The wizarding world of Harry Potter enchanted numerous children and adults and continues to do so with new movies and games being released to continue the story.
And while many of us might have dreamed certain aspects of the magic could be real such as broomsticks and spells, it seems there are certain items from JK Rowling's books that readers didn't realise do actually exist.
This surprising situation was brought to light after a Reddit user posted a question, asking: "Non-British readers, what's something from the books you thought was magical but turned out to be just British?"
The post went viral, with more than 1,000 people upvoting and commenting to share the items they had mistakenly thought were fictional and magical but were actually real.
A number of people from America and beyond admitted they thought Treacle Tart was something that only existed at Hogwarts - like Butterbeer or chocolate frogs.
"I only found out it was real two months ago," confessed one fellow fan.
Another user claimed they'd always believed treacle tart to be "some kind of cake that looked like an octopus or squid".
They explained: "Guess my young mind went to treacle = tentacle. And we already had chocolate frogs, so it somehow made sense."
Similarly, it seems some fans were also under the impression that Christmas crackers were a figment of the author's imagination.
A puzzled Redditor commented that they thought they were some kind of magical food item and when the book referenced them having something inside, they thought the characters were pulling "novelty-filled giant Cheez-Its".
Other things that baffled American readers were the house system at school and prefects, with a different person asking: "How are students selected in the real world?"
While someone else shared: "I was shocked to find out houses were a real thing and that my friend's school had them."
And a few people told how they'd misunderstood what "punting" meant when they read the books.
"Not necessarily 'magical', but PUNTING. When Filch had to punt students across Fred and George's swamp, I'm over here thinking he was kicking them across like an American football. Not ferrying them in a boat. My mind was blown."
To which one gobsmacked reader replied: "Literally just found out at this moment he wasn't kicking them."
This exchange left one Brit in stitches, as they added: "Oh my god a whole load of you really thought he was kicking students across a corridor I cannot breathe."
Do you have a story to share? We want to hear all about it. Email courtney.pochin@mirror.co.uk
