FAQ for JKR's Official Web Site

HPfGU Posting Rules Regarding JKR's Site

• Don't ask basic, easily answerable questions about this new canon.  Read the following section first before posting. If the answer to your question is contained below, don't post your question to the main list.  You can, of course, speculate on what the new information might mean.
  

• Questions and answers about how to navigate the site are not appropriate for the main list (HPforGrownUps).  Please direct those questions to HPfGU-Off Topic Chatter.
  
  You can also consult Potter's Keys to find all of the navigation instructions in one place.
  
  
• New canon (book info) that JKR reveals is suitable for main-list discussion.

New Canon from the Site

• The title of Book Six is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.  It is not the Pillar of Storgé,  the Green Flame Torch,  the Toenail of Icklibõgg,  or any other rumored title.  (We don't know the release date yet.)

• The Half-Blood Prince is neither Harry nor Voldemort.

• Dumbledore is not a relative of Harry's.

• Voldemort is not Harry's real father.

• Harry is not a decendant of Salazar Slytherin.

• Lily is definitely dead, and she was not a Death Eater.

• Crookshanks is not an animagus; he is half-kneazle.

• Neville Longbottom is not the son of Peter Pettigrew.

• Remus Lupin does not have a twin.

• Harry will not become Minister for Magic in HP7.

• Harry did not see his parents or Prof Quirrell die.  He couldn't see the Thestrals until after the impact of Cedric's death had sunk in.

• Harry got the Maurader's Map back by nicking it from Fake!Moody's office at the end of the year.

• Lily is supposed to come of the wand before James.  (Figure THAT one out!)

• Wizards can make themselves untraceable (like making buildings unplottable), so sending an owl to Sirius wouldn't have allowed the MoM to track him down.

• If Ginny had died at the end of CoS, it would have "strengthened the present-day Voldemort considerably."

• Marcus Flint had to repeat a year (or JKR made a mistake by including him in PoA).

• Flitwick is the head of Ravenclaw House.

• Prefects can deduct points, but Ron doesn't seem to have caught on to this.
  

• "Dean [Thomas] is from what he always thought was a pure Muggle background."  His father, a wizard, left the family when Dean was very young, and was killed by Death Eaters when he refused to join them.

• Theodore Nott Jr is the son of a Death Eater (Theodore Nott Sr) who is tight with Lucius Malfoy.

• The first chapter of HP6 was very nearly used in HP1, HP3, and HP5.

• Hermione's birthday is September 19th.

• Fred and George were born on April 1st.

• Molly's maiden name is Prewitt.

• Arthur is one of three brothers.

• Ginny's full name is Ginevra; she's the first Weasley girl in several generations.

Other Interesting Facts on the Site
(Not Canon)

• In early versions of The Philosopher's Stone's first chapter, a character named Pyrites meets Sirius in front of the Potters' house, a muggle betrays the Potters, the Potters live on a remote island, and Hermione's father sees the explosion from the backfired AK on the mainland and finds their bodies when he goes to investigate.

• Mopsy the dog-lover was a batty old woman who took Sirius in during GoF, assuming him to be a stray.  She was later written out because she didn't contribute to the story.

• The mysterious Weasley cousin was to be named Mafalda (not "Icicle").  She was a highly obnoxious, gifted Slytherin that vexed the Weasleys endlessly and Hermione especially.  She was written out of GoF because Rita Skeeter ended up providing her narrative function.

• JKR is not fond of cats, but a ginger cat that frequented a square where she lunched endeared itself to her because of its distainful, haughty attitude.

• Gilderoy Lockhart is based on someone JKR knew in real life: from her description, it's someone with Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

• JKR was a bit like Hermione in that she was a right little know-it-all.

• In early drafts, Nearly Headless Nick recited a poem that explained his botched beheading.  Her editors persuaded her to leave it out.  The poem is found at http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/extrastuff_view.cfm?id=11

• Hermione's surname was "Puckle" in the planning stages; JKR abandoned it for something more dignified.

• The weasel (after whom the Weasleys are named) has a reputation for malevolence; JKR rejects this characterization.

• Red hair also has negative connotations, which JKR rejects.

• Ron wasn't originally supposed to be patterned after JKR's long-time friend, Sean, but he ended up acting a lot like him.

• Ninety percent of most characters' characteristics are imaginary, despite occasional aspects based on real people.

• The members of the Irish Quidditch team are named after people JKR knows.

• The West Ham Football Club is the only soccer team mentioned, in honor of an old friend of JKR's who supports the team.