the questions got better!

[heidi tandy]

No: HPFGUIDX 3716

Penny's paraphrases were great - here's the cut & paste job from the 
chat.
You know, it seems a lot less insipid when you read the whole thing 
in 7 minutes instead of an hour...

Which house was Lily Potter in, and what is her maiden 
name?
<JK_Rowling> Her maiden name was Evans and she was in Gryffindor 
(naturally) 
<JK_Rowling> * 

(I think I speak for SO SO SO many of us when I say, "WHEW! It's not 
riddle, she wasn't in slytherin - and I can hear millions of fanfic 
writers saying "DAMN!"

ANd Penny -= was this you?:
Is Voldemort the last remaining 
ancestor of Slytherin or the last remaining descendent of Slytherin?
<JK_Rowling> ah, you spotted the deliberate error... 
<JK_Rowling> yes, it should read 'descendent' 
<JK_Rowling> that's been changed in subsequent editions! 
<JK_Rowling> (keep hold of the 'ancestor' one, maybe it'll be 
valuable 


Is there something more to the cats appearing in the 
books than first meets the eye? (Ie, Mrs Figg's cats... 
Crookshanks... Prof. McGonagall as a cat... etc)
<JK_Rowling> ooooo another good question 
<JK_Rowling> let's see what I can tell you without giving anything 
away.... 
<JK_Rowling> erm.... 
<JK_Rowling> no, can't do it, sorry 
but then later:
: Is the Mrs. Figg with all the cats in the Dursleys' 
neighborhood the same Arabella Figg that Dumbledore mentioned at the 
end of book 4?
<JK_Rowling> Well spotted!!! 


And I still think she didn't *get* the import of the question, 
blaise: 
ASKScholastic> guest-EZGuest682 says: Can you explain how Lupin turns 
into a werewolf, since 
he didn't turn in the Shrieking Shack in PoA, but instead he turned 
only when the full moonlight hit him 
outside the tunnel. If he only turned into a wolf in the moonlight 
why didn't he just stay inside? Did it 
have to do with the potion? Or was the moon not up yet?
<JK_Rowling> The moon wasn't up when he entered the Shrieking Shack 

How old is old in the wizarding world and how old are 
Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall?
<JK_Rowling> Dumbledore is a hundred and fifty and Professor 
McGonagall is a sprightly seventy 
<JK_Rowling> wizards have a much longer life expectancy than Muggles 
(Harry hasn't found out about that yet) 

A bit of a "huh!"
ASKScholastic> guest-EZGuest735 says: What position did James play on 
the Gryffindor 
Quidditch team? Was it seeker like Harry, or something different?
<JK_Rowling> James was Chaser 




And most importantly, 
<ASKScholastic> guest-EZGuest379 says: How many students attend 
Hogwarts and how many 
students per year per house?
<JK_Rowling> There are about a thousand students at Hogwarts