Hogwarts, A History

[justcarol67]

Julie:
> To be very honest, I'm not too keen on reading Hogwarts, A  History.
I mean, I would read it if it were published, but we've already gotten
a fair idea of the history of Hogwarts (and will no doubt get more in
DH). There are so  many other aspects of the Harry Potter world I'd
love to know more about.  If JKR did decide to elucidate more on an
element of Harry Potter and/or the  WW in general, here are some
titles I'd like her to consider:
>  
> Severus Snape, A History  
>  
> Remus Lupin, the Missing Years
>  
> Dark Arts or No? How to Differentiate a Dark Spell  from One that
Merely Appears Dark 
>  
> An Atlas of the Wizarding World 
>  
> Advanced Potion Making by The Half-Blood Prince
>  
> Great Family Trees of the Wizarding World, 1642-present
<snip>
> I'd also love to read the backstories JKR mentioned for various 
characters, her more interesting or informative plot notes, diagrams,
drawings, etc, which  I supposed might be called The Creating of Harry
Potter, or some such. 

Carol:

I agree with most of your list (the atlas doesn't interest me much),
but I'd add a history of the WW itself, preferably with as little
emphasis as possible on goblin rebellions and giant wars. And I'd read
Hogwarts: History with a bit more enthusiasm than you would,
especially the part about the Founders and the Sorting Hat. (Of
course, it would have to be revised to tell "what really happened"
with Moaning Myrtle's murder and the death of Dumbledore (alliteration
deliberate, :-) ). And Snape. anything and everything Snape.

But I'd also be interested (and I'm probably among the few) in a
history of her drafts and revisions (along the lines of Christopher
Tolkien's "History of Middle Earth" (in which we see Bingo Baggins
(Frodo) and Trotter the Ranger, a Hobbit who wears wooden shoes). How
different from the final books was the original conception? What role
did the editors play? How carefully did she plan? What changes did the
editors make? I think we'll find out who the two characters who
weren't originally scheduled to die and the one who got a reprieve
are, along with the rejected titles for DH, but I'd like to know a lot
more about the books as a work in progress.

I'd like to see more of the kinds of things that you "win" as a reward
for finding potion ingredients, etc., on JKR's website, but in a more
readable format. In particular, I'd like to read that dialogue between
Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott that never made it into the books. I
doubt that it will appear in DH with both of their fathers in Azkaban
(assuming that Nott Sr.'s injury wasn't serious) and Draco on the Most
Wanted list.

Carol, who would regard these rejected drafts as might-have-been canon
rather than canon but is still interested in JKR's writing process