While reading at the White House today JK Rowling answered some questions from fans about the Potter series. Here are her answers to some of them (this is not exact wording as I couldn’t hear very well):

Do you plan on writing more? “I do and I am… Sometime in the not too distant future I will bring you another book and it will not be Harry Potter.”
Who is your favorite character? Apart from Harry, Ron, Hermione, are Hagrid, Dumbledore, Lupin, and Snape.
Would you want Dobby or Winky as a house elf? Neither, because they are “creepy,” and she would rather set them free.
What is your favorite Harry Potter book? Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
How did you come up with Harry Potter? Looking at cows out a train window and said to herself, “Boy who doesn’t know he’s a wizard goes to a wizarding school.”
Who did you think of after Harry? Hermione because the book started in a totally different way before. It was going to start with an explosion at Harry’s house in Godric’s Hollow.  Hermione’s  father, their next door neighbor, ran outside and saw Harry being taken from the rubble.  Hermione remembers her father telling her the story when she first meets Harry.