Entertainment

J.K. Rowling Might Be A Directioner, Guys

by Maggie Malach

Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Niall Horan. What do these three people have in common? They all happen to be names mentioned in J.K. Rowling's books, of course. While the first two characters are famously fictional creations of the author, the third person happens to be a member of one of the biggest bands in the world, One Direction. So how did he end up in Rowling's book?

The novel in question is Career of Evil, which Rowling published under her pen name, Robert Galbraith. It's the third in a series centered around private investigator Cormoran Strike. In the excerpt, which you can read in the photo below, a character is mentioned as having a boyfriend named Niall. The existence of the fictional Niall seems to be questionable, presumably because the girl is a Directioner and, well, we've all envisioned ourselves dating a member of One Direction at one point. The sheer mention of Horan is delightful, but Rowling went so far to give the background on the singer, including the fact that One Direction came in third on The X Factor. It's like Rowling is hinting that she might be a fangirl too. A Potterhead can dream, right? (Indulge me on this one.)

Don't get me wrong — I love, love, love that Rowling name-dropped Horan in such a flawless manner — but I also can't get over her elegant nod to Directioners everywhere. Or maybe it's because I know someone who casually referred to Horan as her husband, so this makes sense to me.

In any event, there's no escaping the fact that as prolific as One Direction is, getting a shoutout in one of Rowling's novels is pretty great. Maybe in the next novel she can give a nod to Harry Styles' knee-weakening voice.