JKR answering fan concerns/correcting impressions (was: My Reaction)

[dungrollin]

No: HPFGUIDX 132990

> Lupinlore wrote: 
> > It seemed to me that large segments of HBP were written to 
> > please/placate/pacify certain sections of the fandom. 
snip

> SSSusan:
> Just picking this one little bit of Lupinlore's post to respond 
to. I also felt this, to some degree.  Chapter 2, especially, and a 
> couple of other places in the book felt to me like JKR crossing 
> items off a list.  "Fan complaint #1?  Yes, took care of that.  
Fan misinterpretation #2?  Yep.  Fan concern #3?  Got it."  I mean, 
when Bella asked all those questions in Spinner's End, and Snape 
provided answers -- BING BING BING -- to them all, didn't anyone 
else feel like JKR had created a list of most-often asked or 
complained-about points and just got them out of the way?
> 

Dungrollin:
I'm not sure I agree, entirely.  The amount of planning she's really 
done on the series is of course open to question, but you can't for 
a second convince me that she's only just decided what Snape was 
going to do in HBP.  The whole situation in which we now find 
ourselves has been very carefully set up right from the beginning of 
the series. 

She very deliberately left certain pieces of information out. Or 
rather, in this case she left out one big piece of information which 
was what Snape was up to for the Order of the Phoenix.  We've been 
waiting for that since book 4 came out.  In order to not give us 
this information, she had to leave out a whole load of other stuff 
surrounding him, which all had to be explained in one go. We also 
needed to be given an idea of just how good Snape is as a double-
agent (both in the DE camp and at Hogwarts), and that Voldy thinks 
very highly of him but might not entirely trust him. Chapter 2 also 
had to set up Draco's task. In short, Spinner's End explained as 
much as somebody new to Harry Potter books needed to know to make 
HBP a coherent book.

I did find chapter 2 a bit clunky, but I think it's one of the ones 
that she's had written for a while, and it's been over-polished. I 
doubt that she's responding specifically to fan concerns. 

Dungrollin
Who, like Dumbledore, still trusts Snape completely.