J.K. Rowling to Kill Off Another Character [Archive]

MacNut

Oct 10, 2004, 01:18 AM

J.K. Rowling to Kill Off Another Character
By Yolie Prebble, People

"Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling is dealing a death blow to one of the characters in her next installment of the blockbuster series about the teen wizard, she admits.

Responding to a question posed by a fan on her official Web site -- "Are you going to kill off any more characters?" - Rowling, 39, offered a succinct reply: "Yes. Sorry."

The sixth book about the amazing Harry, to be called "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," will be published next year, leaving fans with an agonizing wait before learning which character meets his or her doom.

However, readers can be assured that it will not be Harry. While answering questions at the Edinburgh Book Festival in August, Rowling told fans her hero "will survive to book seven."

Not that he's immortal. Tantalizingly holding out the prospect of Harry's end someday, Rowling said: "I am not going to say whether he grows any older than that."

The mega-successful writer, whose net worth is said to exceed that of Queen Elizabeth's, is increasingly using her JKRowling Web site as her direct communication with fans. In her own words, she said it is "where I can give hints and clues as to what's going to happen to Harry Potter next."

Abstract

Oct 10, 2004, 01:38 AM

I wish an atomic bomb went off in the book and wipes out everyone.

virividox

Oct 10, 2004, 01:45 AM

boo hoo

applemacdude

Oct 10, 2004, 01:55 AM

I wish an atomic bomb went off in the book and wipes out everyone.

Or maybe 2 h bombs

homerjward

Oct 10, 2004, 02:01 AM

hey, i really like the harry potter books! somehow i bet it's going to be dumbledore.. it can't be voldemort because that would make book 7 a worthless piece of sh*t, it can't be harry 0bviously, it's prolly not ron or hermoine all though you never know...dumbledore just seems more likely because that would add even more revenge element to his fight against voldemort

evilgEEk

Oct 10, 2004, 02:10 AM

I wish an atomic bomb went off in the book and wipes out everyone.
boo hoo
Or maybe 2 h bombs
Was there really a point in hijacking this thread with comments like that right off the bat? Come on guys, if you don't care, don't bother commenting.

I thought Harry Potter was stupid until I read it, now I'm a huge fan. And I kinda think it will be Dumbledore too, but I don't know if Harry has learned enough from him for him to die. Maybe by the end of the book? Hard to say.

Too bad we have to wait so long to get the book in our hands!

acceber

Oct 10, 2004, 02:34 AM

I also enjoy the Harry Potter books. The first and third ones are my favourites.

I reckon she'll kill off somebody really random, like, Professor McGonagall or Hagrid or the Weasley dad in some freak show down between the "good" and the "evil"... :p

homerjward

Oct 10, 2004, 02:37 AM

And I kinda think it will be Dumbledore too, but I don't know if Harry has learned enough from him for him to die. Maybe by the end of the book? Hard to say.

yeah, im thinking voldemort will kill him by the end of the book in the way he killed sirius. or perhaps harry will accidentally kill him with a mis-aimed spell and become depressed and get into slipknot, wear bondage pants and practice self-mutilation, then drop out of hogwarts to sell drugs and end up in a pool of his own blood because he got into a gang's drug territory. ignore the last comment; i was just at a musical we're performing at my high school and the orchestra was supposed to wear a jacket and tie and our guitar player showed up in bondage pants and a slipknow t-shirt...

virividox

Oct 10, 2004, 04:54 AM

Was there really a point in hijacking this thread with comments like that right off the bat? Come on guys, if you don't care, don't bother commenting.

I thought Harry Potter was stupid until I read it, now I'm a huge fan. And I kinda think it will be Dumbledore too, but I don't know if Harry has learned enough from him for him to die. Maybe by the end of the book? Hard to say.

Too bad we have to wait so long to get the book in our hands!

I have read the books, and i dont particularly like them; and im not particularly saddened by the death of characters, i mean if it moves the plot forward great

pyrotoaster

Oct 10, 2004, 12:07 PM

Even before I read this, I was thinking that Dumbledore would probably die at the end of book 6.
Obviously, he has to die if Harry's going to kill Voldemort himself, and if he dies at the end of the next book he'll still have time to impart some more knowledge on Harry.

Anyway, it's interesting to see her confirm it, though. Her website is actually really interesting to just poke around (and it's well designed). It's nice to see her keep fans interested during the long wait between books.

kaylie_kipe

Oct 10, 2004, 02:13 PM

My little step brother will be sad to hear that someones going to die in the next book. I've never read the books but he's a big fan. Once his whole class wrote letters to J.K. Rowling and everyone got back a form letter except for him. It's now hanging in a frame on his bedroom wall.

WinterMute

Oct 10, 2004, 02:16 PM

I can see it now...

"Dobby" said Harry in a concerned tone, "What are you doing with that minigun?"

Dobby twitched slightly, there was a stunned silence in the great hall at Hogwarts.

"Dobby, put the gun down" scolded Hermione "It's far too big for you anyway"

"F*ck you" said Dobby, conversationally "I always hated this b*st*rd place..."

Harry and all his friends fell bleeding under the thunder of the little Elf's big gun.

MacFan26

Oct 10, 2004, 02:26 PM

I've read all of the books so far and seen the movies too, it doesn't suprise me that she'd kill off another character. The only thing I don't like is the weird sexual tension that's in the movies, it's in the books too, but it's just kind of overdone in the films I think. I'm wondering how the next movie is going to go, considering they're going to have to take so much out since the book is so much longer than the others.

evilgEEk

Oct 10, 2004, 02:34 PM

I don't know, it seems such an obvious conclusion, Dumbledore dying. Rowling might want to try to avoid that and actually keep him alive, but make it so he's unable to help Harry when he confronts Voldemort.

But if Dumbledore does die, I'm convinced he'll die sacrificing himself for Harry.

If there ever is a Book Eight, the entire book will be Harry getting therapy. :rolleyes:

MacFan26

Oct 10, 2004, 02:40 PM

But if Dumbledore does die, I'm convinced he'll die sacrificing himself for Harry.

:D Voldemort says "Your powers are weak old man." Dumbledore says "You can't win Voldemort, if you strike me down I shall become more powerful than you can ever imagine." Voldemort kills Dumbledore, Harry screams "NOO!" from far away, and suddenly we hear Dumbledore's voice saying "Run Harry Run!"

Mr. Anderson

Oct 10, 2004, 02:47 PM

:D Voldemort says "Your powers are weak old man." Dumbledore says "You can't win Voldemort, if you strike me down I shall become more powerful than you can ever imagine." Voldemort kills Dumbledore, Harry screams "NOO!" from far away, and suddenly we hear Dumbledore's voice saying "Run Harry Run!"

that sounds oddly familiar ;)

Its truly amazing how much this has affected society in the past couple years or so....good for her to get more kids interested in reading - I just hope she does something better with all the money she's made :D

And what's the plan after the seventh book?

D

cheekyspanky

Oct 10, 2004, 03:20 PM

I was never a fan of the books either, until someone gave me a book token and I got the 4th book (because it was the thickest and obviously the best value for my book token :rolleyes: ). After reading that one I saw the first 2 films, read the 5th book and then saw the 3rd film. It might not have been the best way to go about it but it's done the trick!

The crazy thing is, J.K Rowling used to go to my old school, and when the first book was released the headteacher mentioned it in assembly...and I didnt go out and buy one...I would've had a first edition worth loads! :(

evilgEEk

Oct 10, 2004, 03:24 PM

I just hope she does something better with all the money she's made :D

And what's the plan after the seventh book?

D
From what I understand, Rowling has given large amounts of money to pro-literacy foundations and local schools/libraries...etc...

So I think she is doing good things with her money, which is good. It's great to give back to those who've helped you become so successful.

As far as what's beyond Book Seven, nothing is planned. Rowling has said she wasn't planning on writing any more books after Harry is done with Hogwarts, but has also said "I won't make any promises because I always break them".

So who knows...

Even though I will hate to see the series end, it has to end sometime or it will just become tiresome. Rowling will eventually tire of writing about Harry and the story will suffer from that. There will be a conclusion at the end of Book Seven and I think that would be a great place to end it.

OnceUGoMac

Oct 10, 2004, 03:38 PM

My money is on Dumbledore dying, just for dramatic purposes alone. The way stories are written the protaganist must fail over and over before succeeding (or in this case, the situation must keep getting worse: higher stakes). When Dumbledore is killed, the whole magic world would be like, "Oh, man! I thought Voldemort couldn't beat him, but he did. Potter doesn't stand a chance."

As for the seventh book, I'm guessing that the five key good guys call upon Captain Planet. :p

rainman::|:|

Oct 10, 2004, 04:44 PM

while normally i'm the first one to be personally offended by a broad social trend, Harry Potter has been, and continues to be, a great way to reestablish reading in children. After decades of dumbing-down by use of pictures, oversimplifications, and most recently technology, it's tremendously heartening to see kids as young as 5 and 6 taking an interest in old fashioned books. I applaud Rowling for that.

Besides that, she did it with such imagination that she has created an utterly charming world with her works. I think it's interesting that she's exploring the mortality of her characters, which is often avoided even in adult books.

But I haven't read the books myself, so i only know the movies :) wonder how many more they'll make.

paul

Roger1

Oct 10, 2004, 04:56 PM

I put my money on Snape being killed off.
Plot: Harry and Snape are skulking around somewhere, Snape being his usually snotty self. Unbeknownst to either of them, Voldemort is lurking around, listening. Voldemort then pops out and confronts them. The three of them battle, and Voldemort takes out Snape. Potter manages to do his mystical thing and scare Voldemort off. Potter then realizes Snape really is a good guy, since Snape "took the bullet" meant for him.

jimsowden

Oct 10, 2004, 05:36 PM

wdlove

Oct 10, 2004, 08:43 PM

My wife is a big fan of "Harry Potter." She has read all 5 books so far. Dumbledore is her thought also, unless it would be one of his friends which isn't likely. My wife also prefers to purchase the books from amazon.con.uk, she thinks the native tongue version is much better. She also said that JK Rowlling has said book seven will be the end.

mvc

Oct 11, 2004, 12:05 AM

...My wife also prefers to purchase the books from amazon.con.uk, she thinks the native tongue version is much better...

Are you serious, is the U.S version different to the U.K version? Tell me its not true. :(

pyrotoaster

Oct 11, 2004, 12:33 AM

Are you serious, is the U.S version different to the U.K version? Tell me its not true. :(
I know there were some pretty odd differences back in book one (like the title: "Philospher's Stone" vs. "Scorcerer's Stone").
In the UK Version Harry wins Hedwig (his snowy owl) in a contest, instead of receiving her as a birthday gift from Hagrid.

homerjward

Oct 11, 2004, 12:41 AM

I know there were some pretty odd differences back in book one (like the title: "Philospher's Stone" vs. "Scorcerer's Stone").
In the UK Version Harry wins Hedwig (his snowy owl) in a contest, instead of receiving her as a birthday gift from Hagrid.
hmm...are these UK versions available this side of the proverbial pond? i knew about the philosopher's stone but not about the hedwig thing. what sort of contest?

russed

Oct 11, 2004, 04:49 AM

AmigoMac

Oct 11, 2004, 07:24 AM

Does harry Potter use a Mac? ...

Nevermind, I don't like that trend, you may find Harry potter toilet paper as well :mad:

Mr. Anderson

Oct 11, 2004, 08:49 AM

Does harry Potter use a Mac? ...

Nevermind, I don't like that trend, you may find Harry potter toilet paper as well :mad:

Keeping in tone with the book, Harry wouldn't have any computer unless his cousin broke one and gave it to Harry :D

As for social trends - its true in many cases that there are ones you'd like to forget or wish that never happened. This is one exception to that...

Can anyone else think of a social trend that has had as much benefit?

D

hawk1646

Oct 11, 2004, 11:38 AM

I really hope Rowling doesn't turn it into something cliched at the end of the series...something along the lines of "Harry and Voldemort are connected and if one dies the other dies, so in order to defeat the V-man Harry must die". I figure that's probably what will happen at the end of the series but I'm really hoping it doesn't.

wdlove

Oct 11, 2004, 02:17 PM

Are you serious, is the U.S version different to the U.K version? Tell me its not true. :(

Yes, I'm sorry to say it's true. The book binding cover is much nicer. The writer and story is from England and native language just adds to the story. It doesn't make sense to me that they would change some of the words and cover when it is sent to the US..

evilgEEk

Oct 11, 2004, 09:47 PM

It doesn't make sense to me that they would change some of the words and cover when it is sent to the US..
I can see them changing some of the wording, making it more relevant to the appropriate market, but changing the story itself (i.e. Hedwig) is just wrong.

I had heard about the whole Hedwig in a contest thing but I didn't completely believe it. Personally I think Hagrid giving Harry Hedwig as a "11 years worth of birthday presents" is much better than Harry simply winning her in a contest. The U.S. version adds so much character development for Hagrid, you get to know his giving side a lot sooner and get a true feeling for him.

That's my opinion anyway, that part just always stuck out in my mind as important to Hagrid, so having it not happen just seems wrong to me.

As far as the whole "Harry and Voldemort are connected so Harry has to die for Voldemort to die" thing goes, I don't think that's how it'll go down.

!!BOOK FIVE SPOILER!!

It says in the prophecy at the end of book five that Harry must either kill or be killed by Voldemort, so I don't think Harry must die for Voldemort to die. He has to kill him, apparently, and might very well die in the process, but I don't think it will be a "connected" type of thing.

question fear

Oct 11, 2004, 11:08 PM

!!BOOK FIVE SPOILER!!

It says in the prophecy at the end of book five that Harry must either kill or be killed by Voldemort, so I don't think Harry must die for Voldemort to die. He has to kill him, apparently, and might very well die in the process, but I don't think it will be a "connected" type of thing.

that was the lamest ending....i was so pissed that was the big revelation, as it seemed fairly obvious to me. (since every good sci-fi/fantasy/action good vs evil battle has ended that way.)

mattroberts

Oct 11, 2004, 11:56 PM

Yes, I'm sorry to say it's true. snip.

Canada gets the British Version - Scholastics is responsible for the editing of the story for American audiences.

However, The Hedwig contest story is not true. The editing is limited to british vs. American spelling. Check out the link below for a general idea.

http://www.hp-lexicon.org/about/books/differences.html

cheers
m

homerjward

Oct 12, 2004, 12:01 AM

The editing is limited to british vs. American spelling. Check out the link below for a general idea.

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/4824/potter.htm

cheers
m
hmm...as an american i write "moustache" "gray" and "passers-by". i guess ive been spelling it the british way lol. i didnt know about single quotes for dialog though. that's really interesting.

evilgEEk

Oct 12, 2004, 01:59 AM

Canada gets the British Version - Scholastics is responsible for the editing of the story for American audiences.

However, The Hedwig contest story is not true. The editing is limited to british vs. American spelling. Check out the link below for a general idea.

http://www.hp-lexicon.org/about/books/differences.html

cheers
m
I have that site bookmarked, but never really thought to go there to check the validity of the whole Hedwig thing. That's good news though. :)

that was the lamest ending....i was so pissed that was the big revelation, as it seemed fairly obvious to me. (since every good sci-fi/fantasy/action good vs evil battle has ended that way.)
I was a little peeved about that too, but I wasn't overly upset about it. I think it will still be a great conclusion in Book Seven....hopefully.. ;)

BakedBeans

Oct 12, 2004, 02:26 AM

well.. i for one could never read the US version..
i mean harry potter wouldnt be the same if he said trashcan or soccer ball...

Mr. Anderson

Oct 12, 2004, 10:07 AM

well.. i for one could never read the US version..
i mean harry potter wouldnt be the same if he said trashcan or soccer ball...

And the British versions of those are???

I'm a little upset that they actually make different versions as well. One 15 hour trip to Florida, my wife and I borrowed a friends audio book version of book 2. It was great - the narrator was British, so it lent a authentic feel to the listening. But now I'm thinking it was the US version of the book on CD. :(

D

wdlove

Oct 12, 2004, 02:48 PM

And the British versions of those are???

I'm a little upset that they actually make different versions as well. One 15 hour trip to Florida, my wife and I borrowed a friends audio book version of book 2. It was great - the narrator was British, so it lent a authentic feel to the listening. But now I'm thinking it was the US version of the book on CD. :(

D

Mr. Anderson you should purchase the "Harry Potter" books from amazon.com/uk. You won't at all be disppointed. That's what my wife does. Besides the wording, you will find that the book cover is much nicer. ;)

evilgEEk

Oct 13, 2004, 04:14 AM

well.. i for one could never read the US version..
i mean harry potter wouldnt be the same if he said trashcan or soccer ball...
I understand what you're saying, but just for the record it doesn't say "trashcan", it still says "bin". The soccer thing is true though, and it would have to be since football means something completely different in our neck of the woods. I've always thought soccer should be called football though, it makes much more sense than what we refer to as football. I mean, our 'football' only involves actual foot/ball contact a fraction of the time!

oh well...

Krizoitz

Oct 15, 2004, 01:43 AM

I understand what you're saying, but just for the record it doesn't say "trashcan", it still says "bin". The soccer thing is true though, and it would have to be since football means something completely different in our neck of the woods. I've always thought soccer should be called football though, it makes much more sense than what we refer to as football. I mean, our 'football' only involves actual foot/ball contact a fraction of the time!

oh well...

Actually football (US) and futbol/soccer both developed around the same time during the late 1800's. US football has actually changed quite a bit, it was far more rugby like back then, hence the name football.