However my parents - both of whom came from impoverished backgrounds and neither of whom had been to college, took the view that my overactive imagination was an amusing quirk that would never pay a mortgage or secure a pension.

He chose the boy he thought most likely to be a danger to him," said Dumbledore. And notice this, Harry. He chose, not the pureblood (which, according to his creed, is the only kind of wizard worth being or knowing), but the half-blood, like himself. He saw himself in you before he had ever seen you, and in marking you with that scar, he did not kill you, as he intended, but gave you powers, and a future, which have fitted you to escape him not once, but four times so far — something that neither your parents, nor Neville’s parents, ever achieved.

You don't have sex near unicorns. It's an ironclad rule. It's tacky.

Witness for the defense, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.

At fourteen, you really do start realising that the world is not a safe and protected place or not always.

I've often met people who are terrified, you know, in a straight jacket of their own making because they'd rather do anything that fail. They don't want to try for fear of failing.

In truth, I never consider the audience for whom I'm writing. I just write what I want to write.