I was tagged by Margaret @ Weird Zeal to participate in this very special event! Every day for the next week, I will be posting a Harry Potter related post to celebrate the 21st anniversary of the release of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in the UK! Today is Day 4 – a Harry Potter related story! Here is what Margaret had to say:

This year, on June 26th, will be 21 years since Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was published in the UK. And yes, 21 is kind of an awkward number, but I didn’t have a blog last year for the 20th anniversary, and I guess that means the series can legally drink in the US, which means nothing because it’s British, but ANYWAYS.

I will be posting something Harry Potter related on the seven days leading up to June 26th, and I’m inviting you to join me!

The Rules:

• Link back to one of Weird Zeal’s posts so she can see that you’re taking part!
• Tag your friends and tell them to join in as well!
• Have fun!

My Harry Potter related story is about my trip to Edinburgh last year! My husband and I took a trip to England for our anniversary last year. I spent about a year planning it, which was actually a lot of fun. I feel like I could have been a travel agent in another life!

We started off our two week trip in Edinburgh, because I figured that we might as well see Scotland while we were in the UK. So, we started at the top and worked our way down. I didn’t expect to absolutely fall in love with Edinburgh, but I totally did! It is an absolutely gorgeous city. I love the architecture; a mix of old and new. And, being the huge history nerd that I am, I thoroughly enjoyed how much historical goodness there was to explore. Before we get to the Harry Potter story, here are some pictures that I took of Edinburgh:

Isn’t it gorgeous??!! Ok, moving on…

So, since I knew we were going to be in Edinburgh for a few days, I had to make sure we did something incredibly important. We had to make a pilgrimage to The Elephant House! If you don’t already know, The Elephant House is a cute little restaurant/coffee house that J.K. Rowling sat in while she was writing Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. 🤩 As soon as I found out about it, I knew I had to go there! And go there, I did!!

My husband and I had a wonderful lunch at The Elephant House, and then he humored me some more. I had heard that Rowling would also wander the cemetery that was behind The Elephant House and use names she found on the tombstones there as inspiration for characters in the books. We had to go!! (I also have a weird obsession with walking around old cemeteries. I don’t know why, but I’ve loved doing this since I was a child. I’m weird, and I own it)

So, after a bit of wandering around, we finally found Greyfriars Cemetery! We walked around in there for a while. I had heard that this was where Rowling found the name of Tom Riddle, and I really wanted to find it. Unfortunately, I never found Tom Riddle, but I did find Scrimgeour, Potter, and McGonagall. And, thankfully, it was a beautifully sunny day as well!

The last thing I will leave you with from my trip is actually from London. My husband and I made a special trip to King’s Cross Station. I think you know where I’m going with this…

All in all, it was a fantastic trip, full of wonder and literary dreams come true! I also went to the Jane Austen Museum in Bath, but that will have to wait for another post 🙂

What Harry Potter related stories do you have to tell? Let me know down in the comments! 

Love and happy reading,