Dear Jo,

Not surprisingly, we're thrilled to know that you visit MuggleNet and the Lexicon on occasion. We are delighted that the work we've done is helpful and appreciated, not only to you but also to fans all over the world. Thank you so much for honoring us on your site.

First, let us say that we don't want to know any big secrets from upcoming books. However, there are some more mundane things that we'd love to know. As obsessive as we are, we would love to have some nagging things answered, partly to add missing details into the Lexicon and MuggleNet's pages, but also just because it's fun to learn these kinds of things. We discussed this with your solicitor and he suggested that an open letter might be the best way for you to do this. That's why this letter is here.

At the bottom of this letter is a list of questions that just beg to be answered. We don't think any of them cross the line into giving too much away, and we would be thrilled if you could fill in the blanks for us. Feel free to skip over any questions you don't want to answer.

Thanks for considering this. We can't thank you enough for creating your website and for communicating with us all. And most of all, thanks for creating such a wonderful world for us to play in.

Sincerely,

Emerson & crew
MuggleNet.com

and

Steve Vander Ark
The Harry Potter Lexicon

Questions:

• What are the first names of Flitwick, Sinistra, Vector, Sprout, and Hooch? What houses were they in?

• If a teacher is head of a house, can we assume that they were sorted into those houses when they were students at Hogwarts? Is that also true for the house ghosts? So was Snape a Slytherin? (Answered.)

• Who teaches Ancient Runes and Muggle Studies and are there other teachers or subjects that we haven't heard about yet?

• How did you feel about the POA filmmakers leaving the Marauder's Map's background out of the story? (Answered.)

• Is Flitwick a short human or is he some other type of being? (Answered.)

• What is Godric's Hollow? Is is a town, a house, a street, a tree...? (Answered.)

• How many students are there really at Hogwarts? You said 1000 once, but that doesn't really work out very well with information elsewhere in the books. Can you give us an explanation?

• How old are Molly and Arthur Weasley? (Thanks for letting us know that Lucius is 41, by the way. We wondered.)

• You said recently that Charlie was two years older than Percy. If that's so, he would have been the Seeker in Harry's first year. Can you clarify his and Bill's ages for us? (Answered.)

• As you probably know, we have worked out the years of the books to 1991 through 1998 using information from the books. The official timeline on the Chamber of Secrets DVD follows this as well. Is that correct?

• Speaking of that official timeline, there is some pretty convincing evidence that they took the timeline directly from the Lexicon. Do you know anything about that? The folks at Warner said that they took a timeline and gave it to you for review. Was the timeline they gave you from the Lexicon's calendars?

• Did you actually write the information that ended up on the Famous Wizard cards? Most of it fits pretty well into the overall story and they do seem to be written in your style. In fact, the material from the cards is now turning up on your website. So how about it? And then what about things like "Flipendo"? For that matter, what about the spells in the films? Some of them do seem a bit dodgy. Did you invent those or did Steve Kloves? And why were new incantations created for the movie in the first place? (Example: "Incendio" to "Lacarnum Inflamari".) (Answered.)

• What house was Myrtle in? What was/is her last name?

• Are there other Gryffindors in Harry's year besides the ones we've met in the books?

• Is Theodore Nott the "stringy" Slytherin mentioned in the Thestral class scene? If he isn't, who is that boy? (Answered.)

• Were Gideon and Fabian Prewett Molly's brothers? (Answered.)

• Was James a Chaser, as you said in an interview at one point, or a Seeker? Or did he play both positions?

• On your website, you used the term "marauders" to refer to James and his friends. Were they actually called that or are you just borrowing the fan term? (Answered.)

• Do all young people in Britain's Wizarding World go to Hogwarts? For example, did Stan Shunpike attend Hogwarts? Or is Hogwarts a school just for those who are particularly good at magic while others go into trades without formal schooling? (Answered.)

• In fifth year, some students are made Prefects. Are there sixth year and seventh year Prefects as well? Are they simply the same kids or are there new Prefects chosen each year? (We're resisting the urge to ask how James became Head Boy if he was't made a Prefect in fifth year.)

• What are Dumbledore, Draco, and Hermione's wands made of and what are their cores? (Partially answered.)

• How old are Mad-Eye Moody and Tonks and what houses were they in?

• You've told us that Hermione's birthday is September 19. When she first came to Hogwarts, then, was she nearly eleven years old or was she nearly twelve? The official timeline says that she was nearly eleven, but we're all still very unsure about this. (Answered.)

• Is there a living heir of Gryffindor? What about Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw?