JK Rowling Condemns One ‘Harry Potter’-Inspired Trend

Twitter icon JK Rowling has made it very clear that she does not condone one Harry Potter-inspired trend: building children’s bedrooms inside the cupboard under the stairs. Apparently, the Harry Potter influence has been so vast that it’s inspired people to put their children in a well-decorated closet during bedtime.

In an effort to pay homage to the Harry Potter series, many people have decided to take the space-saving approach to parenting and use the extra space under the stairs as a surrogate bedroom for their kids. It’s a trend that’s been featured in magazines and online tutorials for years.

Rowling has apparently had enough. After one fan posted the cover of a magazine that promoted the use of stair space for a Harry Potter bedroom, she came out on Twitter Sunday morning to explain her views on this trend.

“I would like to make it clear that I don’t endorse shutting children under the stairs. Thought I’d made that clear. https://twitter.com/Beathhigh/status“

This response came out following a number of comments.

“Does that include the spiders, or are those sold separately?”

“What about bigger on the inside tents?

Many people simply tagged Rowling’s Twitter name in the comments to alert her of this emerging trend.

For those that don’t know, the “cupboard turned bedroom” trend emerged from the first book in the Harry Potter series. Because Harry’s only living relatives, Vernon and Petunia Dursley, disliked having to care for their nephew so much, they turned the cupboard under the stairs into a bedroom and made him sleep there for the first 11 years of his life instead of giving him a bedroom of his own.

Rowling wanted to make it very clear that that behavior is not called “space saving.” It’s called neglect, and she’d like it to stop, or at the very least, have no ties back to her.

She has long been a promoter of helping to make the world a better place to live, including calling out celebrities when they’re in the wrong and donating much of her book proceeds to charity.

Because of the books she brought into the world, she has also inspired a more wholesome trend known as #PotterItForward. According to the Inquistr, this trend mimics the Pay It Forward movement that follows the assumption penned by Catherine Ryan Hyde (author of the novel Pay It Forward), “Through acts of kindness among strangers, we all foster a more caring society.”

This movement prompts Harry Potter fans to go to bookstores and leave sticky notes hidden in the pages of their favorite book in the series, inspiring the next generation of Potter fans with their words. When someone purchases the book, they’ll find the note and hopefully continue to pass on the tradition.

These notes state things such as, “The world of Harry Potter saved me during my darkest hours. Use this to escape reality and to let your imagination free. Never forget that you are amazing. #PotterItForward”

JK Rowling just wants the world to know that she only endorses the best of Harry Potter trends and that through kind words, stalwart attention, and inspiring statements, we can all help to make the world a better place.

[Image via Ben A. Pruchnie/Getty Images]