On July 16, 2005, immediately following the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, MuggleNet’s Emerson Spartz and the Leaky Cauldron’s Melissa Anelli met with Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling in her Edinburgh, Scotland, home for an exclusive interview. This interview was monumental and is still one of the most in-depth interviews examining all things Potter. It covers everything from questions about canon to peeks into J.K. Rowling’s writing process and captures the excitement and wild theory development that the fandom was burning with during the time between book releases.
In the interview, you can find out more information on how J.K. Rowling wrote the books, if she rereads them, and how she keeps track of the backstory. The interview covers the things that she loved and hated writing, her reactions to fansites such as MuggleNet, and how world events have shaped her writing. The intensity of the books, whether she sees the actors in her head when writing, and how she keeps her family’s life normal is also included.
The interview has questions on canon and begins with the question everyone was asking after Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was released: Is Snape evil? It’s also the place for answers on how Lily’s protection of Harry actually worked, Voldemort’s boggart, and Dumbledore’s inability to remove Peeves from Hogwarts. And of course, this is the source of the famous anvil-sized hints conversation about Ron/Hermione. The interview finishes up with rapid-fire questions about canon, including everything from Ron’s Patronus to how Fred and George knew what bet to make at the Quidditch World Cup.
