starfishstar

Oh, right, and I meant to say in the last post: I finally got an answer to the question of "which of the 7 Harry Potter books does JKR think of as not like the others?" In this post a while back (about "The Silkworm," in fact) I mentioned that I'd come across something where JKR pointed out it's no surprise she's now writing mysteries, given that the HP books, too, were structured as mysteries – though more specifically, she said they were "six whodunits and one why dun it."

I've been trying out ever since to figure out which book she meant when she said one of them was about the "why" rather than the "who." HBP, because it's so much more about backstory than the present day? Or DH, because it's more about the quest than the mystery? Nope, all wrong! On her Robert Galbraith website, she says:

"Most of the Harry Potter stories are whodunits at heart (Order of the Phoenix is more of a why-did-he), but I’ve wanted to try the real thing for a long time. I wanted to have a go at writing a contemporary whodunit, with a credible back story."

Ah! That's the one she meant! I'm still not sure exactly what the "why dun it" of OotP is – Why Voldemort wants the Prophecy so badly? Or why he attacked baby Harry in the first place? But I guess she's right that it's less about the "who," because we know exactly who: Voldemort is trying desperately to get Harry into the Hall of Prophecy – but why? Okay, yeah, I guess that does make sense now!

(Still not sure what the "who" of DH is supposed to be, though...?)