Harry Potter series turns 20

CAIRO – 27 June 2017: Twenty years ago today the first Harry Potter book was released to the public in the U.K. The book was eventually translated into 68 languages and sold more than 500 million copies around the world, according to CBC News.

“20 years ago today a world that I had lived in alone was suddenly open to others. It's been wonderful. Thank you #HarryPotter,” author J.K. Rowling wrote on her Twitter account.

20 years ago today a world that I had lived in alone was suddenly open to others. It's been wonderful. Thank you.#HarryPotter20

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 26, 2017

Although the book is 20 years old, Harry Potter the character is older himself. According to the series, the ‘boy who lived’ was born on July 31, 1980, making him 37 years old next month.

Despite its two decade anniversary, J.K. Rowling is keeping the wizarding world alive by updating the books and writing new series centered around the same magical universe. For instance, the 2016 movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them takes places in Harry Potter’s world before he was born.

As mentioned by CBC, four more entries in the Fantastic Beasts franchise are planned, with the next due in theaters in November 2018. British actor Jude Law has signed on to play a young Albus Dumbledore, Harry’s teacher and mentor from the original book franchise.

Additionally, Rowling has developed the Pottermore website which allows fans to be connected to the wizard world. For example, users can create an account to find out which wizarding house they would be part of at the school of Hogwarts. She keeps the website regularly updated with new information about the characters and their universe.

Moreover, Rowling also wrote Harry Potter and the Cursed Child; a stage play which was published at the end of 2016 following the adventures of Harry Potter’s youngest son. Currently playing in London, it will move to Broadway in April 2018.

Finally, there is the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the live Harry Potter experience at the Universal Studios in Florida and Los Angeles that gives fans the chance to live in Harry Potter’s magical world themselves.