Every year since 2015, J.K. Rowling has tweeted an apology on May 2, the anniversary of The Battle of Hogwarts. Fans waited and looked for the annual apology on Thursday, but it never arrived. Some fans were disappointed, while others were worried, since the Harry Potter author hasn't tweeted anything since March 16. Did she quit Twitter?
Other fans, though, wondered if J.K. Rowling did share a 2019 apology through a more visual clue -- the changing of her header:
It's possible J.K. Rowling changed her Twitter header to a starry sky in honor of Sirius -- the brightest star in the night sky and also the name of Harry Potter's beloved godfather, Sirius Black.
But Sirius didn't die in the Battle of Hogwarts, you might point out. True! But neither did Dobby, and J.K. Rowling apologized for killing Dobby in last year's May 2 tweet.
In 2014, J.K. Rowling honored the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts by simply saying how much she hated killing off some of those characters. The next year, she started her annual apology tradition by apologizing for killing off Fred Weasley during the battle.
In 2016, she apologized for killing Remus Lupin. In 2017, she apologized for killing Severus Snape. Last year, she apologized for killing Dobby.
So maybe that starry sky is an apology to Sirius, who was killed in the Ministry of Magic in the fifth book and movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Gary Oldman's character did appear in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, so maybe that could be considered the Battle of Hogwarts connection.
J.K. Rowling used to tweet frequently -- sometimes about Harry Potter, often about politics. She hasn't tweeted since mid-March, shortly after giving more details on the relationship between Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald. There was backlash to her comments, for differing reasons, and it's possible that's when she decided to take a break from Twitter.
Maybe her Twitter absence has nothing to do with that, she might just be busy. But the timing is interesting. If she were going to return, fans thought it would be to tweet her annual apology. And maybe she did, with that subtle header change.
Harry Potter fans are a passionate lot, and so is their queen. She has her own opinions about everything and it would be great to see them again in some form, whether fans agree with them or not.
As far as we know, though, J.K Rowling is busy polishing her script for Fantastic Beasts 3, which recently delayed production again. It was originally going to start filming this summer, then that was pushed to late fall. It was recently pushed again to start filming in spring 2020 for a release in theaters in November 2021.
Keep up with everything we know so far about Fantastic Beasts 3, and raise your wands in support of J.K. Rowling if you want her to return to social media. Or maybe the rest of us should leave with her, honestly. She might be the one on the right track.
