spoilt it for us, didn't you, you portugese translator? (if it's true, that is.) i hope it's not regulus becuase it will be quite obvious then unlike Jo's work of keeping us all in the dark. i really hope RAB is some one we know under another name (but not stubby boardman) lol! I hope this is just a rumor. Arcturus?? is that regulus's middle name? and if all this is true, what a betrayal to jo. what a betrayal to us! i was waiting for the book and if regulus is really RAB, i'll kill the portugese turkey. obviously, everyone knows sinistra is a woman's name!!

First of all, I doubt Jo would just willingly hand out information like this. I am assuming (although I might be wrong) that the person was lying to get a few minutes of glory. Jo has always and is always very, very secretive with her Harry Potter work, and releasing this information before the book even the book hit shelves makes no sense to me. Finally, I think that R.A.B. is quite possibly NOT Regulus Black. The reason for me guessing this is simply that it seems, well, too obvious. Jo is not the type to post information in her books, just to have everyone predict it all correctly and already know some part of her next book. I think R.A.B. will be a random person, but will somehow tie back to everything and be an important (well obviously) part of the book. That seems like a Jo thing to do. Don't get me wrong though R.A.B. might be Regulus Black ... but who knows - Jo is always going to keep us guessing.

weird. i dont know if its true or not.

Eh... *does weird eyebrow thingy* I dunno... sounds fabricated to me. That's been a very popular theory, but... I sense an impending addition to the Rubbish Bin.

Pffffft. Yeah whatever. I dont think we'll find out who RAM really is until the final book comes out. OR, it could be Jo tricking us into believing that RAB is a male when in fact they are a metamorphmagus....Can metamorphmaguses change genders?

jo wont say a word on this. she wont tell us...or this translator. lanyway why wuld we want tit spolit on us!! shame on this woman!! and she wants to keep the excitment up...she obviously doesnt know us lot!!

wow, 56 comments- my favorite number!! lol anyway i dont really get this... does it mean its NOT regalus?? am i dumb or something for not getting this?? :)

Sounds like a great topic of discussion for the next Mugglecast! That's what I immediately thought of. =)

I hope RAB turns out NOT to be Regulus Black, to this translator to shame.

Cool

Hmmm...you never know this could be a rumor or real. Maybe its not Regulus Black. It would be like Jo to make it some person metioned once in the first book or something like that. You never know with JK, we will just have to wait and see.

As Diana Patterson pointed out, Isabel is a woman, so it is important to know a person's gender to be able to talk about them, even in English, even more so in the Latin languages like Portuguese and Spanish. I read the full text in the Nimbus Network, and it is very interesting. "Holanda, a personagem dá pelo nome de Regulus Zwarts, e a sua versão da personagem-mistério é R.A.Z. Na Noruega o caso é semelhante - Regulus Svaart está para R.A.S." It says that in Holand (Dutch) the Sirus Brother is called Regulus Zwarts, and the mystery character is R.A.Z. while in Norway, the character is called Regulus Svaart, and the note is signed by R.A.S. Isabel says that during the process of translation several of the translators contacted the agents - as there are no direct comunications with JK Rowling - regarding the gender of several characters - as they had done before in regards of Professor Sinistra and Blaise Zabini. They were very surprised to receive the answer - from the agent - not only the gender (male) but the meaning of the initials: Regulus Arturus Black. So if anyone breached the confidence, it was JKR agents, not Isabel Nunes. Also she didn't say that she was giving the information to "keep awake the excitement for Book 7". She says that she decided to give out the information because she felt that it was already "common knowledge among the Potter community".

Come on! Put it in the Rubbish Bin! There's no way Jo would've told!

I really won't believe anything until it is officially said by someone trustworthy (in this case JKR, and only her) and everything else shoud be considered a rumor. We'll see who it is in the book. Don't worry till then.

Cool but I refuse to highlight that section and read who it is..

I agree. I'm not putting any faith into this at all......

COOLIO! DUDES AND DUDETTES! RAB has been revealed. Now I have no reaseon to read the 7th book!

I think we already know that this theory is correct. If you look through the other versions of Harry Potter in different languages Black has a different letter for its last name and RAB changes to correspond to whatever letter it is. So as an example the dutch version in which Black is spelled Zwarts has the initials be RAZ. You can go to http://en.wikipedia.org/w iki/R.A.B. to see it. I think that pretty effectively proves it IS Regulus

Wildfire, I agree with some points. Also it has become common knowledge (and theory fuel) that the translation of gender and the initial of the surname that it may lead to Regulus Black. Also, Jo has stated she will not be introducing anymore major characters, (although if R.A.B is already dead, she wouldn't actually be 'introducing' him per say). And even if Regulus is RAB (which I personally believe he is), Isabel had NO RIGHT to 'decide' to let go of this information. Only Jo or WB etc. can do that. 'She says that she decided to give out the information because she felt that it was already "common knowledge among the Potter community".' > That, I believe is absolute bollocks. She had no right. This not an attack on her work, which I'm sure is favorable, but the breach of trust. Even if the agents let it slip, she didn't need to go announce this to the world.. see where I'm going with this? After all, it is no secret that Jo is very secretive about her work. (pun intended). ~J_P

My vote lies with it being a crazy rumor. I mean, I think it's RAB but I don't think Jo's told anyone who RAB is yet.

James_Padfoot totally agree with u. Breach of trust is an understament. Jo is probably fuming..its one thing she probably wanted to keep a mystery for book 7... im furious-can u imagine how she feels....ohhh dear...

I really don´t know why some of you are so upset about this news. The translator had to ask for the gender and the name for the reasons of translating it correct. In some countries the names of some characters were changed so that people there would understand the implications the Name had (Rita Skeeter is Rita Kimmkorn in Germany,...). She had to confirm if RAB is really Regulus or not because if it were initials and the name was translated the whole text would be wrong (That happened in the German translation, Klaus Fritz, the translator, did not think that Sirius would play a major part and so he translated his name (Black=Schwarz) in the first book and changed it later as he realised Sirius was important. And as for revealing anything: We on the forums waited so long until the translations were published to cnfirm just this one thing. Really this revelation was not a big deal...

ok fine, it could be right, but why would she trust that answer with just one source, knowing how great this site is...and it doesnt seem likely that Sirius' brother would be that person because wasnt he a Death Eater...why would he go against LV...hmm? food for thought? Ü

Okay, if that's true, then most fans guessed it... Honestly, I doubt that she told them... Mainly b/c there's a HUGE possiblity that it'll leak out or start rumours, just like now... Personally, I say we all wait and find out from JK herself!! =) --RP

cool i guess not sure if its true but hey i'm portuguese

mhmm its a fricken rumor ppl duhrrrr!! but it is SOOO regulus black!!! whatevv u ppl think what yall wanna think=] *crazed fanatics* weirddd

I THINK THIS IS A BIG TIME RUMOR....yea jo did say in da interview wid emerson n melissa tht regulus black is a fine guess but in da same interview she had said tht she dosent discuss HP wid ne1 b4 da bk is published...Regulus Arcturus Black can b true but i dont think tht jo has discussed it wid tht portuguese dude...tht dosent really make sense!

aahh, go Ciaran! Right you are! Don´t you tell us, jo. We don´t want to know, it´s more fun when we don´t.

Why, exactly, did she need to ruin it??

Honestly, if the woman who paints the cover has to sign a confidentiality agreement, I'm sure the translators do as well!

Well. fellows, here's a parcial translation of that interview, whose was published in 25th November of 2005, in a suplement of the Portuguese prestigiated Diary: Diario Economico! "Apesar de garantir que não se sabe de nada sobre o próximo livro, os seus contactos com outros tradutores, com especialistas em Harry Potter e com a editora em Inglaterra permite-lhe às vezes tropeçar em interessantes pedaços de informação. Quem leu o último livro recordar-se-á da existência de um medalhão pertencente à família de Salazar Slytherin, um dos quatro fundadores da Escola de Feitiçaria de Hogwarts. O dito medalhão passa por umas quantas mãos e acaba por ser roubado por alguém que assina R.A.B.. O nome do ladrão incógnito foi descoberto pelos tradutores que pediram à editora inglesa que revelasse se era um homem ou uma mulher, por uma questão de pronomes. Quando a resposta voltou espantaram-se os tradutores por ver que Londres lhes tinha dado um nome. O ladrão que assina R.A.B. é Regulus Arthur Black, irmão de Sirius Black, o padrinho de Harry." Translation: Although she guarantees that nothing's known about the next book, her contacts with other translators, Harry Potter specialists and the brittish publisher (Bloomsbury), allow her, sometimes, "trip" in interesting pieces of information. Who read the last book will remember the existence of a locket whom belongs to Salazar Slytherin family, one of the four founders of Hogwarts Wizard and Witchcraft school. That locket travels trough a few hands and ends stolen by someone who signs as R.A.B.. The name of the unknown thief was discovered by the translators who asked the brittish publisher (Bloomsbury) to reveal if it was a man or a woman, for grammatical use. When the answer come back, the crew was surprised that London has given them a name. The thief who signs R.A.B. it's Regulus Arthur Black, brother of Sirius Black, Harrys Godfather." She said it, not me... Hope I could have helped ;)

if that's true.....and someone has confirmed it without jk's permission, they should be ashamed of themselves. There are reasons that jk feels it is ok to tell us some things and not tell us others, and this could have been one of the things she didnt want us to know about yet. isn't the mystery of all the unanswered questions part of the excitement of waiting for the book. if they keep tellin us things like this there'll be no surprises left to look forward to and nothing for us to speculate about until the release of the book. personally, id rather wait till i read the book till i find out these things. it'll be a better experience that way.

Oh how exciting! but i wont believe it till Jk confirms, or denies! :)

Where oh where is Hannah at Hogwarts today? Care to weigh in? Love your insight!!! I'm not jumping to any conclusions...I just want the book to come out already!!! I've been asked to help with the next release party, as I'm the local Potter freak in the leasing office of the shopping center that I work in...I"M STOKED! LOL sorry, that turned into a ramble...

Jo's probably mad as a hatter. I would be too if it were me. I hope she comments. Has anyone else been periodically checking her site or am I REALLY obsessed?

Well, If it is true, then we have one more peace of the puzzle and a lot more to talk about. Myself I kind of hope that its false because I'll have more to think about.

Very interesting. I always thought it was Regulus, hmm. I wonder if Jk will comment on this.

OMG! gasp!

Regulus is a star in the constellation Scorpio. The brightest star in Scorpio is Antares. It is known as the heart of the scorpion. It is greek for Anti-Ares or against mars because they are so close in color. So anti-ares also means against the god of war. I think its Regulus Antares Black.

Witchy_Woman, we should start a club. :) Actually, pretty much everyone on Mugglenet could be in it.

I'm Dutch and R.A.B. is in Dutch R.A.Z. because Regulus Black is Regulus Zwarts in Dutch. But our translator told us that he had never contact with Jo and that he has no idea who R.A.B. is. He just translated it that way. Because everyone said it was Regulus. But the translators don't get to hear who R.A.B. is.

hmmm i always thought it was Regulus. I remember there was that rumor that she wrote 750 pages in book7 and she corrected that right away. So if Jo doesn't say anything about this being a rumor soon then it probably is true!

OoooOOooohhh how exciting! I wish we could have another interview with her and ask her! Keep those fingers crossed everyone!

I take that back, take it back! I read it through again and I realized what I was whooping to. I hope it's a rumer. This is nooott the way to find out this kind of stuff. =(

Jo Rowling should be the only source of info on her unpublished work. Nunes had no business releasing anything to the public, I hope she gets fired and sued for being such a blabbermouth.

What a storm in a teacup! It doesn't much signify who RAB is. I bet you anything that Harry would make the connection AFTER he finds the locket and destroys that Horcrux (which is likely still in the house he inherited from Sirius!). It's not giving away much information from Book 7, is it? Having said that, I don't think this Nunes translator, if any of this is true, should ever have revealed anything that she was told in confidence by the author.

I don't think she said it tbh. And who on earth else could it be aside from Regulus anyway?

hmm, I think it might just be a rumour...but I guess you never know until the book comes out

OK, let's take a step back for a minute. Is Jo Rowling normally chatty? Reveal a lot about the books? Let down her guard and spill the beans to people who will tell everyone? That doesn't sound very Jo-like to me. She's not going to reveal information she doesn't WANT to get around. She's unlikely to divulge information a translator didn't ask for (why would she just say it randomly if it was a secret?) and the translator is certainly going to be under some sort of tight non-disclosure agreement... and yes, those are very much enforced. If this is real and not just a rumour, it's probably an authorised leak. You realize that happens, right? I don't know if it's done in relation to the Harry Potter books because I have no specific information on them, but one thing I know sometimes happens just in general terms: A person will be given very specific information and told when to "let it slip." Pretending it's a secret makes it more interesting, but the release of the information at a certain time is nothing but helpful, and the leak is actually a team player. Again, I don't know if Jo does this ever, but I've seen it in action in other settings, and it tends to work quite well. If we don't see VERY swift legal action on this one, I personally would assume it was a planned leak, because that does happen.

I also hope she doesn't comment on it but I already am 99% sure that it is Regulus.