These are 16 fun facts you probably didn’t know about the Harry Potter books. (Photo: Archive)
Hermione Granger almost had a different name. These were some options: Hermione Puckle, Neville Puff, Drako Spinks, Lily Moon, Madhari Patil, and Mati Patil. (Photo: Archive)
If you read the first Harry Potter book carefully, you’ll notice Fred and George once threw snow balls at professor Quirrell, which bounced off the back of his turban, meaning they actually threw snow at Voldemort’s face. (Photo: Archive)
Rowling seriously considered killing Ron off in the Battle of Hogwarts. Luckily, she didn’t! (Photo: Archive)
Rowling said that the last word in the series was going to be “scar”, but she eventually changed the last sentence to “All was well”. (Photo: Archive)
Voldemort was 71 years old when he died in the Battle of Hogwarts. Separating your soul into horcruxes and drinking unicorn blood are a very effective treatment against wrinkles. (Photo: Archive)
Arthur Weasley was supposed to die in Harry Potter and the Orden of the Phoenix, but then Rowling decided to replaced him with Sirius. (Photo: Archive)
Quidditch is more complicated than you thought. There are 700 fouls on the game! (Photo: Archive)
If you think about it, technically there were more than seven horcruxes. Professor Quirrell was a temporary Horocrux. (Photo: Archive)
Rowling killed off Hedwig because it represented the loss of innocence and security, and her death marked the end of Harry’s childhood. (Photo: Archive)
Rowling came up with alternative tiles for the final book. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” could have been called “Harry Potter and the Elder Wand” and “Harry Potter and the Peverell Quest”. (Photo: Archive)
J.K. Rowling said that if Dumbledore had a Muggle song playing at his funeral it would have been “My Way”, by Frank Sinatra. (Photo: Archive)
In Latin “Expecto Patronum” literally translates to “I await a guardian. (Photo: Archive)
Voldemort’s greatest fear was death. Rowling said if he saw a boggart it would take the shape of his own corpse. (Photo: Archive)
Rowling always pictures Hagrid carrying Harry alive, but supposedly dead, of the forest. That mental image is the only reason why Rowling didn’t kill Hagrid. (Photo: Archive)
If Muggles came upon Hogwarts, it would look like a decrepit building with a “Keep Out: Dangerous” sign on it. (Photo: Archive)
In an interview, Rowling revealed she based the dementors off of a time of depression in her twenties. (Photo: Archive)
“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much”. That’s the first line you can read in “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer Stone”, J.K. Rowling’s first booked, which opened a door to a whole magical universe.
The novel was published on June 26, 1997, and since then, the intrepid wizard apprentice has spent 20 years entertaining millions of muggles, who in Harrypotterain lingo equals mortals with no magic abilities.
The first volume, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer Stone”, would be just the beginning for one of the most successful books and movies sagas of all times. Since the day it was published two decades ago, 500 million copies with the Hogwarts School of Magic on the cover have been sold, and translated to almost 80 different languages.
After 7 books, eight movies, and God knows how many upcoming spin-offs, Harry Potter is celebrating today 20 years of making our lives a little more magical.
These are 16 fun facts about your favorite book saga that you probably didn’t know after all this time!
