Only TWO Die? No, wait...

[mooseming]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "susiequsie23" 
<susiequsie23 at ...> wrote:
>> 

> 
> Also, does anybody else struggle with just what it is she's saying 
in the 
> last couple of
> sentences here?  It's *right* after she says two people she didn't
> originally intend to kill off now have to die, that she says "A 
price has to
> be paid.  We are dealing with pure evil."  Does she means she's 
killing off
> two "bad" people who need punishment (Lucius & Narcissa? Lucius & 
Draco?)? 
> Or
> does she mean that the baddies are NOT going to leave all the 
goodies
> undamaged?  That because they are evil, they WILL kill some of our
> favorites?
> 
> I just don't follow the sequence of what she's saying there.  I 
wonder if
> hearing the interview, rather than reading the quotes, would help 
my
> understanding....
> 
> Siriusly Snapey Susan

Watching the interview helps a lot in my opinion (although R&J make 
me cringe). Especially for the bit just before the break where they 
are talking about how much JK will miss HP. JK has just said she 
wants to go out leaving the readers wanting more and Judy is 
indirectly asking if JK might revisit the Potterverse sometime in 
the future she says:

J: "Well I think most people will be hoping that at some point in 
your life, that you will come back to him in some way, shape, or 
form...there will be something. `Cause you'll have generations
.."

At which point JK interrupts with a throwaway joke:

JK: "Harry Potter's midlife crisis." (Spoken as a semi question. 
Possibly a passing reference to Adrian Mole??)

Anyway Richard (*not* JK) then offers up the usual caveat:

R: "Should he survive to see it."

To which JK shrugs and smiles in a `of course, of course' type of 
way and says:

JK: "Right." Confirming that Richard is correct to remember to add 
the caveat.

To me this sequence implies that JK has no intention of killing off 
Harry, she forgets to remember it's a possibility as it were.

Still interpreting JK's interviews seems about as accurate as 
Phrenology in my experience so who knows!

As to those other deaths well JK states:

JK: "The last, the final chapter is hidden away although it's now 
changed very slightly."

*Very slightly* to me doesn't suggest a dramatic u-turn regarding 
Harry, Voldy, Ron, Hermione or Snape although Draco, Neville, anyone 
else at all could well be for the chop/reprieve.

The relevent part of the interview is:

JK: Yeah, one character got a reprieve. 
R: Oh really? 
JK: Yeah. 
J: I mean you are, I just... 
JK: But I have to say two die that I didn't intend to die. 
J: Oh no, two much loved ones? 
JK: Well you know, a price has to be paid. 
R: Significant? 
JK: We are dealing with pure evil! So they don't target the extras, 
do they? They go straight for the main characters... Or I do.

A reprieve to me indicates a baddie gets off and the two that die 
are the "price" that has "to be paid", that are targeted by evil, so 
are therefore goodies.

At this point we're firmly into speculation, I imagine JK reviewed 
the chapter and thought "oh oh, I've killed off all the bad guys and 
not nearly enough of the good ones this won't do".

Who's in the red shirts? I couldn't possibly guess but I'd like one 
of the twins (big impact, no real loss) and Dobby (out in a blaze of 
glory) to make it onto the butcher's bill.

Regards
Jo
>