Who will it be?

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 46109

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "bugaloo37" <crussell at a...> wrote:
> In an interview held while attending the London Premiere,  JKR stated 
> for the record that a "bad death" will occur in book 5-one she has 
> found particularly hard to write. 
> ...snip...
> 
> bugaloo37

bboy_mn replies with trepidation:

Well, I'm jumping into the quicksand again.

JKR said there would be a 'bad death' coming, but did she specifically
say BOOK 5, or did people just fill that in as an assumption? 

She has said in the past that death is coming, and it is safe to
assume that since Voldemort is back, there will be death in book 5.
But has she specifically said that a foreground character will die in
BOOK 5; emphasis on the words foreground and BOOK 5.

I think it's still too soon for a really major foreground
heartbreaking death. So, if it is anyone, it will be a minor
foreground character or it will be a background character, like
Cedric, who moves to the forground. 

JKR is pretty trick. But when you are reading book 5 look for a person
who is suddenly made especially endearing because that person is dead.
Notice how Cerdric suddenly move into the forground, and how he and
Harry gained each other's respect, and notice what a fair and noble
person Cedric was. The poor guy had death tattooed on his forehead the
minute the ink hit the page. If Collin suddenly becomes Harry's
friend; dead. If he developes a relationship with Cho; dead. 

Also, remember before book 4 when JKR said death was coming that would
be hard to write. I believe she even said she cried when she wrote
Cedric's death; the death of someone she brought to life. So 'bad
death' and 'death hard to write' have pretty broad meanings. We killed
off every major character in anticipation of this 'hard to write'
death only to discover it was Cedric the noble Hufflepuff.

Someone suggested Bill; Bill and Charlie would be good candidates
because they are part of Harry's surrogate family but are not that far
in the forground that they aren't desposable. 

Neville is another good character to mark for death. We've already
started learning more about his personal story and a subplot of the
next book could be Harry learning some surprising things about Neville
and his family. I suspect there is a closer connection between the
Potter's and the Longbottom's than we have been lead to believe. This
expansion of Neville's story and the heartfelt endearment it will
bring is sadly the kiss of death. BUT I LOVE NEVILLE! I don't want him
to die.

For the moment, I personally, unsupported by any documentation, think
that the primary forground characters are safe. It will be the death
of a secondary forground character or a background character who moves
to the forground.

One small flaw in my theory, JKR's writing is so compact and efficient
that massive amounts of story are contained in very few pages. This
mean, in what she has said is a very long book, many many many things
can happen. Many unpredictable things.

Just some thoughts.

bboy_mn