Harry Potter: A History of Magic
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The Journey

Julia Eccleshare

Julia Eccleshare is Director of Hay Children's Festival, contributing children's books editor of the Guardian, and a regular radio commentator. In addition to chairing the judges of the Guardian Children's Book Prize she is the founder and chair of the Branford Boase Award. Her books include A Guide to the Harry Potter Novels, The Rough Guide to Teenage Books and 1001 Children's Books to Read Before You Grow Up. She was appointed MBE for services to children's literature in 2014 and is currently Head of Public Lending Rights Policy and Engagement at the Brititsh Library.

The story of Harry Potter, a boy on the brink of his eleventh birthday at the beginning of a journey of self-discovery and adventure in a magical world, came to Joanne Rowling as she was stuck on a train from Manchester to London in 1990. ‘All of a sudden the idea for Harry just appeared in my mind's eye,’ she later said. ‘I can’t tell you why or what triggered it. But I saw the idea of Harry and the wizard school very plainly.’ And so, Harry Potter, the most famous fictional character of the 21st century, was born.

A great reader as a child and a student of Classical and European literature, Rowling knew the traditions of fictional heroes and richly invested them in Harry. As a result, the structure of the story is familiar – orphaned Harry, brought up by his cruel relatives, is rescued and transported to an extraordinary boarding school awash with magic where he gradually discovers that he has a great destiny. In essence, there was nothing so very out of the ordinary about Rowling's idea; any experienced reader might have felt they had read such a story before. But those readers should have known better. Rowling's ambition for her hero was immense and she laid it out at the beginning of the very first book. As she leaves the baby on his relatives’ doorstep, Professor McGonagall says, ‘These people will never understand him! He’ll be famous – a legend […] there will be books written about Harry – every child in our world will know his name!’

But when Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was first published, no one knew his name and that grand destiny. The incredible magic of Hogwarts School was confined to the book; it showed no particular signs of becoming anything else. As publishers are when they have an exciting new author and a book with a ‘high concept’, Barry Cunningham was passionate about its qualities before publication. Having recently set up the children's list at Bloomsbury he was looking for stories with strong child-appeal. Despite its length, in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone he was sure that he had found such a title. The whole of Bloomsbury was galvanised by excitement about the book, and began a campaign to spread the word. Prepublication proofs were dispatched to all parts of the book trade in the search for endorsement and a prominent place in the bookshops. I received a proof and read it several times, first as a submission for inclusion in a book club where the selection committee – adults all – were enchanted by the magical events of the story and liked Harry as a character. However, they were as much struck by its traditional themes as by its originality and certainly missed spotting its huge potential. It was a fun book to read, we thought its target audience would enjoy it and, much to its credit and an important part of Rowling's vision for it, we wanted to know what happened next.

I read the story again when it was submitted for the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize. Still unpublished, by this point there was a lot of talk about the book. It was beginning to be seen as ‘special’ particularly because a six-figure sum had been paid for the US rights, a handsome figure for a first novel. Chairing a panel of judges, again all adults, the response to the book was very enthusiastic. Rowling's originality was highly praised, and the universal view was that children would love it. And so it proved. When, several months later, children in schools across the country cast their votes for the 1997 Nestlé Smarties Book Prize Gold Medal, this unknown and still very new author was the runaway winner. Her readers had spoken. They had found a book they adored and the reader-to-reader, word-of-mouth story sharing that has been such a significant feature of the whole sequence had begun.

On publication, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was quietly but well received. A review in the Scotsman published two days later described Harry as ‘a hugely likeable child, kind but not wet, competitive but always compassionate’. Yet Rowling's name was misspelt in the review and she was so unknown that it was barely noticed. At that moment it would have been hard to identify the book as the blue touchpaper for a publishing phenomenon that would go on to change perceptions of writing for children. More praise followed, including a rave review in the Sunday Times, and Bloomsbury secured a book-of-the-month slot for July 1997 across Ottakar's bookstores (now part of Waterstones). Sales began to build as word of mouth spread. But certainly no one predicted the subsequent ‘must read’ status of Rowling's titles and how that would benefit so many other books for children. Nor did anyone imagine how the series would subtly change how future publishing would engage young people by making reading an experience of belonging and sharing.

Although in 1997 all Rowling's readers had to love was one book, they were already so captivated by the diverse and inventive cast of characters, the originality of everything about Hogwarts and especially Quidditch, that they eagerly awaited the second title. Long held views about the need for a central character to remain one age were instantly upturned by Rowling's bold and unusual decision to allow Harry and his friends to grow up during the stories. For the purpose of Harry's personal destiny it made perfect sense. For readers, it played a big part in tying them into the whole extended narrative. Here was a story to grow up with, a story that kept pace with their own emotional development, a story they could own and inhabit.

And so Professor McGonagall's prophecy came true.

Harry Potter became a legend not just within the stories, but across the real world, too. Rowling gave readers a whole new place to play in – one rich in imagination, vivid in adventure and deep in emotion. She offered big ideas about identity, parental love, bravery, insecurity and much more, deftly wrapping everything up with magic. Her readers were spellbound.