J.K . Rowling to Write Encylopedia of Potter

Posted on July 24, 2007

J.K. Rowling told Meredith Vieira of The Today Show that she will probably write an encylopedia of the entire world of Harry Potter. She said she won't be starting on the tome anytime soon, however, as she needs a rest. She also revealed that Ron Weasly's dad was supposed to die in Book 5, but she gave him a reprieve.

While Rowling hasn't officially started writing the encyclopedia, although she's got plenty of material from the stories left on the cutting room floor over the past 17 years. "I've said before that Dean Thomas had a much more interesting history than ever appeared in the books for me, and you just see glimpses of it," Rowling said. "But to write it really would take us into prequel territory. And that does take us into Star Wars territory. And that's not really a place I'm planning to go." "So there's always been bits that I knew about characters that didn't make final cuts because they weren't that relevant."
Rowling also admitted that a favorite character - Ron Weasley's father - was due to die in Book Five. "He was the person who got a reprieve," said Rowling. "I-- when I sketched out the books, Mr. Weasley was due to die in Book Five." Instead, Rowling swapped his death with someone else in the final book. "I don't want to say who for the people who haven't- read," she said. But I - I made a decision as I went into writing Phoenix that I was gonna reprieve Mr. Weasley and I was gonna kill someone else. And if you finish the book, I expect you probably know and someone else who is a father."

Hmmm... a Potter Encylopedia is fine, but what fans really want are more stories. And the ending of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows certainly left plenty of room for more tales to be told.