Wow, I step out for a couple of days and a thread like this gets into 4 pages before I have a chance to chime in!
1 - Rowling has been very clear in interviews that Dumbledore is dead-- but since the portraits in the Headmaster's office talk, etc., he could still give advice in Book 7. If someone has a wand that matches Snape's, Dumbledore might come back briefly in the same sort of spirit form as Harry's parents did in book 4. Rowling rarely uses an idea only once, so this wouldn't be too surprising. (Or, someone might try this and Dumbledore might NOT come back, indicating that Snape's spell isn't really what killed him, which would also be interesting.)
2 - Some of the ignorant right-wing Christian vitriol was apparently based on taking a certian Onion article literally, rather than as the hilarious spoof that it was.
3 - Rowling has also stated in an interview that she's not going to kill Ron. (Her words were something like "As if I'd kill Harry's best friend!") This makes killing Hermione very unlikely as well. Snape is pretty clearly a goner (and I'm with the crowd that thinks he's ultimately loyal to Dumbledore and now in a terrible position, even if he is a stinker and not someone I'd want in my house). I'm not counting Voldemort as a main character for the purpose of her statement, because I think she meant someone we actually would care about. (Yes, there are people who care about Snape.) If I had to place a bet on another "main" character to die I'd say Hagrid, but I've been expecting him to get it since Book 5, so I could be wrong. I don't think it'll be any of the Weasleys, because Ron's dad came so close to death in Order of the Phoenix. Probably not Lupin because of the relationship Rowling is setting up with Tonks, and because Sirius already got hit from that group. It wouldn't surprise me if we lose most of a generation of teachers, but I'm not sure they'd count in quite the same way as a "main" character, either -- even McGonnigal. Somehow I don't think it will be Malfoy, either.
It could be Harry, because I think he's going to have to give up something really huge to defeat Voldemort, but I'm not sure she'd be counting him in this sort of statement, either.
Does anyone have a reference to the statement where she said "two main characters"? I'd like to check her wording.
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