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Beginning of book series - The first book in the fantasy saga was 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone,' ('Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' in the US), which was released on June 26, 1997.

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Successful author -

The 'Harry Potter' saga has generated the biggest number of ticket sales of any film series in the history of film, with the eight films earning more than US$7.7 billion worldwide.

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Inspiration - The idea for creating the fantasy series first came to J.K. Rowling when she was on a train to London.

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Theme park attraction - You can now take a ride on the legendary Hogwarts Express at the Universal Studios theme park in Orlando.

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Hogwarts Castle -

The iconic castle from the films has also been recreated in real life, also at Universal Studios. Incredible, right?

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Diagon Alley - The magical street in London can also be seen at the theme park. It has already been expanded from the original Harry Potter attraction, which was inaugurated in 2010.

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Butter Beer -

It doesn't taste anything like actual beer. There's no alcohol content and it has a caramel base. It's sold at Universal Studios in three different ways: as a slushy, as a drink, or frozen.

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A concert by Jackson -

Michael Jackson saw the potential in the story. The "King of Pop" even made a proposal to the author to create a musical inspired by the adventures of the wizard, but she didn't agree.

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Homework... - Before the filming of 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban' (2004), the director Alfonso Cuarón asked the three main actors to write an essay about their characters.

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Did they do it? -

Emma Watson wrote 16 pages about Hermione, Daniel Radcliffe wrote one page about Harry, and Rupert Grint didn't hand anything in about Ron. He said he was too busy with his school work.

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Lucky escape! -

Ron Weasley was almost killed off from the series: "Midway through, which I think is a reflection of the fact that I wasn't in a very happy place, I started thinking I might polish one of them off,' Rowling said, according to The Guardian.

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All for nothing... -

Six of the eight films were nominated 12 times for Oscars, but never won. The saga did, however, win various other awards.

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Individualized wands! - Each magic wand was created specifically for the characters.

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Where the villain came from... -

Professor Snape was inspired by J.K. Rowling's old chemistry teacher. He taught at a school in Chepstow, Wales, where the author studied as a child.

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Connection with Portugal - After the death of her mother, Rowling lived in the city of Porto, Portugal, between 1992 and 1993. She worked as an English teacher.

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School uniforms -

The capes used by students at Hogwarts School were inspired by the outfits worn by the Portuguese university students. The tradition still continues today.

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Salazar Slytherin - The character was inspired by the dictator António de Oliveira Salazar, who ruled Portugal from 1932 until 1968. Rowling had learned about Portuguese history and decided to use it creatively in the text.

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VIP list -

J.K. Rowling is on the list of billionaires released by the American magazine 'Forbes,' with an estimated fortune of US$1 billion. She is the first writer to appear on the list.

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Dementors - Dementors were symbolic of the depression suffered by Rowling after the death of her mother. These creatures feed off human happiness, says the author.

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From one book to the next - After leaving Hogwarts, Luna Lovegood marries Rolf Scamander. Rolf's grandfather is Newt Scamander, the protagonist of 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.'

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Latest work in 2007 - Ten years after releasing the first book, the British author published the final novel about the young wizard. 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' was translated into around 65 different languages.

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Reality vs. fiction - Many parts of the saga are related to the life of the author. The death of her mother is the reason behind Harry being an orphan, and why the theme of 'death' runs throughout the books.

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Love in the saga - The official website of 'Harry Potter' has picked out 29 signs that Hermione liked Ron from the beginning. He just made it difficult for himself.

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Changed names -

The names of some of the characters were changed. Draco Malfoy had the name Spink. Hermione Granger was Puckle, Neville Longbottom was Puff and Luna Lovegood was Lily Moon.

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The 20th anniversary reunion -

To mark two decades since the release of the first film, the cast, directors, and producers reunited in an hour-and-a-half special called 'Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts,' to dish on old secrets and funny memories. For example, during the special, which aired on New Year's Day on HBO Max, Emma Watson revealed she "fell in love" with Tom Felton and crushed hard for years even though he always saw her as his little sister. Watson also said kissing Rupert Grint was "the most horrifying thing either of us have ever had to go through," since they were like siblings. 

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Behind the scenes -

Daniel Radcliffe had a good laugh about how Richard Harris, the original Dumbledore, thought the animatronic phoenix was a really well-trained real bird and how no one told him otherwise. Radcliffe also shared that Alan Rickman, who played Snape, was the only one who knew from the beginning who Snape would turn out to be. 

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A not-so-subtle mistake -

One big gaffe became quickly apparent from the special, however, as fans pointed out that the producers included an archival photo of what they thought was Emma Watson as a young girl, but was actually a photo of Emma Roberts. Oops! Other than that, the special was filled with delicious nostalgia.

See also: Movies you didn't know were based on books

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