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J.K. Rowling will release a new piece about a 'Harry Potter' character. Who is it?

The new work will be posted on the Pottermore website on Oct. 31.

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Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Imelda Staunton (center) stars as Dolores Umbridge in the 'Harry Potter' films.
  • By Molly Driscoll Staff Writer

The “Harry Potter” books, with their witches and spooky creatures like Dementors, fit in pretty well with Halloween, and “Potter” author J.K. Rowling is celebrating the holiday this year by releasing a new piece on the Pottermore website on Oct. 31. 

On Pottermore, Rowling has previously published new work like a piece on “Potter” singer Celestina Warbeck and a story written like a news report that detailed Harry, his wife Ginny, and their friends, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Luna attending the sporting event the Quidditch World Cup.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the new work will focus on evil Hogwarts teacher Dolores Umbridge. 

“The new exclusive J.K. Rowling content provides a rich, 1,700-word back story about Umbridge’s life filled with many new details, as well as Rowling’s revealing first-person thoughts and reflections about the character,” the Pottermore site reads. 

In the “Potter” universe, Dolores Umbridge is an employee of the Ministry of Magic, the governing body of the magic world, who comes to serve as a teacher at Hogwarts and then is promoted to headmistress and Hogwarts High Inquisitor when the government decides it needs more control over Hogwarts. She used corporal punishment to keep the Hogwarts students in line but was finally driven out of the school, though Harry and his friends encountered her later when they were trying to bring down the villain Voldemort. 

Actress Imelda Staunton won widespread acclaim for her portrayal of Umbridge in the “Potter” films, with Entertainment Weekly critic Lisa Schwarzbaum calling her “showstopping” and New York Times critic A.O. Scott writing that “Ms. Staunton joins an astonishing ensemble of serious actors who, in the best British tradition, refuse to condescend to the material, earning their paychecks and the gratitude of the grown-ups in the audience.”

Rowling recently tantalized fans with a hint over Twitter about the upcoming film “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” for which she is writing the screenplay. “Fantastic” is set in the universe of “Harry Potter” and focuses on magical creatures expert Newt Scamander, who “Potter” fans know as the author of a textbook titled “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” that Harry and his friends use in school. She posted,

and later added that,

The author is also writing new books for her Cormoran Strike mystery series, which she releases under the pen name Robert Galbraith. Rowling has written two books, “The Cuckoo’s Calling” and “The Silkworm,” in the series so far.

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