Potter is back in new short story

J.K.Rowling has given fans a glimpse of the grown-up boy wizard in a new story posted on her Pottermore website. [Photo by Lefteris Pitarakis / Associated Press]

But the story hints at problems in his marriage to Ginny, now a journalist covering the tournament, asking: "Are cracks beginning to show in a union that the Potters are determined to promote as happy?"

Meanwhile Ron Weasley - played by actor Rupert Grint in the films - has gone to work at the family magic shop but the columnist whispers about "mental illness".

Ron and Hermione Grainger - played by actress Emma Watson - also have two children in the new story, son Hugo and daughter Rose.

Hermione has enjoyed a "meteoric rise" to Deputy Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement but the gossipy writer asks: "Does Hermione Granger prove that a witch really can have it all? (No, look at her hair.)"

There is no sign, however, that Rowling has acted on her admission earlier this year that she should have married off Hermione to Harry, and that Ron and Hermione would probably have ended up in marriage counseling.

The new piece is part of a series about the Quidditch Cup - a nod to the football World Cup in Brazil - that are set to appear on Pottermore. The final article, published on Friday, sees Ginny Potter cover the cup final, between Brazil and Bulgaria.

Rowling has been keeping busy since the seventh and final novel in the series was published in 2007.

She published her first adult novel, The Casual Vacancy, to mixed reviews in 2012 and has also released two big-selling crime novels under the nom de plume Robert Galbraith.

She announced last year that she will make her screenwriting debut by penning a series of spin-off films set in the Potter world, starting with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.