Values

As I get older and interact with more people, I notice how different people have different values. Some people are very hospitable. Some have excellent table manners. Some are extremely generous. Some know how to speak to others kindly, even when being firm or opinionated.

Noticing others' values makes me quite aware of my own. I was taught that you always put others before yourself (when appropriate). I was taught that you always offer food and drink to a guest, especially if you're going to have some, and that you don't take something for yourself that you can't share with your guest. I was taught that you always speak to others respectfully, no matter how much you disagree with them. I was taught to sit straight at the table. I was taught to be honest. I was taught to use my brain. I was taught to respect my parents, and also my teachers. I was taught to be positive, to always see the glass half full.

Happy belated birthday* to my dad, who taught me these and other important values, life lessons, and other such things** when I was young. They are ingrained in me forever (even if I'm still working on some of them). I love you!

*It was actually on Sunday, March 14th
**Such as which bridges go where and how to spell the names of neighboring towns

Days

Birthdays.

Oh yes, I have what to say about birthdays.

Birthdays are those days when you wake up and you feel like the sun should be shining especially for you (and wearing sunglasses and a sunny grin, just like in the pictures) and perhaps a rainbow or two should shoot across the sky, so you can walk over them and have adventures.

You feel like there should be a fireworks show, or at least some recognition from the very earth itself that today is a special day. And perhaps there is, for no matter what the weather, you appreciate it all the more because of how important you feel.

For some people (like me), feeling important is not a usual occurrence, so you look forward to it greatly; you look forward to that one day a year when you can unguiltily feel great about yourself. You smile and say, boy, I'm really glad I was born.

When you look on your phone and see the date, those numbers have a very familiar, friendly sort of look to them - they're the numbers that have gotten your heart trembling with excitement your whole life; they're your numbers, and now they're here! They're really here!

But, of course, as a very wise friend reminded me last night, birthdays are really just like any other day of the year - which is true. There is nothing inherently special about September 17th. It is the day I, along with many others, was born, but really, it is the anniversary of my mother giving birth to me. So perhaps it's my mother who should be getting all the happy birthdays!

In any case, today is Thursday, September 17th, and the only way this day will really be special is if I make it so by doing things I feel would make today a great day. Just like any day of the year.

So this post is not to celebrate my birthday, but it is to celebrate days in general - starting with today. On your birthday, you might walk around with this feeling like it ought to be written all over your face that it's your birthday - and you wonder why every passerby in the street doesn't notice. Right? Except they do notice: when you walk around with a huge grin for no apparent reason and shine it on everyone around you. They notice, even if they don't know why on earth you seem so chipper, and it makes them feel happier, too. And why can't that be every day?

Let's use the energy of birthdays to carry over to the rest of the year and make every day we can into a great one.

Have a great day everyone. :)



P.S. There is something especially apropos about my birthday (Hebrew birthday, too) always being right around Rosh Hashana. It inherently becomes a day of self-reflection, a day of hoping that I am headed towards furthering my potential (as opposed to off in a wrong direction somewhere), a day of wondering if I have been living the past year (and years) properly, and a day of making sure that I am a good person.

In addition, re: the fireworks video - I do not believe that wishes come true if you believe in them hard enough. However, I do think that true ambition begins with a wish. Wishes are what get people going (hopefully). Ultimately, if you let your wishes drive you forward, they will hopefully come true. And they'll have come true not because some genie granted them to you - those kind of wishes are somewhat unearned. They'll have come true because you granted them yourself. Because you made them come true by acting on them.

The other kinds of wishes are the ones you pray for, and they come in all various forms. I hope that we all have a meaningful Rosh Hashana where our prayers are heard and answered favorably, and that you all have a k'siva v'chasima tova.

Freilichen Purim And Happy Birthday (Again)!

A few weeks ago, I wished a happy birthday to my little brother Mavis. The thing is...it's his birthday again!

Mavis, as I mentioned in the earlier post, was born on Purim. I already wrote about what it was like the day he was born. But I didn't go into much detail about his bar mitzvah, which we celebrated on his actual birthday - Purim.

He read megillah that morning in shul (and was amazing. I'm not just saying that because I'm his sister. People came up to us afterward and asked why my brother wasn't in the Yeshiva Boys Choir) and afterward he was having a party (costumes optional) about two minutes away. Various boys (Straight Man's friends mostly) were driving Mavis's friends from shul to the party. In fact, everyone was so concerned about getting all the guests there...we all sort of forgot that Mavis needed a ride, as well. I guess everyone assumed he'd be getting there somehow - that it wasn't up to them to figure out how. After all, he was the bar mitzvah boy, right?

Mavis ended up having to go over to another one of the guests who hadn't left shul yet and asking if he could please have a ride to his bar mitzvah.

The party itself was majorly fun, especially since my family was all dressed up in period costumess (colonial and stuff).

The chagiga tonight was also really fun. Highlights were:

• A girl wearing a sign that said, "Bernie Madoff stole my costume."
• A girl dressed up as a michlala girl - humongous poof and all.
• Zimri and Kozbi (that one was a little bit gross).

I sort of love it when people dress up as random things from Tanach. I think it's hilarious and so clever.

On the bus ride back, I discovered that I do have the abilitiy to sit next to a random person and talk. So I am not hopeless in social situations, after all! How relieving. (Joke.)

Also - I'm going to Israel tomorrow (what?!). For a wedding. I know, it's random and kinda weird and I'm missing two days of school and coming back to two midterms and a senior thesis, but what can you do? When a best friend from childhood gets married, everything else seems to get put on hold. Sort of. Not as much when it's in a different country across the ocean and you sort of aren't really sure that it's actually happening and won't be sure until after it's over when you say to yourself, "...Whoa. Was I just in Israel?" And even then, you're still not sure. Best to take pictures so you can prove it to yourself.

This post is random enough, I might as well end it with a Purim Torah joke. I used to know lots of these because the Rabbi of my fourth grade class gave us a whole sheet of them, but I only remember a few and only one of those that I remember is actually funny (in my opinion. Not laugh out loud funny. Just cute. They're all rather groan-worthy, really).

How do you know that Vashti was fat?*

In sixth grade, I remember we made fun of the Purim tape by going around saying in squeaky, whiny voices, "Vashtiiii...bring me a cup of caw-fee...!!!"

Anyway, I must go to sleep now, but happy birthday (again) to Mavis and a Purim Sameach to all my readers!!! That includes the lurkers, too! :)

*'Cause Vashti astah mishteh nashim! (Vashti was made of two women! [the real translation is Vashti made a feast for women])

Three Whole Hands

Not only is it Rosh Chodesh Adar, but it is also my little brother Mavis's English birthday. These two are inherently related because Mavis has always been a rather Adar/Purimish sort of person. In fact, his Hebrew birthday is Purim. He's always been very happy, a bit of a troublemaker, and certainly in the business of making people laugh. One of my mother's favorite stories about him was when my parents took him to meet the principal of his new school for kindergarten. The principal, who already knew Straight Man as, well, a yashar sort of kid, smiled over his desk at little Mavis and said, "how old are you? Five?"
Mavis shook his head.
"No?" The principal asked. "How old are you then?"
Mavis looked up at the rabbi before him, raised up his palm - fingers spread out - and said, "I'm a whole hand."
The principal looked at my mother and said, "He's not like Straight Man, is he."
It wasn't a question.

Mavis is certainly his own breed, but we all love him for it.

He's the only sibling I really remember visiting in the hospital as a baby. I remember visiting my sister Trademark vaguely, but I remember the white powdered doughnuts Straight Man and I got to eat more than I remember actually seeing my baby sister (I actually don't remember her at all - only the doughnuts). What I remember most about visiting Mavis as a baby was how much he looked like a bobblehead doll. Straight Man, who was nearly five at the time, then proceeded to go to school and tell everyone that he had a new baby brother named Achashverosh.

It was a strange purim that year. My brother, sister, and I woke up to a house with no parents (at least, the way I remember it). Somehow we knew what had happened before we were told. I remember Straight Man and I stumbling down the stairs to our babysitter and asking in rushed, excited voices, "did they go to the hospital? Huh? Did they?" I remember exactly the blue of the stairs and the emptiness in the house that wasn't quite emptiness. It was more like hugeness. The sun was shining brightly through the window and there was snow. Lots and lots of snow. Then we got hoisted off to friends and stood around awkwardly unsure what to do with ourselves in all the excitement. At some point our father came back and someone read megillah to him in a bedroom.

(By the way Ima, I'm sorry if I got any of that badly wrong. That's how my mind tells me it went)

Two years ago, it was my brother's bar mitzvah and instead of doing the parsha on shabbos, he lained megillah on the day of his actual birthday. Then we had a costume party and it was exceedingly cool. For this year, my brother has already started practicing to lain again (he did it last year, too), so when you start hearing that in my house, you know Purim's only 'round the corner.

Anyway, happy birthday Mavis (who is now three whole hands!) and chodesh tov to all my readers! :D

Happy Birthday, Ima!

This post is for my mom.

It's weird to try and write a post in honor of your mother, because it's suddenly very embarrassing to get all sentimental. And if you're not going to be sentimental, you have to be insightful, but I'm not sure I have anything very insightful to say about mothers. Mothers, as a whole, are a like a girl scout club* with the slogan, "We are always right!" Don't you ever wonder why it is that whenever people talk about mothers, they always ask you things like, "don't you ever wonder why it is that mothers are always right?" Or sometimes they don't even bother asking. They just jump right in to, "I never wanted to admit it at the time, but my mother sure was always right!"

But are mothers always right?

It is possible for someone to be always right?

You were right that one time, weren't you? The one where you were certain, more certain than you've ever been before, more certain than you felt even about the sky being blue and the grass being green, that your mother was...wrong?

Hmmm. Something to ponder.

Well, the least I can do is leave a little anecdote. It'll be better than those corny Hallmark cards, you know? I can't stand those. "A rainbow for you...so all your dreams come true!" "Here's a heart, so we'll never be apart!" "Birthdays are like the Spring...they make me want to sing!"

Gag.

So here we go. Ima, you'll recognize part of this story.

It's approximately midnight in my house and my parents have just gone up to bed. My sister (Trademark, for those just tuning in) tells me we have to go get balloons from the trunk of my dad's car. We decide we don't want to use the front door because it makes too much noise, so we'll use the sliding door from the kitchen instead. That door leads to the backyard and then you have to walk around the side of the house to get to the front where the car is.

My sister opens the door, steps out, and I begin to follow when I hear footsteps in the kitchen. Without looking, I just know it's my mom (I am also incredibly talented at recognizing people's footsteps, just by the way).

"HI IMA!" I exclaim, jumping back into the house. My mother looks startled for a moment and then rather confused.

"Um...where are you going...?"

Oh. Haha. That.

"Well," I say, standing smack in front of the suspiciously open door. "I was...just getting some fresh air. It's really hot in here."

I'm pretty sure my mom didn't buy it. No matter what I said then to cover, it is incredibly unusual for our kitchen door to be wide open in the middle of the night. Still, I attempt to be natural about the whole thing and try to make my story as plausible as possible. I close the door, lock it, and declare I'm going to bed. My mother takes some things out of the freezer to defrost and also says she's going to bed.

"Oh...did you, um, close the door?"

"Yep!"

Too cheerful. Don't be too cheerful! You'll give it away!

"Did you remember to lock it?"

"Yep!"

And we both go upstairs.

About a minute later, I get a phone call from Trademark.

"Open the door, it's FREEZING out here!"

And we, the little elves in the night, then proceed to hang yellow streamers all over the kitchen. It was quite fun!

So, happy birthday, Ima! I hope it all makes sense now.

I know not much of actual substance was said in this post, so I give you:

P.S. Thank you, Ima, for everything and I love you! Also, thanks in advance for not yelling at me for writing this at three in the morning. After all, I want it to be here when you wake up! I know, I'm thoughtful that way. :D

*They even make cookies!

What One Does Not Wish To Be Doing On The Night Before Her Birthday

(Hat tip: The Apple)

In Memorium: spending my birthday with Dr. Schwebel

Today I spent my birthday with Dr. Schwebel. It was the most meaningful 21st birthday I could ask for. True, it wasn't all wild parties and fun, but the memorial we had for Dr. Schwebel tonight was so incredibly therapeutic for me. It was the best birthday present I could have received from her (if teachers gave birthday presents to their students, that is, although I'm pretty sure that, had Dr. Schwebel still been my teacher, she'd at least have brought in cookies and M&Ms). I have already written so much about Dr. Schwebel on my blog, I don't know what more I can say. She was really part of an era in my life - the Dr. Schwebel era, I can call it - and I am definitely a different person now than I was a little over a year ago when I didn't even know her. My time as her student is like a story, and if it really was one, I think it would end tonight. Or perhaps tomorrow, with the sun rising. Dr. Schwebel was all about adventure. She was about rising suns and eating chocolate. She was about exploring, discovering, and just plain having fun. Dr. Schwebel was an exciting person. You never knew what she had up her sleeve. I hate how I'm filling this entry with cliches, but the thing is, with Dr. Schwebel, it never felt like a cliche. It was all so real. I am still having trouble accepting that I will never see Dr. Schwebel again. Like I recently wrote on the Blue Blog, I still dream about her. In my dreams, I can never catch up with her and talk. She is constantly pushing me away or I wake up right before I get to say anything. I don't know why my dreams are like this, but I really, really, really wish that even in my dreams I could get the chance to speak with her. I have so much to tell her. I feel so cheated that just when my relationship with Dr. Schwebel was growing, I lost her. I don't know if she could hear what we all said about her tonight, but I want desperately to believe that she could and that she did. I know I was speaking about her, but inside, I was crying to her. I wanted her to hear everything I said. I wanted her to know just how much I appreciate everything she taught me, whether in the classroom or just from being herself.

Also, if anyone knows how I can get a Latin II book that I can somehow teach myself from, at least a little bit, please, please let me know. It hurts me to think that I might lose what I spent so much time with Dr. Schwebel learning and I don't want to forget my Latin. Then again, I feel weird about having another Latin teacher, aside from a book. It's too soon. I don't know. Latin has become something almost sacred, symbolic of my bond with Dr. Schwebel. It is something that still connects me to her. When I read that passage tonight - it was the first time I was reading Latin out loud since I was in her class. Latin has become so personal. I wish Dr. Schwebel was still with me, still teaching me how to properly pronounce the words and how to put the correct accent on the right syllables. I wish she was still teaching me her tricks for remembering things. No, I don't think I could learn Latin from anyone else right now. It wouldn't be right, somehow.

Oh God, I just miss Dr. Schwebel so much. Dr. Schwebel, I hope you were with us tonight. I hope you were with me on my birthday. I hope you heard what we had to say about you and I hope you understand just how much you still mean to all of us. To me. I cannot wish you a shana tova or a gmar chatima tova, but I can hope and pray that you are somewhere safe now, somewhere where you are happy and exuberant and somewhere good. I don't understand much of what happens after a person dies - you know more than I do (but then, you always knew more than I did and I so looked up to you because of it) but whatever sort of existence it is, I hope you are in the best state you could possibly be in and that no more harm can come to you. May you succeed in whatever adventure you are in now. Please, please, please don't forget about us who miss you so horribly.

Twenty-One

I am twenty-one. 52 minutes ago, I became completely legal (well, except for renting a car, which apparently you have to be 25 for). I'm not quite sure I feel any different, but I think I DO feel a bit older, even though that's probably all psychological, because why should right now be any different from an hour ago?

I will have a rather interesting birthday, as it falls out the day after Tzom Gedaliah, three days after Rosh Hashana, and the same day as the Stern memorial for Dr. Schwebel. So my birthday will not be all frivolity, but then again, perhaps that's for the best? In an odd way, I do appreciate having the Dr. Schwebel memorial on my birthday, because I cannot think of a more meaningful way to spend the day, honestly, and, in some way, it'll be like she's there on my birthday, too.

I am very nervous for the memorial tomorrow night. I don't know what to expect, even though I know what's going to be happening at it. I don't know how people will react to others talking about Dr. Schwebel. I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know how I'll feel. I guess I'll find out then, won't I?

Happy Birthday, J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter

WARNING: This post contains Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows spoilers.

In honor of today being both J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter's birthdays, I figured I'd post a transcript (found on mugglenet.com) of the live chat J.K. Rowling had with her fans yesterday morning. It has plenty of spoilers in it and lots of fun answers you probably always wanted to know, like the muggle song played at Dumbledore's funeral and so on. I still must write my review of Deathly Hallows, but for now, this will do. Have fun!

J.K. Rowling: I'm here and I can't wait! Bring on the questions!
Leaky Cauldron: What, if anything, did the wizarding world learn, and how did society change, as a direct result of the war with voldemort? (i.E., not as a result of harry, ron and hermione's future careers.)
J.K. Rowling: The Ministry of Magic was de-corrupted, and with Kingsley at the helm the discrimination that was always latent there was eradicated.
J.K. Rowling: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny et al would of course play a significant part in the re-building of wizarding society through their future careers.
Ryan Love: From your fans at thesnitch.Co.Uk. Weren't we supposed to see ginny display powerful magical abilities in “deathly hallows” and find out why it's significant that she's the seventh child? Was her main role in the books only to be harry's love interest?
J.K. Rowling: Hi Ryan! Well, I think Ginny demonstrated powerful magic in the final battle, and that for a sixteen year old witch she acquitted herself pretty well. I don't remember ever saying that her 'seventh child' status would prove particularly
J.K. Rowling: important in the last book, though - are you sure I said that?!
Georgina: Did lucius malfoy, and all the other escaped death eaters, go back to azkaban
J.K. Rowling: No, the Malfoys weaseled their way out of trouble (again) due to the fact that they colluded (albeit out of self-interest) with Harry at the end of the battle.
Elisabeth: In the chapter of kings cross, are they behind the veil or in some world between the real world and the veil?
J.K. Rowling: You can make up your own mind on this, but I think that Harry entered a kind of limbo between life and death.
Renee: From reading about the original owners of the deathly hallows, the peverell brothers, i'm wondering if harry and voldermort are distantly related voldermorts grandfather ended up with the resurrection stone ring ?
J.K. Rowling: Yes, Harry and Voldemort are distantly related through the Peverells.
J.K. Rowling: Of course, nearly all wizarding families are related if you trace them back through the centuries. As was made clear in 'Deathly hallows', Peverell blood would run through many wizarding families.
Fomy: What did you feel when you finally wrote the kiss, awaited so much by the fans, of ron and hermione
J.K. Rowling: I loved writing it, and I loved the fact that Hermione took the initiative!
J.K. Rowling: Ron had finally got SPEW and earned himself a snog!
Angela Morrissey: Why is it that albus dumbledore can see harry under his invisibility cloak at certain moments? (during the series is the cloak only infallible to those who do not own a deathly hallow).
J.K. Rowling: Dumbledore, who could perform magic without needing to say the incantation aloud, was using 'homenum revelio' -
J.K. Rowling: - the human-presence-revealing spell Hermione makes use of in Deathly Hallows.
Jamie Lewis: What ever happened to winky
J.K. Rowling: She's still at Hogwarts, and she was one of the oncoming house-elves who attacked the Death Eaters in the final battle.
Katieleigh: Does hermione still continue to do work with spew and is life any better for house elves!
J.K. Rowling: Hermione began her post-Hogwarts career at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures
J.K. Rowling: where she was instrumental in greatly improving life for house-elves and their ilk. She then moved (despite her jibe to Scrimgeour) to the Dept. of Magical Law Enforcement
J.K. Rowling: After a few years as a celebrated player for the Holyhead Harpies, Ginny retired to have her family and to become the Senior Quidditch correspondent at the Daily Prophet!
Camille: What or who is peeves exactly, is he linked with the blood barons story?
J.K. Rowling: No, Peeves is not linked to the bloody Baron's story.
J.K. Rowling: He is a spirit of chaos that entered the building long ago and has proved impossible to eradicate!
Jessie : Were the deathly hallows based on any realworld myth or faerie tale
J.K. Rowling: Perhaps 'the Pardoner's Tale', by Chaucer.
Alicepie : What happend to luna, did she get married who to?
J.K. Rowling: Luna became a very famous wizarding naturalist who discovered and classified many new species of animals (though, alas, she never did find a Crumple-Horned Snorkack and had, finally, to accept that her father might have made that one up).
J.K. Rowling: She ended up marrying (rather later than Harry & co) a fellow naturalist and grandson of the great Newt Scamander (Rolf)!
Rosi: What does in essence divided mean?
J.K. Rowlin : Dumbledore suspected that the snake's essence was divided - that it contained part of Voldemort's soul, and that was why it was so very adept at doing his bidding.
J.K. Rowling: This also explained why Harry, the last and unintended Horcrux, could see so clearly through the snake's eyes, just as he regularly sees through Voldemort's.
J.K. Rowling: Dumbledore is thinking aloud here, edging towards the truth with the help of the Pensieve.
Superhans: What was duldeys worst memory?
J.K. Rowling: I think that when Dudley was attacked by the Dementors he saw himself, for the first time, as he really was. This was an extremely painful, but ultimately salutory lesson, and began the transformation in him.
Casey Kunze: Who killed remus and tonks I think if I knew this, I would get some closure over the very sad, but understandable, death of two of my favorite characters
J.K. Rowling: I'm so sorry! I met a couple on launch night who had come dressed as Lupin and Tonks, and I felt dreadfully guilty as I signed their books!
J.K. Rowling: Remus was killed by Dolohov and Tonks by Bellatrix.
Laura Trego: Was the absence of snapes portrait in the headmasters office in the last scene innocent or deliberate
J.K. Rowling: It was deliberate. Snape had effectively abandoned his post before dying, so he had not merited inclusion in these august circles.
J.K. Rowling: However, I like to think that Harry would be instrumental in ensuring that Snape's portrait would appear there in due course.
Stephanie: If the wand chooses the wizard, then why do wands work when passed down from father to son eg neville had his fathers wand
J.K. Rowling : As established by Ollivander, a wizard can use almost any wand, it is simply that a wand that chooses him/her will work best. Where there is a family connection, a wand will work a little better than a wand chosen at random, I think.
James Farrell: How did umbridge manage to conjure a patronus while wearing the locket when harry wasnt able to
J.K. Rowling: Because she is a very nasty piece of work. She has an affinity for this horrible object, which would help rather than hinder her.
Tineke: What happened to percy did he return to his job at the ministry
J.K. Rowling: Yes, the new improved Percy ended up as a high-ranking official under Kingsley.
Su: How did neville get the gryfindor sword, is there a link to the hat
J.K. Rowling: Yes, there is very definitely a link to the hat!
J.K. Rowling: Neville, most worthy Gryffindor, asked for help just as Harry did in the Chamber of secrets, and Gryffindor's sword was transported into Gryffindor's old hat -
J.K. Rowling: - the Sorting Hat was Gryffindor's initially, as you know.
J.K. Rowling: Griphook was wrong - Gryffindor did not 'steal' the sword, not unless you are a goblin fanatic and believe that all goblin-made objects really belong to the maker.
Steph: Will azkaban still use dementors?
J.K. Rowling: No, definitely not. Kingsley would see to that. The use of Dementors was always a mark of the underlying corruption of the Ministry, as Dumbledore constantly maintained.
Smallbutpowerful: On behalf of all harry potter fans who consider themselves to be hufflepuffs could you please describe the hufflepuff common room as it is the only common room harry hasn’t visited
J.K. Rowling: The Hufflepuff common room is accessed through a portrait near the kitchens, as I am sure you have deduced.
J.K. Rowling: Sorry - I should say 'painting' rather than portrait, because it is a still-life.
J.K. Rowling: It is a very cosy and welcoming place, as dissimilar as possible from Snape's dungeon. Lots of yellow hangings, and fat armchairs, and little underground tunnels leading to the dormitories, all of which have perfectly round doors, like barrel tops.
Camille: How is george getting along without his twin
J.K. Rowling: Well, I don't think that George would ever get over losing Fred, which makes me feel so sad. However, he names his first child and son Fred, and he goes on to have a very successful career, helped by good old Ron.
Jessica Lynn: Did hagrid have to be able to see thestrals in order to train them if so, whose death did hagrid witness
J.K. Rowling: Hagrid has seen many deaths in quite a long life, so yes, he can see Thestrals.
Allie: What did dumbledore truly see in the mirror of erised
J.K. Rowling: He saw his family alive, whole and happy - Ariana, Percival and Kendra all returned to him, and Aberforth reconciled to him.
Snapedinhalf: You promised that someone will do magic late in life in book 7. I've now read it three times but cant work out who it might have been! Please help!!
J.K. Rowling: I'm sorry about this, but I changed my mind!
J.K. Rowling: My very earliest plan for the story involved somebody managing to get to Hogwarts when they had never done magic before, but I had changed my mind by the time I'd written the third book.
Christiana: How did voldemort get his wand back after he was in was exile
J.K. Rowling: Wormtail, desperate to curry favour, salvaged it from the place it had fallen and carried it to him. I admit that would have been a bit of a feat for a rat, but they are highly intelligent creatures!
Amanda: Hiya, ive grown up with harry and the gang, did any of the characters change in any unexpected ways as they grew up
J.K. Rowling: They all became pretty much what I expected/planned them to become.
J.K. Rowling: Of course they changed as I wrote, but nobody surprised me very much!
Ravleen: How much does the fact that voldemort was conceived under a love potion have to do with his nonability to understand love is it more symbolic
J.K. Rowling: It was a symbolic way of showing that he came from a loveless union - but of course, everything would have changed if Merope had survived and raised him herself and loved him.
Michael: Why didnt fawkes come back to help harry I would have thought that since harry was so loyal to dumbledore, fawkes would have been harrys new pet
J.K. Rowling: the Ministry no longer used them to torment its opponents.
J.K. Rowling: You cannot destroy Dementors, though you can limit their numbers if you eradicate the conditions in which they multiply, ie, despair and degradation. As I've already said, though,
J.K. Rowling: The enchantment under which Tom Riddle fathered Voldemort is important because it shows coercion, and there can't be many more prejudicial ways to enter the world than as the result of such a union.
Lechicaneuronline: Do you think snape is a hero
J.K. Rowling: Yes, I do; though a very flawed hero. An anti-hero, perhaps. He is not a particularly likeable man in many ways. He remains rather cruel, a bully, riddled with bitterness and insecurity - and yet he loved, and showed loyalty to that love
J.K. Rowling: and, ultimately, laid down his life because of it. That's pretty heroic!
James Farrell: Voldemort never told anyone about his horcruxes, so how on earth did regulus black discover his secret
J.K. Rowling: Horcrux magic was not Voldemort's own invention; as is established in the story, other wizards had done it, though never gone as far as to make six.
J.K. Rowling: Voldemort dropped oblique hints; in his arrogance, he did not believe anybody would be clever enough to understand them.
J.K. Rowling: (He does so in the graveyard of Little Hangleton, in front of Harry). He did this before Regulus and Regulus guessed, correctly, what it was that made Voldemort so convinced he could not die.
Jaclyn: Did lily ever have feelings back for snape
J.K. Rowling: Yes. She might even have grown to love him romantically (she certainly loved him as a friend) if he had not loved Dark Magic so much, and been drawn to such loathesome people and acts.
Boggo: Would you choose the hallow that is the cloak, like youre supposed to, and would you be tempted to use the others
J.K. Rowling: My temptation would be Harry's, ie, the Stone. But I believe, as does Harry ultimately, that the greatest wisdom is in accepting that we must all die, and moving on.

Cornersoul: So what happens to all the dementors where will they go will they be destroyed if so, how
J.K. Rowling: You cannot destroy Dementors, though you can limit their numbers if you eradicate the conditions in which they multiply, ie, despair and degradation. As I've already said, though,
J.K. Rowling: the Ministry no longer used them to torment its opponents.
Michael: Why didnt fawkes come back to help harry I would have thought that since harry was so loyal to dumbledore, fawkes would have been harrys new pet
J.K. Rowling: Something had to leave the school for good when Dumbledore died, and I decided that would be Fawkes. Dumbledore was a very great and irreplacable man, and the loss of Fawkes (and the fact that he was 'non-transferable'!) expresses this symbolically
Roseweasley: Why was colin creavey still a student at hogwarts when he was muggleborn surely he would have been locked up and interogated, not allowed back to school therefore, he shouldnt have died
J.K. Rowling: Colin wasn't a student. He sneaked back with the rest of the DA, along with Fred, George and the rest. He ought not to have stayed behind when McGonagall told him to leave, but alas - he did.
Delailah: How does dumbledore understand parseltongue?
J.K. Rowling: Dumbledore understood Mermish, Gobbledegook and Parseltongue. The man was brilliant.
Jessie: Will lockhart ever recover?
J.K. Rowling: No. Nor would I want him to. He's happy where he is, and I'm happier without him!
Annie: Does the wizarding world now know that snape was dumbledores man, or do they still think he did a bunk
J.K. Rowling: Harry would ensure that Snape's heroism was known.
J.K. Rowling: Of course, that would not stop Rita Skeeter writing 'Snape: Scoundrel or Saint?'
Vio91: Is teddy lupin a werewolf
J.K. Rowling: No, he's a Metamorphmagus like his mother.
Nippy23: We see socks a lot throughout the series, such as dobby’s love for them and dumbledore’s claim to see them in the mirror of erised, what’s the reason behind all the socks
J.K. Rowling: Nothing deep and significant, I'm afraid. They're just a comedy item.
Lady Bella: Whose murders did voldemor use to create each of the horcruxes
J.K. Rowling: The diary - Moaning Myrtle. The cup - Hepzibah Smith, the previous owner. The locket - a Muggle tramp. Nagini - Bertha Jorkins (Voldemort could use a wand once he regained a rudimentary body, as long as the victim was subdued).
J.K. Rowling: The diadem - an Albanian peasant. The ring - Tom Riddle snr.
Sampotterish: Why did dumbledore want ron to keep his deluminator
J.K. Rowling: Because he knew that Ron might need a little more guidance than the other two.
J.K. Rowling: Dumbledore understood Ron's importance in the trio. He wasn't the most skilled, or the most intelligent, but he held them together; his humour and his good heart were essential.
Carol: Do dementors have souls
J.K. Rowling: No, that's what makes them frightening!
Jess Mac: What was the third smell that hermione smelt in the amortentia potion in hbp (ie the particular essence of ron)
J.K. Rowling: I think it was his hair. Every individual has very distinctive-smelling hair, don't you find?
Natalie: Are house divisions as prevalaent in harry’s children’s hogwarts as in the previous generations
J.K. Rowling: Slytherin has become diluted. It is no longer the pureblood bastion it once was. Nevertheless, its dark reputation lingers, hence Albus Potter's fears.
Nithya: Lily detested mulciber,averyif snape really loved her,why didnt he sacrifice their company for her sake
J.K. Rowling: Well, that is Snape's tragedy. Given his time over again he would not have become a Death Eater, but like many insecure, vulnerable people (like Wormtail) he craved membership of something big and powerful, something impressive.
J.K. Rowling: He wanted Lily and he wanted Mulciber too. He never really understood Lily's aversion; he was so blinded by his attraction to the dark side he thought she would find him impressive if he became a real Death Eater.
Alborz: What does it mean to be the master of death
J.K. Rowling: As Dumbledore explains, the real master of Death accepts that he must die, and that there are much worse things in the world of the living.
J.K. Rowling:
J.K. Rowling: It is not about striving for immortality, but about accepting mortality.
Barbara: I was very disappointed to see harry use crucio and seem to enjoy it his failure to perform that kind of curse in the past has been a credit to his character why the change, and did harry later regret having enjoyed deliberately causing pain
J.K. Rowling: Harry is not, and never has been, a saint. Like Snape, he is flawed and mortal.
J.K. Rowling: Harry's faults are primarily anger and occasional arrogance.
J.K. Rowling: On this occasion, he is very angry and acts accordingly. He is also in an extreme situation, and attempting to defend somebody very good against a violent and murderous opponent.
Nicole: What do you think is the funniest moment you have written in the series
J.K. Rowling: It sounds very vain to answer this! My favourite in this book is probably that line of Ron's 'really captures the scope and tragedy of the thing, doesn't it?'
Courtney: What child did harry give the marauders map to if any
J.K. Rowling: I've got a feeling he didn't give it to any of them, but that James sneaked it out of his father's desk one day.
Karin: What did petunia wanted to say to hary at the end of the dursleys departing
J.K. Rowling: I think that for one moment she trembled on the verge of wishing Harry luck; that she almost acknowledged that her loathing of his world, and of him, was born out of jealousy.
J.K. Rowling: But she couldn't do it; years of pretending that 'normal' was best had hardened her too much.
Leaky Cauldron: Please pose and answer the question you'd most like to address about the series! (a ha, turned it back on you.)
: Oooo, you're tough.
J.K. Rowling: I must admit, I always wondered why nobody ever asked me what Dumbledore's wand was made of!
J.K. Rowling: And I couldn't say that, even when asked 'what do you wish you'd been asked...' because it would have sign-posted just how significant that wand would become!
Nora: Is auntie muriels tiara important
J.K. Rowling : No, sorry... except to illustrate what an old bat she is.
Nigel: Can harry speak parseltongue when he is no longer a horcrux?
J.K. Rowling : No, he loses the ability, and is very glad to do so.
Nikki: How did sirius twoway mirror end up with aberforth or is it another twoway mirror
J.K. Rowling: You see Aberforth meeting Mundungus in Hogsmeade. That was the occasion on which Dung, who had taken Sirius's mirror from Grimmauld Place, sold it to Aberforth.
Tierney Roth: If moody got a magic eye, and wormtail got a magic hand, couldnt there be some way to form a magical ear, if only to cover up the hole and make george look more symmetrical
J.K. Rowling: Yes, he could wear a false ear (I'm starting to giggle at the thought. Perhaps he's better off with the hole!)
Lucy: What is dumbledores boggart?
J.K. Rowling: The corpse of his sister.
Pablo: What is toadface umbridge doing now
J.K. Rowling: Glad to see you like her as much as I do!
J.K. Rowling: She was arrested, interrogated and imprisoned for crimes against Muggleborns.
Tina: Do the muggles notice that there arent any weird things going on now that voldemorts gone
J.K. Rowling: Yes, the world seems a much sunnier place (literally - with the Dementors gone the weather gets better!)
J.K. Rowling: We are having a heavily Dementor-influenced summer here in the UK.
Katie Mosher: How exactly do muggleborns receive magical ability
J.K. Rowling: Muggle-borns will have a witch or wizard somewhere on their family tree, in some cases many, many generations back. The gene re-surfaces in some unexpected places.
Maggie: Is rita skeeter still reporting
J.K. Rowling: Naturally, what could stop Rita? I imagine she immediately dashed off a biography of Harry after he defeated Voldemort. One quarter truth to three quarters rubbish.
Maggie Keir: Was hermione able to find her parents and undo the memory damage
J.K. Rowling: Yes, she brought them home straight away.
Lola Victorpujebet: Was minerva in love with albus
J.K. Rowling: No! Not everybody falls in love with everybody else...
Rachel Nell: Jkr, thank you for such amazing books! I would like to know how come noone seemed to know that lily and snape were friends in school they were obviously meeting for chats, etc didnt james know their past
J.K. Rowling: Thank you for your thank you!
J.K. Rowling: Yes, it was known that they were friendly and then stopped being friends. Nothing more than that would be widely known.
J.K. Rowling: James always suspected Snape harboured deeper feelings for Lily, which was a factor in James' behaviour to Snape.
Abbey: Will the chuddley cannons ever win the quidditch world cup
J.K. Rowling: Bless them, perhaps. But they'd need to replace the entire team and down several cauldrons of Felix Felicitas.
Hayleyhaha: Why did regulus have a change of heart
J.K. Rowling: He was not prepared for the reality of life as a Death Eater. It was Voldemort's attempted murder of Kreacher that really turned him.
J.K. Rowling: Scorpius has a lot going against him, not least that name. However, I think Scorpius would be an improvement on his father, whom misfortune has sobered!
Stephval: Is scorpius as misguided as his father, or has draco improved and taught his child(ren) better
J.K. Rowling: Sorry, technical hitch - just answered a question before seeing it!
J.K. Rowling: I am clearly getting better at Legilimency.
Lona: Did draco and harry lose their animosity towards eachother when voldemort died
J.K. Rowling: Not really. There would be a kind of rapprochement, in that Harry knows Draco hated being a Death Eater, and would not have killed Dumbledore; similarly, Draco would feel a grudging gratitude towards Harry for saving his life.
J.K. Rowling: Real friendship would be out of the question, though. Too much had happened prior to the final battle.
Hannah: Why was snape so badly groomed
J.K. Rowling: Hmm. Good question. Poor eyesight? Did he look in the mirror and believe he was gorgeous as he was?
J.K. Rowling: I think it more likely that he valued other qualities in himself!
Ea : Will the stone ever be found, since it was left just sitting on the forest floor
J.K. Rowling: I think not. I imagine that it was squashed into the ground by a centaur's hoof as the centaurs dashed to the aid of the Hogwarts fighters, and thereafter became buried.
Adwait313: Has the jinx on the dada teaching post at hogwarts been lifted
J.K. Rowling: Yes, at last! Incidentally, I know some have asked about Quirrell with regard to this question.
J.K. Rowling: He was teaching at Hogwarts for more than a year, but NOT in the post of D.A.D.A. teacher. He was previously Muggle Studies professor.
Emily: What ever happened to aberforth
J.K. Rowling: He is still there, at the Hog's Head, playing with his goats.
Lee: I recently purchsed nimbus twothousand it has a terrible knack of veering left is their anything I can do (wihout the use of a wand it was broken by a hippogriff) to repair it back to it original straight flying state
J.K. Rowling: Hm. I would advise a trip to Arkie Alderton's Kwik-Repair Shop. Never attempt to mend a broom at home, the consequences can be disastrous.
Abjoppotter: Is narcissa malfoy really a death eater
J.K. Rowling: No, she never had the Dark Mark and was never a fully paid-up member. However, her views were identical to those of her husband until Voldemort planned the death of her son.
Emzzy: Did mr weasley ever get around to fixing sirius motorbike
J.K. Rowling: Of course, and it ended up in Harry's possession.
Lulu: Do you think dumbledore was a little more fond of ron than either ron or harry believed
J.K. Rowling: Yes, I do. Through Harry's account of Ron, and from reports of the professors who taught Ron, Dumbledore understood Ron better than Ron ever knew, and liked him, too.
Chelatina: Was firenze ever welcomed back into the herd
J.K. Rowling: Yes, the rest of the herd was forced to acknowledge that Firenze's pro-human leanings were not shameful, but honourable.
Kristy: What was your favorite scene to write in deathly hallows?
J.K. Rowling: Chapter 34: The Forest Again.
Chely: James patronus is a stag and lilys a doe is that a coincidence?
J.K. Rowling: No, the Patronus often mutates to take the image of the love of one's life (because they so often become the 'happy thought' that generates a Patronus).
Jon: Since voldemort was afraid of death, did he choose to be a ghost if so where does he haunt or is this not possible due to his horcruxes
J.K. Rowling: No, he is not a ghost. He is forced to exist in the stunted form we witnessed in King's Cross.
Angela Morrissey: Were there seven horcruxes not six as dumbledore intimated to harry if so, does this mean that voldemort had an 8 part soul not a 7
J.K. Rowling: Yes, Voldemort accidentally broke his soul into eight parts, not seven.
Laura Trego: Did hermione really put a memory charm on her parents she says she did but then about 50 pages later tells ron shes never done a memory charm
J.K. Rowling: They are two different charms. She has not wiped her parents' memories (as she later does to Dolohov and Rowle); she has bewitched them to make them believe that they are different people.
Maura: How come voldemort was no longer employing occlumency against harry, as he was in the 6th book
J.K. Rowling: He is losing control, and unable to prevent Harry seeing into his mind. The connection between them is never fully understood by Voldemort, who does not know that Harry is a Horcrux.
Gandalfxj9: Did krum ever find love
J.K. Rowling: Of course, though he had to go back to his native Bulgaria to do so.
Twinkletoes: Why did you feel that hedwigs death was necessary
J.K. Rowling: The loss of Hedwig represented a loss of innocence and security. She has been almost like a cuddly toy to Harry at times. Voldemort killing her marked the end of childhood. I'm sorry... I know that death upset a LOT of people!
Lecanard: Will we see harry and his friends having their own history on chocolate frogs cards
J.K. Rowling: Definitely, and Ron will describe this as his finest hour.
J.K. Rowling: I cannot possibly tell you. Some things are better left unsaid.
Samantha: Was snape the only death eater who could produce a full patronus
J.K. Rowling: Yes, because a Patronus is used against things that the Death Eaters generally generate, or fight alongside. They would not need Patronuses.
Jess: How did nagini could see harry and hermione if they were under the invisibility cloak
J.K. Rowling: Snakes' sense are very different from human ones. They can detect heat and movement in a way that we can't.
Chucky: Have you had another alternatives as book title apart from deathly hallows
J.K. Rowling: The two other possibilities were 'the Elder Wand' (used instead as a chapter title) and 'the Peverell Quest', which I decided against quite quickly. I think the word 'Quest' is a bit corny!
Iglooanne: What would your patronus be
J.K. Rowling: I'd like an otter, like Hermione, but I've got a feeling it might be a large dog.
The Stoic Cycle: Why is it that voldemort is unaware that the gaunt ring is a hallow, when he has worn it (such as in the memory the diary shows harry in book 2)
J.K. Rowling: Wearing the ring would not make the stone work. The stone existed outside the ring originally, and to use it you had to turn it three times in your hand.
Finchburg: Does the dark mark remain on those that voldemort has branded after his death or does the tattoo dissapear now he is gone thanks for considering my question!
J.K. Rowling: My pleasure, Finchburg! The Dark Mark would fade to a scar, not dissimilar to the lightning scar on Harry's forehead.
J.K. Rowling: Like Harry's, these scars would no longer burn or hurt.
Katie Mosher: How is the quibbler doing these days
J.K. Rowling: Pretty well, actually. It has returned to its usual condition of advanced lunacy, and is appreciated for its unintentional humour.
Camille: Dear mrs rowling, while im here I want to thank you for making me laugh, cry (a lot! Most of all for sirius!) since im 11 quite a long time for me as im 20 harrys magic and yours will be with me forever! Thanks!
J.K. Rowling: Thank you very much, Camille, and I'm sorry about Sirius. That man's got a lot of fans.
J.K. Rowling: Mostly female, I might add.
Nicofr: Does winky still drink a lot of butterbear
J.K. Rowling: She's dried out a bit now.
Isabel: Did bellatrix ever love her husband, or did she have love only for voldemort
J.K. Rowling: She took a pureblood husband, because that was what was expected of her, but her true love was always Voldemort.
jenny: How did snape keep his patronus secret from the rest of the order?
J.K. Rowling: He was careful not to use the talking Patronus means of communication with them. This was not difficult, as his particular job within the Order, ie, as spy, meant that sending a Patronus to any of them might have given away his true allegiance.
Darchey: Did voldemort ever love a girl
J.K. Rowling: No, he loved only power, and himself. He valued people whom he could use to advance his own objectives.
Leo: What would your wand be made of
J.K. Rowling: I'd like Harry's wand - holly and phoenix feather.
Brian: Did the da keep the coins?
J.K. Rowling: Naturally. They would be like badges or medals of honour - proof that the owner had been at the heart of the fight against Voldemort from the start! I like to imagine Neville showing his to his admiring pupils.
Tracie: How relieved are you that you can finally talk about the series no more secretkeeping!
J.K. Rowling: I'm elated! It is great to be able to do this at last, I've looked forward to it for so long!
Lou: How did snape get into grimmauld place to get the second half of the letter, if there were protection spells on the house stopping snape getting in
J.K. Rowling: Snape entered the house immediately after Dumbledore's death, before Moody put up the spells against him.
Koen Van Der Voort: Why is the scar on harrys forehead lightning shaped
J.K. Rowling: To be honest, because it's a cool shape. I couldn't have my hero sport a doughnut-shaped scar.
Louie: Did mariettas pimply formation ever fade
J.K. Rowling: Eventually, but it left a few scars. I loathe a traitor!
Katie B: Why was kings cross the place harry went to when he died
J.K. Rowling: For many reasons. The name works rather well, and it has been established in the books as the gateway between two worlds, and Harry would associate it with moving on between two worlds (don't forget that it is Harry's image we see, not necessarily
J.K. Rowling: what is really there.
J.K. Rowling: We seem to have over-run. We've had over 120,000 questions, I've been told!
J.K. Rowling: What can I say? Thank you so much for sticking with me, and with Harry, for so long. You have made this an incredible journey for Harry's author.
J.K. Rowling: I like this question, so I'll take it for my last.
Tess: What muggle song do you imagine would be played at dumbledores funeral
J.K. Rowling: Surely 'I did it my way' by Frank Sinatra.
J.K. Rowling: I'm very aware I haven't answered everything... keep an eye on my website, and I'll try and answer some more questions in due course!
J.K. Rowling: Thanks very much everybody, I've had a great time, and I hope I've covered some of the outstanding questions (I hear a distant roar of 'YOU DIDN'T GET TO MINE!')
J.K. Rowling: That's it... I'm Disapparating. Bye!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ISRAEL

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU,
HAPPY BIIIIIRTHDAY TO ISRAAAEEEEL,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!

HAYOM YOM HULEDET
HAYOM YOM HULEDET
HAYOM YOM HULEDET L'ISRAEL!

Does anyone remember those blue and white cupcakes with little Israeli flag toothpicks in them from when we were younger? I WANT ONE NOW!!!!
They looked like this: