[HPforGrownups] JKR's best interview

[lissbell at colfax.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 75293

Hi John,

I just read this interview recently and it is one of my favorites, too. 
    Rowling seemed less cryptic in her responses.  It was truly refreshing.

I'm going to respond to two of your points out of order because, well, I 
just think it's important I respond to the Ginny point first.

John, C wrote (and quoted a JKR interview):
 > 4. About Ginny
 >
 > JKR: Obviously, it is inappropriate in books like these, it would be 
totally
 > alien to the tone of these books if I got into too brutally realistic 
of an
 > area ---- you know, we're not going to be looking at teenage 
pregnancy here,
 > we're not going to be looking at drug taking here, you know. This 
would be
 > totally alien to the spirit of these books. However, I do want Harry 
to grow
 > up in a realistic way.
 >
 > John: I remember a post about Voldemort somehow being the child of 
Ginny Weasley
 > after using a time-turner. I don't think so!!

Lissa responded:
Uhh, yeah.  (waves hand in the air and covers her eyes in embarrassment)
I proposed that--sort of.  I didn't argue Ginny had to use a time 
turner, but I do maintain she moves back in time.

The more I consider it lately, the more I find the idea of Harry Potter 
and Ginny Weasley having sex within Harry's seven years at Hogwarts 
unlikely.  As Rowling noted, a teen pregnancy (and presumably underage 
sex in general) truly isn't in keeping with the tone of the novels.

I still believe Harry and Ginny are Tom's parents. (foolish & stubborn grin)

If my theory is correct, Ginny travels in time almost immediately after 
becoming pregnant.  (Any delay would mean Tom Riddle would either see 
Ginny was pregnant or easily deduce with simple math that he couldn't be 
her baby's father.)  Thus even if a pregnancy occured toward the end of 
book 7 when Ginny is roughly 17 (and it could come about when Ginny is 
much older), JKR's words are still literally true: we will never look at 
a teen pregnancy in the series.  As for the troubling thought of teen 
sex in the novels, I think it's likely that *if* a Ginny pregnancy 
occured within Harry's seven years at Hogwarts, it would--in keeping 
with Ginny's Virgin Mary-esque role--be the consequence of an immaculate 
conception resulting from a love potion that was either maliciously 
intended or innocently bungled.  (I base this on the fact that the books 
keep referencing love potions but have yet to use them.)  This would 
make the spirit of JKR's statement reasonably true as well.  You could 
certainly disagree with my view on this.

I am tending more, lately, to favor the idea that a Harry-Ginny 
pregnancy happens when Ginny is an adult.  How this works within the 
scope and timeline of book 7, I can only guess.  Harry could bound about 
in time like a heroic maniac in book seven.  Colin Creevey could cast a 
spell with consequences in the year 2002.  All I really have in regard 
to a Ginny pregnancy are guesses based on the few facts the texts give 
us about TMR's mother and Tom's birth.

I remain, however, firmly convinced that no matter what strange tangle 
of events brings it about, Ginny and Harry are Tom's parents.  My 
friends and family will no doubt point and laugh if/when it turns out 
I'm terribly mistaken.  It's okay.  Feel free to scoff at my stubborn 
silliness, John.


John C wrote (quoting a JKR interview):

> 1. About Lily
> Q: Hi, I really like the books and we already learned a lot about Harry's
> father and I was wondering 'Are we going to learn a lot about his mother?'
> JKR: Yeah, you will. It's ---- yet again ---- you won't find out ---- OK, in
> Book 3 you're absolutely right. You find out a lot about Harry's father. Now
> the important thing about Harry's mother, the really, really significant
> thing, you're going to find out in 2 parts. You'll find out a lot more about
> her in Book 5, or you'll find out something very significant about her in
> Book 5, then you'll find out something incredibly important about her in
> Book 7. But I can't tell you what those things are so I'm sorry, but yes,
> you will find out more about her because both of them are very important in
> what Harry ends up having to do.

 >

> John: I think this is my favourite quote ever. I love the bit that states 'what
> Harry ends up having to do'. Makes it sound like Harry has to do something,
> which your average person wouldn't want to do!. But I really can't think
> what important thing we found out about Lily in Book 5. The only thing I can
> think of is that she didn't like James very much! 


Lissa wrote:
I've tried to imagine what important fact Rowling could reveal about 
Lily in book 7 that would factor into what Harry's ends up having to do. 
  I'm going to go off on a speculative tangent, here, and I fully expect 
you to disregard it and roll your eyes--and you should.  I have almost 
*no* textual basis for this little flight of fancy.

We don't know much about Lily, but we do know that JKR has said that 
Harry having his mother's eyes is important.  What could be important 
about Lily's eyes?  Perhaps it's nothing more than the fact that their 
vivid green hints at a familial connection with Salazar Slytherin. 
Slytherin's house waves silver and green banners and his basilisk was 
bright green.  In the texts, green tends to represent Slytherin.  If 
Lily is related to Salazar, perhaps the incredibly important something 
we learn about Harry's mother in book 7 is that she was a parselmouth. 
(If Lily *is* related to Salazar, the link would, I acknowledge, have to 
be rather far back in her ancestral line.  Petunia's fear and loathing 
of witches and wizards doesn't suggest she's aware of any other magical 
members of her family tree.)  Alas, this is probably quite wrong.

Enough mad speculation.

Cheers,
Lissa B