Various ships / who'll die?

[naama]

No: HPFGUIDX 7767

--- In HPforGrownups at egroups.com, "Rita Winston" <catlady at w...> wrote:

> 
> I **HOPE** she doesn't end her series by destroying ALL the 
> characters AND the ENTIRE wizarding world, as Tolkien ended LOTR by 
> sending any surviving magic to Westernesse and rolling the earth into 
> a sphere so we-uns can never touch Westernesse. (I am no way 
> suggesting that JKR imitates JRRT, whom she has said she never 
> read, but surely HP would not be so immensely popular if she had not 
> hit upon something so mythic and archetypal that the archetype of 
> Apocalypse or Ragnarok would fit right in.)
> 
> But I would not be at all surprised if Harry dies in Book 7, in the 
> process of completely destroying Voldemort (altho' evil, alas, will 
> always be with us, at least as long as free will is). Then, all H/ 
> shippiness would be irrelevant. If Ron and Hermione survived, they 
> might marry and spend their lives as curators at the shrine of 
> Harry's memory, which is the kind of sick thing that human beings do 
> (says the Cat).
> 
> But I would not be at all surprised if Ron dies sooner than Harry, 
> maybe even in the very next book. JKR's phrase "that's when the 
> deaths begin" suggests that there are a LOT of deaths. Like World War 
> One, in which IIRC more soldiers died than returned  Ron would 
> be getting his distinction (dying heroically) as well as doing 
> something that none of his brothers had done yet (dying).
> 
> But I WOULD be surprised if Hermione dies, as she is the JKR 
> character. Even if the entire wizarding world is destroyed, I would 
> expect Hermione to survive, exiled to the Muggle world, and writing 
> down the whole story as fiction so that at least it will be 
> remembered.
<snip>

In the delightful issue of who dies I have nothing to offer but my gut feelings.
First of all, I disagree with anyone who thinks that one of the major characters (Harry, 
Hermione, Ron) will die. I will bet anybody my last knut that the end of book 7 will find 
them alive and well (after M. Pomfrey regrows several of their organs, obviously).

I also quite firmly believe that these will not die either - Dumbledore (if he dies, it 
will be at the end of book 7 only), Molly, Arthur, Ginny, Fred and George Weasley (well, 
maybe one of the twins, but I really hope not), Hagrid.

These are the possible deaths (I feel like some kind of Trelawney now): Bill or Charley 
Weasley, Crookshanks, either Lupin OR Sirius, a not very central teacher (Sprout, Flitwick 
and so own. Not McGonagall), Krum, Fleur, any of the kids at Gryffindor but not Neville (I 
think), Cho (I don't really think she'll die, though), Fudge, other Ministry officials, 
Snape might die heroically at some point (but not next book), any number of Death Eaters, 
possibly the Dursleys (Aunt Petunia?).

Like I said, its gut feelings (which makes it very difficult to argue with, YAY!). Beyond 
gut feeling there's also the fact that JKR is keeping to the format of a certain kind of a 
fantasy story. Thats not to say she can't or won't break from this format, but so far she 
hasn't. When she warned that a friend of Harry's will die in GoF it turned out to be Cedric 
Diggory, more of an acquintance than a friend. So, although she issued the scary warning 
that "that's when the deaths begin" (when and where was that, BTW?), I wouldn't go so far as 
to believe that the next books will resemble teenage horror films.

Anyway, if there's something Hollywood movies have taught me, its that the good guys never 
get hit by the bullets, even though they're armed with a little pistol and the bad guys with 
machine guns. Haven't you noticed how many times Malfoy tries to hurt Harry and doesn't 
succeed? Extrapolate from this. :)

Naama