Harry Potter turns 20 years old, which makes me feel very old. I’ve grown up reading and watching Harry Potter, genuinely believing at one point I was had been selected to attend Hogwarts.

How exactly did this happen? Let me explain.

My Auntie used to work for Warner Brothers and told me of this book called Harry Potter which they took a chance on. They thought it could do well in America originally but never could have predicted the success it would become, still continuing to be one of the most watched setS of films.

Anyway, my Auntie got Harry Potter everything and would send them over to us from America. We had stickers, games, brooms, glasses and all the prototypes of merchandise before they made it onto the shelves, if they ever did.

Soon, me and my friends who were all about 8 by this point fell in love with the stories, chasing each other around my garden on broomsticks while making up a more achievable version of quidditch, running while lobbing foam quaffles at each other. We must have looked absolutely mental.

Moving on swiftly, it was great and I shared all my stickers with my friends as well as plastering any surface in my room with any sticker possible. Life was great.

My 10th birthday came and I received a letter in the post. It was a letter, with the Hogwarts stamp and inside a letter saying I was to attend Hogwarts. I asked my mum and she said it was nothing to do with her. At this point, this was the best thing to happen in my 10 years of life. I was literally ready to pack my stuff up, get my owl and head off to become a wizard.

Anyway, my family let me believe this for a worryingly long time before telling me the letter wasn’t actually real, and was in fact from my Auntie.

I was absolutely heartbroken.

At the age of 24 I’ve just about got over this, attending normal schools where I continued to read the series of books, as well as following the films as they were released. I also have a bunch of merchandise still in my loft still including the Lego Hogwarts castle and the American version of the books like the ‘Sorcerer’s Stone’. What a book! 😂👌🏻

J K Rowling, congratulations! #HarryPotter20