Harry Potter Is Portuguese

Harry Potter is an orphan boy who lives unhappily with his aunt and uncle, the Dursleys. He receives a letter containing an invitation to join Hogwarts, a famous school specializing in training young wizards. Initially, Harry is prevented from reading the letter by his uncle, but he soon receives a visit from Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper, who arrives to take him to school. Harry enters a magical world that he had never imagined, living different adventures with his new friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. And we already know the rest of the story, but why do I think Harry Potter originated in Portugal?

The Harry Potter book series written by the British J. K. Rowling was explored in 7 books that together produced around a billion copies - as of December 2011 - translated into 67 languages.

In 1991, Rowling moved from London to Porto (Portugal) to teach English at the University of Porto. That's where she stayed for 5 years and wrote part of the first Book in the Series.

She had daily contact with academics at the University of Porto, who, like all university students in Portugal, wear as a uniform a formal outfit overlaid with a black wool cape that almost reaches the floor. This feature certainly reminded him of the costumes worn by students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Without a doubt, there is a great connection between the book's fiction and the academic reality of Portugal.

Numerous other details from the books' fiction have a hint of reality in the city of Porto and Portugal:

-According to the author herself, the Flourish and Blotts bookstore (where wizards purchase teaching material to be used at Hogwarts) was inspired by one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world. With more than a century of history, Livraria Lello e Irmão, located next to the rectory of the University of Porto, is a tourist attraction for its beauty and the grandeur of its central staircase.

-Rowling's grandfather is rumored to have studied at the University of Coimbra, one of the oldest universities in the world with over 700 years of history. Following these rumors, much of Harry Potter's imaginary world would be the result of stories told by his grandfather, from the times he experienced in Coimbra, whether true or not, it is a fact that the activities of UC students are linked to the story of the books:

-Even today, certain students in Coimbra wear pointy hats depending on their status at the University, just like those worn by wizards.

-The four colors that designate the main colleges in Coimbra are the same colors that represent the four houses to which wizarding students are selected on the first day of class.

-Another curiosity is the rites that mark the development of academics in Portugal, especially those from Coimbra, including the century-old "Queima das Fitas" which ends with the burning of ribbons from each university academic in a legitimate smoking cauldron.

-Antonio de Oliveira Salazar was a professor at the University of Coimbra and Portuguese dictator who remained in power for more than 40 years. The name of the founder of the Slytherin house, to which the greatest villains of the saga are assigned by the sorting hat, was called Salazar.

I believe that there is still other evidence that links Portuguese history with one of the most published and appreciated literary sagas in the world. However, J.K. Rowling has already denied that anything in the book is based on Portuguese culture, but I doubt it.