...with Dumbledore quite deliberately, you find out little about Dumbledore’s own private life because his interactions with Harry are always about Harry, which sets up the fact that in the seventh book Harry thinks "but why did I never ask?" He’s gone now and he’s never even thought of saying: "so how about you?" you know, at the end of one of those conversations which I think is something that happens after the grief, the regret that he didn’t ask. And I think also that Dumbledore had always been such an almost god-like figure to Harry in some ways, that he felt he couldn’t ask him personal questions.

Snape, on the other hand, I had to drop clues all the way through because as you know in the seventh book when you have the revelation scene where everything shifts and you realize why Snape was… what Snape’s motivation was. I had to plot that through the books because at the point where you see what was really going on, it would have been an absolute cheat on the reader at that point just to show a bunch of stuff you’ve never seen before, you know… "Oh by the way, in the background this was happening."

I do remember at one point... Well, the final battle scene here, in Deathly Hallows, you do become conscious of how much money you’ve just spent. In two pages!

The only actor or actress who has ever, ever intruded while writing was Evanna Lynch, who is absolutely perfect as Luna. And I must admit I have heard her voice in my head when I wrote the book. [Oooh…] I know! I love Evanna Lynch she’s fantastic. She was a perfect piece of casting, she is… she won’t mind me saying this, she is completely cool with this, she is Luna! She is very Luna-esque, in personality, and looks really spot on for me … she is very beautiful but in an unusual way. So I have occasionally heard her very lovely voice when writing the books. But other than that, no...

I was invited to a kind of symposium at the Vatican. It took a very circuitous route to get to me and I’m afraid to say it was to short a notice by the time I got the letter. So someone there is pretty open-minded about Harry Potter. I’ve always felt and I continue to feel that… Firstly, I’m vehemently anti-censorship. I think that it’s foolish and misguided to ban books. Secondly, I feel that… Now that the seventh book has been published I can say very openly, I think these are very moral books. They don’t promote a specifically Christian agenda, and I think that that, coupled with the fact that clearly they deal with folkloric mythical themes many people see as a cult, which I do not, but many do… but that has always antagonized a certain brand of Christians. And I’m fine with that (laughing). I am fine with that.

I had people as early as Prisoner of Azkaban, the third book. I remember a woman saying to me: "I think Snape loves Lily." I was "Oh my God what did I give away?" But so people, people got stuff very unnervingly right. Often.

I would really be looking at ten years before I could honestly go back. For my own mental health. Because it’s been horrendous saying goodbye to him. For 17 years, this was THE constant in my life, Harry. Through 17 quite turbulent years. And to actually finish it was… well it’s elating. Fifty percent pure elation, fifty percent devastation. I couldn’t, I kept thinking I’m not going to write in that world again. It hit me very hard. So I do need to... it’s like an old boyfriend, we can’t be friends at the moment, we need a break, and then, when time has gone, we can have a coffee, be formal...