What Joanne did next

[Guest]

[Sharon]

Following on from Bitsy's post in the main Shack about JKR's revelations during her US tour, I thought I better continue it here.  I could just see me blurting out some highly relevant piece of information from the last book and getting lynched 

So Neville married Hannah  .  I am so disappointed about that.  I thought JK said that Neville and Luna lived happily ever after.  It is not so much who ended up with whom, just that she seems to be making it up as she goes along now.  I know that seems a silly thing to say as she obviously did just make it all up, but up to now she has stuck to a very ridged plan.  She created an entire world and apart from a few faux pars the world was very consistent.  I think this is what made it so popular - very much like Tolkien.  If JK now starts dropping things in totally out of the blue, without any thought to what she has said previously, just for effect, I will be disappointed.

[Bitsy]

I felt the same way when I read about Neville and Hannah, Sharon. I absolutely believed that Neville and Luna would be together, and I truly felt that they belonged together.

I remember reading one of her interviews conducted just after the release of DH where she stated that Luna married a naturalist like herself, but that she found her way back to Neville while he was teaching at Hogwarts. I almost think I remember her saying that Luna's husband passed away in an experiment or something to that end (very much in keeping with their slightly eccentric lifestyles--could be wrong here...could have been an assumption made by those writing the article based on something she said).

There was never any mention of Hannah Abbott initially. She said she never really thought about Luna and Neville, but towards the end, she could see them getting together down the line.

EDIT: Ok, I found one of the passages that I remembered. It said that it was possible Luna and Neville would end up together. Yet when first asked about the possibility years ago, she said "definitely not." But as the story and characters developed, JK began to “feel a bit of a pull" between the two of them. She decided to leave the question of their relationship open because closing it "felt too neat."

I think Hannah and Neville would fit together, though, given the fact that Hannah loses her parents as well (am I right about that?).

The other thing I forgot to mention--she implied that Neville lived above the Leaky Cauldron. I'm guessing that's how he and Hannah met. But, how can he live at the Leaky Cauldron when he's a Hogwarts Professor? I thought the Professors lived at Hogwarts. Maybe she meant during the summer months or something.

EDIT: Ok, he would have to live at the Leaky Cauldron during the year, since his wife is the landlady. So, I guess that means that not all Hogwarts Professors live at the school.  Am I making sense?

P.S. Thanks for continuing the topic here, Sharon--undoubtedly I would blurt something as well...which I sort of did, actually. 

[kbmum]

The other thing I forgot to mention--she implied that Neville lived above the Leaky Cauldron. I'm guessing that's how he and Hannah met. But, how can he live at the Leaky Cauldron when he's a Hogwarts Professor? I thought the Professors lived at Hogwarts. Maybe she meant during the summer months or something.

EDIT: Ok, he would have to live at the Leaky Cauldron during the year, since his wife is the landlady. So, I guess that means that not all Hogwarts Professors live at the school.  Am I making sense?

JK said a while back that she would reveal more info about where Hogwarts professors lived, but never did get into much detail.  Snape had a home in London at the beginning of Half-Blood Prince, so it seems that he lived there during the summer.  I think it would be possible for some professors to live in their own homes during the school year.  Even if they didn't, they would be free to walk off the school grounds at night, apparate home, then return to Hogwarts for classes the next day.

It's unlikely that all of the professors were single and childless.  I can't imagine that those who were married or had kids wouldn't be allowed to see them for 10 months of the year.

[Bitsy]

The other thing I forgot to mention--she implied that Neville lived above the Leaky Cauldron. I'm guessing that's how he and Hannah met. But, how can he live at the Leaky Cauldron when he's a Hogwarts Professor? I thought the Professors lived at Hogwarts. Maybe she meant during the summer months or something.

EDIT: Ok, he would have to live at the Leaky Cauldron during the year, since his wife is the landlady. So, I guess that means that not all Hogwarts Professors live at the school.  Am I making sense?

JK said a while back that she would reveal more info about where Hogwarts professors lived, but never did get into much detail.  Snape had a home in London at the beginning of Half-Blood Prince, so it seems that he lived there during the summer.  I think it would be possible for some professors to live in their own homes during the school year.  Even if they didn't, they would be free to walk off the school grounds at night, apparate home, then return to Hogwarts for classes the next day.

It's unlikely that all of the professors were single and childless.  I can't imagine that those who were married or had kids wouldn't be allowed to see them for 10 months of the year.

Very true. I suppose it's just an assumption that the Professors are always at the school, since so many times during the series they were available during the wee hours. It's odd how when you read the books, you don't really think of the Professors as having "lives" outside of school. Perhaps it's the level of devotion Professors have for teaching students that influence that characterization.

[kbmum]

The professors who were seen at Hogwarts at night seem to have all been single -- Snape, McGonagall, Hagrid, Lupin, Moody (Barty Jr.), and Flitwick.  But, we don't know whether some of them might have been married or had kids at some point in their lives.  There were never many teachers around during Christmas, so most of them must have gone home for the holidays.

[Morningangel-Iola]

Maybe heads of house slept at the school, eg Snape, McGonagall, Flitwick (was sprout seen at night?). I don't think Lupin had a home of his own, and Moody/Barty wanted to be on the spot.

[Sharon]

I just read Tialessa's post about the last talk Jo did and how the lad writing the review felt about the DD is gay revelation.  He said, looking back, he could see how the Grindlewald relationship explained this.

Now I am not particularly naive but am I the only one who really didn't get any hint from the books about this?  I am not trying to drag up old ground but I just wondered if I missed something.

[Kelly]

I think there could have been numerous explinations for Dumbledore teaming up with Grindewald.  Being gay is just one possibility.  To think that we should look back and say "Oh, yes!  Of course, I should have seen it!"  is a total reach in my opinion.

[LikORish-Spider]

I guess I should have realised this too, about GOOFY and MICKY.   Imagine, after all these years......

Bunch of hooey about nothing, I don't see it at all either. Of course, my IQ is only 98.

[ferdinand_the_yak]

I had a similar discussion with one of my fellow HP nut friends. Neither of us suspected anything. We just both saw DD as an omnipotent figure, unburdened with such lowly cares such as a partner

[Sharon]

Well now Joanne hasn't got HP deadlines to meet it seems she is spending most of her time defending her exclusive rights to anything Harry Potterish.  Whilst I can understand why she is doing this (I would probably do the same), as a casual observer it is all starting to seem a bit OTT.

I am not sure if anyone else has read the official JKR site recently but a couple of things leapt out at me.  First of all her condemnation of any sort of HP encyclopedia that is not written by her.  She claims that if we (the fans) buy any of these books we will be depriving her charities of much needed funds.  I personally have three major problems with this -

1. JKR has been more than happy for us to buy these type of books whilst she was still writing the series.  They kept up peoples interest and helped with the hype in between releases.  Many a good franchise has died a death whilst waiting for the next book/film to be completed.

2. Does she truly believe that fans will not buy the official encyclopedia if they have previously bought unauthorised versions?  I have many unofficial HP books, some good, some bad, but if JKR was to publish anything about Harry which she had written I would buy it.

3. She hasn't even confirmed that she will ever write another book about Harry or his world!

Appologies if this sounds like a rant but it did make me quite miffed.  Along with her lawsuit against the Lexicon I am wondering where this will all end - will she start closing down fan fiction sites?  I know Harry Potter was JKR's invention (with a nod to Tolkien, Jill Murphy etc  ) but lets be honest it was the way the readers took Harry to heart that made it a real success.  I always thought JKR promoted the thought that this series of books belonged to the reader as much as herself but it seems, now there are no more books to sell, I was mistaken.

[PepperD]

Sharon,  You have pretty much covered our reaction to the law suit thing too. 

For years now it appeared as if she was actively encouraging participation of the general public, especially the HP sites on line who compiled amazing amounts of information.  In fact didn't Warner Bros. use one the time-line created by one of the sites 'cause they made a mish-mash out of it?

And giving Dumbledore a sex-life is way OTT.  Praps she is having PHPSS?   Post Harry Potter Stress Syndrome   

Tis a shame.

[Morningangel-Iola]

I also got annoyed about the fairy tail book we will never get to read, only those with pots of money. Why not make a copy for everyone, I'm sure you'd make lots of money selling it to normal people at a normal price. Maybe we don't matter any more now we have bought the series.