"It was quite scary when I first found out I had swine flu," he said at a press conference with other Potter actors including Emma Watson in London. "I thought 'Am I going to die?' But it was just like any other flu really." "I had a sore throat and I went to bed for a few days."

"I can only take a certain amount of credit for inhabiting Dobby, because clearly these brilliant people at Industrial Light and Magic have created Dobby and I just voiced the character,” he humbly confessed. “[But] am always amazed and flattered at how much that character has endured even though he hasn’t been in any films for a while. Every time a book comes out people phone me, and write to me from around the world saying ‘He’s in! He is in!’"

O.K. but what about the revelation that Albus Dumbledore is gay? Thewlis concedes that threw him for a loop, but not for the reasons you might think. "The funny thing when Alfonso Cuaron directed "The Prisoner of Azkaban, the first film that I appear in, he had the idea that Lupin was gay and he described my character like a 'gay junkie' .And of course Lupin turns out not to be gay because he marries Tonks and has children."

"Do you believe that good always overcomes evil?" asked Naresha Dumas of Warren Easton High School.

"That depends on what you mean by 'overcomes,' " Rowling said, referring to Harry Potter's battle against the evil Lord Voldemort. "But as long as people are prepared to keep fighting ... it's amazing how small acts of kindness can add up, just living in a moral way, treating other people kindly."

Good actors will seek out challenging projects, something not always consistent with wholesome family fare. But Heyman insists that he doesn't stand in the way of such ventures. "You don't put a stranglehold on an ambitious young actor who wants to stretch," he says, talking of Radcliffe and his headline-making turn on the London stage earlier this year. "Everybody talks about him being naked in 'Equus' but not that his character blinded six horses. There seems to be more concern about Dan's willy than the substance of the play. But I respect him and his choices."

“There’s an internet frenzy of people who think it’s happening in the spring, but it would be six months later than that,” he said. “In all probability, if everything goes according to plan, it would definitely be me and Richard Griffiths and how many other cast members the unions will allow.” (Griffiths, who co-starred with Radcliffe in the play’s West End run, also plays Uncle Vernon in the Harry Potter movies). “I’m excited. Terrified, but excited.”

Most difficult part of the role?

The difference between Maps and Harry is marked. They are very different characters. Whereas Harry often wears his heart on his sleeve and is quite open—and not very good at always hiding his emotions—Maps is a very, very restrained character.

He doesn’t like particularly talking about how he is feeling, he is very much a solo character. He wants to look after these other three boys. In the end it’s those three boys he cares about and he is focused on them, and looking after them, and he looks out for them at the orphanage and stops them from getting bullied.

• Jo said that although she has to resist the urge to tell everything in a book, the encyclopedia will be a "different kettle of fish."
  
• Quidditch remains her favorite made-up word in the series.
  
• She explained in more depth why she gave a certain character a reprieve.
  
• She "told all three of them (Dan, Rupert, and Emma) stuff about their own characters" before book seven was released.
  
• She hopes to take her children to the Harry Potter theme park in Orlando once it opens. She mentioned that "they're planning one ride that's for younger kids."
  
• "The world hasn't ended" for her, as she still has the sixth and seventh movies and the theme park ahead of her.
  
• "I'd certainly edit 'Phoenix' a bit better," she said. It's "too long."

Do you write any notes on your script as you read through it?
Yeah, my scripts have loads of writing all over them. On a couple of occasions, there was a gap and David (Yates) asked me, "What do you think Hermione would say here?" And I got a chance to ad-lib. So I've got loads of different stuff written down on my script that I thought would be funny.

Do you learn your lines ahead of time?
I'm quite bad, actually. I learn them as I'm walking down to the set or in hair and makeup that day. Generally, it's fine because the scenes are short. If it's a big scene, then I'll look at it in advance and make sure I know it.

What actor or actress would you love to work with?
Gosh, Johnny Depp. I think he's such a good actor. He just becomes whoever he's playing.