By Alice Vincent
Although JK Rowling's Harry Potter (click here) series is adored by children worldwide, the novels are not without their unjust and tragic plot lines as characters die from the effects of dark magic.
However, in a new short essay uploaded onto Pottermore, Rowling has revealed that she only feels guilty about writing in the death of one character: the little-known Florean Fortescue.
The character ran an ice cream parlour and meets Harry in the third novel, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, when he gives the Boy Wizard free ice creams.
He is then mentioned in the sixth book, The Order of the Phoenix, when Bill Weasley, the brother of Harry's best friend Ron, explains that Florean was "dragged off" after upsetting the dangerous and draconian Death Eaters, servants of Voldemort.
On the Harry Potter publishing site, Rowling writes: "I seemed to have him kidnapped and killed for no good reason. He is not the first wizard whom Voldemort murdered because he knew too much (or too little), but he is the only one I feel guilty about, because it was all my fault."...
It is not at all unusual for a following to exist regarding a popular figure of the times. Harry Potter has that type of following. The Star Wars series is another and don't forget Star Trek. In Japan the Anima cartoons are followed by many in Japan, but, also around the world.
These characters are more than simply fantasy, they represent human values at some level in development. The Harry Potter books and movies carry significant moral content and it serves as a reference point where affection for a fictional character reflects social values. Their creation is abstract, but, their values are real. It is good to know a fiction creator such as Ms. Rowling has an abiding understanding of the importance of what she writes.
Biography
1993
During the summer of 1993, (click here) when Harry Potter stayed at the Leaky Cauldron for a couple of weeks, Florean gave Harry free ice cream sundaes every half hour and helped him complete his History of Magic homework on the medieval witch-burnings which may mean that he did well in his History of Magic classes....
