How JK Rowling Brought a Smile to a 12-year-old Kashmiri Girl With the Harry Potter Magic

Students of a remote school in Jammu woke up to a magical morning on Saturday when they unpacked a bunch of personalised gifts sent by the world-renowned author JK Rowling.

When 12-year-old Kulsum, a Harry Potter fan and one among her family’s first generation to learn English, wrote an essay on JK Rowling in April, she had hardly imagined that it would actually be read by the Harry Potter author herself, along with many others.

Rowling, who was applauded for sending Harry Potter books to Syrian kids to "distract them" from bombings in their war-torn region, responded to Kulsum's teacher and director of Haji Public School, Sabbah Haji, who had tweeted the 12-year-old's heartfelt essay to the author.

Kulsum wrote, "I am not inspired by JK Rowling only because she writes well but also because she has faced many difficulties but she never gave up. "May Allah bless JK Rowling and give her a long life so that when I grow up, I get to meet her."

"Dear @jk_rowling. Kulsum, 12, a first generation English learner from the Himalayas would like to meet you someday. So come visit us at #HajiPublicSchool."

Rowling was quick to notice the tweet and asked for Kulsum's full name so that she could send something for her. "Please, can you send me Kulsum’s full name by DM? I’d love to send her something," the author tweeted.

Fast forward to June, to everyone's surprise, Rowling turned her promise to reality when she sent Kulsum and her classmates a box of gifts including entire book series, magic wands, Hedwig figure, bookmarks among others. "Today was our last day of class before Term 1 exams and look what arrived in the mail. GIFTS FROM JKR with personalized notes for Kulsum. All of class 7 (along with their director @imsabbah) lost their minds, Kulsum's teacher wrote in a tweet.

In a video posted as part of a thread of tweets, Kulsum couldn't contain her happiness while reading out a note by Rowling.

“I have sent some things. I hope you like them. I am also impressed by your English. It would be an honour to meet you one day. With Love.”

Sabbah Haji, the director of Haji Public School at Breswana later took to Twitter to thank the British author. "HELLO, WORLD. SO @jk_rowling SENT A HUGE GIFT BOX FOR KULSUM AND FRIENDS. HANDWRITTEN NOTE, INSCRIBED BOOK, AND THIS IS ALMOST TOO MUCH TO HANDLE. We are so thrilled and squeaky, I cannot even. Thank you so much, Ms Rowling. Thread below. #HajiPublicSchool"

We are beaming with joy too.