Back in the day, the midnight releases of the seminal series were bigger than Christmas and birthdays combined for Sheffield’s superfans

It’s been 26 years since a little novel called ‘Harry Potter & The Philosopher’s Stone’ hit bookshelves in Britain that would transform children’s literature forever.

Back in the day, the release of one of the seven books in the spellbinding series was a cultural event, spawning midnight releases and frantic scrambles by fans to be the first to know about The Boy Wizard’s yearly adventures at Hogwarts.

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  1. Sleepover at Woodseats Library Harry Potter fans Holly White, Harriet McAra and Abigail Ives-Owen get in a little light reading before their sleep over at Woodseats library ready to read The Half-Blood Prince when it released at midnight. Dated July 16, 2005.

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