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New Harry Potter books to provide deep dive into wizarding world

Four new e-books will provide nitty-gritty details and background on your favorite wizarding subjects taught at Hogwarts.

Marguerite Reardon Former senior reporter
Marguerite Reardon started as a CNET News reporter in 2004, covering cellphone services, broadband, citywide Wi-Fi, the Net neutrality debate and the consolidation of the phone companies.
Marguerite Reardon
2 min read
harry-potter-ebooks

Harry Potter fans will soon get four new e-books that offer up the background and folklore behind wizard magic.

For those of us Muggles who can't attend Hogwarts, there'll soon be a chance to go deeper into our favorite Harry Potter wizarding subjects, with the release of four new e-books.

Pottermore Publishing said last week that it'll release a series of short e-books that explore the "traditional folklore and magic at the heart of the Harry Potter series."

The books, set to start appearing in June, will go into subjects offered to wizarding students at Hogwarts. The four titles include: "Harry Potter: A Journey Through Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts," "Harry Potter: A Journey Through Potions and Herbology," "Harry Potter: A Journey Through Divination and Astronomy" and "Harry Potter: A Journey Through Care of Magical Creatures."

The collection may offer insight into the origin of the Patronus charm, which provides individualized guardians for wizards, or the best way to quiet Mandrakes, whose screams can literally kill you.

J.K. Rowling, creator of Harry Potter, launched the popular fantasy series over 20 years ago. Since then, more than half a million Harry Potter books have been sold and the series has been translated into 80 languages, according to the Pottermore website.

The seventh and final book in the series was released in 2007, but fans have been hungry for more. Rowling has repeatedly said there'll be no more Harry Potter books.

Instead, she's focused on releasing new material about the characters, places and objects in the Harry Potter stories. In 2016, the play "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," considered the eighth installment in the series, debuted. In addition to the play, Rowling has also written the book "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," which has also been made into a movie.

The insatiable appetite for all things Harry Potter, fueled by the successful feature film franchise depicting the books, has also spawned other offshoots, such as Harry Potter theme park attractions and Potter-themed games.

Later this year, the Harry Potter: Wizards Unite augmented reality game is set for release. Similar to the wildly successful Pokemon Go, the game relies on your phone's GPS, moves around the physical world and allows players to interact with beasts, objects, points of interest and other witches and wizards that come across the game's map and are overlaid onto the actual environment.

The first of the new e-books, "A Journey Through Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts" and "A Journey Through Potions and Herbology," are scheduled for publication on June 27. The two other books, "A Journey Through Divination and Astronomy" and "A Journey Through Care of Magical Creatures," don't have release dates yet.

Fans can preorder the first new Harry Potter e-books on Amazon for $2.99 apiece. The new Potter books are also available for preorder through Apple Books for the same price.