It has now been reported that 2 characters will die and 1 received a reprieve from death. Much discussion revolves around who is now dead in the series. With about a year left before book 7 is released there is lots of time for this to be contemplated.
This leads to a USA Today brief with Mugglenet.com web host and The Leaky Cauldron's web host.
I would prematurely say that:
Lord Voldermort = dead
Draco Malfoy = dead
Severus Snape = reprieve
JK: The last, the final chapter is hidden away although it's now changed very slightly.
J: Is it?
JK: Yeah, one character got a reprieve.
R: Oh really?
JK: Yeah.
J: I mean you are, I just...
JK: But I have to say two die that I didn’t intend to die.
J: Oh no, two much loved ones?
JK: Well you know, a price has to be paid.
R: Significant?
JK: We are dealing with pure evil! So they don’t target the extras, do they? They go straight for the main characters... Or I do.
Read the conversationFirst she says that one she originally intended on killing got a reprieve
Then she says that two that she did not intend on killing originally die
There is nothing said that
only 2 die
We know that at least one of Harry or Voldemort (or both) have to die, so they should not be included in the 2 that die. Now it may be Harry that gets the reprieve. Personally, I dont think she is going to kill Harry off. Voldemort will die but as I stated he is not one of the 2.
There will be lots of death, the wizarding world is at war and Voldemort is back at full strength. Deaths will include Lucious Malfoy, Karkaroff, most of the death eaters, some of the order.
Wormtail will also die but he is not one of the 2 either. He will die as he gives Harry an advantage over Voldemort enabling Harry to kill Voldemort.
The two additional that die will be Percy and Victor Krum. I will throw in Neville here as well but I doubt it. He is the ultimate underdog.
The one that gets the reprieve is Ron.
The things I am most interested include what happens to Snape and where do his loyalties really lie, is Dumbledore really dead, what role will dumbledore's brother play, will Harry talk to Sirius, what role will Dobby play, I could go on but that is enough for now.
One last thing, JKR is on record saying the last word of the last chapter is scar. I wonder if killing Voldemort will remove Harry's scar.