Harry Potter’s family history revealed in new J.K. Rowling post

Harry Potter fans have some homework to do.

J.K. Rowling has written a new article for the Pottermore website, posted this week, going into the family history of the Potter family.

The article, simply title “The Potter Family,” traces the lineage of Harry’s family all the way back to the 12th century, where they apparently descended from the wizard Linfred of Stinchcombe, a “locally well-beloved and eccentric man, whose nickname, ‘the Potterer,’ became corrupted in time to ‘Potter.’”

The article also explains how the Potter family became in possession of the Invisibility Cloak, which helped Harry through all seven books of the series and became an important plot point in the final novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Rowling writes:

“Linfred’s eldest son, Hardwin, married a beautiful young witch by the name of Iolanthe Peverell, who came from the village of Godric’s Hollow. She was the granddaughter of Ignotus Peverell. In the absence of male heirs, she, the eldest of her generation, had inherited her grandfather’s invisibility cloak. It was, Iolanthe explained to Hardwin, a tradition in her family that the possession of this cloak remained a secret, and her new husband respected her wishes. From this time on, the cloak was handed down to the eldest in each new generation.”

You can read the full text of “.

Pottermore also announced Tuesday, via a news release, a re-designed mobile-first website.

The site, launched in 2012, will also feature content by what they are calling “the Pottermore Correspondent,” who will be “a journalist dedicated to reporting on all the latest updates going on in the Wizarding World.”

There was no information about who this correspondent might be.