[HPforGrownups] Re: Rowling interview transcript

[IreneMikhlin]

No: HPFGUIDX 180352

Carol wrote:
> 
> The question is, are interviews canon? Can we accept the parts that
> match our own interpretations and reject the rest? I still think that
> what matters is what's on the pages of the books themselves, which
> we're free to interpret, and I still don't trust her off-the-cuff
> comments, which are only what she's thinking at that second, not
> carefully thought-out statements like those we can still hope for in
> the encyclopedia (which I fear may still contradict the books
> themselves given that they sometimes contradict each other).
> 

The thing is, after book 7 I'm not so sure how well thought-out is the 
material in the books themselves.

> 
> Carol, wondering what JKR thinks would have placed little Severus in
> Slytherin besides his own delusion that it was the House for "brains"
> but not at all sure that I want to hear the answer
> 

She didn't put a lot of thought into his motivations, I'm afraid. Again, 
I know it's only interview, but she'd said something completely 
ridiculous in response to why he'd joined DE - something like he thought 
if he becomes a really powerful wizard, it would impress Lily. Duh.

Or maybe the "brains" bit alone would be enough to condemn him. JRK does 
not have a lot of respect for people who chase knowledge. Hermione 
renounces Ravenclaw, does her soliloquy in Book 1 finale, and still JKR 
feels the need to point out in the interviews that Hermione's saving 
grace is that her heart is bigger than her brain.

Irene