Entertainment Lifestyle

#ThrowBackThursday: Harry Potter series turns 20 this year

In 1990, while sitting on a delayed train from Manchester to London King’s Cross, Rowling gave life to Harry Potter.

June 29, 2017

Tersia Gopi 2 minutes read

Happy birthday to the Harry Potter series!

In honour of the occasion, we take a look at five facts about the phenomenal author, J.K Rowling.

1. Getting to know the genius author behind Harry Potter

Joanne Kathleen Rowling was born on 31 July 1965 in Bristol, South West England.

The boy wizard Harry Potter and Rowling share the same birthday.

Her father, Peter, was an aircraft engineer at the Rolls Royce factory in Bristol and her mother, Anne, was a science technician.

Rowling wrote her first story titled Rabbit at the age of six. The story is about the work of a towering genius rabbit.

At just eleven, she wrote her first novel – about seven cursed diamonds and the people who owned them.

2. Where was the idea for Harry Potter conceived?

In 1990, while sitting on a delayed train from Manchester to London King’s Cross, Rowling gave life to fictional character Harry Potter. Over the next five years, she began to map out all seven books of the series. She gradually built up a mass of notes, many of which were scribbled on odd scraps of paper.

3. Rejected

Twelve publishing houses rejected her original Harry Potter manuscripts, but eventually small publisher Bloomsbury gave her a chance with a small advance. Little did anyone know it would become the bestselling book series in history. Her seventh and final Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows broke sales records as the fastest-selling book ever.

4. Platform 9 3/4

Platform 9 3/4 is where Rowling’s parents met. King’s Cross Station is where her parents met. In an interview Rowling’s referred to the platform as a part of her childhood folklore. That is why she wanted Harry to go to Hogwarts by train and why in the end the last film concludes there.

5. Did you know?

Rowling was diagnosed with clinical depression which she claimed gave her inspiration to create the Dementors in the Potter series. She also suffers from insomnia which she puts down to working too late and reading.

The rest summed up as magical history

In June 1997, the Philosopher’s Stone was published.In 2016, J.K. Rowling made her screenwriting debut with the film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a further extension of the Wizarding World, released in November. and a prequel to Harry Potter.