First images from new fully illustrated edition of 'Harry Potter'

Though "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by JK Rowling first hit shelves more than 16 years ago, several of its characters just got a fresh, youthful makeover.

Never-before-seen illustrations released by the book's publishers Tuesday re-imagine four fan favorites: Harry's two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, his school foe Draco Malfoy and groundskeeper Rebeus Hagrid.

The illustrations will be included in the new fully illustrated edition of the first installment in the series, out this October. The illustrator, Jim Kay, said he was honored to be involved in the project.

"To be given the opportunity to design the characters, the clothing, the architecture and landscapes to possibly the most expansive fantasy world in children's literature, well let's just say I'm extremely excited about it," he said.

The remaining books in the series will get a similar makeover, one per year. The covers of each of those were released last year.

Like Hermione pulling items out of her bottomless handbag, Rowling never seems to run out of ways to share new material about the Harry Potter universe with fans. In addition to the new editions and information about the fantasy world that has come out in interviews over the years, Rowling has recently been releasing short stories about the characters on her website Pottermore.