IIRC, it isn't stated explicitly in the books that Aberforth is Dumbledore's brother. It's more hinted at here and there.
Jayne (Husband): Oh, I think you might wanna reconsider that last part. See, I married me a powerful ugly creature. Mal (Wife): How can you say that? How can you shame me in front of new people? Jayne (Husband): If I could make you purtier, I would. Mal (Wife): You are not the man I met a year ago.
'Our Mrs. Reynolds'
The Buffista Book Club: the Harry Potter iteration
This thread is a focused discussion group. Please see the first post below for the current topic and upcoming book discussions. While natter will inevitably happen, we encourage you to treat this like a virtual book club and try to keep your posts in that spirit.
By consensus, this thread is reopened specifically to discuss Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It will be closed again once that discussion has run its course.
***SPOILER ALERT***
Aims - Jul 24, 2007 10:24:50 am PDT #1598 of 3301
Shit's all sorts of different now.
sumi - Jul 24, 2007 10:25:01 am PDT #1599 of 3301
Art Crawl!!!
I thought we knew that from the books too. Not sure which one.
Polgara - Jul 24, 2007 10:26:30 am PDT #1600 of 3301
Karma is a cat, sleeping in my lap cuz it loves me. ~TS
According to Wikipedia, there are hints--the smell of goats at the Hog's Head, and the fact that the bartender looks familiar to Harry, and Dumbledore's assertion that he has contacts with the bartenders in Hogsmeade (to Tom Riddle during his "job interview")--but it's never explicitly stated until book 7.
Polter-Cow - Jul 24, 2007 10:40:14 am PDT #1601 of 3301
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
J.K. basically confirmed it in an interview, but, yeah, it wasn't in the books until now. Of course, I never noticed the bartender as a character, so I didn't even know there had been clues. I'm glad it didn't just come out of nowhere.
Kathy A - Jul 24, 2007 11:42:48 am PDT #1602 of 3301
We're very stretchy. - Connie Neil
Hmm. I really hate that there's canonical info that isn't included in the texts themselves. Apparently people already knew about Aberforth being the bartender of the Hog's Head before this book. Not fair!
This is why I really hope she does get around to producing the Encyclopedia of Harry Potterverse that she mentioned as a possibility during an interview after HBP came out. She has boxes full of backstory that she didn't get to cram into the books (the names of all the kids who entered Hogwarts in Harry's year and what house they ended up in, backstory on some of them like Dean, etc.), and said that she wouldn't mind using it in a future project like that.
Connie Neil - Jul 24, 2007 11:45:11 am PDT #1603 of 3301
brillig
Like "Tales of Middle Earth." She could call them Hogwarts Year Books
tommyrot - Jul 24, 2007 11:55:55 am PDT #1604 of 3301
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
MSNBC has a bunch of readers' comments on the DH. I liked this one (from a 10-year-old):
The realization that one of the greatest series is over will take a few weeks to handle. Just like how Voldemort wanted, there will be no more happiness.
megan walker - Jul 24, 2007 11:57:29 am PDT #1605 of 3301
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist
This is so cute. I just have to tag.
Polter-Cow - Jul 24, 2007 12:02:38 pm PDT #1606 of 3301
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
Awwww!! That's so sad.
I am now put into a position to find a fault with a fabulous book
A ten-year-old wrote that?
Polter-Cow - Jul 24, 2007 12:07:53 pm PDT #1607 of 3301
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
This is why I really hope she does get around to producing the Encyclopedia of Harry Potterverse that she mentioned as a possibility during an interview after HBP came out.
She's going to!!!
The encyclopedia would include back stories of characters she has already written but had to cut for the sake of narrative arc ("I've said before that Dean Thomas had a much more interesting history than ever appeared in the books"), as well as details about the characters who survive "Deathly Hallows," characters who continue to live on in Rowling’s mind in a clearly defined magical world.
Oh, there's some good shit in here:
“Mr. Weasley, he was the person who got a reprieve,” Rowling said. “When I sketched out the books, Mr. Weasley was due to die in Book Five.”