Build-An-Author a new canon game

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 178548

Potioncat wrote:
>
> I suggest a new game!
> 
> Where do authors get their characters? I've heard (but don't recall
where) that authors put a bit of themselves into their characters.
With that in mind, we should be able to see hints of the characters in
JKR, or hints of her in them. If we gathered enough characters and
somehow merged them together, would we have Jo?
> 
> Which character sometimes reminds you of JKR? Or, Does JKR ever
display traits of one of her characters? Cite canon or at least refer
to it. No characters off limits this round.
> 
> Potioncat, who has compartmentalized all deep, dark thoughts about
DH into a tidy little box and hid it behind tasseled shawls, poufs,
and pictures of too cute kittens.
>
Carol responds:

I'm not sure if this counts, but Lupin's use of chocolate as an
antidote for Dementor-induced hopelessness always made me wonder if
JKR used chocolate as a cure for depression when she was facing
poverty, divorce, and/or her mother's death. I would guess from the
sweets cluttering her desk (along with chewing fum, which I suspect is
a substitute for cigarettes and consequently doesn't remind me of any
important WW character), I suspect that, like DD, she has "a fondness
for Muggle sweets." Possibly, her favorite flavor of jam, like DD's,
is raspberry, or maybe, like Harry, she likes treacle tart. Lupin's
perpetual shabbiness may remind her of the days when she, too, was
unemployed. There's a bit of Sirius/Severus in her, too, in her
seeming inability to get past old grudges (the chemistry teacher and
whoever Lockhart is modeled on, for example). And it just occurred to
me, as an older sister myself: JKR has a younger sister. Might some
part of the Lily/Petunia relationship (the early protectiveness or the
later jealousy) be based on that real-life relationship?

Just guessing here and not seriously speculating. Biographical
criticism has its dangers and drawbacks, particularly with regard to
living authors, so I'm only playing a game, not asking questions for
which I want answers.

Carol, hoping that Umbridge isn't based on any traits in JKR herself!