Harry Potter came to me on a train in 1990. I was sitting just staring out of the window and the idea just fell out of nowhere.

It was the purest stroke of inspiration I've ever had in my life.

That's JK Rolling, the creator of Harry Potter, the boy wizard that became a cultural sensation.

She was giving an interview in 1998.

From almost from the start, I'd envisaged it as a seven book series,

which would see him through Wizard School

and then he'd be a fully qualified wizard at the end of it.

That's the...

But in recent years, Rolling has become known for something more controversial.

The woman who is likely the world's best known children's author

is defending herself against growing accusations of transphobia.

She had taken some public stances, arguing that women as a political class, biological class,

had been eroded by some of the trans activism in the UK and elsewhere.K. and elsewhere.

That's our colleague Eric Schwartzel.

She really very quickly became

for many trans rights activists

the face of their opposition.

Rolling has said that she's not against trans people,

but that she's worried about preserving women's rights.

Still. about preserving women's rights. Still, her statements turned her into a divisive figure,

and the company behind the hit Harry Potter movies, Warner Brothers, found itself in a difficult position.

She wanted a stronger show of support.

...