Author J.K. Rowling has posted a new story centered around Harry Potter and his allies from Dumbledore’s Army, and fans can now read the 1500 word piece for free without a Pottermore registration.
Since March, Rowling has been writing original stories about the imaginary 2014 Quidditch World Cup Finals for the official Harry Potter site. Rowling penned the latest short story to celebrate the opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter‘s Diagon Alley extension at Universal Orlando, making it available free online through Today.com. Written from the perspective of gossipy Daily Prophet reporter Rita Skeeter, the post centers around the reunion of Harry Potter and his friends at the Quidditch World Cup Finals.
Check out an excerpt below:
About to turn 34, there are a couple of threads of silver in the famous Auror’s black hair, but he continues to wear the distinctive round glasses that some might say are better suited to a style-deficient twelve-year-old. The famous lightning scar has company: Potter is sporting a nasty cut over his right cheekbone. Requests for information as to its provenance merely produced the usual response from the Ministry of Magic: ‘We do not comment on the top secret work of the Auror department, as we have told you no less than 514 times, Ms. Skeeter.’ So what are they hiding? Is the Chosen One embroiled in fresh mysteries that will one day explode upon us all, plunging us into a new age of terror and mayhem?
Or does his injury have a more humble origin, one that Potter is desperate to hide? Has his wife perhaps cursed him? Are cracks beginning to show in a union that the Potters are determined to promote as happy? Should we read anything into the fact that his wife Ginevra has been perfectly happy to leave her husband and children behind in London whilst reporting on this tournament? The jury is out on whether she really had the talent or experience to be sent to the Quidditch World Cup (jury’s back in – no!!!) but let’s face it, when your last name is Potter, doors open, international sporting bodies bow and scrape, and Daily Prophet editors hand you plum assignments.
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The story also reveals what Harry’s cohorts Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood are up to following the events of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” as well as giving updates on Ron’s brothers and Harry’s godson Teddy Lupin. Needless to say, from Rita Skeeter’s dramatic perspective, trouble is still brewing in Harry’s world, but discerning fans can debate exactly how many of the tabloid journalist’s salacious observations are accurate.
Check out the new Harry Potter short story in its entirety here.
