The Chance for NEW CANON- cont.

[Erin]

Joywitch said: 
> Some of these questions are great, and if we could get answers to 
> them from JKR I think we'd all be ecstatic.  Some of them are sort 
of weak, or have obvious answers, and I think it would be a real 
disappointment if one of us actually got to ask JKR a question and 
wasted it.

Erin answers:
I share your reservations about a few of the questions.  I didn't 
make them all up myself, but collected them from this list a couple 
months ago and from things I'd seen people ask on the main list.

 The only criteria for the list is that it 1.) not be stuff that is 
already answered in the books or another interview, and 2.) not be 
something that I believe JKR would refuse to answer on the grounds 
that it would give away too much of the plot for future books.  You 
know what I'm talking about here if you've ever read any of the 
interviews.  So no asking "Is Harry going to die?"  because that is 
just a total waste of a question.  

Several of the questions are designed to get at these answers, but 
they have to be phrased carefully, so as not to get the "sorry, no 
answer" response.

You'll also notice that I said "I believe".  That's because I'm 
keeping this list, but if you want something phrased differently or 
whatever, feel free to make your own list by cutting and pasting from 
this one the questions that interest you.  But I reserve the right to 
keep your question off "my" list if I think it too obvious or 
whatever. 

I know not everyone is going to be thrilled by or interested in every 
question on the list, especially as it (hopefully) gets longer this 
next month (don't worry, I only plan to post the entire thing twice 
more, once 2 weeks from now and once right before the chat).  There's 
no need to ask a question you don't like, and the less people asking 
a question, the fewer chances it has to get on the chat, see?  But 
the question you think of as stupid and obscure might matter very 
much to someone else, might in fact be the meat and potatoes of their 
own personal Harry Potter theory, so as long as it meets the criteria 
I won't exclude it.


A Question: 
 In PoA, Lupin had a bag with Professor R. J. Lupin stamped on it in 
peeling letters.  Where was he a professor before Hogwarts and what  
does his middle initial stand for? 

Joywitch comments:  
> This seems obvious to me -- I think that JKR would say that there's 
> no reason to think he was a Professor before Hogwarts. He's a 
wizard, remember?  As soon as he got the Hogwarts job, all he had to 
do is  point his wand at his bag and say something like "Engravio" 
and the  word "Professor" appears in front of his name.
> 
> OTOH, I'd love to know what his middle name is.

Erin answers:
See now, you liked that question after all :-)   The thing with the 
letters is that they are old and peeling, so obviously he's had them 
on there for awhile, suggesting that he'd taught elsewhere.  And even 
if she tells us he hasn't, that is also knowledge we formerly didn't 
have.


Question and Joywitch comment:
 Ron got his leg broken in PoA.  Which leg was it, and does he have 
 a scar there now?
> 
> This would be a wasted question, IMO.  Broken limbs don't usually 
> leave scars.  Do you really care whether it was Ron's left or right 
> leg?

Erin answers:
Ah, that question is a sly one from the "Is Ron Dumbledore via the 
Timeturner" people.  If she answers "left knee", and says there *is* 
a scar, then we can start wondering if it looks like a map of the 
London Underground, you see? :-)   


Question and Joywitch comment:  
> > Is Godric's Hollow in Wales?
> 
> Why not just ask "Where is Godric's Hollow," and 
also "Does 'Godric's Hollow' have anything to do with Godric 
Gryffindor?"

Erin answers:
Okay, you're right about that one.  I got it wholesale from the list 
and didn't really think about it much.  It shall be changed to "Where 
is Godric's Hollow located?" instead.

  As for whether it is related to Godric Gryffindor, she has already 
been asked that in an interview, and said something like "you spotted 
that, did you?" and then declined to say anything more.  So it would 
be a waste of a question to repeat it.


Question and Joywitch comment:  
> > Do "evanesco" and "scourgify" make things cease to exist or just 
go somewhere else?
> 
> Great question.  I'd have the same question about some of the 
charms  which make things appear.

Erin answers:
Yay, another question! Which charms?  Write out the question for me 
and I will put it on the list.



Question and Joywitch comment:  
> > Are the Pensieve's memories totally objective like a video camera?
> 
> How could they be objective - they are the memories of a specific 
> person.

Erin:
Ah, come on, Joywitch, I know you haven't been *that* out of it.  
People have been arguing this one on the list for 7 months now.  One 
of the theories is that the Pensieve uses the memory as a small, 
selective timeturner to transport the viewer back to the specific 
incident.  Surely you notice in the Pensieve chapters that Harry 
seems to have seen things (such as what James was drawing, 
conversations in a crowded, noisy hallway) that it would have been 
difficult for the person whose memory it was to have been aware of at 
the time.  I'm not going to go into all the other theories now, but 
suffice it to say that this *is* a hotly contested subject, and a 
perfectly valid question IMO.


Question and Joywitch comment:
> > Why do some people make a loud "crack" when they disapparate, and 
> > other people make only small "pop"s?
> 
> I think JKR would just say that different people have different 
skill levels.

Erin says somewhat archly:
Well, what you think JKR might say and what she actually says aren't 
necessarily the same thing, you know.   Someone else might think it 
perfectly obvious that she'd say it depends on the distance 
involved.  Or other various factors.  I've seen this one discussed on 
the list as well.

Question and Joywitch comment: 
> > Could Arabella Figg, as a squib, actually see the dementors as 
she said at Harry's hearing, or not?

 You're not implying that she was *lying*, are you!  I would never 
 suggest that to JKR!  ;-D

Erin:
You know, I was surprised that there were people on the list who 
actually thought she was telling the truth!  It's perfectly obvious 
to me that she was lying, now I just need to get it spelled out for 
these dunderheads....just joking.  Really.  But it would be nice not 
to have to argue about it any more.
 

Question and Joywitch comment:
> > We've seen in OoP that portkeys do work inside Hogwarts.  So how 
come Crouch Jr. had to get Harry into the Triwizard Tournament and 
wait for the third task before sending Harry to Voldemort?  Couldn't 
he just have turned anything in the castle into a  Portkey at any 
time?

 I think that this is one of the many weak plot devices in GOF, and 
 I'd be embarassed to ask JKR about it.

Erin answers:
Well, maybe so.  Maybe so.  And yet, it's such an obvious plot 
hole... I mean the whole freakin' *book* is written around it and 
we're supposed to believe it never even crossed her mind?  I'm 
personally hoping she'll come out with a brillant explanation that 
will put us all to shame for having doubted her in the first place.  
Yeah, that's it.  We're just not giving her enough credit!  

What I tell myself now is that you can only use portkeys from 
Dumbledore's office, the rest of the school and grounds are 
protected, and the protection had been lifted from the maze to allow 
the champions who could to apparate or whatever.

But anyway, no one is making you ask it.  *I* intend to.


Question and Joywitch comment:
 Will Mark Evans (the ten-year-old Dudley beat up at the beginning 
 of OoP) show up in the next books at all?
 
And is he related to Harry, since Lily's maiden name was Evans.

Erin answers:
That was actually the question I was trying to *avoid* asking, as I 
thought it would be one she'd refuse to answer on grounds that it 
spoils the plot of future books if the answer is yes.   


Question and Joywitch comment: 
> > Will Harry ever meet Professor Dumbledore's brother, Aberforth?
> 
> And -- Is the barkeeper in the Hogs Head Aberforth Dumbledore, as 
> several HPfGUers believe?

Erin answers:
Again, it's a roundabout way of asking the same thing.  Hopefully, 
with it phrased this way, we stand a chance of getting an answer.

Question and Joywitch comment: 
> > When Hagrid was expelled and became the gamekeeper at Hogwarts, 
was he the gamekeeper immediately at age 13?  Or was he apprenticed 
to the former gamekeeper for a while?  And if so, how long?

 Was that former gamekeeper the one named Ogg that Molly Weasley 
 remembers?

Erin answers:
I would think so, since Molly specifically say Ogg was "before" 
Hagrid, which I took to mean right before.  If you like, I can reword 
it to include Ogg.  How about:

When Hagrid was expelled and became the gamekeeper at Hogwarts, was 
he the gamekeeper immediately at age 13?  Or was he apprenticed to 
the former gamekeeper, Ogg, for a while?  And if so, how long?


Question and Joywitch comment: 
> > Did Tom Riddle ever date, or was he too busy learning the Dark 
Arts?
> 
> I can answer this!  I think it's obvious that he dated Dolores 
> Umbridge.

Erin:
Lol, oh, I hope so!


Question and Joywitch comment:
 Fans have found ways to anagram many of the names currently in 
> Harry Potter.  Are there any more names in the series that are 
> intentional anagrams of anything?
> 
> What do you mean, any *more* names that are intentional anagrams?  
As far as we know, none of them are *intentional* anagrams.

Erin, mouth hanging open in shock, stammers:
Um.... riiiight.  Well, Tom Marvolo Riddle springs to mind, but then, 
maybe that's just me....



Question and Joywitch comment:
 Will Harry, Ron, and Hermione ever meet (or have they already met) a 
vampire?
 
 Why not just ask "Is Snape a vampire?"  Oh, and the answer is, 
 obviously, YES!

Erin:
Once again, too darn obvious.  Not to mention that poor Pippin would 
probably have a nervous breakdown if the answer was no. :-D


Hope that answered some of your questions.  I look forward to the 
charms query.

Erin