While she may have retired Harry Potter and his friends (though she hasn’t stopped thinking about their relationships and sex lives), J.K. Rowling never wandered far from Hogwarts.
In September, she and Warner Bros. announced that she would be writing the screenplay for the movie adaptation of her book “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” and she’s similarly continued to expand the wizarding world with her website, Pottermore.com. On Friday, she released the first chapter in a new, 2,400-word story about the Quidditch World Cup.
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Although Quidditch has been part of the Potter series from the beginning, and Harry and Ron even attend the massive World Cup in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” which was released in 2000, Rowling’s new story seems to take direct inspiration from the logistical struggles of the Sochi Olympics and upcoming FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
“The ICWQC [International Confederations of Wizards Quidditch Committee] has the unlucky job of regulating this contentious and anarchic competition,” Rowling writes. “A source of vehement disagreements, a security risk for all who attend it and a frequent focus for unrest and protest, the Quidditch World Cup is simultaneously the most exhilarating sporting event on earth and a logistical nightmare for the host nation.”
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The chapter goes on to list some of the most controversial rules and moments in the tournament, which stretches back to 1473, including not just the Death Eater-driven events of “Goblet of Fire,” but also the “Attack of the Killer Forest” in 1809 and “Royston Idelwind and the Dissimulators” of 1971.
Read the chapter on Pottermore.