‘Harry Potter’: J.K. Rowling Almost Killed Ron


Harry Potter wrapped up in 2007. Well, at least that’s when the final book of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was published. Yet, even though the story was completed a long time ago, there are secrets and little-known facts that are still coming to light about the famous wizard and his friends.

The Mirror reports that J.K. Rowling has been dropping previously unknown Harry Potter facts on her Twitter account for weeks. Of course, the fact that Professor Dumbledore was gay is something she divulged in 2007 when speaking at Carnegie Hall in New York. Then there is the fact that Harry and Voldemort are distantly related, a fact many readers were able to pick up. But there are many Harry Potter facts that are only now coming to light. For instance, Rowling considered killing off Ron when she was in a dark period of her life.

“I started thinking I might polish one of them off. Out of sheer spite. ‘There, now you definitely can’t have him any more.’ But I think in my absolute heart of heart of hearts, although I did seriously consider killing Ron, [I wouldn’t have done it].”

Rowling also said that the many fans of Harry Potter have been pronouncing Voldemort’s name wrong since the beginning. It’s even pronounced wrong in the movies! Rowling meant the “t” at the end of Voldemort’s name to be silent.

“… but I’m pretty sure I’m the only person who pronounces it that way.”

But perhaps one of the most asked questions regarding the world of Harry Potter is why Harry would name his son after Snape, a man who took great pleasure in being miserable to everyone, especially Harry.

A lively debate recently occurred on Rowling’s Twitter account, for which Rowling thanked her followers.

According to Fox News, she was happy to reply to followers’ comments about the name issue, such as when one follower remarked that Snape held no malice against Harry.

“Kind of strange you’d say ‘in forgiveness’, I mean Snape held no malice against Harry (which Harry came to know, eventually).”

Rowling replied that there was indeed malice.

“That’s not true, I’m afraid. Snape projected his hatred and jealousy of James onto Harry.”

Rowling also gave a number of reasons why Harry Potter would choose to use Snape’s name for his son, one of which was to appease his own guilt.

“In honouring Snape, Harry hoped in his heart that he too would be forgiven. The deaths at the Battle of Hogwarts would haunt Harry forever.”

Entertainment Weekly reports that Rowling also wrote about Snape’s own feelings of guilt and how he tried to appease them.

“Snape didn’t die for ‘ideals.’ He died in an attempt to expiate his own guilt. He could have broken cover at any time to save himself, but he chose not to tell Voldemort that the latter was making a fatal error in targeting Harry. Snape’s silence ensured Harry’s victory.”

And of course, Snape ultimately died for Harry because of his love for Lilly.

One thing is for certain, part of Rowling’s genius in writing Harry Potter was the detailed characters she created. Each and every character has a rich and lively past, a history that made them who they were during the time the Harry Potter books were written. It is these characters fans fell in love with, first in the books and again in the movies. Kudos to Rowling for creating one of the literary masterpieces of the early 21st century.

[Photos by Ben A. Pruchnie, Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images]

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