This article was written by Rachel McGinnis
In 1990, Joanne Rowling, the author that goes by the widely known moniker J.K. Rowling, boarded a crowded train traveling from Manchester to London. She had just finished a weekend of flat-hunting and was sitting on the train when she was suddenly struck by the idea of writing a story about a young boy coming to terms with the fact that he is a wizard. Instead of a complex, drawn-out creative process, the author describes the moment saying, "The idea for Harry Potter simply fell into my head." The character would attend wizarding school because, after all, that is where he would go to learn how to hone his innate gifts. He would be scrawny, wear glasses, and have shaggy dark hair. On and on, the ideas that shaped the iconic character flooded Rowling's head who unfortunately found herself without a working pen to capture them. Her vision blossomed until, one delayed train and four hours later, the magic of a soon-to-be cultural explosion was born.
Seventeen years have passed since Rowling boarded the train bound for London, and the author has voluntarily ended the series after six equally impressive novels with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
. Although she had written continuously since the age of six and produced a number of short stories prior to the conception of Harry Potter, the stories were never published due to the fact that they were (as Rowling puts it) bad. Even after developing a character and manuscript she was pleased with, the author encountered a great deal of difficulty finding first an agency to represent her and then a publisher willing to produce the book. Twelve publishers successively rejected the authors manuscript until Barry Cunningham of the small publisher, Bloomsbury, encountered it. Basing his decision on his eight-year-old daughter's review, Cunningham gave the manuscript and the unknown author the green light, the first lucky break Rowling had received since writing the novel. Nevertheless, Rowling was later unhappily pressured to change the title of her first novel and publish under a pen name given that boys would not want to read a book written by a woman. As a result, Joanne, who has no middle name, combined the initial of her first name with that of her grandmother's, Kathleen, to construct J.K. Rowling. Even after publishing the book, Cunningham advised Rowling to get a day job because she had little chance of supporting herself and her daughter by writing children's books. Cunningham was, to the delight of millions of readers, exceedingly wrong.
The release of the delineative seventh novel was perhaps the most highly anticipated of the twenty-first century thus far and, within the first twenty-four hours, it sold a record-breaking 11 million copies, making it the fastest-selling book in history. Millions of readers around the world were hopelessly and shamelessly hooked on the novels that started as children's books and became some of the most sought after reads of recent decades. The sales of the books have made the writer one of the richest women in the world although, prior to the publication of the series, Joanne Rowling was a struggling single mother living on state benefits. It was rumored that she wrote a large portion of the series in cafes because her flat was unheated. The author, however, squelched these rumors revealing that she often entered the closest cafe to write after her young daughter, who she carried in her arms, had drifted off to sleep during their serene walks.
In interviews following the publication of the books, the author has revealed that she occasionally incorporated elements of real-life into her novels, such as the Hand of Glory. Nevertheless, she did not incorporate realistic aspects as often as some critics and fans speculate. The game of Quidditch for example, which Rowling declares was merely the result of her vibrant and elaborate imagination, was thought to be based on soccer given that, at one point, Ron describes it as "football for the muggle world." Rowling clarifies the misconception on her website by explaining that Ron was simply referring to the game's popularity, not the logistics of the sporting event, which is clearly indicated by the fact that, in Quidditch, there are several balls in play simultaneously, an important element that defines and certainly separates the game from soccer.
As with the various objects and sporting competitions in her novels, characters also fall victim to similar speculation. Although her cousin, Ben Rowling, has insisted for some time that he was the inspiration for Harry Potter, the author denies that he had anything to do with the conception of the character. Rowling has repeatedly maintained (almost, it seems, to the point of irritation) that Harry Potter was simply the result of her imagination. On her website, she proclaims with a tongue-in-cheek tone of voice that she wears glasses, has a scar, attended a school that had houses, and occasionally got into trouble, therefore she must be the inspiration for the character. Rowling goes on to poke fun at fictitious headlines indicating that she demanded half of her own royalties as a result of her being the inspiration for the character. Nevertheless, on a more serious note, the author has revealed that the now iconic name "Harry Potter" was actually the combination of her favorite male name "Harry" with the surname of the Potter family that she lived near when she was seven.
Since the publication of her novels, some of the most interesting misconceptions Rowling has encountered are the erroneous connections readers make between the fictional people and things in her books to things that exist in reality. Nevertheless, fans miss actual references to real things and people that she believed to be glaringly obvious. Despite arousing curiosity, Rowling remains mum about the particulars. In regard to the characters, the author admits to intentionally forming only one fictional character, specifically Gilderoy Lockhart, from a real-life muse, yet she refuses to name this individual out of respect for their privacy. Additionally, Rowling declares that Hermione Granger was based on a caricature-like version of herself when she was eleven and, as the author puts it, younger and a know-it-all annoyance. She also reveals that she unintentionally rendered Ron Weasley exceptionally similar to her childhood friend, Sean Harris, saying that, while Ron is not an exact replica of her friend, he is very "Sean-ish."
Although the author is responsible for creating some of the most incredible, mind-blowing elements of fantasy found in literature, she has revealed that she is surprisingly not a fan of the fantasy genre. Nevertheless, one of the most enchanting aspects of the novels is the wide variety of fantastic, magical places that Rowling visits with her readers as we follow Harry Potter on his journey to leave the "muggle" world behind (J.K. Rowling's combination of "mug," meaning an easily fooled person with "gle," used to make the word less demeaning) and matriculate at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Starting in London, Rowling places Harry at Charing Cross Road, an actual street in London that runs north from Trafalgar Square to St. Giles' Circus. In the first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (changed to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in American to accommodate differing English and American definitions of the word "philosopher") Rubeus Hagrid and Harry travel to this particular street to reach the Leaky Cauldron, a pub and inn that is sandwiched between a large book store and record shop.
At first glance, the establishment appears to be relatively normal. It has food and drinks, a barman named Tom, and rooms that overlook Charing Cross Road--everything a traveler might expect to find at a normal inn--with the exception that the establishment is invisible to a large portion of those travelers, specifically muggles. Imperceptible to non-magical individuals, the Leaky Cauldron serves as a magical portal that links the muggle world to the magical one. It is here, at the Leaky Caldron, that Harry Potter gets his first taste of celebrity, shaking hands and receiving bows on his way through the pub.
Exiting the Leaky Cauldron, Hagrid and Harry find themselves at a brick wall that, when tapped appropriately (three up two across), opens to Diagon Alley. Diagon Alley, the magical High Street of the wizarding world, is apparently hidden within London given that it can be accessed just off Charing Cross Road, as well as through the Floo Network and Apparition. The name of the street is a play on the word "diagonally" although, in the film version of the first novel, Hagrid pronounces the name "Dia-gon Alley" using two syllables as opposed to the later pronunciation, "Diagon."
The Alley is home to Gringotts Bank, a large white marble building staffed by Goblins, a magical sect that Rowling portrays as nasty and extremely greedy, thereby making them the perfect guardians of wizarding treasures and valuables. At one point, Hagrid informs Harry that the bank is hundreds of miles below muggle London. This revelation is indicative of the interesting and surprising juxtaposition of the magical and muggle worlds, a connection that Rowling once described as "uneasy coexistence" at best. The author declares that, if non-magical individuals were aware of the presence of magic, they might exploit this enchanted world in an attempt to find quick-fix solutions to their problems. In fact, the supposed improvements that a magical existence might have provided was a problematic issue the author wanted to expose by "subverting the genre." As such, instead of making Harry's life a great deal easier after revealing that he was a wizard, Rowling complicates it as a result of this realization of power. In the words of the author, Harry's life improves after leaving the Dursleys and muggle world due to a positive enhancement in the relationships he develops as opposed to the fact that he is finally fostering his innate wizarding abilities.
Just off of Diagon Alley lies Knockturn Alley, a dark, dingy street that Harry unintentionally visits on more than one occasion, such as when he accidentally travels there by the Floo Network in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The name of this area is a pun. Combining the two words "Knockturn" and "Alley" creates the word "nocturnally," which refers to night or the dark, a detail that also describes the goods sold there, namely those associated with the Dark Arts. It is here, on Knockturn Alley, that Draco Malfoy comes across the Hand of Glory, a real legendary object that Rowling incorporated into her novel.
Historically, the artifact was described as the dried and pickled hand of a criminal that had been hanged for his crimes. In it, the hand held a lighted candle made from the fat of another malefactor. The enchanted object was believed to render immobile anyone it was presented to and was said to be able to unlock any door it encountered. This useful unfastening ability of the Hand would have certainly been a valuable resource in many of the Harry Potter novels, including the seventh in which the characters find themselves locked up or facing a barred entrance on several occasions; however, in Rowling's version of the legend, the hand does not render locks defenseless and instead gives light only to the person using it.
The journey continues at King's Cross Station in London. Rowling illustrates Harry frantically searching amidst the muggles for Platform 9 3/4 and the train that will depart promptly at 11:00 a.m. Inquiring as to where he might find this train, Harry is informed by a guard that there is not a muggle train scheduled for departure at that time, thereby leaving the tracks available for magical use and, once again, revealing Rowling's transposition of the magical and muggle worlds. Although the author has revealed that she erroneously described a train station in Euston when referring to King's Cross in her novel, the film version was shot on Platform 4 of King's Cross Station. A sign now hangs between Platforms 9 and 10 indicating the location of the famous link between the two worlds. Hagrid and Harry Potter, played by Robbie Coltrane and Daniel Radcliffe respectively, are also filmed walking over the pedestrian bridge across the tracks.
Harry's journey to enrollment is finished when he finally arrives at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry after almost a full day of traveling. To muggles, the institution appears to be a moldering old ruin with a sign over the entrance warning visitors to stay out. Rowling has revealed that film depictions of the castle are very similar to the way she imagined it, saying, "It is a huge, rambling, quite scary-looking castle, with a jumble of towers and battlements. Like the Weasleys' house, it isn't a building that muggles could build, because it is supported by magic." The school motto, "Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus," means "Never tickle a sleeping dragon," and the author reveals that the name of the school was actually the result of a trip to Kew Gardens in southwest London. There, Rowling encountered a flower by the name of "hogwort," that (with a slight variation replacing the "o" with an "a") became the name of her wizarding school although she was unconscious of the connection at the time.
SPOILER ALERT! BOOK 7 DETAILS REVEALED!
One of the most defining aspects of the school is the magic that fills and surrounds it. It is by far one of the most mystical and fantastical geographic locations in the book, taking on a life of its own at times, such as when it produces the Room of Requirement and periodically moves entrances and exits at its own discretion. Chock-full of ghosts, hidden chambers, and secret passages, the school itself almost bursts with wonder and mystery. Although the majority of the seventh book takes places outside the school, it is here that the final showdown between Harry and Lord Voldemort takes places, the climax of the series in its entirety returning to the only home Harry had ever known, the school that he loved for so many years.
At Hogwarts, after a number of personal trials and tribulations, Harry finally defeats Lord Voldemort in a dramatic wizarding duel that results with the demise of the Dark Lord, one of the many deaths that are found in the final novel. Rowling, who was writing Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone on December 30th, 1990, the same moment that her mother was dying, acknowledges the prevalence of death in her stories and cites that it was the deeply felt loss of her mother that allowed Harry's feelings about his deceased parents to change and mature, becoming "much deeper, much more real." It was this heart-breaking tragedy that transformed Rowling's approach to and tone of the novels, with death becoming a much more pronounced element of the story.
Following the final sentence of the seventh novel, "All was well," readers around the world sadly closed the last installment in the bewitching series. Although J.K. Rowling declares that she will most likely not publish another Harry Potter novel, she will produce an encyclopedia answering many questions that fans have raised since encountering the books. Additionally, experiencing the world of Harry Potter first-hand will become a reality for fans all over the world when Universal Studios, Warner Bros., and Leavesden Studios construct a Harry Potter area in Orlando, Florida. Aptly titled "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter," the theme park will be the world's first immersive Harry Potter-themed environment offering replicas of Rowling's Forbidden Forest, Hogsmeade Village, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Dumbledore's office. Nevertheless, Universal Orlando's Island of Adventure's Harry Potter area is not projected to open until late 2009 leaving millions of eagerly waiting fans to re-read the books countless times while simultaneously hoping that J.K. Rowling will be overcome by nostalgia and publish yet another Harry Potter adventure.
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