When J.K. Rowling was nine years old, the family moved to Tutshill, near Chepstow on the Welsh border. The girls went to Wyedean Comprehensive School and College where they both loved their schooldays. Much like Hermione Granger, J.K. Rowling had a thirst for knowledge. She says,
"I hope I was neither as clever or as annoying as Hermione!",
but it’s clear she applied herself to studies, leaving school with A levels in English, French and German.
“I loved school – despite regularly being teased with the rather unimaginative nickname of ‘Rowling Pin’. From my primary school, St. Michael’s, I went on to secondary school at Wyedean Comprehensive in 1976. It was in the Upper Sixth at Wyedean that I met Séan Harris, to whom Chamber of Secrets is dedicated.
Séan owned the original Ford Anglia; he was the first of my friends to learn to drive, and that turquoise and white car meant FREEDOM and no more having to ask my father to give me lifts (the worst thing about living in the countryside when you’re a teenager).
Some of my happiest teenage memories involve zooming off into the darkness in Séan’s car. He was the first person with whom I really discussed my serious ambition to be a writer. He was also the only person who thought I was bound to be a success, which meant much more to me than I ever told him at the time.”