The Magic Pen of J. K. Rowling 《哈利波特》─ J. K. 罗琳的神来之笔

"I really wrote it for me, It was what I found funny and what I liked". Those are the words of J K Rowling, author of the enormously popular "Harry Potter" books. The quote refers to the first in a series of novels featuring a young character who has carved out a permanent place for his creator in the world of children's literature.

Joanne Kathleen Rowling was born in England in 1965, and wrote her first story at the age of six. She was in her mid-20s when the idea for the Harry Potter novels came to her, during a long train ride. By the end of that journey, she says, the character of Harry and the school for wizards which he attends were more or less fully formed in her mind.

It would be several years, however, before the novel was completed. By that time, Rowling had been through a failed marriage. Living on welfare as a single parent, she wrote about Harry Potter while sitting in an Edinburgh café with her daughter asleep beside her. She could not have dreamed of the fame and success which Harry would bring her in the years to come.

Harry Potter is not your average superhero. He is 12 years old, skinny, wears glasses, and tends to worry a lot. Yet, he has captured the imagination of children and adults the world over, and has introduced millions to the joys of reading.

Harry's appeal stems from his role as a very ordinary boy who finds himself in extraordinary situations. Orphaned as a baby, Harry spends the next 10 years being mistreated by the awful relatives with whom he lives. On his 11th birthday, he learns that he possesses magical powers and is admitted for training at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The adventures of Harry and his friends at the school are superbly narrated by J. K. Rowling. She manages to lead her millions of readers deep into the world of the supernatural, while at the same time dealing with the fears and emotions of the ordinary human world. Many feel that this is the real magic of Harry Potter.

"我其实是为自己而写。那是我觉得有趣而且是我喜欢的。"这是超级畅销书《哈利波特》的作者J. K. 罗琳所说的话。这段引言指的是一系列以一位年轻主人翁为主角的小说的第一部，而这位小说主角已为其创作者在儿童文学界中取得不朽地位。

乔安妮·凯瑟琳·罗琳1965年在英国出生，六岁时写了她的第一篇故事。二十四、五岁时，在一次长途火车旅行中，她想到了撰写哈利波特这部小说的点子。她说，旅途结束时，哈利这个角色和他就读的魔法学院或多或少已在她脑海中成形了。

然而，这部小说的完成却是几年以后的事。当时罗琳已经历了一次失败的婚姻。作为一个靠福利金生活的单亲母亲，她坐在爱丁堡的咖啡馆中写着哈利波特，女儿睡在她的身旁。她绝对想不到，哈利竟会在以后的岁月里给她带来名誉和成功。

哈利波特可不是一个普通的超级英雄。他12岁，瘦削，戴副眼镜而且常常发愁。然而，他却抓住了全世界儿童和成人的想象力，带给千万人阅读的乐趣。

哈利的魅力来自于他的角色，一个发现自己身处不寻常境遇中的平凡男孩。从小就是孤儿的哈利，在寄居的亲戚家中遭受了十年的虐待。在11岁生日那天，他得知他拥有魔法的力量，并被获准进入霍格沃茨魔法学校学习。

J. K. 罗琳精采地讲述了哈利和他的朋友在学校的冒险。她设法让数百万的读者深入到一个超自然的世界，同时也触及了人间的恐惧和情感。许多人觉得这才是哈利波特真正的魔力所在。