ES: When Sirius was framed for the death of Pettigrew and the Muggles, did he actually laugh or was that something made up to make him look even more insane?
JKR: Did he actually laugh? Yes, I would say he did. Well, he did, because I’ve created him. Sirius, to me, he´s kind of on the edge, do you not get that feeling from Sirius? He´s a little bit of a loose cannon. I really like him as a character and a lot of people really liked him as a character and are still asking me when he´s going to come back. [Laughter.] But Sirius had his flaws – I’ve sort of discussed that before – some quite glaring flaws. I see Sirius as someone who was a case of arrested development. I think you see that from his relationship with Harry in “Phoenix.” He kind of wants a mate from Harry, and what Harry craves is a father. Harry´s kind of outgrowing that now. Sirius wasn´t equipped to give him that.
The laughter – he was absolutely unhinged by James´s death. Harry and Sirius were very similar in the way that both of them were craving family connections with friends. So, Sirius with James wanted a brother, and Harry has nominated Ron and Hermione as his family. This is the thing I found interesting — it might have been on MuggleNet´s comments, this is a while back when I was actually looking for fan sites of the month (or whatever arbitrary time period I do) — it was around the time I was reading comments for the first time and there was something in there where kids were saying, “I don´t understand why he´s shouting at Ron and Hermione, I mean, I’d shout at my parents, I would never shout at my best friends.” But, he has no one else to shout at. That was interesting from young kids, because I just don´t think they could make that leap of imagination. He’s very alone. Anyway I´ve wandered miles away from Sirius.
He was unhinged. Yes, he laughed. He knew what he´d lost. It was a humorless laugh. Pettigrew, who they, in a slightly patronizing way, James and Sirius at least, who they allowed to hang round with them, it turned out that he was a better wizard than they knew. Turned out he was better at hiding secrets than they knew.
MA: You said that during the writing of book six something caused you fiendish glee. Do you remember what that was?
JKR: Oh, god. [Long silence as Jo thinks.] What was it? It wasn´t really vindictive [laughter] – that was more of a figure of speech. I know what I´ve enjoyed writing – you know Luna´s commentary during the Quidditch match? [Laughter.] It was that. I really enjoyed doing that. Actually I really enjoyed doing that.
You know, that was the last Quidditch match. I knew as I wrote it that it was the last time I was going to be doing a Quidditch match. To be honest with you, Quidditch matches have been the bane of my life in the Harry Potter books. They are necessary in that people expect Harry to play Quidditch, but there is a limit to how many ways you can have them play Quidditch together and for something new to happen. And then I had this moment of blinding inspiration. I thought, Luna’s going to commentate, and that was just a gift. It’s the kind of commentary I’d do on a sports match because I´m — [laughs]. Anyway yeah, it was that.
MA: That was a lot of fun. She’s fun.
JKR: I love Luna, I really love Luna.
ES: Why does Dumbledore allow Peeves to stay in the castle?
JKR: Can´t get him out.
ES: He´s Dumbledore, he can do anything!
JKR: No, no no no no. Peeves is like dry rot. You can try and eradicate it. It comes with the building. You’re stuck. If you´ve got Peeves you´re stuck.
ES: But Peeves answers to Dumbledore -
JKR: Allegedly.
MA: Allegedly?
JKR: Yeah. I see Peeves as like a severe plumbing problem in a very old building, and Dumbledore is slightly better with the spanner than most people, so he can maybe make it function better for a few weeks. Then it’s going to start leaking again. Would you want Peeves gone, honestly?
MA: If I was Harry I might, but as a reader I enjoy him. I enjoyed him most when he started obeying Fred and George at the end of book five.
JKR: Yeah, that was fun. I enjoyed that. That was satisfying. [Laughter.]
ES: When I signed onto IM [instant messenger] after the book came out, there were at least four or five people whose away messages were, "Give her hell from us, Peeves." Everybody loved that line.
JKR: [Laughter] Awww. Well, Umbridge, she’s a pretty evil character.
MA: She´s still out and about in the world?
JKR: She´s still at the Ministry.
MA: Are we going to see more of her? [Jo nods.] You say that with an evil nod.
JKR: Yeah, it´s too much fun to torture her not to have another little bit more before I finish.
ES: MuggleNet “Ask Jo” contest winner Asrial, who’s 22, asks, “If Voldemort saw a boggart, what would it be?”
JKR: Voldemort´s fear is death, ignominious death. I mean, he regards death itself as ignominious. He thinks that it´s a shameful human weakness, as you know. His worst fear is death, but how would a boggart show that? I´m not too sure. I did think about that because I knew you were going to ask me that.
ES: A corpse?
JKR: That was my conclusion, that he would see himself dead.
ES: As soon as it became clear this question was going to win, I started getting dozens of emails from people telling me I shouldn´t ask it because the answer was too obvious. Except they all disagreed on what the obvious answer was. Some were sure it would be Dumbledore, some were sure it would be Harry and some were sure it would be death. A couple of follow-ups on that, then — what would he see if he were in front of the mirror of Erised?
JKR: Himself, all-powerful and eternal. That´s what he wants.
ES: What would Dumbledore see?
JKR: I can´t answer that.
ES: What would Dumbledore´s boggart be?
JKR: I can´t answer that either, but for theories you should read six again. There you go.
MA: If Harry was to look in the Mirror of Erised at the end of book six, what would he see?
JKR: He would have to see Voldemort finished, dead gone, wouldn´t he? Because he knows now that he will have no peace and no rest until this is accomplished.
ES: Is the last word of book seven still scar?
JKR: At the moment. I wonder if it will remain that way.
MA: Have you fiddled with it?
JKR: I haven´t actually physically fiddled with it. There are definitely a couple of things that will need changing. They’re not big deals but I always knew I would have to rewrite it.
MA: But it´s definitely still on that track?
JKR: Oh definitely. Yeah, yeah
MA: How do you feel that you´re starting the last book?
JKR: It feels scary, actually. It’s been 15 years. Can you imagine? One of the longest adult relationships of my life.
MA: Have you started?
JKR: Yeah. Realistically, I don´t think I´m going to be able to do real work on it until next year. I see next year as the time that I’m really going to write seven. But I´ve started and I am doing little bits and pieces here and there when I can. But you’ve seen how young Mackenzie still is, and you can bear actual witness to the fact that I do have a very small, real baby, so I´m going to try and give Mackenzie what I gave David, which is pretty much a year of uninterrupted “me time,” and then I´ll start writing seriously again.
ES: What prompted people to start referring to Voldemort as You-Know-Who and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?
JKR: It happens many times in history — well, you’ll know this because you’re that kind of people, but for those who don’t, having a taboo on a name is quite common in certain civilizations. In Africa there are tribes where the name is never used. Your name is a sacred part of yourself and you are referred to as the son of so-and-so, the brother of so-and-so, and you´re given these pseudonyms, because your name is something that can be used magically against you if it’s known. It’s like a part of your soul. That’s a powerful taboo in many cultures and across many folklores. On a more prosaic note, in the 1950s in London there were a pair of gangsters called the Kray Twins. The story goes that people didn’t speak the name Kray. You just didn’t mention it. You didn’t talk about them, because retribution was so brutal and bloody. I think this is an impressive demonstration of strength, that you can convince someone not to use your name. Impressive in the sense that demonstrates how deep the level of fear is that you can inspire. It’s not something to be admired.
ES: I meant, was there a specific event?
JKR: With Voldemort? It was gradual. He was killing and doing some pretty evil things. In the chapter “Lord Voldemort’s Request,” when he comes back to request that teaching post in book six, you get a real sense that he’s already gone quite a long way into the dark arts. By that time a lot of people would be choosing not to use his name. During that time his name was never used except by Dumbledore and people who were above the superstition.
MA: Speaking of world events –
JKR: Chapter one?
MA: Yeah, chapter one, and current world events, specifically in the last four years. Terrorism and the like; has it factored into your writing, has it shaped your writing?
JKR: No, never consciously, in the sense that I´ve never thought, "It´s time for a post-9/11 Harry Potter book," no. But what Voldemort does, in many senses, is terrorism, and that was quite clear in my mind before 9/11 happened. I was going to read last night [ie, do the midnight reading at the castle] from chapter one. That was the reading until the 7th of July [bombings in London]. It then became quite clear to me that it was going to be grossly inappropriate for me to read a passage in which the Muggle prime minister is discussing a mass Muggle killing. It just wasn´t appropriate, as there are touches of levity in there. It was totally inappropriate, so that´s when I had to change, and I decided to go for the joke shop, which is all very symbolic because, of course, Harry said to Fred and George, “I’ve got a feeling we’ll all be needing a few laughs before long.” It all ties together nicely. So no, not consciously, but there are parallels, obviously. I think one of the times I felt the parallels was when I was writing about the arrest of Stan Shunpike, you know? I always planned that these kinds of things would happen, but these have very powerful resonances, given that I believe, and many people believe, that there have been instances of persecution of people who did not deserve to be persecuted, even while we´re attempting to find the people who have committed utter atrocities. These things just happen, it´s human nature. There were some very startling parallels at the time I was writing it.
ES: Has the sorting hat ever been wrong?
JKR: No.
ES: Really?
JKR: Mm-mm. Do you have a theory?
ES: I have heard a lot of theories.
JKR: [laugh] I bet you have. No. [laugh] Sorry.
MA: That´s interesting, because that would suggest that the voice comes more from a person´s own head than the hat itself -
JKR: [makes mysterious noise]
MA: And that maybe when it talks on its own it comes from -
JKR: The founders themselves.
MA: Yeah. Interesting. How much of a role are the founders going to play in book seven?
JKR: Some, as you probably have guessed from the end of six. There´s so much that I want to ask you, but you´re supposed to interview me, so come on. [Laughter.]
ES: I know you get asked this in every interview, but the length of the book, has it changed at all?
JKR: Seven? Shorter than “Phoenix,” you mean, “Phoenix” always being our benchmark of a book that´s really, really nudging the outer limits? I still think it will be shorter than “Phoenix.”
ES: Significantly?
JKR: I don´t know. That is the honest truth, I don´t know. I have a plan for seven that´s not yet so detailed that I could honestly gauge the length. I know what´s going to happen, I know the story, but I haven´t sat down and plotted it to the point where you think, “We’re really looking at 42 chapters,” or, “We’re looking at 31 chapters.” I don’t know yet.
MA: R.A.B.
JKR: Ohhh, good.
[All laugh.]
JKR: No, I´m glad! Yes?
MA: Can we figure out who he is, from what we know so far?
[Note: JKR has adopted slightly evil look here]
JKR: Do you have a theory?
MA: We´ve come up with Regulus Black.
JKR: Have you now?
MA: Uh-oh.
[Laughter.]
JKR: Well, I think that would be, um, a fine guess.
MA: And perhaps, being Sirius’s brother, he had another mirror –
JKR: [drums fingers on soda can]
MA: Does he have the other mirror, or Sirius’s mirror —
JKR: I have no comment at all on that mirror. That mirror is not on the table. [Laughter from all; Jo´s is maniacal.]
MA: Let the record note that she has drummed her fingers on her Coke can in a very Mr. Burns-like way.
[Laughter.]
JKR: Oh, I love Mr. Burns.
ES: If you had the opportunity to rewrite any part of the series so far, what would it be and why?
