JKR's live chat -- excerpts

[Lisa]

No: HPFGUIDX 173756

I'm sure the transcript is available from the Bloomsbury site, but 
here are the key points I gleaned rom JKR's live chat:

Rosi: What does in essence divided mean?
J.K. Rowling: Dumbledore suspected that the snake's essence was 
divided - that it contained part of Voldemort's soul, and that was 
why it was so very adept at doing his bidding.
J.K. Rowling: This also explained why Harry, the last and unintended 
Horcrux, could see so clearly through the snake's eyes, just as he 
regularly sees through Voldemort's.
J.K. Rowling: Dumbledore is thinking aloud here, edging towards the 
truth with the help of the Pensieve.

Superhans: What was duldeys worst memory?
J.K. Rowling: I think that when Dudley was attacked by the Dementors 
he saw himself, for the first time, as he really was. This was an 
extremely painful, but ultimately salutory lesson, and began the 
transformation in him.

Laura Trego: Was the absence of snapes portrait in the headmasters 
office in the last scene innocent or deliberate
J.K. Rowling: It was deliberate. Snape had effectively abandoned his 
post before dying, so he had not merited inclusion in these august 
circles.
J.K. Rowling: However, I like to think that Harry would be 
instrumental in ensuring that Snape's portrait would appear there in 
due course.

Tineke: What happened to percy did he return to his job at the 
ministry?
J.K. Rowling: Yes, the new improved Percy ended up as a high-ranking 
official under Kingsley.

Camille: How is george getting along without his twin
J.K. Rowling: Well, I don't think that George would ever get over 
losing Fred, which makes me feel so sad. However, he names his first 
child and son Fred, and he goes on to have a very successful career, 
helped by good old Ron.

(Lisa's note:  She originally said that Ron and Harry were aurors, 
but now she's saying that Ron went into business with George)

Snapedinhalf: You promised that someone will do magic late in life in 
book 7. I've now read it three times but cant work out who it might 
have been! Please help!!
J.K. Rowling: I'm sorry about this, but I changed my mind!
J.K. Rowling: My very earliest plan for the story involved somebody 
managing to get to Hogwarts when they had never done magic before, 
but I had changed my mind by the time I'd written the third book.

Christiana: How did voldemort get his wand back after he was in was 
exile
J.K. Rowling: Wormtail, desperate to curry favour, salvaged it from 
the place it had fallen and carried it to him. I admit that would 
have been a bit of a feat for a rat, but they are highly intelligent 
creatures!

Lechicaneuronline: Do you think snape is a hero 
J.K. Rowling: Yes, I do; though a very flawed hero. An anti-hero, 
perhaps. He is not a particularly likeable man in many ways. He 
remains rather cruel, a bully, riddled with bitterness and 
insecurity - and yet he loved, and showed loyalty to that love
J.K. Rowling: and, ultimately, laid down his life because of it. 
That's pretty heroic!

Jaclyn: Did lily ever have feelings back for snape
J.K. Rowling: Yes. She might even have grown to love him romantically 
(she certainly loved him as a friend) if he had not loved Dark Magic 
so much, and been drawn to such loathesome people and acts.

Michael: Why didnt fawkes come back to help harry I would have 
thought that since harry was so loyal to dumbledore, fawkes would 
have been harrys new pet
J.K. Rowling: Something had to leave the school for good when 
Dumbledore died, and I decided that would be Fawkes. Dumbledore was a 
very great and irreplacable man, and the loss of Fawkes (and the fact 
that he was 'non-transferable'!) expresses this symbolically

Delailah: How does dumbledore understand parseltongue?
J.K. Rowling: Dumbledore understood Mermish, Gobbledegook and 
Parseltongue. The man was brilliant.

Annie: Does the wizarding world now know that snape was dumbledores 
man, or do they still think he did a bunk
J.K. Rowling: Harry would ensure that Snape's heroism was known.

Lady Bella: Whose murders did voldemor use to create each of the 
horcruxes
J.K. Rowling: The diary - Moaning Myrtle. The cup - Hepzibah Smith, 
the previous owner. The locket - a Muggle tramp. Nagini - Bertha 
Jorkins (Voldemort could use a wand once he regained a rudimentary 
body, as long as the victim was subdued). 
J.K. Rowling: The diadem - an Albanian peasant. The ring - Tom Riddle 
snr.

Sampotterish: Why did dumbledore want ron to keep his deluminator
J.K. Rowling: Because he knew that Ron might need a little more 
guidance than the other two. 
J.K. Rowling: Dumbledore understood Ron's importance in the trio. He 
wasn't the most skilled, or the most intelligent, but he held them 
together; his humour and his good heart were essential.

Natalie: Are house divisions as prevalaent in harry's children's 
hogwarts as in the previous generations 
J.K. Rowling: Slytherin has become diluted. It is no longer the 
pureblood bastion it once was. Nevertheless, its dark reputation 
lingers, hence Albus Potter's fears.

Nithya: Lily detested mulciber,averyif snape really loved her,why 
didnt he sacrifice their company for her sake 
J.K. Rowling: Well, that is Snape's tragedy. Given his time over 
again he would not have become a Death Eater, but like many insecure, 
vulnerable people (like Wormtail) he craved membership of something 
big and powerful, something impressive.
J.K. Rowling: He wanted Lily and he wanted Mulciber too. He never 
really understood Lily's aversion; he was so blinded by his 
attraction to the dark side he thought she would find him impressive 
if he became a real Death Eater.

Barbara: I was very disappointed to see harry use crucio and seem to 
enjoy it his failure to perform that kind of curse in the past has 
been a credit to his character why the change, and did harry later 
regret having enjoyed deliberately causing 
.K. Rowling: Harry is not, and never has been, a saint. Like Snape, 
he is flawed and mortal.
J.K. Rowling: Harry's faults are primarily anger and occasional 
arrogance.
J.K. Rowling: On this occasion, he is very angry and acts 
accordingly. He is also in an extreme situation, and attempting to 
defend somebody very good against a violent and murderous opponent.

Courtney: What child did harry give the marauders map to if any
J.K. Rowling: I've got a feeling he didn't give it to any of them, 
but that James sneaked it out of his father's desk one day.

Karin: What did petunia wanted to say to hary at the end of the 
dursleys departing
J.K. Rowling: I think that for one moment she trembled on the verge 
of wishing Harry luck; that she almost acknowledged that her loathing 
of his world, and of him, was born out of jealousy.
J.K. Rowling: But she couldn't do it; years of pretending 
that 'normal' was best had hardened her too much.

Leaky Cauldron: Please pose and answer the question you'd most like 
to address about the series! (a ha, turned it back on you.) 
J.K. Rowling: Oooo, you're tough.
J.K. Rowling: I must admit, I always wondered why nobody ever asked 
me what Dumbledore's wand was made of!
J.K. Rowling: And I couldn't say that, even when asked 'what do you 
wish you'd been asked...' because it would have sign-posted just how 
significant that wand would become!

Nigel: Can harry speak parseltongue when he is no longer a horcrux?
J.K. Rowling: No, he loses the ability, and is very glad to do so. 

Lucy: What is dumbledores boggart?
J.K. Rowling: The corpse of his sister.

Pablo: What is toadface umbridge doing now
J.K. Rowling: Glad to see you like her as much as I do!
J.K. Rowling: She was arrested, interrogated and imprisoned for 
crimes against Muggleborns.

Maggie Keir: Was hermione able to find her parents and undo the 
memory damage
J.K. Rowling: Yes, she brought them home straight away.

Lola Victorpujebet: Was minerva in love with albus
J.K. Rowling: No! Not everybody falls in love with everybody else...

Rachel Nell: Jkr, thank you for such amazing books! I would like to 
know how come noone seemed to know that lily and snape were friends 
in school they were obviously meeting for chats, etc didnt james know 
their past
J.K. Rowling: Thank you for your thank you! 
J.K. Rowling: Yes, it was known that they were friendly and then 
stopped being friends. Nothing more than that would be widely known.

And now I need to attend a PTA meeting, so if someone could post a 
link to the transcript, I'd be grateful!  ;0)