some thoughts I had

Wed Jul 4 05:32:10 UTC 2007

No: HPFGUIDX 171237

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "gringots" <randy.Shepherd at ...>
Message #171232 wrote:

"gringots"
>There are clues that make me think Dumbledore did not die.

"K":

Dumbledore is dead.

----------

But I see that I need to be a little more explicit and say that
Dumbledore is definitely ... dead (crowd gasps). And I do know - I do
know that there is an entire website out there that says - that's name
is DumbledoreIsNotDead.com so umm, I'd imagine they're not pretty
happy right now (crowd laughs). But I think I need - you need - all of
you need to move through the five stages of grief (crowd laughs), and
I'm just helping you get past denial. So, I can't remember what's
next. It may be anger so I think we should stop it here. Thank you
(crowd applauds).
http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2006/0802-radiocityreading2.html

Audience member question (paraphrased): Why did Dumbledore have to die
[asked by TIME for Kids representative]

Rowling: I did an interview last year in which I was asked this
question. In the genre in which I'm writing, you usually find that the
hero has to go on alone. There comes a point when his support falls
away and to be truly heroic he has to act alone. Harry is not
completely alone, he still has his two faithful sidekicks. This was
summarized for me by the person who asked the question with, you mean
the old wizard always gets it, and that fundamentally, that is what I
was saying. I was as trying to dress it up a little better than that.
So that's why. In these sort of epic sagas, the hero eventually has to
fight alone.
http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2006/0801-radiocity-pressconf.html

Rowling: (laughs) I think that there's ... I understand why an author
would kill a character from a point of view of not allowing others to
continue writing after the original author is dead. I don't always
enjoy killing my characters. I didn't enjoy killing the character who
died at the end of book six (I'm being discreet just in case any on
hasn't finished the book). I really didn't enjoy doing that, but I had
been planning that for years. As John [Irving] says it wasn't quite as
poignant as you might imagine. I'd already done my grieving when it
actually came to writing it.
http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2006/0801-radiocity-pressconf.html

Cory Mayer: My name's Cory Mayer and I'm 9 years old and I'm from
Bordentown, New Jersey. I absolutely love your books. I'm not a big
reader but your books make me want to read and that makes my mom happy
(crowd and JK Rowling laugh). She loves your books too. In a recent
interview you hinted at two main characters dying and possibly Harry
Potter too. Was Dumbledore considered one of the main characters or
will we have the chance to see him in action once again? Since he is
the most powerful wizard of all time and Harry Potter is so loyal to
him, how could he really be dead?

JK Rowling: Ohhhhhhhh (Jo puts her head in her arms and crowd cheers
and applauds). I feel terrible (crowd laughs). The British writer
Graham Green once said that every writer had to have a chip of ice in
their heart. Oh no (Jo says half weeping while crowd laughs). I think
you may just have ruined my career (crowd laughs). Umm, I really can't
answer that question because the answer is in book seven but ... you
shouldn't expect Dumbledore to do a Gandalf. Let me just put it that
way. I'm sorry (crowd moans and applauds).
http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2006/0802-radiocityreading2.html

>"gringots"  
>I think they knew Snape would die from the Unbreakable Vow, so best
>to have Dumbledore kill him, as they are prepared to die for the Order.

"K":

According to JKR, Snape is alive.

----------

JKR: Well, okay, I'm obviously – Harry-Snape is now as personal, if
not more so, than Harry-Voldemort. I can't answer that question
because it's a spoiler, isn't it, whatever I say, and obviously, it
has such a huge impact on what will happen when they meet again that I
can't. And let's face it, it's going to launch 10,000 theories and I'm
going to get a big kick out of reading them so [laughs] I'm evil but I
just like the theories, I love the theories.

The Leaky Cauldron and MuggleNet Interview
Part 1
2005
http://www.quick-quote-quill.org/articles/2005/0705-tlc_mugglenet-anelli-1.htm

>"gringots" 
> Dumbledore can come to Harry's aid if Voldermort thinks he is dead.

"K":

Unfortunately, JKR believed Harry needed to go on alone. I listed this
quote above but here it is again.

----------

Audience member question (paraphrased): Why did Dumbledore have to die
[asked by TIME for Kids representative]

Rowling: I did an interview last year in which I was asked this
question. In the genre in which I'm writing, you usually find that the
hero has to go on alone. There comes a point when his support falls
away and to be truly heroic he has to act alone. Harry is not
completely alone, he still has his two faithful sidekicks. This was
summarized for me by the person who asked the question with, you mean
the old wizard always gets it, and that fundamentally, that is what I
was saying. I was as trying to dress it up a little better than that.
So that's why. In these sort of epic sagas, the hero eventually has to
fight alone.
http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2006/0801-radiocity-pressconf.html

>"gringots"  
> I even wonder if Harry's mother is really dead, there is something
>very odd about Crookshanks (although it is a male cat).  He followed
>Sirus (as a dog), like a friend, when all thought he was an evil
>escapee, and also attacked Wormtail (as a rat) whenever he had the
>chance.  Book does not say Lily was an animagus, but I think she
>could have been, and perhaps feigned death. 

"K": 

Well, there is that problem of Lily being a 'she' and Crookshanks
being a male but in case that's not enough of a clue, let me point out
that Lily is dead and Crookshanks is not an Animagus.

----------

ES: This is one of my burning questions since the third book - why did
Voldemort offer Lily so many chances to live? Would he actually have
let her live?

JKR: Mmhm.

ES: Why?

JKR: [silence] Can't tell you. But he did offer, you're absolutely
right. Don't you want to ask me why James's death didn't protect Lily
and Harry? There's your answer, you've just answered your own
question, because she could have lived and chose to die. James was
going to be killed anyway. Do you see what I mean? I'm not saying
James wasn't ready to; he died trying to protect his family but he was
going to be murdered anyway. He had no - he wasn't given a choice, so
he rushed into it in a kind of animal way, I think there are
distinctions in courage. James was immensely brave. But the caliber of
Lily's bravery was, I think in this instance, higher because she could
have saved herself. Now any mother, any normal mother would have done
what Lily did. So in that sense her courage too was of an animal
quality but she was given time to choose. James wasn't. It's like an
intruder entering your house, isn't it? You would instinctively rush
them. But if in cold blood you were told, "Get out of the way," you
know, what would you do? I mean, I don't think any mother would stand
aside from their child. But does that answer it? She did very
consciously lay down her life. She had a clear choice -

ES: And James didn't.

JKR: Did he clearly die to try and protect Harry specifically given a
clear choice? No. It's a subtle distinction and there's slightly more
to it than that but that's most of the answer.
http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2005/0705-tlc_mugglenet-anelli-1.htm

"Of course it's been done before," she says, "but Harry HAD to be an
orphan - so that he's a free agent, with no fear of letting down his
parents, disappointing them? and Hogwarts HAS to be a boarding school
- half the important stuff happens at night!
http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/1999/0299-guardian-carey.htm

Peter: Er - I don't really know, but I'm guessing that maybe she is
going to come back to life, maybe in the seventh book or something
like that ...

JKR: Well, it would be nice, but - I'll tell you something - you -
you've raised a really interesting point there, Peter, because when I
started writing the books, the first thing I had to decide was not
what magic can do, but what it can't do. I had to set limits on it -
immediately, and decide what the parameters are ... and one of the
most important things I - I decided was that magic cannot bring dead
people back to life; that' - that's one of the most profound things,
the - the natural law of - of - of death applies to wizards as it
applies to Muggles and there is no returning once you're properly
dead, you know, they might be able to save very close-to-death people
better than we can, by magic - that they - that they have certain
knowledge we don't, but once you're dead, you're dead. So - erm -
yeah, I'm afraid there will be no coming back fro- for Harry's parents
http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2000/0700-guardian-hattenstone.htm

Perhaps two or three days after I had the idea for Harry, I disposed
of his parents in a in quite a brutal way, not a cr -- not cru -- it
didn't read in a cruel way, but I mean it was very cut and dry,
nothing lingering, no debate about how it had happened or -- and at
that stage no real discussion of how painful that was going to be.
http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2001/1201-bbc-hpandme.htm

Section: F.A.Q.
Did James and Lupin switch bodies before James was killed?

An ingenious theory, but no; James would never have saved himself and
left his wife and son to die.
http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/faq_view.cfm?id=60

Section: Rumours
Lily Potter is still alive

No, afraid not.
http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/rumours_view.cfm?id=4

----------

Crookshanks

Section: Rumours
Crookshanks is an Animagus

No, he's not, but he's not pure cat either. If you buy Fantastic
Beasts and Where to Find Them (all royalties to Comic Relief, which
means you're helping some of the poorest children around the world)
you might just be able to work out what Crookshanks really is.
http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/rumours_view.cfm?id=7

>"gringots"  
>So many possible twists.

"K":

So true but the end time is near. Finally.