Read a lot. Reading really helps. Read anything you can get your hands on.

My brain surprises even me sometimes.

By the time she had interpreted Harry's dreams at the top of her voice (all of which, even the ones that involved eating porridge, apparently foretold a gruesome and early death), he was feeling much less sympathetic toward her.

Why had he never appreciated the miracle that he was, brain and nerve and bounding heart?

It was as if Snape had started handing out sweets.

I believe in free will. Of those that, like us, are in a privileged situation at least. For you, for me: people who are living in western society, people who are not repressed, who are free. We can choose. The things go largely like you want them to go. You control your own life. Your own will is extremely powerful.

If you made a better rat than a human, it’s not much to boast about, Peter.