You do realize that there really was a Nicholas Flamel right? and this book was published in May 07. JK used famous, real and mythical characters on the Chocolate Frog cards.

No, I didn't realize that there really was a Nicholas Flamel. Thanks for sharing the article.

I read the whole msscribe story on journalfen and cassie claire came up a lot. All that drama over harry potter fan fiction, I ask you! What I can't stand is the degradation of characters into slash or just overtly sexual stories. Is that really necessary? But people getting passionate about Harry/Ginny or Harry/Hermione was cracking me up. Especially because there was stalking and wars over it!

BOLLOCKS!

I just caught the very end of the live chat. Now I have to wait till tomorrow to find out if she answered my question.

www.bloomsbury.com/harrypotter

ps. Who's getting both copies of the different covers of the UK version? That would be moi! My mum rules. They're selling it for 5 pounds in England! Outrageous considering what I paid!

Harry potter reality show?

are. you. kidding. me.:rolleyes:



layout of hogwarts
interesting...

link to Bloomsbury live chat transcript with JKR

Clears up quite a few questions, really.

It does indeed, though in this she says Ron went to work with George rather than becoming an Auror.

My favorite bit:

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!

Yay for Ginny being a sports star :)

I figure Ron could do both, he probably wouldn't have wanted to start working for the ministry at 17 anyway. It isn't the full interview though, anyone know if that's posted yet?

Not necessarily. She just says "helped." That could mean a number of things outside of directly working with him.

The whole think appears to be here, albeit with typo-glitches. Another transcript can be found here, but you have to read it from bottom to top. There are still a few wholes between the two.

Earlier in the interview, she said "joined":

J.K. Rowling: Thank you! I’ve already answered about Hermione. Kingsley became permanent Minister for Magic, and naturally he wanted Harry to head up his new Auror department.

Harry did so (just because Voldemort was gone, it didn’t mean that there would not be other Dark witches and wizards in the coming years).

Ron joined George at Weasleys’ Wizarding Wheezes, which became an enormous money-spinner..

I dunno. Maybe he did move the ministry later, after he had made a fortune.

Ah, missed that part in the incomplete transcript.

My heart broke over again about George missing Fred. Fred was my favourite character :( It's made me cry.

I know she's all about the naming of kids after those gone by, but I have a hard time believing that George would name his son Fred. Maybe it's just that I didn't grow up in a family that did a lot of in family naming, but Little Fred can't replace Fred and the bond between twins is just.. too close for naming your kids after your dead twin.

Is it more of a British thing than I'm thinking or did JKR just name everyone after dead people. (I do have issues with naming kids after people and the expectations that puts on them so that may be coloring my feelings on this a bit.)

Nah it's a Jo Rowling thing. But look at our royals. SO many name repeats. When I change my name I'll have the names of two princesses myself.
I'd rather be named for an amazing person that had an impact on someone's life than randomly. I don't view it as expectations. Rather, an honour. And come on...she picked some cool names. Normal ones and then awesome ones like Hermione and Ginevra. I have a great aunt Theodocia. (I think that's how it's spelt.) I'm still threatening to name one of my daughters Theodocia. Theodocia, Beatrix and Evelyn. Would that be too cruel?

It's certainly a Southern thing, and I would have guessed that it's fairly common at least in some quarters of Britain as well, although porkfriedrice says otherwise, and she would know better than I.

My parents have family names, my siblings and I (and my wife) have family names, all of our kids have family names. . . . Some of us got the names of living relatives (grandparents, aunts, uncles . . . ), some the names of dead relatives, some a combination. Perhaps it's that cultural difference that had me assuming that of course George named his son Fred -- it's what I would have done. I have a cousin named for her mother's sibling, who died as a teenager.

I've never seen it as putting expectations on anyone -- I've never felt any kind of expectation based on my name personally -- and I've certainly never seen it as trying to replace someone. But there is a sense of pride and of heritage there. (A cousin just passed along to me the 140-year-old rocker that belonged to my great-grandfather, his grandfather, for whom we are both named.)

Like porkfriedrice said, it's considered an honor.