Harry Potter returns... as a grown up

Harry Potter fans have been offered a glimpse into the teenage wizard’s future after JK Rowling resurrected her hero for a new short story that reunites him with his old friends at a Hogwarts School reunion.

The 1,500-word story, published on the writer’s Pottermore website, describes the now 34-year-old Harry as having “threads of silver” in his black hair.

Ron Weasley, played in the hit films by Rupert Grint, has aged less well with his ginger hair “thinning slightly”. His wife Hermione, Harry’s wife Ginny, and their children all feature.

Rowling also gives fans a hint of Harry’s new life by describing a mysterious cut over his cheekbone which signifies his membership of a top-secret group of wizards called the Aurors.

The story is set during a Quidditch tournament — the fictional sport played by the student wizards on flying broomsticks in the best-selling books that is so popular with fans that they have adapted a version of the game that can be played.

Rowling hit the headlines recently when she stated her support for a No vote in the Scottish independence referendum, a £1m (€1.2m) donation to Better Together and a blog detailing the “serious risks” of independence.

The Harry Potter author, who lives in Edinburgh, has just published her second crime thriller under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

The real identity of Robert Galbraith was revealed last year and sent the first novel, The Cuckoo’s Calling, to the top of book charts.

She accepted a substantial donation to charity from the law firm which breached her confidentiality by revealing she was writing under a pseudonym.

Only a handful of trusted advisers, family, and friends were initially aware of Galbraith’s true identity until the story made global headlines.