London (29/06 – 33.33) Harry Potter’s magical universe has enraptured young and older audiences alike and it seems strange to think that 25 years ago nobody had heard of the orphan, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry nor of Platform 9 3/4 hidden in the London King’s Cross station.
J.K Rowling’s iconic ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ is set to mark 25 years since it was first published on June 26, 1997
The Minalima store, in London’s Soho neighborhood, allows fans to immerse themselves in the delightful and quirky world of Harry Potter.
The shop, run by the design duo who worked on the Harry Potter movies, has a vast range of merchandise that is exquisitely crafted by Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima.
“For my birthday I asked to come to London to visit all the Harry Potter stores and go to the studios,” 15-year-old Lucía Jurado from Tenerife tells Efe.
“I have felt like Harry Potter in his house,” she says excitedly.
The Minalima design duo drew from Rowling’s novels to recreate the myriad curious objects described in the books: the Daily Prophet newspaper, chocolate frogs, and train tickets from the Hogwarts Express.
“We feel very special to set Harry on this amazing journey,” Lima tells Efe.
J.K. Rowling offers minimal descriptions of the objects featured in her books, Mina adds, though enough to fuel the imagination of the designers.
“For example, the Marauder’s Map she describes as a square piece of parchment that unravels,” she says.
12 TIMES REJECTED
25 years ago, Alice Newton was eight years old and became one of the first readers to escape our mundane world full of Muggles — people with no magical abilities according to Rowling’s novels — to immerse herself in the story of an orphan with a strange scar on his forehead.
Alice was fascinated by the first chapters that her father, Nigel Newton, founder of Bloomsbury publishing, gave to her to read.
And it was thanks to the young reader that Rowling finally landed a publishing deal with Bloomsbury after being rejected a dozen times.
Rowling, a single mother on benefits, began writing the story from a rented room in south London.
Little did she know she was onto a gem in the making that would later lead to an 850 million pounds ($1 billion) fortune.
