My dream- a chance for NEW CANON!

[erinellii]

David: 
  I suspect that if the answer to the Evans 
> question (will we meet him in a future book?) is 'yes' then JKR may 
> well feel that the question is best left unanswered, because 'yes' 
> is almost certainly then a clue.
> 
> If the answer is 'no', then she may feel it's OK to answer, but 
that  leads to the situation where fans can deduce that 'I'm not 
telling you' means 'yes', when many questions of this type are being 
asked.  JKR is IMO smart enough to realise this, and since the way to 
deal with it is to say 'I'm not telling you' whatever the actual 
answer is, that's what I think we'd get.

Erin:
First off, congrats on the "clothes"!  Hope to see you having lots of 
fun on the lists now!

I agree that JKR is certainly smart enough, but I also think that she 
will probably have anticipated this question, and be ready to 
say "well spotted" or some such.  I doubt any vital plot secrets hang 
on Mark, or at least not any that can be given away merely by 
confirming that he *will* be in the next book.  And, if she says no, 
then I won't have to hear about him for another year and a half, yay!

David:
  So, what type of question do people prefer?  Ones that anticipate 
> later books, or ones that try to discover things likely to remain 
> outside the books?

For the purposes of the chat, I'd have to say the second, things that 
might otherwise remain outside the books.  On the lists, my favorite 
thing is to speculate.  

Someone on the feedback list recently brought up in the Tbay thread 
the question of what would happen to the lists after the publication 
of the seventh book.  For me, it will be over.  I'll hang around for 
a few weeks for closure, perhaps, but for me, the fun lies totally in 
the speculation.  I'm not interested in literary analysis of the 
mirror of Erised like some here are.  

 I *would* absolutely hate for a slip-up to happen and JKR to give it 
all away, so I favor the smaller questions; the ones that deal with 
how the world works and if they touch on future subjects do so only 
on small points, not "the heart of it all".  Those are the only kind 
I'm accepting on the list I'm keeping, which I hope to get a webpage 
for closer to March!

 David, who thinks HPFGU members have a bat in hell's chance of 
> asking, let alone getting answers to, these questions in the chat

Erin:
But see, this is really the whole point of my post!  I envision all 
of us working together to try and get in, sharing informatiom about 
what we have to do, possibly hundreds of us armed with sensible, 
intelligent questions. A group effort.  Surely some of us are bound 
to get through!  If we even got one or two questions answered, I 
would be SO happy!


David: 
> "Did Stan Shunpike go to Hogwarts?"

Erin:
Duly noted and entered.  This is not a burning question for me, so I 
had a moment's desire to reject it, but I must stick to my criteria 
and remember other people have different interests.  I have seen it 
debated on the list, and it is relevant and not nearly important 
enough to get an "I'm not telling" response.

Annemehr:
How do children from wizarding families learn reading and writing and
maths before they get to Hogwarts? (Dave's Stan Shunpike question
reminded me of that one)

Erin:
It's in there!

Jenny: 
>>1) What houses were James, Sirius, Lupin and Peter in? (wouldn't you
*love* to end those endless discussions?)

Erin:
YES!  Yes, I would!  What an excellent question! That one goes in 
there with "any chance Petunia was a squib?" and "Is the Pensieve 
totally objective?", lol!

 
Erin (who is hoping JKR answers "Gyffindor", "no" and "yes" to those 
last three)