Notwithstanding rumours, 'Harry Potter' author J.K. Rowling announced on her fantasy website 'Pottermore' that she is 'not' releasing a set of 12 new short stories.
She wrote: "Sorry to disappoint fans, but there will not be a set of 12 new short stories, one for each day of Christmas."
According to several media reports, earlier an email from the website had announced that every morning at 8, there would be a surprise posting from the author Friday onwards. The promise was that there would be "brand new writing from J.K. Rowling and even a new potion or two," New York Daily News reports.
Fans celebrated as their wishes were being granted even before Christmas. However, the truth is rather heartbreaking. Taking notice of the continuous rumours, Rowling decided to clarify the issue on her site that fans religiously follow in hopes of more "howlers".
The complete post on 'Pottermore' read: "Just to put everyone straight on the misleading media reports of 'Twelve New Stories for Christmas'. As true Potter fans worked out straight away, our 12 days of festive surprises and accompanying rhyming riddles refer to new potions and Moments in addition to several new entries by J.K. Rowling that will be posted on pottermore.com between 12th and 23rd December. Sorry to disappoint fans, but there will not be a set of 12 new short stories, ome for each day of Christmas. Even Pottermore wouldn't be that generous."
Rowling remained active on the site as she kept posting new stories this year. One such story released around mid-summer showed fans a glimpse of Harry Potter who is about to turn 34 and other members of the gang after Hogwarts. While Potter's hair has noticeable 'threads of silver', Ron Weasley's hair "appears to be slightly thinning". It was the first time Rowling wrote something about the beloved characters since her last book that was published seven years ago, Deadline reports.
