As posted below, JKR conducted her first post-Deathly Hallows television interview with Meredith Vierra. And if you're wondering how NBC got the scoop, its parent company is Universal, who just happens to be behind the forthcoming Harry Potter theme park. Yeah.
So, anyway, if you missed the interview, it was really interesting. You can read the transcript here and watch at least some of the video. It's amazing to know how much she had planned - for example, one of the Weasley twins was always slated to die, and somewhere in the middle, she knew it would be Fred. Arthur got a reprieve from the snake attack in OOTP, because she wanted to preserve the one good father figure. And because she admitted she could not bear to kill him.
And some of her long-planned decisions show in her reaction to fans' ardor for certain characters. She seems almost puzzled by the dedication of some to Sirius Black, whose death was planned from the beginning, but confesses experiencing a sort of sheepish guilt prior to OOTP when fans begged her not to kill him.
Tonks and Lupin were the unplanned deaths, and, as predicted, were killed to create an echo of the orphaned Harry from the beginning of the story.
Rowling also conducted a web chat today in which she discusses even further the lives of the living, revealing that Ginny went on to a Quidditch career with the Holyhead Harpies before becoming the Quidditch correspondent for the Daily Prophet. And Luna married Rolf, a distant descendant of Newt Scamander, author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The transcript is here, and be advised you should read from the bottom up - I was very confused at first.
The two interviews contain conflicting information about Ron's future - one indicating he becomes an Auror alongside Harry and the other suggesting that he joined George at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. I'm sure that will be clarified at some point.
And for the many of you who have questioned who did magic late in life, it was a storyline dropped from the final edit, and must have introduced a new character because she didn't indicate that it was anyone we knew.
She also describes the Hufflepuff common room, which made me relieved, because I realized the other day it is the only common room we never saw and felt woefully incomplete about it.
I might have more to say on these interviews soon, but it's late now, and I can't really think that hard.
It's so great that we still get to find out what happens to everyone even though we don't get all the details in the book. It's rare that you get "the continued story" or that readers get to ask so many questions. I'm so glad that JKR was willing to do this and not leave us hanging!
Yes, I think JKR is amazing for answering all these questions. She's been terrific all along to her fans and all their inquiries.
Now that we know so much, though, I'm like--save it for the encyclopedia! I need the encyclopedia!!
Having heart palpitations about the theme park. The idea that I may one day stand inside Hogwarts....
Everything I had heard previously about a theme park had it in Europe, but recently I heard that the plan was for Orlando!! That is definitely doable (all under the pretense of taking Ella to Disney World)!