JK Rowling reveals Potter family history on new Pottermore site

Today Pottermore is featuring “The Potter Family” in “Writings by J.K. Rowling“, which can be read here.

In the new essay, Rowling explains that “the Potter family is a very old one, but it was never (until the birth of Harry James Potter) at the very forefront of wizarding history”.

J.K. Rowling has revealed Harry Potter’s family tree on her redesigned website Pottermore.

Started in 2012 as a homebase for ebook versions of her famous novels, Pottermore has become the exclusive home of new stories set in the world of the books thanks to Rowling’s protection of her digital publishing rights. “So, rather than hiding Harry in a hallway, you could imagine such a cloak one day concealing something like a micro-sized listening device on a wall or mirror”. From this time on, the cloak was handed down to the eldest in each new generation, ultimately making its way into James Potter’s hands before being passed on to Harry.

“Taking into account Harry’s past and his family name, she reaches back into Potter folklore, all the way to the 12th century and a “locally well-beloved and eccentric” potion maker named Linfred of Stinchcombe, nicknamed ‘The Potterer”. For centuries, the Potters fought to protect the Muggles, fighting against declaring war on the them and even campaigning to help them during the First World War. The entire post is certainly worth reading for a healthy dose of Rowling-isms, but we’ll certainly do our best to recap (because honestly, who has time these days?). Because his neighbors were unaware of his wizard status, Linfred managed to create a booming business and put aside gold for his children and their families.

For years, fans have wondered how the Potter family came to be so rich, especially given that Harry’s parents, Lily and James, were only 21 when they were murdered by Lord Voldemort.

And now, in what’s probably a brilliant PR move to drive people to her new website, Rowling has bequeathed upon Potter fans a new story.

On Monday, September 14th, Maria Pogge Johnson stood in front of a large group of Buena Vista University (BVU) students and discussed the religious division of Christians over the Harry Potter book series.