New JK Rowling writing reveals Harry Potter's family history in revamped Pottermore

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In the newly relaunched Pottermore website, JK Rowling reveals the ancestry of The Boy Who Lived.

The once interactive Pottermore website was recently relaunched and with it is a new story released by JK Rowling about the family history of the Potters.

According to Rowling, Potter is an ancient name in both the wizarding and muggle world but did not make it to the pureblood's "Sacred Twenty-Eight" list however "illustrious" its beginnings. It all begun with an eccentric wizard named Linfred of Stinchcombe. The "Potter" was shortened from "the Potterer," the town's beloved monicker of the man who loved to fumble with plants and cures which helped the people. He was also credited as the originator of well-known remedies such as the Skele-gro and Pepperup Potion.

Linfred had seven children and was able to leave wealth for all of them. The eldest son, Hardwin, married Iolanthe Peverell, a native of Godric's Hollow and the granddaughter of Ignotus Peverell, inherited her family's invisibility cloak. It was then how the invisibility cloak came to the Potter family as it was traditionally passed on to the eldest children in each generation.

It was revealed that the Potter bloodline was not really pure as they married non-magical folk. But as to how the Potters were left out of the pureblood "Sacred Twenty-Eight" is not for this reason. Two Potters have sat on the Wizengamot, the wizarding high court of law. First was Ralston Potter, a Statue of Secrecy Supporter, a law which hides the wizarding community from Muggles or non-magical people from the wizarding world.

The second one was Henry Potter, a direct descendant of Hardwin and Iolanthe. His deeds led to the exclusion of the Potters from the pureblood list. During his time, Henry admonished Archer Evermonde, the Minister for Magic who issued a neutral stance from helping any Muggle in the First World War.

Henry's son, Fleamont Potter, made a fortune with his wife Euphemia from making Sleekeazy's Hair Potion. The product of their union was James and the couple lived long enough to see their son marry Lily Evans before they perished from dragon pox. As the only son, James inherited the family's Invisibility Cloak, one of the Deathly Hallows.

While some embraced the newly-designed Pottermore website, others were not so keen to join the bandwagon. According to the report by Time, fans took to the internet to express their disappointment and unhappiness over the new changes.

The Pottermore Correspondent (TPC) explained why the new website was relaunched.

"Like any good universe the wizarding world keeps expanding, and Pottermore will expand with it. We'll bring you new stories, new magical experiences, new interviews, and new sneaky-peeks behind the scenes every day until the end of time and/or the Internet."

As to where the old website went, TPC explained that it was "shut down" as it will be replaced with more content in the form of movies, plays, books, writing, places, back stories and characters.