He described Fawkes's appearance to arm Harry and then to heal him as a deus ex machina: he said that the book does not explain how Fawkes knew where to find Harry; and Fawkes's timing had to be very precise, as arriving earlier would probably have prevented the battle with the basilisk, while arriving later would have been fatal to Harry and Ginny.
Han mente også at Fawkes' pludselige optræden for at redde Harry som en deus ex machina: Han udtalte uddybende, at bogen ikke fortæller hvordan Fawkes vidste hvor Harry var og at Fawkes' timing skulle være meget præcis, da en tidligere ankomst formodentligt ville have forhindret kampen med basilisken, mens en senere ankomst ville have været fatal for både Harry og Ginny.