Mystery Wizard On Harry Potter Book's Back Cover Identity Revealed
The UK illustrator for the first Harry Potter novel has solved a long-running fan mystery about an unknown wizard on the back cover. Harry Potter is certainly the most iconic multimedia fantasy franchise of the 21st century. What started as the tale of a young wizard attending a school for magic has expanded to include video games, theme parks, a two-night stage show, and a series of prequels inspired by the in-fiction textbook Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. However, before all of the hullabaloo surrounding the boy wizard, Harry Potter started as a single children's novel that would kick off a seven-book series. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (which was retitled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for American markets), written by a then-unknown author, was released in 1997.
Nobody behind the book's publication could have predicted the massive, culture-defining property the book would eventually become, least of all the person who illustrated the iconic original UK cover. That person is behind one of the series' greatest mysteries, having drawn a wizard on the back cover who doesn't seem to match the description of any of the characters in the book itself. The wizard is wearing striped pants that resemble pajamas under a red cloak, with a red pointed hat perched on his head. He is depicted holding an enormous book with a five-pointed star on it and smoking a pipe. Eventually, the back cover wizard was replaced by a more recognizable Harry Potter figure — Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore — but speculation still remains about who that original illustration was meant to represent.
Related: Harry Potter's Secret Screenwriting Weapon Saved Fantastic Beasts 3
The UK website iNews recently sat down
Read more on screenrant.com
