7 New Facts About Harry Potter's Family History, Courtesy of J.K. Rowling

Pottermore, the "Harry Potter"-centric website that allows fans of the series to celebrate their love of all things magical, is officially relaunching with loads of new features Tuesday, and to celebrate, author J.K. Rowling has shared some all-new details about her titular character's family history.

In an essay on Pottermore titled "The Potter Family," Rowling penned a lengthy examination of the origins of the wizarding clan, stretching back to the 12th century. The whole thing is worth a read, but we've collected below some of the most notable trivia that Rowling revealed.

1. The family's origins can be traced back to a wizard named Linfred of Stinchcombe, "whose nickname, 'the Potterer,' became corrupted in time to 'Potter.'"

2. Linfred was a skilled potions master, and developed remedies that eventually became known as Skele-gro (which was infamously used on Harry in "Chamber of Secrets") and Pepperup Potion.

3. The invisibility cloak entered the Potter family through the marriage of Linfred's son, Hardwin, to Iolanthe Peverell of Godric's Hollow. She was the granddaughter of Ignotus Peverell, one of the infamous three brothers referenced in the "Deathly Hallows" fable, and inherited the cloak after his death. The cloak -- kept a family secret -- has been passed down to the eldest member of every generation in the Potter family ever since.

4. Two members of the Potter family have sat on the Wizengamot, the highest court of law in the British wizarding world, and both were notable for their compassion toward muggles. One of them was Henry Potter -- also known by the nickname Harry -- who was a direct descendant of Hardwin and Iolanthe.

5. Thanks in part to their kindness toward muggles and defiance of the magical establishment (traits that sounds awfully familiar), the Potter family was excluded from the "Sacred Twenty-Eight," which Rowling said was a "supposedly definitive list of pure-bloods."

6. Henry's son, Fleamont, carried on Linfred Potter's skill for potions and entrepreneurial spirit by creating Sleekeazy's Hair Potion (which Hermione used before the Yule Ball in "The Goblet of Fire"), and quadrupled the family's fortune when he sold the company. (This is no doubt the source of most of the gold in Harry's Gringott's vault, which he discovers in "The Sorcerer's Stone.")

7. Fleamont and his wife, Euphemia, were the parents of James, Harry's father, who married muggle Lily Evans. They died of dragon pox before the birth of their grandson, Harry, and Fleamont's invisibility cloak was passed down to James.

[via: Pottermore]



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