JK Rowling reveals the fate of Kreacher the house elf – but is this Harry Potter canon?

The Black family's House Elf is sadly no more – although Rowling's revelation might have something to do with another curmudgeonly character...

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By Frances Taylor

Published: Friday, 3rd February 2017 at 10:50 am

Tributes were pouring in on Twitter last night when JK Rowling revealed the fate of Kreacher the house elf.

Responding to a fan’s question of what happened to him after the Harry Potter books ended, Rowling replied with the sad – and actually quite blunt – news that he had passed away.

“He died, aged 666” she wrote. Oh. We always thought the Black family’s House Elf actually looked older, anyway.

He died, aged 666. https://t.co/MATq0L4sP3
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) February 2, 2017

The tweet was met with a wave of “RIP” messages as well as people trying to figure out the significance of the number 666 in the Potterworld.

However, let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. Anyone who has been following Rowling’s Twitter feed recently knows she has had to face down some nasty trolls following her criticism of Donald Trump – including users threatening to burn her books. Seriously.

Guess it's true what they say: you can lead a girl to books about the rise and fall of an autocrat, but you still can't make her think. pic.twitter.com/oB7Aq6Xz8M
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) February 1, 2017

Kreacher’s age of death actually appears to be a sharp response to an earlier tweet criticising her for using “the mark of the beast” in a children’s novel.

Nicolas Flamel doesn't die in the Potter books. Seriously, read before you burn, it'll make attacking me so much easier. pic.twitter.com/cU8AOMS21F
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) February 2, 2017

Does this mean Kreacher’s death isn’t canon?