Harry Potter is one of the biggest franchises on the planet. As a book series, it captivated millions across the world and its audience only grew once it was adapted into a series of movies. For a generation of children, it became a go-to subject that everyone can speak about. However, it wasn't just millennials obsessing over the adventures of Harry, Ron and Hermione, but parents too - no doubt roped into reading it to their children but becoming as captivated as their offspring were. With such a passionate fandom comes a fair amount of theories to go with it - many of which the author may not have intended, with some being completely bonkers. There have been some theories that have been confirmed by J.K. Rowling herself, who has a significant presence on social media to communicate with fans of the series and speak up on issues that are close to her heart. However, not everything she tweets out is going to make people happy - and in this case she has disappointed many fans by debunking a myth that has sprung out of the series. Those who study at the University of Exeter in England had their dreams crushed when they found out that a location from the Potterverse was not inspired by their local. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/WhatsOnDevonL/status/953546924312932352]] Rowling, in fact, confirmed that The Leaky Cauldron pub was not inspired by the Old Fire House in Exeter at all. It had long been rumored that the favorite location for any wizard or witch visiting Diagon Alley, which many in the area latched onto. The pub has now become a favorite spot for Exeter students, being the right age to have grown up with the Harry Potter books and movies as a central part of their childhoods. The university's official Harry Potter society even hosts events there. Once a news story about the property spread over the internet, the author weighed in and disappointed a lot of people. Not only did she inform us all that the story was fabricated, but revealed that she has never even visited the Old Fire House. “If you want real fantasy, go to an estate agent,” Rowling wrote on Twitter. “Never visited this pub in my life.” [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/953550658094936065]] Rowling received a wide range of responses from fans online, especially those who had studied there. The Potter society responded, "Why would you crush our dreams like this". [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/TheDanCash/status/953551747162787841]] [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/HPsocExeter/status/953605730954891264]] In one humorous exchange, Whats on Devon Live tried to salvage the story, only to be taken down by a Harry Potter reference that fans may recognize: [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/WhatsOnDevonL/status/953555994193420288]] [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/reallybigkelly/status/953558897280786433]] Many joked about how people believe unsubstantiated claims, worrying that what estate agents tell them about their property may be fabricated when it comes down to things like this. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/CatherineIsaac_/status/953553263764393984]] While it is a great little fact to get excited about - maybe next time double-check the truth before you start spreading false trivia like this. After all, all it will do is break the hearts of obsessive fans.

Millennials grew up obsessed with the Harry Potter franchise; we've all got accounts on Pottermore, we know which house we'd be sorted into, and I don't know about you, but I even know what my Patronus would be.

In fact, we can be weirdly passionate about aspects of the books and films. Just think back to the times that you've gotten into a heated conversation about the redeeming qualities of the Slytherin house, or actually gotten angry when someone dares proclaim that The Prisoner of Azkaban is the weakest movie in the series. Yes, whilst Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint have moved on to greener pastures, we're still stuck in the past; re-watching and re-reading ad infinitum.

One Reddit user, however, called this all into question after he posited a theory that had vast swathes of the internet up in arms.

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On Tuesday, Reddit user, Wunderfizz, posted the following theory to the social media platform:

"One day there is going to be a reboot of the Harry Potter movies, and an entire generation of us is going to hate everything about it"

Although your first instinct may have been to completely shut down the Redditor's assertion, when you think about it, it's inevitable. When the Hollywood studios have a fanbase as big, dedicated and bankable as Harry Potter's, there's no chance that they will let it go.

Still, the people of Reddit pointed out that we're a while off from a completely new series.

"First they do prequels, sequels, and spinoffs, with or without original author involvement. After a decade or two of milking that, depending on how much money it made, then they do remakes and/or reboots," one user wrote, while another corroborated "Yeah I don’t think they’re going to reboot for a long time. I do see them trying a sequel where harry is part of the ministry of magic and his kid goes to Hogwarts. I mean, they ended the movies with that plot setup already."

One thought that a better strategy would be to carry on from the Deathly Hallows:

"I'd just straight up continue after Deathly hallows. Everybody returned to their school, Harry and Ron didn't. They both want to [be] Aurors. So Harry stays with Ron and his parents for few months, peacefully. Then they go to work/train as Aurors. Make stories about smallish cases in Harry's initial years as an Auror where he learns that wizards aren't all great all the time and their world order clashes so frequently with normal people. But being wizards, they simply favour wizards and normal people kinda suffer from this.Expand the universe, enrich the folklore and let's do away with greatest and most powerful wizards of all times."

The subject quickly turned to casting, and Reddit had some pretty interesting ideas.

"As long as Daniel Radcliffe plays Dumbledore it will be fine," a Redditor asserted, and another wrote: "And Emma Watson needs to be Professor McGonagall."

Well, right now, a Harry Potter reboot is still a long way in the making. But rest assured that it's bound to happen at some point...

Even now, 20 years on from the release of the Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone book, the magic of the wizarding world holds as strong a spell as ever over fans. Since that heady, momentous day, the series has gone on to dominate popular culture in hitherto unprecedented fashion. J.K. Rowling released seven truly astonishing books that managed to capture the imagination of children and adults alike, whipping them up into an effervescent, coruscating glow that still shows no signs of abating all these years later. Rowling's books came to transcend traditional boundaries of genre and form to become almost universally adored, and, although Harry's story has long since reached its conclusion, it is a glowing testament to the books' extraordinary enduring appeal that the wizarding world remains as relevant, as fiercely discussed, debated and coveted 20 years after its conception. While J.K. Rowling covered an astonishing amount of ground over the course of the seven Harry Potter books, one feels sure that no amount of knowledge could ever sate the voracious appetite of the most ardent Potter fans - this writer among them. Indeed, such is the scope of the universe and its history; thrown as it is into tantalising relief by Rowling's books over a relatively short time period, that with each new revelation comes a whole new set of questions to be answered. Being as richly imagined a world as it is, the Harry Potter universe still has nuggets of information comparable to purest gold in its value to fans, and this particular piece of information is likely to intrigue fans arguably more than most. In the wake of the success of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, one fan on Twitter decided to post a reminder than Potterheads should have already been familiar with the film's protagonist; Newt Scamander. Far from merely being a prominent magical figure, it would seem that Scamander and Harry Potter were - albeit breifly - in the same place at the same time. Though the logic of the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films would have the respective action take place decades apart, a screenshot from one eagle eyed fan suggests that Newt Scamander actually visited Hogwarts during Harry's third year. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/pottersdodie/status/893203740869746688]] The moment comes as Fred and George hand over the Marauder's Map to Harry, and the ramifications are fascinating to consider. For example, could Scamander have been visiting Hogwarts to talk to Albus Dumbledore about the foreword to his book, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which Dumbledore would eventually write? Others have speculated that Dumbledore might have asked for Scamander's assistance in saving Buckbeak the Hippogriff, as one Quora user wrote; "We all know that Dumbledore was Newt's teacher before he was expelled from Hogwarts. He also fought for Newt. "Dumbledore knew the series of events in Prisoner of Azkaban and he strongly wanted to save Buckbeak so it might be possible that he called Newt because he was aware of the fact that Newt had an immense love for magical creatures. "He was the one who could possibly take good care of the hippogriff after Hagrid. Also as we know from the Fantastic Beasts that Newt's mother was a breeder of hippogriffs. So technically, this makes sense." Whether we ever find out the real reason for Scamander's appearance on the Marauder's Map or not, it serves as further proof that J.K. Rowling's wizarding world continues to confound us, even after all these years.

Over the course of seven books - latterly eight movies - J.K. Rowling created a world than continues to confound us all 20 years after its inception. Since that heady, momentous day, the series has gone on to dominate popular culture in hitherto unprecedented fashion. J.K. Rowling released seven truly astonishing books that managed to capture the imagination of children and adults alike, whipping them up into an effervescent, coruscating glow that still shows no signs of abating all these years later. Indeed, even as we find ourselves two decades on from the book release of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, fans (including yours truly) still discuss, dissect and expound theories on the world of Potter with a passion bordering on obsession. Even as richly imagined a world as J.K. Rowling's cannot cover every inch of ground that fans desire, and as such Potter fans have had to fill in some details for themselves, or come up with their own explanations for phenomena that are not discussed in detail on the hallowed pages of Rowling's books. That is exactly what Tumblr user Miraniel did during a recent Tumblr post. As we all know, the Triwizard Cup acts as a portkey in transporting Harry and Cedric to the graveyard. However, as Miraniel notes, the behaviour of the portkey is actually pretty unusual: "In all other cases except the Triwizard cup, portkeys only go one way at one specific time. Touching them again does not activate them to return to their place of origin. Also, when Harry grabs the cup a second time, it does not return him to the middle of the maze. It takes him to the entrance of the maze, in front of everyone." Since Voldemort's plan seems quite plainly to be the murder of Harry, after he has used his blood to regain human form, Miraniel speculates as to who was actually meant to take the portkey's return journey; "So here was Voldemort’s complete plan: Use Barty Crouch Jr. to infiltrate Hogwarts as Moody. He gets to know Harry and sets him up to be selected for and eventually to win the Triwizard Tournament. He makes sure Harry touches the cup first. Harry is then transported to the graveyard where Voldemort is waiting. Voldemort uses Harry to rise, calls his Death Eaters to him, and then humiliates and kills the Boy Who Lived in front of them. "Then Voldemort strips Harry’s body, takes his hair, and transforms into him (or else has one of his DE’s do this—but really, who would he pick? Lucius is an idiot, Bellatrix is still in jail, and he believes Snape has deserted him). He then takes the cup and goes to Hogwarts as Harry. Later that night, Moody disappears, and Crouch takes Voldemort’s place as Harry Potter. Then, when the moment is right, Voldemort-Harry or Crouch-Harry will assassinate Dumbledore (incidentally gaining the power of the Elder Wand, though he wouldn’t know it), stage a coup of Hogwarts, and take over the wizarding world." Some, however, have pointed out a problem with this theory, namely that you cannot use Polyjuice Potion on a dead body - hence the reason the real Mad Eye Moody was kept alive by his imposter, Barty Crouch Jr. It seems fare more likely - as one commenter points out - that the Triwizard Cup was initially intended as a portkey back to the entrance of the maze, so as to ascertain who had won the event, before Barty Crouch Jr (disguised as Mad Eye Moody) added a second enchantment which made the cup first act as a portkey to the graveyard. Make sense?

JK Rowling has taken to Twitter to reveal where she began writing the Harry Potter franchise, stumping fans who believed for decades that Edinburgh was its birthplace.

While the Elephant House Cafe in the Scottish capital is widely regarded as the place where the 54-year-old novelist began writing the fantasy novels, with her being known to frequent the location during the early days of her writing career, yesterday Rowling disclosed that she actually started penning the series in London, in a flat above a sports shop in Clapham.

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Referring to the sign on the Elephant House Cafe which reads "birthplace of Harry Potter", Rowling tweeted: "I’d been writing Potter for several years before I ever set foot in this cafe, so it’s not the birthplace, but I *did* write in there so we’ll let them off!”

[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1263375120879554560?s=20]]

She then proceeded to share a picture of a Clapham flat where she first started writing. "This is the true birthplace of Harry Potter,” she said. “If you define ‘birthplace’ as the spot where I put pen to paper for the first time."

"I was renting a room in a flat over what was then a sports shop. The first bricks of Hogwarts were laid in a flat in Clapham Junction."

She added: “[But] If you define the birthplace of Harry Potter as the moment when I had the initial idea, then it was a Manchester-London train.”

"I’m perennially amused by the idea that Hogwarts was directly inspired by beautiful places I saw or visited. because it’s so far from the truth."

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Rowling also shared a picture of a bookshop in Porto, Portugal, which cites itself as an inspiration for Harry Potter. "I never visited this bookshop in Oporto", she claimed. "Never even knew of its existence! It’s beautiful and I wish I *had* visited it, but it has nothing to do with Hogwarts!"

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Throw a stick in a crowded space and the chances are you'll hit dozens of Harry Potter fans.

Don't actually do that, obviously, but the point I'm trying to make is that there are basically loads of Potterheads out there, and you can count this writer among them. JK Rowling has had me confunded for nigh on 20 years now, and the spell shows no signs of loosening its grip.

So rich and intricately woven is the wizarding world of Harry Potter that, even after all these years, the full extent of JK Rowling's work is still being discovered by voracious readers.

As such, every now and then a fan theory will pop up that just fits so neatly and perfectly that it will capture the imaginations of thousands online and pique the interest of none other than Rowling herself.

Some are brilliant, even if not proven to be correct by Rowling herself, for example the wonderfully creative theory that Albus Dumbledore represents death in the Tale of the Three Brothers.

A personal favourite of mine would also be the theory that seeks to provide an explanation for why the Dursleys are such a miserable bunch of misanthropes. The theory posits that the reason behind their disgruntlement lies in the fact that Harry is, himself, a Horcrux, and - as we all know - Horcruxes have a negative effect on the mood of those nearby as time goes on. Since Harry spent eleven long years with the Dursleys before leaving for Hogwarts, there might be some explanation there for their cantankerous nature.

But I digress, because JK Rowling has just confirmed a rather neat little Harry Potter fan theory to be true, and it's fair to say that fans are delighted.

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"Theory: @jk_rowling included that passage on how to pronounce Hermione's name in Goblet of Fire just to school all of us who were saying HER-MY-OWN like Viktor Krum."

A brilliant, funny, entirely plausible theory, and, as it turns out, entirely correct, as Rowling herself confirmed, "Theory correct".

One user provided their own experience of learning how to pronounce Hermione: "I’m embarrassed it took three and a half books to learn that pronunciation. Like many others, I had never seen the name Hermione before in my life. Definitely pronounced it HER-ME-OWN in my head for far too long (until @jk_rowling gave it to us)". 

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Another tweeter added that it wasn't until watching Oprah that she realised how to correctly pronounce the name;

"My 7 year old brain read it as Her-Me-Own!! It wasn’t until I watched a Oprah interview that I understood I was saying it wrong all along."

Another fan remarked that, thanks to Stephen Fry's wonderful audiobooks of the stories, they know how to pronounce the character names all along;

"I had @stephenfry's reading of the audiobooks for that, though now it means I get annoyed when the films pronounce spell incantations differently."

So there's the truth; JK Rowling gave as a subtle nudge in the right direction on how to pronounce Hermione's name, and poor unsuspecting Viktor Krum was her stooge for it.