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Now Google Assistant will read the Harry Potter to you

ByAmanda Mullen|
WATFORD, ENGLAND - MARCH 19: Warwick Davis (C) and Goblins in the original Gringotts Wizarding Bank set at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London on March 19, 2019 in Watford, England. Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter unveils its biggest expansion to date, the original Gringotts Wizarding Bank will be open to the public from Saturday 6th April. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Warner Bros. Studio Tour London)
WATFORD, ENGLAND - MARCH 19: Warwick Davis (C) and Goblins in the original Gringotts Wizarding Bank set at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London on March 19, 2019 in Watford, England. Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter unveils its biggest expansion to date, the original Gringotts Wizarding Bank will be open to the public from Saturday 6th April. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Warner Bros. Studio Tour London)

If you’re one of those Muggles who’s always looking for a new excuse to read — or listen to — J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, then welcome to the club. Now, you can officially experience (part of) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone all over again, thanks to a collaboration between Pottermore Publishing and Google Assistant. Simply speak the words, “Hey Google, tell me a Harry Potter story,” and it’ll start reading the first book to you on whatever device you happen to be using. It’s almost as magical as actually being at Hogwarts…almost.

This development is part of Pottermore’s annual “Back to Hogwarts” campaign, which strives to remind fans that this is the time of year when witches and wizards like Harry and his friends would normally return to school. After all, September 1 is only a couple days away — a fact that those of us who haven’t gotten our Hogwarts letter just yet might not like to recall. But even if you aren’t on the Hogwarts Express in a few days, you can listen to J.K. Rowling’s story and pretend that you are.

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Unfortunately, fans can’t listen to the entirety of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone through Google Assistant. (You’ll have to get your hands on the audiobook for that.) But Pottermore and Google Assistant have made the sixth chapter of the book available to listen to, which is a fitting part of the story, given that it chronicles Harry’s first journey to Hogwarts. “The Journey From Platform Nine and Three-Quarters” was the first time Harry — and many of us — experienced the magic of the Hogwarts Express, and hearing it again might just make you feel like you’re on your way back to the Wizarding World.

To join in on the fun, all fans need to do is download the Google Assistant app and the Google Books app. Once that’s done, just ask Google to tell you a Harry Potter story. You’ll be back in the Wizarding World — and maybe heading to the store to pick up the audiobooks — before you know it.

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