Harry Potter celebrates 25 yrs: JK Rowling thanks readers for success; fans get nostalgic

The famous fantasy novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, written by British author J. K. Rowling marked 25 years on June 26, 2022. The novel follows the story of Harry Potter, a boy who learns on his 11th birthday that he is the orphaned son of two powerful wizards and possesses unique magical powers of his own. He is summoned from his life as an unwanted child to become a student at Hogwarts, a boarding school for wizards. There, he meets several friends who become his closest allies and help him discover the truth about his parents' mysterious deaths.

Now, to mark the special occasion, J. K. Rowling took to her social media space and expressed gratitude to all the readers for making her book successful, to which fans got nostalgic, as evident from the comments section.

JK Rowling thanks readers for '25 years of Harry Potter'

On Sunday, J. K. Rowling took to her Twitter handle to thank her readers while celebrating 25 years of the book launch at a bookstore in Edinburgh. She wrote, "I had absolutely no idea what was coming as I stood dumbstruck in that book shop, staring at my name on the spine of a published novel. Thank you to every single reader who boarded the Hogwarts Express in 1997 and stuck with Harry until the very end. What a journey it was..."

Not only did she thank her readers, but the 56-year-old also shared a glimpse of her debut novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which was kept in a bookstore for the very first time. Sharing the picture, she wrote, "25 years ago today, I saw Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in a bookstore (Waterstones, Prince's Street, Edinburgh) for the very first time. It was one of the best moments of my life. Thank you, @BloomsburyBooks, for taking a chance on a total unknown."

Fans, who instantly went nostalgic, took to the comment section and hailed the author for writing the novel as a netizen commented, "Harry Potter will forever be the best franchise of all time, thank YOU for creating it". 

One of the users wrote, "I can never thank you enough @jk_rowling. The book that changed my life.", while another fan commented, "That first book came out the first year I was home tutored, too sick to attend school. My tutor brought it and we read it together. Can’t believe it’s been so long! Thank you for creating the wizarding world, Jo!"

Translated in 73 languages, the fantasy novel has sold more than 120 million copies, which makes it one of the best-selling novels of all time. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone won two publishing industry awards for sales, the British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year and the Booksellers' Association / Bookseller Author of the Year.

Image: Twitter/@GwendalDecarri1