[HPforGrownups] I don't expect a complete bloodbath

[Richelle Votaw]

No: HPFGUIDX 49132

Janet Anderson writes:

> Heavens. This is the Harry Potter series, not a Civil War novel with 
> battlefields full of corpses.
> Personally, I expect one or two significant deaths and a much larger number 
> of off-camera deaths (like the twelve muggles who were actually killed in 
> Pettigrew's fake death).  I don't think it will be Harry, Ron, or Hermione. 

Do you mean one or two significant deaths plus various off-camera deaths in Book 5?  Or in the rest of the series?

> I disagree, however, that characters will be dropping like flies in the last 
> three books. After all, in *four* books we've only had one death.

Really?  Look at it this way.  In SS/PS, Voldemort is a vapor, yet kills Quirrell (as far as we know) by leaving his body.  In GoF, while still in ugly baby form, Voldemort kills Bertha Jorkins and Frank Bryce.  Crouch Jr, a DE, kills his father.  Wormtail (under instruction from Voldemort) kills Cedric.  That's 1 death in the first three books.  Four deaths in the fourth book.  All before Voldemort's body was restored and before the DE's rejoined him.  We haven't even had a taste of what Voldemort is all about.  Take a look at what happened before.  The little we know.  Hagrid names off a few who were killed (and is in the midst of naming "some of the best witches and wizards" not just any muggle or whatever who was killed).  Not to mention Harry's parents.  Muggles in the wrong place at the wrong time (Pettigrew), etc.

To quote JKR from a interview after GoF came out (interview by Evan from cbc.ca):

E: Writers often say "I loved that character and the most tragic part of my year last year was having to kill them     off."
JKR: Well, that's coming.
E: Do you konw already who is going to die in the next books?
JKR: I know all of them who are going to die, yeah.
E: And some characters we might love and you might love?
JKR: I'm definitely killing people I love, yeah.  It's horrible isn't it?  It is actually.  I cried during the writing of that 
    one (Cedric) for the first time ever.  I cried doing the actual writing of it.  It really upset me.
E: But in the future there's even more. . . 
JKR: There's worse coming.
E: Is there?  There's even worse coming, isn't there?
JKR: I don't know why I'm laughing.   It's mild hysteria.  I've got all these children peering at me.  If they knew I 
    was talking about slaughtering their favorite characters.

At this point GoF had already been published.  So the killing of people she loves, the worse to come, will happen in books 5, 6, and 7.  In OotP I believe that there will be deaths.  One, two, three at most (of previously named characters).  It's possible that some others will die, muggles, muggle born, people not known to Harry as the DE's begin to rampage.  But I think most of that won't come until Book 6.  It has to get dark, very dark.  JKR has even commented that she hestitates to recommend her books for young (6, 7) children because she knows what's coming.  And that's after GoF.  So it's got to be worse.

It's not that I think every person Harry's ever trusted will die.  I think Hagrid's inevitible, as is Dumbledore (eventually).  Certain Weasleys (and I frequently change my mind as to which), probably Lupin.  But that still leaves some.  The remaining Weasleys, Hermione, Sirius, etc.

Richelle


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