JK Rowling's revenge: Harry Potter author reveals she based one of her most evil characters on a teacher she hated at school

• JK Rowling said hated character was based on a teacher from school days
• She did not reveal the identity of woman who inspired Dolores Umbridge
• But she said she disliked the teacher on sight because of twee accessories
• Hogwarts professor was played by Imelda Staunton in the film franchise
• She forced Harry Potter to cut the words 'I must not tell lies' on his hand 

By Jenny Awford for MailOnline

Published: 04:31 EST, 1 November 2014 | Updated: 10:44 EST, 1 November 2014

She is remembered as the 'toad-faced' Hogwarts professor who forced Harry Potter to cut the words 'I must not tell lies' on to his hand.

But it has now been revealed that Dolores Umbridge, played by Imelda Staunton in the film franchise, was based on a teacher novelist JK Rowling hated from her school days.

The author said the malicious character, who is just as fond of pink fluffy cardigans and kittens as she is of barbaric teaching practices, was inspired by a woman she 'disliked intensely on sight'. 

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Harry Potter author JK Rowling (left) revealed that character Dolores Umbridge, played by Imelda Staunton (right), was based on a teacher form school 

She said she feels the 'purest dislike' for the 'toad-faced' teacher as her desire to control, punish and inflict pain in the name of law and order rivals Lord Voldemort's incarnation of evil. 

Ms Rowling did not reveal the identity of the woman, but said she had been her teacher or instructor 'long ago… in a certain skill or subject'.

'The woman in question returned my antipathy with interest,' she wrote on her Pottermore website.

'Why we took against each other so instantly, heartily and (on my side, at least) irrationally, I honestly cannot say.

JK Rowling on which Harry Potter character she misses the most

Professor Umbridge is remembered as the 'toad-faced' Hogwarts professor who forced Harry Potter to cut the words 'I must not tell lies' on to his hand, pictured in the Order of the Phoenix 

JK Rowling said she feels the 'purest dislike' for the teacher as her desire to control, punish and inflict pain in the name of law and order rivals Lord Voldemort's incarnation of evil

'What sticks in my mind is her pronounced taste for twee accessories. I particularly recall a tiny little plastic bow slide, pale lemon in colour that she wore in her short curly hair.

'I used to stare at that little slide, which would have been appropriate to a girl of three, as though it was some kind of repellent physical growth.'

Umbridge who first appears in the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, was installed at Hogwarts by the Ministry of Magic.

The professor is the only person other than Lord Voldemort to leave a permanent physical scar on Harry.

She is also known for her many infamous deeds, including orchestrating the Dementor attack on Harry and Dudley at Magnolia Crescent and sacking Hagrid. 

Ms Rowling was quick to point out that the teacher she based the character on was not sadistic or vicious to her or anyone else.

'I never heard her express a single view in common with Umbridge (indeed, I never knew her well enough to know much about her views or preferences, which makes my dislike of her even less justifiable),' she said.

'However, it is true to say that I borrowed from her, then grossly exaggerated, a taste for the sickly sweet and girlish in dress, and it was that tiny little pale lemon plastic bow that I was remembering when I perched the fly-like ornament on Dolores Umbridge's head.'

The author also revealed she shared an office with a woman who covered the wall with pictures of fluffy kittens, but was also a bigoted champion of the death penalty.

'I have noticed more than once in life that a taste for the ineffably twee can go hand-in-hand with a distinctly uncharitable outlook on the world,' she said.

'I once shared an office with a woman who had covered the wall space behind her desk with pictures of fluffy kitties; she was the most bigoted, spiteful champion of the death penalty with whom it has ever been my misfortune to share a kettle.

'A love of all things saccharine often seems present where there is a lack of real warmth or charity.'

She has previously used the website to update the Potter stories and offer fans a glimpse into the lives of her characters after the books ended.

In one, she wrote about a school reunion that saw a now 34-year-old Harry back at Hogwarts with 'threads of silver' in his black hair and a mysterious cut over his cheekbone which signifies his membership of a top-secret group of wizards called the Aurors. 

Professor Umbridge is the only person other than Lord Voldemort to leave a permanent physical scar on Harry, JK Rowling has revealed 

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