Open Letter to Jo Rowling

[dicentra63]

Dear Ms. Rowling:

We've been hearing rumors lately that Internet groups such as ours 
have been a cause of consternation for you.  It is said that our 
endless theorizing, analyzing, and frenetic nit-picking have ferreted 
out mysteries in Books 1–4 that you, er, didn't exactly know about.  
That we've tugged on threads you didn't know were loose.  That we're 
waiting for answers to questions you didn't know you'd posed.

To the extent that our activities have caused you undue worry, we are 
genuinely sorry.  The very thought that we might be responsible for 
adding to your workload or that we've affected ::shudder:: the 
release date of Order of the Phoenix sends us scurrying to our 
respective ovens to slam our ears and fingers in the doors.  We 
cannot bear the thought that we might be interfering with your 
creative processes or your peace of mind.

You see, we don't just dig what you've written--we dig YOU.  We love 
it that it matters to you whether the pieces fit together.  We love 
it that you said "to blazes with deadlines--I'm going to do it right 
no matter how long it takes." We even find it kind of touching that 
you worried that some of us might think you stole your ideas from Ms. 
Stouffer.  As if.  We can assert quite strongly that none of us ever 
had a moment's doubt that your work was yours alone.  (Frankly, we're 
astounded that there ever *was* a question.)  Happily enough, the 
case is closed, justice was done, and you can go on with the work at 
hand.

Speaking of which, we're delighted to hear that it's coming along 
nicely and that you're pleased with it.  As antsy as we are to get 
our hands on it, we don't want to read a word of it until you feel 
it's ready.  We trust you to know what you're doing.

And that's why we at Harry Potter for Grownups (HPfGU) have spent the 
past 2 years or so theorizing, analyzing, and frenetically nit-
picking the HP series.  You *do* know what you're doing, and 
discovering your doings requires the deep digging and teasing out in 
which we so obsessively engage.  Yeah, we've found some 
inconsistencies here and there, but there are inconsistencies in Don 
Quixote and Shakespeare, too.  That doesn't stop them from being 
master works of literature, nor do "mistakes" besmirch the quality of 
HP.  

As it turns out, we've found much more than the occasional glitch.  
Heavens, yes.  We've found layers upon layers of meaning, from the 
rollicking good ride of the first reading, to the eerie 
foreshadowings of the second, to the complex characters of the third, 
to the intertwining thematic and genre issues of the fourth, fifth, 
sixth, and nth readings.

Were it not for HPfGU, most of us would have never noticed that Ron 
sometimes inadvertently predicts the future or that Harry is more 
powerful without a wand than with one or that Snape's nastiness masks 
a man of genuine integrity.  We wouldn't have understood that the HP 
series belongs to dozens of genres yet defies each one.  We wouldn't 
have known to look to alchemy for meaning in the whole series and not 
just in Philosopher's Stone.  We wouldn't have realized how important 
Neville is thematically, how Sirius's "prank" on Severus evokes such 
strong and varied emotions in readers, or even that Dumbledore means 
"bumblebee."

Each of us notices different things, we share with the group, and 
those observations spark further ideas.  We realize that we are 
making much ado about nothing with some subjects, but that's OK.  
We're having so much fun wondering and being filled with wonder that 
we can hardly stand it.  Dishes pile up in our sinks.  Clothes go 
unwashed.  Weeds fill our gardens.  Dust collects on the TV remote.  
All the while we gleefully speculate about who was snogging Florence 
behind the greenhouses and whether Avery is the mysterious Fourth Man 
convicted of torturing the Longbottoms and why Snape defected from 
the Dark Side and where Sirius's motorcycle is now and how Voldemort 
got his wand back and whether Remus has a brother named Romulus and 
if Hermione will end up with Ron or Harry or Krum or even Malfoy.

We just can't stop.  And that's why it makes us sad that while we're 
having a glorious time reading and writing and sleeping and drinking 
and eating and living HP online, we also might be giving you cause to 
feel insecure about your skill as a writer.  All we can say is: 
please don't.  Don't worry about how you're doing on *our* account.  
As far as we know, you've never lost a reader over a little 
inconsistency or an ounce of respect among your fans.  We won't stop 
loving your work over things that ultimately don't matter.

Happy writing and congratulations on the little one,

Dicentra spectabilis, hoping to speak for the staff and list-members 
of Harry Potter for Grownups