Harry Potter and the Unnamed Expendables

The news has recently been released that in the seventh and final installment of the wildly successful Harry Potter series, two of the main characters will perish.
Now, if you're like me, then you absolutely love the Harry Potter series. So much so, that I even bought an "unauthorized parody" called Barry Trotter last year -- it was decent, for what it was. If you're not like me, then you probably aren't reading this far, and you may even be going so far as to throw your computer monitor onto a raging bonfire.
But back to those of us who enjoy the books. I have been a fan since the very first book came out. JK Rowling's stories are fun, exciting, and full of wonderful imagination and colorful characters. I could do an in-depth discussion of all six of the already-published stories, but that's really not what this blog is all about. Suffice it to say, that the third book, The Prisoner of Azkaban, stands out as my favorite in the series so far. Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed each one of them immeasurably. But Prisoner is my favorite. (And though hardly more than a bit player, I still laugh every time I read about Sir Cadogan -- "Stand fast, you dirty curs!")
So on to the dire news of book the seventh. Rowling is quoted as saying, "A price has to be paid. We are dealing with pure evil here. They don't target extras do they? They go for the main characters. Well, I do."
Of course, it should be remembered that Rowling gave a similar spoiler about a year before book 4, The Goblet of Fire, was released. She revealed that someone near and dear to Harry would not make it through the story alive. If you have read this book, and then you know it was hardly someone "near and dear to Harry." In fact, it's kind of ironic that in telling his henchmen to kill this character, Lord Voldemort actually said, "Kill the spare."
Similar revelations were made before the release of books 5 and 6, and these proved to be much more accurate. Someone that was truly near and dear to Harry was eliminated in book 5, and a HUGE character died in book 6. (Or DID he??)
So when Rowling says that two "main" characters are going to die in this final book, I think we have to assume that at least one truly is going to be a major character. In other words, she's not just letting us know that Crabbe and Goyle are going to meet untimely ends, or that the assistant to the Minister of Magic and his brother-in-law will kick the bucket.
Personally, I've felt all along that Ron Weasley is a marked man. I hate to say that, because he's one of my favorite characters, and I would love to see him and Hermione live happily ever after, but he has always given off those "doomed to die the heroic death of a sidekick" vibes. Also, it would not surprise me at all if Professor Snape bought the farm. I think that he too might die a heroic death, to the surprise of everyone around him, who no doubt view him as a traitor (though I still think he's good).
So there's my two cents. If you haven't read any of these books, now is as good a time as any to get started. For the rest of us, we're still waiting (impatiently) for the last book to be published. Just so long as it is not titled Harry Potter and the Chocolate Schwetty Balls...