J.K. Rowling: Why is she setting up a new 'Harry Potter' site?

J.K. Rowling has a new website — details to follow.

The site, Pottermore.com, is a new project for the "Harry Potter" author, spokeswoman Rebecca Salt said Thursday. The site is "not a new book" and "not directly related" to the final Potter movie, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," which comes out next month, she said.

"We aren't saying any more than that!" Salt said.

"Pottermore" was trademarked in 2009 by Warner Bros., which distributes the Potter movies. The trademark description of Pottermore suggests an interactive site "providing on-line chat rooms and electronic bulletin boards" and "on-line facilities for real-time interaction with other computer users concerning topics of general interest."

The site itself reveals little beyond a scrawled message from the author that reads "Coming soon ...". Rowlingalready has a personal website, at www.jkrowling.com.

Pottermore.com also has a Twitter account, twitter.com/pottermore, and a YouTube countdown clock, which projects an author announcement for early Thursday, June 23.

News of Pottermore.com emerged Wednesday night with messages sent to nine Potter fan sites and an official Potter Twitter account. Each site received one letter, the letters spelling out "pottermore." A leading Potter fan site, www.the-leaky-cauldron.org, alleges that it has seen "a preview of Pottermore and it is, in a word, breathtaking."

"That is all we are permitted to say at the moment."