Terry Mattingly on the building frenzy:

The faithful have been sweating ever since Jim Dale, the voice behind the U.S. audio-book editions, claimed that the author had told him Harry would die. Then Rowling stunned British television viewers by revealing that she had tweaked the finale (the last word is "scar") so that "one character got a reprieve, but two die that I didn’t intend to die." And Harry Potter? She answered, "I can completely understand the mentality of an author who thinks, ‘I’m going to kill him off because after I’m dead and gone they won’t be able to bring back the character.’ " Podcasting guru Emerson Spartz of MuggleNet.com spoke for millions when he said he couldn’t believe that Rowling would build her series around a "kid whose life sucks and then he dies."

Nevertheless, Tobias is convinced that Potter combines many characteristics seen in heroes through the ages. He was born to greatness, but suffered the tragic loss of loved ones. He has special gifts, glaring weaknesses and carries the burden of a haunting prophecy that hints at tragedy, triumph or both. Supernatural trials? Potter has seen it all.

"A hero is not perfect. In fact, his flaws are part of what make him great," said Tobias, pastor of St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church outside Pittsburgh. "By the end of a story like this one, the hero has simply become too big to remain in this world. This kind of hero is born for a purpose and he dies for a purpose."

Thus, it’s significant that Rowling _ in an early interview with a Canadian newspaper _ noted that she is, in fact, a Christian. "Every time I’ve been asked if I believe in God, I’ve said, ‘yes,’ because I do. But no one ever really has gone any more deeply into it than that and, I have to say that does suit me. … If I talk too freely about that, I think the intelligent reader _ whether 10 or 60 _ will be able to guess what is coming in the books."