J.K. Rowling just keeps on adding more to her already glorious wizarding world.
People everywhere are freaking out because they've just stumbled upon the knowledge that there are actually two Harry Potters.
Well, kind of.
In a 2015 Pottermore post about the Potter family, Rowling, the creator of the series, shared that Harry's great-grandfather Henry Potter was also called Harry by his friends. The post has sparked newfound attention thanks to a recent story in Seventeen.
Henry was a member of the Wizengamot, Britain's wizarding high court, from 1913 to 1921 and drew ire when he criticized Archer Evermonde, the then-Minister for Magic, for forbidding wizards from helping Muggles, or non-magical folks, in World War I. His advocacy for Muggles was one of the reasons the pureblood Potter family was left off the "Sacred Twenty-Eight," a list of "truly pureblood" wizarding families in Great Britain.
Kind of sounds like Harry's always had heroism in his blood.
Other interesting pieces of information in the post include the fact that the very first Potter, Linfred of Stinchcombe, created a bone-healing potion, Skele-gro, and Harry's grandfather Fleamont was the inventor of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion, which makes Harry's own general incompetence with potions pretty funny in retrospect.
The post also noted Fleamont became a particularly skilled wizard because people liked to mock his name.
"Fleamont was so called because it was the dying wish of Henry's mother that he perpetuate her maiden name, which would otherwise die out. He bore the burden remarkably well; indeed, he always attributed his dexterity at duelling to the number of times he had to fight people at Hogwarts after they had made fun of his name," Rowling writes.
The Potters aren't the only family Rowling has shared more about on Pottermore. Another post on the website revealed Harry's rival Draco Malfoy's family history too. That post includes the fun little tidbit that his great-great-great-grandfather, Lucius Malfoy I, unsuccessfully courted Queen Elizabeth I and then jinxed her to never marry after being rejected, despite the family's long distaste for Muggles, or non-magical folk.
As the 20th anniversary of the first Harry Potter book draws closer, we can't wait to see what other interesting details Rowling decides to share
Also on HuffPost
