The mind is a complex and many-layered thing, Potter... or at least, most minds are.

But who could bear to know which stars were already dead, she thought, blinking up at the night sky; could anybody stand to know that they all were?

Fools who wear their hearts proudly on their sleeves, who cannot control their emotions, who wallow in sad memories and allow themselves to be provoked this easily - weak people, in other words.

He had grown used to the idea that Dumbledore could solve anything.

If ever I expected to come face to face with an angry Christian fundamentalist, it wasn't in FAO Schwarz.

Are you trying to weasel out of showing us any of this stuff?" said Zacharias Smith. "Here's an idea," said Ron loudly, "why don't you shut your mouth?" "Well, we've all turned up to learn from him, and now he's telling us he can't really do any of it," he said. "That's not what he said," said Fred Weasley. "Would you like us to clean out your ears for you?" inquired George, pulling a long and lethal-looking metal instrument from inside one of the Zonko's bags. "Or any part of your body, really, we're not fussy where we stick this," said Fred.

No, I'm fine,' said Harry, wondering why he kept telling people this, and wondering whether he had ever been less fine.