J.K. ROWLING & ROBERT GALBRAITH, WRITE TO SUCCESS

After taking a few days off doing what she loves most in Germanic and Scandinavian lands with the company of Joseph de Ca'th Lon and Claire Fontaine, The Grandma has returned to Barcelona as tomorrow she hopes to meet The Morgans in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, where they have a very important date with Cambridge.

The family has spent a few days at Hogwarts enjoying the magic and preparing for this very special test. They have enjoyed the magical world created by J. K. Rowling, the English author who continues to conquer the hearts of young and old with her masterful works.

Joanne Rowling (born 31 July 1965), better known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is an English author, screenwriter, producer, and philanthropist.

She is best known for writing the Harry Potter fantasy series, which has won multiple awards and sold more than 500 million copies, becoming the best-selling book series in history.

The books are the basis of a popular film series, over which J. K. Rowling had overall approval on the scripts and was a producer on the final films. She also writes crime fiction under the pen name Robert Galbraith.

Born in Yate, Gloucestershire, J. K. Rowling was working as a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International when she conceived the idea for the Harry Potter series while on a delayed train from Manchester to London in 1990.

The seven-year period that followed saw the death of her mother, birth of her first child, divorce from her first husband, and relative poverty until the first novel in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, was published in 1997. There were six sequels, of which the last, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was released in 2007.

Since then, J. K. Rowling has written five books for adult readers: The Casual Vacancy (2012) and -under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith- the crime fiction Cormoran Strike series, which consists of The Cuckoo's Calling (2013), The Silkworm (2014), Career of Evil (2015), and Lethal White (2018).

Starting on 26 May 2020, her political fairytale for children, The Ickabog, is being released in instalments in an online version.

J. K. Rowling has lived a rags to riches life in which she progressed from living on benefits to being named the world's first billionaire author by Forbes.

However, J. K. Rowling disputed the assertion, saying she was not a billionaire. Forbes reported that she lost her billionaire status after giving away much of her earnings to charity but remains one of the wealthiest people in the world. She is the UK's best-selling living author, with sales in excess of £238 million.

The 2019 Sunday Times Rich List estimated J. K. Rowling's fortune at £750 million, ranking her as the joint 191st richest person in the UK. Time named her a runner-up for its 2007 Person of the Year, noting the social, moral, and political inspiration she has given her fans.

J. K. Rowling was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) at the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to literature and philanthropy.

More information: J.K. Rowling

In October 2010, she was named the Most Influential Woman in Britain by leading magazine editors. J. K. Rowling has supported multiple charities, including Comic Relief, One Parent Families, and Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain, as well as launching her own charity, Lumos.

Although she writes under the pen name J. K. Rowling, before her remarriage, her name was Joanne Rowling.

Joanne Rowling was born on 31 July 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, the daughter of science technician Anne and Rolls-Royce aircraft engineer Peter James Rowling. Her parents first met on a train departing from King's Cross Station bound for Arbroath in 1964.

J. K. Rowling has said that her teenage years were unhappy. Her home life was complicated by her mother's diagnosis with multiple sclerosis and a strained relationship with her father, with whom she is not on speaking terms.

J. K. Rowling later said that she based the character of Hermione Granger on herself when she was eleven.

In 1982, J. K. Rowling took the entrance exams for Oxford University but was not accepted and earned a BA in French and Classics at the University of Exeter.

In 1995, J. K. Rowling finished her manuscript for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone which was typed on an old manual typewriter.

In June 1997, Bloomsbury published Philosopher's Stone with an initial print run of 1,000 copies, 500 of which were distributed to libraries. Today, such copies are valued between £16,000 and £25,000. Its sequel, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, was published in July 1998 and again J. K. Rowling won the Smarties Prize.

In December 1999, the third novel, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, won the Smarties Prize, making J. K. Rowling the first person to win the award three times running.

The fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, was released simultaneously in the UK and the US on 8 July 2000 and broke sales records in both countries. 372,775 copies of the book were sold in its first day in the UK, almost equalling the number Prisoner of Azkaban sold during its first year.

A wait of three years occurred between the release of Goblet of Fire and the fifth Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

The sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, was released on 16 July 2005. It too broke all sales records, selling nine million copies in its first 24 hours of release.

In 2006, Half-Blood Prince received the Book of the Year prize at the British Book Awards.

The title of the seventh and final Harry Potter book was announced on 21 December 2006 as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

More information: Wizarding World

In February 2007, it was reported that J. K. Rowling wrote on a bust in her hotel room at the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh that she had finished the seventh book in that room on 11 January 2007.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released on 21 July 2007 and broke its predecessor's record as the fastest-selling book of all time. It sold 11 million copies in the first day of release in the United Kingdom and United States. The book's last chapter was one of the earliest things she wrote in the entire series.

Harry Potter is now a global brand worth an estimated US$15 billion, and the last four Harry Potter books have consecutively set records as the fastest-selling books in history.

The series, totalling 4,195 pages, has been translated, in whole or in part, into 65 languages.

The Harry Potter books have also gained recognition for sparking an interest in reading among the young at a time when children were thought to be abandoning books for computers and television, although it is reported that despite the huge uptake of the books, adolescent reading has continued to decline.

In October 1998, Warner Bros. purchased the film rights to the first two novels for a seven-figure sum.

A film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was released on 16 November 2001, and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on 15 November 2002.

The film version of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was released on 4 June 2004, directed by Alfonso Cuarón.

The fourth film, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, was directed by Mike Newell, and released on 18 November 2005.

The film of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was released on 11 July 2007. David Yates directed, and Michael Goldenberg wrote the screenplay, having taken over the position from Steve Kloves.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was released on 15 July 2009. David Yates directed again, and Kloves returned to write the script.

Warner Bros. filmed the final instalment of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, in two segments, with part one being released on 19 November 2010 and part two being released on 15 July 2011. Yates directed both films.

More information: Twitter

In 2000, J.K. Rowling established the Volant Charitable Trust, which uses its annual budget of £5.1 million to combat poverty and social inequality. The fund also gives to organisations that aid children, one-parent families, and multiple sclerosis research.

J.K. Rowling has received honorary degrees from St Andrews University, the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Napier University, the University of Exeter, the University of Aberdeen, and Harvard University, where she spoke at the 2008 commencement ceremony.

In 2009, J.K. Rowling was made a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

In 2002, J.K. Rowling became an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (HonFRSE) as well a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL).

She was furthermore recognized as Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (FRCPE) in 2011 for services to Literature and Philanthropy.

More information: The Guardian

 

 

I would like to be remembered as someone

who did the best she could with the talent she had.

J. K. Rowling

J.K. ROWLING & ROBERT GALBRAITH, WRITE TO SUCCESS

Today, The Grandma is reading about J. K. Rowling, the creator of Hogwarts world.

 

Joanne Rowling (born 31 July 1965), better known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author, screenwriter, producer, and philanthropist. She is best known for writing the Harry Potter fantasy series, which has won multiple awards and sold more than 500 million copies, becoming the best-selling book series in history.

The books are the basis of a popular film series, over which J. K. Rowling had overall approval on the scripts and was a producer on the final films. She also writes crime fiction under the pen name Robert Galbraith.

Born in Yate, Gloucestershire, J. K. Rowling was working as a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International when she conceived the idea for the Harry Potter series while on a delayed train from Manchester to London in 1990.

The seven-year period that followed saw the death of her mother, birth of her first child, divorce from her first husband, and relative poverty until the first novel in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, was published in 1997. There were six sequels, of which the last, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was released in 2007.

Since then, J. K. Rowling has written five books for adult readers: The Casual Vacancy (2012) and -under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith- the crime fiction Cormoran Strike series, which consists of The Cuckoo's Calling (2013), The Silkworm (2014), Career of Evil (2015), and Lethal White (2018).

Starting on 26 May 2020, her political fairytale for children, The Ickabog, is being released in instalments in an online version.

J. K. Rowling has lived a rags to riches life in which she progressed from living on benefits to being named the world's first billionaire author by Forbes.

However, J. K. Rowling disputed the assertion, saying she was not a billionaire. Forbes reported that she lost her billionaire status after giving away much of her earnings to charity but remains one of the wealthiest people in the world. She is the UK's best-selling living author, with sales in excess of £238 million.

The 2019 Sunday Times Rich List estimated J. K. Rowling's fortune at £750 million, ranking her as the joint 191st richest person in the UK. Time named her a runner-up for its 2007 Person of the Year, noting the social, moral, and political inspiration she has given her fans.

J. K. Rowling was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) at the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to literature and philanthropy.

More information: J.K. Rowling

In October 2010, she was named the Most Influential Woman in Britain by leading magazine editors. J. K. Rowling has supported multiple charities, including Comic Relief, One Parent Families, and Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain, as well as launching her own charity, Lumos.

Although she writes under the pen name J. K. Rowling, before her remarriage, her name was Joanne Rowling.

Joanne Rowling was born on 31 July 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, the daughter of science technician Anne and Rolls-Royce aircraft engineer Peter James Rowling. Her parents first met on a train departing from King's Cross Station bound for Arbroath in 1964.

J. K. Rowling has said that her teenage years were unhappy. Her home life was complicated by her mother's diagnosis with multiple sclerosis and a strained relationship with her father, with whom she is not on speaking terms.

J. K. Rowling later said that she based the character of Hermione Granger on herself when she was eleven.

In 1982, J. K. Rowling took the entrance exams for Oxford University but was not accepted and earned a BA in French and Classics at the University of Exeter.

In 1995, J. K. Rowling finished her manuscript for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone which was typed on an old manual typewriter.

In June 1997, Bloomsbury published Philosopher's Stone with an initial print run of 1,000 copies, 500 of which were distributed to libraries. Today, such copies are valued between £16,000 and £25,000. Its sequel, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, was published in July 1998 and again J. K. Rowling won the Smarties Prize.

In December 1999, the third novel, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, won the Smarties Prize, making J. K. Rowling the first person to win the award three times running.

The fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, was released simultaneously in the UK and the US on 8 July 2000 and broke sales records in both countries. 372,775 copies of the book were sold in its first day in the UK, almost equalling the number Prisoner of Azkaban sold during its first year.

A wait of three years occurred between the release of Goblet of Fire and the fifth Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

The sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, was released on 16 July 2005. It too broke all sales records, selling nine million copies in its first 24 hours of release.

In 2006, Half-Blood Prince received the Book of the Year prize at the British Book Awards.

The title of the seventh and final Harry Potter book was announced on 21 December 2006 as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

More information: Wizarding World

In February 2007, it was reported that J. K. Rowling wrote on a bust in her hotel room at the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh that she had finished the seventh book in that room on 11 January 2007.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released on 21 July 2007 and broke its predecessor's record as the fastest-selling book of all time. It sold 11 million copies in the first day of release in the United Kingdom and United States. The book's last chapter was one of the earliest things she wrote in the entire series.

Harry Potter is now a global brand worth an estimated US$15 billion, and the last four Harry Potter books have consecutively set records as the fastest-selling books in history.

The series, totalling 4,195 pages, has been translated, in whole or in part, into 65 languages.

The Harry Potter books have also gained recognition for sparking an interest in reading among the young at a time when children were thought to be abandoning books for computers and television, although it is reported that despite the huge uptake of the books, adolescent reading has continued to decline.

In October 1998, Warner Bros. purchased the film rights to the first two novels for a seven-figure sum.

A film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was released on 16 November 2001, and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on 15 November 2002.

The film version of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was released on 4 June 2004, directed by Alfonso Cuarón.

The fourth film, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, was directed by Mike Newell, and released on 18 November 2005.

The film of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was released on 11 July 2007. David Yates directed, and Michael Goldenberg wrote the screenplay, having taken over the position from Steve Kloves.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was released on 15 July 2009. David Yates directed again, and Kloves returned to write the script.

Warner Bros. filmed the final instalment of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, in two segments, with part one being released on 19 November 2010 and part two being released on 15 July 2011. Yates directed both films.

More information: Twitter

In 2000, J.K. Rowling established the Volant Charitable Trust, which uses its annual budget of £5.1 million to combat poverty and social inequality. The fund also gives to organisations that aid children, one-parent families, and multiple sclerosis research.

J.K. Rowling has received honorary degrees from St Andrews University, the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Napier University, the University of Exeter, the University of Aberdeen, and Harvard University, where she spoke at the 2008 commencement ceremony.

In 2009, J.K. Rowling was made a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

In 2002, J.K. Rowling became an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (HonFRSE) as well a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL).

She was furthermore recognized as Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (FRCPE) in 2011 for services to Literature and Philanthropy.

More information: The Guardian

I would like to be remembered as someone

who did the best she could with the talent she had.

J. K. Rowling

THE DEATHLY HALLOWS (III), THE CLOAK OF INVISIBILITY

Today, The Weasleys & The Grandma have read about the Cloak of Invisibility, that has the power to shield the wearer from being seen by Death.

Before, they have prepared their B1 Cambridge Exam practising some example tests and learning new vocabulary.

 

Download Everyday Objects

Download People

Download B1 Listening Audio & Test 3

Unlike other invisibility cloaks known to exist, it is able to completely shield the wearer and others from sight and cannot be worn out by time or spells; other cloaks will lose their ability to conceal the wearer over time or become worn out, but the Hallow cloak will never fade or become damaged.

At the end of Deathly Hallows, Dumbledore explains to Harry the cloak's true magic is it can shield and protect others as well as its owner. This is apparent when it does not respond to a Death Eater's Summoning Charm while concealing Harry, Ron and Hermione in Deathly Hallows. Hermione claims that this is the Hallow she would choose, citing the usefulness Harry has found of it.

It was the Hallow belonging to Ignotus Peverell, who did not trust Death and took the cloak to hide from him, only giving it up when he was old and ready for death. After his death, the cloak was passed down from father to son through Peverell's descendants, through his granddaughter, Iolanthe Peverell of Godric's Hollow, who married Hardwin Potter of the Gloucestershire Potters, all the way directly down to James Potter.

The cloak was not in James' possession the night he was murdered; he had previously lent it to Dumbledore, who was greatly interested in the Deathly Hallows and suspected that the Potter family heirloom was more than it appeared. Dumbledore returned the cloak to Harry a decade later as a Christmas present during his first year at Hogwarts. Harry uses the cloak throughout the series in order to sneak around the school on various adventures. Harry's father also used the cloak for similar purposes. It is large enough to accommodate Harry, Ron, and Hermione as a group during their first year, but the three have increasing difficulty fitting under it as they grow taller in later years.

While making the wearer invisible to Muggles and wizards, some creatures are able to sense people hidden under it. Snakes, for example, cannot see through the Cloak of Invisibility, but they can somehow detect people under it. Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat, also seems to sense Harry when he wears the cloak. Wearers can also be detected by the Human-presence-revealing Spell.

In Goblet of Fire, Moody's magical eye can see Harry under the cloak. In Prisoner of Azkaban, Dumbledore warns that the Dementors' perception of humans is unhindered by invisibility cloaks, as they are blind and sense people through emotions.

In the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Harry gives the Cloak of Invisibility to his eldest son James Potter, noting he'd been going on about the Invisibility Cloak since time itself. However, James' younger brother Albus steals the Cloak and uses it to evade bullies at Hogwarts.

More information: Wizarding World

 

Death's got an Invisibility Cloak?

 

Harry Potter

THE DEATHLY HALLOWS (II), THE RESURRECTION STONE

Today, The Weasleys & The Grandma have been reading about the Resurrection Stone, the stone that allows the holder to bring back deceased loved ones, in a semi-physical form, and communicate with them.

 

Before this, they have been practising listening and some vocabulary to prepare their B1 Cambridge Exam.

Download B1 Listening Audio & Test 4

 

Download The Natural Environment

 

Download Tools & Technology

 

The form of Sirius Black generated by the stone tells Harry that he and the other forms created by the stone are part of him and invisible to others.

This seems to suggest that these apparitions are conjured from memories and are not really resurrected people. According to the fairy tale concerning the origin of the Deathly Hallows, using the Resurrection Stone drove the owner to kill himself because he brought his late fiancée back from the dead, and she was very unhappy in the real world because she did not belong there. By the time the stone was seen in Marvolo Gaunt's possession, it had been set into a ring that bore the symbol of the Deathly Hallows, which the ignorant Gaunt believed to be the Peverell coat of arms; he used the ring to boast about his ancestry and blood purity.

Both Dumbledore and Grindelwald desired the stone, but for different reasons. While Dumbledore wanted it to communicate with his dead family, Grindelwald allegedly intended to use it to create an army of zombie-like Inferi. Harry said this is the Hallow he would desire most, as like Dumbledore he could name people he would like to communicate with again. Voldemort became aware of the ring's antiquity and eventually used it as a Horcrux, a container for part of his soul, being unaware of the stone's additional magical properties.

Dumbledore recovered the ring from Marvolo's estate, recognizing it as both a Horcrux and one of the Deathly Hallows. Forgetting that as a Horcrux, it was likely to be protected by curses laid by Voldemort, and blinded by personal desire, Dumbledore attempted to use the Resurrection Stone to talk to his deceased family. The curse destroyed his hand and began to spread throughout his body.

Though the spread was partly contained in the destroyed and blackened hand by Snape, Dumbledore was doomed, having, at most, a year left to live. In their Kings Cross encounter, Dumbledore told Harry that this proved he had learned nothing from his past mistakes and ambitions for using the Hallows, and was part of the reason for his fear that Harry might also become obsessed with their power if told of them.

The stone was later passed to Harry through Dumbledore's will, hidden inside the Golden Snitch Harry caught with his mouth, nearly swallowing it, in his first-ever Quidditch match. The Snitch revealed the message I open at the close when touched by Harry's lips. Harry is unable to open the Snitch until he is about to die in the Forest, and realises then the close means the end, or his death.

Harry uses the Stone to summon his deceased loved ones -his parents, his godfather Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin- to comfort him and strengthen his courage, before he goes to meet his death at Voldemort's hand. The stone falls unseen from Harry's numb fingers in the Forbidden Forest as he reaches Voldemort's encampment. Harry survives the encounter and he and Dumbledore's portrait later agreed that Harry will neither search for it nor tell others where it is.

More information: Wizarding World

Say the Cloak existed…
what about the stone, Mr. Lovegood?
The thing you call the Resurrection Stone?

 

Hermione Granger

THE DEATHLY HALLOWS (I), THE ELDER WAND

Today, The Grandma has been reading about the Elder Wand, also known as, Deathstick or the Wand of Destiny, is an extremely powerful wand made of elder wood with a core of Thestral tail hair. 

In the book it is a thing of legend and is believed to have changed owners throughout history.

The wand's allegiance is thought to be won by killing its previous owner, and therefore its bloody trail had become splattered across the pages of wizarding history, making it the Hallow most easily verified to be a real object. However, Harry discovers from Garrick Ollivander the wandmaker that this popular understanding is incorrect; the Elder Wand actually transfers its loyalty upon the defeat or disarmament, and not necessarily the killing, of its previous master. It will never work fully for a new owner otherwise. This subtle distinction becomes the basis upon which Voldemort is finally defeated, when he believes he has won the wand's allegiance by killing Snape, who killed Dumbledore, while Harry realises in fact he had disarmed the wand's true owner, Draco Malfoy, who had disarmed Dumbledore before Snape killed him. This left Harry and not Voldemort as the wand's true master in their final encounter, even though neither Draco nor Harry had physically possessed the Elder Wand at that point.

According to wizard folklore, the Elder Wand used by its true master cannot be defeated in a duel; this is incorrect, for Dumbledore was able to defeat the legendary dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald, who was the master of the Elder Wand at that point. It also appears, as the wand is somewhat sentient (as are all wands), that it will not allow itself to cause real harm to its true master. If its master dies naturally without ever being defeated or disarmed, the wand's exceptional power will end for any following owner, since it was never won from the former.

The power of the Elder Wand was first shown in history, as Antioch Peverell, the eldest of the mythical Three Brothers, had a duel with an enemy he had long wanted to defeat. He won, and left his enemy dead on the floor; however, after boasting of his unbeatable wand, Antioch was robbed and killed in his sleep by a rival wanting to take the wand. It eventually came to the possession of Mykew Gregorovitch, a Bulgarian wandmaker. Gregorovitch boasted about possessing the Elder Wand, believing it would boost his popularity, and he tried to reverse engineer its secrets as he faced competition from Ollivander. It was stolen from him by Grindelwald, a former friend of Dumbledore who sought to impose wizard power in the world. Grindelwald was defeated at the height of his power by Dumbledore, who in his later years considered it the only hallow [he] was fit to possess, not to boast of it or kill with it, but to tame it.

Dumbledore arranged his own death with Severus Snape, intending in part for Snape to end up with the Elder Wand. Because his death would have been pre-arranged and not the result of his defeat, he had hoped this might break the wand's power. However, Draco Malfoy disarmed Dumbledore before his death at the hands of Snape, causing the plan to fail; the wand was buried in Dumbledore's tomb, but Draco had already unwittingly become its new master, even though he never took physical possession of it from Dumbledore. After Harry disarms Draco (even though Draco is not using the Elder Wand), the wand becomes loyal to Harry instead.

In the final book, Voldemort seeks the wand in order to defeat Harry -his previous wands having failed-  and breaks into Dumbledore's tomb to claim the wand as his own. During the Battle of Hogwarts, he understands that the wand is not performing for him as legend says it should, and mistakenly concludes this is because it had become loyal to Snape when Snape killed Dumbledore, and would only become loyal to him upon his killing of Snape. He therefore kills Snape, and believes the wand will thereafter serve him and be unbeatable, but during his final duel with Harry his Killing Curse rebounds and he dies -as Harry had warned him- since the Elder Wand will not allow itself to be used by him against its true master.

After Voldemort's death, Harry uses the Elder Wand to repair his own broken holly and phoenix-feather wand, which he says he was happier with. He decides to return the Elder Wand to Dumbledore's grave, feeling that if he dies peacefully, its superior power will end. In the film, Harry snaps the wand in two and throws the pieces off a bridge.

Ron stated that the Elder Wand would be the Hallow he would choose, simply because it is the unbeatable wand, arguing that it was only dangerous to the brother who requested it because he kept on talking about his ownership of it and encouraging people to fight him. Hermione (who said she would choose the Cloak) is sceptical, reminding him that the Wand, by its very nature, would make its possessor overconfident and braggadocious.

More information: Wizarding World

 I was fit only to possess the meanest of them,

the least extraordinary.
I was fit to own the Elder Wand, 

and not to boast of it,
and not to kill with it. 

I was permitted to tame and to use it,
because I took it, not for gain, 

but to save others from it.
That wand's more trouble than it's worth.

Harry Potter

THE DEATHLY HALLOWS , THE THREE MAGICAL OBJECTS

Today, The Grandma has been reading about the Deathly Hallows, the three magical objects that are the focus of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows –the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone, and the Cloak of Invisibility. 

 

When owned by one person, they are said to give mastery over death. The objects are generally remembered only as part of a wizard's fairy tale called The Tale of the Three Brothers, and have become mythological over time, but a small number of wizards including Dumbledore still believe in their existence and seek them. According to J. K. Rowling, the story came into existence is based upon Geoffrey Chaucer's The Pardoner's Tale.

According to the tale, three brothers evaded Death, who gave them a choice of anything they wanted. The first brother chose a wand that could not be defeated in battle, the second brother asked for a way to bring back someone from the dead, and the third brother selected a cloak that made the wearer invisible, even to Death himself. Eventually, the first brother was killed, the second committed suicide, and finally, the third brother made Death a friend and gave the cloak to his son.

The story is generally believed to refer to the Peverell brothers centuries ago, although very few actually believe the story to be fully true. Dumbledore believed that the Peverells were simply particularly powerful and ingenious wizard inventors. The sign of the Deathly Hallows had also been adopted as a personal symbol by dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald; therefore many wizards, such as Viktor Krum, mistakenly understood it to be a symbol of dark magic.

Dumbledore had sought the Hallows, initially in his youth as a friend of Grindelwald for the power they were said to bestow, but later on as a means to undo the accidental death of his sister. He eventually concluded he was unworthy to possess them. He feels Harry could be a more worthy custodian but also fears Harry would be enamoured of their power, therefore he guides Harry to them in a circuitous manner.

By contrast, Voldemort simply sought the wand for its supposedly unbeatable power, after his previous wand unaccountably failed to kill Harry Potter. He had not realised that the wand was one of three Hallows, nor sought the other two Hallows. He also possessed the Resurrection Stone but only made use of it as a Horcrux. Dumbledore says that he doubts Voldemort would have any interest in the Cloak or the Stone even if he did know about them.

Harry eventually comes to possess all three Hallows -the cloak being inherited from his father James Potter, later understood to be a descendant of one of the Peverell brothers, the Resurrection Stone in the Golden Snitch bequeathed to him by Dumbledore, and the allegiance and mastery of the Elder Wand when he defeats and disarms its prior owner, Draco Malfoy, who unwittingly won it from Dumbledore just before Dumbledore's death.

After Voldemort's death, Harry uses the Elder Wand to repair his own damaged wand, then decides to return it to Dumbledore's tomb, so that when Harry has a natural death, ownership of the Elder Wand will die with him. In the film, Harry realises that the Elder Wand is too dangerous to fall into the wrong hands again, so he snaps it in two and throws it off a bridge. He also drops the Resurrection Stone in the Forbidden Forest but decides not to look for it in the hope that no wizard or witch will ever be able to own all three Hallows. He keeps the Cloak he had inherited, with the thought that he might pass it on to his children someday.

More information: Wizarding World

The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

First Corinthians 15:26–28 / Harry Potter

J.K. ROWLING & ROBERT GALBRAITH, WRITE TO SUCCESS

J. K. Rowling

Today, The Grandma has been relaxing with The Collins family in Downton Abbey. She decided to visit them before returning home. The Stones are still in London waiting for the opening of borders to return home.

It has been a great joy to stay with The Collins again. She has been visiting the house and she has found a wonderful place in the garden to relax and read about J. K. Rowling, the creator of Hogwarts world.

During the trip from London to Downton Abbey, The Grandma has been practising another Cambridge Key English Test A2 Example, the last before returning home.

Download Cambridge KET Exam Model-Listening (37)

  

Download Cambridge KET Audio-Listening (37)
   

Download Cambridge KET Results Sheet-Listening (37)

Joanne Rowling (born 31 July 1965), better known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author, screenwriter, producer, and philanthropist.

She is best known for writing the Harry Potter fantasy series, which has won multiple awards and sold more than 500 million copies, becoming the best-selling book series in history.

The books are the basis of a popular film series, over which J. K. Rowling had overall approval on the scripts and was a producer on the final films. She also writes crime fiction under the pen name Robert Galbraith.

Born in Yate, Gloucestershire, J. K. Rowling was working as a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International when she conceived the idea for the Harry Potter series while on a delayed train from Manchester to London in 1990.

The seven-year period that followed saw the death of her mother, birth of her first child, divorce from her first husband, and relative poverty until the first novel in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, was published in 1997. There were six sequels, of which the last, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was released in 2007.

J. K. Rowling

Since then, J. K. Rowling has written five books for adult readers: The Casual Vacancy (2012) and -under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith- the crime fiction Cormoran Strike series, which consists of The Cuckoo's Calling (2013), The Silkworm (2014), Career of Evil (2015), and Lethal White (2018).

Starting on 26 May 2020, her political fairytale for children, The Ickabog, is being released in instalments in an online version.

J. K. Rowling has lived a rags to riches life in which she progressed from living on benefits to being named the world's first billionaire author by Forbes.

However, J. K. Rowling disputed the assertion, saying she was not a billionaire. Forbes reported that she lost her billionaire status after giving away much of her earnings to charity but remains one of the wealthiest people in the world. She is the UK's best-selling living author, with sales in excess of £238 million.

The 2019 Sunday Times Rich List estimated J. K. Rowling's fortune at £750 million, ranking her as the joint 191st richest person in the UK. Time named her a runner-up for its 2007 Person of the Year, noting the social, moral, and political inspiration she has given her fans.

J. K. Rowling was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) at the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to literature and philanthropy.

More information: J.K. Rowling

In October 2010, she was named the Most Influential Woman in Britain by leading magazine editors. J. K. Rowling has supported multiple charities, including Comic Relief, One Parent Families, and Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain, as well as launching her own charity, Lumos.

Although she writes under the pen name J. K. Rowling, before her remarriage, her name was Joanne Rowling.

Joanne Rowling was born on 31 July 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, the daughter of science technician Anne and Rolls-Royce aircraft engineer Peter James Rowling. Her parents first met on a train departing from King's Cross Station bound for Arbroath in 1964.

J. K. Rowling has said that her teenage years were unhappy. Her home life was complicated by her mother's diagnosis with multiple sclerosis and a strained relationship with her father, with whom she is not on speaking terms.

J. K. Rowling later said that she based the character of Hermione Granger on herself when she was eleven.

J.K. Rowling, E. Watson, D. Radcliffe & R. Grint

In 1982, J. K. Rowling took the entrance exams for Oxford University but was not accepted and earned a BA in French and Classics at the University of Exeter.

In 1995, J. K. Rowling finished her manuscript for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone which was typed on an old manual typewriter.

In June 1997, Bloomsbury published Philosopher's Stone with an initial print run of 1,000 copies, 500 of which were distributed to libraries. Today, such copies are valued between £16,000 and £25,000. Its sequel, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, was published in July 1998 and again J. K. Rowling won the Smarties Prize.

In December 1999, the third novel, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, won the Smarties Prize, making J. K. Rowling the first person to win the award three times running.

The fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, was released simultaneously in the UK and the US on 8 July 2000 and broke sales records in both countries. 372,775 copies of the book were sold in its first day in the UK, almost equalling the number Prisoner of Azkaban sold during its first year.

A wait of three years occurred between the release of Goblet of Fire and the fifth Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

The sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, was released on 16 July 2005. It too broke all sales records, selling nine million copies in its first 24 hours of release.

In 2006, Half-Blood Prince received the Book of the Year prize at the British Book Awards.

The title of the seventh and final Harry Potter book was announced on 21 December 2006 as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

More information: Wizarding World

In February 2007, it was reported that J. K. Rowling wrote on a bust in her hotel room at the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh that she had finished the seventh book in that room on 11 January 2007.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released on 21 July 2007 and broke its predecessor's record as the fastest-selling book of all time. It sold 11 million copies in the first day of release in the United Kingdom and United States. The book's last chapter was one of the earliest things she wrote in the entire series.

J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter is now a global brand worth an estimated US$15 billion, and the last four Harry Potter books have consecutively set records as the fastest-selling books in history.

The series, totalling 4,195 pages, has been translated, in whole or in part, into 65 languages.

The Harry Potter books have also gained recognition for sparking an interest in reading among the young at a time when children were thought to be abandoning books for computers and television, although it is reported that despite the huge uptake of the books, adolescent reading has continued to decline.

In October 1998, Warner Bros. purchased the film rights to the first two novels for a seven-figure sum.

A film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was released on 16 November 2001, and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on 15 November 2002.

The film version of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was released on 4 June 2004, directed by Alfonso Cuarón.

The fourth film, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, was directed by Mike Newell, and released on 18 November 2005.

The film of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was released on 11 July 2007. David Yates directed, and Michael Goldenberg wrote the screenplay, having taken over the position from Steve Kloves.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was released on 15 July 2009. David Yates directed again, and Kloves returned to write the script.

Warner Bros. filmed the final instalment of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, in two segments, with part one being released on 19 November 2010 and part two being released on 15 July 2011. Yates directed both films.

More information: Twitter

In 2000, J.K. Rowling established the Volant Charitable Trust, which uses its annual budget of £5.1 million to combat poverty and social inequality. The fund also gives to organisations that aid children, one-parent families, and multiple sclerosis research.

J.K. Rowling has received honorary degrees from St Andrews University, the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Napier University, the University of Exeter, the University of Aberdeen, and Harvard University, where she spoke at the 2008 commencement ceremony.

In 2009, J.K. Rowling was made a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

In 2002, J.K. Rowling became an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (HonFRSE) as well a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL).

She was furthermore recognized as Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (FRCPE) in 2011 for services to Literature and Philanthropy.

More information: The Guardian

I would like to be remembered as someone

who did the best she could with the talent she had.

J. K. Rowling