Twitter Marks The Anniversary Of Harry Potter’s Parents’ Deaths

Hear that? That was the moment of silence on Twitter today for James and Lily Potter, who died 30 years ago today protecting their infant son Harry from He Who Must Not Be Named.

In the world of J.K. Rowling‘s Harry Potter books, James and Lily were murdered by Voldemort on October 31, 1981. And even though in our world the final Potter film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 has already left theaters, fans obviously still remember the series’ characters. One of the trending topics on Twitter today is RIP Lily and James Potter, marking the 30th anniversary of their deaths.

Like I said, at 3 p.m. EST Twitter held a moment of silence for these brave wizards. The tweets from before and after that range from hilarious (Voldemort: RIP James and Lily Potter is trending. Well, this is awkward…) to fervent (“Harry, you’re so loved, so loved…mama loves you, daddy loves you. Harry be safe. Be strong. RIP James and Lily Potter) to dismissive (I wonder how long it will take to track down every single person who has tweeted “RIP James and Lily Potter” to tell them they are an idiot.).

I agree that there do seem to be people who are taking fictional characters’ deaths way too seriously, but that’s only if you’re looking at this literally. In terms of fandom, it’s a lovely illustration of just how deeply J.K. Rowling’s books have touched us.