To Help the Rumors, Some interviews and facts from JKR Options

[Bunnyc]

Thanks again WWW for all your hard work. I find it really intriguing that we will find out something incredibly important about Lily Potter in books 5 and 7.....very important to what Harry ends up having to do.
How the mind boggles!!!!
Bunny

[WickedWitchOfThe...]

Thanks again everyone! :D

-WWW (Potterhead geek extraordinaire)

Another couple snippets from Quick Quotes Quill

Sunday Gazette-Mail

14 November 1999

(JK) - On the Harry Potter series: "I will write seven books. When I'm done I expect a real sense of bereavement. That will be 13 years of work."

- On Harry's fate: "I know what will happen to Harry in book seven, but I'm not going to tell you - he's got quite a full agenda coming up, poor boy."

- On whether Harry and his friend Hermione will have a date when they get older: "No, but I won't answer for anyone else - nudge, nudge, wink, wink."

[WickedWitchOfThe...]

Another little snippet (I love that word, lol)

People Magazine

31 December 1999

In plotting Harry's journey she has already completed a draft of the final chapter of the last book. "I constantly rewrite," she says. "At the moment, the last word is 'scar.'" When the time comes, no one will be sadder to close the book on her hero than Rowling herself. Writing about Harry Potter, she says, "is the most fun you can have without anyone else present."

[WickedWitchOfThe...]

Another interview thanks to QQQ

South West News Service

July 2000

Q: Since Hagrid's name was cleared in Book 2, will he ever be allowed to do magic openly again ?
A: He is allowed. He has been allowed to do magic openly ever since he became a teacher but because he was never fully trained his magic is never going to be what it should be. He is always going to be a bit inept.

Q: It seems that the wizards and witches at Hogwarts are able to conjure up many things, such as food for the feasts, chairs and sleeping bags. . .if this is so, why does the wizarding world need money ? What are the limitations on the material objects you can conjure up ? It seems unnecessary that the Weasleys would be in such need of money. . .
A: Very good question. There is legislation about what you can conjure and what you can't. Something that you conjure out of thin air will not last. This is a rule I set down for myself early on. I love these logical questions!

Q: You mentioned something in a recent interview about a flaw in Book 4. . .
A: Did I? Oh yes. . .I repaired it! This is why Book 4 nearly caused me a nervous breakdown - because for the first time ever I lost my careful plot - which I've had since 1994, I think. I really should have gone through it with a fine toothcomb before I started writing and I didn't. I had a false sense of security because all my other plans had held up so well. So I sailed straight into the writing of Four, having just finished Azkaban. I had written what I thought at the time was half the book - it turns out now to have been about a third of the book - and I realised there was this big hole in the middle of the plot and I had to go back and unpick and redo. That's part of the reason it's longer than I thought it was going to be.

Q: Can you say what the flaw was, or would that spoil things ?
A: No, because that would ruin it.

Q: If Harry had a magic duel with Hermione, who would win ?
A: Very good question! Because until about halfway through Azkaban, Hermione would have won. But Harry - without anyone really noticing it - is becoming exceptionally good at Defence Against the Dark Arts. So that's the one area in which, almost instinctively, he is particularly talented. Apart from Quidditch.

Q: Do you assist with the vernacular, idiomatic expression and other vocabulary changes between the UK and the US versions of the HP series ?
A: Do I assist ? I do it all! A lot has been made of this but I have to say too much has been made of it. The word changes were miniscule. I don't think it would be as much as one per cent. And they were literally words that meant something utterly different - like 'jumper', which means 'pinafore dress' in America. I didn't want people to think Harry was walking around in a pinafore dress. They have enough problems without going into drag as well.

Q: Where do the Hogwarts teachers live during the school holidays ? Do they stay at Hogwarts ?
A: No, they don't. Filch, the caretaker, stays

Q: Will HP and his friends discover the other house common rooms in future books ?
A: (Teasingly) Maybe. . .

[WickedWitchOfThe...]

Another little bit, thanks to QQQ. This interview is talking about GOF.

Newsweek

1 July, 2000

This is the keystone book, in terms of the plot?

Yes, it's totally pivotal in terms of the plot.

Will it be the biggest?

No, I think book seven will be. Seven's going to be like the Encyclopaedia Britannica, because I'm going to want to say goodbye. I always knew four would be a long one, but I didn't know it would be this long. But it had to be. I've got no regrets. That's how many words it took to tell the story I needed to tell. I like it. I'm very pleased with it. It's definitely the book that gave me the most trouble. But then "Chamber of Secrets" gave me a fair amount of trouble. Bizarrely, it seems that the two that were the most heck to write were the two I like the best.

[WickedWitchOfThe...]

JK teasing us.... thanks Quick Quotes Quill

The Scotsman

21 July 2000

JK ROWLING, creator of the phenomenally successful Harry Potter series, has hinted that the teenage wizard is heading for an untimely death.

The author, whose fourth episode, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, was released this month to near hysteria, said the popular character could meet the grim fate in his seventh and final adventure.

Harry Potter's legions of young fans will have been heartbroken to hear the fate that awaits their hero at the end of the seventh book.

Despite making his author one of the richest women in Britain, the young magician will be bumped off to round off the phenomenally successful series.

However fans of Rowling's imaginative works can be sure the manner in which he meets his death will not be straighforward.

Interviewed on Radio 1's "God For a Day" slot on Simon Mayo's show, she spilled the beans about her character's impending death before trying to cover up the revelation.

She said: "I always planned seven [Potter books], I never said I would do another one, but at the moment there will be just the seven. I've got it planned, and Harry dies obviously."

Perhaps to the relief of Potter followers, she quickly added: "But that's just a joke - or is it?"

[WickedWitchOfThe...]

More thanks to QQQ for this interview

Entertainment Weekly

August 4, 2000

Was this the hardest book you've had to write so far?

Easily.

Why?

The first three books, my plan never failed me. But I should have put that plot under a microscope. I wrote what I thought was half the book, and "Ack!" Huge gaping hole in the middle of the plot. I missed my deadline by two months. And the whole profile of the books got so much higher since the third book; there was an edge of external pressure.

And what exactly was that gaping hole all about?

I had to pull a character. There you go: "the phantom character of Harry Potter." She was a Weasley cousin [related to Ron Weasley, Harry's best friend]. She served the same function that Rita Skeeter [a sleazy investigative journalist] now serves. Rita was always going to be in the book, but I built her up, because I needed a kind of conduit for information outside the school. Originally, this girl fulfilled this purpose.

You referred to the darkness in your books, and there's been a lot of talk and even concern over that.

You have a choice when you're going to introduce a very evil character. You can dress a guy up with loads of ammunition, put a black Stetson on him, and say, "Bad guy. Shoot him." I'm writing about shades of evil. You have Voldemort, a raging psychopath, devoid of the normal human responses to other people's suffering, and there are people like that in the world. But then you have Wormtail, who out of cowardice will stand in the shadow of the strongest person. What's very important for me is when Dumbledore says that you have to choose between what is right and what is easy. This is the setup for the next three books. All of them are going to have to choose, because what is easy is often not right.

There's some other horrific violence, too, like when Wormtail cuts up Harry's arm to get the blood to bring Voldemort back to life. Very disturbing.

Yeah, that wasn't good, I agree with you.

Have you ever thought "Maybe I should tone it down"?

No. I know that sounds kind of brutal but no, I haven't. The bottom line is, I have to write the story I want to write. I never wrote them with a focus group of 8-year-olds in mind. I have to continue telling the story the way I want to tell it. I don't at all relish the idea of children in tears, and I absolutely don't deny it's frightening. But it's supposed to be frightening! And if you don't show how scary that is, you cannot show how incredibly brave Harry is. He's really brave, and he does, I think, one of his bravest things in this book: He can't save Cedric, but he wants to save Cedric's parents additional pain. He wants to bring back the body and treat it with respect.

Saving Cedric's body reminded me of the Hector-Patroclus-Achilles triangle in the Iliad.

That's where it came from. That really, really, really moved me when I read that when I was 19. The idea of the desecration of a body, a very ancient idea...I was thinking of that when Harry saved Cedric's body.

And then you go and emotionally decimate your readers with that scene where Harry's murdered parents are drawn out of Voldemort's wand. I was in tears.

Me too. It was the first time I cried writing a Harry Potter book. I got pretty upset.

[Dijares]

[WickedWitchOfThe...]

Another from QQQ

Katie Couric: Here's Sarah, she's nine. (Reading next email) "I'm nine years old. I live in Rhode Island. My question for Ms. Rowling is: Will you keep writing Harry Potter books that will take him through his adult life? He could be a teacher at Hogwarts!"
J.K. Rowling: I'm intrigued because everyone seems very confident I'm not going to kill him.

Katie Couric: Well good! I hope you're not! (Both laugh.)
J.K. Rowling: I'm not saying either way.

Katie Couric: That would make big news here this morning.
J.K. Rowling: Everyone assumes that there will be an adult life and maybe they're right. But no, I think I'm going to stop at seven. I'm not going to say "never another one." If I had a burning desire to do another one, I'd do it. But at the moment, I'm planning to stop at seven.

Katie Couric: Kathy from Georgia says: "In all four books, Hermione constantly refers to the book 'Hogwarts, a History'. Are you considering compiling and publishing such a book?"
J.K. Rowling: Not "Hogwarts, a History" but I have written two of the books that appear as titles only within the novels and that's "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" and "Quidditch Through the
Ages".

Today Show's Matt Lauer: K, what's your name?
Red-headed, freckled kid: Alfred Dale.
Matt Lauer: What's your question?
Red-headed, freckled kid: What is your favorite Harry Potter book?
J.K. Rowling: My favorite book...it's normally the one you've just finished. So at the moment, my favorite book is number four. Even though it half killed me...it was the most difficult to write so far...but it's my favorite.
Katie Couric: We should probably mention that Alfred is Jim Dale's grandson.

[WickedWitchOfThe...]

Another from Quick Quotes Quill

Transcript of Yahooligans! Chat with J.K. Rowling

October 20, 2000

Yahooligan_Heather asks: What are you plans after you have finished the Harry Potter series? Are you considering writing a sequel series with Harry's own children, or other characters we have met?
jkrowling_bn: Harry's own children? Are you sure he's going to survive to have children?!

jandlcomm asks: Does Hagrid get a wife? (Chad, age 13)
jkrowling_bn: does Hagrid get a wife? You think anyone would want to live with a man who breeds Blast-Ended Skrewts?

Yahooligan_Amanda asks: You've hinted a little that you might KILL Harry! Please say something to put my mind at ease.
jkrowling_bn: hmmmm.........
jkrowling_bn: well, I think I'll leave you in suspense... sorry!

Yahooligan_Erin asks: Is it true that Mrs. Rowling has already finished the end chapter for all her future books?
jkrowling_bn: I've written the final chapter of book seven
jkrowling_bn: which was really an act of faith -
jkrowling_bn: I was saying to myself, 'you will get here!'
jkrowling_bn: it will probably need re-writing when I reach it, though

Yahooligan_Stephanie asks: Is Hogwarts ever going to get a defence against the dark arts teacher who lasts for more than one book?
jkrowling_bn: erm...... maybe
jkrowling_bn: don't want to give too much away there!
jkrowling_bn: Thank you very much!

hermione_rose_2000 asks: Hello Ms. Rowling, I am a big fan of the Harry Potter books. My name is (Edited out by WWW). Is it true that Harry and Draco will have to get together and fight evil?
jkrowling_bn: Don't believe everything you read on the net!
jkrowling_bn: I saw that rumour too... but it is just a rumour

spccbflo asks: Everything that happens has a meaning, sometimes in a later book. Do you have everything planned out in your head, or do you tie things in as you go?
jkrowling_bn: Yes, it's all planned out, but I still give myself room to have some fun if a good idea
jkrowling_bn: arrives while I'm writing

blaise_42 asks: In Chamber of Secrets, Hagrid is supposed to have raised werewolf cubs under his bed. Are these the same kind of werewolves as Professor Lupin?
jkrowling_bn: no... Riddle was telling lies about Hagrid, just slandering him

sammyohyeah asks: Is it just me, or was something going on between Ron and Hermione during the last half of GOF? I love your books, btw, and two of them I've read stright through cover to cover in under 24 hours.
jkrowling_bn: well done on the reading speed!
jkrowling_bn: yes, something's 'going on'...
jkrowling_bn: but Ron doesn't realise it yet...
jkrowling_bn: typical boy

persik42 asks: Are you considering starting a series about any of the other characters at Hogwarts?
jkrowling_bn: No, I think when I've finished the seven Harry Potter books I will be finished with the world
jkrowling_bn: it will make me very sad to say goodbye, but it must be done!

lhhicks99 asks: Why does Professor Dumbledore allow Professor Snape to be so nasty to the students (especially to Harry, Hermione, and Neville)?
jkrowling_bn: Dumbledore believes there are all sorts of lessons in life...
jkrowling_bn: horrible teachers like Snape are one of them!

Yahooligan_seachellie4 asks: What house was Hagrid in?
jkrowling_bn: Hagrid was in Gryffindor, naturally!

toncaw asks: Is Sirius Balck ever going to be cleared?
jkrowling_bn: can't tell you, that's too important a bit of information!

onegreatguy99 asks: Do you like to type your books or write freehand and have someone transcribe later?
jkrowling_bn: I write the books longhand and then I type them onto my laptop myself
jkrowling_bn: that's how I do my first edit
jkrowling_bn: nobody else is allowed to type my books
jkrowling_bn: because I'm a very secretive writer!

Yahooligan_Brian asks: Will Ron ever get a girlfriend?
jkrowling_bn: I'm laughing again... why wouldn't he?!
jkrowling_bn: though he's not doing too well at the moment, is he?
jkrowling_bn: but then, Fleur Delacour was really aiming a bit high

Yahooligan_Dhanya asks: Do you plan to give Voldemort his victory or somehow break his immortality to kill him?
jkrowling_bn: Dhanya, do you really really think I'll answer that?!
jkrowling_bn: I don't blame you for asking though...

Yahooligan_Jennifer asks: Did Harry ever use magic on Dudley in the real world?
jkrowling_bn: Not so far (hint)

michaelbeeee asks: Ms. Rowling, Are you aware that more adults read the books than children? If so, might there not be a place for a series on an adult H.P following the 7th book?
jkrowling_bn: I'm not sure whether it's true that more adults read the books than children
jkrowling_bn: but in any case, I think I should stop before we get to 'Harry Potter and the Mid-Life Crisis'!

[WickedWitchOfThe...]

And another

Canadian Broadcasting Co.

Broadcast October 23, 2000

Rogers: Do you think that the popularity of the books would have changed if they'd been told from the point of view of Hermione versus Harry Potter?

Rowling: I honestly don't know. But then, that wouldn't have stopped me doing it. If Hermione had strolled into my head as the main character, then I would have done it that way. I truly never once have ever stopped and thought 'I won't do that because that won't be popular.' Because the day I do that I might as well pack up, because the fun for me all along has been writing for me. The only people I have ever listened to have been my editors, in terms of what makes the book better or worse. And occasionally I've argued against them and kept it the way I wanted to do it.

Rogers: Who won?

Rowling: It depends. I mean, I'm not a tyrant about this. I have changed things when I think they've had very valid points, and I have changed things on other occasions. I have felt particularly strongly about a passage and I have really wanted to keep it, and I have. It's never gotten acrimonious - I have great editors.

McCormick: This is a question from Bridget from Toronto, and she's 12. Bridget's wondering, "Why did you create a magical society where men and women play such traditional roles? It seems most of the women Wizards pitter and patter around the house while the men do all the dark work."

Rowling: [laughs] That's not entirely true, because if you look at Professor McGonagall, she's a very, very powerful witch, and she's in a position of power. And in fact, if you look at the Hogwarts' staff - I had this discussion with someone the other day - it is exactly 50/50. Although it is true that you do have a headmaster as opposed to a headmistress, but that has not always been the case. As you will find out, there have been equal numbers of headmistresses.

Do Witches patter around the house? No. Mrs. Weasely stays at home, but if you think it's easy raising seven children, including Fred and George Weasely, then I pity... [laughs] Women who've had seven children will not see that as a soft option.

But no, I don't think that's true. I've said this before. I sometimes feel frustrated in that I'm just over halfway through the series. It's like being interrupted halfway through a sentence and someone saying, "I know what you're going to say." No, you don't. When I've finished, then we can have this discussion, because at the end of book seven, then I can talk about everything in a full and frank way. But right at the moment we're only halfway through.

Rogers: Is seven going to be ... do you know that already?

Rowling: Mm hmm. I know exactly what's going to be in five, six and seven. And when I've finished that, then we can have the full and frank discussion, but until then, if I give full and frank answers I'm giving away things about the plot, so I don't want to do that.

[WickedWitchOfThe...]

Another little snippet from Quick Quotes Quill

Canadian Press

Wednesday, October 25, 2000

One young Canadian boy earlier asked her how Dementers breed.

"I was just so pleased that he thought about it and pleased that I had the answer," Rowling told The Canadian Press.

These evil creatures don't, by the way, breed but grow like a fungus where there is decay.

[cruticus]

[QUOTE]grow like a fungus where there is decay.[QUOTE]

thats yuk! :yuck:

[Bunnyc]

[WickedWitchOfThe...]

Welcome Bunny!

Quick snippet from QQQ

TIME PACIFIC

October 30, 2000

It's great to hear feedback from the kids. Mostly they are really worried about Ron. As if I'm going to kill Harry's best friend. What I find interesting is only once has anyone said to me, "Don't kill Hermione," and that was after a reading when I said no one's ever worried about her. Another kid said, "Yeah, well, she's bound to get through O.K." They see her as someone who is not vulnerable, but I see her as someone who does have quite a lot of vulnerability in her personality.

[WickedWitchOfThe...]

Interesting bit


The Globe and Mail

26 October 2000

Asked if there would be a war in the books she has yet to write, Ms. Rowling sounded more like U.S. President Bill Clinton -- who avoided a question during the Monica Lewinsky affair by quibbling about the meaning of 'is' -- than a children's author.

"It depends on how you define 'war,'" Ms. Rowling said. "That's all I'm going to say. That's it."

But at other times, she was not so tough. She was asked about what would happen to Harry at the end of the series. The youngsters were aghast when she suggested she might kill him off.

Anxious to calm the questioner's jitters, she quickly backtracked. "No, no, not that," she said. "Now I feel, 'Oops, I upset the girl.' "

[WickedWitchOfThe...]

More interesting stuff from QQQ

Dateline

16 November 2000

However, her writing process isn’t so set that there’s no room for flexibility—or fun. `The books aren’t so planned in meticulous details that I can’t have fun while writing,` said Rowling. `I invent stuff as I go. A lot of magical creatures and objects get invented while I’m writing a book. But what’s planned is the skeleton of the plot. I deviate slightly, but I have to get from point A to point B because obviously, I can’t do C, D, E, F [with doing that first].`

Journalists at the conference were obviously very keen about learning more details about upcoming books. Rowling happily supplied some answers. `I know exactly what happens to most of the characters in their past and their future. I know far more, really, than the reader needs to know, but that just makes me comfortable to know that there are no surprises for me. I know exactly what is going on.`

In an attempt to glean more tidbits on Harry’s future, Rowling was asked if young Potter would become a headboy. `That’s weird,` responded Rowling. `My daughter is obsessed with that. I don’t know why. She’s seven and she keeps saying ‘He’s going to be headboy, isn’t he?’ And I’m saying, ‘Maybe he wouldn’t want to be headboy...’ ‘No, he would!’ It’s funny you should say that. I’m not going to tell you which.`

A question also surfaced surrounding Harry Potter’s non-magical relatives, the Muggles who have always tortured or mistreated Harry, because of their fear of magic. For revenge, Harry has magically tortured his cousin Dudley. `I like torturing them,` said Rowling. `You should keep an eye on Dudley. It’s probably too late for Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. I feel sorry for Dudley. I might joke about him, but I feel truly sorry for him because I see him as just as abused as Harry. Though, in possibly a less obvious way. What they are doing to him is inept, really. I think children recognize that. Poor Dudley. He’s not being prepared for the world at all, in any reasonable or compassionate way, so I feel sorry for him. But there’s something funny about him, also. The pig’s tail was irresistible.`

[WickedWitchOfThe...]

More from QQQ

Raincoast Books Interview


March 2001


What is the most dangerous beast?

Well dragons, you don't want to mess with a dragon, obviously. Then you have things like Acromantula, which Harry has already met in Book 2, but he didn't know it was an Acromantula when he met it. I'm not going to say anymore, because you have to buy them book! Then there's Alethiafold, which is the thing I would least like to be attacked by, which I think is quite a sinister creature. It slides under doors at night and suffocates its prey. So personally that would be my worst one.

Could Harry have a pet dragon?

You can't domesticate a dragon whatever Hagrid thinks. That's simply impossible. So no. He's got more sense. He might get a different pet at some point but I'm saying no more at this moment.

Has Harry ever used the Internet?

No. He's not allowed near Dudley's computer and Dudley's the only one who's got a computer. He gets beaten up if he goes too near the keyboard. So no, he's never used the Internet. I use it a lot but not Harry. Wizards don't really need to use the Internet but that's something that you'll find out later on in the series. They have a means of finding out what goes on in the outside world that I think is more fun than the Internet. Could anything be more fun than the Internet? Yes!

[WickedWitchOfThe...]

More thanks to QQQ

Ananova

December 2001

She says there could be a further Potter book when the series ends - to raise cash for charity.

She said: "I'm not going to say I'll never write anything to do with the world of Hogwarts ever again. Because I have often thought that (if I wrote) book eight, I think it would be right and proper that it should be a book whose royalties go to charity entirely.

"It could be the encyclopaedia of the world (of Hogwarts) and then I could rid myself of every last lurking details, but no not a novel."

In the programme she allows the cameras to see the final chapter, saying: "This is it and I'm not opening it for obvious reasons - this is really I'll wrap everything, it's the epilogue and I basically say what happens to everyone after they leave school, those who survive - because there are deaths, more deaths coming."

She even hints that one of the long-standing characters will be wiped out in the forthcoming three books.

[crazy4orli]

very interesting, many thanks again www! im guessing the longstanding chracter was sirius?