July 31 isn’t just Harry Potter’s (fictional) birthday; it’s also the books’ author, J.K. Rowling‘s 54th birthday! Her Harry Potter family is all about celebrating the woman who made the wizarding world happen, and that includes Emma Watson. The girl formerly known as Hermione Granger, 29, shared an adorable pic on Instagram in honor of the author’s birthday, that showed them partying with Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood) at what appears to be a 2018 Halloween party. Emma captioned the pic, “Sexy and scary! 👻 You smashed this. All the love to you Jo. Happy Birthday!!!! Extra points to @msevylynch for being the most perfect cat. 🐯”.
Can we talk about how cute they all look? Emma is dressed as her fave superhero, Wonder Woman. If Gal Gadot ever decides she wants out, we humbly recommend Emma takes over. Dancing with the Stars finalist Evanna, as Emma mentioned, is a lovely kitty cat. Extra points to Ravenclaw for styling her hair into cat ears. Jo (J.K.’s real name) is a terrifying demon disguised as a femme fatale. It’s so hard to believe that Emma and Jo met for the first time nearly 20 years ago. Just look at how precious this pic is of the author posing with Emma, Daniel Radcliffe, and Rupert Grint on the red carpet at the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone premiere. It must have been so surreal for her to see the characters she dreamed up on napkins and notepads become living, breathing children.
Harry Potter fans obviously freaked out when Emma posted her pic with Jo and Evanna. They flocked to the comments and unloaded their feelings. Like one commenting, “THIS PICTURE MADE MY DAY.” Some used the opportunity to give Jo their best wishes, with one fan writing, “Happy birthday Jk Rowling, the strongest women in the universe, and happy birthday to Harry and Neville. We love you.” Another commented, “Omg I’m crying happy tears.” Dude, same.
It’s no secret that Emma and Jo adore each other. When the Brown graduate started the UN feminist organization, HeForShe, in 2016, the author called her an “inspirational woman” on Twitter. An excited Emma responded by tweeting, “RIGHT back at you. Thank you for everything xx”. All the feels.