Harry Potter has returned in a short story posted online by J.K. Rowling that features her best-selling hero at a school reunion, approaching the age of 34 and showing a few gray hairs.
Written as an article in the fictional Daily Prophet newspaper under the headline "Dumbledore's Army Reunites at Quidditch World Cup Final," the 1,500-word story also features the two other main characters in the Harry Potter trio, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley — now married to each other.
Potter, Rowling writes, has clung to some aspects of his youth:
"About to turn 34, there are a couple of threads of silver in the famous . . . black hair, but he continues to wear the distinctive round glasses that some might say are better suited to a style-deficient 12-year-old."
As the trio watch the final of the Quidditch contest — the celebrated Hogwarts sport involving flying broomsticks and enchanted balls — Rita Skeeter, a vicious journalist from previous novels, discusses their lives in a gossip column.
The seven Harry Potter novels, the first of which was published in 1997, became the best-selling book series ever and has been adapted into a multibillion-dollar film franchise.
The new story is on Rowling's website Pottermore at www.pottermore.com/en/daily-prophet/qwc2014/2014-07-08/dumbledores-army-reunites