Both J.K. Rowling and Harry are born on 31st July. Rowling put parts of herself into all the main characters saying that Hermione is a bit like her when she was younger and that her favourite animal is an otter, the same animal as Hermione's patronus.

Only one character in the Harry Potter universe is a figure from Muggle history. J.K. Rowling made up all her characters except one – Nicolas Flamel. In "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" Flamel is the original creator of the Philosopher's Stone and Hermoine searches the library to find more information out about him. Flamel was a real man who was a scribe and manuscript seller. After his death people began to believe Flamel had discovered the Philosopher's Stone and achieved immortality, meaning you can never die. These stories first appeared in the 17th century.

The magical plants in the series all come from a real-life compendium of flora. At a glance, plant names like "Mugwort" and "toadflax" sound like words pulled from Rowling's boundless imagination. But these flora actually exist in the Muggle world. As the author explained, the plants in the series come from a compendium called "The Complete Herbal" by English botanist and herbalist Nicholas Culpeper.