If you’re anything like us, reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was the most gut-wrenching, soul-crushing experience of your life, for several reasons. Chiefly among them is probably the plethora of tragic character deaths that occurred during the horrific battles against Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Among those we mourned most: a certain plucky ginger trickster twin who, over seven novels, we had come to accept as part of our own families. For all of you who felt that his untimely demise was an abominable and unforgivable plot choice, you might find solace in this latest news. Author J.K. Rowling tweeted an apology to her many fans for the anguish she caused by killing off character Fred Weasley (best known as one half of the formidable Weasley twins) in the final novel of the Harry Potter series.
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
You might be wondering why she chose to issue this formal writ of contrition so many years after the fact (8 years since the release of the last novel, and 17 years to date from the canon battle against Voldemort). You might also be curious as to why she picked Fred in particular, rather than just a blanket apology for the numerous casualties her pen induced over the course of that 700 page epic. While we don’t have an answer for that first question, we do know now that Fred was “the worst for [her]” to write, according to a follow up tweet she posted in answer to a fan.
.@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
At least we now have confirmation that it hurt as much for her as it did for us. We mean:
Now, we kind of have a list of other characters we need her to apologize for as well, for example…