Who will it be?

[aja_1991]

No: HPFGUIDX 46114

--- 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.  Okay folks-who will it be?  
While 
> you are thinking-here is a fact to consider:  JKR stated 
previously 
> that the writing of Cedric's death in book 4 was very traumatic 
for 
> her.  This has led me to believe that writing any death is 
difficult 
> for JKR.  I guess what I am saying is:  a "bad death" does not 
> necessarily signal the death of a major character-just a thought.  
> But even so-who do you think it is?
> 
> bugaloo37

I think the two phrases we have for the key death in Book 5 is that 
the person is a "special fan" of Harry's, and (from the above) that 
it was a "bad death" and hard for JKR to write.

I'm wondering how carefully the word "fan" was chosen?  To me, a fan 
is someone who's an admirer, but probably doesn't get to interact 
with the person admired.  Case in point:  I'm a fan of JKR but I've 
never been within several hundred miles of her.  If that's the case, 
the "special fan" is probably not somebody who lives at Hogwarts.

So who's a special fan of Harry who doesn't live at Hogwarts, whose 
death would be hard to write?  I can think of two that I don't think 
have come up yet.  

My first thought: Sirius Black.

Harry spent a great deal of time worrying about alerting Sirius when 
his scar hurt in GoF.  He worried that Sirius leaving his hiding 
place to come back in the vicinity of Hogwarts could place Sirius in 
danger.  Foreshadowing?

Sirius is off to round up the old crowd, a group he's presumably 
part of, and likely that group spent a lot of time fighting Voldie 
the first time -- who's to say it won't happen again?  In such a 
fight, someone physically and mentally drained from a dozen years of 
imprisonment at Azkaban and poor nourishment would be a good bet to 
fall prey to a DE curse.

Then there's the Rita Skeeter problem.  IIRC (sorry, don't have the 
book handy), Rita-the-beetle was around when Dumbledore asked Sirius-
the-dog to reveal himself to Snape and the Weasleys.  If Rita gets 
free, or Hermione lets her loose -- can't you see Rita reporting the 
news that the evil Sirius Black is an unregistered animagus in the 
form of a big black dog?  Target practice for hero-wannabes in the 
MoM, perhaps?

And I've no doubt it would be a bad death, because Harry's 
godfather, the only parent he's ever felt he had -- remember, when 
his scar hurt in GoF and he wondered what to do, he wished he had a 
parent to talk to about it, and immediately thought of Sirius.

Which brings me to my second possibility:  Molly Weasley.  

Her motherly hug of Harry at the end of GoF, her babying of him 
during his visits to the Burrow, her genuine worry about him during 
the Triwizard Tournament -- all make her seem Harry's surrogate 
mother.  Her death would be hard for Harry, and it would be hard for 
JKR to write as it would undoubtedly remind her of her own mother's 
death.  Molly is also a target for the DEs:  Arthur will likely be a 
major player in organizing the Voldie resistance, and Molly or the 
kids would be perfect bargaining tools with Arthur if kidnapped, or 
de-motivators to Arthur if killed.

"aja_1991"