I do believe that Rowling loves to play word games and mess with people's minds. Of this there is no doubt. Because of her new found wealth, everyone hangs onto her every word and there are times (I am positive) that what she says is taken out of context or twisted around. This is sometimes easily done because Rowling likes to often put hidden meaning in her statements. Sometimes she likes to see if we are smart enough to catch whatever the undertones of her messages are. sometimes she likes to see if her words have power. Sometimes she likes to see how much untruth she can fling at us before we call her bluff.
but Harry Batt ... really???
there was, a very long time ago, an 'extra' page that you won if you 'clicked the right object, or followed a proper sequence of events' on her original site. It contained the early names of the year one students, including Harry, which showed how the names evolved - scratching out the first thoughts, etc until she settled on the name that she liked best. But buggered if I can find that image. Thought I saved a screenshot of all the extras but I am unable to find them ... maybe they got lost when my computer crashed a few years age ... maybe I misfiled them ... maybe 'insert excuse here'
I was trying to find it because I thought that the origins of Harry's name was there.
but I did find this:
Accio QuotesBarnes and Noble interview, March 19, 1999Why did you name Harry Potter -- Harry Potter?
Because Harry is one of my favorite boy's names. But he had several different surnames before I chose Potter. Potter was the name of a brother and sister who I played with when I was very young. We were part of the same gang and I always liked that surname.