JK Rowling reveals the truth behind Edinburgh cafe's claim to be 'birthplace' of Harry Potter

The Harry Potter author has cleared up a few magical mysteries of her Edinburgh inspirations.

JK Rowling reveals the truth behind Edinburgh cafe's claim to be 'birthplace' of Harry Potter

The Elephant House cafe, that has called itself ‘The Birthplace of Harry Potter’ was not actually visited by the author of the books, JK Rowling, until after she had been writing the books for a few years.

Responding to a fan who queried the Elephant House cafe’s claim, Ms Rowling said: “I was thinking of putting a section on my website about all the alleged inspirations and birthplaces of Potter. I’d been writing Potter for several years before I ever set foot in this cafe, so it’s not the birthplace, but I *did* write in there so we’ll let them off!”

On the same thread, she also comments on a picture posted of a bookshop in Porto, Portugal, also cited as potential inspiration due to its small, winding staircases and tall, wooden bookshelves, saying: “For instance, I never visited this bookshop in Oporto. Never even knew of its existence! It’s beautiful and I wish I *had* visited it, but it has nothing to do with Hogwarts!”

She also shared a picture of the Artisan Roast who famously has a sign saying ‘JK Rowling never wrote here’, and commented: “I saw that sign when I was in there a couple of years ago and it made me laugh. I’m thinking of going and writing in there one day so they have to correct it: ‘.... except that one time.”

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