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7 comments:
Here are some thoughts.
While the great mysteries of the story are solved, there are a few things left out. What happened to everyone who survived? We don't know, for example, who became headmaster; who taught Defense Against the Dark Arts next, and who is "currently" (19 years later) teaching it; what Harry's job is, and whether or not he spent any time playing Quidditch professionally; whether Harry ever taught DADA formally at Hogwarts; where Luna Lovegood is and what she's up to; whether Ginny has a profession or if she's a stay at home mom; what Ron and Hermione do for a living; etc.
I'm sort of guessing that Harry is an Auror, and possibly Ron too, but Hermione's career is up in the air. I'm sure she's working for the rights of nonmagical and magical creatures, and maybe she works at the Ministry, but given all the anti-government sentiment in the books, she would have to feel that she had a chance at effecting change.
We don't know how Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes is doing. Did Ron decide to work with George after Fred died?
And how about Percy? Now that he's no longer a git, what's he doing?
We also didn't learn young James' middle name, but I think we can assume it's Sirius. And we don't know young Lily's middle name either...guesses? Ginevra is a possibility, but if neither of the boys is named after Harry, then maybe Molly? (Or whatever her full name is...)
I thought it was sort of weird that Teddy Lupin wasn't already living with the Potters. Who was he living with? Did I miss that somehow? I suppose he's with his grandmother, Mrs. Tonks (can't remember her name at the mo).
Also, I distinctly noticed the lack of a half-giant at the station calling for all the first years :/ Wouldn't Hagrid still be alive? Is he no longer at Hogwarts?
I have many more reactions, which I'll post later, I'm sure.
It occurs to me that that guy who made the bet with the girl over whether Harry would die or not will have to make his case based on a technicality.
I'm not sure he actually died, myself, though some people are saying he did. It does say "come back" in the text, but that doesn't necessarily mean from death...I figure it just means from the place in his mind where he was able to talk to Dumbledore's spirit (and see the dead part of Voldemort's soul that had been inside him, I guess). Dumbledore himself pointed out that Harry had created that space, and confirmed that it was in Harry's head. So the most I think we can say is that Harry passed out for a bit there, just like Voldemort.
Doesn't Hagrid wait until they actually reach Hogwarts before collecting all of the first years? I mean, the book ends at King's Cross, not the school.
And Dumbledore did tell Harry that he could move on if he wanted, instead of coming back. Harry, of course, wouldn't leave with Moldiemort's ass unkicked.
Teddy's grandmother is Andromedea Tonks, formerly Black. And yeah, I expect she raised him by herself for the most part, probably with Harry and Ginny's help.
I miss Luna already. =(
Re: Hagrid: Durrrrr. You're right.
However: "move on" is different from "stay here"! XD
Obviously I didn't have the book in front of me when I was writing off the top of my head at work :)
The answers! Well, some of them, anyway.
Since news sites like to remove their stories after a time (why not leave an archive? Grr) I'm going to post the information here:
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If you found the epilogue of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" rather vague, then J.K. Rowling achieved her goal.
The author was shooting for "nebulous," something "poetic." She wanted the readers to feel as if they were looking at Platform 9¾ through the mist, unable to make out exactly who was there and who was not.
"I do, of course, have that information for you, should you require it," she told TODAY's Meredith Vieira rather coyly in her first interview since fans got their hands on the final book.
Ummm ... yes, please!
Rowling said her original epilogue was "a lot more detailed," including the name of every child born to the Weasley clan in the past 19 years. (Victoire, who was snogging Teddy — Lupin and Tonks' son — is Bill and Fleur's eldest.)
"But it didn't work very well as a piece of writing," Rowling said. "It felt very much that I had crowbarred in every bit of information I could ... In a novel you have to resist the urge to tell everything."
But now that the seventh and final novel is in the hands of her adoring public, Rowling no longer has to hold back any information about Harry Potter from her fans. And when 14 fans crowded around her in Edinburgh Castle in Scotland earlier this week as part of TODAY's interview, Rowling was more than willing to share her thoughts about what Harry and his friends are up to now.
Harry, Ron and Hermione
We know that Harry marries Ginny and has three kids, essentially, as Rowling explains, creating the family and the peace and calm he never had as a child.
As for his occupation, Harry, along with Ron, is working at the Auror Department at the Ministry of Magic. After all these years, Harry is now the department head.
"Harry and Ron utterly revolutionized the Auror Department," Rowling said. "They are now the experts. It doesn't matter how old they are or what else they've done."
Meanwhile, Hermione, Ron's wife, is "pretty high up" in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, despite laughing at the idea of becoming a lawyer in "Deathly Hallows."
"I would imagine that her brainpower and her knowledge of how the Dark Arts operate would really give her a sound grounding," Rowling said.
Harry, Ron and Hermione don't join the same Ministry of Magic they had been at odds with for years; they revolutionize it and the ministry evolves into a "really good place to be."
"They made a new world," Rowling said.
The wizarding naturalist
Luna Lovegood, the eccentric Ravenclaw who was fascinated with Crumple-Horned Snorkacks and Umgubular Slashkilters, continues to march to the beat of her own drum.
"I think that Luna is now traveling the world looking for various mad creatures," Rowling said. "She's a naturalist, whatever the wizarding equivalent of that is."
Luna comes to see the truth about her father, eventually acknowledging there are some creatures that don't exist.
"But I do think that she's so open-minded and just an incredible person that she probably would be uncovering things that no one's ever seen before," Rowling said.
Luna and Neville Longbottom?
It's possible Luna has also found love with another member of the D.A.
When she was first asked about the possibility of Luna hooking up with Neville Longbottom several years ago, Rowling's response was "Definitely not." But as time passed and she watched her characters mature, Rowling started to "feel a bit of a pull" between the unlikely pair.
Ultimately, Rowling left the question of their relationship open at the end of the book because doing otherwise "felt too neat."
Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom: "The damage is done."
There is no chance, however, that Neville’s parents, who were tortured into madness by Bellatrix Lestrange, ever left St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies.
"I know people really wanted some hope for that, and I can quite see why because, in a way, what happens to Neville's parents is even worse than what happened to Harry's parents," Rowling said. "The damage that is done, in some cases with very dark magic, is done permanently."
Rowling said Neville finds happiness in his grandmother's acceptance of him as a gifted wizard and as the new herbology professor at Hogwarts.
The fate of Hogwarts
Nineteen years after the Battle of Hogwarts, the school for witchcraft and wizardry is led by an entirely new headmaster ("McGonagall was really getting on a bit") as well as a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. That position is now as safe as the other teaching posts at Hogwarts, since Voldemort's death broke the jinx that kept a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor from remaining for more than a year.
While Rowling didn't clarify whether Harry, Ron and Hermione ever return to school to finish their seventh year, she did say she could see Harry popping up every now and again to give the "odd talk" on Defense Against the Dark Arts.
More details to come?
Rowling said she may eventually reveal more details in a Harry Potter encyclopedia, but even then, it will never be enough to satisfy the most ardent of her fans.
"I'm dealing with a level of obsession in some of my fans that will not rest until they know the middle names of Harry's great-great-grandparents," she said. Not that she's discouraging the Potter devotion!
"I love it," she said. "I'm all for that."
My only question is How did Neville get the sword back? I mean, didn't the goblin take it back as his own?
Sure, but a true Gryffindor can always pull the sword out of the Sorting Hat when needed :) It's probably a charm placed on the sword and hat by Godric Gryffindor, or something.
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