Boarding schools might be fun. After decades of decline, boarding schools reported a surge in applications from the late 1990s which headteachers attributed to the “Harry Potter effect”. Some set about building more boarding houses to cope with the demand. Alex Renton, author of a polemic against these schools, Stiff Upper Lip, points out that like the authors of most boarding-school stories, Rowling went to a day school. Boarding schools reported a surge in applications in the 90s, which headteachers attributed to the 'Harry Potter effect'

Harry Potter to be translated into Scots - J.K. Rowling Harry Potter to be translated into Scots - J.K. Rowling

In his first adventure, Harry leaves the cruel Dursley family to attend Hogwarts wizarding school, which has long been understood to be based somewhere in the Scottish Highlands, where Scots speakers exist in their highest numbers.Writers can get a taste for violence. Those who don’t know the books may imagine them to be sentimental. But, oh boy, did old JK get slap-happy as the series went on. According to the main Potter fandom wiki “158 known individuals have been confirmed to have died”. By the last couple of books, major characters dropped like flies. I won’t say which, other than – spoiler – most of them. It all started when Joanne wanted a coffee’ … JK Rowling at the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them premiere in New York. Photograph: Ben Gabbe/Getty Images

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone finally arrives in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone finally arrives in

J.K Rowling’s popular children’s book has been translated into Scots. Matthew Fitt, who co-founded Itchy-coo publishing, has provided the translation. In an interview with BBC news, Mr Fitt said, "I'm that honoured tae be the Scots translator o this warld-famous Harry Potter buik and chuffed tae ma bitts that Scots speakers, baith young and no sae young, can noo read the novel again, this time in oor gallus braw Mither Tongue." The story of Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, has been translated into 80 languages. J.K. Rowling‘s magical tales wrap around the globe through those translations and reach millions of fans. The 80th and most recent translation of the first book, Harry Potter and the Philospher’s Stone (which some of us know as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone), is the Scots language (not to be confused with Scottish Gaelic, which could be a future edition). Matthew Fitt handled the adaptation for Harry Potter and the Philospher’s Stane, and if you have any interest in the Scots language–and I do–you’ll be fascinated. New translation of Harry Potter into Scots Some books are so secret you can’t even share them with their translators. At the height of the madness – roughly, Goblet onwards – the midnight launches were so tightly policed that translators didn’t get their copies until the English-language edition was in the shops. French translators, for instance, worked in teams and non-stop; every hour that passed saw the English edition cannibalising potential sales. Itchy Coo was set up to interest new generations in the language of Robert Burns, which has been enjoying a revival in recent years. According to figures released in 2015, more than 87,000 Scots have at least some understanding of the language, with the proportion of people who can speak it increasing slightly in younger age groups.Fitt has taken liberties with names. The sport of Quidditch is now Bizzumbaw, a “bizzum” being a broom (as well as a fine Scots insult) and “baw” being ball. The Sorting Hat becomes the Bletherin Bunnet. Albus Dumbledore is renamed Dumbiedykes – an in-joke for those who know that is an area of Edinburgh, the city where Rowling wrote the book. Dumbiedykes is one of the few characters brave enough to call Voldemort by name; most think it safer to refer to him as You-Ken-Wha. Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which caused a launch-day kerfuffle. Photograph: AP/Warner Bros From French to Arabic to Chinese, the translations have ensured that children all over the world can enjoy reading the iconic books. One language that you may be surprised to learn has had a translation is Scots.