If it’s been a while since you’ve visited the Pottermore site, it’s definitely time to go take a look since it’s just been through a redesign. The ongoing home of all things Harry Potter on the web is now easier to use on mobile devices and also features a new unnamed Pottermore Correspondent who will be “dedicated to reporting on all the latest updates going on in the Wizarding World.” The Pottermore Correspondent — who is only described as a “HUGE Harry Potter fan” — will be providing updates on the fictional universe as well as things going on in the real world that are Potter-related. That includes the upcoming Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movie starring Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, and Colin Farrell as well as J.K. Rowling’s play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
But the new Pottermore isn’t only about the future of all things Potter — it’s also about the past. Rowling continues to expand the Harry Potter universe by delving deeper into the characters she’s already created and brand new on the site is an extended family history about the legendary Potter family. One of the subjects touched upon is the history of the Potter name:
In the Muggle world ‘Potter’ is an occupational surname, meaning a man who creates pottery. The wizarding family of Potters descends from the twelfth-century wizard Linfred of Stinchcombe, a locally well-beloved and eccentric man, whose nickname, ‘the Potterer’, became corrupted in time to ‘Potter’. Linfred was a vague and absent-minded fellow whose Muggle neighbours often called upon his medicinal services.
Rowling is always adding to this, so it’s nice to see that she’s not the only one who has a hard time letting go of the old Hogwarts crowd.
My gripe: Where do I go to get sorted into a school? I can’t find it anywhere. Bloody redesigns!
(via Time)