28-year old man refuses to move out of his parents home because he's "still waiting for a l

Harry Potter homebody - 28-year old Gavin Firth has not yet given up on the dream of becoming a wizard. #GavinPotter

Gavin Firth from Manchester is not your ordinary 28 year old. He has never had a job, he rarely goes outside and he still lives with his mother and father. But contrary to what you might think, the cause of his peculiar lifestyle is not medical, but rather, magical.

It all started on Gavins tenth birthday in 1997, when he received a very special book. The cover read "Harry Potter and The Philosophers Stone" and it would change his life forever. Gavin quickly became enthralled with the book, and soon, Harry Potter was all he talked about. "We hardly recognised him once he got a hold of that book, he started dressing like Harry Potter, started speaking with a London accent and began running around with a broomstick pretending to be flying."

says his mother, Maureen,a forlorn woman who gives the impression of being close to collapse.

All Gavin's birthdays parties as a child were Harry Potter themed, in school he dressed as his favourite wizard, and his room is, to this day, completely covered in items from the Wizarding world. In school, he was even nicknamed Gavin Potter, both by fellow students and teachers, and was teased for it often. his mother continues

"We didn't think much of it at first, I mean he was a child and all the other children were crazy about Harry Potter too at that time. It was as the years passed, as the Harry Potter frenzy began to fade among his friends, that his behaviour really began to worry us".

That's right, Gavin's obsession with Harry Potter did not fade as he grew up, but rather, it intensified. When Gavin was 18 and his parents began pressuring him to move out, get a job and become more self-sufficient, Gavin outright refused. He claimed that he had to stay in his parents house or else "the Hogwarts acceptance letter wouldn't come".

The Hogwarts Acceptance letter is a letter from the Harry Potter books that is sent to wizards at age 11 if they've been accepted to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Gavin had been convinced, ever since his eleventh birthday that he would receive the letter, and still, even today, at the age of 28, that's is why he refuses to move out.

"We're at our wits end with him, we want to get him checked out by a mental health professional because this is not normal behaviour, he is clearly deluded about there ever dropping a letter of acceptance into our mail slot, but no matter how many times we tell him, we can't get through to him. I'm beginning to give up on him, I never thought I would say that as a mother, but this is becoming too hard"

We spoke to Gavin himself, a subdued young man, and asked him to describe his situation. "You muggles never understand what I'm talking about, so I don't see the point in even answering you, but the bottom line is that if I move away, I won't get the letter from Hogwarts that I've been waiting for since I was a kid. I know it's coming, I just know it."

The Stately Harold spoke to a psychologist Emma Weaver from the University of Cambridge about this story, this is what she had to say:

"Gavin presents the fantasies and delusions of a 7 year old despite being of clear mind otherwise, it is really remarkable to see. I can't make a very conclusive assessment of his mental health, but I think he might place somewhere on the autistic spectrum." The story has gained a lot of attention from around the world, and as we leave the Firth home, we're met with a slew of paparazzi. Perhaps it's his refreshing way to never let a dream die that resonates in people, perhaps it's his obstinate delusion that fascinates, one thing is for certain, Gavin won't be leaving his house anytime soon. To discuss this story, tweet under #GavinPotter