A watercolour illustration from the first edition of JK Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" has become the most valuable Harry Potter item ever sold, fetching $1.9 million (£1.5 million) at a US auction. This sale price was more than three times the expected amount. Initially auctioned in 2001 for £85,750 (around $108,000 today), the artwork represents the earliest visualization of Harry Potter and his world, according to Kalika Sands from Sotheby's auction house.

The illustration, created by Thomas Taylor at the age of 23, depicts Harry Potter in front of the Hogwarts Express. Taylor used concentrated watercolours and black pencil outlines, completing the piece in just two days. The auction, which lasted nearly ten minutes, saw competitive bidding among four parties, though the buyer's identity remains unknown.

Sotheby's had anticipated a sale price between $400,000 and $600,000, the highest pre-sale estimate for a Harry Potter-related item. Kalika Sands noted that the dramatic increase in the artwork's value since 2001, when only four of the seven books in the series had been published, reflects the immense growth in popularity of the Harry Potter franchise over the past decades. Thomas Taylor, who grew up in Wales, was among the first to read the original manuscript of the book that would go on to become a global phenomenon, spawning movies, theme parks, and a dedicated fan base across generations.