While most of the main characters survived through to the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, author JK Rowling was not shy about killing off characters either. A mixture of significant characters - heroes and villains alike - did not survive to see the end of the Battle of Hogwarts.

Now Rowling has revealed she regrets writing the death of one character in particular. So who was it (spoilers ahoy)? 

Surprisingly, it is not any of the names you might expect. It's not Snape, Dumbledore, Fred Weasley, Dobby, Lupin or Tonks. It is... the ice-cream shop owner Florean Fortescue.

'Who? Why?' the casual observer might inquire. JK Rowling explained all on website Pottermore, where she is publishing new Harry Potter related writing every day between now and the 23rd of December.

"I originally planned Florean to be the conduit for clues that I needed to give Harry during his quest for the Hallows, which is why I established an acquaintance fairly early on," she writes. "The problem was that when I came to write the key parts of Deathly Hallows, I decided that Phineas Nigellus Black was a much more satisfactory means of conveying clues."

"I seemed to have him kidnapped and killed for no good reason. He is not the first wizard whom Voldemort murdered because he knew too much (or too little), but he is the only one I feel guilty about, because it was all my fault," she adds.

There you have it - perhaps the tragedy of Florean Fortescue will hit that little bit harder next time you read the books or watch the films.