11 Interesting Facts About Harry Potter
September 26, 2021
Here are some Interesting Facts About Some of the Best Books ever Written.
11 Interesting Facts About Harry Potter
1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – The first in the series had other titles before this. One of the suggestions was Harry Potter and the School of Magic. It was published as Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in the United Kingdom. Later, the title changed to the one we know today – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in the US. (Scholastic)
2. Harry Potter was first published in the US on September 1, 1998. The first book in the series – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Before its release in the United States, the book was first published in the UK as Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone on 26 January 1997.
3. Harry Potter was first published in the UK by Bloomsbury publisher and in the US by Scholastic.
4. The Harry Potter series has sold over 500million copies worldwide (Scholastic).
5. Harry Potter is one of the three most-read books around the world. The first is The Bible, and the other is the Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung. Harry Potter is also the bestselling book series and bestselling children’s book.
6. Each Harry Potter book broke the sale record set by the previous book. Scholastic reports that the order started with book 4 – Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire which sold 3million copies in the first weekend of its sale. Book 6 – Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince sold 6.9million copies within 24hours, while book 7 – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows sold 8.3million copies in the first 24hours.
7. J. K. Rowling invented some parts of the Harry Potter series from her own experiences or as a result of her own experiences. Eg. The Dementors – these characters were born of her experiences with depression. Reports mention her explanation about the Dementors in an interview – “… it’s that cold absence of feeling – that really hollowed-out feeling. That’s what Dementors are.” J. K. Rowling also invented Quidditch after she fought with her boyfriend.
Quidditch is that interesting but dangerous Hogwarts sport.
8. J. K. Rowling has a sense of humour in picking names for the Harry Potter characters. Rowling said she chose the name Dumbledore as she always thought of the character humming to himself. Dumbledore is an old English word for “bumblebee.” Other interesting name choices in the story include –
Harry. This is the middle-English version of Henry – a popular name for English kings. The name was chosen for Harry because he is a leader.
Ronald. The name Ronald comes from the old Norse Rognvaldr. It was a title for a ruler’s adviser. Harry’s best friend was named Ronald.
Harmonie. This name was borrowed from Shakespeare’s The Winter Tale. Harmonie was given the name because she was the clever one and her parents were scholars.
9. The names of plants in the Harry Potter wizarding world were based on real names. J. K. Rowling said they are from a book written in the 17th century by an English botanist and herbalist Nicholas Culpeper. The name of the book is Culpeper’s Complete Herbal.
10. J. K. Rowling’s approach to witting is that of careful planning and patience. She spent the first five years writing Harry Potter on setting up rules on what the characters could or could not do.
11. At least 12 publishing houses rejected the Harry Potter manuscript before it was accepted by Bloomsbury publishers.