Editors note: JK Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, celebrates her birthday today along with the boy wizard himself. The series which has sold over 400 million books worldwide, is the best selling book series in history. Rowling was paid special tribute in the London Olympics opening ceremony, where she not only did a reading, but saw Lord Voldemort make a special appearance as well. The series has captivated the imaginations of thousands of children and adults alike, and in this piece, originally published on 11 July 2011, we had a nine-year-old tell us exactly why Harry Potter was magical. A year may have passed by, but the sentiment remains exactly the same. Happy Birthday JK Rowling! By Ayushman Jalan I watched the last Harry Potter film on Saturday. I read madly so I finished the book before the movie released. The deal with my mother was that I had to read the books first. Which now I think was not a bad idea. I think they are the most fun books I have read. When I started out the series about one and a half years ago – I found it difficult to read them by myself. My mother and dad would read them out to me. But as I kept reading I got more involved and I read faster and better. In fact I managed to finish the last book in just over a week – reading 50-100 pages a day. [caption id=“attachment_43806” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The book cover of Harry Potter and the deathly hallows | Reuters[/caption] Why is the world of Harry Potter so special? Here are 7 things (one for each book) that I love about the books. 1. The fact that there is a whole world of magic created with so much detail, that we poor Muggles cannot even see. A world with mad joke shops like Zonkos and Weasley Wizarding Wheezes and sweetshops like Honeydukes. 2. I think Quidditch is a cool game - I would like to be the best seeker in the world. Like Harry or Viktor Krum. I would fly a Firebolt. 3. Hungarian Horntails, Thestrals, Hippogriffs and Crumple Horned Snorkacks – I love all the weird, cool and funny creatures that I keep meeting through the different adventures. 4. I think Harry Potter has the most interesting villain of all time – Lord Voldemort (I am not scared of saying his name!). He is truly scary – with even scarier helpers – like the snake Nagini and the horrible Bellatrix Lestrange. 5. I love the Hogwarts Express. I actually visited King’s Cross Station in search of Platform 9¾. One of the railways’ staff helped me. I was quite excited to see that it really exists! I only wished there was a train that would take me to Hogwarts. 6. I like Dumbledore and the way he teaches Harry about Voldemort and so many other things. I would love to have a teacher like Dumbledore. In fact, it is so interesting how in Hogwarts they take the kind of things we do in school – classes, matches and teachers - and make the same thing more magical. 7. The best part of each book for me is the Battle at the end. I love the way Harry manages to get over different obstacles in each book – till the final battle when he beats Voldemort! I hope J.K.Rowling writes a few more adventures of Harry Potter. Till then I suppose I could re-read these! Ayushman Jalan goes to Class 3 at Modern School, Humayun Road, New Delhi. He is 9 and loves football, cricket, Justin Beiber, Harry Potter and hassling his younger brother. [fpgallery id=93]
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