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.

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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.”

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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!!!

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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.”

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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?