Skip to main content

harry potter - Is there any confirmed instance of J.K.Rowling changing her mind about future HP book detail to accomodate fans?


Is there even one confirmed instance of J.K.Rowling changing her mind about HP book detail to accomodate fans?



To be specific, I mean an instance where:




  • Rowling had a plan to write a specific detail in one of books #2-7 in one way.




  • There was a specific fan request/desire to have the detail turn out another way. Either mass-movement, or a few very vocal fans.




  • Rowling changed the detail to accommodate this request/desire.





  • Must be explicitly acknowledged as the cause of the change by Rowling.


    I might be willing to consider nearly-certain circumstantial proof from another source (e.g. documented proof of original draft detail, and correctly-timed highly public pressure to change it) if nobody can give the example that is officially acknowledged, but the proof must be extra-convincing for me to accept the asnwer.




  • Limited to HP books 2-7.




  • Preferably something less than 100% trivial (e.g. color of Hermione's dress would be trivial. Who married whom or increased importance of Neville in latter books would be good example of non-trivial elements).






Answer



I don’t think there are any major instances; certainly none that I can think of or find. This article on Today shares a sentiment that I’ve seen repeated elsewhere:



J.K. Rowling sketched out the deaths in the Harry Potter series years ago, and from that point forward no amount of pleading from fans, friends or even family could convince her to change her mind. The death sentences were set in stone, even though writing her characters into oblivion was often personally painful.



The whole article fleshes out in detail some of the deaths that did (or didn’t) occur. I won’t list names here, to avoid spoilers, but I think it’s worth reading: I certainly learnt things that I didn’t know before.



[Potential minor spoilers]



There’s only one really major change to the preplanned structure of the books that comes to mind. Arthur Weasley was originally due to be killed off in Book 5, but Rowling later changed her mind:



“I think part of the reason for that is there were very few good fathers in the book,” said Rowling. “In fact, you could make a very good case for Arthur Weasley being the only good father in the whole series.”



(quote from the Today article linked above). However, I can’t find any evidence that this was due to fan pressure. (Were there any rumours that Arthur was set up for death before the release of Book 5?).



In summary, I don’t think there are any (confirmed) instances. I’d obviously be happy to be proved wrong, but for now I think I err on the side of caution and claim that no such instances exist.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - What is the difference between Diffindo and Sectumsempra?

In the Harry Potter books, Diffindo is called the 'Severing Charm' and it’s most commonly used to cut ropes and the like. However, in the last book Hermione uses it on Ron but misses, creating a 'slash in his jeans' and his knee gets cut, causing him to 'roar in pain'. We've only seen Sectumsempra used once on screen when Harry directly uses it on Malfoy in the sixth book, but there it's mentioned that he is 'waving his wand wildly'. Wouldn't Diffindo, if used in such a fashion also cause a similar effect? Similarly, if it was able to cut Ron, it would also be able to, say, chop off an ear (George's)? In that case, how are these two spells different, except for Sectumsempra seemingly used exclusively to hurt humans? Answer While Diffindo and Sectumsempra both can be countered by other spells, Diffindo is far more easily countered. Reparo, a relatively common spell, can completely reverse its effect when used once. “He pulled the old cop...
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - How could Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra?

I want to be very careful about how I ask this question – I am not asking How did Voldemort die? [CLOSED] Below the text is the relevant passages from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows if anyone wants to review them (I'm sorry for the amount of text). How did Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra and kill Voldemort? I feel the reason Harry's Expelliarmus overpowered Voldemort's Avada Kedavra curse has to do with who was master of the Elder Wand and how the Elder Wand works. I've always had trouble understanding fully how the Elder Wand works, though. How much did the fact that Voldemort never truly won or mastered the Elder Wand factor into how Expelliarmus reacted to Avada Kedavra and caused Avada Kedavra to rebound and kill Voldemort? An answer based in book canon would be especially welcome, but any canon source really is fine. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he, too, yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco’s wand: ‘ Avada Kedavra !’ ‘ Expelliarmus !...
Post a Comment
Read more