The cover of the illustrated ‘Harry Potter’ is here and we can’t stop staring at it

Rejoice! The wizarding world of Harry Potter is just the gift that keeps giving: The Illustrated Edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is being released October 5th by Bloomsbury and Scholastic, and the cover has JUST been revealed. Just like with some of his illustrations we’ve already seen, Jim Kay brings a whimsical, gorgeous touch to the franchise so many of us have grown up with. On the new cover, you can see Harry’s familiar face in the midst of smoke and a scurry to get on the train which leads him to Hogwarts.

There are two versions of the cover being released —A US version, and a UK version, each slightly different from each other. In the US edition of the cover, the title masks the train’s chimney, which is in the shape of a dragon head (Potterheads will know this is a nod to Hagrid’s pet dragon in Sorcerer’s Stone, as well as the fleet of dragons in Goblet of Fire):

The UK version, however, prominently displays the dragon head chimney:

These covers are making us even MORE excited for the Illustrated Editions, which we didn’t even know was humanly possible. According to Hypable and Bloomsbury, the series “will be published in 21 languages with a ‘ribbon marker, head and tail bands, illustrated endpapers and color artwork on every spread.’”

The Illustrated Editions have over 100 illustrations, some of which we’ve seen. Here’s an awesome little reminder of how wonderful they are:

Harry Potter

Draco Malfoy 

Hermione Granger: 

 Rubeus Hagrid:

(Images via Hypable)