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Jo on BBC Radio 4 archive podcasts
The BBC is releasing past episodes of some Radio 4 programmes as podcasts. These include Jo's appearance on Bookclub from August 1999 (partial transcript here) where she discusses Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone with James Naughtie and answers questions from a group of young readers, and her appearance on Desert Island Discs from November 2000 where she talks about her life, the 8 records she would choose to take to a desert island, Goblet of Fire and Rita Skeeter (who was originally going to appear in the first book and was going to be called Bridget).
Posted 13th May 2012 by roonwit

Jo's website is redesigned
Jo's website was relaunched on 12th April 2012. This removed the canon information, though it can still be found on Internet archive site, and should eventually reappear on Pottermore. It also has information on Jo's first novel for adults The Casual Vacancy which will be published on 27th September 2012.
Posted 13th May 2012 by roonwit

Pottermore opens
The Pottermore site opened to everyone on 14th April 2012. The site provides an online experience to accompany the Harry Potter books (currently only for the first book) and includes new information from Jo, including background information on the Dursleys and some of the teachers.
Posted 13th May 2012 by roonwit

Jo interviewed by Words with Jam Magazine
There is a new interview of Jo in the Words with Jam magazine, where she discusses books she read as a child, life-changing books, books she re-reads, her priorities for her use of time, her opinions on e-books and how she uses them herself, and her secret talents.
Posted 5th June 2011 by roonwit

Jo on working with Steve Kloves
Jo has written a piece for the Writer's Guild of America, West magazine Written By where she writes about collaborating with Steve Kloves as he worked on the screen play for the Harry Potter movies, including their first meeting where he revealed his favourite character is Hermione, and how much he understood the characters in their subsequent email discussions over the years. The full article can be read in the online copy of the magazine.
Posted 21st April 2011 by roonwit

Jo appears on the Oprah Show
Jo appeared on the edition of the Oprah Show first broadcast on 1st October 2010. The show website has some extra footage and an article about Jo based on material from the interview. Leaky has a video of the interview, and a partial transcript.
Posted 2nd October 2010 by roonwit

Jo reads and answers questions at the White House Egg Roll
Jo was one of the authors appearing at this year's White House Easter Egg Roll, where she read from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and then answered questions from the gathered children. We now have a transcript of her answers here. In particular she said

• She might want to do something else with Harry's world in the future but has no plans at present.
• Her favourite characters at the moment apart from Harry, Ron and Hermione are Dumbledore (who she misses most), Hagrid and Lupin, also Snape because she loved writing him.
• She wouldn't want a house elf because she would find them creepy, and would free any in her house.
• Hermione was the first character she thought of after Harry. She was originally going to be the Potters' neighbour when their house was destroyed.
• She was inspired by the fate of the Spinal Tap drummers to have a different Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher each year.
• She is writing other books but is having a break from being published. However she is sure that she will bring out another book in the "not too distant future" though it won't be Harry.

Posted 7th April 2010 by roonwit

Jo receives Légion d'honneur
On 3rd February, Jo was presented with the Légion d'honneur by the French president. Mugglenet have a translation of Jo's acceptance speech (which was in French), in which she talks of her great-grandfather who also received this honour, and explains that she chose a French name for Voldemort to evoke both power and exoticism, though Voldemort is actually 100% English.
Posted 16th February 2009 by roonwit

Video from Beedle the Bard release tea party
TLC have pointed out that Bloomsbury now have video from the Beedle release party, including a reading from The Fountain of Fair Fortune, and a couple of question and answer sessions. She reveals that the longest story she wrote at the age of eleven was about seven cursed diamonds, and there are echoes of it in Harry Potter, her least favourite subject was chemistry, which is why potions is taught in the dungeons with a nasty teacher, and her favourite authors when she was young include Elizabeth Goudge, for The Little White Horse Paul Gallico, and E. Nesbit, who wrote a very funny book of fairy tales, which she would recommend to someone who liked Beedle the Bard. Also, she loved writing as Dumbledore again, and is still writing, but won't say what she is working on.
Posted 17th January 2009 by roonwit

Reports from Beedle the Bard release tea party
Reuters has a report from the Beedle the Bard release tea party. In it Jo reveals that the inspiration to publish Beedle the Bard came from the fans, saying "There was quite a lot of high feeling from Harry Potter fans that only someone who had two million pounds could afford to read the book. I thought 'fair point', so I thought 'I'll publish it and then the charity can have that money too'."
She also reveals that she gave Ron her own fear of spiders, which is also shared by the actor who plays Ron in the films, Rupert Grint.
Update: More details of the questions asked are emerging. TLC has a report revealing that none of the invented Harry Potter locations are based on actual places. CBBC reports that Jo "can remember some teachers thinking that I was good at story writing, and I used to love it when my stories were read out to the class."
Posted 4th December 2008 by roonwit

Jo's thoughts on The Forest Again
TLC is reporting on an article in the the Guardian which contains an introduction by Jo to an extract of The Forest Again chapter of Deathly Hallows from The Birthday Book, published to mark the 60th birthday of Prince Charles, and in aid of The Prince's Foundation for Children & the Arts. In the extract Jo says
I admit that, at first glance, the extract I've chosen for The Birthday Book might not seem particularly celebratory, given that it has for its subject my hero walking to what he believes will be certain death. But when Harry takes his last, long walk into the heart of the Dark Forest, he is choosing to accept a burden that fell on him when still a tiny child, in spite of the fact that he never sought the role for which he has been cast, never wanted the scar with which he has been marked. As his mentor, Albus Dumbledore, has tried to make clear to Harry, he could have refused to follow the path marked out for him. In spite of the weight of opinion and expectation that singles him out as the "Chosen One", it is Harry's own will that takes him into the Forest to meet Voldemort, prepared to suffer the fate that he escaped sixteen years before.
The destinies of wizards and princes might seem more certain than those carved out for the rest of us, yet we all have to choose the manner in which we meet life: whether to live up (or down) to the expectations placed upon us; whether to act selfishly, or for the common good; whether to steer the course of our lives ourselves, or to allow ourselves to be buffeted around by chance and circumstance. Birthdays are often moments for reflection, moments when we pause, look around, and take stock of where we are; children gleefully contemplate how far they have come, whereas adults look forwards into the trees, wondering how much further they have to go. This extract from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is my favourite part of the seventh book; it might even be my favourite part of the entire series, and in it, Harry demonstrates his truly heroic nature, because he overcomes his own terror to protect the people he loves from death, and the whole of his society from tyranny.
Posted 13th November 2008 by roonwit

Beedle the Bard tea party
The Tales of Beedle the Bard will be launched at a tea party at 4pm on 4th December 2008 at the National Library of Scotland. The children present will be from local schools or from competitions run by the publishers (Scholastic's is here). Jo will read to them and they will see one of the original seven copies of The Tales of Beedle the Bard (on loan from Barry Cunningham) which remains on display there for the next month. Arthur Levine's copy goes on display at The New York Public Library for a similar period.
In the press release Jo says of the work of The Children's High Level Group, to which the proceeds of Beedle the Bard are going;
"Hundreds of thousands of vulnerable children in Eastern Europe are living in appalling conditions in large, residential institutions. Contrary to popular belief, fewer than 4% of them are orphans, but are in care because they are considered disabled or their families are poor or from ethnic minorities. The charity is publishing The Tales of Beedle the Bard to raise money to fund our work in helping these children out of institutions and in to loving families or community care homes.
"I hope that The Tales of Beedle the Bard will not only be a welcome present to Harry Potter fans, but an opportunity to give these abandoned children a voice. It will encourage young people across the world to think about those who are less fortunate and help change many young lives for the better."
Posted 26th October 2008 by roonwit

Why Harry survived
In another outtake from Harry, A History Jo explains that one reason for allowing Harry to survive the books was because she values those who rebuild after a war, modelling Harry on war veterans who work to establish a restored and better world.
Posted 11th October 2008 by roonwit

More about the veil
Melissa has an update on the Harry, A History website. This reveals that the veil does indeed divide life and death, and explains that the reactions of Harry and friends when they come across the veil in the Department of Mysteries varies according to how much belief or skepticism they had about what lies beyond.
Posted 27th September 2008 by roonwit

Harry, A History excerpts starting to appear
Snippets from Melissa Anelli's forthcoming book on the Harry Potter phenomenon are starting to appear. Amazon have an extract (in PDF format) from the Foreword by J. K. Rowling, and on the website set up for the book, Melissa reveals that Hedwig was originally going to catch Harry's first snitch, and discusses the consequences of this change. The book is due to be published on 4th November 2008. Melissa promises that further snippets will appear on her website, including material that didn't make it into the book.
Posted 21st August 2008 by roonwit

Beedle the Bard to be published
Jo announced on her website today that The Tales of Beedle the Bard is to be published on 4th December 2008, with royalties donated to the Children's High Level Group, and contains the five tales with additional notes by Albus Dumbledore, in both a standard edition and (from Amazon) a collector's edition modelled on the original hand-produced edition.
Update: Scholastic have more details on Dumbledore's contribution, apparently written 18 months before his death, which contains information on wandlore and past owners of the Elder Wand, and mentions characters like Aberforth Dumbledore, Lucius Malfoy and Nearly Headless Nick, so should provide some more bits of canon as well as insight into Dumbledore's personal qualities.
Posted 31 July 2008 by roonwit

Jo talks about MS and her mother
The BBC have a report and clip on what Jo says about her mother succumbing to MS in the programme Scotland's Hidden Epidemic: The truth about MS to be screened on BBC ONE (Scotland) at 22:45 today (23rd July 2008).
Posted 23 July 2008 by roonwit

800 word prequel postcard auctioned and revealed
Jo's postcard raised £25,000 at the auction on 10th June, and can be viewed on the Waterstone's website. Copies of the auctioned postcards are due to be published on 7th August and can be pre-ordered from Waterstone's.
Posted 12 June 2008 by roonwit

Jo speaks at Harvard
Earlier today Jo gave the Harvard Commencement Address. Text, audio and video of this is available at the Havard Magazine website, and also on TLC.
Posted 5 June 2008 by roonwit

800 word prequel postcard
Jo has updated her website to say she has written a postcard containing an 800 word prequel set about 3 years before Harry was born. The auction of this and other postcards is on 10th June and is in aid of Dyslexia Action and English PEN. Copies of the cards can be viewed on the What's Your Story? website from 11th June, and can be pre-ordered from Waterstone's (the publication date is 7th August).
Posted 30 May 2008 by roonwit

Snippets from Jo's testimony
As part of her testimony in the Lexicon Book court case on 14th April, Jo revealed a few snippets of new information;

• The occamy, as described in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a highly complicated creature as a joke on the principle of Occam's Razor, which states that things aren't unnecessarily complex. (p 70)
• The werewolf affliction of Remus Lupin is a metaphor for HIV. (p 72-3)
• To illustrate the sacrifices she had to make in the early stages of writing the books, Jo says that there were times she literally had to choose between food and a typewriter ribbon. (p 93-94)
• 'Alohomora is a Sidiki word from West Africa, and it is a term used in geomancy. It is a figure -- the figure alohomora means in Sidiki "favourable to thieves."' (p105) [As fans have discovered, Jo probably said sikidy which is apparently a form of divination in Madagascar. Sidiki is a West African name, for example of the musician Sidiki Diabaté. Melissa transcribed it as seccidy.]
• Alihotsy comes from the same source, and means lightness of spirit. In the books it is a bush whose leaves cause hysteria. (p105-6)

Posted 27 April 2008 by roonwit

Transcript of Jo at James Joyce award
Gazette-du-sorcier now has a mostly complete transcript of Jo speaking to the Literary and Historical society at University College Dublin, in French and English. Some highlights:

• Dumbledore and Snape's roles in the books were plotted from before Book 1 was published. There are more clues about Snape's backstory so we understand him when his big secret is revealed. They are the most important characters in Book 7 apart from the trio.
• The later books weren't influenced by the films. Evanna Lynch is the only actor whose voice Jo has "heard" while writing the books.
• Of all her characters, she would most like to meet Dumbledore, because he seems to have all the answers.
• Jo did consider killing Harry, but only in the early planning stages. But she sees rebuilding and coping with the aftermath of the war as the most noble thing for a hero, not dying.
• Some of the less crucical backstories and storylines did evolve as the books progressed, but the big ones were always there.
• Her favourite rumour was that Dumbledore was Harry from the future, and someone suggested as early as Book 3 that Snape was in love with Lily.
• The only thing she would want to change about the books is to tie back Book 5 a bit as it is rather dark. She was however proud that Aberforth [and Neville] found a way around being unable to apparate in and out of Hogwarts.

Posted 7 April 2008 by roonwit

Interview in the Student
A couple of weeks ago, Jo gave an interview to the Student, a student newspaper associated with Edinburgh University. TLC have a report on this with scans of the article. Some highlights;

• The loss of writing about Harry hit Jo "like a demolition ball" on her birthday.
• She misses anonymity at times.
• The only book she has reread after publication is Deathly Hallows, her favourite.
• She is critical of Christian and other fundamentalism.
• Cognative behavioural therapy helped her counter depression prior to the first book being published.
• Dumbledore's big secret was that he flirted with racial domination and subjugating muggles.
• Dumbledore's early folly with love led to a celebate and bookish life because he mistrusted his own judgement in such matters.
• The "political fairytale" isn't finished and the other book aimed at adults that she had also been working on may never appear.
• She is "kind of working" on the Scottish book, "slowly piecing it together".
• She always wanted to write a novel about a stand-up comedian, though currently has no plans to do so.

Update The Times and USA Today are reporting this interview including additional material from the recording of the interview, namely that she contemplated suicide while struggling with depression. There is also a PDF version of the originally published interview.
Posted 20 March 2008 by roonwit (edited 24 March 2008)

Jo at James Joyce award
Jo recently spoke at a meeting of University College Dublin's Literary and Historical society, where she was presented with the James Joyce award. There isn't yet a transcript, but gazette-du-sorcier has a report, as do The Irish Independent and movies.ie.
Posted 19 February 2008 by roonwit

To be invisible... that would be the best...
An interview by Jo was published recently in the Spanish newspaper El Pais. TLC have a translation into English. Some highlights are

• It is Harry's obligation to "accept the inevitability of his own death" and with this he becomes a "better man".
• Chapter 34 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (The Forest Again) is "the heart of all of the books" and "the last truth of the story".
• Jo: "It strikes me as extraordinary that regardless of the fact that we all know we are going to die, death remains a mystery."
• Jo: "...death is our destiny and we should face up to it. All that we have done in life had the intention of avoiding death."
• Jo: "I believe in a permanent soul. And that is reflected in the last book."
• Jo doesn't think that the last three books are suitable for six-year-olds.
• In the books, Jo uses dates and numbers that are significant to her life.
• Harry's heroic isolationist character is a reflection of Jo's own tendency to isolate herself.
• Jo's real life hero is Robert F. Kennedy.
• Jo was more satisfied with how Deathly Hallows turned out than any of the other six books.
• Jo on her writing the Potter books:  "I didn't write what I wanted, but what I needed to write at that moment."
• Jo on magic: "Sir Frank Frasier (in The Golden Bow) says that in religion the man depends on God, but in magic the man depends on himself, which allows us to measure the capacity of man and magic becomes an ideal existence...Magic is a very important part of literature and that's why it's always going to be there."

Posted 16 February 2008 by Meann and roonwit

J.K.Rowling - A Year In The Life airs in the UK
Lisa's Thoughts: On the whole, the show was lovely, although unlike the famous BBC “Harry Potter and Me” show (Part1 | Part2 | Part3 | Part4 | Part5), there is little new canon.

I think the title is a misnomer. Rather than being entirely about “a year,” we get a nice look at Jo’s roots with highlights of events from 2007. Among these are the moment she finishes Deathly Hallows (January 11), the hand off of the manuscript to her agent, a meeting of the worldwide publishers, footage of the book being printed, the OotP film premiere, the book launch at the Natural History Museum (and bits from world launches), at home baking in her kitchen for her son David’s birthday, and at a planning session for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park.

Other highlights:

• it is lovely to see Jo with her sister Di joking about old photographs,
• a stronger sense of place for towns where Jo spent her childhood,
• she is franker than I can remember about her relationship with her father,
• watching Jo draw the family trees of Harry and his friends,
• the wrenching scene in her old flat in Leith.

TLC have a link to an online copy of this show, and it is also repeated Today (31st December) on ITV2 at 4pm and Saturday 5th January on ITV2 at 7:15pm.
Posted 31 December 2007 by Lisa and roonwit

More from J.K.Rowling - A Year In The Life
There is another excerpt from the forthcoming documentary J.K.Rowling - A Year In The Life showing Jo producing a sketch of the Weasley family tree. Leaky have this video clip and a copy of the tree. Update The door on Jo's Website is open with the tree with additional information on Draco's family. The documentary will be broadcast in the UK on ITV1 tomorrow (December 30th) at 7pm.
The key points from this new clip are (SPOILERS)

• The Battle of Hogwarts took place May 2nd
• Bill and Fleur's children were named Victoire, Dominique and Louis
• Charlie Weasley had no children and never married
• Percy and Audrey's children were named Molly and Lucy
• George married Angelina Johnson and their children were named Fred and Roxanne
• Luna and Rolf's children (twins!) were named Lorcan and Lysander
• Harry and Ginny's children's full names are James Sirius, Albus Severus and Lily Luna Potter
• Draco and Asteria child's full name is Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy

Posted 29 December 2007 by Lisa and roonwit

Part two of Jo's appearance on PotterCast
Leaky have now posted the Pottercast containing the second part of Jo's appearance on PotterCast. There are summaries of what was said below, which of course include SPOILERS.

• Draco married Astoria Greengrass, 2 years younger than Draco and her sister Daphne.
• Jo loathes Pansy Parkinson who represents every girl who ever teased her.
• Jo promises to name the two missing Gryffindor girls in Harry's year, though they aren't important.
• A lot of the design of her website accurately mirrors real life (such as the mess beneath her desk and the dog barking), but not the wallpaper.
• She loved the Carnegie Hall event, with a great sense of liberation, because she could now answer questions and the questions are the crowds were excellent there. The books are so much part of her life because they are tied in with what was going on in her life at the time she wrote each bit of them.
• The love room is the place where they study what love means. It probably contains a fountain or well of a very powerful love potion, and the witches there take it and study the effects. It can raise people to the heights like Lily, or drag them into acts of foolishness or even evil, such as Bellatrix or Dumbledore (with Gellert).
• Bella was madly, romantically in love with Voldemort, and obsessed with him.
• Alan Rickman knew early on that Snape had been in love with Lily, so he could understand his bitterness towards Harry, who is living proof of Lily's preference for another man, but he was the only one who knew this for a very long time.
• Snape was correctly sorted into Slytherin, though he changes and evolves later.
• Slytherins aren't all bad. They have a more highly developed sense of self preservation, but Slughorn and other Slytherins do come back to fight in the final battle having got reinforcements first.
• Warner Bros. (who have the rights for the theme park) have involved Jo in the theme park, and she asked that the production designer on the films be involved in the design, because the film design mirrors what Jo imagines her world to be like. She expects it to be wonderful.
• Florean Fortescue was killed. There was a subplot relating to him and the Elder Wand that didn't make it into the books.
• The only breed that Hagrid ever created were Blast-ended Skrewts (not thestrals where he only bred the Hogwarts herd).
• Wands are quasi-sentient due to the magic they carry. The Elder Wand is the most dispassionate and ruthless of wands because it only considers strength and goes where the power is to the victor. Other wands develop an affinity and loyalty to their owners, but a wand won in a proper adult duel will at least partially switch allegiance to the winner, and so work well with the new owner. (In Duelling clubs there is no real significance attached to winning by either party).
• Jo has a lot of the next generation worked out; there is more on this in the forthcoming documentary.

Posted 24 December 2007 by roonwit

Excerpt from J.K.Rowling - A Year In The Life
ITV have released an excerpt from the forthcoming documentary J.K.Rowling - A Year In The Life to some Harry Potter websites including TLC. This clip shows Jo finishing typing the book and commenting that fans will either love it or hate it. The documentary will be broadcast in the UK on ITV1 on December 30th at 7pm.
Also Jo has updated her website today, giving her reactions to the sale of Beedle the Bard, commenting on her phrase "The Scottish Book" when referring to the Encyclopedia in Leaky's recent podcast, and awarding a Fan Site Award to The HP Alliance.
Posted 21 December 2007 by roonwit

Changes coming
I want to let all of our readers know that Accio Quote will be changing. Some of the articles will be taken offline, although when possible we will be linking out. This means that for a short time the current search index will be less thorough, so we will be re-configuring that too and moving to Google Coop for our search utility.

Why? I have been informed that, thanks to the uncertain boundaries of fair use in copyright law, we could face potentially expensive legal fights over some of the materials in the archive. Rather than wait to be dragged into these disputes, I prefer to take action now.

Help wanted: I could use some help saving Accio Quote. Specifically, we are looking for one more PHP programmer who can donate their time to help us finish our database. If you are interested, please send me links to active PHP-based projects that you have worked on and information on your training and/or experience. In this project, you will be joining Roonwit and one other programmer whose name I'm not ready to announce yet.
Posted 20 December 2007 by Lisa

New JKR feature in Time Magazine
Time Magazine has announced that author J.K. Rowling was a runner-up for the 2007 "Person of the Year." The current issue of the news magazine has a lengthy article and Jo's answers to ten questions! So here is the new quotage and canon (SPOILERS abound) :

"Runner-up: J.K. Rowling" by Nancy Gibbs

• Although the bible verse "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death" on James and Lily's grave is the "theme for the entire series," Jo is not trying to convert her readers to Christianity.
• "It is perfectly possible to live a very moral life without a belief in God, and I think it's perfectly possible to live a life peppered with ill-doing and believe in God."
• "I'm opposed to fundamentalism in any form," she says. "And that includes in my own religion."
• On Wizard rock activism: "It's incredible, it's humbling, and it's uplifting to see people going out there and doing that in the name of your character," [...] "What did my books preach against throughout? Bigotry, violence, struggles for power, no matter what. All of these things are happening in Darfur. So they really couldn't have chosen a better cause."
• "He's [Harry's] still mine," she says. "Many people may feel that they own him. But he's a very real character to me, and no one's thought about him more than I have."
• On the epilogue: "I kept arguing that 'love is the most important force, love is the most important force.' So I wanted to show him loving. Sometimes it's dramatic: it means you lay down your life. But sometimes it means making sure someone's trunk is packed and hoping they'll be O.K. at school."
• Jo is currently writing two books: an adult novel and a "political fairy tale."
• "If, and it's a big if, I ever write an eighth book about the [wizarding ] world, I doubt that Harry would be the central character," she says. "I feel like I've already told his story. But these are big ifs. Let's give it 10 years and see how we feel then."

Rowling Answers 10 Questions About Harry

• The people who came to walk with Harry in the forest as he was going to his death were chosen because they were in some way were parental for him, or gave up their lives for him.
• Having Harry's blood in him was a bit of "goodness" for Voldemort, and gave him one last chance. If he had repented he would have been healed to a remarkable extent.
• Voldemort's Avada Kedavra succeeded in "killing the part of him that is not truly him, in other words, the fragment of Voldemort's own soul that is still clinging to his. The curse also disables Harry severely enough that he could have succumbed to death if he had chosen that path."
• Harry was right to feel repulsed by the baby-like remains of Voldemort's shattered soul.
• What did Dumbledore really see in the Mirror of Erised?
  JKR: "His family, alive and whole and reconciled."
• Harry and Voldemort are distantly related through the Peverells, but you could say the same about Harry and most other wizarding familes.
• Draco Malfoy marries Astoria Greengrass, the "younger sister of the Greengrass family."
• Jo repeated her earlier assertion that Ron's adult career was working at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, where he "does very well."
• Tonks was a Hufflepuff.

Posted 20 December 2007 by Lisa

Rowling on PotterCast!
The first part of Jo's pottercast appearance in now up. There are summaries of what was said below. There are of course SPOILERS included.

• Hufflepuff gave the Hogwarts House Elves good working conditions (which was the moral thing to do at that time).
• In Beedle the Bard
  • The Wizard and the Hopping Pot - the moral is to teach young witches and wizards to use magic altruistically
  • The Fountain of Fair Fortune - (her favourite) about the qualities you need to achieve your heart's desire (magic isn't the best option).
  • The Warlock's Hairy Heart - A dark, gothic tale. Voldemort would have done well to know this one before starting his reign of terror.
  • Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump - (a stupid title) one witch's revenge on muggle persecution.
• Beedle the Bard was originally envisaged as about 30 tales but shrank to 5 when Jo realised she was going to hand write them.
• Horcri was considered as the plural to horcruxes, but Jo didn't want it too similar to inferi.
• The first Horcrux was probably made by Herpo the Foul [cf. the Basilisk entry in FB].
• The making of a horcrux is a dangerous and evil thing, one of two things Jo considers might be too horrible to explain (the other is how Wormtail fashioned the child-like body for Voldemort).
• John Dawlish was originally powerful, but was weakened by Dumbledore's and subsequent attacks on him. However Augusta Longbottom is still a formidable opponent.
• Being gay in the wizarding world is less of an issue (to those who care about such things) than blood status.
• Dumbledore, the great defender of the power of love, was made a fool by it. Grindelwald was almost his dark twin, Dumbledore wanted to believe he was good, and he appeared to offer a solution of the problem of caring for his family.
• Harry isn't really a horcrux, which needs to be made intentionally. He wasn't an evil object with curses on him, and wasn't contaminated by it except on occasions in OotP when it fed off the dark time Harry was going through.
• Harry's scar hurts when the soul piece in him is drawn back to the master piece of soul in Voldemort
• The scar is the wound through which the soul piece found its way into Harry.
• The two-headed smoke snake was Dumbledore detecting that Voldemort's soul had split like this.
• Harry had to die to get rid of the soul piece in him, being poisoned by the basilisk but cured wasn't enough.
• Neville is the-boy-it-could-have-been. Harry has an edge more talent, particularly an instinct of the right thing to do which makes him such a good auror, but Neville proves by the end of the books that he could also have done it had Voldemort chosen him.
• Bellatrix went after the Longbottoms because they were efficient and successful at their jobs as aurors.
• James and Lily were asked out of school to join Voldemort but rejected him.
• Dumbledore knew what happened at Godric's hollow because of an alarm spell on the house, but Jo couldn't remember if there was an explanation for the 24 hours until Harry arrived at Privet Drive.
• The Encyclopedia or "Scottish Book" is currently planned to be half facts and backstory within Harry's world, and half discarded plots and commentary on planning and what went in or not. Jo only wants to write it if it is amazing, she doesn't what to have to rush it out.
• Jo thinks of Hannah Abbot as pure blood (though she might be muggle born in Jo's notes.) She is landlady at The Leaky Cauldron.
• Jo was under pressure to do a fan club, but created her website as a better solution.
• There will be no more WOMBATs. She was told for legal reasons that it would be a bad idea to release snippets of information about DH, and saw the WOMBATs as a way of giving the fans something, though WOMBAT 3 had a lot of hints concealed within it. Jo might put up the answers.
• Harry and Ron didn't go back to school and were aurors, but Hermione did another year at Hogwarts to get her NEWTs. Kingsley wanted anyone in the Battle of Hogwarts on the right side, who was old enough, to help clean up the Ministry (including Ron, Neville and Harry).
• Hermione went with Harry and Ron through DH because ultimately her heart was bigger than her brain, but isn't naturally drawn to battle.
• Jo was sad that she wasn't going to write a Hogwarts graduation scene.

Posted 18 December 2007 by roonwit

Rowling to be on PotterCast!
Today the Leaky Cauldron announced that J.K. Rowling would be the featured guest on next Tuesday's PotterCast. Leaky staffers Melissa Anelli, Sue Upton and John Noe were on hand for the first extensive fan interview since 2005. Melissa promises new canon and lots of fun, so stay tuned.
Posted 16 December 2007 by Lisa

Tales of Beedle the Bard sells for nearly $4 million U.S.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard, translated from the original runes by J.K. Rowling, an entirely handmade book, sold this morning for £1.95 million ($3,985,410 U.S.) in London. The buyer was later announced to be Seattle, Washington-based online merchant Amazon.com. The Children's Voice, a charity co-founded in 2005 by Rowling and Baroness Nicholson is to receive the proceeds.

The book is bound in Moroccan leather with hand-chased silver bosses set with moonstones; there are only 6 other copies in existence. The book's 157 hand-written and illustrated pages contain 5 wizarding fairy tales: "The Fountain of Fair Fortune," "The Warlock's Hairy Heart," "The Tale of the Three Brothers," "The Wizard and the Hopping Pot," and "Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump."

Amazon does not have the rights to publish the book; however they say they will post reviews of the stories and more photographs. According to the Associated Press, Amazon spokesman Craig Berman said the company plans a tour for the book of libraries and schools.

• Amazon: pictures, a video, and a forum for questions
• Associated Press report

Posted 13 December 2007 by Lisa

J.K.Rowling - A Year In The Life
TLC has an in-depth preview on the documentary J.K.Rowling - A Year In The Life filmed over the past year, covering the finishing of Deathly Hallows, the book launch and Jo on tour, plus memories from her earlier life. According to a recent update on Jo's Website this will be screened in the UK on Sunday 30th December 2007, on ITV. (She also updated her diary and (with SPOILERS) answered a couple of FAQs on the closing chapters of Deathly Hallows, and revealed a bit of extra stuff about Harry and Dudley and The Elder Wand).
Posted 10 December 2007 by roonwit

Information from the WOMBATs
I have been working out how the WOMBATs are scored, to see what extra information is obtained from knowing the right answers. Some of what I was able to deduce in this way is

• House elf ownership is unlicensed. They live for an average of 200 years. Their loyalty is to their house more than its inhabitants. They can be ordered to kill themselves. They are powerful enough to override wizards' enchantments. They breed infrequently and only with their master's permission.
• There are no female centaurs.
• There are no male Veela.
• Hags have four toes on each foot, but are only able to do rudimentary magic.
• The Great Fire of London was started by a young Welsh Green Dragon being kept in a basement.
• The animal form of a patronus does not determine its strength.
• Muggle-born witches and wizards usually have an ancestor (possibly very distant) who was a witch or wizard.
• Muggles can't produce even elementary magic even if they have access to a wand and spell book.
• A secret task force of Wizard and Muggles helped the Allies to victory in the Second World War.
• Witches and Wizards live in every country in the world, but not every country has a wizarding school.
• The flying carpet trade is banned everywhere except the far East.
• Egypt hosts the world's largest centre of Alchemical studies.
• The age at which wizards can legally perform magic is 17 throughout the world.
• It is illegal to apparate between countries, but travel by portkey is allowed if both countries give permission.
• There is no wizard royalty.
• No authorization is required to send owl mail internationally.
• Foodstuffs can be increased, transfigured, summoned from a distance and magically cooked, but not conjured out of thin air, and some things can't be transfigured into food.
• It is impossible to transfigure animate objects into inanimate objects.
• Occlumency can't guard against possession.
• No spell can guard against Cruciatus Curse.
• A poison victim can be cured without the correct antidote, but curing a curse victim requires the correct counter-spell, and you need to know who or what a person or object was originally to un-transfigure them.
• The location and name of Hogwarts were chosen by Rowena Ravenclaw, who dreamed that a warty hog was leading her to the cliff by the lake.

Posted 2 December 2007 by roonwit

More on Beedle the Bard
As reported by TLC, Sotheby's (free registration required) have added to their information on the Beedle the Bard including this information from Jo on its creation

When I conceived the idea of writing The Tales of Beedle the Bard in full, I was intrigued to discover how wizarding fairy-tales would differ from those told to muggle children. In the latter, witches and wizards are relegated to walk-on, if pivotal, roles; within The Tales of Beedle the Bard, they themselves are the heroes and heroines.
You might think that magic would solve any fairy-tale dilemma, but it transpires that there is always somebody who can cast a more powerful curse, or a creature who will not yield to one's best enchantments. Then, the intractable and eternal human predicaments of love, death and the pursuit of happiness are not necessarily resolved any more easily by the possessors of wands.
So these wizarding fairy-tales have much in common with their muggle counterparts: they exist to express human hopes and fears, and to teach a lesson or two. There are, however, a few important differences: witches tend to save themselves, rather than waiting around for a man to do it, and young wizards are warned, not against the dangers and temptations of the outside world, but of their own magical powers.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard is really a distillation of the themes found in the Harry Potter books, and writing it has been the most wonderful way to say goodbye to a world I loved and lived in for seventeen years.

Posted 19 November 2007 by roonwit

Lengthy interview for De Volkskrant
There is a new interview of J.K. Rowling in the newspaper De Volkskrant, her second ever for her Dutch readers. In this interview she talks about her spiritual development, the King's Cross chapter, and Deathly Hallows meaning and symbolism.

I am working on posting an interview sent to us by Peter Kersbergen. In the meanwhile, the text in Dutch is here (flash animation), and The Leaky Cauldron also has a translation
Posted 18 November 2007 by Lisa

"Tales of Beedle the Bard" announcement transcripts now available
Meann has completed two transcripts, one of the BBC Radio broadcast, and one of the BBC's video of Jo's announcement. Both reports are by Razia Iqbal, but were edited differently. There is a bit of new information:

• "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" consists of 5 stories set in JKR's Wizarding world, continuing the same themes in a different time period.
• Only 7 copies exist; the book will never be published.
• Jo thinks what she publishes next will be a "half-finished book for children."

Thanks Meann!
Posted 3 November 2007 by Lisa

"Tales of Beedle the Bard" to be auctioned
In a surprise announcement, Jo tells us on her website that she wrote The Tales of Beedle the Bard as a thank you gift for six people who worked closely with her on the Harry Potter books over the years, and that she will auction the seventh copy off at Sotheby's for charity. The Sotheby's site shows some of Jo's drawings from the book. Sotheby's description of the book is

Autograph manuscript of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" translated from the original runes by J.K. Rowling. Individually handwritten and extensively illustrated by the author, c.160 pages written in an Italian hand-made notebook, bound in brown morocco embellished on upper cover by Edinburgh silversmiths Hamilton and Inches, with five individually hand-chased hallmarked sterling silver ornaments and mounted moonstones.

AQ staffer Jules has ordered the auction catalog so we will have more in due course.
The BBC has a report with a video interview. CBBC and The Leaky Cauldron also have reports.
Posted 1 November 2007 by Lisa and roonwit

Transcript for Toronto press conference
AQ staff Meann and roonwit have created a transcript for the 10/22 press conference in Toronto. Jo had a microphone but the reporters asking the questions did not, so many of the questions were unintelligible. The video for it is here: CBC.ca.

Highlights:

• There wasn't a point at which Rowling decided that Dumbledore was gay; she gradually realized it "very early on" while she was writing the first book.
  
• Rowling "probably" won't write a prequel.
• JKR: "He [Dumbledore] is my character, and as my character I have the right to say what I say about him."
• Most of the tweaking of the epilogue was to remove information; the biggest change was the addition of information about Teddy Lupin.
• Rowling still plans on working on a Hogwarts encyclopedia, but not immediately.
• Hermione would read Margaret Atwood's books; Harry and Ron don't read much as adults.

Posted 25 October 2007 by Lisa

Reports from the evening session at New York
TLC has a report of the evening reading and is working on a full transcript. Some highlights

• Neville is married to Hannah Abbott, the new landlady of the Leaky Cauldron making him extra cool with the students because he lives above the pub.
• Molly was the one to finish off Bellatrix to demonstrate her other talents, and to show the clash of loves, Bellatrix's obsession with Voldemort and Molly's maternal love.
• To an 8 year old questioner, she said that Aberforth's goat charm was to make a goat that was easy to keep clean with curly horns.
• Dumbledore is gay, and fell in love with Grindelwald, adding to his horror when Grindelwald later showed his true nature.
• Ron was able to duplicate the parseltongue word for "Open" after hearing Harry say it, but he wouldn't be able to speak to snakes.
• Dumbledore persuaded Petunia to take Harry in, by appealing to the part of her that had wanted to go to Hogwarts and be a part of the magical world and hated Lily unjustly because she couldn't.
• The horcrux part of Harry wasn't destroyed in Chamber of Secrets, because Fawkes healed Harry before the damage was irreparable.
• James supported Lupin financially, as he was unemployable. James, Lily, Sirius and Remus were full time Order fighters.
• Hagrid never married, and James and Lily went into hiding shortly after Lily became pregnant with Harry.
• She decided not to kill off Arthur in book 5, because it would have killed off a lot of Ron's humour, which comes from insensitivity and immaturity, and she didn't want him to grow up until the final book. She also wanted to finish with an orphan - Teddy - to mirror Harry.

Posted 20 October 2007 by roonwit

First two reports from New York
Bloomberg.com and The Leaky Cauldron have the first two reports on Rowling's visit to New York this morning (there is another one tonight). It looks like there were some very good questions. MTV also have a report.
Some highlights

• Jo married "Harry Potter", describing Harry as a really good and gutsy person.
• She also dated a few Ron Weasleys, describing Ron as very funny but insensitive, with a lot of immaturity, which is where a lot of the humour comes from. Also "He's not much fun to date, but he's great as a friend."
• Dudley and Harry exchanged Christmas cards, their children don't like each other very much, but their were some slightly awkward family get togthers.
• Harry and Ginny are real soul mates. They're both very strong and very passionate. That's their connection, and they're remarkable together.
• Ron and Hermione, however, are drawn to each other because they balance each other out. Hermione's got the sensitivity and maturity that's been left out of Ron, and Ron loosens up Hermione a bit, gets her to have some fun. They love each other and they bicker a bit, but they enjoy bickering, so we shouldn't worry about it.

Posted 19 October 2007 by Lisa and roonwit

Early reports of New Orleans visit
Here are links to the first reports of Rowling's visit to New Orleans:

• Times-Picayune (via NOLA.com) Thanks Leaky & roonwit!
• Daily Comet
• Associated Press (via International Herald Tribune)
• WDSU television

The Times-Picayune article is the most complete. New canon:

• The first piece of literature that inspired Jo was The Wind in the Willows.
• Rowling wanted the books to show some of the evils of war: how "totally innocent people are slaughtered" and "that children lose their families."
• Cho Chang married a Muggle.
• Snape teaches Potions because Jo didn't do well in Chemistry and wanted revenge.

Links to photographs here: The Leaky Cauldron
Posted 18 October 2007 by Lisa

More from the LA press Conference
Another report of the Press conference in Los Angeles has appeared on hollywood.com. This seems to be a more complete reporting of Jo's actual words. In addition to what has already been reported, It also contains comments on how Harry reacts to Dobby's death.

Canon summary:

• JKR: "Dobbie's death woke Harry up to what he was doing" because it was so senseless. Rowling always knew how Dobby would die.

Posted 18 October 2007 by roonwit and Lisa with thanks to El Cronista and roonwit for the tip.

JKR: "hogwarts is a multi-faith school"
Do you remember back in 1999 when Jo said she couldn't answer the questions about the book's religious content until the conclusion of book seven? Well, that's what she did at Monday's Los Angeles press conference. Congratulations to MTV writer Shawn Adler for two great articles (this one and the one I linked to on Monday).

I am going to attempt canon summaries, although in some parts it is difficult to tell what is Adler's analysis and what is Rowling:

• Jo thought explicit references to Christianity early on in the story would make the ending too obvious.
• JKR: "Hogwarts is a multifaith school."
• The Matthew 6:19 and 1Corintians 15:26 quotations on his parents' gravestones were meant to symbolize "living beyond death. Living after death." They "sum up" the whole series.
  
• Harry's struggle with questions about the afterlife begins when Sirius dies.
• The two epigrams at the beginning of Book 7 ("The Libation Bearers" by Aeschylus and William Penn's "More Fruits of Solitude") had been planned since book 2 was published: "I always knew [that] if I could use them at the beginning of book seven then I'd cued up the ending perfectly.... They just say it all to me...."
• Harry's struggle with his beliefs about the afterlife mirrors her own.

Of course, Travis Prinzi and John Granger have interesting things to say about this news.
Posted 17 October 2007 by Lisa

New canon from Los Angeles!
MTV article:

• JKR: "Snape is vindictive, he's cruel. He's not a big man. But he loves. I like him, but I'd also like to slap him hard."
• JKR: "Although [Dumbledore] seems to be so benign for six books, he's quite a Machiavellian figure, really. He's been pulling a lot of strings. Harry has been his puppet."
• Jo has not started working on the Harry Potter Encyclopedia. She did not envision it to be the next thing she was going to do.

LA Times article

• JKR: "I want to fall in love with something in the way I fell in love with the idea of Harry before I write anything else."

Associated Press/Reuters article

• Jo said it would be "incredibly difficult to go out and create another world" and she probably won't write another fantasy.

Posted 16 October 2007 by Meann

Rowling begins U.S. "Open Book" tour
The first reports are flooding in of Rowling's reading and question-and-answer session today in Los Angeles.

• MTV
• LA Times
• Reuters
• Scholastic
• Associated Press
• ABC7.com
• Leaky Cauldron readers

Next stop? New Orleans, at the Ernest N. Morial Auditorium at the Convention Center on Thursday, October 18th.
Posted 15 October 2007 by Lisa

Dateline (NBC) Interview
Meann's transcript for the Dateline Interview is now available. This interview contains spoilers. Some highlights (also by Meann):

• Jo is proud of the fact that many readers believed it was a real possibility that Harry would die because it means the books are "imbued with a sense of genuine mortality."
• Jo planned, very early on, the scene where Hagrid carries Harry out of the Forbidden Forest, believing him to be dead.
• Dumbledore learned, when he was 17, that his weakness and temptation is Power. "He recognized that he was not really to be trusted with power. And so he remained at Hogwarts."
• Jo says the Harry Potter series is a political metaphor.
• JKR: "My beliefs and my struggling with religious belief and so on I think is quite apparent in this book."
• Victoire, Bill and Fleur's eldest daughter, is Teddy Lupin's girlfriend.
• Jo says it was shown at the end of Book 7 that Voldemort had a chance for redemption " because he had taken into his body this-- this drop of hope or love (Harry's blood). So that meant that if he could have mustered the courage to repent, he would have been okay. But, of course, he wouldn't. And that's his choice."

Posted 01 August 2007 by roonwit and Meann

Bloomsbury Web Chat
We now have the text from the Bloomsbury web chat where Jo was taking live and advance questions from fans. It contains plenty of interesting information, but a large amount of Deathly Hallows spoilers.
Some highlights:

• Kingsley becomes permanent Minister for Magic and reforms the Ministry after Voldemort's fall.
• Harry heads up the new Auror department for Kingsley.
• Hermione reforms house elf regulations before switching to Magical Law and getting rid of pro-pure-blood legislation.
• Ron joins George in Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes.
• Ginny plays for the Holyhead Harpies, before retiring to start a family and become senior Quidditch correspondent at the Daily Prophet.
• Luna becomes a magical naturalist and marries Rolf Scamander, the grandson of Newt.
• The Malfoys weaseled out of punishment because they helped Harry at the end.
• The dementors caused Dudley to see himself as he really was.
• The Hufflepuff common room is a cosy cellar near the kitchens, with tunnels and round doors for the domitories.
• No-one does magic late in life - Jo changed her mind after PoA.
• Snape is a flawed hero, cruel and bullying, but ultimately laying down his life for loyalty to what he loved.
• Umbridge was arrested and imprisoned for crimes against muggleborns.
• Quirrell had taught Muggle Studies before switching to DADA.
• Firenze was allowed back into his herd, when they were forced to acknowledge that he acted honourably.

Posted 30 July 2007 by roonwit

NBC Today Show interview part two
We now have the transcript for the second part of the NBC Today Show interview, this one prepared by AQ staffer Meann. In this part of the interview Vieira and Rowling talk about the influence Jo's mother's death had on the books, the original last sentence of the series, Jo's relationship with Dan, Emma and Rupert, and the record-breaking book sales. The interview contains Deathly Hallows spoilers.
Posted 27 July 2007 by Lisa

NBC Today Show interview part one
Here is the first part of the NBC TodayShow interview of J.K. Rowling with Meredith Vieira and some fans is now online in video form at the MSNBC website. This part of the interview discusses what various characters are doing at the time of the epilogue, and has a bit to say about Snape. The interview contains Deathly Hallows spoilers.
Posted 26 July 2007 by Lisa

UPDATE: Full transcript completed! AQ staffer Jules has finished a full transcript. This was trickier than usual because NBC released 2 videos with slightly different content. Our transcript contains everything. Thanks Jules!

Highlights by Meann

• Jo said she "probably will" publish an encyclopedia of the Potter world. However, she wants to take a break, "So you may be waiting."
• During the Book 7 epilogue, Hogwarts already had a new Headmaster because "McGonagall was really getting on a bit".
• There is a now a permanent Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. The jinx on the position was broken when Voldemort died. Jo could see Harry giving the "odd talk" on DADA.
• Mr. Weasley was the character who got a reprieve. Jo was planning to kill him off when she wrote her first drafts.
• Jo's favorite passage in all the books is in Chapter 34 of "Deathly Hallows", when Harry walks into the forest intending to sacrifice himself so that Voldemort will be defeated. "I didn't cry as I was writing [that chapter], but when I finished writing, I had an enormous explosion of emotion and I cried and cried and cried."
• Jo said the Epilogue was supposed to be a lot more detailed than what it turned out to be. It was even supposed to contain the names of the children born to the Weasley clan for the past 19 years. "But it didn't work very well as a piece of writing," she said. "It felt very much that I had crowbarred in every bit of information I could."
• Victoire, the girl who was snogging Teddy (Lupin and Tonks' son), is Bill and Fleur's eldest daughter.
• Harry and Ron are working as Aurors. Harry heads the Auror Department. "Harry and Ron utterly revolutionized the Auror Department. They are now the experts. It doesn't matter how old they are or what else they've done."
• Hermione is "pretty high up" in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
• Harry, Ron, and Hermione revolutionized the Ministry of Magic. It has now evolved into a "really good place to be".
• Luna is travelling the world, looking for "mad creatures". "She's a naturalist, whatever the wizarding equivalent of that is."
• Even though she has already said they won't be hooking up, Jo said that she felt "a bit of a pull" between Neville and Luna. She has decided to leave the question of their relationship open at the end of Book 7 because to the otherwise would "be too neat".
• Neville's parents never left St. Mungo's because the Dark Magic Bellatrix cast on them did permanent damage.
• Neville finds happiness in his position as a Herbology Professor at Hogwarts and in his Grandmother's acceptance of him as a gifted wizard.

Posted 26 July 2007 by roonwit and meann

New interview with USA Today
USA Today has published a new interview with J.K. Rowling, "A Fond Look Back at Harry." There are no spoilers -- as long as you don't follow the cut to a second page. No new canon, but she talks a bit about what she's writing now and why she thinks she probably won't write fantasy again.
Posted 25 July 2007 by Lisa

Full Blue Peter transcript!
Jules and Meann have just finished the July 20th Blue Peter transcript! I love what Jo says about Neville and Luna, and about her fondness for Daydream Charms.

New canon:

• Trevor is just a toad.
• Albus Dumbledore was probably in love at some point in his life, though we shouldn't read too much into it.
• The time turners really were all smashed in the Ministry (she didn't want a Terminator like situation).

Posted 25 July 2007 by Lisa

First clips from Blue Peter Interview
The BBC has posted some clips from the Blue Peter interview later today on the Blue Peter website. Some highlights are

• Dumbledore's death is important to the story.
• If you cried when Dumbledore died you will cry in book 7.
• Her favourite books to write were books 3, 6 and 7, with Deathly Hallows being the one she liked most.
• Having denied the Neville/Luna romance on her website, she started to see how it might have worked while writing book 7.
• Her favourite item from the magical world would be the pensieve, though there are one or two desirable objects coming up in book 7.
• She said that Albus Dumbledore was probably in love at some point in his life, though we shouldn't read too much into it.
• The time turners really were all smashed in the Ministry (she didn't want a Terminator like situation).
• Her favourite Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes objects would be the Skiving Snackboxes and the Patented Daydream Charms.
• Snape's boggart is probably related to what he would see in the Mirror of Erised, but she won't tell us what that would be.
• Mr. Weasley's favourite item from the muggle world, if he could get one, would probably be a computer.
• If she needed happy memories for a Patronus charm, her happiest ones would probably be the birth of her three children, followed by when Philosopher's Stone was accepted for publication.

Also, the door on Jo's website is open with a list of acknowledgements to those who helped her while writing the books.

Update: The BBC has posted a press release that includes part of the interview, and photos of the Blue Peter interview are up on Leaky galleries.
Posted 21 July 2007 by roonwit & Lisa

Launch day! AQ staff have their quills at the ready
Accio Quote staff (me, Jules, Michael, Meann, Kadi and Kimmers) are ready to spring into action tomorrow to give you the highlights of today's Blue Peter interview ("Harry Potter - A Blue Peter Special" Friday 20 July 4:30pm - 5:00pm on BBC1). Of course we have a certain book to read too, so please be patient.

And a reminder that later today international fans can listen to Jo's reading at the London midnight launch, as it will be streaming live from bloomsbury.com at the precise moment it is published (12:01am BST on Saturday 21st, but you can log on at beginning ten minutes before the stream starts). If you're not sure when that is your time, I created a handy clock -- just look for a city in your time zone. If you miss it, the video will remain accessible for two weeks.
Posted 20 July 2007 by Lisa

"Rowling bids her boy wizard goodbye"
In a new interview by the Associated Press, Rowling ruminates on her sense of bereavement and her plans post-Potter. Quotage:

But it's only now that she realizes just how intense the pressure has been at the center of the Harry Potter whirlwind.

"I was very lonely with it," she says. "It's not like being in a pop group, where at least there would be three or four other people who knew what it was like to be on the inside. Only I knew what it was like to be generating this world as it became bigger and bigger and bigger and more and more people were invested in it."

Posted 20 July 2007 by Lisa

Ross transcript posted
We've posted the transcript of the Jonathan Ross interview! [adult humor warning]. Although our transcript is based in part on the one posted at Leaky, the Accio Quote version includes the green room chit chat before the main interview, as well as substantial corrections and clarifications. Thank you again Jules and roonwit! Transcription typing is numbing, painstaking work.

And here are the official summaries we came up with:

• The trio all have aspects of Jo in them.
• Harry's story comes to quite a clear end in book 7.
• She won't say that she will never write another book set in the Harry Potter world but thinks it unlikely.
• Jo clarified that while there are 2 unplanned deaths in Book 7, overall there will be many more than that.
• The last word in Deathly Hallows is not "scar;" She won't tell us what it is.
• Jo "howled" after writing a particular chapter toward the end.

In case you're wondering, On Accio Quote, "summaries" are different from "highlights" in that they are restricted to what we learned about the books from the interview.
Posted 7 July 2007 by Lisa

Jonathan Ross interview
The interview has been broadcast and the highlights, in addition to the ones previewed before broadcast are

• She is more relaxed giving interviews now the books are finished.
• When asked what she was writing next she said she was taking a break.
• The trio all have aspects of Jo in them.
• Her husband has read the book, her daughter is going to read Jo's first (printed?) copy.
• The last three books have been stolen from the printers (I am not sure if she means 4-6, or 5-7).
• Jo only agreed to the films being made on condition that only her stories were used (ie. no spin offs written by someone else).
• Harry's story comes to quite a clear end in book 7. She won't say that she will never write another book set in the Harry Potter world but thinks it unlikely.

More highlights, these based on the list at SnitchSeeker:

• Jo implied there was a part in Deathly Hallows Bob Hoskins could play [so this must be a new character?].
• Jo will never see writing for children as second best.
• She kept losing the epilogue.
• The epilogue has been changed; she clarified that while there are 2 unplanned deaths, overall, there will be many more than just those 2 (she used the word "bloodbath" then said that was an exaggeration).
• She had to establish boundaries as to what magic can and can't do - specifically in relation to death.
• The last word in Deathly Hallows is no longer "scar." She won't reveal the last word.
• She was both euphoric and devastated to finish. She "howled" after writing a particular chapter toward the end.

Note that these are summaries not quotes.

Update! A video (quicktime mp4) of the entire interview is now available on The Leaky Cauldron [note: adult humor] Thanks roonwit!
Posted 7 July 2007 by roonwit and Lisa

Jonathan Ross interview preview
The Telegraph has posted a preview of tomorrow's Jonathan Ross interview where Jo reportedly says "[I felt] euphoria, devastated, when I finished one chapter near the end I absolutely howled, it had been planned for so long." AQ staffers Jules and Michael will be working together to get you the scoop as quickly as possible!
Edit: RTE also have a preview of this interview. Jo reportedly describes herself as "quite swotty" like Hermione, tells us that Harry is "totally imaginary" and "Scar is quite near the end, but it's not the last word."
Edit2: The BBC are also reporting on the interview. Here she is reported to say that Ron Weasley was a lot like her oldest friend Sean.
Edit3: And from the BBC Press Office which in addition to the above quotes add Jo saying of the actors who play her characters "It's a weird relationship. It's a peculiar feeling, parental, and yet there's this place where you're inhabiting the same characters... strangely intense from my point of view... to keep it all British has been a hell of an achievement."
Posted 5 July 2007 by Lisa and roonwit

"Harry Potter death makes mythological sense" -- or does it?
There's an interesting Associated Press article today on MSNBC where university profs have a go at the question of whether Harry will die or not.
Posted 5 July 2007 by Lisa

Compilation of Rowling quotes from London premiere
AQ staff have been busy collecting all the interviews conducted at the London premiere of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." For the full list, check out our blog, "Madam Pince's Potter Pages."
Posted 3 July 2007 by Lisa

Ten years since Book 1! How can that be?
I'd like to wish a belated Happy 10th birthday to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the book that started it all. I first read about it as a Library Assistant working at Sunrise Drive Elementary School in Tucson, Arizona. [Read the rest...]
Posted 1 July 2007 by Lisa

New Canon! Johnstone article from 2000 now available in full
I was chagrined that we didn't have the "June" 2000 article that Herald writer Anne Johnstone cites in yesterday's piece; however I have located it and added it to the archive. The actual date of the article is July 8, 2000, even though the interview actually took place in June. What is interesting is that the original version of the "death cannot be reversed" quote is different -- and more interesting -- than we were told yesterday. Can you spot the difference? [Read the rest...]
Posted 1 July 2007 by Lisa

Ten years on, Reminiscences of Herald reporter Anne Johnstone
Anne Johnstone of The Herald (Glasgow) was the first newspaper reporter to interview J.K. Rowling, and today she has published her memories of how the June 1997 interview came about, as well as her thoughts on how Rowling's relationship with the press inevitably changed. [Read the rest...]
Posted 30 June 2007 by Lisa

New Fan Challenge: Durmstrang in Scandinavia?
According to AQ reader Constance Vigilance and HP4GU member Pam Scruton, a transcript exists somewhere of a reading Rowling did at "Maggie's Cancer Caring Centre" in Glasgow, December 9, 2000. According to Pam, Jo told the audience (roughly) where Durmstrang and Beauxbatons are. We'd LOVE to confirm this! [Read the rest...]
Posted 27 June 2007 by Lisa

Four articles added to 2007 page
No new canon, but we have added an essay written by Rowling about caged beds, articles about the coming movie and computer game that might indicate points of canon, and an article that provides some interesting statistics on the Potter phenomenon. Thanks to Jules and everyone who sent them in!
Posted 23 June 2007 by Lisa

Jo to tour three cities in the U.S. in October
I hope our readers are right and Jo will tour other countries as well, but for now American Potter fans are dreaming of meeting their favorite author. Jo updated her website with the news that she will be touring the U.S. where she will "read from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series, answer questions about the entire series, and sign copies of the latest book."
Posted 13 June 2007 by Lisa

Diane Rehm Show audio available again!
AQ reader Terrah has written to tell us that the awesome interview of Rowling by Diane Rehm is available for listening again! [Read the rest...]
Posted 13 June 2007 by Lisa

Three interview dates announced
Here they are, the dates for three Rowling interviews! Thanks to The Leaky Cauldron for the update! [read the rest...]
Posted 13 June 2007 by Lisa

New-to-AQ essay by Rowling
A few weeks ago AQ Reader Sharon reminded us that Jo wrote the introduction to a 2005 book entitled "One City" about her attachment to the city of Edinburgh. Thanks to Meann, it is now available for your reading pleasure. The book is still in print and available at Amazon.co.uk.
Posted 6 June 2007 by Lisa

Transcript of Donny and Marie interview from 1999
Laurel Carmer has sent another of her transcripts! This one is from the November of 1999 "Donny and Marie Show" when Rowling was touring the U.S. promoting Harry Potter and the Prince of OZ. Oh, darn I can't read the cuecard! Heh. I can just see Jo rolling her eyes to herself. Thanks Laurel!
Posted 1 June 2007 by Lisa

New theme listing: Wands
AQ staffer Meann has created a new theme listing for everything Jo has said about wands in interviews or on her website. Nice work, Meann!
Posted 29 May 2007 by Lisa

PotterCast interview of Arthur Levine added
Well, it was broadcast over a year ago, but here it is, Melissa Anelli's extensive interview of Rowling's American editor, Arthur Levine. She also interviewed him in 2005.
Posted 29 May 2007 by Lisa

New listing added: What Jo says she will do after Book 7
Today rumors are flying about a possible encyclopedia that Jo might write about Harry's world, so I combed through the archive and started a page for statements she's made about her plans after Book 7. Enjoy!
Posted 12 May 2007 by Lisa

No Spoiler Zone
Jo posted to her website diary today to reiterate her opinion on spoilers and the lowlifes who will be trying to ruin the surprises she has in store for us.

It may seem obvious that Accio Quote!, as a site that collects interviews of author J.K. Rowling, would not print spoilers. We're not really a news site, though we try to post new interviews as quickly as possible.

But I want to say here that Accio Quote! will not print anything about the plot specifics of Book 7 from unofficial sources, and if an official source slips up and blurts something out about the Giant Squid, we won't print that either -- until the book is out for a few days. Examples of official sources would be Jo herself, Arthur A. Levine, Stephen Fry, and Jim Dale, all people whom we are certain will be careful about what they say. We will also continue our policy of posting non-Jo interviews to our blog but not this website.

And I implore you, please don't attempt to spoil me or other AQ staff by e-mail. We're fans too and we desperately don't want this moment ruined.
Posted 14 May 2007 by Lisa

5 new FAQs on jkrowling.com
Here are links to Jo's 5 new FAQs:

• What are the properties of Draco’s wand? Can we assume that its wood is hawthorn, as per the chart on your site?
• We learned in book six that Merope Gaunt staggered into the orphanage of New Year’s Eve and gave birth to Tom Riddle ‘within the hour’. Was Voldemort born on December 31st or January 1st?
• What is Draco Malfoy’s Patronus?
• What houses were Tonks and Myrtle in?
• Are Alecto and Amycus (the two sibling Death Eaters) the Carrows mentioned by Snape in Spinner’s End?

These are answers to questions posed in an open letter to Jo written by Andy and the folks at HarryPotterFanZone.com. Good going, Andy!
Posted 8 May 2007 by Lisa

Candis Magazine interview from 2001 now available
AQ reader Louise told us a few months ago about a 2001 interview in Candis Magazine, so we added it to our Fan Challenge list. Well, this week, AQ staffer Jules got her hands on a copy and has made us all a transcript. Big thanks to Louise and Jules! Here's the new canon we gleaned: [Read the rest...]
Posted 26 Apr 2007 by Lisa

So, what does JKR say about Book 7? Find out here
We have a new page on Accio Quote! where we have taken everything we can find that J.K. Rowling has said about her last book and weighted each statement for importance. Then the staff had a crack at guessing what it all might mean. The title is "Hint, Hint: JKR on Book 7, What We know abut Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." [read the rest...]
Posted 25 Apr 2007 by Lisa

Heartfelt Rowling book foreword from 2002 now available
AQ reader Sharon Johnson reminded us of the foreword that Jo wrote for a 2002 collection of short stories entitled Magic: New Stories. The book was a fundraiser for one-parent families, so Rowling's beautifully written foreword focuses on her experiences as an impoverished single mother. This book is still available for purchase from Amazon.co.uk!
Posted 22 Apr 2007 by Lisa

New Accio Quote artwork by Riikka Jäntti!
I am thrilled to announce that Finnish painter and children's book writer/illustrator Riikka Jäntti has completed her redesign of our site graphics! When I discovered her work over on the Harry Potter Lexicon and then saw her delightful book illustrations, I knew I wanted to hire her for Accio Quote. My high hopes have been exceeded. Thank you, Riikka! This is a dream come true.
Posted 21 Apr 2007 by Lisa

Mary Ann "Meann" Ortiz is our newest staff member
Please welcome Mary Ann Ortiz (aka 'daydreamcharms' and 'Meann'), who is our newest staff member! Mary Ann has been a Harry Potter fan since 2000 and is a regular visitor of the Floo Network websites.  She co-administers a local fan club, Hogwarts Philippines, and is part of a research team for the producers of a Harry Potter podcast.  She is also one of the organizers of the annual Philippine Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention.

Meann is a geodetic engineer and quality management engineer who lives in Manila, Philippines.  She loves books, movies, transcripts, and land quidditch.
Posted 12 Apr 2007 by Lisa

Transcript posted for Arthur Levine interview on Today Show
I will be posting important non-JKR interviews on our blog, Madam Pince's Potter Pages. Meann (Daydreamcharms from the Leaky Lounge) has sent us her transcript for the Levine interview where he revealed the covers, but was tight-lipped about what it all means. Thank you Meann!
Posted 30 Mar 2007 by Lisa

Official transcript of Owen Jones interview
AQ reader Joanne Hill has transcribed the Owen Jones interview that was televised by ITV in 2005! I have been busy correcting all the references to the previous, incomplete reports, because the quoted text is slightly different. Here is the adjusted list of canon summaries for the interview: [Read the rest...]
Posted 27 Mar 2007 by Lisa

Thief!
And on a disgusted note, it has come to our attention that someone is selling a guide to book 7 that steals original content from the Harry Potter Lexicon, Jo's website and Accio Quote (our summaries), and then calls our work "bonuses" in order to charge you extra. No, we're not speaking of Mugglenet's book. They asked.
Posted 15 Mar 2007 by Lisa

Original page date 21 September, 2006; last updated 4 July, 2007.