Who do you think will die in the last book?

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 168189

Jen wrote:
> 
> I'm already stressed about whether Harry will die, but the question
of doing it to keep people from asking for more books doesn't seem to
follow for me. A quick glimpse of fan fiction shows how many story
spinoffs can be created that aren't necessarily about Harry.
Regardless of what happens to Harry, people will want sequels for
whoever their favorite surviving secondary character is.
> 
> JK knows this.  And she's also shown from the beginning that she's
going to write the story she's always meant to write.  Harry's life or
death will be for what she considers the best interest of the story.

>
Carol responds:
I agree that the last thing on JKR's mind is preventing the
possibility of a sequel. She figured out the ending and drafted the
final chapter long before she knew that the books would be a
successful series. (The two characters whose deaths she didn't plan
and the one she granted a reprieve are not likely to be HRH, whose
fates were long ago determined.) 

Moreover, the final chapter is an epilogue, revealing what happens
after Year Seven to those who survive. If that includes Harry, and I'm
sure it will, we'll know whether he marries Ginny (and I predict he
will), how many children they have, what he and his friends do for a
living, and any other significant events in his adult life. She's
going to tie up all the loose ends she can think of so that we won't
have any questions about the characters' fates. (Motivations, however,
will probably still be debatable!)

Carol, who thinks that JKR will reward Harry for his sufferings and
heroic defeat of Voldemort with a "happily ever after to the end of
his days" ending, "none the worse for having been used before," as
Bilbo says