Turning Fear Into Magic

The fears of children are prodigious, like the inky void that opens up after dark where the closet used to be. But their most rational fear may be that of growing up, becoming another self-important soldier among the hordes of ashen-faced adults, following rules that are bereft of magic and spark. Becoming a Dursley. Becoming a muggle . For all the achievements J.K. Rowling can claim, her fundamental triumph is that she never grew up. She has held onto her crackling imagination, gripped it white-knuckled through grief, divorce and welfare. The results are the four Harry Potter books (with the fifth due...