Rowling writes story about 30-plus Harry Potter

J K Rowling has written a new piece about a thirty-something Harry Potter and his friends at the final of the Quidditch World Cup 2014 for her website Pottermore.com.

The 1,500-word long piece was posted on the site today (8th July).

The story marks the first time Rowling has portrayed the characters as adults with careers and families following the epilogue of the final book in the Harry Potter series.

Rowling has written the article from the perspective of her character Rita Skeeter, infamous gossip columnist of the wizarding world’s newspaper, the Daily Prophet, whom Harry has encountered before in the books. Skeeter casts a bitchy eye over Harry Potter and his family and friends at the Quidditch world cup final.

In the article, Harry, now turning 34, and accompanied by his sons James and Albus, has “threads of silver” in his black hair, and also sports a mysterious new scar over his cheekbone, which Skeeter deduces has been inflicted as part of his top-secret career as an Auror, a specialist officer trained to apprehend evil wizards. Harry is also described as having distinctive round glasses that are “better suited to a style-deficient 12-year-old”. His wife, Ginny, is reporting on the tournament, leading Rita to question whether she really has the talent for it or whether being married to Harry has opened some doors.
 
The career of his friend Ron Weasley, whose “famous ginger hair appears to be thinning slightly”, is also examined by Skeeter. He co-manages his brother's joke emporium Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, while Hermione is now a rising star in the Ministry of Magic, as well as a mother to two children. “Does Hermione Granger prove that a witch can have it all? (No – look at her hair),” says Rita.

Other characters targeted by her poisonous pen include Neville Longbottom, who Rita suggests has a drink problem, and Teddy Lupin, Harry’s godson who is now 16 and described as “behaving in a way unbefitting of wizarding royalty since arriving on the VIP campsite”.

Despite the departure, Rowling's spokesperson said the author had "no plans" to write any further stories about the older Harry.

Rowling has been writing about Quidditch for Pottermore since March 2014.  Her final Quidditch World Cup article for Pottermore will be published on 11th July and will be a report on the final between Brazil and Bulgaria, echoing the FIFA World Cup Final in Brazil two days later.