Weasley Cullings

[Hannah]

No: HPFGUIDX 127013


 "mfterman" <mfterman at y...> wrote:
> 
> I don't know how many Weasleys we're going to have killed off. Too
> many would lose the impact after a while. I figure one is almost a
> certainty, whereas two is possible and three is pushing it.
> 
> 1. Percy
> His death would fill the rest of the family with an extreme amount 
of
> guilt. Why Voldemort would have him killed is somewhat difficult to
> imagine, unless they tried to turn him and killed him when he 
refused
> to accept their offer of power. Still, it would be a powerful
> motivation for the rest of the Weasley family to strike against
> Voldemort afterwards. Even Harry would be impacted.
> 
> 2. Fred or George
> Would certainly make the surviving twin much more grim, and having 
one
> of the cheerful Weasley brothers killed would make for a very dark
> note indeed in the books.
> 
> 3. Arthur
> His death would be devastating, as the near miss in book five
> indicated. For sheer power in some ways he's even stronger than 
Fred
> or George but the twins have numbers on him.
> 
> As for the others, Bill and Charlie are too remote presences, on 
the
> flip side their deaths would do little to disrupt the narrative.
> Still, the above are my favorite candidates.


Hannah:  I like the format of your post, mfterman!  Here's my take 
on it.  I agree that at least one Weasley will probably die, with 
two being more likely and possibly three.  If too many get killed 
off, as you say, it gets a bit much and the emotional impact 
actually goes down.  And I really don't think JKR will kill that 
many principal characters.  Maybe for that reason though, the ones 
she does kill will need more individual impact.

1.  Arthur.  I think at least one Weasley parent will go, and Arthur 
is more likely than Molly.  Giving him a hero's death, successfully 
protecting his family, would soften the blow a little.

2.  Bill or Charlie.  I reckon one or the other is a cert.  This 
would have the advantage of not being too directly upsetting for 
readers, as we don't know them that well, but of being very 
upsetting for their family.  

3.  Fred or George.  I can't make up my mind.  The idea of having 
one of these very close twins left on his own is horrible, but I 
don't think that means JKR won't do it.  In a way, it would be 
better for both to die than one or the other.  Tricky.  I suspect 
they might both survive.

4.  Percy.  My gut instinct says he won't die, but I can't give much 
logical reason.  I suppose I think that because Percy is a bit 
different from the other Weasleys, he may have a different part to 
play.  But who knows?

I don't think JKR will kill Ron or Ginny - they're too important and 
readers have too much emotional investment in them.  Molly I think 
will also survive, because having killed Sirius, I doubt JKR will 
also kill off Harry's mother substitute.  Especially since it looks 
like Lily Potter might get knocked off her pedestal in book 6 or 7.

Hannah