As a child, Rowling was, "short, squat, very thick National Health glasses -- free glasses that were like bottle bottoms -- that's why Harry wears glasses. I was shy. I was a mixture of insecurities and very bossy. Very bossy to my sister but quite quiet with strangers. Very bookish. Terrible at school. That whole thing about Harry being able to fly so well is probably total wish fulfillment." Rowling adds that she would have loved to discover that she could do something physical really well. And she was, "never happier than when reading or writing." Rowling, "wanted to be a ballerina at one brief point, which is embarrassing in retrospect because I was virtually spherical.