6. Ron Weasley in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
The ending of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has its sad moments, but not too sad of moments. The truth is that when appraising the story critically it can be said that no one really important dies in the ending of that book. The deaths of Dumbledore, Sirius, and Dobby are the saddest in the series and the most resonant, having the greatest effect on Harry. At the end of the Deathly Hallows the deaths of more minor characters is sad, but not nearly as meaningful. While writing the book J.K. Rowling realized this and dabbled with killing some more meaningful characters off. Nobody wanted to see Harry die (even though the prophecy between him and Voldemort says he has to) so she thought about writing the demise of Hagrid. When that still didn't seem meaningful enough she settled on Ron Weasley. The death of Harry's best friend certainly would carry some weight with the readership. It also would have just been too sad. After a long hard fight against evil through seven books Rowling decided to keep all the main characters alive and have a happy ending.