Wingardium Leviosa!!! Can you believe it’s been 20 years since we heard this spell? It just seems like yesterday when we first saw our beloved trio, Harry, Ron and Hermione start their magical journey at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Feeling old yet? Here are 10 less-known facts about Harry Potter.
10 lesser known facts about Harry Potter
Rowling and Potter share birthdays
The Author JK Rowling and Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe share the same birthdays on July 31.
JK Rowling gave characters names that reflect their personality
Fans can all agree that Rowling’s world-building is superb and the whimsical names she gave her characters are no exception. On Pottermore, she revealed, early in the creative process, she came up with names for 40 Hogwarts students in Harry’s year every member of the Golden Trio included. For example, Harry’s name references his leadership qualities and Ron’s pertains to his role as a sidekick.
Hogwarts house names were jotted down on an aeroplane vomit bag by JK Rowling
Many people, including celebrities, strongly identify with a single Hogwarts house. You might be astonished to learn about the house names. Rowling first scribbled Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff on the back of an aircraft puke bag. In 2017, she divulged this tidbit on Twitter.
Harry Potter was the name for his great-grandfather
Harry Potter shares a name with his great-grandfather, according to Pottermore (which has now become Wizarding World). Although this ancestor, who lived in the late 1800s and early 1900s, there is no mention in the books. His history would cross with the “Fantastic Beasts” era.
The plants in the series are inspirtion from real-life compendiums of flora
Plant names like “Mugwort” and “Toadflax” sound like they were conjure up by Rowling’s limitless imagination. However, some plants do occur in the Muggle world. The plants in the series are based on “The Complete Herbal” by English botanist and herbalist Nicholas Culpeper, as the author described in a 2003 interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes.”
Only one character in the Harry Potter universe is a figure from Muggle history
Nicolas Flamel, the titular sorcerer from “Sorcerer’s Stone,” was a 14th-century French trader and author. The genuine Flamel’s relationship to alchemy. which was inflated after his death, is at best shaky.
Edinburgh, where Rowling resides, provides a lot of inspiration
Gothic architecture, cobblestone streets, and tight alleys abound in Scotland’s capital. Rowling was in awe of the city’s locations. As a result, it includes Greyfriars Kirkyard. Where the “genuine” Tom Riddle is buried, and George Heriot’s School, a private institution whose turreted architecture inspired Hogwarts.
The books translated into 80 languages
The “Harry Potter” books have a huge sale of over 500 million copies worldwide. They are translated into 80 different languages. It includes Scots. It is the first language of only 90,000 people.
Inventing Dementors, Rowling drew from her past experiences with depression
Rowling struggled with depression when she was in her twenties. Dementors are based on the “hollowed-out feeling” of despair, according to Oprah Winfrey in an interview. “I know sadness. Sadness is to cry and to feel. But it’s that cold absence of feeling that really hollowed-out feeling. That’s what Dementors are,” she says.
Evanna Lynch made some of Luna Lovegood’s jewellery
Jany Temime, one of the “Harry Potter” costume designers, previously told Insider that actress Evanna Lynch assisted in the creation of most of her character’s jewellery. Lynch, in particular, created Luna’s famed beaded, radish-shaped earrings.
However, even 20 years down the line, the film is still one of the kids’ favorites. Be it, adults who’ve grown up watching this series or the ones who’ve recently watched, we are definitely sure you too can’t get enough of it.
