Home Top

show ad

Having a ball! Stunning Michelle Obama and pregnant Priscilla Chan steal the show - as the titans of Silicon Valley and Hollywood gather for spectacular state dinner in honor of Chinese leader
EXCLUSIVE: Another FOUR women accuse Saudi prince of sex crimes after neighbors saw 'bleeding woman trying to climb out of his $37m Beverly Hills compound'
Go to Mars and back on ONE tank of fuel: Student creates radical ion drive system that he says outperforms Nasa's engines
Now MORE Hillary Clinton emails surface - between her and disgraced general David Petraeus - after she swore she turned over 'all of them'
Michael Sam says he 'would still be in the NFL' if he hadn't come out after stepping away from the Canadian Football League
First women to pass Ranger School were given extra training and lowered benchmarks after general vowed 'at least one of them will pass', report claims
Germany in a state of SIEGE: Merkel was cheered when she opened the floodgates to migrants. Now, with gangs of men roaming the streets and young German women being told to cover up, the mood's changing
Duck Dynasty star Willie Robertson backs Trump after tycoon vowed to bring back Christmas and brandished his childhood Bible in an appeal to the conservative right
Religious right crowd erupts in boos when Trump attacks Marco Rubio as a 'clown' and says 'nobody's weaker' on immigration
'Stench of death; around Rand Paul's campaign, warn Republican insiders - but smart money is on two also-rans to quit next
Hypocrisy alert! Trump's Palm Beach resort requests hundreds of foreign-worker visas for cooks, maids, waiters for massive mansion and ballroom
Clinton campaign's faux pas: New Hillary ad boasts 'this is our country'; while showing a video of FRANCE (of all places)
'It's the right time to do it': John Boehner resigns as Speaker and retires as right-wingers plotted to depose him - and breaks into song as he reveals decision
The heavens smile down on Pope Francis: Dozens of 'rainbows' appear above New York as huge crowds flock to see the Pontiff
EXCLUSIVE: Little girl who begged Pope Francis to let her illegal immigrant parents stay in the U.S. is going to Philadelphia to see him AGAIN
The pope honors the 3,000 9/11 victims with interfaith ceremony in the foundations of the fallen Twin Towers
Holy water: Congressman steals Pope Francis' glass after White House address to sip remaining liquid with his wife - and then saves some to sprinkle on his grandchildren
Pope urges the end of nuclear weapons and protection of the unborn as he lectures world leaders about global warming, Christian persecution, drug trafficking and a 'Pandora's Box' in abusing the UN
An 'overwhelming' crowd of 80,000 people gathers to see the Pope in Central Park ahead of his huge mass at Madison Square Garden
Syrian rebel commander who completed a US training program admits to giving military equipment to an al-Qaida affiliate
Revealed: The satellite photos that prove Putin is still arming Assad to shore up his embattled regime in defiance of the West
At least a dozen fake doctors performed botched surgeries on patients in elaborate $150M fraud scheme that spanned a decade
Super blood moon eclipse will not herald the end of the world this weekend, says Mormon Church after apocalyptic warnings from Doomsday pastor
Can YOU spot a love cheat from their face? Scientists say you can - now see if you can identify which six of these 12 people have been unfaithful

Magical makeover: J.K. Rowling treats fans to original story about Harry Potter's family origins and unveils brand new Pottermore website design

By Kate Thomas for MailOnline

Published: 17:59 EST, 23 September 2015 | Updated: 20:40 EST, 23 September 2015

65

View
comments

Pottermore is the go-to online destination for Harry Potter superfans everywhere.

And the bestselling books' author J.K. Rowling treated her loyal readers to an original short story on Tuesday to help celebrate the grand unveiling of the website's brand new redesign.

Several surprising revelations were made about the history of Potter family in the short piece, including its origins in the 12th century and where their wealth comes from.

Scroll down for video

Fresh revelations: J.K. Rowling celebrated online fan destination Pottermore.com's redesign by publishing a short story about Harry Potter's family origins

'The new writing from J.K. Rowling sheds unexpected new light on the origins of the Potter family name, delves into Harry's ancestry, explains how his grandfather quadrupled the family's fortune and how the Invisibility Cloak became a family heirloom,' a statement read.

According to Rowling, the name - which was originally Potterer - dates back to an 'eccentric' wizard named Linfred of Stinchcombe.

The 50-year-old author reveals that Linfred made his fortune coming up with magical cures for the common cold and broken bones, which later became the subject of Potions, taught at Hogwarts.

Blast from the past: Fans can read all about Harry's family tree in the new story. Pictured are Daniel Radcliffe as Harry (R) and Rupert Grint as his sidelkick Ron Weasley (L) in the film franchise

The short story was accompanied by a complete sleek and sophisticated new site look, which fits Rowling's hopes of it remaining the 'digital heart' of the wizarding world.

The statement continued: 'Pottermore.com now includes more content than ever before and is designed to be consumed in a completely different way to the original site, which was launched in 2012.

'The new site contains entertaining features, commentary and articles about the Harry Potter series and the wider Wizarding World.'

History: The Potter family dates back to an 'eccentric' wizard named Linfred of Stinchcombe, who is credited with inventing the wizarding world's famous potions

It also announced the appointment of a 'Pottermore Correspondent', a journalist whose job is to keep fans up to date with all the magical news, including gossip about the forthcoming Warner Bros. film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, starring Eddie Redmayne.

The redesign hasn't gone down well with some fans, however, with many complaining that they miss the old interactive experience and games and some even launching online petitions to change it.

While some were enthusiastic about the new features, with one enthusing, 'I feel so blessed with this new @pottermore', others lamented, 'How much can I cry about Pottermore's new design?'.

Mixed reviews: Fans are divided about the website's complete redesign, with many mourning the loss of the interatcive features

MOST WATCHED NEWS VIDEOS

Comments (65)

Share what you think

View all

The comments below have not been moderated.

View all

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now

More top stories

Like DailyMail
Follow MailOnline
Follow DailyMail
+1 DailyMail

Femail Today

Progresso

40 Delicious Flavors 100 calories or less.

more

DON'T MISS

Today's headlines
Most Read

MORE HEADLINES