As a diehard Harry Potter fan in my youth, I often wondered how J. K. Rowling managed to keep track of all the plot twists in her novels – not to mention the prophecies, transfigurations, polyjuice potion transformations.
And now I know. Rowling released this handwritten spreadsheet to fans five years ago, divided by chapter number, chapter title, main plot points and subplots, all organised by their place in the story timeline.
In this spreadsheet, it looks a little like Dumbledore’s Army and the Order of the Phoenix have switched names, and that Dolores Umbridge’s original name was “Elvira Umbridge”.
One thing is obvious: J. K. Rowling had a pretty good idea of where the Harry Potter series was going from the beginning. Which is why I’m choosing to ignore her recent comments about Ron and Hermione.
Top Comments
As a reader, mum and teacher I think the books are fantastic. They should be part of the school reading list for children because they epitomise what a children's book series should be; entertaining, well written, progressive and "hard to put down". My eldest daughter wants to be a writer, I can't wait to show her this!
Have never read a Harry Potter book and never shall, I don't understand the attraction for anyone other than children and teens. I've seen a very small part of the movies, my daughter watched them, and still have no idea what it is that makes people so fond of them.
Of course you don't understand, you haven't read it! I initially had the same attitude, along with 'I don't like fantasy'. Then I was really bored one uni break and picked up my little sister's copy. Cue leaving the rest of the world behind for a week whilst devouring the first 4 books (only ones out at the time) in a row. I love Harry Potter books, my mum loves them, my grandmother loves them.
Please don't judge until you've given it a go!
Maybe you should read them before commenting. They are brilliant fiction. They explore some very interesting themes and in a way are a bit of a detective novel in terms of piecing together clues and character information.
Well if you've never read them then your opinion holds dead zero merit on whether they're any good. Honestly, what a silly thing to say!
Why wouldn't you want to read them so you can discuss them with your daughter and to know what your daughter is interested in? Even if you are not interested yourself, sometimes it's worth getting involved for the conversations that it brings up with your kids.