J.K. Rowling has released a new 'Harry Potter' story online

J.K. Rowling has written a new story about Harry Potter, featuring the character as an adult for the first time since the conclusion of her book series nearly seven years ago. The story is the latest in a series about the the Quidditch World Cup that Rowling has been writing over at Pottermore for a few months now in anticipation of the actual World Cup. Written from the perspective of gossip journalist Rita Skeeter — a name that's also out of the Harry Potter books — the column runs across details on Harry at age 34, as well as his wife, his closest friends, and a few other of the series' recurring characters.

There's not necessarily a lot for fans to take away — these are mostly surface level observations and sketchy information from a gossip columnist, after all — but there are a few new details on what Harry, Hermione, and Ron have all been up to in the years since Rowling left them. That's certainly more than fans have been expecting, as Rowling has said in the past that she's done with Harry's story. Don't expect her to break the rule again anytime soon though: Rowling's spokesperson tells The Bookseller that she has "no plans" to write additional Potter stories.

There will be more stories in the Harry Potter world, however. Rowling is writing the screenplay for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the first in a new movie series set in her "wizarding world." The movie will take place 70 years before the events of the  Harry Potter books, and it's currently scheduled for release on November 18th, 2016. There's no word on how many films will follow it or how closely Rowling will be involved after that, but it's easy to imagine that with the series' continued popularity that Rowling and Warner Bros. won't be quick to let it go.

Rowling at the premiere of the final Harry Potter film. Credit: Featureflash / Shutterstock.

And even though Rowling may not be interested in writing much more about Harry, she has been known to add new insights into the universe and even do a bit of post-publication editing. Earlier this year, Rowling said that she had made a mistake by not having Harry and Hermione end up together. Pairing Hermione and Ron, she said, was a matter of sticking to her original outline for the series, rather than letting the relationships go where they should have as the series evolved.

For the most part though, Rowling has been trying to build the rest of her career around new stories. Most notably, she even published a detective novel under a pseudonym in order to avoid publicity for it, allowing the novel to succeed or fail on its own. It's a bold decision, and it's one that we may well still not know about had her authorship not leaked out to the press.

Rowling's new Harry Potter story is available to read at Pottermore, but the site is crawling right now and largely inaccessible (you can probably make an educated guess as to why). You'll also have to create an account at Pottermore and be logged in to read it. Fortunately, the full text of Rowling's story has been reprinted over at Today, which seems to be the best place to start reading. The Bookseller reports that Rowling will publish a final Quidditch World Cup story on Friday.

SOURCE:http://www.theverge.com/