Yes. When Pottermore was first launched, there were seven days in which users could sign up to be beta testers. Beta testers gained early access to the site while it was still in progress to help improve the experience and so the developers could deal with any problems with a small number of people. For example, in the early days Pottermore experienced a lot of sever overloading due to the amount of people on the website. Once the developers were happy, Pottermore opened to the general public and everybody was able to join.
From September 2015 accounts were no longer required on Pottermore.
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You have to wait until it opens in October.
You are no longer able to find the magical quill, as the challenge has ended. You had to answer the question correctly in order to find the quill.
Each day a new clue was released which, if answered correctly, led to one of Pottermore's partner websites. The quill would be hidden somewhere on the main page of that website.
August 5, 2011
August 4, 2011
August 2nd 2011.
The clues were on the Pottermore website in the middle of the page. They appeared at different times throughout the seven days.
The quill was located on the registration page. On day 4 of the challenge, an error meant users were redirected straight to the Sony site instead of searching for the quill. This was fixed after a few minutes.
There was no separate website for Pottermore beta testing. To access it you had to successfully complete the Magic Quill Challenge. The site is now open to all.
The clue on day 2 was released at 9am GMT.
They were released at different times everyday to allow for different schedules and timezones.