J.K. Rowling sends letter to 15-year-old Texas shooting survivor
Cassidy Stay, the 15-year-old survivor of a shooting that killed her family last month in Texas, received a letter from J.K. Rowling after the "Harry Potter" author heard that the teen quoted from one of her books at the memorial service.
The Telegraph reports that the note, handwritten in purple ink, was penned in the voice of Albus Dumbledore, the fictional headmaster Stay quoted at the service.
“In 'The Prisoner of Azkaban,' Dumbledore says, ‘Happiness can be found even in the darkest times if one only remembers to turn on the light,'" Stay said. “I know that my mom, dad, Bryan, Emily, Becca, and Zach are in a much better place and that I'll be able to see them again one day. Stay strong.”
The Dumbledore letter comes after a Facebook campaign was launched by Stay's supporters to connect her with Rowling.
“This afternoon, I talked to a friend of Cassidy’s who confirmed that JK Rowling did, in fact, write her a personalized letter from 'Dumbledore' (hand-written with purple ink)," a note on the Facebook page reads. “She was also sent a wand, an acceptance letter to Hogwarts with a school supply list, along with the 3rd book with JK’s autograph."
Stay's father, Stephen, mother, Katie, brothers Bryan, 14, and Zach, 4, and sisters Emily, 9, and Rebecca, 7, were killed in the July 9 shooting at their Spring, Texas, home. Ronald Haskell, Katie's 33-year-old ex-brother-in-law, has been charged with capital murder.
Cassidy was wounded when a bullet grazed her head and finger, but managed to play dead until the alleged gunman left the home.
A spokesman for Rowling confirmed the letter to the Telegraph, but its contents were not disclosed.
