Number of Dead people

[jmwcfo]

No: HPFGUIDX 167257

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "sarah  barthell"
<sbarthell2001 at ...> wrote:
>
> JK has said repeatedly that two people will die in DH but
> one who was on her list survives now. What is driving me
> crazy is wondering if she includes LV in her list or is
> he a given, and actually three people die because she has
> also said that he has become less and less human over the
> years?
>
> Sarah
>

JW throws in his two knuts:

Whether any reader's analyses are correct and conclusions come to
pass is irrelevant - our guesses tell us a lot more about ourselves
than they say about JKR's books.  This is especially true when we
consider particularly murky areas, such as perceived patterns hidden
in book covers, the motivations and goals of ambiguous characters
(such as Snape), and the fates of particular characters.  In a sense,
ALL guesses and predictions are correct - they accurately describe
how WE would write the final book.  In another sense, all predictions
are completely wrong - it is impossible to determine how JKR has
written the book.

Sara, there are some underlying assumptions and logic which drive
your conundrum.  Please allow me to point them out.  You will see
that they differ from my assumptions and logic.  However, that does
NOT necessarily mean that one of us is more perceptive and
discerning than the other.  Undoubtedly, when it comes to guessing
JKR's outcomes, we are BOTH wrong.

I have seen the same JKR quotes as you.  Two people will die.  Your
assumption is that this is an exact figure, and worry about whether
LV is included.  My assumption is that JKR, always imprecise in math,
was talking about good guys who are not incidental characters.  IOW,
the two would NOT include death eaters, LV, and an untold number of
relatively obscure or unnamed others.

Further, you seem to assume LV must die.  While DD agreed with HP
that HP would be in a kill-or-be-killed situation, there are ways in
which LV can be defeated without HP (or any other good guy) murdering
him.  For example, a Dementor sucking out the remaining 1/7th of LV's
soul before all horcruxes are destroyed would leave LV immortal but
impotent, soulless, in a zombie-like state (imagine Crouch Jr's state
at the end of GoF, but without the release of eventual death).  As DD
said, there are fates much worse than death.

To summarize: I predict (most probably, inaccurately) that more than
two characters will die, and that LV will suffer a fate WORSE than
death.

JW, who as a professional business analyst, strategist, planner and
forecaster, is often humbled by his (in)accuracy, which may not be
much better than Trelawney's.