Harry Potter: 10 Times JK Rowling Admitted To Changing Her Plans
7. Introducing Mafalda Weasley, The Slytherin Anti-Hermione
Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire was notoriously the hardest book for Rowling to write - until that point at least. It was far longer than the others and took her well past her planned deadline.
One of the biggest issues was a character that ended up being removed completely - yet another Weasley. In discussions on her original (and now deleted) website, the author told us all about this change to the Weasley status quo.
Mafalda was planned as the cousin of Ron and was due to stay at The Burrow in preparation for starting at Hogwarts. Described as the daughter of a Squib and a Muggle, Mafalda was to be a rather unpleasant and complicated character who would have been sorted into Slytherin. She was seen as highly academic but due to her nasty side something of an 'anti-Hermione.' There was to be a great deal of tension between Mafalda and the famous trio, and she held the important plot role of feeding them information on the actions and plans of the Death Eaters.
Apparently, on balance, Rowling felt that it was unlikely that a child of her age should know so much and pass it on so usefully, though presumably without meaning to. In the end, she was merged with the character of Rita Skeeter and the dark Weasley was entirely written out.