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JK Rowling Writes Harry Potter Origin Story, As They #PotterItFoward With Secret Notes

By Shelley Hazen
Published on: 04:44 PST, Sep 22, 2015

Harry Potter fans don’t need to be sad that the beloved magical series ended years ago. That’s because JK Rowling keeps them satisfied with stories and updates from the magical world. The latest traces the boy wizard’s family history and reveals where he got that Invisibility Cloak.

Rowling‘s “magical corner of the Internet,” Pottermore, has gotten a redesign and will feature even more for insatiable fans, including updates via a “Pottermore correspondent” of the film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and the upcoming stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the Guardian reported.

“JK Rowling is continuing to expand her magical universe, and as the wizarding world expands, so does Pottermore,” said the website’s chief executive officer, Susan L. Jurevics. “The fascinating story of the Potter family, from the author herself, will enthral everyone interested in this world and shows just how JK Rowling’s writing remains at the heart of our new site.”

JK’s latest story gives readers the inside scoop on Harry’s illustrious family history and source of his heaping pile of gold over at Gringotts. Among Rowling’s historical revelations, according to the Independent (which has the full story), are the following.

  • The Potter family dates back to the 12th century and wasn’t included on a ‘Sacred Twenty-Eight’ list of pure-blood families because it’s a common Muggle surname, JK wrote.
  • The family fortune began with the original Potter, a wizard named Linfred of Stinchcombe nicknamed “Potterer” and whose magical remedies for his neighbors and medical experiments were the predecessors to popular mainstream potions.
  • The Invisibility Cloak was passed down from a Godric’s Hollow witch named Iolanthe Peverell, who married Linfred’s son, Rowling wrote. The cloak was her grandfather’s and had been handed down to the eldest in each new generation following that marriage.
  • Oh, and James Potter’s dad’s name was Fleamont — a moniker that earned him plenty of taunts in school. Fleamont created “Sleekeaky’s Hair Potion” and made the family even richer, then died of dragon pox alongside his wife, Euphemia. Thus James got the cloak — and then Harry.

Years after the last book was published, fans continue to eat up anything JK Rowling writes. And some of those who grew up on the novels as children are passing on the love of the books and of reading.

According to the Irish Mirror, readers have started secreting notes inside used Potter books or library editions. This habit has also inspired the hashtag #PotterItForward, where people can share said notes with other fans. It was started by fan site MuggleNet.

Meanwhile, JK Rowling isn’t just typing up new stories in her wizarding universe, she’s also had to defend an element of her famous stories on Twitter, People added. Fellow author Ian Rankin brought a magazine article to her attention recently that advised people short on space to stuff their children into a cupboard, similar to the one the boy wizard was forced into by the Dursley’s.

JK Rowling wasn’t pleased with the comparison.

“I would like to make it clear that I don’t endorse shutting children under the stairs. Thought I’d made that clear.”

[Photo Courtesy AnjelikaGr / Shutterstock]

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