‘Harry Potter’ first edition sells for almost $500,000 at auction
The Wizarding World has been enjoying an uptick in buzz over the last month or so for a number of reasons, all of which are of the largely positive variety for a change, a far cry from when the only time you heard mention of Harry Potter was when J.K. Rowling had put her foot in her mouth yet again.
The blockbuster franchise turned 20 years old and caused a generation of fans to feel creaking in their bones, before quiz show Hogwarts Tournament of Houses finally roped Helen Mirren into the universe at least a decade too late.
On top of that, HBO Max announced a reunion special that’s set to dominate the conversation on January 1, while fans remain split on Grindelwald after Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore dropped a trailer tease ahead of tomorrow’s full-length promo.
It’s all systems go for the Boy Who Lived, then, which goes some way to explaining why a near-pristine first edition copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone sold for six times its initial estimate at a recent auction. As per Reuters, the hardback was expected to to go for around $70,000, but the winning bid came in at a whopping $470,000, proving once again that the fantasy series is never going to go out of fashion.