There was a brief silence in which the distant echo of Hagrid smashing down a wooden front door seemed to reverberate through the intervening years.

Birth and death: there was the same consciousness of heightened existence and of her own elevated importance

The narrow path had opened up suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

When we come face-to-face with one down a dark alley, we're going to be having a shufti to see if it's solid, aren't we, we're not going to be asking, 'Excuse me, are you the imprint of a departed soul?

The truth. It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and must therefore be treated with great caution.

At least my happiness doesn't depend on Ron's goalkeeping ability.

It was as if Snape had started handing out sweets.