Lumos: Celebrate Harry Potter's birthday with Nighttime Lights at Hogwarts Castle

It’s been more than 20 years since Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone first appeared in bookstores, changing the lives of millions of kids and adults. But over that time period, the intrigue has not faded, as demonstrated by the series’s spinoffs, the popular Broadway show, and our continued excitement over our favorite wizard’s birthday.

That’s right – Harry Potter turns 38 this week, born on July 31, 1980. He shares that birth date with series author J.K. Rowling.

Yahoo Entertainment knows of one awesome way for you to celebrate this happiest of birthdays (or, as Hagrid would write, “Happee Birthdae”).

So lumos forever, Muggles — prepare for utter illumination this summer as you apparate into Hogsmeade Village at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. This month, it won’t be the frothy butterbeers or a broomstick ride through the Forbidden Forest that’ll do you in but the Sorting Hat’s sweeping celebration of the four houses of Hogwarts that come to life every evening starting at sundown.

Nighttime Lights at Hogwarts Castle is back at Universal Studios in Hollywood through Aug. 19, so don a house sweater and settle out in front of Hogwarts Castle for the spectacle of a lifetime. Slytherins will be stoked to see a serpent wriggle around on the castle’s highest tower, while Gryffindors will go wild and watch in awe of the regal lion projected onto the cliffs below the castle.

Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, admittedly you may not get a lot of love out of the lights display, but you’ll still feel welcome as ever by the cheers of your brothers and the animated John Williams score that can get anyone’s heart pumping. And if you don’t, here’s a pro tip: The line for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey inexplicably disapparates during each of the several showings of the Nighttime Lights, so hit that up after a day of gallivanting through the land of Fizzing Whizbees, floating Yule Ball gowns, and chugging trains.

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