reply to Blaise

[Kelley]

No: HPFGUIDX 978

Blaise--

There was supposed to have been another 'evil' female character named 
Icicle it was rumored.

Taken from Entertainment Weekly, #553, Aug. 4, interview with JKR, 
part 1:

Q: Was this the hardest book you've had to write so far?
A: Easily.
Q: Why?
A: The first three books, my plan never failed me.  But I should have 
put that plot under a microscope.  I wrote what I thought was half 
the book, and "Ack!"  Huge gaping hole in the middle of the plot.  I 
missed my deadline by two months.  And the whole profile of the books 
got so much higher since the third book; there was an edge of 
external pressure.
Q: And what exactly was that gaping hole all about?
A: I had to pull a character.  There you go:  "the phantom character 
of Harry Potter."  She was a Weasley cousin.  She served the same 
function that Rita Skeeter now serves.  Rita was always going to be 
in the book, but I built her up, because I needed a kind of conduit 
for information outside the school. Originally, this girl fulfilled 
this purpose. 

This was too bad, I would've liked an evil female Weasley cousin.

Kelley