J.K. Rowling answers questions about the 7th book

J.K. Rowling updated her website today and provided answers to a few frequently asked questions. See her diary, for a glimpse at what the last few months have been like for her. And take a look at the news section for an announcement about an upcoming documentary.

Look below the spoiler space for the questions she answered about Book 7.

I solemnly
swear
that
I have
finished
reading
Harry
Potter
and
the
Deathly
Hallows.

Was Dudley's son on Platform 9 3/4 waiting to go to Hogwarts? J.K. Rowling's answer is here.

What exactly happened when Voldemort used the Avada Kedavra curse on Harry in the forest? J.K. Rowling's answer is here.

What exactly was the mutilated baby-like creature Harry saw at King's Cross in Chapter 35 of Hallows? J.K. Rowling's answer is here.

I've been asked all three of these questions many times myself, so I can't imagine how many times she's heard them since the publication of the 7th book.

Discussion questions for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Looking for discussion questions about Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone? I just wrote some for a class project and wanted to share. The questions assume that you've read the first book, but you don't have to have read the whole series.

Spoilers
ahead
if
you
haven't
read
the
first
Harry
Potter
book.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Discussion Questions

-On the train to Hogwarts, Draco offers to be friends with Harry. Harry refuses. What do you think would have different if Harry had accepted Draco’s friendship?

-Why do you think Harry was sorted into Gryffindor? Which Gryffindor characteristics do you think Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville possess?

-If Draco Malfoy had been sorted into Gryffindor, do you think he would have eventually become friends with Harry?

-Which house would you like to be in?

-What kinds of food are described in this book? Which ones would you most like to try?

-What classes does Harry take? Which ones would you like to take?

-How do you play Quidditch? What parts of the game do you like? Would you change any aspects of the game?

-How did the Mirror of Erised get its name? What would you see if you looked into the Mirror of Erised?

-Should Harry, Ron and Hermione have snuck out of their dorm to rescue the Sorcerer’s Stone? Why did Neville try to stop them?

-How did Harry get the Sorcerer’s Stone out of the Mirror of Erised? Do you think Dumbledore expected Harry to rescue the Sorcerer’s Stone?

Dumbledore says “There are all kinds of courage. It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.” What examples are there of this in the book?

-During the final banquet, why does Dumbledore award the last ten points to Neville instead of to Ron, Harry or Hermione?

-When this book was published in England, the original title was Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Which one do you like better; the American title or the British title?

Writing these questions was harder than it looks... because my goal was to come up with questions that would only be applicable to Book One. For example, I couldn't use questions such as: "Why does Harry feel pain in his scar?" because the answer to that question keeps changing with every book in the series you read.

If you're looking for more discussion questions about this wonderful book, check out Scholastic's guide and Multnomah County Libray's questions.

For my analysis of specific chapters of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (and clues about the other six book), see these posts. I've also written discussion questions and chapter analysis about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

As this blog demonstrates, I can't seem to stop talking about these books!

Update: There are spoilers in the comments section about the 7th book.

Harry Potter 7: Discussion Question Five

There's been a lot of discussion about whether J.K. Rowling should reveal the professions/sexual orientations/favorite colors of her characters if she didn't write about in the published books.

But, let's say for a moment that she didn't and that there was no further information about Harry and friends other than what was contained in the pages of the seven novels.

What do you think the future of the characters are? What would you like them to be? Without straying too far into the area of fan fiction... what careers/relationships/pets/whatever would you imagine they have?

Although this discussion question doesn't really contain spoilers (even if you haven't read the 7th book, you probably assume that at least a character or two survived until the end)... my guess is that the comments section will be full of spoilers- so be careful if you haven't finished the book.

For more discussion questions about Book 7, see this post. Also, check out this post for some bonus discussion questions that were actually asked to (and answered by) J.K. Rowling.

UPDATE: Yes, there are spoilers in the comments section of this post. For my opinion(s) about the future of the characters (with huge spoilers)... see here.

One last post about Dumbledore

In the midst of the news that Dumbledore is gay, I've heard a lot of comments from people who feel that J.K. Rowling is revealing too much and that this detail isn't relevant. See the comments section of my round-up post relating to the Dumbledore news.

This made me curious. How do you feel about it? I just added a poll to the sidebar.... I'd love to hear what you think.

I'm happy to share my opinion (which probably won't make me very popular). My feeling is that J.K. Rowling answered a direct question asked by a fan and she gave an answer about her personal concept of the character. I'm okay with it. She's not telling me how to view Dumbledore, she's saying how SHE views him. I don't think she did this for any publicity or political reasons... I think she was just trying to answer the question. (Excuse me, I have to go run for cover now... I know a LOT of people disagree with this).

UPDATE: There are Dumbledore Pride t-shirts for sale already. Wow, that was quick.

J.K. Rowling made a few statements to the press this morning about the uproar her announcement caused. See this post at the Leaky Cauldron for links and quotes.


Okay, so Dumbledore news aside, I thought there were some other great questions asked during the Carnegie Hall event on Friday night. My favorite question (which needs some spoiler space)....

Spoiler

space

if

you

haven't

finished

the

7th

Harry

Potter

book

...was this one:

Question: "When Harry was stabbed by a basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, since he was a Horcrux shouldn't it have been destroyed then?"

Isn't that a great question? Here's a few others that I liked:

Question: "Does Malfoy owe Harry a debt?"

Question: "How did you decide that Molly Weasley would be the one to finish off Bellatrix?"

Question: "How different would the last two books be if Arthur had been killed in the middle of book five?"

Question: "Is Severus Snape's portrait in the headmaster's office?"

I think these are great Harry Potter discussion questions. Mull them over and then (if you want to) see J.K. Rowling's answers in the Leaky Cauldron transcript.

Harry Potter 7: Discussion Question Four

Here's another discussion question for those of you who have finished Harry Potter 7.

Spoiler
space
if
you
haven't
finished
reading
Harry
Potter
and
the
Deathly
Hallows.


Were there unnecessary deaths? (I think there were). Who died that shouldn't have? Whose death upset you the most?

My answer to this question is in the comments of this post.

Harry Potter 7: Discussion Question Three

Here's another discussion question. This one is about everyone's favorite greasy-haired black-robed professor.


Spoiler
space
if
you
haven't
finished
reading
Harry
Potter
and
the
Deathly
Hallows.


Question #3: Is Snape a hero? An anti-hero? A guy who doesn't like to use shampoo or go shopping for new clothes? All of the above? What do you think?

And, if it were not for Lily Potter, which side would he have been on? Did he ever care about Harry? Do you think he had to die? What did you think of the scene in the Shrieking Shack?

For those of you who have said he was your favorite character (before you read Book 7), why is he your favorite? Did you believe in Snape from the beginning? If not, at which point did you start trusting him?

Is there anything else you want to know about him? Discuss away!

Harry Potter 7: Discussion Question Two

Discussion Question #1 hasn't gotten any reactions yet, so let me try something a little more meaty for Question #2.

Hint: it's about the epilogue.

Spoiler

space

if

you

haven't

finished

Book

Seven.

If

you

need

the

spoiler

space,

what

are

you

doing

reading

this

blog?

Go

read

Book

Seven!

I thought the epilogue of Book 7 was great, but based on my conversations with other people, I'm the only one who seems to feel this way!

So question #2 is: Did you like the epilogue? Did you think it was important enough to be included? Should there have been more information in it?

Harry Potter 7: Discussion Question One

I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoy reading each Harry Potter book for the first time. There's a (dare I say it?) magic and delight to not knowing where the story is going to take you. But I enjoy discussing the books as much as I enjoy reading them. They can be read on so many levels and I find that every person I talk to has a unique perspective and adds something new to the conversation.


I'd love to hear what you think... so I'm going to start posing some questions I have about the series (and the 7th book in particular). These are ambiguous, fun kinds of questions with no right answers. Please jump in with your opinion and feel free to e-mail me with any questions you'd like to see asked.

For my first question......


drumroll please....


and
spoiler
space
in
case
you
haven't
finished
Book
Seven.


Question One: Since there's no password, can anyone get into the Ravenclaw common room? Doesn't that make it rather unsecure?