lemonwade

Your first Halloween treat today: Reading Pottermore‘s latest feature, a 1700-word exploration of the despicable Dolores Umbridge—written, naturally, by J.K. Rowling herself. (In the movies, Dolores is play by the great Imelda Staunton, pictured, currently triumphing in the UK in “Gypsy.”) The Harry Potter author calls Umbridge—onetime Hogwarts professor, current Azkaban resident, and one of the primary antagonists of the series’ fifth installment—”one of the characters for whom I feel the purest dislike.” She reveals that Umbridge was inspired by a real person, a former teacher or instructor of Rowling’s whom she “disliked intensely on sight.” (This admission should be a pretty big deal for hardcore Potterheads, since Rowling has claimed previously that smarmy Gilderoy Lockhart is the only Potter character based directly on a real person.)

by Brendan Lemon | 10/31/14 | Leave a comment |