Harry Potter: 10 Most Shocking Reveals From Pottermore

By Phil Archbold /

1. Dolores Umbridge Was A Half-Blood

Dolores Umbridge was one of the biggest Muggle-haters to appear in the series, and fans were shocked to learn that she was actually a half-blood whose mother was a Muggle! The pink toad began her ministry career at the age of 17, using a combination of ruthless devotion to the law and brown-nosing to climb the government ladder. She made her way from an intern in the Improper Use of Magic Office to the head of the Muggle-Born Registation Commission where she sadistically sentenced many innocent people to imprisonment and worse. Rowling€™s revelation about Umbridge€™s back story on Pottermore makes her crimes all the more deplorable. Coming from a family of four, only Dolores and her father were magic, with her mother a Muggle and her brother a Squib, which brought her more shame. She grew to despise Muggles, and convinced her father that they were both superior to non-magic people, making him denounce his wife and son and send them back to the Muggle world, never to be heard from again. That wasn€™t quite enough for Dolores, however, and her father himself would end up a victim to his daughter€™s delusions of grandeur. Growing more power hungry with every promotion, Umbridge became ashamed of her father, who was a low-level worker in the Department of Magical Maintenance. She eventually forced him to retire and disappear from the public eye on the promise of a monthly allowance, freeing her to begin building an elaborate lie about her pure-blood status. Anyone who happened to ask her if she was related to the Umbridge that used to mop the ministry floor would fall victim to a nasty accident, and this went on until people simply stopped asking and chose to take her at her word €“ that her late father was a distinguished member of the Wizengamot, Britain€™s highest Wizard court of law. What else have you found on Pottermore that deserves to be on this list? Share your thoughts below in the comments thread.