The Highly Unofficial But Well Thought Out Guide to Who’s Going to Die
by MasterJZ
Many people have theories of who’s going to die/live in Half-Blood Prince, but they all have the same problem in common with their accusations. Before you send in any more accusations, you should take a look at these questions and the answers I provide before doing so.
Questions:
1.) What would happen if Jo killed these characters?
2.) How would these actions affect the last book?
3.) What would the effect be for Harry? (Emotional effect.)
4.) What would the effect be for Harry? (Physical effect.)
5.) What purpose have they served so far in previous books?
Answers:
1.) First we have to look at the response on the readers to answer this question. What would you think if Jo picked off 10 of your favorite characters? I bet you’d be pretty p***ed off, wouldn’t you? Think of what happened when she got rid of Sirius – not many people were like, “Oh well. I don’t care. I didn’t even like Sirius anyway.” Most people were pretty ticked. So think of what would happen if she just picked off 10 of your other favorite characters. Some of you (not all) might go so far as to deny your position as a Harry Potter Fan. Even though it’s hard to imagine, we would be pretty irked at Jo for doing such a thing. So if your “death predicted character” is well-liked, then there is a smaller chance they will kick the bucket in Half-Blood.
2.) This is a more important question then the previous. Let’s say you went so far as to predict that Harry would die. Most of you find this absurd but according to some other predictions, this one fits right in, though it’s more to the point. If Harry died, then the last book would have no purpose whatsoever. Even with an author as skilled as Jo, you can’t come up with a plot to satisfy your reader’s thirst. Basically what I’m trying to say here is that if your character will drastically change the assumed plot of the last book, then your prediction has a small chance of coming true.
3.) This question is probably the most unimportant of all five. If your character’s death will affect Harry’s emotions then your character will most likely have a better chance of dying. The reason is this: Harry’s emotions as we see them in Order of the Phoenix are great plot fillers. We can relate to Harry’s anger or hatred, which draws us into the book even more. I’m not trying to say, however, that if your character is going to die if Harry likes/loves them, but rather they could possibly die if he does. It is most likely though that they won’t because of the previous reason. As Jo stated herself, she had to kill Sirius because it would serve a purpose in the next book, basically implying that she wouldn’t have killed Sirius if she didn’t have to.
4.) This is the converse of the previous question in the fact that if your character’s death will effect Harry physically, in a bad way, then they will most likely stay alive. For example, let’s pretend that it’s one or more of Hogwarts teachers/Order Members/Ron/Hermione. Most of these people would have an emotional effect on Harry but they also have a physical affect on him also. Though some people fail to realize this; the people listed above are Harry’s second defense from Voldemort. If the majority were to be wiped out, Harry would be – for the most part – defenseless.
5.) This is, in my opinion, the most important question of all because if the character you have chosen has a major part in previous books then it is most likely that they will live. Let’s take Dumbledore for an example. (I bet you were waiting for me to mention him, weren’t you?) Dumbledore is, as you may have guessed, Harry’s first defense from Voldemort. If he were to be killed, Harry would never survive and the chances of Voldemort’s survival would be greater. Though many of you think that Dumbledore isn’t much help any more because he has expelled all of the information he knows inOrder of the Phoenix, you are wrong. In truth, he only told Harry half of what he should know. Think of all the questions we still don’t have answered: what does the Department of Mysteries really contain? What is the purpose of the mysterious veil? What really saved Harry all those years ago? I bet you can think of many more. My point though is this: who knows the answers, besides the people who work in the Department? Why, Dumbledore, of course. So let me sum this up – if your character fits into these topics, you can conclude that their service is not yet complete.
If you have any questions/comments/complaints or whatever on what I said or if you want more information or just don’t understand what the heck I’m trying to say just e-mail me at nirgywallingword@yahoo.com, or send me an IM at Nirgy01.
