[Harry Potter7] After the Epilogue
In her first interview¹ since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released, J.K. Rowling reveals more about the fate of some of the characters after the climax. Naturally, this article is full of spoilers…
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.
The epilogue lacked so many details that some people wondered why she bothered including it at all. Still, as someone pointed out that, by leaving so much up in the air it was actually a boon to fanfic writers (other than those poor Harry/Hermione fanatics). There is plenty of space for them to fill in almost anything about what the other characters get up to. (Although, rather than develop the adult lives of the characters, I hear that some fanfic writers are already trying to set up their pre-teen children in illicit relationships. Now that, Hermione, is what makes me "spew".)
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 …"
I thought Victoire's identity, given the name, was already obvious and her parentage didn't need to be spelled out. I also agree that throwing pages and pages of names and family trees at the reader would have been a real buzzkill; which isn't to say that I couldn't have used a little bit more info.
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."
Most of my speculations assumed that Harry would try to become and Auror (and would have faced little resistence); I'm a bit surprised that Ron joined him, though. Then again, Ron didn't show a great deal of interest in his future career over the course of the series, so it's possible that he stuck with Harry out of inertia.
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."
And Ginny Potter? Apparently she still fails to get any characterization or depth of her own even after the series is over, because we have no idea where she wanted to be (except with Harry). I'm picturing her taking after her mother, and staying home with her three kids (possibly providing day care for Ron and Hermione's children as well. Someone's got to do it.)
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. … 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.
If any of those looney creatures dsecribed by her father in the Quibbler actually exist, she'll be the one to find them. If not, she'll just wind up crazier than Steve Irwin.
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."
As I said, here's one left open for the fanfic writers.
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.
That fits. Can't have too happy an ending; there are always casualties and scars from a war, some beyond even magic to heal. But Neville acquitted himself well and helped avenge his parents, and earned his gran's pride.
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.
But … she's not going to tell you who they are. I know some people had hoped for Harry or Hermione to be the Headmaster, but I didn't see either of those as being too feasible (particularly not Harry). Others predicted that either of them might end up as the Minister of Magic; and since they're both doing well at the Ministry, that's still theoretically a future possibility.
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.
Heh. That was one of my first questions.
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.
It does make sense to put non-essential non-narrative material like that in a separate volume, like the Silmarillion to the Tolkein universe. Something for the die-hard fans, but not necessary for the enjoyment of the series (which has enough tangents as it is).
¹I had trouble getting this page to open on one of my browsers; but most of the relevant text is reproduced under the LJ-cut (with comments). This link was ganked from
ranorris (no relation to Finch's cat).