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22 years of Harry Potter: Know JK Rowling's 'real' magical world on her birthday

It's been 22 years since J.K Rowling's first Harry Potter book appeared on the shelves on June 26, 1997. The magic of the 7-book series and film franchise continues unabated, as newer generations keep falling in love with the tale of the boy wizard and his adventures. Fantasy it may be, but Rowling's inspirations and influences are as real as they can get. Here is a curated sample of 12 such influences. 
It's been 22 years since J.K Rowling's first Harry Potter book appeared on the shelves on June 26, 1997. The magic of the 7-book series and film franchise continues unabated, as newer generations keep falling in love with the tale of the boy wizard and hi
It's been 22 years since J.K Rowling's first Harry Potter book appeared on the shelves on June 26, 1997. The magic of the 7-book series and film franchise continues unabated, as newer generations keep falling in love with the tale of the boy wizard and hi
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JOINT BIRTH DATES: The writer shares her birthday with none other than Harry Potter himself. July 31 is both J.K. Rowling and the boy wizard's birthday. (Photo | AP)
JOINT BIRTH DATES: The writer shares her birthday with none other than Harry Potter himself. July 31 is both J.K. Rowling and the boy wizard's birthday. (Photo | AP)
LOVE FOR LATIN: The Harry Potter books are generously peppered with Latin references. Who can forget Harry's wizarding school Hogwarts' Latin motto: Draco Dormiens Numquam Titillandus — 'Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon'. Remember the magic spells used? Crucio, or the Cruciatus Curse is one of the three unforgivable curses in Harry’s world, which inflicts unbearable pain upon its target. Cruciare means 'torment/torture' and is related to the English term 'crucifixion'. No surprises there. Rowling's BA in the Classics at the University of Exeter in South West England inspired these Classical choices. (Photo | Wikimedia Commons)
LOVE FOR LATIN: The Harry Potter books are generously peppered with Latin references. Who can forget Harry's wizarding school Hogwarts' Latin motto: Draco Dormiens Numquam Titillandus — 'Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon'. Remember the magic spells used? Crucio, or the Cruciatus Curse is one of the three unforgivable curses in Harry’s world, which inflicts unbearable pain upon its target. Cruciare means 'torment/torture' and is related to the English term 'crucifixion'. No surprises there. Rowling's BA in the Classics at the University of Exeter in South West England inspired these Classical choices. (Photo | Wikimedia Commons)
D FOR DEMENTORS/ DEPRESSION: Rowling suffered a bout of depression after her mother died of multiple sclerosis in 1990. She would use the experience to characterize Dementors - dark creatures who feed on human happiness and suck your souls out with their lethal kiss. “It's so difficult to describe [depression] to someone who's never been there, because it's not sadness,' Rowling told Oprah Winfrey. “I know sadness. Sadness is to cry and to feel. But it's that cold absence of feeling—that really hollowed-out feeling. That's what Dementors are.” (Photo | YouTube)
D FOR DEMENTORS/ DEPRESSION: Rowling suffered a bout of depression after her mother died of multiple sclerosis in 1990. She would use the experience to characterize Dementors - dark creatures who feed on human happiness and suck your souls out with their lethal kiss. “It's so difficult to describe [depression] to someone who's never been there, because it's not sadness,' Rowling told Oprah Winfrey. “I know sadness. Sadness is to cry and to feel. But it's that cold absence of feeling—that really hollowed-out feeling. That's what Dementors are.” (Photo | YouTube)
'FLOWER'Y LANGUAGE: A large number of Rowling's characters share their names with flowers. His mother and aunt – Lily and Petunia – and Narcissa Malfoy (narcissus). Then, there's Pansy Parkinson, Lavender Brown, Poppy Pomfrey and Beauxbatons visitor Fleur Delacour. Ooh, and 'Hogwarts' is the name of a lily Rowling spotted during a walk to Kew Gradens with a friend.
'FLOWER'Y LANGUAGE: A large number of Rowling's characters share their names with flowers. His mother and aunt – Lily and Petunia – and Narcissa Malfoy (narcissus). Then, there's Pansy Parkinson, Lavender Brown, Poppy Pomfrey and Beauxbatons visitor Fleur Delacour. Ooh, and 'Hogwarts' is the name of a lily Rowling spotted during a walk to Kew Gradens with a friend.
IT'S WRITTEN IN THE STARS: Joanne Rowling's fascination with astronomy is well-documented in the Black family tree. Sirius – Harry's godfather – is the brightest star in the night sky, known as the dog star (Remember Sirus's animal form is a great black dog?), as it exists in the constellation Canis Major (the Great Dog). Bellatrix (nee, Bellatrix Lestrange) is a star in the constellation Orion, while Regulus (the name of Sirius' brother) is the brightest star in the constellation Leo. There are also constellations called Draco (Harry's enemy), and Scorpius (the name of Draco's son). (Photo | Warner Bros.; Frank Micelotta/Invision/AP)
IT'S WRITTEN IN THE STARS: Joanne Rowling's fascination with astronomy is well-documented in the Black family tree. Sirius – Harry's godfather – is the brightest star in the night sky, known as the dog star (Remember Sirus's animal form is a great black dog?), as it exists in the constellation Canis Major (the Great Dog). Bellatrix (nee, Bellatrix Lestrange) is a star in the constellation Orion, while Regulus (the name of Sirius' brother) is the brightest star in the constellation Leo. There are also constellations called Draco (Harry's enemy), and Scorpius (the name of Draco's son). (Photo | Warner Bros.; Frank Micelotta/Invision/AP)
WE ALL KNOW A MOANING MYRTLE: Moaning Myrtle was the ghost of a young girl who sobbed buckets in the bathrooms of Harry's school. Rowling wrote on Pottermore that the whiny, bathroom-dwelling ghost was inspired by “the frequent presence of a crying girl in communal bathrooms, especially at the parties and discos of my youth. This does not seem to happen in male bathrooms, so I enjoyed placing Harry and Ron in such uncomfortable and unfamiliar territory...” (Photo | YouTube)
WE ALL KNOW A MOANING MYRTLE: Moaning Myrtle was the ghost of a young girl who sobbed buckets in the bathrooms of Harry's school. Rowling wrote on Pottermore that the whiny, bathroom-dwelling ghost was inspired by “the frequent presence of a crying girl in communal bathrooms, especially at the parties and discos of my youth. This does not seem to happen in male bathrooms, so I enjoyed placing Harry and Ron in such uncomfortable and unfamiliar territory...” (Photo | YouTube)
GREEK MYTHS: Hermione Granger, Harry's best friend? Hermione was also the daughter of King Menelaus of Sparta and Helen of Troy. Harry's face has a Greek myth connection. Yes, the lightning bolt scar on his forehead is a symbol of Zeus, King of the Olympian Gods. (Photo: Jaap Buitendijk, | AP)
GREEK MYTHS: Hermione Granger, Harry's best friend? Hermione was also the daughter of King Menelaus of Sparta and Helen of Troy. Harry's face has a Greek myth connection. Yes, the lightning bolt scar on his forehead is a symbol of Zeus, King of the Olympian Gods. (Photo: Jaap Buitendijk, | AP)
SIBLINGS IN FILM: Oliver and James Phelps – who played Fred and George Weasley – weren't the only siblings to appear in the Harry Potter films. Emma Thompson portrayed Professor Trelawney in The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Order of the Phoenix and The Deathly Hallows Part 2 but her sister Sophie Thompson also appeared in the films, playing Ministry of Magic employee Mafalda Hopkirk. (Photo | Warner Bros)
SIBLINGS IN FILM: Oliver and James Phelps – who played Fred and George Weasley – weren't the only siblings to appear in the Harry Potter films. Emma Thompson portrayed Professor Trelawney in The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Order of the Phoenix and The Deathly Hallows Part 2 but her sister Sophie Thompson also appeared in the films, playing Ministry of Magic employee Mafalda Hopkirk. (Photo | Warner Bros)
IT'S ALL IN THE FAMILY, BABY: Did you know that the driver and conductor of the Knight Bus are the author's grandparents? Ernie Rowling and Stanley Volant are the inspirations behind the characters Ernest Prang and Stanley Shunpike. (Photo | Wikimedia Commons)
IT'S ALL IN THE FAMILY, BABY: Did you know that the driver and conductor of the Knight Bus are the author's grandparents? Ernie Rowling and Stanley Volant are the inspirations behind the characters Ernest Prang and Stanley Shunpike. (Photo | Wikimedia Commons)
WHEN THE GREEKS ARE HERE, CAN THE ROMANS BE FAR BEHIND: Harry's favourite professor Remus Lupin's name is one giant hint to his secret of being a werewolf. 'Lupin' is a form of the latin 'lupus', translating to the word 'wolf'. And we also know that Remus and his twin brother Romulus were the founders of Rome in Roman mythology. Pretty cool, huh! (Photo | AP)
WHEN THE GREEKS ARE HERE, CAN THE ROMANS BE FAR BEHIND: Harry's favourite professor Remus Lupin's name is one giant hint to his secret of being a werewolf. 'Lupin' is a form of the latin 'lupus', translating to the word 'wolf'. And we also know that Remus and his twin brother Romulus were the founders of Rome in Roman mythology. Pretty cool, huh! (Photo | AP)
LITERARY GREATS: In an interview, when asked, 'What if [Voldemort] never heard the prophecy?', Rowling replied, 'It's the Macbeth idea...It is possibly my favourite Shakespeare play. And that's the question isn't it? If Macbeth hadn't met the witches, would he have killed Duncan? Would any of it have happened? Is it fated or did he make it happen? I believe he made it happen.' The prophecy in question is the one through which the central antagonist Lord Voldemort learns of his future nemesis's (Harry) birth. 'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... ' (Photo | Wikimedia Commons)
LITERARY GREATS: In an interview, when asked, 'What if [Voldemort] never heard the prophecy?', Rowling replied, 'It's the Macbeth idea...It is possibly my favourite Shakespeare play. And that's the question isn't it? If Macbeth hadn't met the witches, would he have killed Duncan? Would any of it have happened? Is it fated or did he make it happen? I believe he made it happen.' The prophecy in question is the one through which the central antagonist Lord Voldemort learns of his future nemesis's (Harry) birth. 'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... ' (Photo | Wikimedia Commons)
NUMBER GAME: Rowling can weave magic out of numbers, too. Quite literally. 62442 - the number which Mr Weasley punches in at an old-fashioned telephone box at the visitors' entrance to the Ministry of Magic, to gain admission ahead of Harry's trial. Type the number on your phone. What do you get? M-A-G-I-C. Sheer magic. (Photo | Wikimedia Commons)
NUMBER GAME: Rowling can weave magic out of numbers, too. Quite literally. 62442 - the number which Mr Weasley punches in at an old-fashioned telephone box at the visitors' entrance to the Ministry of Magic, to gain admission ahead of Harry's trial. Type the number on your phone. What do you get? M-A-G-I-C. Sheer magic. (Photo | Wikimedia Commons)
THANK YOU, A THOUSAND TIMES, J.K. ROWLING. From waiting for acceptance letters from Harry's wizarding school, sweating it out in queues outside bookstores all night to lay hands on fresh copies, to having Harry Potter theme-based weddings, Potterheads (official name for Potter fans) are one crazy bunch! One can't blame them, though. The Harry Potter series, is in one word, life-changing. (Photo | AP)
THANK YOU, A THOUSAND TIMES, J.K. ROWLING. From waiting for acceptance letters from Harry's wizarding school, sweating it out in queues outside bookstores all night to lay hands on fresh copies, to having Harry Potter theme-based weddings, Potterheads (official name for Potter fans) are one crazy bunch! One can't blame them, though. The Harry Potter series, is in one word, life-changing. (Photo | AP)
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