The Interview
This is going to be a long post.
I re-read the Interview with JKR at the Leaky Cauldron, and I thought the following passages were interesting:
1.)
ES: What would Dumbledore see [In the Mirror of Erised]?
JKR: I can't answer that.
Why? Because it would give too much away?
I guess I just assumed that Dumbledore would see something like satisfied pupils, his friends (including Harry) happy and safe, Voldemort gone (or redeemed, hehe), something like world peace... And himself, headmaster of Hogwarts (I think he liked his job, yes).
Any guesses what Dumbly would want above all other? Marry McGonagall? Find a way of destroying Voldemort without killing Harry in the process?
2.)
ES: What would Dumbledore's boggart be?
JKR: I can't answer that either, but for theories you should read six again. There you go.
Maybe she refers to the cave scene. I still think the potion was some kind of boggart, and Dumbledore’s greatest fear is that people will suffer because of his faults.
3.)
MA: Now that Dumbledore is gone, will we ever know the spell that he was trying to cast on Voldemort in the Ministry?
JKR: Uuuummmm...[makes clucking noise with tongue ]
ES: Let the record show she made a funny sound with her mouth.
[All laugh, Jo maniacally.]
JKR: It’s possible, it's possible that you will know that. You will - [pause] - you will know more about Dumbledore. I have to be sooo careful on this.
There will be some Dumbledore in the future book. Personally, I would find it kind of cheap to resurrect him in Book 7 (even if he was alive all along), but maybe JKR is insinuating interaction with his portrait here, or another pensieve scene.
When I think about it, I’m sure Harry will use Dumbledore’s pensieve in Book 7, and maybe he manages to get some liquid memories from important situations (like Godric’s Hollow, for example - see 4.) and 8.)!)
4.)
MA: So there are things in there that you haven't noticed personally, but you can go and see yourself?
JKR: Yes, and that's the magic of the Pensieve, that's what brings it alive.
ES: I want one of those!
JKR: Yeah. Otherwise it really would just be like a diary, wouldn’t it? Confined to what you remember. But the Pensieve recreates a moment for you, so you could go into your own memory and relive things that you didn't notice the time. It’s somewhere in your head, which I'm sure it is, in all of our brains. I'm sure if you could access it, things that you don't know you remember are all in there somewhere.
Ok, so this is interesting! If Harry was able to get a memory from someone who was present at Godric’s Hollow (or maybe even his own - we don’t know how much he saw and if baby-memories are useful at all), he could find out more about the important night (and about being a Horcrux?).
I’m sure there are many situations Harry should examine more closely to get a clue what was going on at the time.
5.)
ES: Where did [Dumbledore] learn it all?
JKR: I see him primarily as someone who would be self-taught. However, he in his time had access to superb teachers at Hogwarts, so he was educated in the same way that everyone else is educated. Dumbledore's family would be a profitable line of inquiry, more profitable than sweet wrappers.
MA: His family?
JKR: Family, yes.
MA: Should we talk about that a little more?
JKR: No. But you can! [Laughter.]
MA: What about Harry's family - his grandparents - were they killed?
JKR: No. This takes us into more mundane territory. As a writer, it was more interesting, plot-wise, if Harry was completely alone. So I rather ruthlessly disposed of his entire family apart from Aunt Petunia. I mean, James and Lily are massively important to the plot, of course, but the grandparents? No. And, because I do like my backstory: Petunia and Lily's parents, normal Muggle death. James's parents were elderly, were getting on a little when he was born, which explains the only child, very pampered, had-him-late-in-life-so-he's-an-extra-treasure, as often happens, I think. They were old in wizarding terms, and they died. They succumbed to a wizarding illness. That's as far as it goes. There's nothing serious or sinister about those deaths. I just needed them out of the way so I killed them.
MA: That sort of shuts down Heir of Gryffindor [theories], as well.
JKR: [Pause.] Yeah. Well - yeah.
Ok. So Dumbledore’s family is interesting. Harry’s grandparents weren’t (thank God, I hated the Harry-is-Gryffindor’s-heir theory). But when asked if the Heir-theories are shut down now, JKR pauses, well - yeah.
My guess is that Dumbledore is the heir of Gryffindor - and I know this has been speculated on a thousand times before, for years, but I found it interesting how it fits with JKR’s “answers” here. Yeah, and don’t forget Gryffindor’s sword in Dumbledore’s office!
6.)
MA: Does the gleam of triumph still have yet to make an appearance?
JKR: That's still enormously significant. And let's face it, I haven’t told you that much is enormously significant, so you can let your imaginations run free there.
ES: I think everybody realized it was significant when they read it but we didn’t see it materialize in 5 or 6.
JKR: Well, it still is.
ES:We’ve been kind of waiting for the big revelation.
JKR: Absolutely, that's for seven. That's for seven.
No idea. This gleam-of-triumph thing always confused me, and with Book 6 news it still doesn’t ring a bell. Voldemort has Harry’s blood now. He can touch him. And? Before Book 6, I thought that Harry’s blood may make him “mortal again” or something, but now that we know of the Horcruxes...
7.)
MA: Someone put it to me last night, that if Ginny, with the diary -
JKR: Harry definitely destroyed that piece of soul, you saw it take shape, you saw it destroyed, it’s gone. And Ginny is definitely in no way possessed by Voldemort.
That clears up the question I had for weeks - if the soul-bit returns to Voldemort after the Horcrux is destroyed, or not.
Well, it doesn’t. Good to know :)!
8.)
MA: Was there anyone else present in Godric’s Hollow the night Harry’s parents were killed?
JKR: No comment.
So, that means - yes? I see a pensieve investigation coming. Harry has to take a good look around! (Maybe Snape was there?)
And finally: Ginny is not the ideal girl for Harry. I don’t care if JKR loves her or not. Compassionate - ha-ha.
It had to be added, sorry.
I re-read the Interview with JKR at the Leaky Cauldron, and I thought the following passages were interesting:
1.)
ES: What would Dumbledore see [In the Mirror of Erised]?
JKR: I can't answer that.
Why? Because it would give too much away?
I guess I just assumed that Dumbledore would see something like satisfied pupils, his friends (including Harry) happy and safe, Voldemort gone (or redeemed, hehe), something like world peace... And himself, headmaster of Hogwarts (I think he liked his job, yes).
Any guesses what Dumbly would want above all other? Marry McGonagall? Find a way of destroying Voldemort without killing Harry in the process?
2.)
ES: What would Dumbledore's boggart be?
JKR: I can't answer that either, but for theories you should read six again. There you go.
Maybe she refers to the cave scene. I still think the potion was some kind of boggart, and Dumbledore’s greatest fear is that people will suffer because of his faults.
3.)
MA: Now that Dumbledore is gone, will we ever know the spell that he was trying to cast on Voldemort in the Ministry?
JKR: Uuuummmm...[makes clucking noise with tongue ]
ES: Let the record show she made a funny sound with her mouth.
[All laugh, Jo maniacally.]
JKR: It’s possible, it's possible that you will know that. You will - [pause] - you will know more about Dumbledore. I have to be sooo careful on this.
There will be some Dumbledore in the future book. Personally, I would find it kind of cheap to resurrect him in Book 7 (even if he was alive all along), but maybe JKR is insinuating interaction with his portrait here, or another pensieve scene.
When I think about it, I’m sure Harry will use Dumbledore’s pensieve in Book 7, and maybe he manages to get some liquid memories from important situations (like Godric’s Hollow, for example - see 4.) and 8.)!)
4.)
MA: So there are things in there that you haven't noticed personally, but you can go and see yourself?
JKR: Yes, and that's the magic of the Pensieve, that's what brings it alive.
ES: I want one of those!
JKR: Yeah. Otherwise it really would just be like a diary, wouldn’t it? Confined to what you remember. But the Pensieve recreates a moment for you, so you could go into your own memory and relive things that you didn't notice the time. It’s somewhere in your head, which I'm sure it is, in all of our brains. I'm sure if you could access it, things that you don't know you remember are all in there somewhere.
Ok, so this is interesting! If Harry was able to get a memory from someone who was present at Godric’s Hollow (or maybe even his own - we don’t know how much he saw and if baby-memories are useful at all), he could find out more about the important night (and about being a Horcrux?).
I’m sure there are many situations Harry should examine more closely to get a clue what was going on at the time.
5.)
ES: Where did [Dumbledore] learn it all?
JKR: I see him primarily as someone who would be self-taught. However, he in his time had access to superb teachers at Hogwarts, so he was educated in the same way that everyone else is educated. Dumbledore's family would be a profitable line of inquiry, more profitable than sweet wrappers.
MA: His family?
JKR: Family, yes.
MA: Should we talk about that a little more?
JKR: No. But you can! [Laughter.]
MA: What about Harry's family - his grandparents - were they killed?
JKR: No. This takes us into more mundane territory. As a writer, it was more interesting, plot-wise, if Harry was completely alone. So I rather ruthlessly disposed of his entire family apart from Aunt Petunia. I mean, James and Lily are massively important to the plot, of course, but the grandparents? No. And, because I do like my backstory: Petunia and Lily's parents, normal Muggle death. James's parents were elderly, were getting on a little when he was born, which explains the only child, very pampered, had-him-late-in-life-so-he's-an-extra-treasure, as often happens, I think. They were old in wizarding terms, and they died. They succumbed to a wizarding illness. That's as far as it goes. There's nothing serious or sinister about those deaths. I just needed them out of the way so I killed them.
MA: That sort of shuts down Heir of Gryffindor [theories], as well.
JKR: [Pause.] Yeah. Well - yeah.
Ok. So Dumbledore’s family is interesting. Harry’s grandparents weren’t (thank God, I hated the Harry-is-Gryffindor’s-heir theory). But when asked if the Heir-theories are shut down now, JKR pauses, well - yeah.
My guess is that Dumbledore is the heir of Gryffindor - and I know this has been speculated on a thousand times before, for years, but I found it interesting how it fits with JKR’s “answers” here. Yeah, and don’t forget Gryffindor’s sword in Dumbledore’s office!
6.)
MA: Does the gleam of triumph still have yet to make an appearance?
JKR: That's still enormously significant. And let's face it, I haven’t told you that much is enormously significant, so you can let your imaginations run free there.
ES: I think everybody realized it was significant when they read it but we didn’t see it materialize in 5 or 6.
JKR: Well, it still is.
ES:We’ve been kind of waiting for the big revelation.
JKR: Absolutely, that's for seven. That's for seven.
No idea. This gleam-of-triumph thing always confused me, and with Book 6 news it still doesn’t ring a bell. Voldemort has Harry’s blood now. He can touch him. And? Before Book 6, I thought that Harry’s blood may make him “mortal again” or something, but now that we know of the Horcruxes...
7.)
MA: Someone put it to me last night, that if Ginny, with the diary -
JKR: Harry definitely destroyed that piece of soul, you saw it take shape, you saw it destroyed, it’s gone. And Ginny is definitely in no way possessed by Voldemort.
That clears up the question I had for weeks - if the soul-bit returns to Voldemort after the Horcrux is destroyed, or not.
Well, it doesn’t. Good to know :)!
8.)
MA: Was there anyone else present in Godric’s Hollow the night Harry’s parents were killed?
JKR: No comment.
So, that means - yes? I see a pensieve investigation coming. Harry has to take a good look around! (Maybe Snape was there?)
And finally: Ginny is not the ideal girl for Harry. I don’t care if JKR loves her or not. Compassionate - ha-ha.
It had to be added, sorry.