Author JK Rowling traces Harry Potter’s family tree back to the middle ages

Author JK Rowling is venturing further into the magical world of Harry Potter by tracing “the quiet brand of ingenuity” of the Potter family back to the 12th century in a new piece of writing on her website, Pottermore.

Apparently, the Potter name begins with the 12th-century wizard Linfred of Stinchcombe, “a locally well-beloved and eccentric man, whose nickname, ‘the Potterer’, became corrupted in time to ‘Potter'”. Rowling goes into great detail about the ancestors that followed. An extract reads:

“Occasionally, a Potter made it all the way to London, and a member of the family has twice sat on the Wizengamot: Ralston Potter, who was a member from 1612-1652, and who was a great supporter of the Statute of Secrecy (as opposed to declaring war on the Muggles, as more militant members wished to do) and Henry Potter (Harry to his intimates), who was a direct descendant of Hardwin and Iolanthe, and served on the Wizengamot from 1913 – 1921.

“Henry caused a minor stir when he publicly condemned then Minister for Magic, Archer Evermonde, who had forbidden the magical community to help Muggles waging the First World War. His outspokenness on the behalf of the Muggle community was also a strong contributing factor in the family’s exclusion from the ‘Sacred Twenty-Eight’.”

The Potter Family update is to mark the launch of the redesigned and relaunched Harry Potter website. Definitely made us smile this morning.