Death in the Family
Kelley and I were debating the recent rumors of a "major character" getting killed off in the soon-to-be-released 5th Harry Potter book.
I haven't convinced anyone to start a pool yet, but here's where my bets lie:
1. Dumbledore. He's getting pretty old, even for a wizard, and, seeing as how he's sort of filled the role of Harry's mentor all this time, it wouldn't surprise me if he took an Obi-Wan Kenobi dive for the team. Also, considering Rowling's alleged reaction to having to kill someone off, I wouldn't be surprised if this death echoes the loss of a father for the author. My theory anyway.
2. McGonagall. Like Dumbledore, Prof. McGonagall also sort of serves as a parental figure for Harry, so the death would be a step in his attaining self-sufficiency. Also, with McGonagall particularly, her loss would be sorely felt, but would not offset the balance of the story (compared to the case if someone like Hermione or Ron were to be killed).
3. God. I ran through all the other characters in my mind and couldn't come up with anyone else who could really work. Killing off any of the other students would either be too incidental (because the character was not major enough) or too disruptive (because the character was too major) — the only exception I could think of there would perhaps be one of Ron's myriad siblings. The Dursley's would be little cause for tears. Nobody would be too upset over the loss of Snape, Malfoy, or any of those guys, either. The other school teachers also wouldn't seem too troubling, though disappointing in some cases.
So, I got thinking about it, and, considering the Christian Right had decided that the Harry Potter books were doing it anyway, that Rowling decided to make it offical: kill off God in the books.
It would make all the infrachristians feel so gratified, because they could prove that they'd been right from the beginning, and, with that death out of the way, Rowling could just write fanciful fantasy stories about childhood wizards and mystical creatures, and nobody would think she was up to anything from then on out.
Just a thought.
I haven't convinced anyone to start a pool yet, but here's where my bets lie:
1. Dumbledore. He's getting pretty old, even for a wizard, and, seeing as how he's sort of filled the role of Harry's mentor all this time, it wouldn't surprise me if he took an Obi-Wan Kenobi dive for the team. Also, considering Rowling's alleged reaction to having to kill someone off, I wouldn't be surprised if this death echoes the loss of a father for the author. My theory anyway.
2. McGonagall. Like Dumbledore, Prof. McGonagall also sort of serves as a parental figure for Harry, so the death would be a step in his attaining self-sufficiency. Also, with McGonagall particularly, her loss would be sorely felt, but would not offset the balance of the story (compared to the case if someone like Hermione or Ron were to be killed).
3. God. I ran through all the other characters in my mind and couldn't come up with anyone else who could really work. Killing off any of the other students would either be too incidental (because the character was not major enough) or too disruptive (because the character was too major) — the only exception I could think of there would perhaps be one of Ron's myriad siblings. The Dursley's would be little cause for tears. Nobody would be too upset over the loss of Snape, Malfoy, or any of those guys, either. The other school teachers also wouldn't seem too troubling, though disappointing in some cases.
So, I got thinking about it, and, considering the Christian Right had decided that the Harry Potter books were doing it anyway, that Rowling decided to make it offical: kill off God in the books.
"Did you hear what Hermione told me this morning?" Ron asked Harry.
"No, I didn't. Anything worth noting?"
"I'm not sure. She said the origin of all magic really is Satan, and that God died last week. I didn't realize she knew him."
"Neither did I," responded Harry.
It would make all the infrachristians feel so gratified, because they could prove that they'd been right from the beginning, and, with that death out of the way, Rowling could just write fanciful fantasy stories about childhood wizards and mystical creatures, and nobody would think she was up to anything from then on out.
Just a thought.