“Harry Potter and the Goblet

“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”, page 159 in the UK and page 180 in the US Edition:

“I do hope this year’s batch of Gryffindors are up to scratch,” said Nearly Headless Nick, applauding as “McDonald, Natalie!” joined the Gryffindor table.

The Toronto Globe and Mail (Thanks MissNorbert) tells us the very touching story of Natalie McDonald, about her exceptional bravery and how she got the cameo appearance in the Harry Potter novel.

Natalie, whose acute lymphoblastic leukemia was diagnosed the day before her seventh birthday, was a huge Harry fan. During the frightening treatments that followed, and their manifold complications, she had plenty of time to listen to the tales of the fearless wizard.

In fact, the stoic Natalie was such a Potter fan that her parents had the third book brought over by courier from England, because they did not know whether she would live until its release later in North America.

A friend of the family wrote to Ms. Rowling to explain Natalie’s obsession and her approaching death. Ms. Rowling wrote back a lengthy letter telling the secrets of the Potter novels to come. It arrived two days after Natalie died.

Ms. Rowling didn’t give up. She and Natalie’s mother began to exchange letters. They became fast friends. And last summer while Ms. McDonald was in London riding the tube and voraciously consuming the fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, there was Natalie on page 159. Ms. Rowling inserted her as a new student arriving at Hogwarts and being sorted into one of the school’s four houses.

Natalie drew Gryffindor, the same house as Harry. That’s the ultimate accolade for a Potter fan. “It was kind of a magical thing that happened in the year after Natalie died,” Ms. McDonald said.