The Harry Potter books and films have inspired heretofore unseen levels of zealotry; Pottermania almost rivals Beatlemania with the lengths to which people will go to express their devotion to the boy wizard and his magical pals.

As we countdown to the premiere of the final movies airing on Sky, we take a mirthful peek into the wonderful, weird and wizardly world of the Harry Potter superfan. Obsessium fanicus!

HP The Musical(s)

Perhaps you’re a fan of the Harry Potter films, but you feel like there’s something missing. Sure, there’s spells, magic and mystery, but there’s also a distinct lack of jazz hands and Hogwarts students bursting out into spontaneous, synchronized song.

'A Very Potter Musical' is the answer to your soft-shoe shuffling show pony prayers. Harry Potter superfan and 'Glee' star Darren Criss is a founding member and co-owner of StarKid Productions, the writers and producers of this and other all-singing, all-dancing, lo-fi versions of the Harry Potter chronicles. Criss also stars as Harry in 'A Very Potter Musical', and its follow up, 'A Very Potter Sequel'.

It’s not just humans stalking the stage in wizardly robes though, Harry Potter has also inspired a troupe of performing hand puppets. The Potter Puppet Pals, or should we say their 'handlers', are responsible for this slightly disturbing performance.

Wizarding is in my jeans

JK Rowling has said in the past that the wizard gene is dominant, a bit like having brown hair or hammer toes. This controversial statement got some Potter adherents capes in a twist as they argued that her theory didn’t jibe with the existence of Muggles or squibs.

Recently, HP super fan Andrea Kleinotiz explained wizard genetics in a jargon filled post to her fellow fanatics and Harry Potter creator JK Rowling.

Kleinotiz fired back at detractors with her thesis, which postulates that, "Magical ability could be explained by a single autosomal dominant gene if it is caused by an expansion of trinucleotide repeats with non-Mendelian ratios of inheritance."

Ok then!

She even has a bibliography to back up her theory. We will have to take her word for it as we couldn’t make it past the first paragraph without crossing our eyes and going "ummmm, what?"

The ginger eyelash fetishist

Japanese super fan Kana has clearly read the wiki on how to be a true Harry Potter fan, and then some.

After winning a competition to meet the cast, Kana asked actor Rupert Grint, who plays Ron Weasley in the films if she could touch him. When he agreed she moved in to caress him in a very unorthodox place, his eyelashes. It got even weirder though when after she’d finished stroking his transparent eye curtains, she sniffed her fingers. Do eyelashes even have a smell? Most eyelashes are odourless, except for Rupert’s, which smell like Christmas and Japanese lady fingers.

Incidentally, this reminds me of the time I saw a superfan at a gig wipe the sweat from the back of the drummer as he exited the stage, and then vigiourously applied it to his own ARMPITS!!! Was he hoping to transfer the drummer’s rhythm to his underarms? We’ll never know.

Wizard Rockers

Potter mania has even inspired its own musical genre, wizard rock, also known as Wrock. Think sweaty, brace toothed teens rocking out to self-penned incantations.

The most notable acts are Harry and the Potters and Draco and The Malfoys. Harry and The Potters are brothers who have released 9 albums of Potter themed music, with song titles such as 'Save Ginny Weasley', 'Rocking At Hogwarts' and 'Voldemort Can’t Stop The Rock.'

Draco and the Malfoys (also brothers) play on the bad boy image of their namesake with songs titles, 'Party Like You’re Evil' and 'It’s A Slytherin World'.

Harry And The Potters are the modern-day 'Barbie and the Rockers' to Draco and The Malfoys 'Jem and the Holograms', with fans passionately taking sides over which act is best and a faux-rivalry existing between the bands, mirroring the film’s characters.

There’s even been documentaries made about the craze, with the best known, 'We Are Wizards' appearing at several film festivals.

Voldemort Can’t Stop The Rock – Harry And The Potters

Potions Yesterday – Draco And The Malfoys

Fan Artistes

The realm of Harry Potter has been embraced by both young and old and it’s inspired countless podcasts, costumes, role playing games, tours, fansites and a plethora of saucy fan fiction.

That’s right, there are people out there who write erotic fiction based on a series' of children’s novels. Whatever will be next? 'The Very Horny Caterpillar'? 'Hairy McClary from Donaldson’s Sex Shop'? And of course, who can forget the timeless classic, 'The Lion, The Witch, The Wardrobe and The Handcuffs'.

There’s also a huge variety of fan art, some of it created by very talented people, and some created by those with very, very vivid imaginations.

Ever wondered what Harry would look like as a llama? Well someone’s beaten you to it.

Or perhaps you’d like to see Snape and Dumbledore re-enact the famous spaghetti-eating scene from Disney flick 'Lady And The Tramp', but over a platter of jelly slugs and lemon drops instead? We've got you covered.

Whatever you fancy, there’s a wealth of wizardly weirdness to be found in these artistic expressions of Harry Potter devotion.

The Harry Potter Alliance

The Harry Potter Alliance is a rather remarkable charitable organisation based on the virtues and ideals expressed in the books. Their achievements thus far are pretty impressive, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for crisis relief and donating container loads of books to underprivileged communities. Fandom with a purpose, we like it!

World’s Self-Proclaimed Biggest Harry Potter Fan

This guy is just a delight, not only does he dress as Potter, this American fan has even adopted Harry’s accent. HarryPotterHimself, as he is known, is fully immersed in Potter World, much like this guy who has been living for the past thirty years in Pan World. Gaze into the crystal ball Harry Potter Himself, this is your future!

In this video, HarryPotterHimself recounts all the ways in which he is the world’s biggest fan in order to win the title of America’s Biggest Harry Potter fan from website Moviefone.

"I camped outside Borders for 24 hours so that I could get Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and eventually when I did, I was crowned king of the Grand Hallows ball."

Earning accolades is as easy as queuing in Potter world! If only it were an Olympic event this guy would take gold, silver, bronze AND brimstone.

HarryPotterHimself also brags in his best Daniel Radcliffe intonation, "I can wear Harry Potter clothing everyday for 3 months without wearing the same thing twice."

Happily, HarryPotterHimself won the contest and can now officially call himself America’s biggest Harry Potter fan, for which he received the grand prize of a t-shirt.

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1 airs Saturday 18 August, 8.30pm on Sky Movies

In the first part of the seventh and final adventure, Harry, Ron and Hermione set out on their perilous mission to track down and destroy the secret to Voldemort's immortality and destruction - the Horcruxes. On their own, without the guidance of their professors or the protection of Dumbledore, the three friends must now rely on one another more than ever.

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 airs Sunday 19 August, 8.30pm pm on Sky Movies
Here we reach the final battle, as Harry, Ron and Hermione and their friends return to Hogwarts to face Voldermort and his Death Eaters one last time. But will this be the end for The Boy Who Lived?