De-gnoming the Garden - Tips for Pottermore Chamber of Secrets

While I'm not a fan of minigames on Pottermore, it seems many people are having trouble de-gnoming the garden, which I believe is required to move onto chapter 4. I'm here to share some tips on mastering this Pottermore Chamber of Secrets minigame, though I myself have not mastered it.

Tip #1: Release the gnome at the right point. This is the top tip, because without it, your gnome won't get over the hedge. If you are throwing a gnome from the back of the garden, you want to release the gnome just after it passes being perpendicular to the ground, as shown in figure 1. In figure 2, we see that as you throw a gnome from the middle of the garden, you want to release it a little further past being perpendicular to the ground, but not much further. And in figure 3, when throwing from the front of the garden, you want to release even further after being perpendicular. You might think releasing when perpendicular would shoot it straight into the wall, but by the time you actually let go of the mouse, it will end up with perfect timing.

figure 1

figure 2

figure 3

Tip #2: Only throw gnomes from the middle of the garden. Unless you are a pro and can thrown any gnomes perfectly, you'll find that throwing from the front will often end up in hitting the wall and from the back will not end too well either. Right in the middle keeps you closer to the wall, but not too close.

Tip #3: Grab the gnome from the air above it's head. You'll find that you don't actually need to grab the gnomes body, but you can actually grab the air around it. The place that you grab ends up being the place where the gnome's feet spin around. In order to be most successful, grab the gnome a bit higher than it's head- this will make the center of rotation higher, meaning the release point it higher, which means your gnome has a higher chance of making it over the garden wall. This can also be used when throwing gnomes from the front or back of the garden, For example. If throwing a gnome from the front of the garden, grab the air directly to the top-left corner above the gnome. This means the center of rotation and release points will not only be higher, but will be a bit to the left, so you won't hit into the wall as easily. When throwing from the back of the garden, do the same thing, but from the left. Basically, move the gnome as close to the center and as high as possible before throwing it!

Those are three simple tips, and I hope they make your de-gnoming process much more enjoyable. With enough practice, you'll be a de-gnoming master!