Harry Potter, possibly the most known book series of all time. But where did all the magic really come from? Where did J.K. Rowling get all the ideas; Hippogriffs, dementors, death eaters, etc?

Rowling first got the inspiration while riding on a train from Manchester to London in 1990. She started writing the first book that very night and finished it in June 1995. Believe it or not, Rowling got the inspiration for Harry from a boy she saw at the train station, Ron and Hermione from her college friends, and Dumbledore, her principal during his school days. Hogwarts itself was inspired by the one and only Durham Castle.

Her inspiration for the dementors, however, is shocking. They were inspired by the major depression she was battling at the time, not by Greek mythology. Her depression felt like the absence of being able to envisage that you will ever be cheerful again, much like the dementor affect. The basilisk and Fawkes, Dumbledore’s pet, were both creatures of Greek mythology.

Inferious or inferi, (dead bodies enchanted to be a dark wizards “puppet”), is the tampered version of the latin word Inferus, which means “the dead”, making the inspiration for these nightmarish looking creatures.

Me personally, its an amazing series, one of my favorite. I’ve red all the book at least 10 times and watched the movies 1-2 times each, but the movies changed way too much. I now have the whole plot memorized and you can ask me almost any question about Harry Potter and I will answer it.