What was the Plot-Hole? JKR answers

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No: HPFGUIDX 18347

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Dave Hardenbrook <DaveH47 at m...> wrote:

> It's still not clear what the hole is... Why couldn't "Icicle" (her 
rumored
> name) have been the "faithful servent at Hogwarts"?  Then Moody 
could
> have been Moody and everything would have made sense.  Is the 
problem
> that it has to have been someone who could have put his name in the 
GoF?
> But she could have, if she was old enough to be a Judge or 
Tournament
> organizer.  (She'd probably have to be to be a Death Eater.)
> 
> 
> 
>                          -- Dave

Well, if that was the plan then there is another whole part of the 
books gone -- imagine a Weasley cousin being a Death Eater! That 
would have been quite the scandal. But having to pull an entire 
character is a big deal; all the scenes with that person have to be 
completely rewritten. If I got halfway through a book and realized I 
had to pull a character, I think I'd cry.

But I don't think that's what you're asking. The plot hole is this: 
you can't have two characters fulfilling the same purpose. It's 
wasteful. Plots have to be tight, especially when it's already as 
long as GoF. If you look at HP -- all good books in fact -- each 
character adds something to the story, and none of them bring the 
same thing. You can have a character that you're totally in love 
with, but if she/he doesn't have a definite purpose, you have to get 
rid of him/her. Kill your darlings, as Stephen King said. JKR's books 
are long, but no scene goes wasted. Everything furthers the plot. And 
that was the hole; Icicle wasn't needed. She didn't further the plot. 
And so a lot of time was spent in cutting her out.

Stacy