Entrevistas a J.K.

Rowling despus del 7 libro

JK Rowling web chat transcript now online

Earlier today, JK Rowling hosted a live web chat on Bloomsbury's official website
where she answered several questions about Deathly Hallows:
Michael: Why didnt fawkes come back to help harry I would have thought that since harry was so
loyal to dumbledore, fawkes would have been harrys new pet
J.K. Rowling: Something had to leave the school for good when Dumbledore died, and I decided
that would be Fawkes. Dumbledore was a very great and irreplacable man, and the loss of Fawkes
(and the fact that he was 'non-transferable'!) expresses this symbolically
Read the entire transcript at the link below! Thank you to everyone who sent it in.
UPDATE: The transcript is now formatted properly. Thanks to Amanda for doing this!
J.K. Rowling: I'm here and I can't wait! Bring on the questions!
Leaky Cauldron: What, if anything, did the wizarding world learn, and how did society change, as
a direct result of the war with voldemort? (i.E., not as a result of harry, ron and hermione's future
careers.)
J.K. Rowling: The Ministry of Magic was de-corrupted, and with Kingsley at the helm the
discrimination that was always latent there was eradicated.
J.K. Rowling: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny et al would of course play a significant part in the rebuilding of wizarding society through their future careers.
Ryan Love: From your fans at thesnitch.Co.Uk. Weren't we supposed to see ginny display powerful
magical abilities in deathly hallows and find out why it's significant that she's the seventh child?
Was her main role in the books only to be harry's love interest?
J.K. Rowling: Hi Ryan! Well, I think Ginny demonstrated powerful magic in the final battle, and
that for a sixteen year old witch she acquitted herself pretty well. I don't remember ever saying that
her 'seventh child' status would prove particularly
J.K. Rowling: important in the last book, though - are you sure I said that?!
Georgina: Did lucius malfoy, and all the other escaped death eaters, go back to azkaban
J.K. Rowling: No, the Malfoys weaseled their way out of trouble (again) due to the fact that they
colluded (albeit out of self-interest) with Harry at the end of the battle.
Elisabeth: In the chapter of kings cross, are they behind the veil or in some world between the real
world and the veil?
J.K. Rowling: You can make up your own mind on this, but I think that Harry entered a kind of
limbo between life and death.
Renee: From reading about the original owners of the deathly hallows, the peverell brothers, i'm
wondering if harry and voldermort are distantly related voldermorts grandfather ended up with the
resurrection stone ring ?
J.K. Rowling: Yes, Harry and Voldemort are distantly related through the Peverells.
J.K. Rowling: Of course, nearly all wizarding families are related if you trace them back through
the centuries. As was made clear in 'Deathly hallows', Peverell blood would run through many
wizarding families.
Fomy: What did you feel when you finally wrote the kiss, awaited so much by the fans, of ron and
hermione

J.K. Rowling: I loved writing it, and I loved the fact that Hermione took the initiative!
J.K. Rowling: Ron had finally got SPEW and earned himself a snog!
Angela Morrissey: Why is it that albus dumbledore can see harry under his invisibility cloak at
certain moments? (during the series is the cloak only infallible to those who do not own a deathly
hallow).
J.K. Rowling: Dumbledore, who could perform magic without needing to say the incantation
aloud, was using 'homenum revelio' J.K. Rowling: - the human-presence-revealing spell Hermione makes use of in Deathly Hallows.
Jamie Lewis: What ever happened to winky
J.K. Rowling: She's still at Hogwarts, and she was one of the oncoming house-elves who attacked
the Death Eaters in the final battle.
Katieleigh: Does hermione still continue to do work with spew and is life any better for house
elves!
J.K. Rowling: Hermione began her post-Hogwarts career at the Department for the Regulation and
Control of Magical Creatures
J.K. Rowling: where she was instrumental in greatly improving life for house-elves and their ilk.
She then moved (despite her jibe to Scrimgeour) to the Dept. of Magical Law Enforcement
J.K. Rowling: After a few years as a celebrated player for the Holyhead Harpies, Ginny retired to
have her family and to become the Senior Quidditch correspondent at the Daily Prophet!
Camille: What or who is peeves exactly, is he linked with the blood barons story?
J.K. Rowling: No, Peeves is not linked to the bloody Baron's story.
J.K. Rowling: He is a spirit of chaos that entered the building long ago and has proved impossible
to eradicate!
Jessie : Were the deathly hallows based on any realworld myth or faerie tale
J.K. Rowling: Perhaps 'the Pardoner's Tale', by Chaucer.
Alicepie : What happend to luna, did she get married who to?
J.K. Rowling: Luna became a very famous wizarding naturalist who discovered and classified
many new species of animals (though, alas, she never did find a Crumple-Horned Snorkack and
had, finally, to accept that her father might have made that one up).
J.K. Rowling: She ended up marrying (rather later than Harry & co) a fellow naturalist and
grandson of the great Newt Scamander (Rolf)!
Rosi: What does in essence divided mean?
J.K. Rowlin : Dumbledore suspected that the snake's essence was divided - that it contained part of
Voldemort's soul, and that was why it was so very adept at doing his bidding.
J.K. Rowling: This also explained why Harry, the last and unintended Horcrux, could see so clearly
through the snake's eyes, just as he regularly sees through Voldemort's.
J.K. Rowling: Dumbledore is thinking aloud here, edging towards the truth with the help of the
Pensieve.
Superhans: What was duldeys worst memory?
J.K. Rowling: I think that when Dudley was attacked by the Dementors he saw himself, for the first
time, as he really was. This was an extremely painful, but ultimately salutory lesson, and began the
transformation in him.
Casey Kunze: Who killed remus and tonks I think if I knew this, I would get some closure over the
very sad, but understandable, death of two of my favorite characters
J.K. Rowling: I'm so sorry! I met a couple on launch night who had come dressed as Lupin and
Tonks, and I felt dreadfully guilty as I signed their books!
J.K. Rowling: Remus was killed by Dolohov and Tonks by Bellatrix.
Laura Trego: Was the absence of snapes portrait in the headmasters office in the last scene
innocent or deliberate
J.K. Rowling: It was deliberate. Snape had effectively abandoned his post before dying, so he had
not merited inclusion in these august circles.

J.K. Rowling: However, I like to think that Harry would be instrumental in ensuring that Snape's
portrait would appear there in due course.
Stephanie: If the wand chooses the wizard, then why do wands work when passed down from
father to son eg neville had his fathers wand
J.K. Rowling : As established by Ollivander, a wizard can use almost any wand, it is simply that a
wand that chooses him/her will work best. Where there is a family connection, a wand will work a
little better than a wand chosen at random, I think.
James Farrell: How did umbridge manage to conjure a patronus while wearing the locket when
harry wasnt able to
J.K. Rowling: Because she is a very nasty piece of work. She has an affinity for this horrible
object, which would help rather than hinder her.
Tineke: What happened to percy did he return to his job at the ministry
J.K. Rowling: Yes, the new improved Percy ended up as a high-ranking official under Kingsley.
Su: How did neville get the gryfindor sword, is there a link to the hat
J.K. Rowling: Yes, there is very definitely a link to the hat!
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.
Steph: Will azkaban still use dementors?
J.K. Rowling: No, definitely not. Kingsley would see to that. The use of Dementors was always a
mark of the underlying corruption of the Ministry, as Dumbledore constantly maintained.
Smallbutpowerful: On behalf of all harry potter fans who consider themselves to be hufflepuffs
could you please describe the hufflepuff common room as it is the only common room harry hasnt
visited
J.K. Rowling: The Hufflepuff common room is accessed through a portrait near the kitchens, as I
am sure you have deduced.
J.K. Rowling: Sorry - I should say 'painting' rather than portrait, because it is a still-life.
J.K. Rowling: It is a very cosy and welcoming place, as dissimilar as possible from Snape's
dungeon. Lots of yellow hangings, and fat armchairs, and little underground tunnels leading to the
dormitories, all of which have perfectly round doors, like barrel tops.
Camille: How is george getting along without his twin
J.K. Rowling: Well, I don't think that George would ever get over losing Fred, which makes me
feel so sad. However, he names his first child and son Fred, and he goes on to have a very
successful career, helped by good old Ron.
Jessica Lynn: Did hagrid have to be able to see thestrals in order to train them if so, whose death
did hagrid witness
J.K. Rowling: Hagrid has seen many deaths in quite a long life, so yes, he can see Thestrals.
Allie: What did dumbledore truly see in the mirror of erised
J.K. Rowling: He saw his family alive, whole and happy - Ariana, Percival and Kendra all returned
to him, and Aberforth reconciled to him.
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.
Christiana: How did voldemort get his wand back after he was in was exile
J.K. Rowling: Wormtail, desperate to curry favour, salvaged it from the place it had fallen and
carried it to him. I admit that would have been a bit of a feat for a rat, but they are highly intelligent

creatures!
Amanda: Hiya, ive grown up with harry and the gang, did any of the characters change in any
unexpected ways as they grew up
J.K. Rowling: They all became pretty much what I expected/planned them to become.
J.K. Rowling: Of course they changed as I wrote, but nobody surprised me very much!
Ravleen: How much does the fact that voldemort was conceived under a love potion have to do
with his nonability to understand love is it more symbolic
J.K. Rowling: It was a symbolic way of showing that he came from a loveless union - but of
course, everything would have changed if Merope had survived and raised him herself and loved
him.
Michael: Why didnt fawkes come back to help harry I would have thought that since harry was so
loyal to dumbledore, fawkes would have been harrys new pet
J.K. Rowling: the Ministry no longer used them to torment its opponents.
J.K. Rowling: You cannot destroy Dementors, though you can limit their numbers if you eradicate
the conditions in which they multiply, ie, despair and degradation. As I've already said, though,
J.K. Rowling: The enchantment under which Tom Riddle fathered Voldemort is important because
it shows coercion, and there can't be many more prejudicial ways to enter the world than as the
result of such a union.
Lechicaneuronline: Do you think snape is a hero
J.K. Rowling: Yes, I do; though a very flawed hero. An anti-hero, perhaps. He is not a particularly
likeable man in many ways. He remains rather cruel, a bully, riddled with bitterness and insecurity and yet he loved, and showed loyalty to that love
J.K. Rowling: and, ultimately, laid down his life because of it. That's pretty heroic!
James Farrell: Voldemort never told anyone about his horcruxes, so how on earth did regulus black
discover his secret
J.K. Rowling: Horcrux magic was not Voldemort's own invention; as is established in the story,
other wizards had done it, though never gone as far as to make six.
J.K. Rowling: Voldemort dropped oblique hints; in his arrogance, he did not believe anybody
would be clever enough to understand them.
J.K. Rowling: (He does so in the graveyard of Little Hangleton, in front of Harry). He did this
before Regulus and Regulus guessed, correctly, what it was that made Voldemort so convinced he
could not die.
Jaclyn: Did lily ever have feelings back for snape
J.K. Rowling: Yes. She might even have grown to love him romantically (she certainly loved him
as a friend) if he had not loved Dark Magic so much, and been drawn to such loathesome people
and acts.
Boggo: Would you choose the hallow that is the cloak, like youre supposed to, and would you be
tempted to use the others
J.K. Rowling: My temptation would be Harry's, ie, the Stone. But I believe, as does Harry
ultimately, that the greatest wisdom is in accepting that we must all die, and moving on.
Cornersoul: So what happens to all the dementors where will they go will they be destroyed if so,
how
J.K. Rowling: You cannot destroy Dementors, though you can limit their numbers if you eradicate
the conditions in which they multiply, ie, despair and degradation. As I've already said, though,
J.K. Rowling: the Ministry no longer used them to torment its opponents.
Michael: Why didnt fawkes come back to help harry I would have thought that since harry was so
loyal to dumbledore, fawkes would have been harrys new pet
J.K. Rowling: Something had to leave the school for good when Dumbledore died, and I decided
that would be Fawkes. Dumbledore was a very great and irreplacable man, and the loss of Fawkes
(and the fact that he was 'non-transferable'!) expresses this symbolically

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.
Delailah: How does dumbledore understand parseltongue?
J.K. Rowling: Dumbledore understood Mermish, Gobbledegook and Parseltongue. The man was
brilliant.
Jessie: Will lockhart ever recover?
J.K. Rowling: No. Nor would I want him to. He's happy where he is, and I'm happier without him!
Annie: Does the wizarding world now know that snape was dumbledores man, or do they still think
he did a bunk
J.K. Rowling: Harry would ensure that Snape's heroism was known.
J.K. Rowling: Of course, that would not stop Rita Skeeter writing 'Snape: Scoundrel or Saint?'
Vio91: Is teddy lupin a werewolf
J.K. Rowling: No, he's a Metamorphmagus like his mother.
Nippy23: We see socks a lot throughout the series, such as dobbys love for them and dumbledores
claim to see them in the mirror of erised, whats the reason behind all the socks
J.K. Rowling: Nothing deep and significant, I'm afraid. They're just a comedy item.
Lady Bella: Whose murders did voldemor use to create each of the horcruxes
J.K. Rowling: The diary - Moaning Myrtle. The cup - Hepzibah Smith, the previous owner. The
locket - a Muggle tramp. Nagini - Bertha Jorkins (Voldemort could use a wand once he regained a
rudimentary body, as long as the victim was subdued).
J.K. Rowling: The diadem - an Albanian peasant. The ring - Tom Riddle snr.
Sampotterish: Why did dumbledore want ron to keep his deluminator
J.K. Rowling: Because he knew that Ron might need a little more guidance than the other two.
J.K. Rowling: Dumbledore understood Ron's importance in the trio. He wasn't the most skilled, or
the most intelligent, but he held them together; his humour and his good heart were essential.
Carol: Do dementors have souls
J.K. Rowling: No, that's what makes them frightening!
Jess Mac: What was the third smell that hermione smelt in the amortentia potion in hbp (ie the
particular essence of ron)
J.K. Rowling: I think it was his hair. Every individual has very distinctive-smelling hair, don't you
find?
Natalie: Are house divisions as prevalaent in harrys childrens hogwarts as in the previous
generations
J.K. Rowling: Slytherin has become diluted. It is no longer the pureblood bastion it once was.
Nevertheless, its dark reputation lingers, hence Albus Potter's fears.
Nithya: Lily detested mulciber,averyif snape really loved her,why didnt he sacrifice their company
for her sake
J.K. Rowling: Well, that is Snape's tragedy. Given his time over again he would not have become a
Death Eater, but like many insecure, vulnerable people (like Wormtail) he craved membership of
something big and powerful, something impressive.
J.K. Rowling: He wanted Lily and he wanted Mulciber too. He never really understood Lily's
aversion; he was so blinded by his attraction to the dark side he thought she would find him
impressive if he became a real Death Eater.
Alborz: What does it mean to be the master of death
J.K. Rowling: As Dumbledore explains, the real master of Death accepts that he must die, and that
there are much worse things in the world of the living.
J.K. Rowling:

J.K. Rowling: It is not about striving for immortality, but about accepting mortality.
Barbara: I was very disappointed to see harry use crucio and seem to enjoy it his failure to perform
that kind of curse in the past has been a credit to his character why the change, and did harry later
regret having enjoyed deliberately causing pain
J.K. Rowling: Harry is not, and never has been, a saint. Like Snape, he is flawed and mortal.
J.K. Rowling: Harry's faults are primarily anger and occasional arrogance.
J.K. Rowling: On this occasion, he is very angry and acts accordingly. He is also in an extreme
situation, and attempting to defend somebody very good against a violent and murderous opponent.
Nicole: What do you think is the funniest moment you have written in the series
J.K. Rowling: It sounds very vain to answer this! My favourite in this book is probably that line of
Ron's 'really captures the scope and tragedy of the thing, doesn't it?'
Courtney: What child did harry give the marauders map to if any
J.K. Rowling: I've got a feeling he didn't give it to any of them, but that James sneaked it out of his
father's desk one day.
Karin: What did petunia wanted to say to hary at the end of the dursleys departing
J.K. Rowling: I think that for one moment she trembled on the verge of wishing Harry luck; that
she almost acknowledged that her loathing of his world, and of him, was born out of jealousy.
J.K. Rowling: But she couldn't do it; years of pretending that 'normal' was best had hardened her
too much.
Leaky Cauldron: Please pose and answer the question you'd most like to address about the series!
(a ha, turned it back on you.)
: Oooo, you're tough.
J.K. Rowling: I must admit, I always wondered why nobody ever asked me what Dumbledore's
wand was made of!
J.K. Rowling: And I couldn't say that, even when asked 'what do you wish you'd been asked...'
because it would have sign-posted just how significant that wand would become!
Nora: Is auntie muriels tiara important
J.K. Rowling : No, sorry... except to illustrate what an old bat she is.
Nigel: Can harry speak parseltongue when he is no longer a horcrux?
J.K. Rowling : No, he loses the ability, and is very glad to do so.
Nikki: How did sirius twoway mirror end up with aberforth or is it another twoway mirror
J.K. Rowling: You see Aberforth meeting Mundungus in Hogsmeade. That was the occasion on
which Dung, who had taken Sirius's mirror from Grimmauld Place, sold it to Aberforth.
Tierney Roth: If moody got a magic eye, and wormtail got a magic hand, couldnt there be some
way to form a magical ear, if only to cover up the hole and make george look more symmetrical
J.K. Rowling: Yes, he could wear a false ear (I'm starting to giggle at the thought. Perhaps he's
better off with the hole!)
Lucy: What is dumbledores boggart?
J.K. Rowling: The corpse of his sister.
Pablo: What is toadface umbridge doing now
J.K. Rowling: Glad to see you like her as much as I do!
J.K. Rowling: She was arrested, interrogated and imprisoned for crimes against Muggleborns.
Tina: Do the muggles notice that there arent any weird things going on now that voldemorts gone
J.K. Rowling: Yes, the world seems a much sunnier place (literally - with the Dementors gone the
weather gets better!)
J.K. Rowling: We are having a heavily Dementor-influenced summer here in the UK.
Katie Mosher: How exactly do muggleborns receive magical ability
J.K. Rowling: Muggle-borns will have a witch or wizard somewhere on their family tree, in some
cases many, many generations back. The gene re-surfaces in some unexpected places.
Maggie: Is rita skeeter still reporting
J.K. Rowling: Naturally, what could stop Rita? I imagine she immediately dashed off a biography

of Harry after he defeated Voldemort. One quarter truth to three quarters rubbish.
Maggie Keir: Was hermione able to find her parents and undo the memory damage
J.K. Rowling: Yes, she brought them home straight away.
Lola Victorpujebet: Was minerva in love with albus
J.K. Rowling: No! Not everybody falls in love with everybody else...
Rachel Nell: Jkr, thank you for such amazing books! I would like to know how come noone seemed
to know that lily and snape were friends in school they were obviously meeting for chats, etc didnt
james know their past
J.K. Rowling: Thank you for your thank you!
J.K. Rowling: Yes, it was known that they were friendly and then stopped being friends. Nothing
more than that would be widely known.
J.K. Rowling: James always suspected Snape harboured deeper feelings for Lily, which was a
factor in James' behaviour to Snape.
Abbey: Will the chuddley cannons ever win the quidditch world cup
J.K. Rowling: Bless them, perhaps. But they'd need to replace the entire team and down several
cauldrons of Felix Felicitas.
Hayleyhaha: Why did regulus have a change of heart
J.K. Rowling: He was not prepared for the reality of life as a Death Eater. It was Voldemort's
attempted murder of Kreacher that really turned him.
J.K. Rowling: Scorpius has a lot going against him, not least that name. However, I think Scorpius
would be an improvement on his father, whom misfortune has sobered!
Stephval: Is scorpius as misguided as his father, or has draco improved and taught his child(ren)
better
J.K. Rowling: Sorry, technical hitch - just answered a question before seeing it!
J.K. Rowling: I am clearly getting better at Legilimency.
Lona: Did draco and harry lose their animosity towards eachother when voldemort died
J.K. Rowling: Not really. There would be a kind of rapprochement, in that Harry knows Draco
hated being a Death Eater, and would not have killed Dumbledore; similarly, Draco would feel a
grudging gratitude towards Harry for saving his life.
J.K. Rowling: Real friendship would be out of the question, though. Too much had happened prior
to the final battle.
Hannah: Why was snape so badly groomed
J.K. Rowling: Hmm. Good question. Poor eyesight? Did he look in the mirror and believe he was
gorgeous as he was?
J.K. Rowling: I think it more likely that he valued other qualities in himself!
Ea : Will the stone ever be found, since it was left just sitting on the forest floor
J.K. Rowling: I think not. I imagine that it was squashed into the ground by a centaur's hoof as the
centaurs dashed to the aid of the Hogwarts fighters, and thereafter became buried.
Adwait313: Has the jinx on the dada teaching post at hogwarts been lifted
J.K. Rowling: Yes, at last! Incidentally, I know some have asked about Quirrell with regard to this
question.
J.K. Rowling: He was teaching at Hogwarts for more than a year, but NOT in the post of D.A.D.A.
teacher. He was previously Muggle Studies professor.
Emily: What ever happened to aberforth
J.K. Rowling: He is still there, at the Hog's Head, playing with his goats.
Lee: I recently purchsed nimbus twothousand it has a terrible knack of veering left is their anything
I can do (wihout the use of a wand it was broken by a hippogriff) to repair it back to it original
straight flying state
J.K. Rowling: Hm. I would advise a trip to Arkie Alderton's Kwik-Repair Shop. Never attempt to
mend a broom at home, the consequences can be disastrous.
Abjoppotter: Is narcissa malfoy really a death eater

J.K. Rowling: No, she never had the Dark Mark and was never a fully paid-up member. However,
her views were identical to those of her husband until Voldemort planned the death of her son.
Emzzy: Did mr weasley ever get around to fixing sirius motorbike
J.K. Rowling: Of course, and it ended up in Harry's possession.
Lulu: Do you think dumbledore was a little more fond of ron than either ron or harry believed
J.K. Rowling: Yes, I do. Through Harry's account of Ron, and from reports of the professors who
taught Ron, Dumbledore understood Ron better than Ron ever knew, and liked him, too.
Chelatina: Was firenze ever welcomed back into the herd
J.K. Rowling: Yes, the rest of the herd was forced to acknowledge that Firenze's pro-human
leanings were not shameful, but honourable.
Kristy: What was your favorite scene to write in deathly hallows?
J.K. Rowling: Chapter 34: The Forest Again.
Chely: James patronus is a stag and lilys a doe is that a coincidence?
J.K. Rowling: No, the Patronus often mutates to take the image of the love of one's life (because
they so often become the 'happy thought' that generates a Patronus).
Jon: Since voldemort was afraid of death, did he choose to be a ghost if so where does he haunt or is
this not possible due to his horcruxes
J.K. Rowling: No, he is not a ghost. He is forced to exist in the stunted form we witnessed in
King's Cross.
Angela Morrissey: Were there seven horcruxes not six as dumbledore intimated to harry if so, does
this mean that voldemort had an 8 part soul not a 7
J.K. Rowling: Yes, Voldemort accidentally broke his soul into eight parts, not seven.
Laura Trego: Did hermione really put a memory charm on her parents she says she did but then
about 50 pages later tells ron shes never done a memory charm
J.K. Rowling: They are two different charms. She has not wiped her parents' memories (as she later
does to Dolohov and Rowle); she has bewitched them to make them believe that they are different
people.
Maura: How come voldemort was no longer employing occlumency against harry, as he was in the
6th book
J.K. Rowling: He is losing control, and unable to prevent Harry seeing into his mind. The
connection between them is never fully understood by Voldemort, who does not know that Harry is
a Horcrux.
Gandalfxj9: Did krum ever find love
J.K. Rowling: Of course, though he had to go back to his native Bulgaria to do so.
Twinkletoes: Why did you feel that hedwigs death was necessary
J.K. Rowling: The loss of Hedwig represented a loss of innocence and security. She has been
almost like a cuddly toy to Harry at times. Voldemort killing her marked the end of childhood. I'm
sorry... I know that death upset a LOT of people!
Lecanard: Will we see harry and his friends having their own history on chocolate frogs cards
J.K. Rowling: Definitely, and Ron will describe this as his finest hour.
J.K. Rowling: I cannot possibly tell you. Some things are better left unsaid.
Samantha: Was snape the only death eater who could produce a full patronus
J.K. Rowling: Yes, because a Patronus is used against things that the Death Eaters generally
generate, or fight alongside. They would not need Patronuses.
Jess: How did nagini could see harry and hermione if they were under the invisibility cloak
J.K. Rowling: Snakes' sense are very different from human ones. They can detect heat and
movement in a way that we can't.
Chucky: Have you had another alternatives as book title apart from deathly hallows
J.K. Rowling: The two other possibilities were 'the Elder Wand' (used instead as a chapter title) and
'the Peverell Quest', which I decided against quite quickly. I think the word 'Quest' is a bit corny!
Iglooanne: What would your patronus be

J.K. Rowling: I'd like an otter, like Hermione, but I've got a feeling it might be a large dog.
The Stoic Cycle: Why is it that voldemort is unaware that the gaunt ring is a hallow, when he has
worn it (such as in the memory the diary shows harry in book 2)
J.K. Rowling: Wearing the ring would not make the stone work. The stone existed outside the ring
originally, and to use it you had to turn it three times in your hand.
Finchburg: Does the dark mark remain on those that voldemort has branded after his death or does
the tattoo dissapear now he is gone thanks for considering my question!
J.K. Rowling: My pleasure, Finchburg! The Dark Mark would fade to a scar, not dissimilar to the
lightning scar on Harry's forehead.
J.K. Rowling: Like Harry's, these scars would no longer burn or hurt.
Katie Mosher: How is the quibbler doing these days
J.K. Rowling: Pretty well, actually. It has returned to its usual condition of advanced lunacy, and is
appreciated for its unintentional humour.
Camille: Dear mrs rowling, while im here I want to thank you for making me laugh, cry (a lot!
Most of all for sirius!) since im 11 quite a long time for me as im 20 harrys magic and yours will be
with me forever! Thanks!
J.K. Rowling: Thank you very much, Camille, and I'm sorry about Sirius. That man's got a lot of
fans.
J.K. Rowling: Mostly female, I might add.
Nicofr: Does winky still drink a lot of butterbear
J.K. Rowling: She's dried out a bit now.
Isabel: Did bellatrix ever love her husband, or did she have love only for voldemort
J.K. Rowling: She took a pureblood husband, because that was what was expected of her, but her
true love was always Voldemort.
jenny: How did snape keep his patronus secret from the rest of the order?
J.K. Rowling: He was careful not to use the talking Patronus means of communication with them.
This was not difficult, as his particular job within the Order, ie, as spy, meant that sending a
Patronus to any of them might have given away his true allegiance.
Darchey: Did voldemort ever love a girl
J.K. Rowling: No, he loved only power, and himself. He valued people whom he could use to
advance his own objectives.
Leo: What would your wand be made of
J.K. Rowling: I'd like Harry's wand - holly and phoenix feather.
Brian: Did the da keep the coins?
J.K. Rowling: Naturally. They would be like badges or medals of honour - proof that the owner had
been at the heart of the fight against Voldemort from the start! I like to imagine Neville showing his
to his admiring pupils.
Tracie: How relieved are you that you can finally talk about the series no more secretkeeping!
J.K. Rowling: I'm elated! It is great to be able to do this at last, I've looked forward to it for so
long!
Lou: How did snape get into grimmauld place to get the second half of the letter, if there were
protection spells on the house stopping snape getting in
J.K. Rowling: Snape entered the house immediately after Dumbledore's death, before Moody put
up the spells against him.
Koen Van Der Voort: Why is the scar on harrys forehead lightning shaped
J.K. Rowling: To be honest, because it's a cool shape. I couldn't have my hero sport a doughnutshaped scar.
Louie: Did mariettas pimply formation ever fade
J.K. Rowling: Eventually, but it left a few scars. I loathe a traitor!
Katie B: Why was kings cross the place harry went to when he died
J.K. Rowling: For many reasons. The name works rather well, and it has been established in the

books as the gateway between two worlds, and Harry would associate it with moving on between
two worlds (don't forget that it is Harry's image we see, not necessarily
J.K. Rowling: what is really there.
J.K. Rowling: We seem to have over-run. We've had over 120,000 questions, I've been told!
J.K. Rowling: What can I say? Thank you so much for sticking with me, and with Harry, for so
long. You have made this an incredible journey for Harry's author.
J.K. Rowling: I like this question, so I'll take it for my last.
Tess: What muggle song do you imagine would be played at dumbledores funeral
J.K. Rowling: Surely 'I did it my way' by Frank Sinatra.
J.K. Rowling: I'm very aware I haven't answered everything... keep an eye on my website, and I'll
try and answer some more questions in due course!
J.K. Rowling: Thanks very much everybody, I've had a great time, and I hope I've covered some of
the outstanding questions (I hear a distant roar of 'YOU DIDN'T GET TO MINE!')
J.K. Rowling: That's it... I'm Disapparating. Bye!
EventManager: Thank you for participating and for all of your great questions.
Ahora otra

Harry Potter: The final chapter

Author J.K. Rowling reveals her secrets -- and what you never knew about Harry Potter -- in
an exclusive interview with NBC's Meredith Vieira.
By Meredith Vieira
NBC News
Updated: 12:25 p.m. CT July 30, 2007
This interview aired Dateline NBC July 29. Spoiler alert: This interview reveals key plot
development from The Deathly Hallows.'
Edinburgh, Scotland In the historic great hall of Edinburgh Castle, home to Scottish royalty of old, the reigning queen of
the publishing world sat down with me and 14 young fans.
J.K. Rowling: Has anyone finished it? Did you like it?
Childs voice: Yes.
Meredith Vieira: It's-- it's finally done.
J.K. Rowling: I know.
Meredith Vieira: How does that feel?
J.K. Rowling: Incredible.
Meredith Vieira: Incredible good? Incredible bad? A little bit of both?
J.K. Rowling: At the moment-- it feels great, to be honest with you. It feels-- it's a really nice
place to be. Yeah.

For J.K. Rowling, known to friends and family as "Jo", Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the
seventh and last book in the Harry Potter series, means that while the writing may be done, it is not
exactly farewell.
Meredith Vieira: Do you feel like you've had to say "goodbye" to Harry?
J.K. Rowling: Yes and no. Because I It sounds too corny for words, but I-- I feel as though I
know what he's doing now. And I-- so he'll always be a presence in my life really.
Always careful about keeping the plot under wraps, Jo was initially reluctant to say too much in
front of the young fans who have not quite finished.
Meredith Vieira: Because I know how you feel about the spoilers and-- (OVERTALK) --have
been many of them along the way. Absolutely.
J.K. Rowling: It's for people who have who've read six novels and really want to enjoy a seventh
novel and get there on their own, I think it-- that's fair enough. And no one has the right to take that
away.
But now: fair warning. When we are about to discuss details of book seven, we will put up a spoiler
alert signal. If you haven't finished the book yet, turn down the sound and keep it down until the
warning goes off screen.
Because Jo Rowling ultimately did open up on who lives, who dies, and her reasons for the
decisions.
Meredith Vieira: You know, you left us hanging a little bit.
J.K. Rowling: A little. But I have to say that I-- it would have been humanly impossible to answer
every single question that comes up. Because I'm dealing with a level of obsession in some of my
fans that will not rest until they know the middle names of Harry's great-great-grandparents.
Meredith Vieira: (LAUGHTER) Well, yeah, people have gotten a little obsessive.
J.K. Rowling: Yeah, I love it. I'm all for that. I'm delighted they feel that way. But, you know, this
is-- it's a book. You know? Maybe one day there'll be an encyclopedia and that would be a
different-- a different kettle of fish. But within a novel, within a novel, you have to resist the urge
to tell everything
Meredith Vieira: One thing some anxious readers -- including myself -- couldn't resist, though,
was starting at the end of the book to find out the answer to the question everyone wanted
answered: Does young wizard Harry Potter live or die?
J.K. Rowling: Yeah. Had anyone skipped to the last page before-- reading? (GASP) (LAUGHTER)
Meredith Vieira: I did. I couldn't-- I could not wait.
J.K. Rowling: But I hate that. I hate that.
Meredith Vieira: Really?
J.K. Rowling: Yeah. I should have published the last chapter separately. Forced you to read it.
Meredith Vieira: I went back. It's not like we didn't go back. But you built up-- you know its
your fault.
J.K. Rowling: You created a whole-- I mean, not just a world but a language. You have Quidditch,
you have Muggle, you have polyjuice.
J.K. Rowling: Do you have a favorite of all of them?
J.K. Rowling: I really like "Quidditch."

Meredith Vieira: You guys do, too?

Various voices: Yeah.
J.K. Rowling: Quidditch probably still my favorite.
Meredith Vieira: And how did you get that?
J.K. Rowling: You know, I really don't know. I-- I think I've still got the notebook where I kept
scribbling it. For some reason, I definitely wanted it to begin with a Q. So there were a lot of Q
words. I think probably Quidditch because it-- it rhymes with "pitch." You know, it felt-- that felt
nice to be able to say Quidditch pitch.
Did you ever want to or did you ever consider killing Harry or Hermione or Ron?
J.K. Rowling: Yeah, definitely.
Meredith Vieira: You did?
J.K. Rowling: That was a-- it was felt to be a possibility that the hero would die. And that's what I
was aiming for, that you really felt that anyone was up for grabs. And because that's how-- how it
would be, you know? If you've got a character like that who's determined to kill-- Voldemort I'm
talking about, of course, not Harry-- then that's how it would be. No one-- no one's safe. It could
come to anyone.
Meredith Vieira: So what happened there? Why did he get the reprieve?
J.K. Rowling: Well, I swapped him for someone else, and I don't want to say who for the people
who haven't-- read. But I-- I made a decision as I went into writing Phoenix that I was going to
reprieve Mr. Weasley and I was going to kill someone else. And if you finish the book, I-- I expect
you probably know and someone else who is a father.
And I wanted there to be an echo of-- of Harry's loss of parents. And you probably know who I'm
talking about if you've finished the book. But-- so there are two characters who are killed in (book)
Seven. So Mr. Weasley did get attacked, as you know, in Five. But he would have died if I'd have
stuck to the original plan. But he survived. I had to keep him alive partly-- partly because I
couldn't bear to kill him.
Meredith Vieira: But there were two that weren't supposed to die that did end up dying.
J.K. Rowling: Yeah, yeah. I swapped them for Mr. Weasley. But they didn't then die until Seven.
Meredith Vieira: So as an author, then, there were certain characters you couldn't bear to part with?
J.K. Rowling: Well, yeah. If there's one character I couldn't bear to part with, it's Arthur Weasley.
And I think part of the reason for that is there were very few good fathers in the book. In fact, you
could make a very good case for Arthur Weasley being the only good father in the whole series.
Jo was especially reluctant to lose Mr. Weasley because Harry had already lost so many father
figures, including his godfather Sirius Black and Hogwarts school headmaster Dumbledore.
They were victims in the struggle against evil arch villain Voldemort, who killed Harry's parents
when he was just a baby.
Meredith Vieira: But did you worry at all-- Jo, when you're writing the book, that you have so
many fans, kids, writing and saying, "Please don't take Harry," that you might have-J.K. Rowling: WellMeredith Vieira: --just devastated a lot of kids by taking Harry or Hermione or Ron?
J.K. Rowling: Of course that affects you. I can remember just before-- just before Phoenix came
out-- no, yes. Phoenix of course. Meeting a boy who said to me, "Please, never ever, ever, ever,
ever kill Hagrid, Dumbledore, or Sirius." Oh, my god. And he was a really nice boy. And he-- who
had some problems in his own past. And he was out-- he was definitely saying, "Don't kill any of

these people who have been fathers to Harry." And I knew I'd already done it. I'd already killed
Sirius and I can't pretend that looking at him I didn't feel quite awful.
Meredith Vieira: But it's got to be painful, as you said, when a young man comes up to you and-and begs, "Please don't."
J.K. Rowling: Well, it was. People have come up and really pleaded for their favorite characters.
And now, here comes a huge spoiler alert.
SPOILER ALERT
In book seven, Jo killed off Harry Potter's close friends Lupin and Tonks, and in doing so, left their
newborn baby an orphan, just like Harry.
J.K. Rowling: I wanted there to be an echo of what happened to Harry just to show the absolute
evil of what Voldemort's doing. The fact that you leave orphans and you leave children who then
have to make their way in the world uncared for and unprotected. And-- so that's why I killed the
two that, you know, you know about in this book. Which I hated, hated doing because I love them
both as characters.
CONTINUED: Love, family, heartbreak: How Jo Rowling's life echoes through her books
Meredith Vieira: Ending this series for you, is it a relief, or is there a sense of mourning? Or
maybe a combination of the two?
J.K. Rowling: Definitely both.
Meredith Vieira: Yeah?
J.K. Rowling: Whole bundle of emotions wrapped up into one. Immediately after finishing writing,
I was very {upset}. The first two days were terrible. Terrible.
Meredith Vieira: In what way? Tell me what you did.
J.K. Rowling: Just I was incredibly low. What is probably hard for people to imagine is how
wrapped up the 17 years' work is with what was going on in my life at the time.
Her often-told life story sounds almost as magical as the books she conjured up.
But what's not as well known is the magic was tempered by sorrow and loss, which played a key
role in the creation of the Harry Potter books.
In a foreshadowing of events in her own life, her parents met and got engaged on a train traveling
through the English countryside.
And Joanne Rowling was born in a village in the west of England 42 years ago this week.
Her father, Peter, was a factory manager; her mother, Ann, a lab technician.
As a little girl, "Jo" amused herself and little sister "Di" with early attempts at hare-raising stories...
J.K. Rowling: I wrote this little book about a rabbit called Rabbit and His Adventures. And I
illustrated it myself, too, and showed it to my mother, who, as mothers do, was rhapsodized and
said how wonderful it was. And what's interesting to me is I was six years old. And I thought,
"Well, are we going to get it published?" And-- so I-- I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

Fast-forward 20 years, to 1990, and Jo Rowling came up with a very different type of story. She had
been visiting a boyfriend in Manchester, England and was traveling back to London on a train when
inspiration struck.
J.K. Rowling: Absolutely true. Yeah. I was on the train from Manchester to London. And it came.
Just came.
Meredith Vieira: Had something like that ever happened to you before?
J.K. Rowling: Yes. Truthfully. (LAUGHTER) I mean, other ideas have just come to me because I
think if you're a writer and that's what you spend a huge amount of time doing, you do-- ideas do
come to you. But nothing had ever come so-- with such a-- I had this, "God, I'd love to write that."
When I got off the train I went home and started writing.
Then living in London, she kept her story about a boy wizard to herself.
Her mother was gravely ill, and then died six months after her daughter began writing the Potter
story.
J.K. Rowling: One of my biggest regrets. She never knew. I never told her.
Meredith Vieira: She had been sick for quite awhile. She had battled MS for ten years.
J.K. Rowling: Yeah.
Meredith Vieira: How did her departure, her death affect this book?
J.K. Rowling: Definitely Mom dying had a profound influence on the books because in the first
draft, his parents were disposed really in quite in the most cavalier fashion. I didn't really dwell
on it. Six months in my mother died and I simply {couldn't kill off the fictional} mother. That
callously. Not-- it wasn't callous, but it's-- it wasn't what it became ... And I really think from that
moment on, death became a central, if not the central, theme of the seven books.
Meredith Vieira: You mean death in terms of loss, not just the killing of people but-J.K. Rowling: Yeah ... The theme of how we react to death, how much we fear it. Of course, I
think which is a key part of the book because Voldemort is someone who will do anything not to
die. He's terrified of death. And in many ways, all of my characters are defined by their attitude to
death and the possibility of death.
The loss of her mother affected Jo Rowling in another way. It was time to move away -- to say
goodbye to the British isles.
Meredith Vieira: You decide to leave. Get rid of the-- the old boyfriend, move to Portugal. In that
time, married, have a new baby. Jessica.
J.K. Rowling: I have a baby. Jessica.
Meredith Vieira: Divorce. And you come back.
J.K. Rowling: Yeah.
Meredith Vieira: To a kind of a different world. You're on public assistance-J.K. Rowling: Really different.
Meredith Vieira: --at that point?
J.K. Rowling: That was-- yeah, that was a-- obviously a very, very tough time because I'd been
working always up to that point. I never meant to live in Edinburgh it was clearly because my
sister was here and I was staying here for Christmas with her.
She wrote about "Harry" at an Edinburgh cafe with baby Jessica napping by her side. She lived in a
small upstairs apartment. Then, after a publisher saw the first three chapters of the story and asked
to see more, she rushed to finish it.

J.K. Rowling: I was determined to try because, frankly, my life was such a mess at this point,
what-- what was the worst that could happen? Everyone turn me down? Big deal.
But the tough times were about to end. "Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone," the U.K. title,
was eventually bought by small British publisher Bloomsbury, for $4,000.
About a year later, in 1997, her agent called to say American publisher scholastic was bidding for
"Harry Potter.
J.K. Rowling: He phoned me and said, "There's an auction going on in New York." And, again, I'm
so clueless. I thought, "Why's he telling me about that?" (LAUGHTER) I was like, you know, he
had to be quite specific. "An auction for your book. Why would I be telling you about a furniture
sale?"
Meredith Vieira: God, you can be so dense-- Jo (OVERTALK)
J.K. Rowling: You know, I always-- to be honest, life had battered me around so much in the
previous two years that when you start receiving good news, you're quite distrustful. (LAUGHTER)
And so-Meredith Vieira: It wasn't good news. It was pretty great news. They'd never offered that kind of
money for a children's book--over $1 million.
J.K. Rowling: Unbelievable. It was unbelievable I started to think, "We can buy a house."
Now, it was all security for me.
Since then, her financial success has become legendary.
Forbes estimated her fortune at more than $1 billion.
But publishing seven long books in such a short time took a toll.
J.K. Rowling: And that was my fault.
But now her life is a lot less stressful and a lot less lonely.
After nine years as a single mom.
J.K. Rowling: Which I never in a million years expected. I never (thought) I would marry again
and-- I really didn't. I (was) sometimes lonely. I hadn't met anyone that I wanted to be with long
term So I just thought, well, this is my life. I'm not meant to have that. And then, of course, the
moment I'd accepted that comes Neil.
The couple has a son and daughter together.
Oh, and by the way: When Jo and Neil got engaged another train figured in the story, and it wasnt
the Hogwarts express...
J.K. Rowling: My husband proposed to me on a train.
Meredith Vieira: You probably thought, "Oh, this is so romantic."
J.K. Rowling: Well, I did. It was the Orient Express. I'd always wanted to go on the Orient
Express.

Now she's devoting her time to her family and her favorite causes, such as helping single mothers
and finding a cure for multiple sclerosis, the disease that took her mother's life.
And now she has a chance to reflect.
J.K. Rowling: Finishing has certainly made me look back a lot. It is almost incredible to me at
times what's happened. And there are certainly moments when I imagine that I dreamt it all.
Author J.K. Rowling's long-awaited book "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" sold a recordbreaking 15 million copies worldwide in just 24 hours when it finally went on sale at 12:01 a.m. on
July 21.
Two weeks earlier, this excitement was nearly matched when Harry Potter and the Order of the
Phoenix -- the fifth and latest movie in the franchise premiered.
While the Harry Potter movies have been one of Hollywood's most successful and well-loved
movie franchises, Jo Rowling was initially reluctant to see her stories come to life on the big screen.
Meredith Vieira: When that first was presented to you, you said no.
J.K. Rowling: Yeah.
Meredith Vieira: You weren't interested.
J.K. Rowling: Uh-huh (AFFIRM).
Meredith Vieira: What changed your mind and-J.K. Rowling: Well, the biggest thing by far was that I was looking for an agreement that said they
would follow my story even though the rest of the books weren't written. What I didn't want to do
was sell the rights to the characters and enable them to do sequels that I haven't written. That was
my worst nightmare. So I was quite happy never to have Harry Potter filmed if that-- if that-- if I
couldn't get that guarantee.
Meredith Vieira: And have you been happy with them?
J.K. Rowling: I've been really happy with them. I think that-- our nice-- I say this with no apology
because I-- I know that-- I've yet to meet an American fan who doesn't feel the same way. I think
that to keep it an all British cast, given that they-- all the action happens in Britain and all the kids
are British was-- was great and a real achievement.
Meredith Vieira: But you watch it and you say, "That is the world I've envisioned."
J.K. Rowling: Visually it's so close it's almost indistinguishable, particularly Hogwarts. They gave
me a lot of input in how things look. So we're visiting sets the first time and it's just downright
creepy because it was like walking inside my own head to the Great Hall-- Diagon Alley (was) very,
very close.
Of course, this summer with the premiere of the movie and the launch of book seven timed so
closely together, Potter passion peaked.
Emma Watson: I mean, it's kind of Harry Potter mania. I've never seen it quite this big.
Daniel Radcliffe: You know, you get a sense of it at the premieres. Because you see all the fans
there. And you think, "These guys really love it." But equally, you think this stretches way beyond
these guys. Because it's not just a superficial thing. Harry's a character that's worked his way into
the collective consciousness of millions of people of all ages around the world.

For Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint -- who play Harry, Hermione and Ron -- their
love for Harry Potter existed long before they were cast in the roles.
Daniel Radcliffe: I had read the first two, and after I got the part, I obviously thought well, I must
read these, obviously. And-- and I did, and just loved them. And, you know, I'm sort of a case in
point, really, of somebody who didn't really read at all, and-- and read the Harry Potter books and
then have now, from then on, been devouring as much literature as I possibly can-- which is, I think,
the effect they've had on everybody.
Rupert Grint: I was never really a massive reader. And it was something about them that just-- I
really sort of connected to it. It was just really-- really cool This unique thing about it is that
sort of children and adults can sort of enjoy them-- my parents read them and sort of everyone sort
of loves them.
Emma Watson: I was such a fan of the books before I even auditioned for the role. I think I was up
to number three before I even did anything. And my dad used to read them to me and brother
before we went to bed every night.
While some film franchises seem to run out of steam after the first movie, each Harry Potter film
has been energized by the twists and turns and evolving characters of each book.
Daniel Radcliffe: It is a phenomenon. I think it's partly to do with the character of Harry It's
just the most amazing kind of storytelling in that it just drags you in from the first page, you know.
It's one of the things where you just say, "All right. Well, I'll-- I'll-- I'll read another chapter and
then I'll stop." And you-- you get to the last page of that chapter and think, "I'll go at-- okay, I'll just
read the next one." So, it's totally compulsive...
Meredith Vieira: Daniel and Emma and Rupert, who play the three leads, how do you feel about
them? I mean, they're inhabiting your characters.
J.K. Rowling: Yeah, it's a strange relationship ... I feel like a godmother or something. I feel, you
know, they've all got perfectly good parents. So it's not true and I couldn't say I feel really parental.
But I-- they feel connected to me in a bizarre way because of what they've done. They have grown
up with these characters that I've created and they've inhabited these characters. And then we-there's a personal relationship because I know them now.
And for Daniel, Emma and Rupert, the feeling is mutual.
Daniel Radcliffe: Jo's always been totally lovely to me and to all of us. She's really supportive.
And-- and if you ask for advice, she'll give it. But she would never, you know, force it on you,
because she has a-- a lo-- a-- a great understanding that the films are one thing and that the books
are another.
Rupert Grint: She's really cool. She's so easy to talk to the thing that I was sort of surprised
about is just how sort of down to earth she is, and just really sort of normal really, and just really
cool.
Did this relationship, though, mean that the actors got some inside information? Beware -- here
comes another spoiler!
SPOILER ALERT

Meredith Vieira: Do they know what hap-- did they know before this book came out?
J.K. Rowling: They knew certain things. I mean, none of them knew the ending. But-- I told all
three of them stuff about their own characters.
Meredith Vieira: Did any of them ask, "Are you going to off me?"
J.K. Rowling: Yeah, Dan did, yeah.
Meredith Vieira: Daniel did? And did you tell him?
J.K. Rowling: I took him out to dinner And at one point during dinner, he leaned in and he said,
"Look, I've got-- I've just got to ask you-- do I die?" And I thought quick and then I whispered, so
no one else could hear, you-- you get a death scene. But Dan is very smart. And I'm pretty sure he
would have walked away from that dinner thinking, "Yeah, I get a death scene, but what does that
mean?"
J.K. Rowling: --he dies. So I hope he's happy.
Meredith Vieira: Yeah, it is his career after all. (LAUGHTER)
And soon the Harry Potter franchise will come to life in a whole new way at a theme park in Florida
owned by our parent company, NBC Universal.
Meredith Vieira: I don't think you're going to have to stand in line, do you?
J.K. Rowling: I better not. (LAUGHTER)
Meredith Vieira: --injustice.
J.K. Rowling: No, it's going to be - it will be amazing because it will be a place that I can take all
three of my children actually. Because they're planning one ride that's for younger kids. So I'm
looking forward to that. It's great.
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And Jo says that while she may be sad that her part in the Harry Potter journey may be over, the
movies and theme park mean that the world of the boy who lived will live on in a very tangible
way.
J.K. Rowling: For me it's wonderful to have these things to look forward to. I've got two more
movies to look forward and I've got a theme park. And it just means that the world hasn't ended for
me. So even though the books are done, I feel like I still have a connection to Harry's world. And
that's probably eased the ending for me.
Meredith Vieira: So you really don't want to let go of Harry.
J.K. Rowling: Well, I do and I don't. It's just great to think that if I need a Harry Potter fix I can go
down and visit the set and annoy them. (LAUGHTER)
CONTINUED: More revelations about the last book
Meredith Vieira: What to you is the most satisfying part of the entire Harry Potter phenomenon?
J.K. Rowling: This. Talking to people like you about the books definitely I mean, I loved the
writing. But aside of the writing-- it staggers me that so many people have loved them and what's
better than that? Nothing's better than that.

So get ready Potter fans -- because Jo Rowling can finally dish. Now that the final Harry Potter
book is out there are no more secrets she needs to keep.
J.K. Rowling: This book has been under wraps for so long, much longer than-- than people would
imagine. So-Meredith Vieira: So is it a release then for you to be able to-J.K. Rowling: Yeah, oh, it's totally a release. That's where the-- that's-- big lifting of pressure for
me. It's wonderful.
And we left it to the kids to ask all of the questions they just had to have answered.
Kid: Yeah. Is Harry Potter based on anyone that you know? And why did you choose the name
Harry Potter?
J.K. Rowling: He's not based on anyone I know. So don't believe anyone who crawls out of the
woodwork to claim to be Harry Potter. No, Harry is entirely imaginary and the name I was
looking for a name that was really quite mundane in a way but a name that I liked. So he became
Harry. And then I-- it took me a while to find Potter. And Potter was the surname of a family I used
to live near when I was growing up. And the son of that family then claimed to be Harry Potter, but
he's not. Yeah, I just took the name. (SIGH)
J.K. Rowling: More than one have claimed to be Harry. It's interesting that no one ever claims to
be Hermione. (LAUGHTER) Although maybe that's because I'm quite open and I say that
Hermione was at least partially based on me when I was younger.
Meredith Vieira: ...at least bits of her are like you-- (OVERTALK) --little girl. In what way?
J.K. Rowling: Annoy-- annoying.
Meredith Vieira: Annoying?
J.K. Rowling: Yeah. (LAUGHTER) But I loosened up quite a bit as I got older, and so does she
through the books, under the healthy influence of Harry and Ron.
J.K. Rowling: Hermione's a bit of an exaggeration. But I was deeply insecure, as is Hermione, I
think who it's clear, if you read the book, she's covering up a lot of insecurities by trying to get good
marks and so on. That's the place she feels most secure is in the classroom with her hand up.
Meredith Vieira: I'm sure for these children are looking at you probably think you're the coolest
thing on earth to hear that you were insecure...
J.K. Rowling: Well, everyone is-- everyone is insecure in some way, aren't they? Very few people
aren't anyway.
Meredith Vieira: Why were you-- what made you insecure?
J.K. Rowling: Well, I have to say it's very like Hermione. I felt quite plain and I felt, you know, I
definitely wasn't the consummate popular kid-- as most people aren't after all. So that-- I think
that's why people identify with Harry, Ron, and Hermione a lot because they're-- because all three
of them, in some ways, are outsiders.
Remember those spoiler alerts? Now we are about to have a big one.
SPOILER ALERT
Meredith Vieira: A lot of people were worried that Hagrid would die. Was that ever a plan?
J.K. Rowling: Yes Everyone was up for grabs. Everyone. But actually from very early on I
wanted Hagrid to be the one who carried Harry out of the forest. That had been planned for so long.
And I wanted Hagrid to believe that

Meredith Vieira (to audience): Were any of you worried that Hagrid would die?
J.K. Rowling: I think a lot of people were worried about-- (OVERTALK)
Meredith Vieira: Yeah. I think I was one of them.
J.K. Rowling: Yeah? My sister. The last thing she said to me before she opened the book was "If
Hagrid dies, I will never forgive you." But it wasn't because of her I kept him alive. I should
pretend it was. I might get a better Christmas present?
Dumbledore knew what his weakness was and he learned it when he was 17. He learned that he-his weakness and his temptation was power. He recognized that he was not really to be trusted with
power.
And so he remained at Hogwarts. And it was important to me to see that Dumbledore made that
choice. And Harry-- Harry I think admires him more for it.
Meanwhile, the seemingly villainous Severus Snape -- the wizard who killed Dumbledore before
Harry's eyes -- shows a somewhat more heroic side in the final book.
J.K. Rowling: Snape is a complicated man. He's bitter. He's spiteful. He's a bully. All these
things are still true of Snape, even at the end of this book. But was he brave? Yes, immensely.
Was he capable of love? Very definitely. So he's-- he's a very-- he was a flawed human being, like
all of us.
Harry forgives him--- as we know, from the epilogue, Harry-- Harry really sees the good in Snape
ultimately. I wanted there to be redemption and I wanted there to be forgiveness. And Harry
forgives, even knowing that until the end Snape loathed him unjustifiably. it's totally, totally unfair
that he loathes him so much but anyway.
Jackson: Is there anything you wish you had or hadn't written in Harry Potter-- mainly deaths?
J.K. Rowling: I-- no, the deaths were all very, very considered. I don't kill even fictional characters
lightly. So I don't regret any of them. There are minor plot things that I-- I would change going
back. I'd certainly-- edit Phoenix a bit better because it's-- I think it's too long.
Female voice: Which death was the hardest for you? Other than the seventh book?
J.K. Rowling: Which death?
Female voice: Yes.
J.K. Rowling: Probably Dumbledore. I didn't enjoy killing Sirius.
J.K. Rowling: Just before Phoenix was published It's the first time I ever went online and
looked at the Harry Potter fan sites. I'd just never done it before. And one afternoon I did. And boy,
that was a bit of a revelation. I had no idea how much stuff was out there. And one of the fan sites
I-- I found was-- dedicated entirely to Sirius Black.
J.K. Rowling: I had no idea he had his own fan site, his own fan club, started by these teenage
girls, I think. They all loved Sirius. And I knew that he had about three-J.K. Rowling: --to live. It was terrible....
And some young readers had some very grown-up questions.

Young voice: Voldemort's killing of Muggle-borns, it sounds a lot like ethnic cleansing. How much
of the series is a political metaphor?
J.K. Rowling: Well, it is a political metaphor. But I didn't sit down and think, "I want to
recreate Nazi Germany," in the-- in the wizarding world. Because-- although there are-- quite
consciously overtones of Nazi Germany, there are also associations with other political situations.
So I can't really single one out.
Young voice: Harry's also referred to as the chosen one. So are there religious-J.K. Rowling: Well, there-- there clearly is a religious-- undertone. And-- it's always been difficult
to talk about that because until we reached Book Seven, views of what happens after death and so
on, it would give away a lot of what was coming. So yes, my belief and my struggling with
religious belief and so on I think is quite apparent in this book.
Meredith Vieira: And what is the struggle?
J.K. Rowling: Well my struggle really is to keep believing.
Meredith Vieira: To keep believing?
J.K. Rowling: Yes.
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What do you think of the Harry Potter series?

NOW ANOTHER SPOILER ALERT.

So turn down that sound if you don't want to know.
Jo Rowling fills in some of the blanks in the epilogue for her fans.
Chelsea: In the end you tell us that Neville is a professor at Hogwarts. What do-- Harry,
Hermione, and Ron do?
J.K. Rowling: Harry and Ron utterly revolutionized the Auror Department in-- at the Ministry of
Magic. So they-- I mean, they are now the consummate-- they are experts. It doesn't matter how
old they are or what else they've done.
So Harry and Ron lead the way in recreating the new Auror Department. And by the time-- 19
years later -- I would imagine that Harry is heading up that department, which is not corrupt in any
way. It's-- it's a really good place to be. And Hermione I think she's now pretty high up in the
Department for Magical Law Enforcement.
Where I would imagine that her brainpower and-- and her knowledge of how the dark arts operate
would really give her a, you know, a sound grounding. So they're all at the ministry but it's a very
new ministry. They made a new world.
CONTINUED: Why did Rowling cry after writing Chapter 34?
Meredith Vieira: You did leave it open for the possibility because in the epilogue there's Harry and
Hermione and Ron and they have their children and--

J.K. Rowling: But not-- I didn't really leave it open for that reason. I didn't write the epilogue
thinking, "Right. Let's set the stage for another set of books for the next generation." It-- it was
just-- I wanted to show that life went on. And that even where there had been deaths, you know,
there would be life and so on.
In fact, she says dead Professor Lupin's son Teddy is one of the main reasons she wanted to write
the epilogue.
J.K. Rowling: To hear that Teddy Lupin -- Lupin's son is obviously okay. That he has an ongoing
relationship with Harry and that he's-- he must be quite happy and he's got a very good-looking
girlfriend because I think he's kissing in the epilogue his-- Bill and Fleur's eldest daughter.
Meredith Vieira: And why is that important?
J.K. Rowling: Because he's been orphaned. And I want-- I want to show that he's okay.
And I want to show that because the world is a better place, he's having a happier-- and then I
started to cry. So obviously Teddy Lupin's very important to me. I just-- yeah. I-- having killed
both his parents, I really wanted him to be okay.
Then she dished about the life and death choice she made between the Weasley twins -- Fred and
George -- brothers of Harry's best friend Ron.
J.K. Rowling: Well, I don't know why because I always knew it was going to be Fred. I suppose
looking back from it, I think that most people would have expected it to be George I think. Because
that's the ringleader. He's always been the instigator. He's slightly harder than George. George is
slightly gentler. Fred is normally the funnier but also the crueler of the two. So they might have
thought that George would be the more vulnerable one and, therefore, the one to die.
Meredith Vieira: But was it easier for you to kill Fred than George?
J.K. Rowling: It wasn't easier.
Meredith Vieira: No?
J.K. Rowling: It wasn't easier. Either one of them would have been terrible to kill. (LAUGHTER)
It was awful killing Fred. I hated that.
But the toughest time for her came during the writing of another chapter.
J.K. Rowling: I really, really, really cried after writing Chapter 34, which is where Harry walks
back into the forest for what he thinks will be the last time It was because I had to live that with
Harry and feel the weight of his disillusionment and his fear because he believes he's being sent to
his death by Dumbledore who he saw wanted to keep him alive. So that was massively moving to
me to write.
Meredith Vieira: Why was it important to you, Jo, to write about the cruelty and inhumanity?
J.K. Rowling: I'm not sure why. (LAUGHTER) But it was what I wanted to write about most. And
it's about choice. And you are shown that Voldemort. I mean, it-- I suppose we're going to call him
a psychopath. But he's so, in many ways, he is what he is and he's beyond redemption. Although
this being Harry Potter and because I can take liberties because I have magic in my world, it is
shown at the very end of the book that he did have a chance for redemption because he had taken
into his body this drop of hope or love-Meredith Vieira: Harry's blood.
J.K. Rowling: Right. So that meant that if he could have mastered the courage to repent, he would
have been okay. But, of course, he wouldn't. And that's his choice. But the people around him,
that's what's more interesting in a way. The people who were drawn to him for protection, for

power, sadism. But people who do have a choice, did make a choice, like the Malfoys of this
world. And I think that's always worth examining why people choose to make those decisions.
But one point she wanted to make had nothing to do with book seven. It was about her gratitude to
the readers who've stuck with her and Harry for ten years now.
Meredith Vieira: It's got to be humbling in some ways, too.
J.K. Rowling: Yeah, totally. Funnily enough, just before Seven came out, I met two or three fans -all who said the same thing to me. "I read the first one when I was ten. I read the first one when I
was 11." And I'm now looking at 20-year-old men and women.
Meredith Vieira: What do you say to those fans? Because there are many who-J.K. Rowling: I just say you can't imagine what that means to me. And they can't. They can't.
Meredith Vieira: Did you feel, in writing the seventh book, or any-- actually any one of them, but
particularly the seventh-- a sense of responsibility to those fans?
J.K. Rowling: You know, it always-- well, yes. I definitely felt a sense of responsibility in that I
wanted to make it the very, very, very best book I could. Because they were waiting for it and there
was so much expectation. I am often asked, "Well, don't you feel guilty killing people, characters
that kids love?" And-- it sounds horrible and heartless to say "no." But the truth is that when you're
writing, you have to think only of what you're writing You must not sit there and think, "Well, I
was going to kill Hagrid but, you know, people love him."
And now that Harry Potters story has been told, Jo Rowling gets a chance to work on her personal
story.
Meredith Vieira: What's next for you?
J.K. Rowling: I'm going to take a break definitely. And I'm just going to savor for a while the
feeling that I don't have a deadline.
Meredith Vieira: Do you want to write another book?
J.K. Rowling: Of course. Of course. I'm not saying I won't be writing. I'm just saying I'm going
to be enjoying writing without having to publish or having to think about that. And it's-- that's a
privilege, you know? I'm immensely privileged.
And she saved one last inside tidbit to the end.
That means it's also time for one last spoiler alert.
SPOILER ALERT
Meredith Vieira: The end of the book: I had read that the last word was supposed to be "scar." But
the last-J.K. Rowling: And it was for a long, long time. For a long time the last line was something like:
"Only those who he loved could see the lightning scar." And that was in reference to the fact that as
they were on the platform, people were milling around. And that Harry was kind of flanked by, you
know, his loved ones. So they were the only ones who were really near enough to see it, even
though peo-- other people were looking. And it also had a kind of ambiguity. So it was-- is the scar
still really there? But I changed it because I wanted a more-- when I came to write it, I wanted a
very concrete statement that Harry won. And that the scar, although it's still there, it's now just a
scar. And I wanted to say it's over. It's done. And maybe a tiny bit of that was to say to people,
"No, Voldemort's not rising again. We're not going to have Part Two. Harry's job is done." So
that's why I changed it.

Meredith Vieira: To "all is well." And you knew when you came up with that line, that was it.
J.K. Rowling: It just felt ... I felt a kind of (SIGH). And that's-- that felt right. And I really wanted
Harry to have some (peace).
Meredith Vieira: So, in 17 years and seven books, what do you hope that people take away from
this?
J.K. Rowling: The most flattering thing that I've ever been told -- and I have been told it quite a lot
-- is that the Harry Potter books were the first that made people interested in reading. And there's
nothing better than that. If that's what Harry did, then that's the best thing I could possibly, possibly
hear.
Meredith Vieira: And as you would put it: All is well.
J.K. Rowling: Exactly.

Ending Harry Potter series painful for author

J.K. Rowling, in TODAY exclusive, says she gave Harry life, and vice versa
By Mike Celizic
TODAYShow.com contributor
Updated: 8:59 a.m. CT July 24, 2007
For 17 years, Harry Potter wasnt just a figment of author J.K. Rowlings imagination, and
Hogwarts wasnt merely a fictional boarding school where children learned wizardry and magic.
Rowling gave life to Harry, and, she says in an exclusive interview with TODAY, vice versa.
The worlds first billionaire author told TODAY co-host Meredith Vieira that it feels incredible to
finally have ended the saga that will forever define a generation of readers of all ages.
It feels great, to be honest with you. Its a really nice place to be, said Rowling.
But it took Rowling some time to get there. When she actually finished writing, months before last
Saturdays release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Rowling said she was difficult to be
around.
I felt devastated, she said, explaining she was just drained emotionally after having completed the
seventh and final book in the series.
Inspiring story
Rowling was a young, divorced, single mother on public assistance when she began writing the
Harry Potter saga in a caf.
The first printing of the first book was only 50,000 copies, and she had no assurance that the book
would sell and that the seven-part story she had already plotted out would ever be published in its
entirety.

The book caught on rather well, the series selling hundreds of millions of copies in scores of
languages, inspiring a series of movies that have brought the rich and complex world she created to
life.
The fantasy world she envisioned and captured on paper has made Rowling a real-life billionaire.
Today, she owns two homes in Scotland and one in London and is married to Neil Michael Murray.
She has two children with Murray, David Gordon Rowling Murray and MacKenzie Jean Rowling
Murray, and a daughter from her first marriage, Jessica.
When you started, you were not in the same place you are now by any means, Vieira observed.
No, Rowling admitted. And, in fact, when I started actually I was in a bad place. And then, you
know, life has its ups and downs. So I mean, Harrys been with me as a result. I think it was that
feeling more than any other that I wouldnt have that world to retreat into again that was painful.
Cathartic moment
Rowling, who will be 42 on July 31, has said elsewhere that she sobbed as she was writing the final
chapters of Deathly Hallows, which sold 8.3 million copies in the United States on the day of its
release.
It was this amazing cathartic moment, she told Vieira. The end of 17 years of work. And that was
just hard to deal with for about a week. And its very much tied into things Ive done in my life for
seven years that brought back a lot of memories of what had been going on in my life when I started
writing.
She knows what she has done. I feel a big sense of achievement, she told Vieira. I mean, I am
sad. But Ive been sadder.
For about a week after she finished the series, she admitted, I was hard to live with.
Its not an uncommon emotion among writers. Truman Capote once observed that finishing a novel
is like taking your firstborn son into the yard and shooting him. Rowling was not that dramatic, but
her readers, who even now are picking up Deathly Hallows and cradling the book with
tenderness, knowing there will not be another, can understand something of what she felt.
So what does an author do when the final book is done?
I need to be off writing, she told Vieira.
TODAY will air more of the exclusive interview with J.K. Rowling on Thursday and Friday.
Portions are scheduled to air Sunday on Dateline NBC.
2007 MSNBC Interactive