Caption: Alexis Barcia dives in author J.K. Rowling’s book, “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.” She is getting into the spirit for the upcoming story to be released on Halloween night.
This Halloween, J.K. Rowling, the author of the famed Harry Potter series, is releasing a never-before seen short story from the Harry Potter universe about a certain professor everyone loves to hate: Dolores Umbridge.
According to the Nerdist website, Rowling announced the upcoming story on Pottermore on Friday, bringing forth another trickle of new information into the world of the boy wizard. This is not the first time she has released new information despite her insistence that she would not be writing another book. In July, she released a fictitious news story from Daily Prophet reporter Rita Skeeter, detailing Harry and his friends’ attendance at the 2014 World Cup.
Rowling also released a small story on the famed wizarding entertainer and Molly Weasley’s favorite artist, Celestina Warbeck. According to Variety magazine, the story will bring an intimate, first-person view to the life of Dolores Umbridge, whose name sends shivers up the spines of fans everywhere.
For those unaware of the wizarding world, Umbridge first appeared in the fifth book of the series, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” where her sickeningly sweet simper hid a mean and bitter heart. Umbridge is best known for foul deeds such as a scar-creating quill that uses blood as ink from the hand of the user, for using Mad-eye Moody’s eye on her doorway and for the many, many decorative ceramic plates of frilly kittens that she keeps in her office.
Many students and Potterheads are excited about the story’s release and are eager for another scrap of the magical world since the release of the last book and film of the series.
Doug Gatewood, a freshman kinesiotherapy major and member of USM’s quidditch team, said he looks forward to the story’s release. “I’m very excited about the new story,” he said, “even though it is about Umbridge.”
Caitlin Nash, a freshman music major, agreed with Gatewood that while she was hesitant about a story about “that pig of a woman,” she remained excited for new material.
“I’ve loved Rowling’s series since I was little and I’m glad I can still experience the hype of waiting for a new story from the (Harry Potter) world even as an adult,” she said. “I’m extremely curious to see what new information (Rowling will) bring to the (Harry Potter) world.”
Rowling is also working on a script for an adaptation to the spinoff novel “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” with the first installment to the film trilogy due to be released Nov. 2016.
For more exciting developments in the wizarding world of Harry Potter, keep an eye on Pottermore as well as Rowling’s personal Twitter.
