Today is the 17th anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts, the massive fight at the iconic school of witchcraft and wizardry that ended Voldemort’s reign.
On Twitter this morning Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling decided to mark the occasion by apologizing for the death of Ron’s older brother Fred, one of the many good characters who died during the battle.
Today I would just like to say: I'm really sorry about Fred. *Bows head in acceptance of your reasonable ire*
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 2, 2015
Asked why she’s apologizing, Rowling says she’s going to start saying sorry for one death per year. She also revealed Fred’s death was the “worst” for the author:
.@Brieuc26Rankin I thought I might apologise for one death per anniversary. Fred was the worst for me, so I started with him.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 2, 2015
Unsurprisingly this remark left some fans curious about other characters:
@jk_rowling @Brieuc26Rankin FRED WAS NEVER AS BAD AS DOBBY. NEVER!
— johnnie (@Johnnie_Rowling) May 2, 2015
@jk_rowling @Brieuc26Rankin what about tonks and lupin? Their son was left as an orphan!
— Ian Buckley (@buckmg) May 2, 2015
@jk_rowling Fred's death for you was worse than Snapes or Dumbledores?!
— Danny (@iseewonderland) May 2, 2015
@jk_rowling you're gonna be apologising for years
— Rowling Stone (@OhForFawkesSake) May 2, 2015
In light of Rowling’s new remarks, we did some searching to see if we could find other times the author has spoken about deaths in the Harry Potter series hurting her.
We found a couple of interesting nuggets. When asked in 2007 (post-Deathly Hallows release) which death was the “hardest,” Rowling said Albus Dumbledore’s. She also once said that the deaths of Fred, Lupin, and Tonks “really caused me a lot of pain.”
We think Rowling’s new comment today about Fred’s death is only in the context of the Battle of Hogwarts. With that said, Fred’s death was the worst overall for a lot of readers because he was a beloved member of the Weasley family.
Fittingly, in Fred’s final moment alive in the Deathly Hallows book he was hearing a joke from his brother Percy, who hadn’t cracked a joke in a long time:
Percy Weasley: “Hello, Minister! Did I mention I’m resigning?”
Fred: “You’re joking, Perce! You actually are joking [….] I don’t think I’ve heard you joke since you were –”
Whose death do you want Rowling to apologize for next year?
Rowling held a moment of silence for the Battle of Hogwarts’ anniversary last year too.
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