Wow, JKR.

[snorkackcatcher]

So Dumbledore was in love with Grindelwald, eh? Now THAT'S an interview revelation. And here was I thinking that she wasn't going to say anything much new beyond minor details. :D On the whole I'm quite pleased, since this was one speculative ship I could actually see the possibilities of. And of course, I'm obviously a Bad Person because it also offers excellent opportunities to just sit back with a bag of popcorn and watch the wanksplosion. :)

I'm not sure what to make of the 'unrequited love affair' bit, though -- if it was an actual affair, and Gellert had some kind of feelings in return even though they were nowhere near as strong, it would help to answer the question of how Dumbledore beat him in their duel despite the latter having an 'unbeatable' wand. Although of course it would add extra OHNOESTEHANGST. All of the sources I've seen which use the phrase are indirect quotation, though, so I'd really prefer to see an actual transcript to make sure that the Newsweek reporter didn't get the wrong end of the stick! (Since Neville is described by her as 'meek and hapless', it suggests that she may not actually have read the last couple of books.)

Fortunately, this doesn't scupper any stories for me that weren't already scuppered by DH. (There was one vaguely planned Epic in which Albus would have had a sock-knitting Muggle wife at one point, but that was jossed in DH in one of the most irritating ways possible -- by having something similar to the central idea, but incompatible with it, unexpectedly become canon. And I already recycled the sock-knitting idea with Ariana in To Dwell in Dreams anyway.) Although it can be a bit nerve-wracking for the poor fanfic author to have a drip-feed of new information in this way. Just write the damn encyclopaedia already, Jo! :)

ETA: Oh yeah. Another odd quote no-one seems to have mentioned yet -- from the Leaky, JKR talking about dating: She also says of Ron, who she admits has "dated Ron more than once," that "Ron is funny, very funny; he’s insensitive. There’s a lot of immaturity about Ron, and that’s where a lot of the humor comes from. He’s not much fun to date, but he’s great as a friend." Will the Harmonians like that or not? :)

Comments

[snorkackcatcher]

Yeah -- the trouble is that the interview-canon becomes the most common version by default, so it always feels a bit odd ignoring it. :) I suppose it depends too on what kind of new info it is -- if it's something like Dumbledore having been in love with Grindelwald, something that impacts his actual story actions, it's harder to ignore than just something like who Neville marries years after. (Not that I actually care about that one, although I was a bit disappointed by 'Cho married a Muggle' -- I rather liked the idea of Cho/Michael.)