J.K. Rowling: Who is the one 'Harry Potter' character she feels guilty about killing off?
According to J.K. Rowling, there鈥檚 one 鈥�Harry Potter鈥� character she regrets killing.
(Spoilers for the entire 鈥淧otter鈥� series follow鈥�.)
Is it deeply mourned Weasley twin Fred? Is it Harry鈥檚 father figure Sirius Black? Is it faithful house elf Dobby or wise wizard Dumbledore?
It is not. According to a recent essay Rowling, published as part of the 12 Days of Christmas Pottermore extravaganza, the only character the author feels guilty about killing off is ice cream owner Florean Fortescue.
Casual fans, don't beat yourself up if you don't remember the character 鈥� he was mentioned only briefly in the books. Florean owned Florean Fortescue鈥檚 Ice Cream Parlour in Diagon Alley, a hub of magical shops. According to Ron Weasley鈥檚 brother Bill, Florean was kidnapped during Voldemort鈥檚 rise to power.聽
According to Rowling, she originally envisioned Florean as having a more central role in the plot, planning that Florean would give Harry vital information about the diadem of Ravenclaw, an item in which villain Voldemort deposited part of his soul, and the Elder Wand, a legendarily powerful magic tool that Voldemort wanted to get his hands on.聽
However, Rowling later decided to have this information come from former Hogwarts headmaster Phineas Nigellus Black.聽
鈥淚 decided that Phineas Nigellus Black was a much more satisfactory means of conveying clues. Florean鈥檚 information on the diadem also felt redundant, as I could give the reader everything he or she needed by interviewing the [Ravenclaw ghost] Grey Lady,鈥� Rowling .
So poor Florean had to go.
鈥淎ll in all, I seemed to have had him kidnapped and killed for no reason,鈥� Rowling wrote of the character. 鈥淗e is not the first wizard whom Voldemort murdered because he knew too much (or too little), but he is the only one I feel guilty about, because it was all my fault.鈥�
Stay tuned, 鈥淧otter鈥� fans: We still have several more days of Pottermore Christmas to go. From Dec. 12 to Dec. 23, Rowling is posting pieces about the "Potter" world on the website Pottermore.聽
