Harry Potter Fans With No Life

J.K. Rowling Wrote Letter as Dumbledore to Girl Who Lost Her Entire Family — UPDATE
Rachel Simon @Rachel_Simon
a day ago Entertainment


“Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” It’s one of Harry Potter’s most famous and oft-quoted lines, said by Dumbledore in the series’ third film, and in July, it was used by a teenage girl at the memorial service of her murdered family. After her parents and four siblings were killed by her uncle in a horrific shooting, Cassidy Stay, 15, used the words of Potter to help her cope — and now, it’s been confirmed that none other than J.K. Rowling has taken notice.

According to The Telegraph, the Potter author heard Stay’s tragic story, including the Dumbledore quote she used during her speech, and was driven to reach out. So she sent the teen a personalized care package, complete with a wand, a Hogwarts acceptance letter, a signed book (the third one, fitting the quote) and, most touching of all, a hand-written letter from “Dumbledore” himself.

“This afternoon, I talked to a friend of Cassidy’s who confirmed that J.K. Rowling did, in fact, write her a personalized letter from ‘Dumbledore’ (hand-written with purple ink),” the manager of a Facebook page set up to arrange contact between Stay and Rowling, wrote on Monday. “I’m so excited and ecstatic that we were all able to make a difference! How wonderful.”

The manager told Hypable that they’d received this information from a friend of the Stay family, and several other websites are reporting the news. As for the content of the letter, that’s between Rowling and Stay; one can imagine, though, that it’s as wise and comforting as anything Dumbledore told Harry during the teen’s most difficult times.

As for an actual meeting between the two, as suggested by the Facebook page, it’s unknown if Rowling has plans to visit Stay in Texas, or if she even has already; knowing the author, it’s entirely possible that she wouldn’t want such matters to become public, and has expressed her condolences to the teen without the media’s awareness. No matter what, though, a letter from Dumbledore, along with the knowledge that J.K. Rowling is wishing her well, should hopefully bring at least some comfort to Stay in her grief.

And, like the protagonist of her beloved series, Stay is not alone to deal with her tragedies; she is credited for saving the lives of her grandparents, there’s a memorial fund set up for her family, and, at the service, she sat alongside dozens of family members, friends, and neighbors. “Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and, above all those who live without love,” Dumbledore famously said in the final Potter book, and it’s clear that Stay, despite her tremendous loss, is surrounded by those who love her dearly.

Teen Girl Who Survived Shooting That Claimed Her Entire Family Quotes ‘Harry Potter’ Character During Stirring Memorial in Her Hometown
Jul. 12, 2014 6:13pm Dave Urbanski


The 15-year-old girl Texas girl who survived an attack in which her parents and four younger siblings were killed wiped away tears and quoted the wise man from the “Harry Potter” series during a public memorial for her family Saturday.

“Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light,” Cassidy Stay said, citing Dumbledore of J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” CNN reported.

Cassidy Stay, speaks during a memorial service for the Stay family at Lemm Elementary School on Saturday, July 12, 2014, in Spring, Texas. (Image source: AP/Conroe Courier, Michael Minasi)

“I know that my mom, dad, Brian, Emily, Becca and Zach are in a much better place, and that I will be able to see them again one day,” Stay added during the gathering by an elementary school in her hometown of Spring outside Houston.

Thanking first responders, doctors and nurses who helped her, Stay said, “I am feeling a lot better and am on a very straightforward path to a full recovery.”

Cassidy Stay, the lone survivor of a family massacre in Texas, lets a balloon go during a community memorial at Lemm Elementary School on Saturday, July 12, 2014, in Spring, Texas. (Image source: AP/Houston Chronicle, Brett Coomer)

Stay was released from a hospital Friday — two days after the attack in which her skull was fractured by a bullet graze.

Authorities said her aunt’s ex-husband, Ronald Lee Haskell, stormed into the family’s home Wednesday and fatally shot her parents and four siblings, who ranged in age from 4 to 13 years old. They say Stay survived by playing dead and called police to warn that Haskell intended to go to her grandparents’ house next.

Haskell is in a Texas jail; he appeared before a judge Friday and collapsed as the six capital murder charges against him were read aloud.

Two law enforcement officials held Haskell for 20 about seconds before sitting him on the floor. They then put him in a desk chair and wheeled him out of the courtroom.