June 20, 2007
CAN'T BE RIGHT:
Harry Potter 'hacker' posts plot on internet (Nigel Reynolds, 21/06/2007, Daily Telegraph)
A computer hacker claims to have discovered the greatest literary mystery of the decade - how J K Rowling ends her Harry Potter epic and which two characters die in the seventh and final book.Posted by Orrin Judd at June 20, 2007 9:25 PMThe hacker, calling himself "Gabriel", posted a message on a well-known hackers' site in the early hours of Tuesday, claiming that he had discovered the ending to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which is published on July 21, on the computer of an employee of Bloomsbury, Rowling's publishers.
In less than perfect English, he gives a detailed summary of the alleged ending and names two central characters who have appeared in the series since the beginning 10 years ago.
I've already figured out the ending and this isn't it. So it must be wrong.
Posted by: Matt Murphy at June 21, 2007 1:07 AMA transparent hoax.
JKR never said that exactly two "central" characters die. She said that two die whom she had not expected to die, while one got a reprieve. This means that any number N>=2 of "central" characters may die, with N=2 statistically unlikely. The hoaxer fell for the vulgar misinterpretation. ("Central" characters in this context appears to at least include secondary characters like, e.g., Sirius or Tonks.)
So Matt, you figured out that the key is not destroying the Horcruxes, but reuniting them with Voldemort; that Voldemort will then be de-transformed back into Tom Riddle except he's a squib, and gets a job as Filch's assistant, replacing the deceased Mrs. Norris; Viktor Krum dies saving Hermione; Ron and Hermione live and get married and name their first son Viktor; and Harry lives and marries Ginny and they name their first son anything but Dudley, Draco or Tom?
It should be completely obvious that the book will end suddenly leading to a blank page.
Posted by: Joseph Hertzlinger at June 21, 2007 2:09 PM