If you could sit down for a chat with Rowling, what would you ask her?

Here are some of my questions:

What are the qualities that go into each of the houses? I'm suspecting that the Sorting Hat is not telling the truth about the qualities it looks for. For example, James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew were all sorted into Gryffindor. Why were each of these men at age 11 made Gryffindors? I don't see "bravery" being a unifying quality here, and I could see each of them in *another* house. There seems to be a fine line with some of the houses, so how exactly would you explain the difference between Gryffindor and Slytherin?

(Lily is frankly the only marauder-era Gryffindor to show true bravery in the books, and she was protecting her child, just like Narcissa in book 7.)

If children were so one-dimensional, why wasn't Peter Pettigrew in
Slytherin? Or Hermione in Ravenclaw? Or Neville in Hufflepuff? As
we saw, a Ravenclaw (Luna) could be both scatty like a Hufflepuff, but
brave like a Gryffindor, and a Hufflepuff (Cedric) could be both smart
and courageous. And of course my favourite, Snape, could just as easily
been sorted into Ravenclaw for his intelligence, and was later as brave
as anyone.

I'd like to ask Rowling what made Lily Evans change her opinion of James
Potter? He really wasn't a very admirable character and about the only
thing you could say with certainty was that he was against Voldemort.
He was an arrogant bully, and even his courage was more like reckless
bravado. In my alternate universe, Lily was trying to teach Snape a
lesson by teaming up with the person he hated most, but when he persisted
in his association with the Death Eaters, she was too proud to back down.
That's the only way I can accept the relationship, but I'd like to know
what was in Rowling's mind.

As much as I love the series, her fat-phobia got a tad tiresome after HP&TSS.

I can only think of Dudley, and in his case fat is a metaphor for his
being pampered and over-indulged by his parents, while Harry is skinny,
not because he's a hero but because he's malnourished.

Was there anybody else?

:hi: