JK Rowling Latest News, Photos, and Videos

Have you been really wishing that there were more Harry Potter books? Well, your wishes are about to be answered because more are on their way!

Announced on Pottermore, author J.K. Rowling will be releasing four new books next month, based on the lessons Harry and his friends studied at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The website promises the books “will take you back in time once again to learn about the traditional folklore and magic at the heart of the Harry Potter stories.”

“In addition to exploring the origins of magic through history and folklore, the eBook shorts will also feature notes, manuscript pages and charming sketches as previously seen in ‘Harry Potter: A History of Magic.’”

The first two of the quartet of books – “Harry Potter: A Journey Through Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts” and “Harry Potter: A Journey Through Potions and Herbology” – will be available on Pottermore on June 27th.

After the Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald trailer debuted this week, the internet had a lot to say about Claudia Kim‘s casting as Nagini.

Fans of the series called out author JK Rowling about casting an Asian actor as the character, who goes on to become a submissive snake to Voldemort.

However, the author defended Claudia‘s casting as the famous snake, explaining why she was chosen in the first place.

“The Naga are snake-like mythical creatures of Indonesian mythology, hence the name ‘Nagini,’” she wrote. “They are sometimes depicted as winged, sometimes as half-human, half-snake. Indonesia comprises a few hundred ethnic groups, including Javanese, Chinese and Betawi. Have a lovely day.”

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald opens nationwide on November 16th.

Taylor Swift just wrapped the European leg of her reputation Stadium Tour and she had two of the UK’s biggest stars show up to her concert in London!

The 28-year-old singer snapped selfies backstage with Grammy-winning singer Adele and “Harry Potter” author JK Rowling.

“I’m so grateful for these women, for the words they’ve written and the worlds they’ve created through their art.. so stoked to have you at the show in London @adele and JK ❤️. Always,” Taylor captioned the pic on Instagram.

Taylor also had special performances from Niall Horan and Robbie Williams during her two shows in London this past weekend.

The North American dates on the reputation Stadium Tour continue on June 30 through October 6!

J.K. Rowling is spilling on which Harry Potter chapter was particularly difficult to write.

The author made the revelation on Twitter this week after a fan asked her for advice on struggling with rewrites.

“Chapter 9, Goblet of Fire nearly finished me,” J.K. responded. “I rewrote it more times than I can now remember. You’ll get there.”

Chapter nine in the fourth Harry Potter book is titled “The Dark Mark.” It follows Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys as they head to watch the Quidditch World Cup. It’s also the same chapter in which Death Eaters attack their campsite and all the Muggles in the area.

It’s basically Harry’s first taste of what the first wizarding war was like so, we get it.

When another fan called her work “flawless,” J.K. said wisely, “Certainly not flawlessly, but I did it. Never wait in expectation of perfection or you’ll wait forever. Do the best you can with what you’ve got and be one of those who dared rather than those who merely dream. And thank you x.”

We’ve all heard the story about author JK Rowling‘s pitch for Harry Potter being rejected not just once, or twice, but 12 times before Bloomsbury said yes — and now, the original pitch has been revealed!

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of “Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone”, the original pitch has gone on display at the new Harry Potter: A History Of Magic exhibition at London’s British Library and we’re definitely still scratching our heads about how 11 other publishers said no to it — because it’s just as magical as you’d expect!

Check out the first page of the pitch below:

Harry Potter lives with his aunt, uncle and cousin because his parents died in a car-crash – or so he has been told. The Dursleys don’t like Harry asking questions; in fact, they don’t seem to like anything about him, especially the very odd things that keep happening around him (which Harry himself can’t explain).

The Dursleys’ greatest fear is that Harry will discover the truth about himself, so when letters start arriving for him near his eleventh birthday, he isn’t allowed to read them. However, the Dursleys aren’t dealing with an ordinary postman, and at midnight on Harry’s birthday the gigantic Rubeus Hagrid breaks down the door to make sure Harry gets to read his post at last. Ignoring the horrified Dursleys, Hagrid informs Harry that he is a wizard, and the letter he gives Harry explains that he is expected at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in a month’s time.

To the Dursleys’ fury, Hagrid also reveals the truth about Harry’s past. Harry did not receive the scar on his forehead in a car-crash; it is really the mark of the great dark sorcerer Voldemort, who killed Harry’s mother and father but mysteriously couldn’t kill him, even though he was a baby at the time. Harry is famous among the witches and wizards who live in secret all over the country because Harry’s miraculous survival marked Voldemort’s downfall.

So Harry, who has never had friends or family worth the name, sets off for a new life in the wizarding world. He takes a trip to London with Hagrid to buy his Hogwarts equipment (robes, wand, cauldron, beginners’ draft and potion kit) and shortly afterwards, sets off for Hogwarts from Kings Cross Station (platform nine and three quarters) to follow in his parents’ footsteps.

Harry makes friends with Ronald Weasley (sixth in his family to go to Hogwarts and tired of having to use second-hand spellbooks) and Hermione Granger (cleverest girl in the year and the only person in the class to know all the uses of dragon’s blood). Together, they have their first lessons in magic – astronomy up on the tallest tower at two in the morning, herbology out in the greenhouses where the…

September 1st, 2017 marks the official “19 Years Later” from Harry Potter, and author JK Rowling, and fans across the world are giving us all the feels about it.

Albus Severus Potter, Rose Granger-Weasley, and Scorpius Malfoy have officially started their magical journey at Hogwarts and fans across the world are celebrating.

“Today’s the day Albus Severus Potter boards the Hogwarts Express at King’s Cross for the first time #19yearslater,” author JK remembered on Twitter.

It gets even better when you see that muggles gathered in London’s King’s Cross Station to celebrate said day and it makes us sad that we aren’t there too.

Together, a packed crowd counted down the minutes until 11 a.m. – the exact time when the Hogwarts Express promptly departs the station. We mean, how cool is this?

Happy first year Albus, Scorpius and Rose!

Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and people are celebrating appropriately – mastermind J.K. Rowling included, who tweeted about the milestone.

The author of the seven-book series also disclosed on Pottermore earlier this year that when wizards poop, they used to use magic to get rid of the evidence.

OMG! We 1,000 percent did not need to know this.

“Hogwarts’ plumbing became more elaborate in the eighteenth century (this was a rare instance of wizards copying Muggles, because hitherto they simply relieved themselves wherever they stood, and vanished the evidence),” she wrote on the website.

The more you know. Now where is Professor Lockhart? We need a memory charm to get this visual out of our heads.