You know how the story goes: twenty-something J.K. Rowling took a seat in a beautiful Edinburgh café called The Elephant House, put her pen to her notebook, and wrote the very beginnings of what we know to be the best-selling book series of all time. Well, my world is literally shattered. Because, *brace yourselves,* that tidbit of Harry Potter history we all love to believe is not true. Though the café proudly dons a sign that calls it “the birthplace of Harry Potter,” history may tell a different tale. As it turns out, she actually had been writing the series years before she ever set foot in The Elephant House.
via facebook
The famous author is known for dropping fairly substantial facts about the series on Twitter that tend to change what we think we know about the Wizarding World and her life while writing. In true fashion, when a fan tweeted her a picture of The Elephant House and asked for some nuggets of truth, she did not disappoint. If “birthplace” is defined as the first time pen meets paper, she actually considers it to be her Clapham Junction flat in London. At the time, she was renting a room in a flat above what was then a sports shop. She did write in The Elephant House, only years later. A fact good enough to “let them off!” J.K. says. Rest assured, not all of the folklore about the beginnings of the Wizarding World is untrue. J.K. did in fact have initial thoughts while riding a train; she thought of the concept while riding on the Manchester-London line.
Well, what do you think? Are you now questioning everything you think you know? Though the beginnings of the beloved series may look a bit different than we previously thought, we’re happy to know that the quite aesthetically pleasing café still has a place in Harry Potter‘s history. And, at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter where J.K. Rowling began writing this fantastical world, we’re just happy she did.
