QUESTIONS FOR JKR CHATS & INTERVIEWS

 

  1. How old were James & Lily Potter when Harry was born?
  2. How old are Lupin, Black and Pettigrew, as of Goblet of Fire?
  3. How old are Bill & Charlie Weasley in Goblet of Fire? Some of us peg Bill to be 26-27 based on internal clues, while others insist he can't be older than 22. Was there another Weasley between Bill/Charlie and Percy? There seems to be quite a large gap between their ages.
  4. Why can Sirius openly own a flying motorbike but Mr. Weasley's flying car is illegal?
  5. How did Fawkes get into the Chamber of Secrets?
  6. Who was kissing Florence (Dumbledore's memory in Goblet of Fire)?
  7. Is Snape a vampire?
  8. If Hogwarts has 1000 students as you said in the Scholastic chat, that would work out to be about 35 students per House per year. Are there 25 other Gryffindors in Harry's year that we haven't met yet (other dorm rooms)? Some of us think a Sorting ceremony for 150 students each year would be a bit long. If there are 250 Gryffindors, how would the Common Room ever be deserted (and how would Hermione get all those study tables to herself)? There are only 20 broomsticks when Harry's Gryffindor class has flying lessons with the Slytherins. There are 20 earmuffs when Harry & his fellow Gryffindors work with the mandrakes in Herbology with the Hufflepuffs.
  9. What House(s) were the Marauders in when they were students at Hogwarts?
  10. Is Riddle/Voldemort the last remaining descendant of Salazar Slytherin?
  11. Is Cornelius Fudge a Voldemort supporter or just a caricature of Neville Chamberlain?
  12. Will we see more of Ginny Weasley in later books (she seems to be a background figure so far)?
  13. Was Snape in love with Lily Evans when he was at Hogwarts?
  14. In GoF, why was it necessary to have Harry win the Triwizard Tournament in order to have him touch a portkey? Why couldn't Moody/Crouch have just made any old thing into a portkey and thrown it in Harry's path sometime during the school year, or even hit him over the head with a spell?
  15. Does Snape really want the Defense against the Dark Arts job or is that just a rumor that the Hogwarts students have made up?
  16. Are there any other Gryffindor girls in Harrys year aside from Hermione, Pavarti and Lavender?
  17. In SS/PS, Nearly Headless Nick says he hasn't eaten anything in nearly 400 years, but in CoS (at the Deathday party) it turns out he's been dead for 500 years. Which is it?
  18. How do the Dursleys get back to land from the Hut on the Rock, since Hagrid and Harry take the boat when they leave?
  19. How do new Hogwarts students who come from muggle families know how to find Diagon Alley and Platform 9 3/4?
  20. Do Harry and Hermione show up twice on the Marauder's Map while they are time traveling?
  21. Why has no one except Lupin ever noticed while looking at the Marauders Map that Ron is always accompanied by Peter Pettigrew?
  22. In PoA, when they are returning to the castle from the Shrieking Shack, Lupin turns into a werewolf when the clouds part to show the full moon. But if he only changes when the full moon is visible, why doesn't he just stay inside?
  23. Dumbledore's card (from the Chocolate Frogs) says that one of his accomplishments is the defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945. Is Grindelwald supposed to be Hitler, or one of his allies/advisors? Does that explain why the Allies won World War II? If so, who was Dumbledore's American counterpart?
  24. Where do kids from wizard families go to school before they are old enough for Hogwarts? They have to learn to read and write somehow, but if they went to regular schools wouldn't all the muggle kids learn more than they should about witches and wizards?
  25. Do Hogwarts students take any traditional "muggle" subjects (English literature, mathematics, politics, foreign languages, muggle history)?
  26. Is it realistic that Harry, whose major passion in life is Quidditch, would completely stop playing for an entire year (in GoF)? Why don't the students ever have "pickup" Quidditch games at Hogwarts as they way they do when Harry is visiting the Weasley's house?
  27. Will Harry, Ron and/or Hermione become an animagus/animaga?
  28. Will the "real" Alastor Moody figure in any of the coming books?
  29. If the House Elves aren't paid, why don't the Weasleys have one? In other words, why wouldn't a House Elf work for a family of more modest means?
  30. Do (did) Lily & Petunia Evans have any other siblings? Can you tell us anything about Lily's parents?
  31. Did Madame Rosmerta, Stan Shunpike & other witches/wizards in lower-paying jobs in the wizarding world in the UK receive a Hogwarts education? If not, did they attend another less-prestigious wizarding school?
  32. Are any of the Hogwarts professors married or widowed?
  33. Can you tell us if any of your characters will be gay (as a positive model for homosexual children for example)?
  34. Remus J. Lupin -- what does the middle initial "J" stand for?
  35. Are there any specific elements (e.g. strength of wizard/witch, personality, etc.) which determine the Animagus form of a wizard or witch, or can they choose their form?
  36. Would you be willing to engage in a chat (interview) like this with your adult fans (if we promise not to ask you whether you've always wanted to be a writer for the bezillionth time)?
  37. What is the approximate value of a galleon? Most of our group guesses 1 galleon might be anywhere from £8/$5(US) --- £40/$25(US).
  38. Do wizards need to replace their wands during a lifetime, (i.e. Ollivander makes a reference to Lily's first wand & Charlie has an "old" wand that gets handed down to Ron). How long does a wand last and would a wizard like Dumbledore have his original wand?
  39. When house-elves appear and disappear, are they apparating like wizards? If so, Hermione has told us over & over that one can't apparate or disapparate on the Hogwarts grounds, so how does Dobby do this in CoS?
  40. In Book 1, first year Hogwarts students are told that they can bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad. Has Ron already broken a rule by bringing a rat?
  41. Who is the head of Ravenclaw house? Why do we know so few Ravenclaws?
  42. If Snape was once a Death Eater, why didn't he know Pettigrew was really the spy?
  43. Sirius said that Crookshanks is the most intelligent of his kind that he'd come across, but he didn't specify "his kind". Is there a possibility that Crookshanks is not a true cat?