12 Facts About “Harry Potter” That Fans Only Learned About Many Years Later

It’s hard to believe, but the first Harry Potter movie was released 20 years ago. During these years, it seems that we’ve learned everything about this world. But the author, Joanne Rowling, continues to give fans more and more details about the lives of the characters we love so much.

We at Bright Side always feel a bit sad when we remember that there will be no more Harry Potter stories. This is why we always keep track of all the articles and posts that Rowling writes. Some new things about the magic universe made us see it in a totally different light.

Wizards didn’t use the bathroom.

Hogwarts didn’t always have bathrooms. Before adopting Muggle plumbing methods in the eighteenth century, witches and wizards simply relieved themselves wherever they stood, and they’d make the evidence vanish.

Harry really didn’t have any other relatives other than the Dursleys.

Many fans wondered why Harry had to go to the Dursleys. Didn’t he have any relatives in the wizarding world? Rowling described the Potter family history.

Harry’s grandmother and grandfather, Fleamont and Euphemia, didn’t have children until they retired. The only son they had, James, was a true shock for them. They lived long enough to see him marry but they never saw their grandchild.

By the way, it’s thanks to them that Harry is so rich. Fleamont increased the fortune by 4 times when he created a hair product Hermione used before the Yule Ball. When he retired, he sold the company for huge profits.

The troll scene could have been cut.

While working on the first book, the editor asked Rowling to cut out the scene where Harry, Ron, and Hermione fought the troll. But the author didn’t want to cut it. Rowling wrote this scene because Hermione irritated her too much at the start of the book. She was supposed to become close to Harry and Ron. Rowling felt that she needed something huge to bring the characters together.

Lockhart sent valentines to himself.

The future Professor Lockhart showed the worst parts of his personality back when he was at school. He was so vain that he was willing to do anything for people around to notice him.

Lockhart got week-long detention for carving his own name in huge letters on the Quidditch field. He also sent a light projection of his own face into the sky — it looked a lot like the Dark Mark. And once, he sent 800 valentines to himself. There were so many owls in the Great Halls that breakfast was stopped — there were too many feathers and droppings in the food.

Crookshanks was a real cat.

Rowling admitted that she didn’t really like cats: like Hagrid, she’s allergic to them. But there was an exception.

When the writer worked in London, she often had dinner in a nearby cafe. On sunny days, she often saw a big fluffy ginger cat that looked as if he smacked his face on the wall. He seemed very arrogant and didn’t let her pet him. She said, “When I decided to give Hermione an unusually intelligent cat, I gave him the appearance of this haughty animal, with the slightly unfair addition of bandy legs.”

Sirius as a dog could have had an owner.

In the fourth book, Sirius had to be in hiding as a dog named Padfoot. Rowling explained, “I initially had him stay with a highly eccentric, dog-loving, old witch on the edge of Hogsmeade. She kept a pack of ill-assorted dogs, was on constant bad terms with her neighbors because of the barking and the mess and had welcomed in Sirius, assuming him to be a stray.”

But the editor asked Rowling to get rid of the woman because she didn’t add anything to the story. So she just put Padfoot in a cave.

Neville and Luna broke up.

Many fans were sure that after the Battle for Hogwarts, Neville and Luna would be together. But soon after they finished school, they broke up and Neville married Hanna Abbot. The girl became the owner of the famous Leaky Cauldron.

The Knight Bus could have not existed.

The Knight Bus is a relatively modern invention in wizarding society. The need for some form of transportation that could be used safely and discreetly by underage teens or the infirm had been felt for a while.

Many suggestions had been made (sidecars on taxi-style broomsticks, carrying baskets slung under Thestrals). But the Ministry didn’t approve of any of these ideas. So the Minister decided to upgrade the Muggle invention in 1865, and that’s when the Knight Bus hit the streets.

Umbridge was punished.

Dolores Umbridge is one of the most repulsive Harry Potter characters, and many fans were hoping she would get what she deserved and be punished. With the fall of Lord Voldemort, Dolores Umbridge was put on trial and convicted for her enthusiastic cooperation with his regime.

Hagrid never got married.

According to Rowling, the list of possible candidates for Hagrid’s wife was quite limited because there were very few giants and half-giants left. He was happy to meet Madame Maxime. But they didn’t last long because Maxime wasn’t a good match for Hagrid.

By the way, Hagrid remained alive because when Rowling was writing the first book, she made a draft of the very last chapter of the last book. She knew it would be Hagrid who carried Harry out of the woods. So she had to keep him alive.

Harry put Snape’s portrait in the headmaster’s office.

Snape’s portrait didn’t appear in the office right away, even though the portraits of all the previous headmasters were there. After all, most people in the castle thought he was a Death Eater.

In the end, it was Harry that insisted on hanging Snape’s portrait next to Dumbledore’s. But Rowling also said that she didn’t think it was likely for Harry to ever come to talk to him.

Dudley’s son could have become a wizard.

Rowling actually considered the possibility of Harry and Dudley meeting in the epilogue on platform 9 ¾ because Dudley’s son could have become a wizard. But then she decided that no magic gene would survive coming into contact with Uncle Vernon’s DNA.

But the cousins had a good relationship: they saw each other from time to time and sent each other Christmas cards.

Which of these facts changed your opinion about Harry Potter?