Harry Potter Fans Are Celebrating His 40th Birthday

In case you missed it, Harry Potter‘s birthday was two days ago. According to writer J.K. Rowling, the Boy Who Lived was born on July 31st, 1980. If Harry were a real person, that means he would have turned forty years old. Just because he’s a fictional character, however, doesn’t make him any less real – at least, not where the fanbase is concerned.

In order to celebrate the anniversary of their favorite wizard, thousands of Harry Potter lovers have flocked to Twitter to congratulate him on his advancing age, while also reflecting on their own. For many who grew up on J.K. Rowling’s writing, forty years comes as quite the reminder that time flies.

Harry’s birthday plays a particularly important role in the books as well as the films. Since the structure of his story is loosely serialized, each installment starts roughly the same way: with Harry waiting out the summer with the Dursleys in the realm of the muggles, waiting to return to Hogwarts while his extended family forgets about or plans around his birthday.

Of course, his age is also important considering J.K. Rowling’s additional expansions of the Wizarding World. Although none of her books mention this, the writer actually created a world which she maintains in real time. In order words, this database can tell you exactly what Harry and his friends are up to at this very moment. Harry himself, for instance, currently works as the Ministry’s Head Auror.

Although Harry’s real story ends by the time he finishes the magical high school, the character is by no means gone. For one, the last book in the series – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – actually ends on a scene set way into the future when Harry, alongside Ron and Hermoine, is waving off his children as they depart to Hogwarts. And with reports of a new sequel currently brewing in development, he may be back on our screens before we know it.