Don't freak out, but J.K. Rowling has just released a new story on the Potter Family [1]. The author posted the story to Pottermore [2] this week, igniting a firestorm of excitement within the community — and on Tom Felton's birthday [3], no less! The site has also been completely redesigned [4], which makes this all the more thrilling. Here are the highlights from the story!

• The Potter family goes back a long, long way. "The wizarding family of Potters descends from the twelfth-century wizard Linfred of Stinchcombe, a locally well-beloved and eccentric man, whose nickname, 'the Potterer,' became corrupted in time to 'Potter.'"
• Linfred used his wizarding abilities to cure local ailments. "Linfred was a vague and absent-minded fellow whose Muggle neighbours often called upon his medicinal services. None of them realized that Linfred's wonderful cures for pox and ague were magical; they all thought him a harmless and lovable old chap, pottering about in his garden with all his funny plants. His reputation as a well-meaning eccentric served Linfred well, for behind closed doors he was able to continue the series of experiments that laid the foundation of the Potter family's fortune."
• The invisibility cloak originated from Linfred's daughter-in-law: "It was, Iolanthe explained to Hardwin, a tradition in her family that the possession of this cloak remained a secret, and her new husband respected her wishes. From this time on, the cloak was handed down to the eldest in each new generation."
• Two Potters have sat on the Wizengamot: "Ralston Potter, who was a member from 1612-1652, and who was a great supporter of the Statute of Secrecy (as opposed to declaring war on the Muggles, as more militant members wished to do) and Henry Potter (Harry to his intimates), who was a direct descendant of Hardwin and Iolanthe, and served on the Wizengamot from 1913-1921."
• Harry Potter [5]'s grandfather made the family rich. "It was Fleamont who took the family gold and quadrupled it, by creating magical Sleekeazy's Hair Potion ('two drops tames even the most bothersome barnet.') He sold the company at a vast profit when he retired."
• His grandparents died of Dragon pox. "Fleamont and Euphemia lived long enough to see James marry a Muggle-born girl called Lily Evans, but not to meet their grandson, Harry. Dragon pox carried them off within days of each other, due to their advanced age, and James Potter then inherited Ignotus Peverell's Invisibility Cloak."

Read the full story here [6]!