On the first book's 20th anniversary
Harry Potter turns 20 today (June 26), two decades on from the publication of The Philosopher’s Stone in 1997. It’s hard to say exactly the level of cultural impact the young adult wizardry series has had over the past couple of decades, but here are 20 big, weird milestones the enormous franchise has achieved.
1. ‘Muggle’ is in the dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary added this bit of Potter jargon (referring to a non-magical person) to its pages in 2002. It’s listed as “a person who lacks a particular skill or skills, or who is regarded as inferior in some way”.
2. People play Quidditch competitively
In Harry Potter, magical folk play a sport called Quidditch, while riding flying broomsticks. In the real world, people run around on the ground with broomsticks between their legs, imitating the positions of beater, chaser, seeker and keeper. It happens all over the world, and there’s now a Quidditch World Cup that takes place every two years. (Australia were the champions in 2016.)
3. Platform 9 and 3/4 exists now
Go to King’s Cross station in London and at the far end, near the left-luggage, you’ll see a trolley fixed in the middle of the wall. There, you will almost always find Potter fans posing for pics.
4. There’s a ‘wizard-rock’ festival called Wrockstock
Five years after the emergence of Harry Potter, Harry + The Potters began making music, kicking off the wizard-rock phenomenon. Five years after that, the first ‘Wrockstock’ festival of wizard-rock bands happened in Missouri. The latest edition was in 2013, but Harry + The Potters are still making music and just a couple of weeks ago they played a gig in their home state of Massachusetts.