A “Harry Potter” fan who noticed a chalk-drawn door to Hogwarts while riding on the Blue Line had no idea it would lead straight to an exchange with J.K. Rowling.
Michal Wilczewski was riding on the train Wednesday morning when he noticed the door drawn in white chalk on a brick building. As the train slowed to stop at Damen, he snapped a photo. “@jk_rowling can you tell me more about this door to Hogwarts at the Damen Blue Line stop in Chicago?” he tweeted at the richest author in the world.
@jk_rowling can you tell me more about this door to Hogwarts at the Damen Blue Line stop in Chicago? pic.twitter.com/9O5IcAopU0
— Michał Wilczewski (@mehow87) April 25, 2018
To his surprise, Rowling responded. “It’s for exchange students from Ilvermorny. Duh,” she wrote back. Rowling was referring to the Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where the characters in her books go to study up on all things magic.
It's for exchange students from Ilvermorny. Duh. https://t.co/pcZdtZAmtp
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 25, 2018
“I know that she has responded to fans’ questions in the past so I thought it would be fun to just write to her. I didn’t expect that she’d ever respond,” Wilczewski said in an e-mail. “My hands started shaking … I was even so lost in the excitement of the moment that I actually missed my train stop.”
Wilczewski tweeted that the exchange made Wednesday the most magical day of his life.
The most magical day of my life! https://t.co/gS7l5gEB5V
— Michał Wilczewski (@mehow87) April 25, 2018
“That she responded speaks volumes to the type of author she is,” he said by e-mail.
We'll be updating our maps shortly. https://t.co/yMRipYpaCO
— cta (@cta) April 26, 2018
