Harry Potter fans have been treated to a Halloween special by J.K.Rowling, who has published a rare new essay profiling Professor Dolores Umbridge on her website, Pottermore. Rowling revealed that the character was originally inspired by a real work colleague. Umbridge was famously praised by Stephen King as a villain of Hannibal-esque stature. Umbridge will be known to fanatics of the book as the sinister character who appears in the fifth book, 'The Order of the Phoenix', as Harry's Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.

Characterised by her love of all things fluffy and by her “sweetly girlish voice” at odds with her brutish ways, she memorably makes Harry write “I will not tell lies” in his own blood. Writing in her Pottermore essay, Rowling observed that the character had been inspired by her observation “that a taste for the ineffably twee can go hand-in-hand with a distinctly uncharitable outlook on the world.”

In the essay Rowling describes Umbridge as “the eldest child and only daughter of Orford Umbridge, a wizard, and Ellen Cracknell, a Muggle, who also had a Squib son” and going on to describe how In spite of her best efforts to secure the affections of one of her superiors... Dolores never succeeded in marrying.”

Pottermore has long been a mecca for Harry Potter die-hards, as it features updates from Ginny Weasley, background information on many of the locations such as the prison of Azkaban, as well as Quidditch World Cup reports.