Exclusive: How the Harry Potter story ends
13 Jul 2007 by Malcolm Drury
There is currently much ongoing speculation as to what will unfold in the continuing story of Harry Potter, the boy wizard, when the final volume in the series is published next week. However, through a source that we are sworn not to divulge, DeadBrain can exclusively reveal that the whole saga was merely a figment of the imagination of a young, comatose boy - and we can also reveal who dies.The boy in question, Douglas Ramsbottom, 12, of Bootle, fell into a coma last year after deliberately running into a wall at King's Cross station in London, while on a school outing. It appears that Douglas, who had become obsessed with wizardry and sorcery after excessive playing of a computer game, was convinced that the wall, which divides platforms 9 and 10, was actually a portal to the mystical world of the game.
In his comatose state Douglas took on the persona of Harry Potter, one of the characters in the game, and "lived" some of the game's segments.
In the final chapter of the new book, "Harry" awakens from his coma before completing the last segment. He quickly realises that the real world no longer has any appeal. Although he tries to fit in he finds the everyday world of school and ASBOs uninspiring. After telling his mother that he has "something to finish" he takes £50 from her purse, and makes his way back to King's Cross, where he runs into the same wall at high speed. After a short interval he dies, smiling broadly.
Author JK Rowling told our reporter that writing that last chapter was extremely difficult for her. "It was really hard to let Doug, I mean Harry, go", she said, "but I had always planned for him to stay in his fantasy world. That way it's easier to bring him back for some more adventures if I start to get a bit short of cash."
She added that there is no truth to a rumour that she is planning a spin-off series of books set in another magic school and featuring a girl who falls into a coma and shares adventures with the characters in the Harry series.
"That would be really tacky," she said.
