Of Course J.K. Rowling Misses Dumbledore the Most

Potentially distressing pop culture anniversary alert: the first Harry Potter book turns 15 this weekend—and that's just if you're going by the American edition

Potentially distressing pop culture anniversary alert: the first Harry Potter book turns 15 this weekend—and that's just if you're going by the American edition. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, as it's titled across the pond, first hit the London market on June 26, 1997.

So, as the dust settles from her Cuckoo's Calling swindle, J.K. Rowling has taken some time to reflect. In an interview with Scholastic Books, which aired on Good Morning America today, Rowling revealed which character she misses the most:

Of course it's Dumbledore.

"Above all the other characters in the Harry Potter series, he is the one I miss the most," the author admits. "I always say that I feel like I wrote Dumbledore from the back of my head. Sometimes he said things and told Harry things that I only knew I knew or believed when I saw that I'd written them down in the voice of Dumbledore."

To the committed Potter fan, this will come as no surprise. Dumbledore is the voice of wisdom, the pillar of calm and knowledge, throughout the series. He is the anchor through which Rowling conveys all that needs to be conveyed to Harry—though, to hear her statement, perhaps he was transporting wisdom to her as well. (Oh, novelists.) "I loved writing Dumbledore and Dumbledore is the epitome of goodness," Rowling said as early as 2000. When Snape Rowling killed him in 2005's Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, it was a really big deal. When she revealed that he is gay two years later, it was maybe an even bigger deal. (Or maybe not.)

"He is the character who was hardest to leave," Rowling told Scholastic. "If I can have anyone come back to me, physically, and come and talk to me, it would be Dumbledore."

Maybe he can. Maybe she has that power.