Harry Potter, Requiescat In Pace? Don't Bet On It.

The final Harry Potter book is due out soon. Not that I'll read it; I haven't read any of them. I'm sure they're fine books for young people. And I've encouraged both my kids to read them. But I'm no longer much into witches, wizards, magic, and demons.

What I do find interesting about the hype surrounding this final HP book is the speculation that old Harry bites the dust. I've seen a few articles about it: Rowling claims this is the last book and won't rule out Harry's death, petitions not to kill Harry are circulating in book stores, children are already crying to their parents, "But she wouldn't kill Harry, would she?"

To which, all I can say is déjà vu, déjà vu, déjà vu.

In 1893, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had grown weary of cranking out the exploits of Sherlock Holmes. Doyle actually resented Holmes because he felt his other works were better, that the public should be reading those, and that Holmes was sapping his literary creativity. So in a fit of pique, Doyle killed off Holmes in that famous hand-to-hand struggle with Professor Moriarty high above Switzerland's Reichenbach Falls. As recounted in The Final Problem, Doyle sent them both plunging into the maelstrom locked in each others arms, battling till the last. All Watson found was a note and a few of Holmes' personal effects. The note was calm; Holmes' handwriting firm and strong: "Rest easy Watson, for I have defeated the Napoleon of Crime."

The furor was immediate and immense.

Grown men wore black armbands. Newspapers headlined the news that Holmes was dead. People went into mourning. Oprah devoted a whole show to the event. Geraldo demanded a full accounting. And for Doyle, it was completely unexpected.

Eight years went by. Then in 1901, The Hound of the Baskervilles came out, though the events in the story predate Reichenbach. The public, not satisfied with a posthumous Holmes, demanded more. So in 1903, in The Adventure of the Empty House, Holmes returned.

Doyle had to concoct an almost hokey explanation for the deception and how Holmes extricated himself from certain doom. "Baritsu" he claimed drolly to Watson.

Homesians call this extended absence "The Great Hiatus."

In reality Doyle wanted the money. The Holmes franchise created a fortune for Doyle. The magazines paid him by the word. Some of his later stories can only be charitably called not his best effort. Doyle raked it in.

So my guess is that Potter will die, venture off into some literary limbo, and then like Holmes (or perhaps, more properly, Gandalf) return from his hiatus refreshed, invigorated, and grown. The clamor for more will be too much for Rowling. The potential for another fortune too great. The only question is:

How long can she wait?
K-