JK Rowling wasnt shy when it came to pulling the trigger throughout her Harry Potter saga, killing off some of her most adored characters over the course of seven books. While some of the deaths in the series were inevitable (neither can live while the other survives) or were simply essential to the evolution of the plot, its the ones that she really didnt have to take that seem to stick in the throat the most. While she never quite reached a George RR Martin level of unpredictable ruthlessness, JK swung the axe a total of 76 times in the series, with a number of favourites meeting untimely and unexpected ends. Dumbledore was a real kick in the remembralls, and there cant be many fans that didnt shed a tear for Snape (even if Alan Rickman couldnt), but wed be lying if we said that we didnt see both of their deaths coming. Sirius was another huge blow, though witnessing his step-fathers death first hand helped to turn Harry into the man he needed to be to take on the quest at hand. Cedric Diggory had to go to show the world that Voldemort meant business, and Mad Eye Moodys somewhat underwhelming demise let us know that nobody was invincible. But what about all the others? Did all 76 deaths serve a purpose? Here are 8 characters that JK Rowling really didnt need to kill
