Author J.K. Rowling has announced that she written a new Harry Potter story that will be published live on her website on Halloween, where it will be free to read.
The new story will feature Dolores Umbridge, the former Hogwarts professor who first appeared in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Umbridge was played by Imelda Staunton in the film adaptation.
Umbridge is one of the more malicious characters in the Harry Potter world, according to the announcement on Pottermore.com, and one of just two characters to leave a physical scar on Harry Potter, along with Lord Voldemort. As the Minister for Magic’s Senior Undersecretary, Umbridge forced Harry to scar himself with the words “I must not tell lies” using a Blood Quill, a magical item that requires dark magic to use the user’s blood as ink. She was later sentenced to Azkaban for crimes against the Muggle-born.
[quote text_size=”small” author=”– J.K.Rowling” author_title=”Author”]
The new exclusive J.K. Rowling content provides a rich, 1,700-word back story about Umbridge’s life filled with many new details, as well as Rowling’s revealing first-person thoughts and reflections about the character.
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Rowling published another new Harry Potter story on Pottermore.com in June that featured a grown Harry, Time reported. The installment was so popular that it crashed the website due to massive traffic, according to Rolling Stone. The earlier story focused on Harry’s reunion with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger at the finals of the Quidditch World Cup.
Other new Potter material released this year through Pottermore.com includes a snarky liveblog of the World Cup by Rita Skeeter, well-known to readers for her fondness for inventing juicy gossip about the main characters and a look at Celestina Warbeck, the singing witch.
Also this week, publisher Bloomsbury announced it will give the boy wizard a makeover, almost seventeen years after the first book was published. There are plans to release new editions of all of seven books as a “children’s edition” with illustrations on every page.
Warner Bros has also announced a new three-film series based on Rowling’s spin-off, “Fantastic Beasts and where to find them,” Economic Times reported.
