Ok, *Spoiler Warning* If you have not yet read the story card, please check it out at Waterstone’s website, and then come back here and read below the cut. Give me your theories on my questions, and raise whatever questions you may also have.

Ok, the story opens with Muggle Police chasing James and Sirius on Sirius’ motorcycle. They have been speeding it seems. They are finally cornered in an alley after a 15 minute high speed chase. They have a little fun with the cops, and then draw their wands focused on something else entering the alley. The cops turn just in time to see their car turn up on it’s end and three men on brooms fly at high speed into the alley. The men run smack dab into the cop car, and then Siruis and James fly away on their bike, leaving the officers frightened and befuddled. That’s it. That’s all. Now I’m going to go cry.

Seriously though, I understand that she only had so much room to write, and she did a good thing. This story after all sold for £25,000 which is equal to about $49,000. That’s a heck of a lot of money for 800 words. Good for her, knowing that nothing would sell as well as this. She could have gone a different path and written something completely different, but she chose to do the thing that garnered the most amount of cash for the charities in question. That was absolutely amazing of her.

OK, onto my questions created by this all too short story:

Why does it read like the first page of a book? It just leaves us hanging. I would much have preferred an actual short story. Something that doesn’t make us go grrrrrrrrrrr…

What were James & Sirius doing riding around the Muggle city and attracting the attention of the Muggle Police?

Clearly, they were running from the men on brooms. What happened just before this to instigate these men into chasing them?

Who were the men? Death Eaters, or someone else? After all James and Sirius could be kind of jerks.

What happened to the men after James & Sirius left? After all they were knocked unconscious in front of Muggle Police.

What were the repercussions for James & Sirius for performing magic in front of Muggles?

And finally… Why, oh WHY isn’t there more?

Come on Jo, it’s ok for all of your books to take place in the Potterverse. A lot of Authors do that. All of Stephen King’s books correspond in some way, whether people know it or not. Yours can do that too. I promise, if you keep writing them we will keep reading them. And dedicating portions of our lives to them. We love all things Potter, and we always will. I hope that we keep getting new things to love. And here’s looking forward to YOUR Harry Potter encyclopedia. Even if it’s several years down the line, I will be there, at midnight if possible, to get it, and devour every single word!!!

Today, I’m doing just that. I’m writing out my 5 questions to Rowling, and the reasons behind them. And maybe even what I would answer if I were her. I’d like to know, also, what you would ask. Please leave a question or two in the comments, and the reasons behind that particular question…

OK, lets begin…

1) Something I’ve wondered since reading Deathly Hallows, and then re-reading Sorcerer’s (Philosopher’s)Stone… There were several tidbits left throughout Chapter One of SS. The Deluminator, Sirius Black etc… Was that intentional foreshadowing or did the ideas come later?

Mostly, readers, my interest in the question lies in particular with the deluminator. It becomes such an important tool in Deathly Hallows, but before that it’s entirely inconsequential. It’s just another bit of magic. Just another tool that the wizards have that we do not. So I wonder, pretty regularly, was this meant to become so important when she wrote the first words about it so long ago?

2) We find out in Order of the Phoenix that James was kind of a jerk. At least when it came to Severus. Since we all saw James through Harry’s eyes and he thought James was a saint, was it a difficult decision to burst his, and our, bubble like that?

Now I realize that James being a jerk to Severus was a necessary plot device. It’s explains everything. Why was Snape so mean to Harry? Payback. Why did Snape still do everything to keep Harry alive? True love. It just makes sense. Still, I was crushed when I found out that James Potter was one of “those” guys…

3) What age do you think is appropriate to begin, and finish, reading the Harry Potter series?

The first couple books are very much for children, in my opinion, but when it comes to the final books it kind of disturbs me to see 6 & 7 year olds reading them. I don’t know when I will let my son start them, but he will be at least 8, and I may very well be a mean mommy and start him at 11 with a new one each year on his birthday…

4) If you were to give any one of the characters that died in the series a free pass, who would it have been?

This is such a hard question for me to ask, as I’m sure it would be a very difficult question for her to answer. Especially since we know she did give one character a second chance at life. When Arthur Weasley was bitten by Nagini in Order of the Phoenix, he was supposed to die. Rowling changed her mind at the last minute, saying that it would have affected Ron too deeply for the remainder of the series. Still of the one’s that did die, if I were her, I would choose Dobby. I think his death was just so unnecessary. And not in the way that she shouldn’t have written it, but like so many deaths in wars are unnecessary. He was an innocent, not a warrior. His death affected me more deeply than any other in the books.

5) What is one interview question that you always wish would be asked, but never has been?

Of course the reasoning behind this is clear, what do you want to say that you never get the chance to?

I have so many more questions, but that is the point, if I could only ask her 5 things, what would they be. These are mine readers, what are yours?

J.K. Rowling has repeatedly announced that she is not writing a prequel to the Harry Potter series, and in fact would not write another book in the series. However she did hand write several copies of the Tales of Beedle the Bard which were also auctioned off to charity. Does this mean that with a good enough charity Jo might write a full prequel and donate ALL of the proceeds to said charity? I don’t think so, but we can hope can’t we?

“It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite gray, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut.”

Suddenly, without warning at breakfast one morning, Harry gets his second bit of mail. First a large, long parcel gets dropped unceremoniously onto the table. Immediately after that is an envelope with specific instructions to not open at the table. It’s Harry’s broomstick. Best of all it’s a Nimbus 2000, the best broomstick there is. First years are not technically allowed broomsticks so Professor McGonagall doesn’t want the whole world knowing that he’s got it.

Bolting up to the dormitory to look at his new treasure, Harry and Ron are intercepted by Draco Malfoy. Draco can identify the package and is still trying to do anything possible to get Harry kicked out. So, when Professor Flitwick enters the hall at the sound of their agruing, the first thing he does is snitch. I have always hated snitches, especially since they are usually up to no good at all. Fortunately Prof. McGonagall had already alerted the rest of the staff to the special circumstances surrounding Harry’s appointment to the Quidditch team. As he makes out scott free ha cannot resist one last taunt over his shoulder, “It’s really thanks to Malfoy that I’ve got it!”

Classes pass slowly that day as he eagerly awaits opening up his broom and his first Quidditch practice. Finally the time comes and he meets up with Oliver Wood, the team captain, to learn the basics of Quidditch. 7 players, 3 balls, 6 scoring posts, and a LOT of flying. And Harry, as the seeker, is the most important player. If the seeker catches the Golden Snitch (small gold ball with delicate wings) he earns his team 150 points and almost always wins the game. The game doesn’t end until the Snitch is caught and the record game was 3 months long. Harry is a natural. They spend about a half hour in the air with Wood throwing golf balls and Harry catching them every single time. When his first practice is over he is off to his room, preparing for more practice with the whole team, three days a week.

So the days pass into weeks, and in the blink of an eye Harry is at school for two whole months. So far the best two months of his life. Hermione is still not speaking to Harry or Ron, and classes are difficult but fun. Quidditch practice takes up most of his spare time, and Harry is loving life. Suddenly it was Halloween morning, and Prof. Flitwick announces that it is time to learn to make things fly. The students are paired up, and Harry is matched with Seamus Finnigan. Ron, unfortunately, is paired with that know-it-all Hermione Granger. She shows him how to do the spell, trying valiantly to help him. He tells her to do it herself it she’s so smart, and of course, she does. When exiting the class Ron makes a very hurtful comment about how horrible she is, only to be nearly knocked over by her crying and making her way past him. He tries to shrug it off, but of course he knows he’s been unkind.

That night they are just starting the annual Halloween feast when Prof. Quirrel, turban askew, runs into the great hall and yells out “Troll in the dungeons!!!” Professor Dumbledore leaps into action, instructing the prefects to lead the students back to their individual houses. On their way back, however, Harry and Ron remember hearing that Hermione had gone into the girls bathroom to cry and didn’t want to be disturbed. It strikes them that this means that she doesn’t know about the troll. So, they sneak away trying to find the girls room to warn Hermione. Although they are not terribly fond of her, they don’t want her to be troll food either. While making their way to the bathroom, they encounter the troll itself. In a stroke of genius, they lock it into a room that it just stumbled into. Moments later though, they hear a scream! That room is the girls bathroom. They have just locked Hermione in with a troll!!! Going back into the bathroom they use what wits and skills they have and distract the troll. Eventually incapacitating it with a wand up the nose and his own club upside the head. It seems Hermione did teach Ron the proper “swish and flick” movement after all.

The teaching staff hears the ruckus and comes flying into the girls room to find three first year students and an unconscious troll. Then something miraculous happens, just as Harry and Ron are about to be punished, Hermione, Hermione Granger, miss rules and order, tells a flat out lie. To a teacher. She tells the teachers that she had thought she could defeat the troll, cause she’d read all about them, and Harry and Ron were trying to stop her. Then they beat the troll when it got the better of her. Like all good liars, Hermione put enough truth in her story to make it entirely believable, and since she is not known for lying, they all accept what she said. She lost the house 5 points, but Harry and Ron each earned 5, netting them a total of 5 measly points for capturing a mountain troll.

The best thing about the entire situation, they had a new best friend, and she finally had friends.

First of all, it was posted that the principal filming on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has finshed. Filming finished on Saturday May 17th, and now the entire cast and crew is “eagerly awaiting the November release.” HBP is scheduled to be released in theaters in the US November 21, 2008. I, for one, will be in line at 10 minutes to midnight in my wizarding best. My goal on the read-along is to be done with boox six in time for the November release of the film. I had better get cracking!

The next wonderful tidbit is about Harry Potter the Exhibition. That’s right, just like Titanic: The Exhibition and Bodies: The Exhibiton, there will now be Harry Potter: The Exhibition. A 10,000 square foot experience that will include costumes props and artifacts of many of the Hogwarts environments including the Gryffindor Common Room and Hagrid’s Hut. The Exhibition will be opening Spring of 2009 and will be touring the world stopping in at least 10 cities. Let’s hope Vegas is one of them. Of course, Titanic and Bodies were both supposed to be here for only a month or two, and they are both still here several years later. One can only hope the same will be true of Harry. More details as they come in, I promise!

In other news, not from Emma, it looks like Warner Brothers has heard my cry of lament. The official Harry Potter website has been updated with tons of new content. Games and graphics. Finally it is more than just an ad for the newest DVDs. It has the Sorting Hat, and Olivanders Wand Shop where you get your very own wand. And everywhere you navigate there is something interactive and fun! Thank you Warner Brothers for paying attention to what your customers want!!!

And finally, in celebration of the 10th anniversary of Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone, Scholastic has announced a special edition of SS to be released in September. The new copy of the book will have a brand new cover by Marie GrandPre as well as some extra tidbits from JK Rowling. I can’t wait!!!

All of Harry’s heroics throughout the series start with breaking the rules. Whether it be flying on his broomstick when specifically warned not to, wandering the halls at night, or finally in book seven robbing a bank and stealing a cup (and a dragon for that matter). Harry brings Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, and even Luna along with him in these adventures with very little regard for what they are supposed to be doing. In the first book, it’s small things. Investigating the exsitence of Nicholas Flamel with the aid of the invisibility cloak for example. By the time Dolores Umbridge is in charge of Hogwarts, it’s full out rebellion.

This pattern divides me. As a lover of the stories, I think that it’s perfect. I know that Harry would not have been able to accomplish anything if he had been a doormat. Pleased to do whatever his elders told him. I know that in the end, Voldemort would have won. Harry would have been a small character in a very messed up world, and there wouldn’t have been any books at all. I love that Harry and his friends try to do the right thing no matter what. They KNOW someone is trying to steal whatever Dumbledore has hidden. They KNOW that they need to find out who Nicholas Flamel is, and what he has created, because it’s easier to figure out the identity of a thief if you know what they’re trying to steal. Forget what the rules are, if we follow those, something very bad is going to happen. It’s up to us to prevent it, because everyone else is so busy following the rules that they don’t see what’s really going on.

As a mom, I wonder how much rule breaking should really be encouraged. After all, some of the rules Harry breaks are not to save the world. Some of them are just boys being boys. Is his ability to play Quidditch integral to the books, and even to the final scenes of book one? Yes they are. Should he have been allowed on the Quidditch team and even given a brand new first class broomstick just because he showed a natural talent while doing something that was wrong and very VERY dangerous? I don’t think so. As a matter of fact, I think that no matter what, if I were in charge of Hogwarts I would have suspended him from flying lessons altogether, no matter how good he was, as a punishment for his misdeeds. He and Malfoy both, for at least 3 months. I think that no matter how much they try not to at Hogwarts Harry is given special treatment. This completely goes against Dumbledore sending him to live with the Dursleys in the first place. He was, after all, sent to live there so that he would not have “his head turned” by the fact that he was famous for something he couldn’t even remember. It disturbs me slightly that the only disciplines he really receives throughout the books are detentions with Hagrid which are fun adventures, extreme measures from Snape which are looked upon with scorn and no respect, and severe torture from Umbridge and the Dursleys which is completely out of line with what actual punishments should be.

So, my mind is made up. As a story, the fact that Harry can get away with almost anything, and with little to no acutal punishment is great. The fact that the punishments he does get are so severe as to constitute child abuse is teen storytelling at it’s finest. These are things that make these the wonderful magical books that we love so much. As a mom, my kid will know that rules are made to be followed, and unless someone’s well being is really at risk, he had better follow them.

Just like television, these books are made to be enjoyed as a family. Discuss the themes in the books with your kids. My boy will read them, and I’m sure he will love them. When he’s old enough to understand them. I am not even planning on starting him on book one until he’s at least seven or eight years old. And as for the Deathly Hallows… I’m 28 and it was difficult for me to take. I don’t know how old he will be when he reads it, but I do know that I will be re-reading it with him, and discussing it every step of the way.

18 year old Robert Knox, set to appear as Marcus Belby in November’s release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was stabbed to death today at a bar in Sidcup, London. The young man was stabbed along with three other men while defending his 16 year old brother Jamie Knox. A 21 year old man has been arrested for the stabbing. The man arrested had wounds to his face, but was not seriously injured.

Robert was known by family and friends as a kind and loving young man who would “spend his last penny on other people instead of himself.” The family is shocked and saddened by the loss of what was clearly a very loved and “genuinely nice” person. Flowers and tributes were being left on Station Road, the site of the stabbing, by friends and family today.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: “We believe the stabbings took place in the street, outside the venue. We do not believe the incident is gang-related.”

Robert plays Marcus Belby (Ravenclaw) in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. According to the Harry Potter Lexicon, Marcus Belby was one of Professor Slughorn’s Slug Club candidates who didn’t quite make the cut. Marcus’ Uncle Damocles was part of the Slug Club, and also the famed inventor of the Wolfsbane Potion. That potion stops Werewolves from turning feral at the full moon.

My thoughts and wishes go out to the Knox family in this time of tragedy. It is my sincere hope that the man who committed this awful crime is punished to the fullest extent of the law.

“Hermione wasn’t going to give up that easily. She followed Ron through the portrait hole, hissing at them like an angry goose.”

While at breakfast on the day of the flying lessons, Neville receives a package from his Gran. In it is a small ball called a Remembrall. A fancy glass ball filled with white smoke. The theory is that if the holder of the ball has forgotten something, the smoke turns red. The only problem with that is then remembering what it is that you’ve forgotten. While Neville is examining his new gift, Draco and his cronies happen on the scene. Draco snatches Nevilles Remembrall and only gives it back when Professor McGonagall comes by and asks what’s going on.

Finally it’s time for their first flying lesson. The first years line up with school issued broomsticks, nervous and excited about flying. They are told to stand by their brooms and hold out their hands while calling the broom up. Much to Harrys surprise, the broom jumps right into his hand. Most of the others though, are not so fortunate. Then it’s time to straddle the broom, and kick off, GENTLY, rise off the ground a few feet, and then glide gracefully back to the earth. Neville, of course, kicks off a bit too early. And waaay too hard. He jets into the air, completely out of control, and falls off his broomstick at 20 feet in the air. Luck is on his side that all that he breaks is his wrist. Madame Hooch takes him to the infirmary with the warning that if anyone even thinks about flying while she is gone they will be out of Hogwarts “before they can say Quidditch”. Draco sees that Neville has lost his Remembrall when he fell, and quickly scoops it up. Threatning to leave it in a tree Draco flys off on his broom, and from the sky taunts Harry. Harry lets his temper get the best of him, and quickly mounts his broom to chase Malfoy.

Why would Harry do something so stupid? Why would he climb onto a broom and attempt something he has never done before, just to retrieve a mostly useless gift belonging to a boy he hardly knew? In my personal opinion, I think that he equates himself a lot with Neville. After all he has been picked on his entire life. He sees a boy who is being treated badly, and while he can stand being treated that way himself, he can’t see letting someone else be treated that way. So he does what he can. He stands up to Malfoy and decides no matter what, he is going to win this time. So, with Hermione yelling at him, he jumps onto his broomstick and chases Malfoy through the air.

Working his broom masterfully, it’s almost as though Harry was born to fly. He charges Malfoy and nearly knocks him to the ground. Draco, realizing that he doesn’t have his cronies to protect him in the air, decides to get away as best he can, by throwing Nevilles Remembrall into the air and then diving for the ground himself. Harry deftly captures the ball flying toward the ground, and lands safely, only to be caught in the act by Professor McGonagall.

The other students try to defend Harry, telling the Professor that it’s not his fault, but she’s not in the mood to hear any of it. Instead she takes Harry into the castle, in silence, and to a classroom where she asks the teacher if she may “borrow Wood for a moment.” Wood, as it turns out, is the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Professor McGonagall does a complete 180 in the privacy of an abandoned classroom, expounding to Wood how good Harry was on his broom. Marvelling that this was his first time on a broom, and at how easily and naturally he caught the Remembrall. They talk for a bit about getting him a decent broom, and how proud Harry’s father would be. James Potter, it seems, was an excellent Quidditch player.

That night at dinner Ron & Harry are talking and Ron is simply amazed. Harry is the youngest quidditch player at Hogwarts in a full century. And Wood plans on keeping it a secret. He wants Harry to startle everyone at the gate. Only other team members, including Fred & George Weasley know. Everyone’s hoping for a chance to win the Quidditch Cup with a little new blood on the team. Having lost the Quidditch Cup every year since Charlie Weasley (who was also a seeker) graduated is wearing a bit on the Gryffindors spirits. Draco, however is in high spirits anticipating the expulsion of Harry from Hogwarts. He is disappointed to find that Harry is neither leaving, nor is he afraid to still stand up to him.

In order to save face, Draco challenges Harry to a Wizards Duel at midnight. Ron and Harry both accept and agree to meet with Draco at midnighti n the trophy room. Hermione overhears the conversation and pipes up. She advises them in her best know it all ways that they can’t go wandering around in the middle of the night. If they get caught after all it will lose all of Gryffindor points, and that is very selfish. Harry and Ron let her know in no uncertain terms that it is none of her business and they’re not interested in discussing it with her.

That night, after laying in bed for awhile, they make their way down from their beds to the Gryffindor common room. Where a voice from the dark greets them. With a flick of the lamp we see it’s Hermione. Of course. She nearly told Percy what was going on, but changed her mind about it. Rather she has decided to stop them on her own. She thinks that she will be able to convice them to stay back, unfortunately she doesn’t seem to know much about 11 year old boys on a mission. She is cut off mid-lecture by them closing the portrait of the Fat Lady right in front of her. With her on the outside. And the Fat Lady nowhere to be seen. Neville too, is trapped outside the room. It seems he forgot the password and was locked outside for several hours. The four of them quietly make their way to the trophy room, only to find out how devious Malfoy really is. He is not there, but within a few minutes Filch and Mrs. Norris are. The kids know that they’ll be in loads of trouble if caught, so they try to find their way out, knocking over a suit of armor in the process. Then they run into Peeves and make him irritated so he starts bellowing out that they are there. They keep runnign until finally they come to a door. A locked door. With Filch coming closer every second, Hermione takes charge using a spell to open the door. From within the locked room they hear Peeves taunting Filch, and refusing to give him any information. Soon Peeves wanders off, leaving Filch chasing after him.

And then they see why the room they are in was locked. As it turns out it is the locked door. The one that Dumbledore warned about in the start of term banquet. And why is it locked you might ask? Well, because of the giant three headed dog of course. That seems a good reason to keep the door locked to me. The four first years stumbled out of the locked door and ran their little behinds right back up to their tower. When they did get there the Fat Lady had returned, and let them in when they gave her the password. They collapsed in the common room and started talking about the giant dog. With three heads. Hermione pointed out that the dog was standing on a trap door. It’s obviously guarding something, and Harry knows just what that something is. He doesn’t mention it to them, but he can bet that is where the package from vault 713 is now located.

Thestrals, it seems, did indeed come fully out of Jo’s head, although they may have basis in several different myths. First lets explore what we do know about the Thestrals. The first time we really encounter them is on the horseless carriages. Of course we don’t know it at the time. For years the students at Hogwarts believe that the carriages draw themselves. It’s not until after Harry sees Cedric die that he is able to see the Thestrals for what they are. And then we can see them too. Stately skeletal black horses. Winged, and slightly scary. Especially when Harry realizes that nobody else can see them. That is until “Loony” Luna Lovegood pipes up and tells Harry that she can see them too. When Hagrid introduces his Care of Magical Creatures class to the Thestrals, most of the students can’t see them. The reason for that? Only those who have seen death can see the Thestrals. While Harry was there when his parents were killed, he didn’t actually see the death. That’s why he wasn’t able to see them in the first four books. Luna can see them too, because she watched her mother die. It was an accidental death, and experimental spell gone horribly wrong. Who did Hagrid see die? As far as I know that is never made actually clear. If you know better than I on that subject, please let me know.

The Thestrals are carnivores. This is made quite clear when we see Luna walking with them in the Forbidden Forest and feeding them chunks of raw meat. The DA 6, namely Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna & Ginny flew on the Thestrals to London in order to try to save Sirius Black. In Book 7 the Order of the Phoenix members brought Thestrals to help with the Seven Potters Plan. They are indeed, as Hagrid said, dead useful. Perhaps one of the most interesting things though, is that the core of the Elder Wand is made with Hair of Thestral. Of course the core of one of the Deathly Hallows would be from a Thestral Hair.

So, what Myths may the Thestral be based upon? Well the first one that pops into my head is a Celtic Myth of the Pooka. The Pooka is a shapeshifting Hobgoblin that usually takes the shape of an ugly black horse. The Pooka is one of the fairy creatures, but is generally considered to be evil. Rather than evil though, the Pooka is largely misunderstood. He often appears before death because that is a point when the veil between the worlds is thin, and therefore a good time to see any of the fairy folk. People therefore see him as an omen of death when really he was there all the time, you just didn’t see him. He is also quite mischevious, as all hobgoblin and fairy creatures are.

Leah at Mugglenet has found a different myth, though, that seems much more similar. She has found a Celtic story that describe a skeletal black horse called the Mare of Doom who can transport it’s rider magically from one place to the next with the untying of a halter knot. Stop on by and read the story she has placed there. It’s a really good story and reflects the Thestrals remarkably.

Can you think of any other myth that you think might have sparked the imagination of the talented writer we love so much? Something else that may have been the first seeds of the Thestrals? What magical creature would you like me to explore next?

Eventually we find out that Snape attended school together with James, Lily, Sirius, and Remus. Also that Snape was just as much of an outcast as a student, as he is as a teacher and member of the Order of the Phoenix. His mother was a witch, but his father was a muggle, and he was bookish and snotty. In short, he was easy to pick on, and as hard as it was for Harry (and me) to believe it, James was one of the ones that did the most picking. James was handsome, and popular, and had a crush on the beautiful Lily Evans, who happened to be young Severus’ best friend. She was the only one who didn’t see him as a freak. She was friends with him because he was nice to her. She stepped away, however, when she found that he was as nasty to students he considered of lesser lineage, as James and his buddies were to him.

Yes, it is understandable that Severus Snape would not be too fond of the only child of James and Lily Potter. James had made his life a nightmare throughout school, and Lily, well he loved Lily more than he ever loved anyone before or after. Loved her enough that he risked his own life by going against the Dark Lord and going to Dumbledore once he figured out that he would be going after the Potters. Still, are the things that he has done to Harry excused by his dislike of his father? How about by the things that he has done to save Harry’s life? And do we think that he has saved Harrys life repeatedly because of his vows to Dumbledore, or because he loved Lily so much? What do you think readers? Was Snape’s near torture of a young boy excused by the fact that that boy’s father tortured him?