NYC Sweepstakes Reading Canon Summaries

I've been waiting for a full transcript from Leaky, but want to post this now. I figure I can add to it later. These summaries are actually based upon four sources: TLC, HPANA, as well as Eldritchhobbit’s and iamstarmoms LiveJournals. All were present at the reading.

• Neville married Hannah Abbott, who eventually became the landlady at The Leaky Cauldron. His students think this is cool.
• Molly was the one to defeat Bellatrix because Jo wanted Molly to have a chance to show how powerful she is, and because she found it satisfying to create a face-off between unhealthy obsessive love and strong maternal love.
• Jo decided not to kill Arthur Weasley in Book 5 so that Ron wouldn't have to grow up as quickly.
• The orphaning of Teddy Lupin brought the series full circle, though Harry was a much better godfather than Sirius.
• Jo says (tongue in cheek) that Aberforth's inappropriate goat charm had to do with keeping it clean or its curly horns.
• Dumbledore was gay; he fell in love with Gellert Grindelwald but was "terribly let down by him" when he realized what he was capable of.
• Parseltongue is not a language that people can learn. Ron really only memorized the sound of one word ("open").
• Dumbledore’s first letter to Petunia (she was 12-ish) was very kind and explained why he couldn’t let her become part of the Wizarding world and join her sister at Hogwarts. His 1981 letter reminded her of her wish, appealed to her sense of fair play, and asked her to take care of Harry.
• Petunia desperately wanted to be a part of the Wizarding world and hated that "Lily had what she couldn't have."
• What Petunia almost said when Harry left Privet Drive for the last time was " I do know what you're up against and I hope it's OK." But she couldn't say it because she was too hardened by pretending not to care for so long.
• Harry's Horcrux was not destroyed by the basilisk poison in book2 because the poison's damage was stopped in time by Fawkes' tears.
• Dumbledore worried that Harry would give in to his "reckless" impulses and seek the Deathly Hallows so he gave the book with the clues to cautious Hermione.
  
• When Harry decided not to seek the Hallows after Dobby died it scared him because it was the first time he had decided not to act.
  
• JKR: Portraits can "only move between portraits in the same building” or other places where the same portrait exists.
• The parallels between Voldemort's goals and methods and those of the Nazi Regime were deliberate, but there are also parallels to regimes that exist today.
• JKR: "The Potter books in general are a prolonged argument for tolerance, a prolonged plea for an end to bigotry.... You should question authority and you should not assume that the establishment or the press tells you all of the truth."
• There is no magic involved in life debts.
  
• After Book 7, Draco Malfoy goes back to "being an improved version of what he was but we shouldn't expect him to be a really great guy any time soon."
• James, Lily and Sirius became full time members of the Order of the Phoenix after leaving Hogwarts and did not have regular jobs. They lived off of James's money.
  
• The Potters did not go into hiding until Lily became pregnant.
  
• Lupin was "unemployable" when he left Hogwarts.
• Voldemort's first rise to power did not go as far as the second one did because he was not able to infiltrate the Ministry the first time.
• Hagrid never married. Mme. Maxime was too sophisticated for him, and there weren't many other giantesses around.
• Severus Snape's portrait does indeed hang in the Headmaster's office. Harry had a role in making sure that Snape's abdication did not effect his place there.
  
• Headmaster portraits don't appear immediately; the person needs to be dead.
  
• Jo was surprised that no one had ever asked her what Dumbledore’s wand was made of.