Fans at King's Cross Station mark first Harry Potter book's 20th birthday

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the release of the "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" - the first book in the series about the boy wizard.

Harry Potter fans queue to have their picture taken at London King's Cross station's "platform 9 3/4". [Photo: baidu.com]

In the novel, Harry famously travelled to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry by train, leaving from the secret platform between platforms 9 and 10.

At a real-life platform 9 3/4 display in King's Cross station in London, which features an owl cage and a luggage trolley embedded in the wall, some Harry Potter fans gathered to have their pictures taken.

"I've been reading it since childhood so for me it's just kind of like disappearing into a community that I've always wanted to belong to because what child doesn't want to believe in magic? So, yeah and now actually I get to pass it onto my son so family bonding time, pretty much," one of the fans said.

Harry Potter fans queue to have their picture taken at London King's Cross station's "platform 9 3/4". [Photo: baidu.com]

Author J.K. Rowling's first novel, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," was published in Britain on June 26, 1997.

The seven-book series has sold more than 450 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 79 languages. The books' magical world has inspired multiple films, spinoffs, memorabilia and amusement park attractions. The White Elephant Cafe, the Edinburgh spot where Rowling wrote the first book, has become an international tourist destination.

Illustration of the Harry Potter novel shows the train station leading to the magic world [Photo: baidu.com]

Some fans said Harry Potter is their whole childhood to them.

"Well Harry Potter means a lot to me because I grew up with it. I mean I think I watched the first film when I was 10 so it was like my whole childhood and it's so exciting to be here now, you know, in London and to see all the Harry Potter things, how they unfold here, yeah," another fan noted.

The poster of movie Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix [Photo: VCG]

Rowling herself tweeted: "20 years ago today a world that I had lived in alone was suddenly open to others. It's been wonderful. Thank you."

Rowling's publisher, Bloomsbury, will release four new editions of the book, one for each house at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, in honor of the anniversary.