In the second half of her speech, Rowling turned to the crucial importance of imagination, not merely as the source of invention and innovation, but as the power that enables us to empathize with people whose experiences we have never shared. She drew on her time working at Amnesty International, where she read letters smuggled out of totalitarian regimes and witnessed the aftermath of torture and political persecution. Rowling challenged Harvard graduates to use their status and influence to raise their voices on behalf of those who have no voice, to identify with the powerless as well as the powerful, and to retain the ability to imagine themselves into the lives of others. The magic she spoke of was not the fictional kind from her books, but the very real human capacity for empathy and moral imagination.