The Harry Potter series saw many characters die, both good and evil, but there’s one J.K. Rowling knew had to live until the very end, as he had a big role in a very powerful scene in the final book: Hagrid. Readers all over the world were introduced to the Wizarding World in 1997 with Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, and followed the adventures of Harry Potter and friends through six more books, culminating in 2007 with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
The Wizarding World jumped to the big screen between 2001 and 2011, with the final book being split into two films. The Harry Potter film series introduced a new audience to Harry and company, and many characters became instant favorites thanks to how they were portrayed, among those Hagrid, the half-giant wizard that worked as gamekeeper at Hogwarts. Hagrid was part of Harry’s story from the beginning, being the one who rescued the boy who lived from the ruins of his house in Godric’s Hollow, following the murder of his parents by the hands of Lord Voldemort.
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Hagrid reunited with Harry 11 years later, when he was tasked with reintroducing him to the wizarding world, and was very present in his life ever since as they became close friends. Before Deathly Hallows was published, many were expecting Hagrid to die, but that was never in Rowling’s plans as he had a very important role to fulfill in the final book.
Why Killing Hagrid Was Never In J.K. Rowling’s Plans
In an interview for the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 DVD extra features, Rowling told Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe that the idea she initially had for the first chapter of the final book was “rubbish”, but there’s one detail that she rescued from it. Rowling explained that “within the first year of writing”, she had a sketch for what she thought the final chapter would be, and she always knew that she was working toward the point where Hagrid carried Harry’s “dead” body out of the forest. Rowling added that she knew there would be a final battle at Hogwarts, that Harry would walk to his death, and she even “planned the ghosts coming back”.
This scene was what kept Hagrid alive through the whole series, even if he “would have been a natural to kill in some ways”. Rowling explained that it was a perfect image for her because “it was Hagrid who took him into the world, and Hagrid who would bring him back”, and because of this, Hagrid was never in danger. That particular scene of Hagrid carrying Harry’s “dead” body out of the forest in Deathly Hallows (and, in the case of the film series, Deathly Hallows – Part 2) and taking it to Hogwarts for everyone else to see was as powerful on paper as it was on the big screen, and it wouldn’t have had the same impact if it had been a different character carrying Harry.
Hagrid was lucky Rowling had a bigger plan for him from the very beginning, or he would have had the same fate as Sirius Black, Albus Dumbledore, Remus Lupin, and other characters very close to Harry that either died in the Battle of Hogwarts or before, all to keep the boy who lived safe.
