Mariam, 23 East London

IN the packed room Mariam Khan watched as the boy, holding a cage, proclaimed the creature inside was Hedwig and promptly set free the snowy owl.

Soaring over the heads of the superfans gathered for a Harry Potter-themed event in a Brighton bookshop, the owl sparked pandemonium as people screamed and dived for safety.

It is typical of the level of frenzy that the book and film series can ignite.

Mariam, who lives in Stratford, East London, and is pictured on the Studio Tour, says: “I feel this is one of the best fandoms to be part of.”

The 23-year-old adds: “I don’t think it’s just for couples or lovers or old people or young people. I feel like everyone together as a collective is able to share our love for Harry Potter.” Mariam started reading the books when she was 11.

In English class at school, she would hide her current one behind the printed out pages of William Shakespeare. During Ramadan she would read Harry in her bedroom instead of the Koran at home.

Her mother would shout up to her, “Are you reading?” implying the holy book. “I’d be like, ‘yeah!’,” says Mariam. “Technically I wasn’t lying. I mean, I wasn’t reading the Koran. But I thought, ‘I’m not sinful.’” She also became savvy in the library, hiding the next book in the series behind an encyclopaedia because she could not take more than one book out at a time.

I feel like this is one of the best fandoms to be part of