When I was a child, I wasn’t quite fond of playmates. I had a tendency to wander into worlds that weren’t my own, and would ignore people around me. This left me with few friends in this world, but more than a few in others. As it so happened, one of the first of these worlds I leapt into was one that had the wonders of magic.
Harry Potter has inspired and shaped the lives of many children around the globe since that fateful day 20 years ago when Bloomsbury published the manuscript that had been rejected by 12 others.
We followed the boy with the frightfully messy hair, from his cupboard under the stairs to his triumph over endless tribulations. To mark this anniversary, Bloomsbury re-releases Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in eight different versions—four hardback and four paperback, each in the four house colours, for Potterheads of all leanings.
Colours aren’t the only thing that separate the versions from one another. New character fact-files and line illustrations exclusive to each house will be included within each book.
The excitement is strung high with this one, and come June 26, I won’t be surprised to find wands raised in acknowledgement and a new array of fanfiction flooding the Net.
Words of thanks to Queen Jo will be uttered (or more likely tweeted) and many a pretty tear will be shed. As for me, I think donning my house colours (I look stunning in Slytherin green) with the new edition on my lap will be celebration enough. Perhaps I’ll throw in some light sobbing for good measure.
—Jacket with house crest
—Sprayed edges according to house colours
—Fact files about Hogwarts and the Potter universe
—Profiles of major and minor characters from across the series
