How are you going to feel if Harry dies? *potential.... spoiler stuff*

[Guest]

[Roz]

I've just watched an interview with JK Rowling on You Tube (with Jonathon Ross), and she does say that "Harry's story comes to a definite end"... I can think of little more 'definite' than death!

How would that impact the HP stories for you?

[Sharon]

I saw the show last night and it was brilliant    And the extended clip of the Room of Requirements  .  I can't wait until next week!

If Harry were to die in book 7 I think I would would feel cheated.  These are children's books that adults happen to enjoy and whilst bad things have happened, good has always won out so far (albeit in a twisted sort of way).  Yes we know a lot of characters are going to die (JKR described it as a blood bath last night then corrected herself quickly  ) but ultimately the good guys must win and for me that means that Harry lives.

If he died I do think that would take some of the shine off of the other six books for me personally.

[Roz]

I've been pondering this all morning as I've gone about my Saruday-morning duties, and I've just throught - Frodo effectively dies in LOTR!!!

Will it be like King Lear? Everyone dies in that also

[Nienna]

It might be that Harry survives, but those closest to him do not. 
I thought it an ominous remark that JKR let slip about it being a bloodbath for all that she quickly corrected herself .. I got the overwhelming impression she'd said more than she'd intended to and looked as though she wanted to escape back to the Green Room long before the interview had finished - I thought she looked very uncomfortable.
In the best traditions of storytelling, good is seen to triumph over evil and in JKR's case I believe the costs to achieve this will be high with the ultimate sacrificing of one's own life being the price paid.

Still, not long to wait now till we find out how right or wrong our guesses have been! 

Roz - if you want to see a veritable Shakespearean bloodbath I recommend seeing Troilus and Cressida ... bodies on the stage everywhere! 

[ztaylork]

I think I will be fine if she kills Harry off......assuming that she does it in a way that makes it a happy ending...a re-uniting with his parents or something along those lines where you don't feel overly sad that he dies.  Ya if she just killed him and didn't butter it up at all I would be upset, but I think if she does kill him, she is going to add as much to it as possible to add a sense of a "warm fuzzy" ending.  Just my thoughts

[rns91294]

I would be sad, maybe feel a little cheated as well, but it would be okay. I felt cheated after reading all the Narnia books as well, and that was supposed to be a children's story as well.

[canny19]

Remember way back to the first chapter in the first book.... "the boy who lived"
I'm pretty sure that shes going to twist things around so that its not going to end with the chapter called "the boy who died" 

I'm thinking that good is going to overcome evil.... or at leat i hope

[Roz]

Remember way back to the first chapter in the first book.... "the boy who lived"
I'm pretty sure that shes going to twist things around so that its not going to end with the chapter called "the boy who died" 

LOL! Rather like the Hobbit begins with 'an unexpected party', and the FOTR begins with 'a long expected party'.

I do agree with you Jules, but I do think that Jo looked a little more relaxed than in many other interviews. She said that 'no one understood' how she felt finishing such a long project. I think I do!!! And I had to do it without millions pouring into the bank

[Bitsy]

I think I will be devastated if Harry were to die. Ever since he found out he was a wizard, he has had to fight and struggle with feelings of loss, sadness, and fear, just to name a few. Overall, his "happy" moments have been relatively few. I would like to see him finally free of all the burdens and know what it is like to live--really live, where the only burdens he has are things like whether or not his favorite Quidditch team is having a winning season. 

I think it will all depend on how JKR ends the novel. She is a masterful writer, so I am hopeful, if not confident, that she will end the Harry Potter legacy in a manner befitting such a magnificent series.

[Bitsy]

Sorry to double post, but I had a thought that I wanted to keep separate. 

What if, to bring the story full circle, the final chapter is entitled, "The Boy Who Lived...." as in once lived, was once great, and will be honored by wizards forever, thus he will always live in our hearts.

[rns91294]

Oh Bitsy, you just gave me chills.

[Sharon]

What if, to bring the story full circle, the final chapter is entitled, "The Boy Who Lived...." as in once lived, was once great, and will be honored by wizards forever, thus he will always live in our hearts.

Do you mean in a Planet of the Apes sort of way, where at the end it turns out the orangutan is telling the story of how men and apes lived in peace?

I am with Bitsy in that I want Harry to have a bit of an ordinary life.  Even after Voldemort is dead there will always be other evil wizards to fight so I just want Harry to grow up, maybe become an Auror, and have a life.  I know real life doesn't have happy endings but I think at the moment we have more than enough reality and want a bit of fantasy.

I would be sad, maybe feel a little cheated as well, but it would be okay. I felt cheated after reading all the Narnia books as well, and that was supposed to be a children's story as well.

Me too  .  And that did colour my view of the earlier books - I know I will never be able to read the L W & the W again with the same sense of wonder.  I don't want that to happen with Harry  .  But the deed is now done, we will know what happens by this time in a fortnight.

[Morningangel-Iola]

I think it was be awful for him to go through all that and die at the end. But how else will the series be and a conclusive end 

[Bitsy]

I don't really mean it in a Planet of the Apes sort of way. I just meant that if the first chapter of the first book is entitled "The Boy Who Lived," which referred to the boy who survived Voldemort, then maybe the last chapter of the last book would be the same title, only this time referring to the boy who will live on in memory--in an iconic fashion.

I don't want Harry to die, but it struck me as something she could do in a poetic sort-of way. Then again, he could be the boy who lives yet again. 

I agree with Sharon--real life doesn't always have happy endings, but human beings try to find solace in life...like reading exceptionally well-written novels, so, in effect, I would hope that our escape to Hogwarts wouldn't end with a "real world" type of finish. I think we all read the books, not only because they are so good, but because we all need to escape reality...how sad would it be if our escape wound up bringing us right back to reality? 

I guess we will find out in less than two weeks now...I think it will all depend on how it is written, whatever the ending. Obviously, she is a brilliant writer. Sometimes even a sad ending can make you love the book/film if it is done right (I'm thinking Titanic right about now--sad as all get out, but beautifully done).

[Sharon]

(I'm thinking Titanic right about now--sad as all get out, but beautifully done).

If you ever get the chance to watch the French and Saunders spoof of Titanic you will never find that film sad again 

[Morningangel-Iola]

My mum sent me this;

"LONDON (AFP) - A campaign launched Monday to extend the globally popular Harry Potter series received a boost after author J.K. Rowling declared "never say never" about writing another book.

Rowling has maintained that "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," which will be published July 21, is the last in a seven-book series, but said through her publisher Bloomsbury that she she might reconsider.
"Never say never," said the statement in response to a "Save Harry" online petition that aims to collect one million names.
Rowling had disclosed that two characters will die, fuelling speculation that one of them will be Harry himself.
But fans are not deterred.
In a world of magic and wizardry, Harry could be brought back from the dead in an eighth book, they suggest.
Bookseller Waterstone's has launched the Save Harry campaign.
The petition at www.waterstones.com/saveharry launched Monday reads: "We, the undersigned, petition JK Rowling to write more new adventures for Harry Potter and his friends no matter what happens at the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."
Waterstone's argued that there is a precedent for resurrecting a literary hero, pointing to the case of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes.
In 1893, weary of his work, Conan Doyle wrote "The Adventure of the Final Solution," in which Holmes apparently falls to his death during a violent struggle with his nemesis, Professor Moriarty.
The forthcoming "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" will cap a series that sold 325 million copies worldwide and have been translated into 64 languages, as well as being converted into a successful film franchise.
The books have made Rowling an estimated one billion dollars (733 milion euros) richer. The first volume appeared in 1997.
Those involved in the printing of the new book have been asked to keep its plot a watertight secret until July 21, when the English version makes its debut."
 
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20070709/ten-entertainment-britain-a56114e.html

So there is still hope.

[Rich With Cards]

I will be sad if harry dies also and it will be the manner in which he would die which would taint my lasting impression of the series. For example if old Voldy simply zaps him and he is gone that would be worst case scenario, my lasting view of harry is the whole idea that love is what protects him so I would like to think that if he were to pass on if he were to be able to some how combine the power of all his love in a killer blow to kill voldy who is the total opposite of love and epitomy of hate and evil.
There is still the whole thing with the prophecy and harrys scar, there is just so much potential for multiple scenarios it will be a great book for sure, as with previous books I am sure we wont see it coming when it happens, I still remember reading HBP and tottaly not expecting Dumbledore to die and re reading the page to make sure what actually happened.

cant wait.

[allender]

If Jo wants to write more Harry Potter books, she only has to retitle the first one "A New Hope" and go ahead and tell us what happened during all those years in Little Whinging. 

I think if Harry dies, the weird people in this world will make it so she can never go anywhere without a host of bodyguards. Never in the history of literature has a series like this ended on such a down note. Now, that doesn't mean that Harry can't live, but would be transformed ... like one theory that suggests he will lose the use of magic.

My new theory: Harry finds out that he is a stag animagus. He transforms in order to kill Voldemort, but is injured and he can't change back. He is adopted by the centaurs and lives happily in the Forbidden Forest, and finds a way to domesticate snakes.

But all seriousness aside, you can wrap up this story just by making a major change in all of the settings. Hogwarts is destroyed and is left permanently "radioactive" to magic use. Or large portions of the magicking world are ruined, and the series ends on a hopeful note as wizards and witches start to emerge from the apocalypse and find new ways to cope. There's lots of other ways to end this story definitively but leave the framework of the 'verse for future exploration.

Frankly, I don't think either Ron or Hermione will die either. Ron has a great future as a professional cricket player, and Hermione starts a rehab center for house elves who have lost their masters in the final battle.