Insanely Meta Easter Egg in Harry Potter We Bet You Never Noticed
You may think you know everything about Harry Potter, but we bet anything we have that you've never had any idea about this subtle yet genius Easter Egg!
Harry Potter 's been studied as thoroughly as it gets. Every line from the books, every shot from the movies, and every possible meaning has been examined and brought to light over the 25 years that have passed since the first book came out in 1997.
You'd think there are no secrets left there, but you'd be surprised by how many are still left uncovered!
Recently, fans have discovered an Easter Egg that's been waiting for two and a half decades right at the beginning of the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
It's mind-blowing that even after all these years, there are still these subtle presents left by JKR that just keep getting uncovered as time passes!
Brace yourselves as we're about to do some quick and easy math here… That somehow no one has done during these 25 years.
Harry Potter was famously born on July 31, 1980. His parents, Lily and James Potters were killed by Lord Voldemort on October 31, 1981. That very same day, Harry Potter was brought to the Dursleys: he left the Wizarding World for years.
Considering Hagrid brought Harry back to the Wizarding World on his eleventh birthday — July 31, 1991 — we can see that the Boy Who Lived stayed with Muggles for around ten years.
The second chapter of The Sorcerer's Stone, "Vanishing Glass," begins with this statement… But there's a catch. The first few words of the chapter are "Nearly ten years had passed…", and it's a smart and subtle hint by J.K. Rowling.
The key here is the word "nearly": if you redo the calculations themselves, you can notice that the day Harry left the Wizarding World and the day he returned are not separated by full years.
Harry left when Lily and James Potter died on October 31; he came back when he turned eleven on July, 31. That's a three-month difference, and three months is exactly one-quarter of a year. Do you start to see it already?
Harry Potter's been away from the Wizarding World for precisely 9¾ years!
We can't believe that for over 25 years, no one has ever noticed this Easter Egg. Amid all the speculations about why the Hogwarts Express platform was exactly 9¾, this clever little secret remained hidden, and it was only recently discovered by an eager fan.
We're sure there are still many more subtle details like this one left to uncover, and we can honestly imagine some of them only being figured out in another ten years or so.
This sort of sudden revelation feels like a tickle of magic in itself, don't you think?