[HPforGrownups] Deaths in the Series

[Sherry Gomes]

No: HPFGUIDX 192163

Bart began an interesting topic, and one I've thought about often over the
years. Bart's questions and my answers.

Bart
1) JKR had a knack for getting you to care about a character, then 
killing the character off (most blatantly with Cedric, but certainly 
with others). Which character's death upset you the most (and why)?

Sherry:
Sirius Black. I loved Sirius from the first moment we met him in POA, and I
knew he wasn't a murderer from the beginning. I desperately wanted Harry to
have a parental figure who was all his, not the Weasleys, not Dumbledore,
but someone who was his parental figure. To this day, when I reread OOTP, I
stop when the kids go to the ministry. I cannot read of Sirius dying.

Bart
2) Some deaths were pretty much required for the plot to go on (most 
notably, the death of Harry Potter's parents). Some were a little more 
subtle. What were some of the deaths you considered to be necessary for 
the story (and, of course, why)?

Sherry:
Dumbledore. In the typical way of such books, the wise old mentor had to die
so that Harry could go on and finish his task without guidance. Also maybe
Snape. I don't like Snape, but I have to say that his life was full of
sorrow, and he spent years being trusted by none as a spy. I think his death
was necessary, because for one thing, it really showed, almost more than
anything else, the depravity of Voldemort. Also because, of course, he had
to give Harry the memories.

Bart
3) And, of course, because people do die in wars, some of the deaths 
were pretty much gratuitous. But it can be argued that JKR went 
overboard in some cases, killing characters just for the sake of adding 
to the death tolls. Which character's death do you consider to be the 
most gratuitous (and, most importantly, why?).


Sherry
Fred Weasley. That was horrible, and to me totally unnecessary. Why kill
Fred? If she thought she had to kill a Weasley, why not someone like
Charlie, a Weasley we didn't know very well. Taking Fred from George was
just awful and cruel.

I also thought the death of Tonks was unnecessary, and since we didn't get
to see any of Teddy's life, the supposed reason being that it is like Harry
and that Teddy could grow up quite differently, doesn't really matter.


Thanks for bringing up this topic Bart!

Sherry