Saturday, November 01, 2014

JK Rowling reveals the secrets of Dolores Umbridge

Rowling tells how Harry Potter’s least favourite teacher was based on a former teacher of her own, whom the author ‘disliked intensely on sight’

‘Every bit as reprehensible as Lord Voldemort’ ... Imelda Staunton (left) as Dolores Umbridge in the 2007 film adapatation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
‘Every bit as reprehensible as Lord Voldemort’ ... Imelda Staunton (centre) as Dolores Umbridge in the 2007 film adapatation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
JK Rowling has revealed that Dolores Umbridge, the witch who forces Harry Potter to cut the words “I must not tell lies” on to his hand, was inspired by a real person.

In an essay for her website Pottermore, released to mark Halloween, Rowling says the inspiration for Umbridge was someone “whom I disliked intensely on sight”. The novelist has not revealed the person’s identity, but did write that she had been her teacher “long ago ... in a certain skill or subject”.

“The woman in question returned my antipathy with interest. Why we took against each other so instantly, heartily and (on my side, at least) irrationally, I honestly cannot say,” Rowling continued, noting the woman’s “pronounced taste for twee accessories”, including “a tiny little plastic bow slide, pale lemon in colour”, which the novelist felt was more “appropriate to a girl of three”.
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