The editor was sobbing

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 167027

Carol earlier:
> > I can't find the quotation I'm looking for regarding JKR's
attitude toward Harry's suffering 
> 
Eggplant responded:
> JKR was asked if she could take one of her characters to dinner who
would it be? Immediately she said "Harry
 to apologize to him." She
then paused and said she would pick Ron and Hermione because "I know
who's dead". I would interpret that to mean Ron and Hermione will
survive but Harry will not. At any rate it doesn't sound like the
story is going to have a happily ever after ending.
> 
> Eggplant
>
Carol responds:

Thank you. That's the quote I was looking for (though there may be
more than one). I vaguely recall something like "I know what he's in
for," but I can't locate anything like that at Accio Quote.

Anyway, I did find the one you mentioned, from the Harry, Carrie, and
Garp (almost said Grawp) interview:

"JK Rowling: Well I'd take Harry, to apologize to him (crowd laughs).
Um, I'd have to take Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"Stephen King: Sure.

"JK Rowling: I would - this is - (crown shouts suggestions).

"Stephen King: Hagrid, take Hagrid.

"JK Rowling: See, I know who's actually dead.

"Stephen King: Pretend you can take them anyways.

"JK Rowling: Pretend I can take anyone? Well then I would definitely
take Dumbledore. I'd take Dumbledore, Harry, Ron, Hermione...and..
(crowd shouts characters) um, Hagrid. I'd take Hagrid, yeah. <snip>"

http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2006/0802-radiocityreading2.html

She mentions Harry first, then HRH. When Stephen King mentions Hagrid,
she says, "See, I know who's actually dead." When King says to pretend
she can take anyone, she lists one known-dead character (Dumbledore),
HRH and "yeah, um, Hagrid." There's no "because," and no distinction
that I can see between Harry (except that she wants to apologize to
him) and Ron and Hermione. She lists the three together immediately
after the apology comment.

I don't know whether anyone else reads the exchange the way I do, but
to me it sounds as if the character who dies is Hagrid. (I don't mean
that he's the only character who'll die, but that he seems to be the
one in this group, aside from Dumbledore, who's "already dead.") The
remark on knowing who's dead comes right after King suggests Hagrid,
almost like a slip on JKR's part. 

JKR has said that as a children's author, she has to be "ruthless,"
and short of killing one of the Trio (which I don't think she would do
though I could be wrong), the character whose death would be most
traumatic for Harry is probably Hagrid. (I think a lot of readers,
mostly children, will be devastated, too.)

Carol, who just checked the Lexicon's list of birthdays from JKR's
site and found that Hagrid's isn't there 

http://www.hp-lexicon.org/about/sources/jkr.com/jkr-com-birthdays.html