[HPforGrownups] Sirius can't be dead

[Troels Forchhammer]

No: HPFGUIDX 85753

At 16:11 23-11-03 -0500, Taryn Kimel wrote:

<snip>

>Taryn:
>Why would JKR have been so distraught about it if he was not actually 
>dead? (I've been looking, but does anyone know that old article from 
>before OotP came out with JKR talking about talking to her husband and 
>crying about it after she wrote it? Can't seem to dig it up.)

Try this:
<http://www.bloomsbury.com/harrypotter/wizard/section/news.asp?p=19>
The whole interview starts here:
<http://www.bloomsbury.com/harrypotter/wizard/section/news.asp?p=13>
It's with Jeremy Paxman and was, IIRC, out a few days before the
release of OotP.

>Sploogal:

<snip>

>Can anybody think of a really good reason as to why Sirius had to be killed?

In an interview in the Boston radio show "The Connection", Rowling
said,

JKR: Erm - again - I - I - this sounds like a huge cop-out, but
      it's - it's hard for me to give you the full picture without
      ruining future plots, and - because there are kids out there
      that are /so/ attuned to these books that if I say 'well,
      you might just find out x, y or z' they'll think 'ah -right,
      so-and-so's going to die, so-and-so is obviously going to
      learn to do this' you know that - that they'll just know, so
      I have to be careful what I say. Erm ... Harry is someone is
      forced for such a young person to make his own choices. He
      has very limited access to truly caring adults - and he /is/
      guided by his conscience. Now, Harry makes mistakes,
      repeatedly, erm Harry ha- ... did things like ... he did -
      he did steal the flying car, that was a very stupid thing to
      do, he - but it seemed like a great idea at the time, we've
      all been there - er - but ultimately Harry is guided by his
      conscience.

<http://www.hogwarts-library.net/reference/interviews/19991012_TheConnection.html#question27>

I believe Sirius had to go because Harry was starting to depend on him too 
much.


Troels