JK Rowling commemorated the anniversary of the ‘Battle Of Hogwarts’ on Monday (2 May), apologising for killing off one of ‘Harry Potter’ fans’ favourite characters.
Every year on the same date, the author apologises to ‘Harry Potter’ fans (or the unfortunately-named ‘Potheads’ as they’re known) for killing a character, and this year she chose to explain the decision for Remus Lupin to die.
Over a string of tweets on Monday morning, JK Rowling admitted that she’d initially intended for Arthur Weasley to die, but in choosing to spare his life, she had to kill off the former Defence Against The Dark Arts professor instead.
She explained that Lupin’s death was the only character her editor ever saw her cry over, writing:
Professor Lupin was introduced in ‘Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban’, teaching Harry to cast a Patronus charm. Like his predecessors, he only lasts one year in the job, but remains a close friend and confidant of Harry’s, having known his father as a boy.
He was portrayed by David Thewlis in the ‘Harry Potter’ films ‘The Prisoner Of Azkaban’, ‘The Order Of The Phoenix’, ‘The Half-Blood Prince’ and both instalments of ‘The Deathly Hallows’, the second of which contained the character’s death.
Despite Lupin’s death in the ‘Battle Of Hogwarts’ clearly being an emotional one for the author, JK Rowling has previously said there’s only one death in the ‘Harry Potter’ series she feels truly regretful over, and that is Florean Fortiscue, who she says died “for no good reason”, unlike other beloved characters, whose deaths were essential for the novel series’ plot.
