Sadly, Potter's Keys is now closed.
Here are some parting words from Jibran, Hyacinth, and Jim
Jibran:
I have been associated with PottersKeys.com since
November 2004 - three years is quite a long time in anyone's life and I have
really found friends, and an extended online family! Serendipity brought me into
contact with PK. Jim was on the look out for someone to help him with the
PHPNuke base of the site and at the time, I was on the lookout for a proper and
stable host for my website PottersRealm.com. Somehow we came in touch and
clicked - and I took up the post of Professor of Transfiguration at PK -
initially redesigning the website theme and giving it the somewhat present
shape. Since then, I have been looking up at both these sites as my own and have
had the good fortune of meeting some of the world's best people here. My thanks
and deepest love is extended to:
- Jimmy Bondo: for getting me into PottersKeys.com
and being my very good friend. I hope Jim that our association is now strong
enough to extend beyond PK.
- Purp: She is one of the most fantastic people I
have ever met. Like Dumbledore, she reached out to help me host PR and for all
these past three years given me the love and support that I ever needed. Purp,
I have never been able to say thanks to you, but I now say this -
"Thank you so much - for everything!"
- Veq - or Alex: Whatever you wish to call her, she
has been a steadfast disciplinarian at PK and I have always been amazed with
her skill with words. She is really a wizard with them - or should I say
witch? Veq., thank you for all your support and I do wish that you would write
some book someday - it will be a success, I'm sure.
- SKPoem - Skie: She is sweet and one of the most
dedicated mods at PK. I have always admired your wisdom in small matters and
the diligence with which you policed PK.
- MaryHarryPfan - Mary: I don't have words to say
much - except Thank you for being such a good friend and we shall remain in
touch always.
- Secca - Brent: We haven't had much of an
interaction directly, but Brent has done a fantastic job with the
everything else of PK. Thank you Brent!
- Dane - Dana Bergman - Dane, I don't know why you
simply stopped coming to PK - but your advice to me as a younger brother shall
always be endeared in my heart. During a rough patch in my life, it was your
advice which got me through - Dane, since then I have been climbing - and I
always shall.
- Sum_Jelifish - Elisha: I will say this about Sum,
is that she is a fantastic photographer, and I still have that
buffalo image of yours on my desktop.
- The PK family: In the three years that I spent
with PK, I have had the feeling of having another family, whom I had never
seen. never met - but I know wherever you are, whoever you are - if you have
been a part of PK, you have been a part of my life and shall always be
remembered in my heat of hearts.
And lastly my feeling and gratitude is extended to
- all of you - ardent Harry Potter fans and to Miss. J. K. Rowling, whose
words have weaved the magic that has brought all of us together. Thank you - all
of you - so much!
With best regards
Jibran
Hyacinth:
I
stumbled into this forum the way so many others did: searching for
answers to the secrets on J.K. Rowling's website, which I had begun to
monitor carefully, as the release of Deathly Hallows was ever-so-slowly
approaching. When I entered PottersKeys, I found much more than I could
have anticipated. Largely unaware of the extent of the fan base, I had
no idea that there were so many as crazy over these books as I had
found myself. I was so excited to find others pondering the same
questions that had stumped me, and to hear new theories to consider. No
detail was overlooked in the quest to unravel the mysteries Jo set to
us. I went pouring through my books (again) with other members to find
clues... Clues that are so obvious now, but that were just out of reach
for us then. It was great fun, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Now, our
waiting days are over. We have all the answers. We have the complete
set. And we have no more mysteries. We knew it would come; we couldn't
wait for it to come, but the end has still been bittersweet. As, of
course, we knew, with the end of Harry Potter, the end of PottersKeys
must come. J, thanks for the tea and sympathy. I hope I returned the
favor. And also, for bringing us the ever addictive 'HP association'
game. It gave us all something to do besides go nuts with waiting
during those last few days. Cazza, Zingela, Teesi, Skie, (and, of
course, cadders): we brainstormed together, laughed together, and went
half-crazy anticipating 'DH' together. It was a great ride. Thank you.
And for those of you wondering if I found what I originally set out to
learn: The answer is, of course, that I should already have known. The
secret to the cell phone is M-A-G-I-C. Thank you, Jo, for putting a
little magic in the lives of each of us. Namarie. Farewell.
Hyacinth
Jimmybondo:
To my Potter's Keys Family,
Regretfully, the rest of the staff and
I have decided to no longer continue hosting or working on Potter's
Keys. This decision has come out of outside responsibilities and
lessened interest of our site and offerings. We will officially close
by the end of the year, with several services shutting down prior to
that.
In this letter I would like to
chronicle the three and a half years that Potter's keys has existed.
This is best done by reviewing the anniversary postings since the
beginning...
=========
Our first year was a wild one, I still
hold to everything I say since that first very special birthday.
=========
June 17, 2005
Well, it has been a great ride so far,
and I hope it never ends. It seems like a very long time ago that
Purplehawk first contacted me. We have gone through a lot in our
first year. Multiple staff changes, exponential growth of users, four
door openings, seven special content items, 18 birthdays, 12 Wizards
of the Month, endless technical problems, and a really great time!
I have been a part of this site since
before the beginning of my senior year of high school, and it has
been a blessing of my life. Everyone here has been like family. The
forums have been full of advice columns, announcements, consolation,
congratulations, epic stories, roaring jokes, insightful theories,
and political discussion. I have to say that being a part of this
site has made my life better. It taught me how to manage my time,
sort out technical problems, deal with people problems, and make new
life-long friends.
This article would not be complete
without thanks to the rest of the wonderful staff. Vequihellin has
been an invaluable asset to me and the forums. She has sorted out
endless problems, moderated hundreds of posts, and been a great
person. Jibran has been the most amazing blessing to this site. When
we were in a runaway ship without a captain, he gladly took the helm.
The new themes, mods, humor, and friendship has been valued by all.
What is even more amazing, however, is that he has done all this work
while studying for numerous medical exams. To Lilyseyes and
Nightmagic, I want to thank you for all your recent contributions to
this site, and I look forward to your continuing support!
One last person I would like to
personally thank is our own Purplehawk. She has been with me from the
beginning. She believed in an idea that has grown beyond any of our
dreams. She has contributed funds to this site from her own pocket.
However, Purplehawk has not merely been an outsider looking in. She
spends hours each day in our forums, answering questions and giving
advice. She has been the backbone of this site.
Lastly, I would like to thank every
person who has contributed to this site in any way. I hope that our
site will continue to grow and flourish in the coming years.
Jim
=========
Our second year, I invited the other
staff members to comment on their rides through PK...
=========
June 17, 2006
Well, it has come to this, our 2
YEAR ANNIVERSARY! We have come a very long way in those two
years. You will notice the big changes that have come over this site.
Jibran and Jim have worked very hard over the past 2 weeks to give PK
a full makeover. The upgrade has made us more stable, secure, and
above all, more fun! There are quite a few changes around, so feel
free to explore them.
In honor of this momentous occasion,
some of the administrators have written up some comments:
Purplehawk:
It's hard to believe two years have
passed since Jim and I met and formed our partnership. Like Potter
fans everywhere, I was trying to figure out the secrets of Rowling's
then-new website and Jim came from out of nowhere, seemingly, with
the answers.
We kept in touch and, in time, I
learned of his plans for this site. I bought into his dream and
Potters Keys is the result. I'm so glad I did - so glad to be a part
of this community. Our love of Harry Potter brought us together,
sure, but the friendships we've formed transcend everything else.
Happy Birthday, Potters Keys!
Vequihellin:
Wow! Has it been two years already?
The site has seen some MAJOR upgrades and improvements, as well as a
phenomenal swelling of the ranks. So many, many thanks to all our
Admins, Mods, Members and devoted posters for making PK what it is!
And let us not forget to celebrate that which has brought us together
- the wonderful world of Harry Potter and the edge-of the seat
tension of JKR's online domain with her infuriating doors and
torturous clues. Long may it continue.
Jibran:
At times it sure is hard to believe
that Time does fly so fast. It has been two years since
PottersKeys.com has been up and even now I must say that the site has
taught me a lot more than any teacher. I have worked on this site
like it was my own baby and I must thank PottersKeys.com for all the
wonderful people it has brought into my life - Jim, Purp, Veq, Lils,
SKpoem, Jules, Dane, Mary, Sum_Jelifish, Nightmagic . . . the list is
endless. I can just keep on typing the names of everyone who are
members on the site.
I must say that PK has been a source
of courage for me when I was going through a rough patch in my
personal life. I received so much support from my PK family that I
don't have words to thank everyone. People here have taught me how to
climb, and I am still climbing. One peak leads to another one -
another more higher and more tougher than the first - but it is
Dane's words that stick with me till date - "Just keep climbing,
no matter if you stumble . . Just keep climbing.
Thank you PottersKeys - thank you
everyone.
JimmyBondo87:
This site has been part of my life for
2 years now and I would not trade the experience for anything. We
have had our bad times, but we have gotten through them with a
flourish. I wanted to start by remembering how this site first began.
I was 16 years old and had just
finished posting about my “hacks” on Jo's website when I thought
it would be a good idea to open up a site that offered people
walkthroughs and a place to talk about JKRowling.com. Purp took an
interest in me and said she would fund the site. I was very excited
about this, my first website ever! I quickly learned that creating a
website was no easy task. My design knowledge was low and my
programming skills even lower. The first version I turned out looked
like this.
This mock up used news from mugglenet.com and had the worst graphics
ever. I look back on it now and cringe, but we all had to start
somewhere. It was not soon after that we had instead turned to
software called PHP-nuke. This software was and still is a blessing.
A year went by and we found ourself in need of a new tech guru to
help with the technical aspects of the site. I contacted Jibran and
asked if he could help us out of a pickle. He soon was not only our
full-time PHP-nuke guru, but also brought with him pottersrealm.com,
his own HP site. Jibran will always dismiss thank you's and praises,
but he is one of the best things to ever happen to this site and
community. That brings us to today, where we are over 1500 members
strong and receive more hits then I could have ever imagined.
Potter's Keys has not only been
working for me, it has also been a door-opener in my real life.
Without this site, I never would have decided to major in Computer
Science and probably never gotten into the university I am in today.
There is one group of people left to thank and that is our members.
Without your loyalty and support, this site never would have lasted
beyond week 2. Long live Potter's Keys!
=========
Year 3 brought about a short and sweet
posting...
=========
Wow, can you believe it? 3 Years!! It
seems like only yesterday I was trying to design the site. Never in
my wildest dreams could I have thought that PK would make it this
far. I could not have done it without the truly wonderful staff.
Jibran, you came in at our time of need and been here ever since,
thank you! Vequihellin, you have put up with some crazy people, but
thank you! Secca, although you are relatively new, you have done
wonders for the site and its content, thank yout! SkPoem, you are
truly a great moderator, thank you! Last but not least, Purp. You
have been here since the beginning, you even finance everything. You
have been a great friend, Thank you very very much.
Of course
we could not have done anything without our users! Thank you to every
single one!
Happy Birthday PK!
Jim
=====
Since the beginning, it has been
nothing less than magical. We have had our ups and downs,
disagreements and laughter, and I would not trade it for the world. I
quote Jo when saying “All was well” and I hope everyone has an
incredible life.
Thank you,
Jim