Interview w/ JKR [Sirius]

[rhosyn4u]

No: HPFGUIDX 72873

Elle said, in response to Sirius lamentation:
>Actually, I did *not* cry when I read about Sirius's death, and 
> reading this list makes me wonder why not, since it seems that 
>just about everyone else *did*.  I think that perhaps the 
>whole "someone-important-is-going-to-die-in-Book 5" pre-release 
>propaganda took the surprise out of the death, so that I read along 
>thinking "Oh, it's *Sirius* who is going to die.  Whew! At least it 
>is not Hermione! (or Ron, or Lupin etc.)"  I confess that I never 
>really bonded to Sirius like so many on the list did, although I 
>did like him. 

ME:
I agree. I did not cry at all at Sirius' death; I was actually quite 
relieved. Dumbledore's, Hermione's, Hagrid's, Ron's, Lupin's, or 
even (*gasp*) Snape's death would have been much harder on me. I, 
too, never had any particular affection for Sirius, though I enjoyed 
reading his character.

Elle:
>I think that JKR killed him in order to emphasize the pain and loss 
>that Harry is having to go through at this point in the series.  He 
>is so *isolated* at the end of OoP (by Sirius's death and the 
>burden of the prophecy).  I found that part to be sadder than 
>Sirius's actual death scene. 

ME:
I think I agree with this too, at least in part. A thought that 
struck me at the end of OoP, during the descriptions of Harry's 
isolation/angst, was, "So. Harry has nothing left to lose." Of 
course, then I realized that this is not true; there are still all 
the characters listed above (with the exception of Snape) that Harry 
would be loathe to lose. Still, I suspect Sirius' death was the 
first of several that will bring Harry to the point of having 
nothing to lose. A scary thought.

~rhosyn, who cried buckets when Gus died in "Lonesome Dove" =)