Cancel your Halloween plans. Well, maybe just postpone them for an hour or two. J.K. Rowling has decided to make all of our Halloweens extra special this year. The prolific author will be publishing a new Harry Potter story on her website. And, it'll be a scary one.
The new tale will detail the life of Hogwarts professor Dolores Umbridge, who taught Defense Against the Dark Arts. She also served as the Minister for Magic's Senior Undersecretary. Oh, and she was evil. In one particularly heinous moment, she ordered Harry to scar himself with the phrase, "I must not tell lies." As of the end of the H.P. series, Umbridge was serving a life sentence in Azkaban for crimes against Muggle-borns. Good riddance.
According to The Independent, Pottermore.com promises the new story will be a "rich, 1700-word backstory about Umbridge's life, filled with many new details, as well as Rowling's revealing first-person thoughts and reflections about the character." For J.K. Rowling, Dolores Umbridge is one of the most evil characters in the Potter universe. "She is the only person other than Lord Voldemort to leave a permanent physical scar," according to the statement.
This news arrives hot on the heels of Rowling's announcement that she's working on the script for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. She's also halfway through her current book, which she revealed on Twitter as not a "romantic novel." We'd say, slow down, but let's be real: We'll take all the J.K. Rowling we can get. This new one is almost better than Halloween candy. Almost. (The Independent)