Originally Posted By threeundertwo hmmm. That differs from the other interview in which she says Ron joins Harry as an Auror. It's like she's just making it up or something. . . ;-)
Originally Posted By DAR I was reading a little background on the Order of the Phoenix movie. The filmmakers wanted to cut Kreacher out of the film, but Rowling told them that they would be in a bind during the seventh film.
Originally Posted By DAR There's actually going to be another series of books coming out. It will take place during Harry's adult years. The final scene of the series takes place at an old fashioned diner where Harry, Ginny, Albus, Severus are sitting at the table listening to Don't Stop Believing by Journey. Lily has trouble parking her broom. Finally she parks it and Harry hears a bell ring and then the story fades to black.
Originally Posted By LVBelle <a href="http://the-leaky-cauldron.org/2007/7/30/j-k-rowling-web-chat-transcript" target="_blank">http://the-leaky-cauldron.org/ 2007/7/30/j-k-rowling-web-chat-transcript</a> Here's the chat transcript, lots of great info in it!
Originally Posted By sherrytodd Ah Haa!!! Snapedinhalf: You promised that someone will do magic late in life in book 7. I’ve now read it three times but cant work out who it might have been! Please help!! J.K. Rowling: I’m sorry about this, but I changed my mind! J.K. Rowling: My very earliest plan for the story involved somebody managing to get to Hogwarts when they had never done magic before, but I had changed my mind by the time I’d written the third book.
Originally Posted By jasmine7 <<J.K. Rowling: My very earliest plan for the story involved somebody managing to get to Hogwarts when they had never done magic before, but I had changed my mind by the time I’d written the third book.<< Sounds to me like that could have been Petunia. That could have been interesting if it was her. . .
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 "Tineke: Did teddy grow up living with his grandmother? J.K. Rowling: Yes, Teddy was raised by Andromeda." Ok, this answered that question. "J.K. Rowling: Neville, most worthy Gryffindor, asked for help just as Harry did in the Chamber of secrets, and Gryffindor’s sword was transported into Gryffindor’s old hat J.K. Rowling: – the Sorting Hat was Gryffindor’s initially, as you know. J.K. Rowling: Griphook was wrong – Gryffindor did not ‘steal’ the sword, not unless you are a goblin fanatic and believe that all goblin-made objects really belong to the maker." This answers how Neville got the sword of Gryffindor. I thought that was probably the case anyway. "Roseweasley: Why was colin creavey still a student at hogwarts when he was muggleborn surely he would have been locked up and interogated, not allowed back to school therefore, he shouldnt have died J.K. Rowling: Colin wasn’t a student. He sneaked back with the rest of the DA, along with Fred, George and the rest. He ought not to have stayed behind when McGonagall told him to leave, but alas – he did." This part answers those of you who were wondering why Colin Creevey was still at Hogwarts.
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb ^^^that was my biggest question, I'm glad someone was able to ask JKR my question.
Originally Posted By smedley My DH is reading this at the moment, and I have to say it is the quickest I've seen him read a book in a long time!! He truely is engrossed by it... High praise indeed for JK as usually DH takes months to finish a book, and I think is going to have this done in just over a week...
Originally Posted By FiveBearRugs I took my time (and with scheduling) I finally finished the book today. I was amazed as JK killed off her characters like Freddy Krueger at a narcolepsy convention...they were all surprising and shocking, and seeing Hedwig and Bambi's mother, er, Mad-Eye leave the story so early. Ditto for Dobby and Fred. I loved the house-elves attacking the Death Eaters; reminds me of the scarabs in the Brendan Fraser Mummy films...or Laverne's pigeons in "Hunchback of Notre Dame" or even the pigeons in Home Alone 2 or the rat hordes attacking the Health Inspector and Skinner in "Ratatouille". Ahem. Mrs. Weasley with her cursing curse (har-har) was funny as well. Yes, it was done for revenge and retribution, but I think also for comedic effect; how many times have we seen the quiet gentle character go beserk and become ultra angry at the Villain? A friend of mine felt that Bellatrix should have been done in by the duo of Longbottom and Granger. My guess about Snape was right...kind of. I was expecting a last-minute sacrifice with Harry (nope) and then a Vader/Luke father/son chat at his death (nope). I also thought Draco was going to do something major as well. Luna sure got important, didn't she? The epilogue was happy and sappy and left out many things, which I guess was good. It was very Series Finale-ish in my opinion (duh, since this was the series finale). I was expecting Harry to walk off the Hogwarts grounds while "Don't You Forget About Me" played in the background. Interesting that the entire story took place in the span of a regular school year...just like the previous six books. Surreal that Hogwarts and the gang don't come in until much later. After I read the book, I realized what the US cover was depicting. Whoa. I wonder if they'll ever sell the British versions over here and vice-versa? A co-worker of mine has the entire series in both US and Brit-speak. Speaking of the British version, it didn't look like anything was "translated" for the American versions, or was this only in the first few novels (I know it was in the first book).
Originally Posted By Liberty Belle I only started reading the HP books a week or two before number 7 came out, so I had some catching up to do and have only just finished the final book! >>If she's done with books about the wizard world, then why the epilogue? It would have made much more sense to have the final chapter be, as HyperTyper said, what happened after the big battle.<< I loved the epilogue … I would much rather see Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione happy and well than just what happened straight after the battle. I was pleased we got a glimpse into the future. If anything, that makes it need a sequel LESS to me than if the epilogue hadn’t been included. Okay, I admit it – I’m just a huge Ginny-and-Harry geek. Ginny is one of my favourite characters, so my main concern after I knew Harry was going to live was that they ended up together. So it did please me to see it! I’m actually really surprised that so many people didn’t like it. I must be odd I knew it. >>Dumbledore admits it's pretty-much to make a less uncomfortable exit. It's basically assisted suicide. I know there are both sides to that issue, but I was very disappointed.<< I thought it was more of a “I’m going to die anyway, might as well save Draco while I do it†and the fact that it saved him a longer, slower death was just a bonus. I could be wrong, though. I loved the book, although I did think it lacked a lot of the “fun†element. I missed Hogswarts, but I know there was no possible way to fit a year of schooling in along with everything else they had to do! My absolute regret is that Fred had to die. The Weasley twins were two more of my favourites, and I think I enjoyed number 6 a little less for their decreased roles. I was also sad to read of Dobby and Hedwig’s deaths! Although Tonks and Lupin were both great characters, I didn’t feel their deaths much – probably because when he first saw their bodies and sort of ran off, I pretty much expected him to come back and find that they were just unconscious or something. Their deaths just didn’t really feel “realâ€. Snape, of course, I love, and although I expected him to die I felt sad that it was before getting the chance to prove he wasn’t the “bad guyâ€. I loved Neville and Luna – I thought it was so great that Neville went from the dorky boy to the “heroâ€. I’m surprised by how much I came out loving just about every character.
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 Yeah, I agree about Neville and Luna. I would say that Neville had the biggest character change throughout the books, wouldn't you? I mean, he started off so shy and clumsy, but in the end he was very brave and heroic.
Originally Posted By threeundertwo Which explains why the sorting hat put him in Gryffindor in the first place.
Originally Posted By alexbook >>If she's done with books about the wizard world, then why the epilogue?<< The epilogue is a brilliant way to make sure that neither she nor anyone else can write book #8. I loved it.
Originally Posted By smeeeko ah they could easily write around that.. I was severely disappointed with the epilogue. It was dull. IMHO of course. I would have rather she not bother with it. If she wanted to write more she should have done all or nothing.. another 300pages.
Originally Posted By SFH There's always a way around. "It was all just a dream." Or, you can pretend like everything fits neatly even when it doesn't. Like George Lucas.
Originally Posted By avromark <<I wonder if they'll ever sell the British versions over here and vice-versa? A co-worker of mine has the entire series in both US and Brit-sp>> The Canadian Edition is basically the British edition. And I don't know the answer to your other question. I get the feeling though that perhaps JK's master plan wasn't as all encompassing and complete as she let on. I get the feeling she was winging it more then she let on, and that the story she had left to tell couldn't fit into 7, as well as the deadline of trying to get it out. But that's just me.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>I thought it was more of a “I’m going to die anyway, might as well save Draco while I do it†and the fact that it saved him a longer, slower death was just a bonus. I could be wrong, though.<< You're not. Truthfully, I've heard a few other people claim that it was "assisted suicide" and I can't disagree more, frankly. She covered her bases quite well to show why it wasn't just "assisted suicide" and she did so to make the story much more engrossing and suspenseful. For the last two years no one knew for certain where Snape's loyalties were. That's pretty clever. But the same people complaining about that are those complaining about the rare use of profanity in the books. Hey, we all have our different perspectives, but mine is such that I couldn't imagine focusing on those things or even coming away with the notion of assisted suicide. >>I loved the epilogue … I would much rather see Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione happy and well than just what happened straight after the battle. I was pleased we got a glimpse into the future. If anything, that makes it need a sequel LESS to me than if the epilogue hadn’t been included.<< Count me in on the side of those that thinks the epilogue was perfectly done. I completely understand why people wanted more - part of me certainly wants more. I truly hope someday she does her "Hogwarts: A History" type book. But the epilogue was quite beautifully done as a sort of "slice of life." I like that we got so little background. We know what we need to know: Harry's finally got the family he never had. He's happy and content. I almost envision the epilogue taking place surrounded by mist, the rest of the wizarding world obscured from our view. J.K. Rowling is just pulling back the curtain ever so slightly, giving us a quick glimpse so we know the characters we've grown to love are ok. But life goes on. We see that Draco, although decent towards them, is not best friends with the trio. We don't know if Mr. and Mrs. Weasley are still alive. We don't know the fate of many other characters. I really liked this approach.
Originally Posted By FiveBearRugs Wouldn't it have been something if Uncle Vernon was Voldemort? Or if Gilderoy Lockhart came back to Hogwarts (memory still shaking), and in an attempt to join the fight, accidentally kills everyone and everything? Man, I can't believe that Umbridge gets arrested (according to the upcoming Where Are They Now? encyclopedia that JK will be working on).
Originally Posted By sunNrainfall <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx1XIm6q4r4" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =Tx1XIm6q4r4</a>
