What must strike any intelligent witch or wizard on studying the so-called history of the Elder Wand is that every man who claims to have owned it has insisted that it is "unbeatable," when the known facts of its passage through many owners' hands demonstrate that has it not only been beaten hundreds of times, but that it also attracts trouble as Grumble the Grubby Goat attracted flies.
J. K. RowlingI am indebted to the British welfare state; the very one that Mr Cameron would like to replace with charity handouts. When my life hit rock bottom, that safety net, threadbare though it had become under John Major's Government, was there to break the fall. I cannot help feeling, therefore, that it would have been contemptible to scarper for the West Indies at the first sniff of a seven-figure royalty cheque. This, if you like, is my notion of patriotism.
J. K. RowlingHe knew one thing only, and it was beyond fear or reason: He was not going to die crouching here like a child playing hide-and-seek; he was not going to die kneeling at Voldemortโs feet . . . he was going to die upright like his father, and he was going to die trying to defend himself, even if no defense was possible. . . .
J. K. RowlingThose who choose not to empathize enable real monsters, for without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves we collude with it through our apathy.
J. K. RowlingIโm not a freak. Thatโs a horrible thing to say." "Thatโs where youโre going. A special school for freaks. You and that Snape boy ... weirdos, thatโs what you two are..." "You didnโt think it was such a freakโs school when you wrote the headmaster and begged him to take you.
J. K. Rowling