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(#1) Harry, Hermione, and Ron Appear on Frog Cards
On Rowling’s 2007 American book tour, Rowling had a surprise for fans. One of the perks of destroying one of the most powerful Dark wizards that ever existed is to have your face and accomplishments appear on one of the collectible Chocolate Frog Cards.
Harry’s card says: "The first and only known wizard to survive the Killing Curse, most famous for the defeat of the most dangerous dark wizard of all time, Lord Voldemort."
Hermione’s card says: "The brightest witch of her age, who eradicated pro-pureblood laws and campaigned for the rights of non-human beings such as house-elves."
Ron’s card says: "Destroying the Horcruxes and subsequent defeat of Voldemort and revolutionising the Ministry of Magic."
Ron, an ardent card collector, considered this to be one of the greatest achievements of all time. This is also why Ron is beloved. The revelation had fans saying, “awww.”
Source: Telegraph
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(#2) Harry and Dudley Meet Again and Make Amends (Sort Of)
Despite coming from a very weak gene pool, perhaps something in Petunia’s makeup allowed her son to be less awful than his parents. Petunia and Lily were sisters after all. During her 2007 book tour, Rowling said, “Harry and Dudley would still see each other enough to be on Christmas card terms, but they would visit more out of a sense of duty and sit in silence so that their children could see their cousins.”
In a deleted scene from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1, Dudley has a comical, nearly moving moment of defying his crap parents. In his less than eloquent way, Dudley redeemed some of the terrible treatment of Harry by saying, “I don’t think you’re a waste of space.”
To which Harry says, “See ya, Big D.”
It’s a start.
Sources: Telegraph, Mental Floss
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(#3) Luna Lovegood Marries the Grandson of Newt Scamander
Harry's lovely, fearless, ethereal, and odd friend had a love for imaginary and real animals. So, it’s no surprise that she ended up becoming a famous wizarding naturalist married to the grandson of Newt Scamander, Rolf. Scamander, you'll recall, authored Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Who better to find them than Luna Lovegood?
Source: Beyond Hogwarts
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(#4) Draco Married Up in the Best Possible Way
Despite their great coming down in the world, the Malfoys had the unmitigated gall to look down on Draco’s wife, Astoria Greengrass. She wasn’t of pure blood nor one of the sacred 28 wizarding families.
Draco, however, did not end up a bitter old Slytherin talking about the good ol' days when he was almost somebody in the Dark Lord’s world. Possibly in a subconscious move to break the pattern of hate, he married Astoria Greengrass, who may have helped the warped boy become a better man. She does not share her in-laws' obsession with pure blood and is dead set on raising her child differently than they raised her husband, according to Rowling.
This did not exactly go over well with Lucius and Narcissa. “As Astoria refused to raise their grandson Scorpius in the belief that Muggles were scum, family gatherings were fraught with tension,” Rowling wrote.
Source: TIME
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(#5) Ron and Arthur Weasley Were Both Almost Killed Off
Do not make J.K. Rowling mad when she is writing, she may go all George R.R. Martin on your favorite characters. When she was in a bad place personally, Rowling nearly killed off Ron and Arthur Weasley. Despite making a promise to herself to keep the “Golden Trio” in tact through all seven Harry Potter books, her fingers got all twitchy over the keyboard at one point.
In the final film's extra features, Rowling told Daniel Radcliffe about her dark thoughts. "I started thinking I might polish one of them off. Out of sheer spite. 'There, now you definitely can't have him any more.' But I think in my absolute heart of heart of hearts, although I did seriously consider killing Ron, [I wouldn't have done it]."
Arthur very nearly died from an attack by Voldemort the snake but he made it through because "there were very few good fathers in the book. In fact, you could make a very good case for Arthur Weasley being the only good father in the whole series,” Rowling said.
Rowling, however, found it necessary to kill at least one of the Weasleys. Sorry, Fred.
Source: Telegraph
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(#6) Tonks and Lupin Were Part of Rowling’s "Kill Parents" Campaign
Because Rowling was on a “kill parents” spree to demonstrate Voldemort’s absolute evil, she just had to kill newly-wedded Tonks and Remus Lupin. Why?! "I think one of the most devastating things about war is the children left behind. As happened in the first war when Harry's left behind, I wanted us to see another child left behind. And it made it very poignant that it was their newborn son."
Rowling did feel real remorse. "Fred, Lupin, and Tonks really caused me a lot of pain. Lupin and Tonks were two who were killed who I had intended to keep alive. It's like an exchange of hostages, isn't it?"
Source: Telegraph
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(#7) Wait, What? Harry and Voldemort Are Related?
Crazy, right?! But Rowling’s family tree links James Potter with Ignotus Peverell. James left Harry the Invisibility Cloak, one of the necessary hallows to achieve immortality, which was passed down by Ignotus, who is James’s direct ancestor.
Tom Riddle, aka Voldemort, was also related to the Peverells. This is why he had the Resurrection Stone. There are hints in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, but it’s not super obvious.
Blood is not thicker than Death Eaters, apparently.
Source: Telegraph
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(#8) Alan Rickman Took This Acting Tip from J.K. Rowling to His Grave
In a 2011 interview with RTÉ, Alan Rickman revealed that J.K. Rowling had given him a little tidbit of advice for how to play Professor Snape onscreen. He said, "She gave me one little piece of information, which I always said I would never share with anybody and never have, and never will. It wasn't a plot point, or crucial in any tangible way, but it was crucial to me as a piece of information that made me travel down that road rather than that one or that one or that one."
After Rickman's death in January 2016, fans were dying to know what that piece of information was that Rickman took to his grave. Rowling decided to alleviate the pain of mourning fans by letting them know Rickman's greatest secret.
"I told Alan what lies behind the word always," Rowling responded to a Twitter fan. This means that, while the other characters in Harry Potter had no idea what the ending of the book - or film - series would be, Alan Rickman knew what was in store for his character all the while.
For those who aren't familiar with what the word "always" symbolizes in Harry Potter, it's a quote from Professor Snape's character that really shapes the good guy side of Snape that readers rarely see. We spend the entire series thinking that Snape is a huge jerk, especially when he outright murders Dumbledore in front of Harry. But it turns out that Snape's best-kept secret was that he was actually a real softie all along.
Snape has been in love with Harry Potter's mom, Lily Potter (neé Evans), ever since they were children. When Dumbledore finds out that Snape is still in love with Lily Potter - even after her untimely death at the hands of Lord Voldemort - he asks him, "Really Severus? After all this time?" and Snape replies, "Always."
Rowling explained this to Rickman early on, so that he could always act the way that his character was intended to - with tons of loving care for Harry Potter layered underneath a sheen of sarcasm and feigned hatred of his arrogance.
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(#9) Dolores Umbridge Is Based on a Real Person
Rowling based the kitten-obsessed, pink-wearing, sadistic bureaucrat on a real person that she “disliked intensely on sight.” The author also said that the real life Umbridge felt the same about her. “The woman in question returned my antipathy with interest.”
The reason that we all love to hate Dolores Umbridge so much is that Rowling truly conjured the essence of the real woman. “Why we took against each other so instantly, heartily and (on my side, at least) irrationally, I honestly cannot say." Rowling said that real life Umbridge also had loads pictures of kittens on her office walls.
Umbridge is just as dark and nasty as Voldemort and it’s no accident. “Her desire to control, to punish, and to inflict pain, all in the name of law and order, are, I think, every bit as reprehensible as Lord Voldemort’s unvarnished espousal of evil,” Rowling said. “Umbridge is not only one of the most malicious Potter characters - she is the only person other than Lord Voldemort to leave a permanent physical scar on Harry.”
Umbridge proves that nose or not, evil is just as vile in a fuzzy, pink dress set.
Source: Telegraph
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(#10) Post-Hogwarts, Ron and Harry Did All Right
Once you put “killed Dark Lord” on your resume, you are probably set for life. Who needs a degree? Hogwarts dropouts Harry and Ron were perfect for the job of Auror at the Ministry of Magic. Basically, Harry and Ron get to be detectives. Spinoff please!
Rowling said, "He's needed. Kingsley [Shacklebolt, Minister of Magic] would've wanted Ron, Neville, Harry and they would've all gone, and they would've all done the job. And I think that that would've been a good thing for them, too."
Although Neville ends up teaching herbology, certainly Harry and Ron would need his expertise now and again. Especially if they ever needed someone to cast a mad spell in a cardigan.
Ron didn’t last long as an Auror. Ron left his job at the Ministry to “co-manage the highly successful wizarding joke emporium Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes.” We’re sure Hermione was totally cool with that.
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(#11) Dumbledore Could See Harry in the Invisibility Cloak
Rowling confirmed something that fans had speculated about when she said that Dumbledore could silently use the incantation "homenum revelio" and see him any time. So Dumbledore probably attended a good many secret meetings.
Source: Telegraph
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(#12) She Didn't Enjoy Killing Off Remus Lupin
Beginning in 2015, Rowling promised to apologize for a death in the Harry Potter series every year on the anniversary of the end of the Second Wizarding War (May 2). In 2016, she focused her contrition on Remus Lupin, a werewolf and former Defense Against the Dark Arts professor who knew Harry's parents and became a fan favorite.
In a series of tweets, Rowling said: "Once again, it's the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts so, as promised, I shall [apologize] for a death. This year: Remus Lupin... In the interests of total honesty I'd also like to confess that I didn't decide to kill Lupin until I wrote Order of the Phoenix."
She continued, "Arthur lived, so Lupin had to die. I'm sorry. I didn't enjoy doing it. The only time my editor ever saw me cry was over the fate of Teddy."
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(#13) Harry Got Sirius Black’s Bike Thanks to Arthur Weasley
Sure, it was damaged during the war with the Death Eaters, but pro tinkerer and mechanic, Arthur Weasley recovered all of the parts and restored the bike, giving it to Harry. Sweet!
Source: Mental Floss
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(#14) The Potterverse Has Two 'Harry Potters'
This is not a prank, nor a polyjuice potion mixhap. According to Rowling, Harry Potter's great-grandfather, Henry Potter, went by the nickname 'Harry.' Father to Fleamont Potter, the Harry Potter's paternal grandfather, Henry served on the Wizengamot during the early 1900s. He took a highly critical stance against the then-Minister of Magic's decision to keep the wizarding world out of WWI, a decision Henry Potter saw as damaging for Muggles.
This lead to the Potter family's exclusion from the Sacred Twenty-Eight, a group of pureblood families.
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(#15) Harry's Family Tree Stretches Back to the Middle Ages
In September 2015, to go along with a Pottermore site redesign, Rowling revealed that the Potter name goes all the way back to a 12th century wizard named Linfred of Stinchcombe. She went on to describe him as "“a locally well-beloved and eccentric man, whose nickname, ‘the Potterer,’ became corrupted in time to ‘Potter.’”
Source: The Guardian -
(#16) As a Film, Fantastic Beasts Was an Accident
Rowling never planned on becoming a screenwriter. “I never aspired to this. This is very much an added extra," she explained to the BBC, looking very much surprised about the existence of the prequel franchise. "And the reason this exists, Fantastic Beasts, is because I couldn’t let the story go. Warner Brothers wanted to do something with Newt and I knew a lot about Newt so I thought I’d better give them what I’ve got. So I started writing notes. And I wrote a story. Then I banged out a screenplay which I thought they would give to someone more competent and they said, ’No, you can do that.’ So it was a bit of an accident.”
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(#17) Harry Made Sure That Snape Was Honored
One of the final things Harry says in the last book is: "Albus Severus, you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew." Besides that great honor, Harry went further.
Rowling revealed Harry made sure that a portrait of the misunderstood professor was placed in the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts. She explained in a webchat, "I like to think that Harry would be instrumental in ensuring that Snape’s portrait would appear there in due course."
Sources: Telegraph, Mental Floss
Check out more Harry Potter tidbits that you probably never knew here.
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(#18) Hogwarts Is Located in Scotland
The textbook Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a requirement of first year Hogwarts students. Ron Weasley doodles and annotates Harry's copy, slyly teaching fans a few things about the magical world. Namely, Hogwarts is located in Scotland. We also learn that Ron agrees that the Hungarian Horntail is the most fearsome dragon of all since his pal Harry dealt with one first hand.
As for the doodles, Rowling thought it quite natural to put them in. “That’s Harry and Ron graffiti-ing the book, as you do to your schoolbooks. You do doodle on them, I always wrote all over mine. Teachers reading this will not be happy that I’m saying it but you do, don’t you? So they’ve just scribbled things on them and said rude things in them, the name of their favourite Quidditch team and stuff in the book,” she explained.
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(#19) Neville Turns Out Finer Than Fine and Becomes a Verb
Neville’s life turns out much better. Besides helping to defeat the Dark wizard behind torturing his parents, he ends up with Hannah Abbott and they live above the The Leaky Cauldron. And he becomes the new Herbology Professor at Hogwarts. We’re certain there are benefits and that Neville had access to dental health and the gym. Because he turned out super hot.
And "Longbottomed" is now a verb for when someone goes from awkward to stone cold fox. Actor Matthew Lewis posed for a spread in a magazine in nothing but his drawers. The child with the overbite had grown into such hotness, Lewis's shoot nearly broke the internet. Rowling was a bit freaked out when she saw someone she had known as a child in such a revealing way.
Source: E! Online
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(#20) Why Are the Dursleys So Rotten to Harry?
To mark what would be Dudley Dursley’s 35th birthday, Rowling revealed some Dursley backstory via Pottermore, in a section called "The Cupboard Under the Stairs."
Since the very first time they met James Potter, Petunia and Vernon’s jealousy compounded from their established envy of Lily. Upon meeting his future brother-in-law, Vernon makes a crack about how James and Lily are probably on the dole. Not true. James explains Gringotts and the magical world’s banking system. Vernon is instantly intimidated.
Plus, because Harry reminds Vernon very much of his father, Vernon transfer his insecurities and resentment to the boy. Also, Petunia was always envious of her sister’s powerful skills and magical ability to find a hot husband. Rowling has said that she thought about redeeming Petunia but decided to keep her unchanged and unbowed to the very end.
Source: Telegraph
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(#21) JK Rowling Feels Bad About Killing Dobby
It's that anniversary again. This year, I apologise for killing someone who didn't die during the #BattleofHogwarts, but who laid down his life to save the people who'd win it. I refer, of course, to Dobby the house elf.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 2, 2018JK Rowling tweets each year on May 2 to remind fans it's the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts. Typically, she tweets about a beloved character who lost their life at some point in the book series. In 2018, she addressed the death of everyone's favorite housewife, Dobby.
While she did not say she regretted killing the free elf who idolized Harry Potter, she did apologize to fans for his passing.
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(#22) Fantastic Beasts Started Out as a Book Written for Charity
Over 80% of the cover price goes to Comic Relief, the charity. Nearly $30 million has been raised since the book's initial publication in 2001.
Before the film version debuted, Rowling and star Eddie Redmayne also attended a special screening to benefit Lumos Foundation USA (partnered with Warner Bros. and Scholastic) on Nov. 12, 2016 at Carnegie Hall. Lumos helps children in orphanages “regain their right to a family.”
Initially, it was Comic Relief that inspired her to put Fantastic Beasts (as well as Quidditch Through the Ages) together. “I always write more than I need for the books so bits of them were just written for my own fun," Rowling told Raincoast, “I always write more than I need for the books so bits of them were just written for my own fun. So when Comic Relief asked me to write something I thought I would just love to write them, I just thought it would be so much fun and I was completely correct. It was more fun than I've had writing the others."
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(#23) Hogwarts 19 Years Later
On Beyond Hogwarts, J.K. Rowling describes Hogwarts in the future. Since "McGonagall was really getting on a bit," there is a new Headmaster. There’s also a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher who will last longer than one year now that Voldemort is vanquished.
Source: Beyond Hogwarts
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(#24) But Why Was Dolores Umbridge So Evil, Though?
Rowling revealed clues to why Umbridge was so awful. Turns out, her mother was a Muggle, her father was a wizard, her brother was a Squib. Dolores was dangerously insecure about her family and “nasty things tended to happen” to anyone poking their nose into her family’s business.
Source: TIME
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(#25) Rowling Drew the Doodles for Fantastic Beasts and Quidditch Through the Ages
Although her artwork was rejected for the main Harry Potter books, Rowling did get to doodle her art and heart out for the textbooks. “Actually, I drew some pictures for book one and the publishers didn't want them.
They felt that putting in pictures implied the books were for younger children but I drew the pics for Quidditch Through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts, so that was fun,” she said.
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(#26) Bummer Alert: Neville’s Parents Never Recover
Rowling has said that what happened to Alice and Frank Longbottom is “even worse” than what happened to Harry’s parents. After being tortured by Bellatrix and Rudolphus Lestrange, they will never be the same and will spend the rest of their lives at St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
"I know people really wanted some hope for that, and I can quite see why because, in a way, what happens to Neville's parents is even worse than what happened to Harry's parents. The damage that is done, in some cases with very dark magic, is done permanently," Rowling said.
Source: Telegraph
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(#27) Newton Artemis Fido “Newt” Scamander Is a Hufflepuff
There is little information about Scamander in the Fantastic Beasts textbook, but we do know that he became a magizoologist largely in part because of his mother who bred Hippogriffs. His contributions to magizoology earned him an Order of Merlin, Second Class. And we learn that he is a proud member of Hufflepuff house. He also has his own Chocolate Frog card.
He retired in 2001 and lives with wife Porpentina in Dorset along with their pet Kneazles: Hoppy, Milly, and Mauler.
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(#28) Rowling Was Unnerved by Love of Draco
The author has been less than pleased with the appeal of Draco Malfoy. She wrote on Pottermore, “I have often had cause to remark on how unnerved I have been by the number of girls who fell for this particular fictional character. Although I do not discount the appeal of Tom Felton, who plays Draco brilliantly in the films and, ironically, is about the nicest person you could meet."
She goes on to express caution against romanticizing the “dark glamour of the anti-hero.” When fans swoon and try to disagree, Rowling stands her ground. “Draco was not concealing a heart of gold under all that sneering and prejudice.” Rowling also says that “he and Harry were not destined to end up best friends.”
Source: Telegraph
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(#29) There Was a Jewish Wizard
A fan tweeted to Rowling: “My wife said there are no Jews at Hogwarts. I’m a Jew so I assume she said it to be the only magical 1 in the family. Thoughts?”
Rowling responded: “Anthony Goldstein, Ravenclaw, Jewish wizard.”
Source: TIME
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(#30) Harry Potter and Ron Weasley Never Graduated from Hogwarts
If you’ve defeated the Dark Lord and been nearly killed several times in doing so, a degree doesn’t quite mean as much as when you started. In a 2007 interview on "Pottercast," Rowling explained, "Ron was really done with schooling. It would be kind of tempting to go back just to mess around for a year and have a break."
Rowling said she could see Harry making an appearance every now and again to give the "odd talk" on Defense Against the Dark Arts. Having spent his entire existence on the run from Voldemort, we can only hope he spent a lot of time on a beach with Ginny before having kids.
Source: Telegraph
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(#31) The Inferi Were Not Called Zombies, Because Of Michael Jackson
Although inspired by zombies, Rowling had a very unique reason for not using the "Z" word. “I’m part of the ‘Thriller’ generation,” she wrote. “To me, a zombie will always mean Michael Jackson in a bright red bomber jacket.”
Source: TIME
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(#32) Dumbledore’s Army Is 30 Something, Rita Skeeter Still the Same
Rowling published a column from famed yellow journalist Rita Skeeter about a reunion at the Quidditch World Cup. Harry and friends are not wet behind the ears and have learned a lifetime of lessons after battling, and ultimately defeating, the darkest of the Dark Lords. So they probably wouldn’t be surprised by Skeeter’s stilted take on things.
Skeeter writes: Dumbledore’s Army is “no longer the fresh-faced teenagers they were in their heyday” and are now in their thirties. Harry, a 34 year old with “threads of silver” in his hair, was sporting a new scar, a “nasty cut over his right cheekbone.” Skeeter takes the opportunity to spread gossip by reporting that the wound must be from an argument with wife and fellow Daily Prophet reporter Ginny Potter.
Source: TIME
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(#33) Why Draco's a Real Jerk
Obsessed and obsequious, Lucius and Narcissa are hollow-hearted Death Eaters, sniveling at Voldemort’s feet. Their extreme insecurity and elitism is the only real thing they give their son.
“Draco was raised in an atmosphere of regret that the Dark Lord had not succeeded in taking command of the wizarding community,” Rowling wrote, revealing that before meeting Harry on the Hogwarts Express, Draco, his family and other ex-Death Eaters thought Harry could be “another, and better, Voldemort.”
So it’s all about chasing status and all consuming envy that stunts the entire Malfoy family.
Source: TIME
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(#34) The Inspiration for the Icky Dursleys’ Names
“’Vernon' is simply a name I never much cared for," Rowling wrote in June 2015. "'Petunia' is the name that I always gave unpleasant female characters in games of make believe I played with my sister Di." Dudley just works.
Source: Telegraph
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(#35) We've All Been Pronouncing Voldemort Wrong
For years, you've probably been saying the Voldemort with a hard "t" at the end. That's how seemingly everyone says the villain's name and it's even how it's pronounced in the movies. Turns out it's also wrong. The "t" is silent.
J.K. Rowling herself confirmed this pronunciation fact after a fan dropped the trivia on Twitter. "... but I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who pronounces it that way," the author added.
Source: J.K. Rowling
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(#36) Rowling Debunks the Rumor That Snape Was a Vampire
Though they don't get as much play as werewolves, vampires are a thing in the Harry Potter universe. There's one named Sanguini at Professor Slughorn's Christmas party in the sixth book. Rowling even toyed with a character called Trocar with a “sharply pointed shaft inserted into arteries or cavities to extract bodily fluids.” That character got the stake and never made it into the books, however.
As for Severus Snape being a vamp, Rowling says definitely not. “While it is true that he has an unhealthy pallor, and is sometimes described as looking like a large bat in his long black coat, he never actually turns into a bat,” Rowling writes. “We meet him outside in the castle by daylight, and no corpses with puncture marks in their necks ever turn up at Hogwarts.”
Source: TIME
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(#37) Hogwarts Supports LGBT Students
Rowling got this question on Twitter: “It’s safe to assume that Hogwarts had a variety of people and I think to think it’s a safe place for LGBT students.”
Rowling responded: “But of course.” She included the above image to make her point as clearly and charmingly as possible.
Source: TIME
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(#38) Professor Dumbledore Is Gay
Rowling kept this little gem to herself up until 2007 when she told an audience at Carnegie Hall that not only was Hogwarts’s Headmaster gay, but that he also had been in love with his childhood friend Gellert Grindelwald. Later, he would have to defeat dark wizard Grindelwald and the love of his life, leaving him heartbroken. Rowling explained why such a wise person could be in love with someone so opposite. “Falling in love can blind us to an extent,” she said.
The revelation about the beloved character’s sexuality was received with a “prolonged ovation.” Taken aback, Rowling said, “If I’d known it would make you so happy, I would have announced it years ago!'"
In 2015, a fan tweeted to Rowling: "I wonder why you said that Dumbledore is a gay because I can't see him that way?"
Rowling responded: "Maybe because gay people just look like... people?"
Sources: Mental Floss, Telegraph
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(#39) Rowling Regrets Killing Off Florean Fortescue
Besides Hermione and Ron's relationship, Rowling has another regret: killing off Florean Fortescue, the owner of the Diagon Alley ice cream parlor. “I seemed to have him kidnapped and killed for no good reason,” she wrote. “He is not the first wizard whom Voldemort murdered because he knew too much (or too little), but he is the only one I feel guilty about, because it was all my fault.”
Source: TIME
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(#40) Rowling Regrets That She Had Hermione and Ron End Up Together
In early 2014, Rowling said that, with a little distance, she didn’t really see how this pairing would work out. "I wrote the Hermione/Ron relationship as a form of wish fulfillment. That’s how it was conceived, really. For reasons that have very little to do with literature and far more to do with me clinging to the plot as I first imagined it, Hermione ended up with Ron.”
*Collective gasp from Hermione and Ron shippers. Frustrated kicking of all things by Hermione and Harry shippers. Random screams at the sky from Ron and Parvati Patil shippers.*
“I know, I’m sorry, I can hear the rage and fury it might cause some fans, but if I’m absolutely honest, distance has given me perspective on that. It was a choice I made for very personal reasons, not for reasons of credibility. Am I breaking people’s hearts by saying this? I hope not,” Rowling said.
She offers that maybe with some counseling Ron would “work on his self-esteem issues” and that Hermione would be “a little less critical.” We’re figuring no one wants to see that movie or read that book.
Sources: Mental Floss, Telegraph -
(#41) Rowling Was Worried No One Would Want to See "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child"
Rowling and the incredibly experienced production team involved with the 2016 Potter play were worried that attendance numbers might be low, for whatever insane reason. When fans lost their minds over the announcement of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Rowling Tweeted, “You know what? I don’t think we needed to worry about filling the theatre. xxx”
Source: Rolling Stone
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(#42) The Hufflepuff Horcrux Was Almost a Cauldron
“But there was something slightly comical and incongruous about having such a large and heavy horcrux,” Rowling wrote.
Source: TIME
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(#43) Gilderoy Lockhart Had a Failed Hair Products Line
In an effort to stay relevant and probably to earn some much-needed cash, Lockhart made shampoos out of silver Occamy eggs. Since the Occamys are serpents with wings who are quite aggressive when someone tries to steal their eggs, production was shut down.
Source: TIME
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(#44) Rowling Has Never Been to the Real Dursley, Sorry About the Diss
Dursley is a small Gloucestershire town that Rowling liked the sound of and it went with the first names she had picked out for the family. No diss was meant to the town, though. Rowling said, "I have never visited Dursley, and I am sure it is full of charming people."
They are probably not in a rush to put that on the welcome sign.
Source: Telegraph
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(#45) It Was Supposed to Be a Quick NYC Trip for Newt Scamander
For a first time screenwriter, Rowling certainly knows the ropes of getting the action rolling. She tweeted, “Newt only meant to stay in New York for a few hours. Circumstances ensure that he remained… for the length of a movie anyway. X”
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(#46) Molly Weasley’s Favorite Singer Had Quite the Storied Life
Celestina Warbeck went on to have a life quite like real life popular artists. “An early marriage to a backing dancer lasted only a year; Celestina then married her manager, with whom she had a son, only to leave him for the composer Irving Warble ten years later,” Rowling wrote on Pottermore.
Rowling also posted a jazz-like song called “You Stole My Cauldron but You Can’t Have My Heart.”
Source: TIME
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(#47) Before Modern Plumbing, Wizards And Witches Had An Interesting Bathroom Ritual
Hogwarts didn't always have bathrooms. Before adopting Muggle plumbing methods in the eighteenth century, witches and wizards simply relieved themselves wherever they stood, and vanished the evidence. #NationalTriviaDay
— Pottermore (@pottermore) January 4, 2019Before the days of modern plumbing, instead of using an outhouse or in a chamber pot like a muggle, wizards and witches would go wherever they please and magic their droppings away. On January 4, 2019 - National Trivia Day - the official Pottermore Twitter account revealed this tidbit of potty humor.
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(#48) Harry Potter Play Not a Prequel, Rowling Says
Harry Potter lives on with a stage production called Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The production, set to open in summer 2016 at the Palace Theatre in London, explores the story leading up to Harry’s parents demise at the hands of the Dark Lord and is filled with new information. But Rowling insisted it wasn’t a prequel.
When asked why the production was not a book instead Rowling responded, “I am confident that when audiences see the play they will agree that it was the only proper medium for the story. I've had countless offers to extend Harry's story over the years, but Jack [Thorne], John [Tiffany], and Sonia Friedman are a dream team! It has been a huge pleasure to share with them this untold part of Harry's story."
Source: Rolling Stone
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(#49) Dumbledore And Grindelwald Have A 'Sexual Dimension' To Their Relationship
Rowling announced in 2007 that the headmaster of Hogwarts, Dumbledore, was in love with his boyhood best friend, Gellert Grindelwald, whom he eventually defeated in a "great tragedy" after Grindelwald became a dark wizard.
In the Fantastic Beasts franchise, however, Dumbledore and Grindelwald hardly share any screen time and the relationship between the two is less than obvious. In the bonus features of the Blu-Ray DVD of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Rowling rectifies her fan's disappointment by saying:
Their relationship was incredibly intense. It was passionate, and it was a love relationship.
But as happens in any relationship, gay or straight or whatever label we want to put on it, one never knows really what the other person is feeling.
You can't know, you can believe you know. So I'm less interested in the sexual side – though I believe there is a sexual dimension to this relationship – than I am in the sense of the emotions they felt for each other, which ultimately is the most fascinating thing about all human relationships.
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(#50) Need More Harry Potter In Your Life?
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