Margolyes is right - adult Potter fans need to let go

The Professor Sprout actor's comments upset devoted fans of the boy wizard. But she's got a point, says Louis Chilton

They say never meet your heroes. But sometimes you don't even need to meet your hero for them to slag you off. This is what the Harry Potter fandom discovered last week, when Miriam Margolyes, who played Professor Sprout in the wizarding film adaptations, let loose on the franchise's adult devotees. "If your balls have dropped, then it’s time to forget about it. You know, go on to other things,” she said, with all the bolshy abandon you might expect from an 82-year-old screen veteran with nothing left to prove. “It’s a wonderful set of films, but it was 25 years ago. You know, grow up.”