Cast your mind back, to the dim and misty days of October 2001, just before
The Sorceror's Stone was released in theatres, before the entire civilized world knew who Albus Dumbledore was, when the only pictures we had of Professor McGonagall and Severus Snape were those in our own heads (but still, alas, long after the
first Harry Potter fanfic surfaced in the Pit of Voles). Into this anxious time of uncertainty and anticipation (will the kid who plays Harry be able to act? will he look like I imagined?) stepped
Vanity Fair, with a photo feature called "Something About Harry" and the world's very first look at The Boy Who Lived (not to mention the Professor Who Made His Life Hell and Spawned a Thousand Fangirls, Me Included).
Travel back in time with me and see them...Annie Leibovitz (she of the infamous
John Lennon/Yoko Ono Rolling Stone photo), did the pictures and she set up some fantastic poses -- she made sure to work in glimpses of Hogwarts as backdrops, an extra bonus. I can't decide if the shot of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team lounging about the Common Room is my favorite, or the intriguing shot of Quirrel, Hooch and what looks like a pterodactyl skeleton (in the library, yet!).
I now REALLY want a copy of this issue of
Vanity Fair.