JK Rowling Explores Harry Potter Grown Up in New Short Story

[Blackwell Stith]

JK Rowling Explores Harry Potter Grown Up in New Short Story

The wizard and his compatriots tackle their biggest challenge yet- adulthood.

JK Rowling has offered fans a glimpse into the future of "The Boy Who Lived" by resurrected her hero for a new short story that reunites him with his old friends at a Hogwarts school reunion. The 1,500-word story has been published on the Pottermore [https://www.pottermore.com/en-us/] website, and is written from the point of view of Rita Skeeter, the journalist in charge of a gossip column found in the wizard newspaper The Daily Prophet. Set to the backdrop of a Quidditch tournament, the story notes that Harry (now 33) has silver streaks in his hair and still wears his glasses- which according to her are "better suited to a style-deficient 12-year-old".

Rowling describes aspects of Harry's new life by alluding to a mysterious cut over his cheekbone, which apparently signifies his membership to a top-secret group of wizards called the Aurors. The author also includes details about Hermione, Ginny, and Ron- who apparently left his job at the Ministry of Magic and may be dealing with mental disabilities.

Despite the piece focusing on the current state of the Wizarding World, it also seems to be a sarcastic and hardly concealed dig at the media by Rowling. In the piece, Skeeter writes, "One always hesitates to invade the privacy of young people, but the fact is that anyone closely connected with Harry Potter reaps the benefits and must pay the penalty of public interest." Back in 2011, the famous author appeared before the Leveson Inquiry and described in detail the level of intrusion she was currently experiencing by journalists and the press.

Give us your thoughts about Harry Potter's latest adventure in the comments.

Source: Pottermore [http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/harry-potter-grown-up-revealed-3826816]


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[Eiv]

Can anyone actually find it?

 

[Blackwell Stith]

Can anyone actually find it?

You have to have an account on Pottermore in order to read the entire thing.

 

[Jadwick]

You have to sign up for an account on the website.

Alternatively some one figured out that no one wants to make a once-off account just to read a short story;
http://www.today.com/books/read-j-k-rowlings-new-post-latest-harry-potter-gossip-1D79887288

 

[Eiv]

You have to sign up for an account on the website.

Alternatively some one figured out that no one wants to make a once-off account just to read a short story;
http://www.today.com/books/read-j-k-rowlings-new-post-latest-harry-potter-gossip-1D79887288

Thanks for this. Decided to upload it to my guilds server as a text file too.

http://www.tbhorder.com/data/pfs/3357-QuidditchWorldCup.txt

 

[JoshuaMadoc]

33 and already having streaks of silver on his hair? Does Rowling live her life being surrounded by men suffering from rapid aging?

 

[Eiv]

33 and already having streaks of silver on his hair? Does Rowling live her life being surrounded by men suffering from rapid aging?

Yup, Scottish people

PS: I am one.

 

[Milten]

It was a fun read, but since when is a fake news article a short story?

 

[Skeleon]

33 and already having streaks of silver on his hair? Does Rowling live her life being surrounded by men suffering from rapid aging?

Oi, I'm 28 and have a couple of grey hairs, albeit not actual streaks as yet. It's pretty common, actually. That said, he might also have suffered some spell damage or whatever that causes it in him.

I'm more confused by the bit about Ron. Dealing with mental disabilities? As in, helping people? Or is he the one having the disabilities, which is more what it sounds like? Guess I'll have to read the thing, but if it's the latter, it only further solidifies the impression that she didn't really like Ron much anymore.

 

[DaWaffledude]

33 and already having streaks of silver on his hair? Does Rowling live her life being surrounded by men suffering from rapid aging?

Oi, I'm 28 and have a couple of grey hairs, albeit not actual streaks as yet. It's pretty common, actually. That said, he might also have suffered some spell damage or whatever that causes it in him.

I'm more confused by the bit about Ron. Dealing with mental disabilities? As in, helping people? Or is he the one having the disabilities? Guess I'll have to read the thing, but if it's the latter, it only further solidifies the impression that she didn't really like Ron much anymore.

In-universe, the piece is by a character called Rita Skeeter, a tabloid journalist notorious for stirring up controversies over nothing to help drive sales.

 

[Brian Tams]

33 and already having streaks of silver on his hair? Does Rowling live her life being surrounded by men suffering from rapid aging?

Considering how Harry spent the majority of his life trying to be murdered by a psuedo-immortal being, and then had to hoist both the wizarding world and the human world onto his back in order to save them, I wouldn't be shocked if he's aged from the immense amount of stress he was under.

 

[kajinking]

33 and already having streaks of silver on his hair? Does Rowling live her life being surrounded by men suffering from rapid aging?

Considering how Harry spent the majority of his life trying to be murdered by a psuedo-immortal being, and then had to hoist both the wizarding world and the human world onto his back in order to save them, I wouldn't be shocked if he's aged from the immense amount of stress he was under.

Yeah look up before and after pictures of presidents to really see what stress does to someone over 8 years

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I'm pinning Ron's "mental disabilities" on Rita Skeeter's tabloid journalism.

 

[james.sponge]

Kinda hope for the second series of books in which Harry purges the world of muggles, come on you know you would like that

 

[Thunderous Cacophony]

It was a fun read, but since when is a fake news article a short story?

It tells a story briefly; that's all I require to meet my criteria.

I'm more confused by the bit about Ron. Dealing with mental disabilities? As in, helping people? Or is he the one having the disabilities, which is more what it sounds like? Guess I'll have to read the thing, but if it's the latter, it only further solidifies the impression that she didn't really like Ron much anymore.

The part about Ron:

Spoiler

In the immediate aftermath of the battle Weasley, whose famous ginger hair appears to be thinning slightly, entered into employment with the Ministry of Magic alongside Potter, but left only two years later to co-manage the highly successful wizarding joke emporium Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Was he, as he stated at the time, "delighted to assist my brother George with a business I've always loved"? Or had he had his fill of standing in Potter's shadow? Was the work of the Auror Department too much for a man who has admitted that the destruction of He Who Could Not Be Named's Horcruxes "took its toll" on him? He shows no obvious signs of mental illness from a distance, but the public is not allowed close enough to make a proper assessment. Is this suspicious?

So yeah, she's just casting wild accusations and making assumptions to sell her version of the story. Rita Skeeter went to the Nancy Grace school of journalism.

OT: I enjoyed it. I remember being depressed by the epilogue and how trite it seemed, but this piece reminded me why I loved Rowling's work in the first place. I'm still undecided about the Fantastic Beasts movie, but it shows she still has good writing chops in her, at least.

 

[Loethlin]

Oh that *****! Not JK Rowling. The "story" was good, and reminded me why I hated hat ***** Rita Skeeter.
On the other hand, there is literally nothing new here. We knew all of what "Rita" writes there before. Waste of time, unless you like reading fake tabloids, or enjoy Rita Skeeter.

 

[JaceArveduin]

I'll have to read it sometime soon.

I'm still undecided about the Fantastic Beasts movie, but it shows she still has good writing chops in her, at least.

That's about how I am with it, though I'm starting to wonder if she'll do the Tolkien route and just keep adding to the depth of her current world. Not sure how she'd handle it, but I'd be willing to give it a shot.

 

[Roofstone]

Nostalgic, very much so. I quite liked it!

 

[sir neillios]

Let it be. Maybe the magic has died, maybe she was never a particularly good writer, but the piece feels like a short work of fanfiction, and to be honest it might as well be. Word-of-god doesn't necessarily make for engaging reading. It just felt like a tickbox exercise to make as many nods as possible to characters from the books.
Not hating on HP or anything, I loved them when I was younger.

 

[tzimize]

While I dont care much about HP anymore (the series had a great ending full of closure) I give her my full support in taking a stab at a rotten media. I loathe all the celeb news the world is drowning in. The only thing I loathe more are the people gulping it in without a second thought.

Kinda hope for the second series of books in which Harry purges the world of muggles, come on you know you would like that

One of the few interesting things to do further on in the series would be to corrupt a main character and tell that story. Your idea might sound like that, but honestly....that would just be telling the same story once more. Unless he actually succeeded...which is highly unlikely seeing as Voldemort was LOADS more powerful than Harry, and still failed.