Yes, thanks to a collaboration with Audible, Potterheads can now listen to J.K. Rowling’s first Harry Potter book for free as part of the latest “Harry Potter at Home” effort. And the English version is narrated by legendary British actor Stephen Fry.
Posted as the original U.K. version, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Rowling’s first of the seven-book series is available in six different languages: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish. For the more ambitious muggles and magic folk out there, hearing one of your favorite stories in a language you are attempting to learn is a great way to further grasp that language. Plus, you are now able to try that practice for free and you don’t have to be an audible member.
There is no doubt that the addition of a free Harry Potter audible book will definitely help fulfill the Wizarding World’s “Harry Potter at Home” mission of “Casting a Banishing Charm on Boredom.”
J.K. Rowling: An Digital Auror in a Time of Crisis
Harry Potter and Wizarding World creator J.K. Rowling has continued her attack on her readers’ current isolation situation–from the level of boredom to financial strains–by making it easier than ever before to access her work than ever before.
It began when she dropped the licensing fees on the online version of the entire Harry Potter series; her effort to help teachers add these beloved books to their curriculum and keep kids now schooling from home interested. Then, she–with the help of Warner Bros. and the British Library–made the world-famous exhibit “Harry Potter: A History of Magic” available and free to everyone who has access to google.
After she had already done far more in the spotlight than anybody would expect, Rowling went a step further to create the “Harry Potter at Home” hub on wizardingworld.com. Not only does she also make this free, but she also helps readers young and old get started with a series of articles that teach you”what to know before” and “how to approach these books.”
This is also not the first new project Audible has undertaken with the Wizarding World. The digital audio-book magnate has just released its own version of The Tales of Beedle the Bard with several former Wizarding World stars lending their voices for the project.
If you have been wanting to get into the Harry Potter series, or you wanted to approach it from a new angle, there has truly never been a better time to do it than right now.