It’s been more than seven years since the release of the final  Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,and more than three years since the final movie with the same name. Yet the Pottermania still lives.

Well-known Harry Potter writer, JK Rowling used pottermore.com, her website dedicated to all Harry Potter fans, to release new writing about her infamous character Dolores Umbridge, a key villain in the fifth book, Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix. In order to access the writing, reader first must create a login and do a couple of simple game-like, magic activities that involve hovering their mouse over illustrated scenes until they find a link to click on, that unlocks the content. The writing features is a short story about Umbridge that was never revealed in the books, including her twisted rise to power within the wizarding government system, as well as Rowling’s thoughts about the character.

This is not the first time that Rowling used this website to share free gift stories to her devoted fans. In August, Rowling released additional writing about another minor character in the series, singer Celestina Warbeck. In addition to the writing, an original song attributed to the character, called: “You Stole My Cauldron, But You Can’t Have My Heart” , was also published. The song is a bit sugary for "muggles", perhaps, but there is no doubt that Harry Potter lovers enjoyed it.

Pottermore.com doesn’t use outside advertising and instead makes revenue selling e-books, key chains and other Harry Potter-related products. The periodically released short stories are free to users who login to the site. The site seems to be part gift, part marketing crusade.

In June 2014, Rowling had made $14 million in earnings and is #84 on the Forbes list of the World’s Most Powerful Celebrities. In 2010 the same Magazine has declared her as the number 1 on the The World's Richest Self-Made Women. Apart from the main series of Harry Potter books, Rowling has continued to build out her magical empire with books that followed Harry Potter series including Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Quidditch Through the Ages, and The Tales of Beedle the Bard.

Apart from Harry Potter, Rowling has also published novels for adults such as The Casual Vacancy, The Cuckoo’s Calling and The Silkworm.  Two were published under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. Though these books have sold well and were on top of various bestsellers lists, they have not even been close to the billions of dollars that Harry Potter continues to bring in from books, merchandise, video game and theme park sales...

The first Harry Potter book came out when the Internet was in developing stage, and online content had only just begun to exist. Choosing to use the power of the Internet today to delight her faithful readers just for the sake of delighting them, is a smart move Rowling keeps on making. By keeping Harry Potter alive with content straight from the canon, she will keep her audience interested for years to come.

by Ljiljana Kostic