SHIP: Transcription of the "very platonic friends" interview

[sevenhundredandthirteen <sevenhundredandthirteen@yahoo.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 52078

[Referring to whether the 'platonic friends' business is short term 
or long term]

What about the introduction?

>Sean Bowler: Following custom, I will introduce 
>our guest, she will then offer us some magical insight to her new 
>book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

That introduction makes it pretty clear that the intended purpose of 
the interview was to shed light on the recently published PoA. Whilst 
some of the questions *don't* refer specifically to PoA, from the 
introduction it sounds as though that's what the intention was when 
they were written- by that I mean, 'Hey kids, do you have any 
questions about PoA you'd like answered by J. K. Rowling??' And then 
some people just asked stuff that was based further down the track. 
What I'm trying to say is that I get the impression that the person 
who wrote that question *hadn't* read PoA yet- they use present 
tense. They seem to be asking what happens in PoA because they hadn't 
read it yet. I say, that from the intended purpose of the interview, 
the 'platonic friends' stuff was actually referring to stuff from the 
past/present of the HP series... 

The only problem is- how do we know how JKR interpretted it?

The question is pretty badly worded... I think maybe that's why JKR 
laughs, because it's so cute and childlike, and kids are funny (even 
when they don't mean to be). All the other questions have been asked 
via the interviewer, so they *may* have been slightly altered (to do 
with grammar, better phrasing etc...). This appears to be the only 
one JKR read for herself. For all we know, maybe there were all a bit 
iffy on spelling and phrasing and everything else. By reading it 
herself she can choose to interpret it however she wants. 

So, I say, even though I believe the *question* was intended to be 
focusing on the events of PoA, that we can't know for sure whether 
JKR interpretted this way. No matter how much this point is argued, I 
think JKR was having a little private joke with herself and none of 
us know for sure what it was. It could have been- 'Wow, these people 
are right on the money!' or it could have been 'Hehe! The silly 
dreams some people have...'

>JKR: *looking through questions* No, don't like that one. Oh, I
like 
>this one
 do Harry and Hermione have a date? [laughter] No. They
are –
>they're very platonic friends. But I won't answer for anyone
else, 
>nudge, nudge, wink, wink. [laughter and sound of kids going
"Aaah!"] 

~<(Laurasia)>~
(Who is actually a firm believer that Ron and Hermione both show 
interest in one another during the second part of GoF... But, hang 
on, she just argued that the platonic friends comment was directed 
for PoA...??? Obviously I'm very confused....)