J.K. Rowling is exploring more of the wizarding world of North America, as we get even closer to the release of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. She just released a brand new story on Pottermore, which explains the origins of the North American wizarding school, Ilvermorny, and its founder, Isolt Sayre. Sayre has to protect her two young daughters from an evil witch who comes to call in the middle of the night. If that sounds familiar, it's definitely a similar set-up to the last night Harry Potter spent with his parents before they died trying to protect him. But in this new story, it's the mother who runs off to fight the magical intruder, while the dad stands guard in the nursery.
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A passage in the story, titled, "Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," explains as Sayre's evil aunt comes to attack the family, "Isolt screamed at James to go to the girls: She ran to assist her adoptive sons, Slytherin’s wand in her hand."
Instead of James Potter yelling for his wife to protect their son, as he goes off to fight Voldemort, Sayre tells her husband (James Steward) that she'll be the one to protect their home and family, and he should watch over the children.
The original Harry Potter series has no shortage of powerful female characters. Harry and Ron would still be searching for Horcruxes if it wasn't for Hermione; Mrs. Weasley is clearly the protector in her family, and no professor was more valuable during the battle of Hogwarts than Professor McGonagall. But Rowling creating this extremely specific parallel between this story and the night Harry got his scar, down to the fathers' names, seems to be a deliberate move to put a mother as the active, fighting protector. Maybe she's hinting at even more girl power in the upcoming HP movie?