'Patronus on a Postcard' art auction for BookTrust

Bloomsbury has joined forces with BookTrust this July to mark a very significant date for all Harry Potter fans… 20 years of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Illustration of Harry Potter casting his Patronus

This spellbinding third book in the phenomenally successful Harry Potter series introduced readers to the notion of casting their Patronus – a protective spell that manifests as a silvery animal guardian.

To celebrate we challenged over 20 of the UK's most talented artists and illustrators to create their own ORIGINAL Patronus characters on an A6 postcards.

Prospective purchasers were able to bid for the one-of-a-kind pieces online at BookTrust's eBay for Charity page and the postcards were displayed at Waterstones Piccadilly.

The auction is now CLOSED. Thank you to everyone who took part and congratulations to the winning bidders!

See the Patronus on a Postcard artwork

26 illustrators signed up to take part in Patronus on a Postcard and chose a huge variety of different creatures to battle the Dementors.

Some picked fantastical animals like a Phoenix or a dragon, while felines including a lion, a cheetah, a tiger and a domestic cat all made appearances. Both a doe and a stag were chosen, along with two different breeds of dog (Jack Russell and husky) and birds including an osprey and a peacock.

Even animals like otters, aardvarks, moles and hedgehogs were represented!

The full list of illustrators taking part was as follows:

• Dapo Adeola
• Steve Antony
• Rob Biddulph
• Jonny Duddle
• Jim Field
• Emily Gravett
• Mini Grey
• Sophy Henn
• Yasmeen Ismail
• Jim Kay
• Neal Layton
• Steven Lenton
• James Mayhew
• Sarah McIntyre
• Miraphora Mina
• Eduardo Lima
• Tom Percival
• Liz Pichon
• Levi Pinfold
• Catherine Rayner
• Chris Riddell
• Nadia Shireen
• Alex T Smith
• Rachel Suzanne

Bid on the Patronus on a Postcard artwork

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'Patronus on a Postcard' art auction for BookTrust

See the Patronus on a Postcard artwork

Alex T Smith has a tiger for his Patronus: 'Tigers are strong, powerful and fearless - all good things to call upon when in need. But they are also just great big cats, look good in hats and, according to a book I read, make excellent teatime companions.'

This postcard is by Chris Riddell, who says: 'My Patronus would be my little Jack Russell Rosie who is no longer with us - this little picture is a tribute to her.'

Emily Gravett's Patronus takes the form of an otter! She says: 'I was lucky enough to get Hermione Granger’s Patronus - she's one of my favourite characters. Although they’re not the easiest of animals to draw!'

Liz Pichon has a wolf Patronus: 'I mean, who wouldn’t want to be an all-singing, all-dancing wolf?'

'My Chestnut Mare Patronus found me!' says Eduardo Lima. 'My studio notebook is full of sketches and doodles, always drawn freehand, off-the-cuff and in the moment, so it seemed fitting to draw my Chestnut Mare by hand in my doodle style.'

'I didn't choose my Patronus, my Osprey chose me, of course!' says Miraphora Mina. 'When drawing it, I used my favourite drawing tool which is the dip pen nib, because it takes me back to Marauding on that Map I created for the Harry Potter films.'

Sarah McIntyre's Patronus comes in the form of a dragon, as she explains: 'I chose a dragon because, well, dragons are cool! I enjoyed doing a bit of a mashup between drawing the kind of dragon you might see on a Welsh flag with one you might see on a Chinese urn. They’re both magic.'

Steve Antony chose a bear for his Patronus, explaining: 'In my mind, bears are strong and wise. They're also soft and huggable. I can call on my Patronus for advice, protection and/or big bear hugs.'