J.K. Rowling‘s 12 Days of Christmas continues on as the holiday approaches – and the special series recently revealed that the famed author feels as though she made a mistake killing off one of the many characters in the Harry Potter universe.

J.K. Rowling’s Regret

Of all the characters that met untimely ends during the seven-book Harry Potter series, in retrospect, there’s only one death that Rowling truly regrets – that of ice cream parlor owner Florean Fortescue. Rowling revealed what was in her mind when she created the character of Florean, and how her plans shifted as the story of Harry Potter developed on Pottermore.com.

Florean is a descendant of Dexter, and I originally planned Florean to be the conduit for clues that I Needed to give Harry during his quest for the Hallows, which is why I established an acquaintance fairly early on. At this stage, I imagined the historically-minded Florean might have a smattering of information on matters as diverse as the Elder Wand and the diadem of Ravenclaw, the information having been passed down in the Fortescue family from their august ancestor. As I worked my way nearer to the point where such information would become necessary, I caused Florean to be kidnapped, intending him to be found or rescued by Harry and his friends.

The problem was that when I came to write the key pars of Deathly Hallow I decided that Phineas Nigellus Black was a much more satisfactory means of conveying clues. Florean’s information on the diadem also felt redundant, as I could give the reader everything he or she needed by interviewing the Grey Lady. All in all, I seemed to have had him kidnapped and killed for no reason. He is not the first wizard whom Voldemort murdered because he knew too much (or too little), but his is the only one I feel guilty about, because it was all my fault.

 

In the 12 Days of Christmas, Rowling has also given insight into the childhood neighborhood of Lily Potter and Severus Snape, as well as why she made Snape potions master. As it turns out, Rowling’s least favorite subject growing up was chemistry, which made it a perfect fit for the subject for Harry’s arch-nemesis at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to teach.

Prior to Rowling’s 12 Days of Christmas, she provided diehard Harry Potter fans with unknown information about Dolores Umbridge and gave a glimpse at adult Harry, Ron and Hermione attending a Quidditch World Cup game.