[HPforGrownups] JKR...a witch?

[Shannon]

No: HPFGUIDX 32334

At 05:36 PM 12/29/2001 -0000, you wrote:
>  If this has been discussed before, I'm sorry!
>  I was having a heated discussion about Harry Potter with one of 
>my friends (who is against the whole magic thing), and she said that 
>JKR herself said in an interview that she was a witch and that the 
>spells used in the books are real spells. I told her that I had heard 
>in an interview with JKR that she was NOT a witch (I think she said 
>she was an atheist), and the spells in the books were NOT real 
>spells. 

She is definitely not a witch.  She has said that many of the things in the
books are based on beliefs and practices that people once believed in.  I
think she addressed this issue several times. One I can think of offhand is
an interview on the Diane Rehm show. I know there is a link to listen to
that, but I don't know the website.  You can try www.npr.org and they
surely have a link to the Diane Rehm show, where you'll probably find an
archive.  

Shannon