Beyond the broomsticks and horcruxes

I caught the second half of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on TV recently. And just like what happened after I had watched Into the Storm not too long ago either on HBO ( I went link-hopping for materials on Richard Armitage and ended up watching The Hobbit clips and Thorin interviews), I spent a good deal of time watching old interviews with cast members and some other decade-old materials. I harkened back to the years when the Gryffindor kids were just that -- kids -- and the three lead actors were just giving their first interviews as mere 11- or 12-year-olds.

One of the videos I came across was a 2001 BBC Christmas special for which author J. K. Rowling was interviewed. This is particularly interesting to me because rather than being some kind of promotional material for the books and movies, it clarifies -- in Rowling's words, no less -- the truths and falsehoods reported in the media about her and about the process of coming up with the books. It sure is fascinating, too, to see the notebooks and tons of notes she has accumulated in the course of doing her work.

So, in the interest of accuracy, here it is: