Harry Potter fans mark 20 years of magic

JK Rowling's series of seven novels has sold 450 million copies worldwide in 79 languages and spawned a blockbuster movie franchise.

The real-life station features a mock-up of Platform 9-3/4, the departure point for trains to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
TRT World and Agencies

The real-life station features a mock-up of Platform 9-3/4, the departure point for trains to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Twenty years after the first book in the Harry Potter series was published, fans gathered online and in the real world to express their enduring love for JK Rowling's magical creation.

Since Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone came out in 1997, with a first print run of just 500 copies, the series of seven novels has sold 450 million copies worldwide in 79 languages and spawned a blockbuster movie franchise.

The book appeared in the United States a year later as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

On Monday, some fans took the day off work to celebrate the anniversary, heading to significant locations such as King's Cross train station in London, which in the stories is one of the gateways into the world of witches and wizards.

The real-life station features a mock-up of Platform 9-3/4, the departure point for trains to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

TRT World's Abed Ahmed reports.

"Harry Potter I think still means so much to so many people even though it's 20 years now," said Clara Carson, whose job at the nearby souvenir shop involves taking photos of the fans and holding up the scarves to achieve a windswept effect.

"I'm a fan myself so it's really nice to come in and be with people that are all into the same things that you're into," she said. "Whether they're kids or my age or even adults, they're always just so excited."

Rowling, who has 10.8 million followers on Twitter, also took to the medium to mark the anniversary.

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