J.K. Rowling 2012 Interview – Harry Potter: Beyond the Page [High Res]

more than 3,000 miles from New York City across the Atlantic Ocean and off the northwestern coast of continental Europe lies the United Kingdom which includes England Wales Northern Ireland and Scotland a land known for its heather highlands and haggis welcome to Edinburgh Scotland a city built on the remains of an ancient volcano and steeped in history perhaps one of M Burroughs most famous and impressive historical landmarks perched high atop the city is the castle which dates back to the 12th century almost a thousand years ago Edinboro 's old town as it's known grew up on a narrow hill around the castle where some of its medieval houses reached as high as fifteen stories the earliest skyscrapers the new town a network of wide streets grand public buildings elegant houses and leafy gardens was built in the late 18th century Scotland's second largest city and capital is home to more than a half a million Edinburgh errs as the citizens of this beautiful city are known and you may be surprised to know that many of the world's great thinkers artists and writers have called edinburgh home people like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Robert Louis Stevenson JM Barrie and of course JK Rowling who wrote much of the first book of one of the most widely read children's book series of all time in a coffee shop right here in Edinburgh hello everyone and welcome to Harry Potter beyond the page I'm Billy Dee Michelle with scholastic and we are coming to you live from Scotland's capital Edinburgh the city JK Rowling calls home this is a big day for Harry Potter readers and for those about to begin their magical adventure because for the first time ever JK Rowling is live in classrooms virtually around the world Joe thank you for inviting us to meet you here in your hometown to talk about the fantastic world of Harry Potter I know you wrote a great deal of it right here in Edinburgh yeah how much did this beautiful city and its rich history influenced your writing it it had some influence there are some small things that wouldn't have happened in the books if I hadn't been living in Edinburgh for example when I was looking for the surname of a particularly arrogant and annoying character whose first name was Gilderoy I happen to be in a church and saw the surname Lockhart which is a which is a beautiful surname and a church here in Edinburgh I'm talking about of course and that's how Gilda Roy got his surname so there were small things like that names sometimes street names gave me detail in the books but I have to say I'm a writer who can write pretty much anywhere so it was wonderful to be writing in such a beautiful city and this is a place that's got great coffee shops which is where I did a huge amount of writing so that helped a lot and I would say that people here are very respectful of your privacy so I was able to write into writing cafes for a long time even when Harry Potter was quite well-known so I'm very grateful to Edinburgh for that that's great city it's been five years since the seventh and final book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was published in 2007 and the series is still captivating readers in the United States teachers and librarians are creating Harry Potter reading clubs in their schools to introduce the series to new generations of young readers and now with Pottermore the new online Harry Potter reading experience millions more are beginning their Hogwarts journey Joe when we announced that we were doing this live event with you the response from teachers and librarians and students and fans was obviously overwhelmingly yeah and the questions began pouring in I can't tell you how many of course and I'm gonna be sharing just a few of them okay from students throughout the webcast but out of all the questions we received the one most frequently asked is one that you've answered asked and asked and answered countless times before but I think with the series now a few years behind you it's worth revisiting because it speaks to the phenomenon of Harry Potter and I want to revisit those numbers for a moment four hundred and fifty million books in print worldwide 73 languages a hundred and fifty million books in print in the US alone and Counting staggering and I think the question they all want to know most is do you have any idea why these books have and continue to enchant readers young and old in such epic proportions I've have thought about this I used to say because it was an easy answer or you should ask the readers you know they know what they like but over the years I have come to understand the appeal a little better mainly through talking to readers I'd have to say I think primarily people fell in love with the characters even though the magic is so much fun and the idea of this hidden world is so appealing it's appealing to me as the author and and as an adult the idea that there's somewhere special that you belong I still think that it was the characters fundamentally that made people fall in love with the world and above all Harry Ron and Hermione probably right and we're gonna talk about the characters because you're right they're extraordinary but I wanted to ask you going back a little bit was it always your dream to write always always I naturally cannot remember time when I knew that you had to earn your living in some way and I didn't want to be a writer and some time I was I was not very honest about that because I think well I know my parents wouldn't have seen that as a very stable way to make a living but it was always what I wanted to do and in my heart of hearts I knew that that's I was going to try as hard as I possibly could to write were you concocting stories even as it yeah definitely at first yeah the first book so called I have heard when I was six years old and it was about a rabbit called rabbit yeah yeah yes not very good but it but what's what in retrospect what's impressive about it to me is that I finished it you see I think that is the mark of someone who really wants to write because beginning stories is often very easy finishing them not so much right alright this next question is one of the first from students that I was talking about it's from Christie Crawford's fourth and fifth grade group at Bronx Community Charter School in New York City that's such a great question I had several write teachers who did encouraged me to write I can remember I had a couple of primary school teachers who in reading out my work to the class made me feel very very special they rip they really did and I that sticks out in my memory the pride I felt at my work being read out to other students was was a very big deal to me I had a teacher when I was a little older called Lucy Shepherd and her name Springs very readily to my lips because I've just met her I just did an event and she came along to it and she was teaching me when I was in my teens and she was a fantastic English teacher and like Dumbledore McGonagall in the books she taught me things in addition to what she was teaching me about literature things about life you know she was just a very good example of a woman who was very smart and someone who would stick up for herself and her principles and that was that was a great role model and that kind of validation to at a young age oh yeah completely I mean you never forget the teachers who said you you you can do this do you remember the first sentence you wrote in the series and the last and how much time between well I know that it was 17 years between the two 17 and I know that I finished writing Deathly Hallows in 2007 I finished editing it I should say so I couldn't tell you what was the very last word I wrote because when you're editing you you're darting around a lot the first sentence I wrote I do still have if we're setting aside the preliminary notes that I made and it was so different to the first sentence that appeared in the printed books and it was I can't quote it exactly but it was to do with a place called darks Hollow and darks Hollow became Godric's Hollow so in the very first ever version of chapter 1 of the Harry Potter the Philosopher's Stone you saw what happened in Godric's Hollow whereas in the finished series you don't get to see exactly what happened in Godric's Hollow till much later yeah ok one of your fit maybe one of your favorite moments along the way in these 17 years there are so many within the books if we're talking about what happens in the stories I know that I'm about to read one of them one of my very favorite verses to from the first book but there there are many Lunas first appearance because I love Luna Lovegood so much and I was looking forward to writing her the graveyard scene I have to be very careful people who haven't finished the series but the graveyard scene in Goblet of Fire for different reasons was great to write because I'd been aiming for that point for quite a few years by the time I got to write it so that felt very satisfying so the loads of different some just really small things that I still remember during writing like stupid jingles and things that Jeeves says they were always fun to do and how about a personal favorite moment like a lot in those 17 years for me personally as the writer there have been so many but I think the second American tour that I did was unbelievable was unbelievable because at that point the books have become very popular like I hadn't been exposed to how popular they become physically exposed to it and I can remember traveling in a car towards my first signing and they would block some blocks of people queuing and I said to Chris Moran who was working from scholastic and who was become a friend and we were sitting there I said Chris is there a sale on because she just looked at me are you mad this is for you and that was you know I will never forget that moment that was the first time I really understood what has happened right it was a great moment it was extraordinary and also terrifying you know it was it was scary as well because I just hadn't expected that the previous tour although we Tad's you know maybe a couple of hundred people turn up occasionally it haven't been quite that crazy well it's because you created one of the most magical worlds thank you ever probably or one of the most magical worlds you've ever seen in literature for sheron's and some of the most as we said extraordinary characters so I know you said for all of these readers watching who are about to start their journey and for those who've been on at even multiple times would you take us back into that world I would love to really love to Sorcerer's Stone right yeah I'm gonna read from Sorcerer's Stone and I'm going to read now I absolutely loved writing this passage and in fact I started writing this sitting under a tree in in the in a park which is appropriate and you will understand why it's appropriate when I've read a little more okay the last shop was narrow and shabby peeling gold letters over the door red olive and us makers of fine ones since 382 BC a single one to lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window a tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside it was a tiny place except for a single spindly chair that Hagrid sat on to wait Harry felt strangely as though he had entered a very strict library he swallowed a lot of new questions that had just occurred to him and looked instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling for some reason the back of his neck prickled the very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with some secret magic good afternoon said a soft voice Harry jumped Hagrid must have jumped too because there was a loud crunching noise and he got quickly off the spindly chair an old man was standing before them his white pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop hello said Harry awkwardly I yes said the man yes yes I thought I'd be seeing you soon Harry Potter it wasn't a question you have your mother's eyes it seems only yesterday she was in here herself buying her first wand ten and a quarter inches long swishy made of willow nice wand for charm work mr. Ollivander moved closer to Harry Harry wished he would blink those silvery eyes were a bit creepy your father on the other hand favoured a mahogany wand 11 inches pliable a little more power and excellent for Transfiguration well I say your father favored it it's really the wand that chooses the wizard of course mr. Ollivander had come so close that he and Harry were almost nose-to-nose Harry could see himself reflected in those misty eyes and that's where Mr Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Harry's forehead with a long white finger I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it he said softly thirteen and a half inches you powerful wand very powerful and in the wrong hands well if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do he shook his head and then to Harry's relief spotted Hagrid Rubeus Rubeus Hagrid how nice to see you again oak sixteen inches rather bendy wasn't it it was sir yes said Hagrid good wand that one but I suppose they snapped it in half when he got expelled said Mr Ollivander suddenly Stern oh yes they did yes said Hagrid shuffling his feet I've still got the pieces though he added brightly but you don't use them said Mr Ollivander sharply oh no sir said Hagrid Harry notice he gripped his pink umbrella very tightly as he spoke mm-hmm said Mr Ollivander giving Hagrid a piercing look well now mr. Potter let me see he pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket which is your wand hand well I'm right handed said Harry hold out your arm that's it he measured Harry from shoulder to finger then wrist to elbow shoulder to floor knee to armpit and round his head as he measured he said every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance mr. Potter we use unicorn hairs Phoenix tail feathers and the heartstrings of dragons no two Ollivander wands are the same just as no two unicorns dragons or Phoenix's are quite the same and of course you will never get such good results with another Wizards wand Harry suddenly realized that the tape measure which was measuring between his nostrils was doing this on its own mr. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves taking down boxes that will do he said and the tape measure crumbled into a heap on the floor right then mr. Potter try this one beechwood and dragon heartstring 9 inches nice and flexible just take it and give it a wave Harry took the wand and feeling foolish waved it around a bit but Mr Ollivander snatch get out of his hand almost at once maple and phoenix feather 7 inches quite whippy try Harry tried but he had hardly raised the wand when it too was snatched back by mr. Ollivander no no here evany and a unicorn here eight and a half inches springy go on go on try it out Harry tried and tried he had no idea what mr. Ollivander was waiting for the pile of tried wands was moving higher and higher on the spindly chair but the more once mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves the happier he seemed to become tricky customer eh not to worry we'll find the perfect match here somewhere I wonder now yes why not unusual combination holly and phoenix feather 11 inches nice and supple harry took the wand he felt a sudden warmth in his fingers he raised the wand above his head bought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework throwing dancing spots of light onto the walls Hagrid whooped and clapped and mr. Ollivander cried Oh Bravo yes indeed oh very good well well well how curious how very curious he put Harry's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper still muttering curious curious sorry said Harry but what's curious mr. Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare I remember every wand I've ever sold mr. Potter every single wand it so happens that the Phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand gave another feather just one other it is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when it's brother why it's brother gave you that scar Harry swallowed yes thirteen and a half inches you curious indeed how these things happen the wand chooses the wizard remember I think we must expect great things from you mr. Potter after all he who must not be named did great things terrible yes but great Harry shivered he wasn't sure he liked mr. Ollivander too much he paid seven gold galleons for his wand and mr. Ollivander balled them from his shop the late afternoon Sun hung low in the sky as Harry and Hagrid made their way back down Diagon Alley back through the wall back through the leaky cauldron now empty Harry didn't speak at all as they walked it out down the road he didn't even notice how much people were gawking at them um we're on the underground Laden as they were with all their funny shaped packages with the snowy owl asleep in its cage on Harry's lap up another escalator out into Paddington Station Harry only realized where they were when Hagrid tapped him on the shoulder got time for a bite to eat before your train leaves he said he bought Harry a hamburger and they sat down on plastic seats to eat them how he kept looking around everything looked so strange somehow you're all right Harry you're very quiet said Hagrid Harry wasn't sure he could explain he just had the best birthday of his life and yet he chewed his hamburger trying to find the words everyone thinks I'm special he said at last all those people in the leaky cauldron Professor Quirrell mr. Ollivander I don't know anything about magic at all how can they expect great things I'm famous and I can't even remember what I'm famous for I don't know what happened when volt sorry I mean the night my parents died Hagrid leaned across the table behind the wild beard and eyebrows he wore a very kind smile don't you worry Harry you'll learn fast enough everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts you'll be just fine just be yourself I know it's hard you've been singled out and that's always hard he'll have a great time uh warts I did still do matter of fact Hagrid helped Harry onto the train that would take him back to the Dursleys and handed him an envelope your ticket for Hogwarts he said first of September Kings Cross is all on your ticket any problems with the doors this send me a letter with your owl she'll know where to find me see you soon re the train pulled out of the station Harry wanted to watch Hagrid until he was out of sight he rose in his seat and pressed his nose against the window but he blinked and Hagrid had gone I love that bit I love the night those first moments and Diagon Alley are classic I mean those are like you begin to really get into this world and see exactly yes so cool well let's actually let's talk about Harry Wright and his great friendship with his school school mates yeah Ron and Hermione we have a question from Alice who's in year 7 at toll Werth girls school here in in London and London services oh ok how did you first imagine how everyone Hermione's relationship and how does it changes you got deeper into the books well that's an excellent question because it goes to a heart of writing along series I mean some writers say character is plot and to a large extent I think they're right so I gave Harry two friends two very very different friends Ron is all about the fun right and but Ron is a very loyal person he's a very human person in some ways more human than Harry who is someone who is a hero a hero is often slightly set apart not so much in human as a purified form of a of a human they had their the one who must fulfilled the quest so Ron is there as a maybe a slightly more real boy with his faults and his flaws and Ron gets scared and Ron one wonders really are we going to have to do this again but he's always there by Harry's side and Ron's one problem which is Ron's problem and sometimes his friends problem is insecurity Ron Ron feels that he's maybe not as good as his brothers he comes from a very big family and then he goes and makes friends with the most famous boy in the Wizarding World and so Ron's got some issues of his own to work through and in doing so Ron goes on his own emotional journey so that's that's Ron's character and that's Ron's plot as it were and I did know all those things about Ron start I did know that that was going to be the the the issue within that friendship then with Hermione Hermione gives Harry so Harry is a boy who needs some fun and he gets that from wrong Harry is also a boy who even though he's been marked out for this strange destiny he's someone who doesn't know a lot and that's where her my only comes in now Hermione is all about knowing stuff right so I give him these two friends who bring to Harry thinks he needs Hermione is very clever she not only knows a lot of stuff she knows where to find out a lot of stuff so and she Pat she to go through a journey through the books so Hermione learns to loosen up quite a lot largely through the influence of Ron Hermione learns that there is more to life than book learning a lesson that really she learns quite early on and then she grows a lot as a person so I did know those things about those characters even from the first book and I think I needed to because I would have run out of steam quite early on if I hadn't given them the potential to grow as people you know what's so compelling to as a reader is that you're you watch and you feel this bond right developed right because also because Ron and Hermione challenge Harry in there very much so and that that's what keeps the relationship interesting in in that there is conflict within it as there is with all human relationships even the deepest and the warmest friendships will be subject to trials and what marks out a truly great friendship is not that it never had an argument or never saw any conflict it's how you deal with those survived and became smaller because you had to be honest in you had to find a way of coping with those with those difficulties so yeah the other thing too is that as a reader we feel like we're experiencing the journey alongside them and that journey is actually more than just about magic isn't it completely because as we're saying you know these these are three characters who's who's without wishing to be corny or cheesy they what they really need to learn about is themselves and they of course need to learn about each other but self-knowledge is is key and without giving too much away again when we get to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows what the Hallows are and what they represent reveals a lot about the people who seek them want to use them and being drawn to a particular hallow tells you something about the kind of person you are and by the time they get there Harry Ron and Hermione are equipped to come near such objects and that was an emotional journey that had very little to do with magic so you're writing these three characters yeah over a extended period of time how much of you ends up in all three of them then I mean I they so there's a good argument that says that you know you and author is in every single character they write they have to be you have to understand from the inside what someone's going through which means that you have to put yourself in a lot of different heads with Harry Ron and Hermione absolutely there's that I am in all three of them Harry is a curious character he's not often the most popular character in the books for a good reason because he has to be this this questing person and often that person is as I say slightly less easy to love because their flaws tend not to be run-of-the-mill flaws but Harry Harry is often the bystander the eyes onto the world and that gives him a particular power he is slightly detached detachment he's in a very lovable quality but often people who have that detachment are rather unusual and are able to do things and most writers have a degree of detachment so if I stand right back from those three characters I would say that is the part of me that maybe is in Harry Hermione is easy I mean Hermione is an exaggerated version of myself without that age you know she's not exactly like me but I was certainly a very bookish girl and I was the girl who would have gone to the library to look it up you know that's how I would have reacted to the challenges of Hogwarts I would have gone to find a book I'm Ron there's a lot of me and Ron and a lot of Ron's most base humor is stuff that would make me laugh I'm not saying that's the only stuff that makes me laugh but I love Ron's humor and obviously that comes from me I'm making up the jokes so they are but you know as readers we identify with all of them and largely because in some way they're dealing with the same things that we're struggling with solutely one of my favorite ever comments from a from a very early reader and I mean really early like back in 1997-98 was he was a young small boy was about ten years old and he looked at me and he said I really like this book and I said well thank you so much he said how he often doesn't know what's going on and nor do i and that spoke to me so much because I think at that age you know he was semi joking but he meant it at the same time and I thought that's perfect you've just summed it up all of us having this sense of a mind the only one who doesn't know what's going on that we've all felt that and I think when you're young starting a new school that those feelings are never as acute as at that time and not always you're not always conscious of the fact that you're there's this struggle going on right so it's these bigger themes of good versus evil tolerance versus intolerance love hate all of that is permeates their characters and all of the characters in the book and this next question from Donnellan Miller's fourth grade class at Peterson Elementary School in Fort Worth Texas speaks to that let's listen hi my name is Mason did you know when you're writing the books that reading about Harry Ron and Hermione is experience would help us face our own challenges hmm do I know that's such a great question I probably didn't know because when you're writing you but you're so inside the world you're living it you're feeling it it's to be honest the last thing on your mind is how will someone read this you're too busy creating it it was only later that I thought wow you know when I started to get letters particularly about bullying things like bullying I've had so many letters from boys saying that there's a Draco Malfoy in my class saying I know some pansy Parkinson's and that that meant the world to me in the sense that I hope that people dealing with those issues would think well you know I'm not alone some people just are mean and it's nothing to do with me and I've got to find a way to navigate around those people because yes so that was a great thing to hear it was a wonderful thing to hear and that is a wonderful question too it's a great question yeah all right so here in the UK it's been 15 years since the first book Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published in the u.s. we're going to be celebrating that anniversary this for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone next September right and a lot has changed in 15 years technology's gotten us further into the digital age how we receive our information certainly online is very different we spend a great deal more time online and today we're talking about books and reading live on the Internet and how we read change has changed dramatically yeah and so you're taking this magnificent series and extending it beyond the page into this rich digital world yeah called Pottermore yeah and Katya in Cecile Robertson's sixth grade class in Eglinton junior public school in Toronto Canada wants to know this how did I come up with part of Baltimore okay it was I mean the initial idea was it's time because a lot of fans were saying when are we gonna get ebooks when are we going to be able to read in a different form and it felt like it was the right time to do it you know I I had time to concentrate on doing it right so that's that's really where the idea for Pottermore came but then I wanted it to be more than that inevitably because as you say the Internet is has amazing possibilities that were no-one dreamt of in 97 when the first Harry Potter book was published so I saw it as a way to create an environment where you could see extra tip fix you know you we could go inside illustrations a little bit I mean it's just it's it's making a book in that world it's just putting a book in that world and you can do some wonderful things there it's still a reading experience you know you still need to be able to read the books but I was excited about the fact that we could put a really good reading experience online and I think it's very important to say that you can get whole load of extra stuff on Pottermore completely for free so this isn't just about selling books for anyone know you can buy a new books there if you want to but the really exciting thing for me was I had a way and this you can get completely for free of you if you go on there I had a way of putting extra material that I'd collected over the years all that I still wanted to find out about myself so some some little bits and pieces I've invented since and I could put it online and it was a way of making sure that any fan could access it they could you know they could just play with it a little bit more and it's the kind of thing I would love if I loved a series of books to be able to go out and to be able to go and find more about a character a little bit of extra backstory I would have adored so it was a chance to do all that and as you say still be reading exactly it's still a reading experience yeah well we have a little preview of what wonderful things await you on Pottermore let's take a look [Music] you [Music] that's so cool I love it there and there's so much excitement about Pottermore it's been he had an amazing team where I'm on it we really did and I've been so involved and in fact you saw it you saw a hint of what's what's really fun on there so you can you get your bond and you get sorted in the house and I think that that's been very popular with school and I devised all of that I had so much fun with that sorry so and I think there's 30,000 and something wond combinations you can get so you really get a really personalized one okay then I we all want to know what excites you most then because there's been so much excitement but what excites you most to be honest on this occasion it has been getting feedback from people yeah I've had I've had so many people say to me how much fun it is oh yeah I suppose devising the the definitive questions for that for the different houses was a lot of fun because there have been so many pay limitations online it was time for me to do it yeah alright so everyone has their favorite moments I know I do already Stacey Burt's sixth grade class from the discovery school in Murfreesboro Tennessee is very interested in knowing yours let's take a look greetings one of our favorite authors JK Rowling from discovery school in mercy are out Tennessee right here from history class and we've been wondering what are your favorite moments from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on Potter I'm loving yells my favorite moment in Sorcerer's Stone will actually fund me you should say Diagon Alley being the moment you go into the magical world is a great moment on Potter more I think I love the illustration and just to be able to move through the shops and pick things pick things up and you know it's like I mean at my age pop-up books were really exciting so this is like the ultimate pop-up isn't it you see with the illustrations and there's that slightly 3d effect that you can move through and that was very conscious because when I wanted the style of the site to remain very book like so the illustrations aren't filmic they look much more like book illustrations like pop-up illustrations which I love you said there's a lots of new mm-hmm exclusive content probably probably a fraction of what's in your I'm sure and atom Carlin's this is very creative 5th grade class at Turtleback elementary school in San Diego great name what's a cool to turtle back Terry they want to pick your brain a little bit and I'm gonna this comes with a warning mm-hmm there are special effects okay I'm ready have you enjoyed returning to Harry star again and have any of the characters come back and surprise you I have to say turtle back as one so far this presentation that was awesome first of all returning to Harry's story I don't honestly feel like I ever left I'm never going to leave I'm never gonna leave it was 17 years of my life I was quite heartbroken to finish writing it was tough very tough going back is so easy it's ridiculously easy for me I feel like I'm just unlocking a door back into my own house and I love that I love having the ongoing contact so pulling things out of boxes or inventing a little bit more for Pottermore is just fun and it's a wonderful way to stay connected to the world and to fans of Harry's so that's all great has a character come back and surprised me I wouldn't exactly say surprised because I did know them all pretty well having said that I recently completed a full biography for Remus Lupin who is one of my favorite characters in the series and he he's a teacher that Harry has in third book Prisoner of Azkaban and in writing Remus's biography even though I it was in my head I've never written it down but I kind of knew what he'd done but him writing it I found myself getting very upset that's all I can say because I don't want to give anything away but I did find myself getting quite emotional so I can't say any more than that I can't just I felt very connected to that going to man it was hard going back through his life again we also have an exclusive first look at the illustration Oh perfect part more and we're gonna take a look at it right now it's exquisite isn't that beautiful what are we looking at I think inside the night bus that's the night bus exactly yeah which is really how I imagined it it's so funny because it looks so serene and comfortable doesn't it it's the floor you're in agony and everything's sliding everywhere the night bus is fun i really i liked the night bus i love it it's beautiful it's gotta be a thrill seeing all of this come to life because that's the other thing it is coming to life in it it's been it's been such a thrill partly it's taken a long time you know we I say we because it's a big team of creators who have worked worked on this project and it's been a few years and people kept saying what are your new e-books when you got a new ebook so I couldn't say because we were working on what we hoped would be really great reading experience online and finally see it come to life is it has been wonderful I'm I'm logged on as a normal yes as a you know a participant I wanted to have the experience just like everyone else so I'm on there I'm yeah so there we polled yeah more fans great we asked them what question they most wanted you to answer okay close to 40,000 people voted and the question they selected with 40% of the vote which is which part of our house are you in well I see yeah that's a great question so as I say I I know how it works so I logged on and I'm now on Pottermore as a regular user and that's how I go check what's going on yeah although I'm not going to give my name and my news name and so I went through the sorting and I am a you know me Billy what do you think I am you have to be Gryffindor I am Gryffindor yeah but I had a moment as I clicked the Latin the answer of the last question and bear in mind I wrote together I thought hey I'm not sure if I've answered to get Gryffindor I asked them completely honestly and I didn't that I had I knew that I'd answered a couple four different houses so I thought I wonder how they're going to work this out and yes I am in Gryffindor well that leaves me to this very next interesting question from Dhruv he is in year 7 at Tiffin school in Kingston upon Thames let's listen to what Dhruv has to say okay what would you say to people who were disappointed that they've been folded into Hufflepuff on bottom or well yeah this is a this is that is actually my favorite question so far because this is a very sore point for me okay this may surprise people but it is the truth in many many ways hufflepuff is my favorite house here's my reasoning bear with me again I don't want to spoil things too much for people I haven't read the whole series so I'm going to say what I'm about to say quite carefully okay there comes a point in the final book where each house has the choice whether or not to rise to a certain challenge and that's everyone in the house the slytherins for reasons that are understandable decide they'd rather not play the Ravenclaw's some decide they will some decide they weren't the hufflepuffs virtually to a person stay as do the Gryffindor's now the Gryffindor's comprised a lot of foolhardy and show-off you people that's just the way it is I'm a Gryffindor I'm allowed to say you know there's bravery and there's also showboating and sometimes the two go together the Hufflepuff stayed for a different reason they weren't trying to show off they weren't being reckless that's the essence of Hufflepuff house now my oldest child my daughter Jessica said something very profound to me not very many days ago actually she said to me and she by the way was not sorted into half a puff house but she said to me I think we should all want to be hufflepuffs I can only say to you that I would not be at all disappoint to be sorted into half a puff house but I'm so I'm a little upset that anyone does feel that way but you are a Gryffindor oh yeah I am a Gryffindor but that's that you know that's not all good I know Harry is a Gryffindor but Harry's a Gryffindor for the same reason I'm a Gryffindor you know well I you know I've got a short temper Harry's got he's got his issues I'm just saying I'm saying also Gryffindor hasn't despite the way at thinks of itself it's turned out the odd - Dark Wizard hufflepuffs got a pretty much clean record on that front yes you see alright Hufflepuff fear as indeed Slytherin has turned out out there more than one hero that's right yeah all right yes how do more up and running up and running at lost thank goodness for 250 million books yeah that's a few what's the next for you what are you working on more books books yes I'm well right now I'm still promoting and will be for a few more days the last book I published which is a book for adults thank you very much but I think that the next thing I publish is likely to be a book for children I the reason I'm not committing myself wholeheartedly is because after 15 years of being the right of Harry Potter where you'd say something and someone would seize on it and say Frank she's definitely doing that now and you kind of thought you weren't allowed to change your mind and it all got a little intense so I try not to commit myself too much with my plan so I'm not 100% sure what I'll do next but I think it will be a book for slightly younger children I think that will be the next thing I published well we will await it thank you for whenever whenever yeah thank you exactly all right I did some up my own writing actually we were writing rewriting yeah okay so there's a great French novelist his name is Marcel Proust yes indeed he's penned a very famous questionnaire which a lot of people used I adapted it okay carry my own version just for you okay lucky you are you ready to answer I'm ready okay here now first thing that comes to your mind is it can go fast okay all right okay gosh that is scary okay here we go okay favorite color pink I'm sorry favorite food sushi least favorite food Oh tripe okay which I have eaten because I don't try anything anymore it's it looks yeah favorite sound the sea or my husband snoring least favorite I've heard the sea at least favorite sound my husband snoring what I want to get asleep for its sport Quidditch help yeah yeah of course okay favorite host who's ever interviewed you no I'm just kidding favorite thing to do when you're not working take my kids out somewhere fun or I'm quite to create your first night quite like I like to draw listen to music not very exciting answers are they that's the truth oh and I love cooking I love to cook yeah I'm baking yeah I love to make you quality you most admire in a purse bravery yeah yeah it is yes okay this is the last of the questionnaire complete the sentence if I wasn't a writer I would be depressed this profession there's nothing else there's just nothing else that I would want to do my youngest daughter said to me not again not very long ago at all she said mommy if you had to choose between us and writing what would you choose and I said I would choose you but I would be very grumpy hmm thank you for going along with that that was fun yeah yes I have so many more we can I think we can talk everyone said it Harry Potter massive success but you've said this many times Joe that getting kids reading has been one of the most gratifying outcomes of reading the Harry Potter series so 20 years from now 50 years a hundred years from now when they're still being read what do you most hope the children take away with with them from reading from the experience of reading Harry what I would most like to think they take away is what I take away from my favorite books which is the knowledge there is always somewhere you can go that you've loved and where you're safe and that's how I feel about my favorite books that wherever I am if I've got that book with me I have got a place I can go and be happy so if that play that if that place is Hogwarts for anyone then I'm I couldn't be more honored or more humbled I think it's made a lot of people happy thank you it has thank you for spending time with us for answering these questions amazing questions really wonderful wonderful questions but thank you for this gift because it is it's a gift it's been a gift for generations of readers already and more to come and it's been a pleasure for me to be with you here today thanks so much for yeah I've really loved it thank you all for tuning in we're so glad you could join us virtually here in this gorgeous City of Edinburgh and remember for all things Harry Potter you can visit Scholastic comm / HP Reed where you can learn more about the new Harry Potter reading Club Bloomsbury com / Harry Potter and of course online Harry Potter reading experience at Pottermore comm many options but they all lead to JK Rowling's magical world of Harry Potter have a great day and keep reading thank you

Channel: Saandy

Views: 143,246

Rating: 4.9186993 out of 5

Keywords: JK, Rowling, jkrowling, j.k, JKR, interview, webcast, 2012, beyond, the, page, reading, favourite, passage, chapter, hd, 1080p, fixed, no, glitch, harry, potter, hp, virtual, author, visit, simulcast, gryffindor, hufflepuff, diagon, alley, hagrid, sorcerer's, stone, philosophers, wizardwear, dioganalley, hedwig, cozy, potterhead, pottermore, club, book, pages

Id: aA_QYZBWQ88

Length: 50min 48sec (3048 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 21 2020