* * spoilers * * Speculations and discussion Book 7 Options

[McGonagall's Cat]

It is starting!



This was on HPANA today ~

JK Rowling appeared on the Richard & Judy Show in the UK, and had a few things to say that may interest fans.

Some highlights from the show:

Book 7 is NOT finished but she is well into it
The final chapter for book 7 has changed slightly - two more people have died than she originally planned and one other person has got a reprieve
Jo first wrote the final chapter in 1990
She has regretted writing some parts where she may have boxed herself in, earlier in the series
Jo says Ron is generally more popular than Harry -- remembers seeing an unofficial poll on a fansite reflecting this
You can read the rest of the highlights here courtesy of SnitchSeeker, but since they seem to be having server issues, here they are for now:

She would be willing to kill Harry in order to prevent future authors from writing sequels
She was in denial of her fame for the first three books, shocked when the press made slight reference to Potter
Jo mentioned she is indeed wealthy, but many stats are falsely reported
Jessica, her daughter, is often pestered at school for upcoming book titles, plot details, etc.
Jo has written half of another children's book in her spare time
Her boggart would be that of Mrs. Weasley's: her children dead
She made up the rules for quidditch in 30 minutes after a fight with her ex-boyfriend

Mugglenet has the video: http://www.mugglenet.com/app/news/show/152

And Rueters had an article: http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle....POTTER-PLOT.xml

[Aureola]

Well, I have a wacky theory about Lily's profession. I think she was a Seer.

- JKR has always represented the subject of Divination and anything related to it as a joke, so I doubt it, but it might be one of her famous red herrings or it might just be irrelevant.

We have indication that Harry has visions NOT sent by Voldemort

- Voldemort never sent any visions, he just didn't realize, and neither did Harry, that Harry was having access to Voldemort's thoughts and memories.

I do remember reading her say exactly this:

"The Potters' profession is important to the plot, and there will be a huge revelation about Lily Potter."

- And ever since I've been dying to find out the thing about Lily, but this seems to be an interesting theory, zym. The closest I have come before was reading somewhere that Lily supposedly had a secret affair with Snape - I mean, are you kidding me? Nobody in their right mind would go out with Snape... But then again, nobody would go out with Filch, and that possibility was mentioned by JKR in HBP. (Madam Pince.)

It also fits in with how her profession could be important now - we know that if she ever made a real prophecy, it's recorded in a little glass bottle in the D.O.M.

- I think that if she actually was a Seer, then it'd be more likely for her to have made the prophecy about Harry...since it's her son... And if she ever made a prophecy in the DOM, Harry would know about it by now - I mean, what reason is there not to tell him? But then again, Dumbledore has always had good reasons...

Wild guess? Sure it is, but you never know...

- I think it's a great theory... with some flaws.

At the very least there is evidence of a bit of extra-sensory perception. There are several instances where he either knows things he shouldn't - the dreams about the green light before he knows anything about how his parents died, for instance ... or when he has that dream about the motorcycle

- Yes, BUT there are "scientific and psychological" explanations for that. After all, he has seen those things before, he has seen them happen, and it is proven that the subconscious kinda "stores" alarming and traumatic events of the very early childhood. For example, people that have been abused as babies might develop psychological problems later that can be traced back to the abuse, even though they themselves don't even remember that abuse.

And one instance, I believe it's in OOTP

-it is-

"see through the skull of," somebody sitting ahead of him when the answer just "comes to him," which seems to imply he read her mind.

- Well, yes, but he did wish he would be able to apply Occlumency to Parvati, but don't you think JKR would have worded it differently if he eventually did succeed? Don't you think he would have noticed it if suddenly, it worked? (I mean, he did know what it felt like because he saw Snape's gloomy memories before.)

He may not be great shakes in Snape or Trelawney's lessons in this area, but the circumstances aren't exactly conductive to learning in either situation.

- Very true I wouldn't have learned a thing.

Great theory... but not always "bulletproof"... I do hope it comes true, though.

And by the way, I don't think Parseltongue is something you can "learn" or "get better at", either you can speak it or you can't.