20 years of Harry Potter: you probably didn't know that yet

Two decades ago, the first part of Harry Potter came to the cinema. We'll reveal many exciting facts about the books and films that you as a real Potterhead simply need to know!

In November 2001 the first movie in the Harry Potter series celebrated its world premiere. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson aka Harry, Ron and Hermione were World famous overnight. Incidentally, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" was published as a book in June 1997 - and immediately became a huge success.

The seven parts appeal to a wide audience to this day. Young readers and adults alike love the story of the wizarding students and the adventures they experience at Hogwarts. Here are some fun facts about the world of Harry Potter!

Fact 1

Fact 2

In addition to the books, the eight films (the last part was shown in two films) were a complete success and are now cult. The Harry Potter Studio Tour at Warner Bros Studios in London welcomes numerous visitors every day: from all over the world and is so popular that it is usually around a fully booked six months in advance is. Whether it's a stroll through Diagon Alley, a detour into the forbidden forest or a trip to the 9 ¾ train station, here you can admire pretty much everything that makes the world of Harry Potter so unique.

Fact 3

The Harry from the books has green eyes, which are referred to again and again throughout the course of the story. In general, he is very similar to his father James, except for the eyes that he inherited from his mother Lily. However, since Daniel Radcliffe was allergic to the green contact lenses, the movie Harry has blue eyes.

Fact 4

The first part, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" is the best-selling HP part. The last one, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is the fastest-selling part and the fastest-selling book ever. In the first 24 hours after the release alone, there were over eleven million copies.

Fact 5

The invented word "muggles" (= "non-magicians") is one of the few pop culture words that made it into the "Oxford English Dictionary", the most important and comprehensive dictionary of the English language.

Fact 6

Rowling announced on Twitter that the Chapter "The forest again"in the seventh part of the saga is her favorite chapter. This is a particularly emotional one: Harry realizes that he must sacrifice himself in order to be able to defeat Lord Voldemort once and for all. On the way into the Forbidden Forest he opens the Golden Snitch, the Albus Dumbledore left him and is greeted by the ghosts of his late family. "It was the culmination of 17 years of work and the most cathartic piece of writing of my life," she said. "It's also the hardest chapter to write and the one that made me cry the most."

Fact 7

After an argument with her then partner, Rowling sat down in a café to think about it - and the idea for Quidditch, the popular wizarding sport, came up. "I'm not sure what the connection to our fight and Quidditch was … other than that it's a rather violent game and maybe, in my deepest, darkest mind, I would have liked him hit by a bludgerto become, "she said.

Fact 8

The role for Peeves the Poltergeist was cast and filmed - only to be cut out again. Director Chris Columbus decided he didn't like the way the ghost looked on screen.

Actor Rik Mayall, who should have played Peeves, didn't immediately tell his kids that he had been cut out. "They came back from the cinema and said, 'Really good makeup. You don't like at all you looked yourself, papa! '", said Mayall in an interview. "They thought I was going to play Hagrid …"

Fact 9

In the third part (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) there is a passage where fortune telling teacher Professor Trelawny says to Lavender Brown: "The event you are afraid of will happen on October 16th! "J. K. Rowling married her ex-husband on October 16th and the marriage lasted almost a year.

Fact 10

Dementors, arguably the darkest creatures in the entire Harry Potter epic, guard the wizarding prison of Azkaban and suck every positive feeling out of you when you get too close. They are based on Rowlings personal experience with depression.

"It's so hard to describe depression to someone who hasn't experienced it because it's not just sadness," she said in an interview with Oprah Winfrey. "Sadness is crying and feeling. But this one cold absence of any emotion- this totally hollowed out feeling - these are dementors."

Fact 11

Dumbledore was in love with Grindelwald. "I think there is a reference to it in the seventh part," revealed Rowling. "He fell very much in love with this boy … And isn't it perfect that Dumbledore, who has always been the great advocate of love, has one very tragic experience did with it?"

Fact 12

J. K. Rowling toyed with the idea Letting Ron die in the course of history however, decided against it. "I had actually planned from the start that none of the trio would die. In the middle, however, I thought I could shoot one of them," she said in an interview. The reason she gave was that she was not feeling well mentally at the time.

Fact 13

Arthur Weasley's fate almost took a different direction, according to Rowling. But in the end she couldn't part with him. "Part of the reason was that it was in the book only few good fathersgives. You could even say that Arthur is the only good thing in the whole series."

Instead, Remus Lupine had to die. "I think one of the most devastating things about war is the kids left behind. Harry was left behind in the first war, so I wanted to leave one behind in the second too, to echo it and that show absolute evil Voldemort does, "explained Rowling." It's very moving that it was the newborn son of Lupine and Tonks, Harry's godson."

Fact 14

According to her own statements, Hermione Granger is based on the character of the author. She is intelligent, determined, and hardworking. Rowling once referred to the self-image she had as a young girl as "intelligent wallflower". Her favorite animal is also the otter, which also happens to be Hermione's Patronus.

Fact 15

J. K. Rowling and Harry Potter's birthdays are both on July 31st.

Fact 16

Rowling studied French and Classical Languages at the University of Exeter, which is why many spells have their origins in Latin. For example, "Expecto patronum" means something like "I expect protection".

Fact 17

The motto of Hogwarts is "Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus" and translated means "Never tickle a sleeping dragon". "Most of the school slogans say things like perseverance, clarity, loyalty or something. It amused me to give practical advice under the Hogwarts motto, "she said in an interview with the BBC.

Fact 18

Is Lord Voldemort really that worst villain, that the magical world has ever seen? Fans don't quite agree. Do we remember Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher (and even headmistress for a short time) Dolores Umbridge with her girlish voice, her sweetish throat clearing ("chrm, chrm") and a penchant for pink knitwear?

Even the famous horror writer Stephen King ("Stuffed Animal Cemetery", "It") was afraid of her. In a book review for Entertainment Weekly, he referred to her as "the best villain since Hannibal Lecter". Actress Imelda Staunton, who embodies her in the films, revealed in a podcast: "I think she's a bloody monster and should be played as such!"

Fact 19

In order to avoid that "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" is leaked prematurely, Bloomsbury-Verlag missed the manuscripts of the seventh part various quirky code names like "The Edinburgh Pot Makers" or "The Life of Clara Rose Lovett: An Epic Novel Spanning Many Generations".