JK Rowling was invited by the Literary and Historical Society to the University College in Dublin earlier today, where she received the
James Joyce award. Jo read an excerpt from
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at the event, and was gracious enough to answer questions about the
Harry Potter series.
Quote:
Jo confirms that Snape and Dumbledore’s [histories] were established before The Philosopher's Stone was published, but states that she doesn’t think about the movie[s] when she writes (even though she had a thought for the producers after having written the battle of Hogwarts, realising how much it would cost!).
If Jo [were] to meet a character, she would definitely pick Dumbledore (even if she had been tempted by a hug with Hagrid).
As for the opposition of the Pope to Harry Potter, she confesses that she doesn’t follow the issue. Basically, she is definitely opposed to censorship and sees Harry Potter more as a moral book than a proselyte one.
Jo discussed more at the ceremony, including Dumbledore's homosexuality, and the fact that she would have like to have included
Mafalda Weasley into the books.
La Gazette du Sorcier promises a full transcript of the interview later in the week, so we will have that then.
UPDATE: We now have a
picture from last night's ceremony.
And more
quotes;
Quote:
And who was the character she would most like to meet?
"Dumbledore -- to apologise for outing him," she replied to applause.
UPDATE #2: Four further pictures from the event can be found
here.