Pottermore weighs in on J.K. Rowling’s new Harry Potter E-books

Pottermore director of product Anna Rafferty talks about what fans can expect from the trio of new Harry Potter E-books now available for preorder.

Yesterday, an eagle-eyed Harry Potter fan noticed three new Potter-themed E-books available for preorder on Amazon (and Barnes & Noble and iBooks). All of them contain short stories about J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world, written by the woman herself. The books are:

• Short Stories from Hogwarts: Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists
• Short Stories from Hogwarts: Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies
• Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide

The books are being published under the “Pottermore Presents” banner, Pottermore being Rowling’s official home for all things Harry Potter on the web. The website didn’t weigh in when the news broke yesterday, but now it’s come out with an official announcement. Also, director of product Anna Rafferty spoke to Entertainment Weekly about what fans can expect.

“Hogwarts is the heart,” Raffaty said of the common link between the three books. “We’re able to curate around that the backstories for teachers, classmates, and families in that wizarding world.”

"While there is a focus on new parts of the wizarding world, we still love that existing story … We’ve got new writing on really well-loved characters like Minerva McGonagall and Horace Slughorn. In each of those stories, you see those themes being worked out, and you learn more about the characters — their personal lives, their story before Harry Potter, and their story afterwards. That’s really exciting."

Between this, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and Fantastic Beasts and where to find them, it really does feel like we’re in the middle of a Potter renaissance. Rafferty went on about the impetus behind the new books:

"We want to be able to allow those who might prefer reading an eBook as well as those reading on a website to have access to these useful vignettes and entries on J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world, because she’s written them for those readers. We had such a rich body of work to clip and connect that it was the theming and the curation of it as well as the reading that was such a joy putting it together. I really hope that fans enjoy taking the journey back to Hogwarts."

Some of the stories have already appeared on Pottermore, and some were written especially for these E-books. The website has printed a few new blurbs to go with the ones from yesterday. They’re pretty similar, but there are a couple new nuggets in there.

• “Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide dives into the nooks and crannies of the beloved wizarding school itself, unfurling everything from details about the Hogwarts ghosts, to what happens when the Sorting Hat can’t decide on a student’s house.”
• “Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists explores the darker roots of the wizarding world. You’ll learn more about the troubles that faced the Ministry of Magic, the horrors of Azkaban prison and enjoy an entirely new original piece of writing by J.K. Rowling on Horace Slughorn.”
• “Finally, in Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies, Pottermore celebrates the colourful staff of Hogwarts. There’s more to discover about Care of Magical Creatures teacher Silvanus Kettleburn, as well as another new piece of writing from J.K. Rowling on Minerva McGonagall, and her involvement in the second wizarding war.”

This is more than enough Potter to keep fans busy between now and Fantastic Beasts.

Next: Dan Fogler on his comic chemistry with Eddie Redmayne

The E-books will be available through Pottermore, and through other digital book retailers, on September 6. Rafferty says there are no plans for more, but that there are still corners of wizarding world left to explore. In other words: expect more sooner or later.