The concluding pages of the final Harry Potter book are liable to be stained with muggle tears, it emerged yesterday, as JK Rowling dropped her broadest hint yet that the eponymous boy wizard might be killed off in the seventh book in the series.

Children have to learn to deal with death sooner or later, it's the reason they have hamsters for pets. Or so it was once explained to me one tearful morning when Hammy wasn't on his wheel.

By fronting up to the fact that heroic Harry has gone for good, so the theory goes, children will be able to understand important lessons about life and the consequences of their own actions. They will see bravery in its true context and see that nothing good (or bad) ever lasts forever.

# posted by Gerry Canavan @ 5:47 PM  |