story/dementors) on the Pottermore site, leading many fans to speculate that a long-awaited official Patronus quiz or test will soon be released for users, who can then clear away the social media darkness. (The Patronus Charm is an advanced magical working that enables a witch or wizard to produce a protective force that takes the shape of an animal. Harry’s, for instance, is a stag — just like his father’s Animagus form.) > [](https://twitter.com/Darthpapercut/status/778647303804641280) > [](https://twitter.com/damanidevansh/status/778591692580544512) > [](https://twitter.com/SarahLT%5FAngell/status/778590614178918400) > [](https://twitter.com/pameatsbabies/status/778635165522358274) > [](https://twitter.com/UHP/status/778664749785579520) > [](https://twitter.com/Cumberbuddy/status/778577256469889024) > [](https://twitter.com/ThisIsNikkie04/status/778627798894309405) > [](https://twitter.com/adumfoley/status/778633175174148100) Another option is that it’s related to [Lumos](http://time.com/3639649/j-k-rowling-orphanages/?iid=sr-link1), J.K. Rowling’s charitable foundation that raises awareness and reduces occupancy in orphanages. Currently, the Pottermore Instagram bio [includes a link to a Lumos page, ](https://represent.com/lumos/lumos-foundation-be-the-light-worldwide-campaign-j-k-rowling) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4503336/pottermore-tweet-fan-reactions/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4503336/pottermore-tweet-fan-reactions/"},"headline":"These Dark, Cryptic Harry Potter Tweets Are Making Fans Go Crazy","datePublished":"2016-09-21T20:21:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:47:38.454Z","description":"Expecto patronum...?","url":"https://time.com/4503336/pottermore-tweet-fan-reactions/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Entertainment","viral","Books","Harry Potter"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4503336/pottermore-tweet-fan-reactions/","name":"These Dark, Cryptic Harry Potter Tweets Are Making Fans Go Crazy"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How To Make Your Favorite Harry Potter Treats: Butterbeer","description":"Excited for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child? 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