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JKR: Snape and Dumbledore Two of the Most Important Characters in "Deathly Hallows"
JKR InterviewsBack in February, we told you Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling was a guest at the James Joyce Awards in Dublin, Ireland. Thanks to La Gazetter du Sorcier there is a new report online containing a many of her remarks at this event. Answering a range of questions, Jo again says she intends to “write an Encyclopaedia which would hopefully incorporate a lot of back story I couldn’t… or flesh out back story that wasn’t in the books.” JKR was also asked if she thinks of the actors when she writes. Jo said “to be honest no, the only actor or actress who has ever, ever intruded while writing was Evanna Lynch, who is absolutely perfect as Luna. And I must admit I have heard her voice in my head when I wrote the book.”
Specifically on the topics of the books, J.K. Rowling reflected on the theories that she heard while writing the series and mentions several in particular, notably ” when Neville visits his parents in St Mungo’s and his mother presses sweets wrappers on him, which I always saw as a poignant moment… There was a theory that she’s passing secret messages on the sweet wrappers. There have been loads of them. But Dumbledore being Harry from the future is definitely my favourite of all the insane theories. But then you have people, I had people as early as Prisoner of Azkaban, the third book. I remember a woman saying to me : “I think Snape loves Lily”. I was “Oh my God what the hell did I give away ?”. But so people, people got stuff very unnervingly right. Often. Yeah.”
Jo also says she would like to go back and tighten up “Order of the Phoenix,” (“I must admit I was feeling the strength of the pressure a bit during that phase, and I think it shows in the book”) and mentions one hurdle she had to deal with when writing the series, stating : “The one thing, the difficulty I did sometimes have was I made a rule so tight it was sometimes hard to navigate around it myself. So not being able to Apparate in and out of Hogwarts was a pain in the back. Because it was necessary, I had to put that limit to make it a safe place. But finding a way to get in and out of Hogwarts was always a bit of a challenge. I was quite proud of Aberforth again, the tunnel. I like Aberforth. And his goat. [laughing] Yeah, Dumbledore pales into insignificance.”
Of interest are her comments regarding the plot lines and several of the characters. The Harry Potter author said some of the less crucial story lines were not always planned right from the begining and evolved as she went along, “But the big ones, the Dumbledore storyline, the Snape storyline were always there because you — the series is built around those.” Further comments on the importance of Snape and Dumbledore came from a question about the development of their story lines. Jo said:
“with Dumbledore quite deliberately, you find out little about Dumbledore’s own private life because his interactions with Harry are always about Harry, which sets up the fact that in the seventh book Harry thinks “but why did I never ask ?” He’s gone now and he’s never even thought of saying : “so how about you ?” you know, at the end of one of those conversations which I think is something that happens after the grief, the regret that he didn’t ask. And I think also that Dumbledore had always been such an almost god-like figure to Harry in some ways, that he felt he couldn’t ask him personal questions.
Snape, on the other hand, I had to drop clues all the way through because as you know in the seventh book when you have the revelation scene where everything shifts and you realize why Snape was… what Snape’s motivation was. I had to plot that through the books because at the point where you see what was really going on, it would have been an absolute cheat on the reader at that point just to show a bunch of stuff you’ve never seen before, you know… “Oh by the way, in the background this was happening.” So I did know. It was a complicated plotting process but by the time Philosopher’s Stone was finished, I definitely knew all the big things about Snape and Dumbledore because in many ways they’re the two most important characters in the seventh book… Well, other than the trio, Harry, Ron and Hermione.
Thanks to Alexandre!
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Hah. Goodness gracious—all that “Dumbledore is Harry/Ron from the future” stuff WAS pretty outrageous . . . though fun.
I always like hearing about how she had intentionally planned the story—ie what plot-lines/character backstory and such she knew she was going to use. In retrospect, I never fail to be amazed at the amount of detail that was put into planning all the books (and how much she had thought out beforehand for ALL 7)!
boy, what i would to to be Evanna Lynch ( male version though) having jkr think luna was actually her! She great!!
Dumbledore and Snape are two of literature’s great creations. I totally agree.
COOOOOL!!!! Ilove this auther – all the deepiest seacrets of Harry Potter! Oddment, Blubber & tweek.
I’ve felt that was the case for a long time (that Dumbledore and Snape are so important and that she had their stories planned early on), especially when I’ve been rereading the books since Deathly Hallows. I’m glad that she has clearly said it, as I know there are some people I’ve talked to that didn’t think so.
So, thanks, Jo, for clarifying information about two of my favorite characters. That just made my day.
I’m so excited every time she confirms there will be an encyclopedia book. I would wait years and years as long as it has all the information in there: all the back stories, explainations, wizarding rules on spells and charms. It will definitely have a spot on my bookshelves!
I love interviews from jo ! any information on the characters is awesome, can’t wait til the enclyclopedia, although she definatly deserves a break ! I agree that evanna IS luna, she doesn’t need ot act her she just is her. Bet evanna would love to hear that interview !
Evanna really is the perfect Luna.
And I can happily say that I had a feeling that Snape loved Lily since OOtP but I can see how people saw it from book 3 (When Snape was going effing crazy in the shrieking shack I guess).
The encyclopedia needs to come out!
eeyore, I agree about Dumbledore and Snape. And if you start re-reading the whole series after you’ve read Deathly Hallows, you can see how carefully it was all planned out… all the little clues that make so much more sense…
I just wish WB realised how important Snape and Dumbledore are…..
I am so looking forward to the Encyclopeadi! It can’t come soon enough for me! Beyond the wonderful story of Harry and his world, the technical aspects of the intricate plotting, characterizations, backstories, structure, historic and mythological references, satiric references, symbolism, etc…is absolutely mind boggling. Jo is a MASTER story teller … a true Bard.
Man, I bet Evanna is just reeling from hearing that Jo thought of her while writing Luna in book 7. What an awesome thing for her to hear… her being such a huge fan and all.
Wait, how could she hear Evanna’s voice in her head? Evanna wasn’t picked as Luna until after the all but Book 7 was written, I guess she’s referring to Luna’s small bit in Book 7 and the filming of OP?
This was a good interview, I enjoyed reading the whole transcript. There is one thing that has always bothered me though. She really seems to dislike Ootp and calls those who mention it as their favorite book a “weird sub-sect” of Harry Potter fans, and thinks of those who like it as being “dark”. I must admit, it is one of my favorites of the series, however, I hardly consider myself to be dark or weird (I’m actually pretty cheery and boringly normal). I like the pace, the mystery, Harry’s emotions, the action, and Umbridge was entertainingly evil. I couldn’t put it down when I started it. Am I wrong or alone in liking it? JKR always mentions it, sometimes I feel that she really dislikes that book.
Funny thing…
I got the Snape “good” theory right, but I got the reason wrong. Of all the outrageous theories out there, the one I dismissed out of hand was Snape loving Lily. It was too cliche’d for me.
I shouldn’t be surprised though. The reason I loved the books so much was Jo’s ability to surprise me.
God Bless Her!!!
(I truly mean that)
Snape & Dumbledore are two of the most important characters in TDH? Did we go from “April Fools Day” to “State The Obvious Day?”
It’s good to be liked!
And yeah, she means she heard Evanna’s voice when writing Luna’s part in book 7, at Malfoy Manor, Shell cottage and Hogwarts – not that small really.
I worked out that Snape loved Lily befor DH but I was in denial…Yay snape! I love him…..... I can’t wait to get my hands on ‘The scottish book’.....
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Cool, very much looking forward to this encyclopaedia Jo!! : ) I wonder what she would have tightened up in OotP?!!?