So you're all probably, "Why, oh why, hasn't she said anything about the Harry Potter news streaking through the Internet yet?"
Well, you may not appreciate it, but I know that once random tidbits about the new book start to spread around -- even something as innocuous as J.K Rowling saying that two characters may die in this one -- it's getting close to reading time. Look at the history of the series' publicity: bit of news designed to get people talking; one or two more facts a month or so later; the book's title is released in a cleverly subversive way; and then the publishing date is announced. It's gone that way for the last three tomes: Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, and the most-recent Half-Blood Prince. It's a brilliant strategy, and obviously, one that works.
So the big dust up this week is about Rowling hinting to the two characters that allegedly die in the final volume. Of course, it's common knowledge that Rowling has had the final chapter of the final book written since she started along the H.P. path. (A feat, in itself, that is amazing.) It's also common knowledge that she's not afraid to kill any character. I hate to speculate on who the deaths might be, but I do have a couple thoughts.
Harry Potter: Rowling slyly mentioned that Harry may not be left standing on the last page. I, for one, don't buy it. He's the hero, and while the hero doesn't always survive, this is still a series of novels that punishes the evil and rewards the good. I don't see Rowling being so vindictive as to kill H.P. just to prove that she can.
Draco Malfoy: I'm thinking he'll die, but he's not a "big death." He's just the punk that deserves to get it in the end.
Lord Voldemort: He's definitely dying, but in a bizarre and rather odd way. That's the only path to thwarting the whole Harry and Voldemort part-of-each-other thing.
Professor Severus Snape: He's living, and I'll tell you why. He's had an alternate agenda, even in light of the Prince ending, and will finally and completely redeem himself in this final book.
Hermione Grainger: I'm sorry to say that, ever since -- several years ago -- I'd heard that a death in that final chapter upset Rowling to write, I've thought that Hermione will bite the dust in an utterly heroic, yet tragic, way. (I hope I'm so wrong on this one, by the way. I want Hermione and Harry to end up together.)
Ron Weasley: He'll be around far after the final chapter, because really, why bother killing him?
Rubeus Hagrid: He'll die, if for any reason, because he's the last of Harry's father figures.
McGonnagall, Ginny Weasley, Luna, and the rest of Harry's friends (except maybe Neville), are safe, I think. Why kill them; there's no story in it.
Of course, Rowling has killed others that we thought would live until the end of the series, i.e., Sirius and Dumbledore (I dare anyone to say they saw that coming). I reserve the right to be completely off base in my predictions.
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