The Harry Potter franchise is packed with so much magic that American fans were tricked into thinking that several British customs and items featured in the films were actually fictional.
While it’s pretty clear that us Brits aren’t flying around a Quidditch pitch during sports class, the reality of a treacle tart apparently isn’t.
Americans took one Reddit forum, sharing that they believed several British desserts and products such as Christmas crackers only existed in the magical blockbuster series.
Treacle tart, rock biscuits and spotted cock were all on the list of sweet treats they thought were fictional.
About tasty treacle tarts, an American Harry Potter fan wrote: ‘I thought it was something like butterbeer or chocolate frog lol. I found out it was real two months ago.”
Many fans, who are not from Britain, were shocked to discover that so many Harry Potter customs are a real part of British culture (file image)
Others commented on how ‘delicious’ the famous British dessert is, with some only now discovering it’s not fake. They added: ‘I’m just now learning from this that it’s not magical food.’
American wizard fans were also dismayed to discover that spotted cock was a real name for an actual steamed pudding.
One Reddit user commented: ‘This will always shock me every time I read it, not just in Harry Potter. I can’t believe there’s a dessert with that name.”
But these weren’t the only unthinkable sweet treats; Americans also thought rock cakes were too alien to be real.
Many believed that Harry called the dessert a ‘rock cake’ because Hagrid was so bad at cooking.
One person joked: ‘I was convinced Hagrid made cakes that were rock hard, so Harry nicknamed them rock cakes.’ Adding: ‘They’re actually rock hard cakes?!’
Anyone who has attended a full-time British education has probably experienced a prefect following them around the school corridors with orders.
But it seems to be an alien concept to those across the pond, who apparently believed that prefects and schoolhouses were only appointed in the magical land of Hogwarts.
Christmas crackers are a common sight on our tables during the festive period, but some Americans found them too otherworldly with their magical prices (stock image)
One shocked Transatlantic Wizards fan said: ‘I didn’t know the schoolhouses and prefects were British.’
Peppermint humbugs may be a staple on our supermarket shelves, but those not from the British Isles have found it a magical treat too.
Meanwhile, a Christmas cracker is a common sight on tables across the country during the holidays – e.gBut some Americans found cracker prices so astonishing that they could only exist on the television screen.
An American film fan said: ‘I was so confused when two characters pulled apart the crackers and there was stuff inside. But I was like, “Oh, this crazy magical world and their giant cheezits full of new things!”
Another continued: “Wizard crackers. I was SO confused. Why do they find hats and other prizes in crackers, for example?
“It took me a long time to figure out what crackers were and that they are a popular holiday tradition. Now I’m mad that we don’t really do them in the US!’
Elsewhere in Britain, commuters will be very familiar with the sound of trollies, accompanied by smiles and food offerings rolling down certain train paths.
But for our American friends it was a shock to discover that this wasn’t just a custom found on the Hogwarts Express.