SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER One of the main characters will die! Story Creator of Harry Potter, British author JK Rowling says she was moved to tears as she killed off one of her key characters in her latest book Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, due to go on sale on Saturday. In an interview for BBC television, Rowling told how her husband Neil Murray found her in tears at their home after she had sealed the fate of the unnamed character. The character's identity will be revealed this Saturday when the eagerly-awaited fifth book in the series hits the shops. "I had re-written the death, re-written it and that was it. And the person was definitely dead," Rowling told BBC's Newsnight programme. Rowling said that her husband - also unaware of the identity of the doomed character - had suggested that she should not kill off the character if it made her that upset. "Well, it just doesn't work like that. You are writing children's books, you need to be a ruthless killer," Rowling told her husband at the time. Rowling said she had "sweated blood" to write the 766-page Order of the Phoenix but vehemently denied reports she had delivered the book late after suffering writer's block. "Just once and for all, for the record, I didn't miss the deadline. Because there was no deadline," Rowling said. "I just produced a quarter of a million words!" she blasted. She plans to write seven books in total, taking Potter, a schoolboy wizard, to the end of his time at Hogwarts school. Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix will be launched simultaneously in Britain, the United States, Australia and other English-speaking countries on Saturday. The previous book, Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, was the fastest-selling book in history on the first weekend of its publication in Britain in July 2000. I've never read the HP books, and didn't really enjoy the movies. But this is quite big, is it not? Any guesses on who will perish?
I wish it was Malfoy Jr. but I think it will be Ron.. he was basically useless to most of the previous plots.
That'd be too bad...he's the best (funniest) in the movie, for certain. If it's a main character, we have a few choices - obviously not Harry. So Ron, Hermoine, Hagrid or Dumbledorf. Characters like the head of Gryffindor and Sirius Black are just not in the book enough to cry over (same can be said for Malfoy). My guess is Hagrid, as he is the big loveable teddy bear that would be sad to see go.
I would guess that Dumbledore and Sirus are too integral to the battle against Voldemort to kill off.. I think eventually Sirus will play a major part in his defeat and will regain his standing in the wizarding world, it would provide Harry with a family member to live with not named Dursley. Hagrid is a possibility since without someone else to protect him, he has very few powers to fall back on... Hermoine is an outside possibility imo. Rowling always has her as the one that is smart enough to help Harry out of the tight spots he finds himself in...so I dont really expect her to die.. I will find out soon, I'm hitting the nearest bookstore in Chicago Sat and make my wife drive us back to Texas so I have time to read it. I have to admit that I am llooking forward to this one almost as much as I was waiting for Mogwar of the Shannara series..
No it has to be Dumbledore. They have alluded to that in past books. Harry cannot be touched as long as he is alive. I'm thinking the next plot will be Voldemorte going after Dumbledore, as he is the only person that Voldemorte fears.
I totally agree with Castor. It has to be Dumbledore. Rowling wouldn't kill off Ron or Hermione, because that would be a major putoff to fans of the series. It's not Malfoy, because Harry needs a foil. It's also not Sirius, because he's not considered a "major" character. Now, it's possible that Hagrid could die, but I'm not sure how his death would advance the plot of the series any. Face it, Hagrid doesn't do a whole lot. However, if Dumbledore were to die, THAT would totally change the tone of the books, as he is the only one Voldemort fears. Also, being that Dumbledore is all-powerful and mysterious, he could pull an Obi-Wan and visit Harry as a ghost. Or, Rowling could find a way to resurrect him for the "Final Fight" (book 7?).
F*** Dumbledore. Why should she cry her eyes out over that old fart? He's oooooold. Even as a wizard, he would have to die some day soon anyway (sorry for the overstated cynicism). Ron? No. Hermione? No. They have to survive until Book 7, hump and get married (or is it the other way around?) Has to be Hagrid. I can understand closer affinity for him, he's closer to the children characters' hearts. Pretty good marketing campaign though. "Stolen" copies of the book; let it leak that a main character dies; etc.
Off the subject but...why is Goblet of Fire a 700+ pages as a book but only 300 + pages as a PDF file?
Huge controversy on www.aintitcool.com rght now. They posted a story about the death, then someone spoiled it by saying what page the death occured on. Then the rumor started that it was Hermione who died. Apparaently the Potter people called Harry Knowles & in a cc.net/Doc Rocket style move - all posts referring to or replying to the thread re: that topic are being excised as we speak. Funny thing is that people are saying that the only way www.aintitcool.com could have done the original "review" was from one of the supposedly stolen books... Who knows though - they routinely review movies by watching illicitly obtained copies of them, so who knows what's going on...
Like I said, that was just one of the rumors that started about it. Soeaking of Aint it Cool, I'm getting tired of their hypocrisy. One of their main reviewers went off on people about downloading The Hulk and other movies off the 'net. He forgot to mention that AICN often reviews bootleg movie copies (such as Star Wars Ep. 2) themselves. While the guy later aplogized - talk about the pot & the kettle, man...
Not to get off-topic here, but I totally agree with you. I used to have such respect for Moriarty... until he turned into a "shame on you!" preachy douchebag. Talk about alienating your core audience... Hmmm, I see absolutely nothing on Ain't It Cool News about Potter now. Quite the cover-up, me thinks...
are you sure it's the real one? There have been fake copies floating around usenet for months now... as of last week(about 3 days ago) the order of the Phoenix ebooks being posted in the ebook newsgroups were fakes. expect to see it scanned and posted by Sat afternoon.
well part of the PDF thing could be the font size used. and margins that are set. I haven't downloaded any books in that format but I woul dsuspect that they condense it down to save space.
