New Delhi: Harry Potter is once again adding magic in the lives of people forced to stay indoors due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In a new initiative called #HarryPotterAtHome, J.K. Rowling’s first book Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone — also known as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in US — is being read by none other than Daniel Radcliffe, who played the bespectacled boy wizard in all eight movies, and other celebrities to keep people entertained while staying at home.
Sitting on his couch, Radcliffe Tuesday kicked off the video reading with the first chapter of The Philosopher’s Stone called “The Boy Who Lived”.
“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much,” Radcliffe began by reading the famous first lines of the series.
The initiative has been put together by the Harry Potter fan club called Wizarding World and it will see a different celebrity reading a new chapter each week.
Also read: JK Rowling, the world doesn’t need your breathing technique to cure coronavirus
Stephen Fry, Dakota Fanning among other readers
Other personalities who will read the remaining 16 chapters of the book are football sensation David Beckham, Oscar-winning actor Eddie Redmayne, actress Dakota Fanning, British actor and comedian Stephen Fry and actress Noma Dumezweni, who played Hermione Granger in the Broadway show “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”.
Surprise! We've got a treat for you…From today, amazing friends of the Wizarding World are going to take turns reading Harry Potter book one.
And to start us off with Chapter 1, we think you’ll agree we have the perfect narrator…⚡️ #HarryPotterAtHome
https://t.co/w9K77akbou pic.twitter.com/Q03PmjeD5d— Wizarding World (@wizardingworld) May 5, 2020
Each chapter will be published on the Wizarding World’s website and the audio recordings released on Spotify. The initiative is meant to encourage people to stay at home in the middle of the global pandemic which has so far infected more than 3.7 million people.
Rowling also took to Twitter to announce the initiative.
Some very lovely people have done a wonderful thing. #HarryPotterAtHome https://t.co/fnstkYdPnj
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 5, 2020
Also read: Coronavirus pandemic is our Harry Potter moment — an event that changes life forever