Almost Chat time!!!! Those questions.

[Erin]

Well, here it is,  the World Book Day Online festival. Less than one 
hour until the chat starts.  And in case anyone else is bopping 
around the internet waiting for the start like I am, here is that 
list of questions I promised so long ago, terribly sorry about the 
lateness.

Here is the address for the festival:

http://www.worldbookdayfestival.com/2004/index.html

Apparently all you have to do is click on the picture of Rowling when 
it's time.



**Lupin**

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? 

Where does Lupin live at the end of GoF when Dumbledore tells Sirius 
to "lie low at Lupin's"?

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**The Weasleys**

How old are Mr. and Mrs. Weasley?

How old are Bill and Charlie?

Any chance that Arthur Weasley was a victim of the Imperius curse 
during You-Know-Who's first rise to power?

Ron got his leg broken in PoA.  Which leg was it, and does he have a 
scar there now?

How exactly did Scabbers attach himself to young Percy? 

What color are Ron's eyes?

How come Arthur hasn't learned more about Muggles and their lives 
after working in a muggle department for so long?
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**Harry's past**

Do the colour of Harry's eyes matter specifically, or is it just the 
fact that Lily and Harry have the "same eyes" that matters?

Where is Godric's Hollow located?

What house (or houses) were James, Sirius, Lupin, and Peter in?

Any chance that Petunia was a squib or that her and Lily's parents,  
Mr. and Mrs. Evans, were squibs?

Does Harry still need to study Occlumency, or is Voldemort now
permanently banished from his mind?

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**Dumbledore**

Does Dumbledore actually *like* Cockroach Clusters? 

How did Dumbledore know what made Voldemort stop possessing Harry?

We know you can't apparate into or out of Hogwarts, but we've seen 
Dumbledore send people into and out of his office by portkey and 
arrive by Floo powder himself. Is that a lapse in security or can 
only the headmaster do that?

When Dumbledore conjures the sleeping bags in PoA, has he summoned 
them *from* somewhere, or actually created them?

If Dumbledore thought that Sirius was the Potter's secret keeper, how 
come he was not surprised when Hagrid told him he saw Sirius and 
borrowed his bike? 

- Are we ever going to know about Dumbledore's life before Harry's 
events? If he's about 150 years, there's a lot of story...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
**How the WW Works**

Do "evanesco" and "scourgify" make things cease to exist or just go 
somewhere else?

Are the Pensieve's memories totally objective like a video camera?

How do children from Wizarding families learn reading and writing and 
math before they get to Hogwarts?

Why do some people make a loud "crack" when they disapparate, and 
other people make only small "pop"s?

If no one can apparate or disapparate inside Hogwarts, what is it 
that Dobby and Fawkes do when they disappear?

Could Arabella Figg, as a squib, actually see the dementors as she 
said at Harry's hearing, or not?

The Put-Outer is used at the Dursleys' and at Grimmauld Place.  Does 
it confer some sort of magical protection besides the cover of 
darkness for these important hideouts?

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?

Are long fingers a sign of magical power?

What do you call the non-magical offspring of a mixed, Muggle/Magic 
couple? Would they be Muggles or Squibs?


Messenger owls and Thestrals seem impressively fast. Do they travel 
by magic? And if so, how exactly does that magic work?


What is the top speed of the fastest broom?

Why are portkeys so tightly controlled by the Ministry and are they 
dangerous if done improperly?

Are there limits to how far a wizard can be transported by 
apparating, the Floo network, or portkeys? If so, what are the limits?

Why in the world are Hags (who eat children) allowed anywhere near 
Hogwarts, let alone into the town pubs when the students have a 
Hogsmeade Weekend?

What is the difference between a wizard and a warlock?

How are unicorn horns harvested for use in potions-making?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
**Other people**

Blaise Zabini: boy or girl?

Will we ever find out who Florence was that the pensieve memory of 
Bertha Jorkins mentioned in the 4th book, or who she was kissing?

Will Mark Evans (the ten-year-old Dudley beat up at the beginning of 
OoP) show up in the next books at all?

Is Andromeda Tonks still alive?

Did Stan Shunpike (from the knight bus) go to Hogwarts?

Who is the Slytherin boy who saw the thestrals?

Whatever happened to Karkaroff? 

Will Harry ever meet Professor Dumbledore's brother, Aberforth?

Will there ever be a "good Slytherin"?

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?

Was Minerva McGonagall at school with Tom Riddle?

Did Tom Riddle ever date, or was he too busy learning the Dark Arts?

Why did Voldemort personally kill Dorcas Meadows?

What house was Moaning Myrtle in when she was alive?

I was sad about Sirius, but overall not too impressed with You-Know-
Who in Order of the Phoenix.  Is he going to get scarier in the next 
two books?  (please, please!)

Who is Arabella Figg related to in the wizarding world?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
**Other stuff**

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 beyond the example seen in Chamber of Secrets?

In GoF, did Fudge say "I've heard of a curse scar acting as an alarm 
bell before," as per the British version, or should it have 
been, "I've never heard of a curse scar acting as an alarm bell 
before," as in the American edition?

What's up with all the socks?

Why all the bad teeth?  At last count, Snape, Sirius, and Karkaroff 
all had yellow teeth, and now Hagrid's gotten some teeth knocked out 
by Grawp. Has the wizarding world never heard of dentists?

In CoS, Nearly Headless Nick is celebrating his 500th death day.  But 
in Philosopher's Stone, he tells Harry he hasn't eaten in "nearly 
four hundred years".  Is this a mistake or could he somehow eat for 
one hundred years after he died?

Was it your intention for fans to be able to work out a timeline of 
the series like the one on the DVD of Chamber of Secrets, or did you 
think of the series as more timeless when you began it?
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**Snape**

Will Harry, Ron, and Hermione ever meet (or have they already met) a 
vampire?

Are the Snapes an old wizarding family like the Blacks and Malfoys?

Are Professor Snape's parents still alive?  
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So, there it is.  Cut and paste, do your own thing.  Here's hoping 
some of us get on!

Erin