6. Ron Weasley Almost Died
Warner Bros.Rowling, though no George R.R. Martin, has killed her fair share of beloved characters over the course of the seven volumes of the series. However, we later found out that her bloodlust expanded even farther than the casualties that occurred in the series: she had intended to kill faithful, well-loved sidekick Ron Weasley. When she was in a bad place in her life, Rowling had planned to kill Ron off just for the sake of it; out of sheer spite, but ultimately kept him as a reward to Harry. A good thing too, because after losing his (take a deep breath, now) mother, father, godfather, mentor and guide, childhood pet and companion, various other close friends and mentors, and a handful of less important friends, our hero is well-deserving of some happiness. As a side note, Rons father Arthur only survived the fifth book due to a trade-off: his life for Remus and Tonks in Deathly Hallows to display how war destroys families and takes parents away from children.