For some fans, like those at, that meant creating websites and publishing books containing theories of what might happen to sidekick Ron Weasley, for some it meant singing songs about whether Severus Snape is good or bad, and for others, it meant creating queer fan works.
So many people wanted to escape to Harry’s magical world where nearly anything was possible – and these people began to respond to this universe in very real, critical ways. Teachers read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to wide-eyed students and parents read it aloud to put their children to sleep, continuing to turn the pages into the night. Rowling published the first Harry Potter book on June 26, 1997, The Boy Who Lived exploded into an international phenomenon.
