DH:Epilogue - Nineteen Years Later (Bloomsbury 2007)
1) Bloody Epilogue! Can I just -- tear out these last five pages? As a fanfic writer, I hate this. I want the story to finish with the battle, and then I get free reign to play with the characters forevermore. I don't want to have to keep in mind a scenario from two decades down the road. On the other hand, it's not as bad as it might have been. At least she didn't try to tell us exactly what happened to every character who survived. *That* would have been maddening. This is still annoying, though. I would much rather have seen the immediate aftermath of the war, and something of the reconstruction. I don't want to know that everything is all better; I want to know part of how this better world came about.
2) 1 September 2017. In troop a swarm of new characters. My only notes for this chapter are in the form of a family tree.
3) Lily Potter (mark 2). She is red-headed and probably brown-eyed like her mother and two years too young to start at Hogwarts. Therefore, she is nine and was born in 2007/08. What is her middle name? "Lily Molly" sounds daft and "Lily Luna" isn't much better. It could be Hermione, or if Jo is continuing patterns, Ginevra, but there is a part of me that wants to believe that her middle name is Remus. Please, God, don't let it be Nymphadora!
4) Albus Severus "Al" Potter Albus is eleven and starting his first year at Hogwarts. He was therefore born in 2005/06. His name proves that Harry has completely forgiven Dumbledore and Snape, and his dialogue proves that the Sorting Hat was not completely destroyed. Hogwarts still Sorts. Albus apparently resembles his father greatly, which I would take to mean he's short and skinny with black hair and confirmed green eyes. What greater honour could Snape have wished than for a child of Lily's eyes and of Lily's blood to bear his name?
5) James Potter (mark 2) He is the oldest, so was probably born before 2004. It is likely that he has his mother's brown eyes, since Albus is the only one of the three who inherited his father's green ones. James has been at Hogwarts at least one year. We do not know what house he was Sorted to, except that it wasn't Slytherin (though he doesn't really see anything wrong with being a Slytherin, either). The best guess is Gryffindor, like the rest of his family, and the best guess for his middle name is, of course, Sirius. The brothers Potter, we are told, do not share a room.
6) Harry and Ginny are apparently married now. Like we couldn't have guessed that. Though, of course, you don't have to write it that way, since it's not explicitly stated.
7) Percy Weasley is on the platform. He must have school-aged children too. Did he and Penelope get their act together, or is he with someone else now?
8) Ron and Hermione are also married. Another easy guess. And Ron apparently got his Muggle drivers license. Not entirely morally, though. They have, it seems, named their children "Rose" and "Hugo". Where in hell did those names come from? My only guesses are A) those are Hermione's parents' names, and she's making up for the guilt of years of neglect, or B) they are being cute and giving their kids their own initials, but with the genders reversed.
9) Rose "Rosie" Weasley. Rose is apparently also starting her first year at Hogwarts, and so was born in 2005/06 like Albus. They are first cousins, so back off, 'shippers!
10) Hugo Weasley. Hugo is younger than his sister, and probably close in age to his cousin Lily for them to be getting along as well as they are. His birthdate would be sometime within a few years after 2006.
11) The Malfoys. Draco is balding (I'll try not to gloat, because of course all fangirls want their favourites to age gracefully) and has married an unnamed woman who is probably not anyone Harry ever knew at all, or he would think of her by name. She must be a pureblood, since Ron implies that Draco's son is one. Perhaps she was even a Slytherin a year or two above or below the trio. Few of them were ever named. Draco acknowledges the trio with a curt nod. They are not friends, but there is some sort of mutual, wary respect.
12) Scorpius Malfoy. Draco appears to have one child, who greatly resembles him, and he has gone and given him a name that will get the stuffing beaten out of him in the first week. There's not even any good nicknames you can get out of that. It seems that he, too, is starting his first year at Hogwarts (born 2005/06). His mere existence has ignited a whole new 'shipping war: Albus/Scorpius vs Scorpius/Rose. Have fun with it, you guys. How much do you want to bet this kid gets sorted into Hufflepuff? I'd love that.
13) Arthur Weasley is still alive and kicking. Ron speaks of him in the present tense, saying he'll be disappointed if his granddaughter marries a pureblood.
14) Victoire Weasley. I admit, it took me a while to figure out who this must be, but in my defence, I was really tired by the time I got to this point in the book. The French name should have tipped me off that this is Bill and Fleur's daughter. Jo calls her their eldest, so they much have more. "Victoire" of course means "victory", which leads me to believe she was not born too long after the war ended. Indeed, if she is a seventh year, then she was born in 1999/2000, not much more than a year after Voldemort's defeat.
15) Teddy Lupin. He's all grown up and he apparently likes girls. How disappointing. He would be nineteen now, so he's left Hogwarts. He's only here today seeing his girlfriend off on the train. Much to my own relief, Teddy was not, apparently, raised by Harry, his godfather. He comes around for dinner several times a week, but no doubt grew up with his grandmother, like Neville did.
16) Harry still has Fabian's watch. Just wanted to note it.
17) Professor Longbottom. Professor Sprout has died or retired, and Neville has stepped into her shoes. He has apparently not married. The Potter kids know him well and by his first name, though they know to use his title at school, and are too embarrassed to express affection in front of their classmates. "I can't walk into Herbology and give him love ..." *giggle* I just can't quite bring myself to slash this generation yet. But...there's nothing especially contradicting my proposed Neville/Harry/Ginny fic here.
18) The kids can't see Thestrals. Their lives have been safe. The dangers of the war have passed, and they have grown up in a time of relative peace.
19) Hagrid is still alive. He must be getting on towards 90 now, but he's still around and inviting Harry's kids to tea.
20) Harry calls Snape the bravest man he ever knew. *wells up* Harry lost any hard feelings toward others on his journey into the afterlife. He learned forgiveness and he learned about second chances and he learned that everyone has good within them if you can only find a way to draw it out. Snape dedicated his life to fighting Voldemort because he loved Harry's mother. Harry honours his service now with respect and forgiveness.
21) Harry doesn't mind if his son is in Slytherin. But he tells him that if it matters to him, he can ask the Hat for what he wants. I wonder if the Hat ever tells students flat out that they can't be in the house they really want? I sort of imagined something like that happened to Sirius. He was Sorted into Gryffindor when everyone in his family, and presumably he himself, expected him to be sorted into Slytherin.
22) Ron: "I'm extremely famous." *giggle* Well, no doubt he is, but he's not as famous as Harry Potter. Do these kids not know that their father/uncle is more or less Jesus? You'd think someone would have mentioned ....
23) The unmentioned Weasley. Jo stated during a recent Q&A that George Weasley named his eldest son "Fred". Presumably he's at school with this lot, but we don't really know how old he is or who his mother might be. I just wanted to give him a mention here with the rest.
~ THE END ~
It's been a lot of fun reading with you guys. I'm going to miss this, even if it means I have a couple more hours in my day from now on to play with. And I'll miss you guys, too. Please feel free to add me if you like. I use this journal purely for fandom stuff, which for me means it's about 98% Harry Potter (though I've recently been inducted into the cult of Doctor Who). I guess I'll be seeing you around the fandom.
Farewell!
2) 1 September 2017. In troop a swarm of new characters. My only notes for this chapter are in the form of a family tree.
3) Lily Potter (mark 2). She is red-headed and probably brown-eyed like her mother and two years too young to start at Hogwarts. Therefore, she is nine and was born in 2007/08. What is her middle name? "Lily Molly" sounds daft and "Lily Luna" isn't much better. It could be Hermione, or if Jo is continuing patterns, Ginevra, but there is a part of me that wants to believe that her middle name is Remus. Please, God, don't let it be Nymphadora!
4) Albus Severus "Al" Potter Albus is eleven and starting his first year at Hogwarts. He was therefore born in 2005/06. His name proves that Harry has completely forgiven Dumbledore and Snape, and his dialogue proves that the Sorting Hat was not completely destroyed. Hogwarts still Sorts. Albus apparently resembles his father greatly, which I would take to mean he's short and skinny with black hair and confirmed green eyes. What greater honour could Snape have wished than for a child of Lily's eyes and of Lily's blood to bear his name?
5) James Potter (mark 2) He is the oldest, so was probably born before 2004. It is likely that he has his mother's brown eyes, since Albus is the only one of the three who inherited his father's green ones. James has been at Hogwarts at least one year. We do not know what house he was Sorted to, except that it wasn't Slytherin (though he doesn't really see anything wrong with being a Slytherin, either). The best guess is Gryffindor, like the rest of his family, and the best guess for his middle name is, of course, Sirius. The brothers Potter, we are told, do not share a room.
6) Harry and Ginny are apparently married now. Like we couldn't have guessed that. Though, of course, you don't have to write it that way, since it's not explicitly stated.
7) Percy Weasley is on the platform. He must have school-aged children too. Did he and Penelope get their act together, or is he with someone else now?
8) Ron and Hermione are also married. Another easy guess. And Ron apparently got his Muggle drivers license. Not entirely morally, though. They have, it seems, named their children "Rose" and "Hugo". Where in hell did those names come from? My only guesses are A) those are Hermione's parents' names, and she's making up for the guilt of years of neglect, or B) they are being cute and giving their kids their own initials, but with the genders reversed.
9) Rose "Rosie" Weasley. Rose is apparently also starting her first year at Hogwarts, and so was born in 2005/06 like Albus. They are first cousins, so back off, 'shippers!
10) Hugo Weasley. Hugo is younger than his sister, and probably close in age to his cousin Lily for them to be getting along as well as they are. His birthdate would be sometime within a few years after 2006.
11) The Malfoys. Draco is balding (I'll try not to gloat, because of course all fangirls want their favourites to age gracefully) and has married an unnamed woman who is probably not anyone Harry ever knew at all, or he would think of her by name. She must be a pureblood, since Ron implies that Draco's son is one. Perhaps she was even a Slytherin a year or two above or below the trio. Few of them were ever named. Draco acknowledges the trio with a curt nod. They are not friends, but there is some sort of mutual, wary respect.
12) Scorpius Malfoy. Draco appears to have one child, who greatly resembles him, and he has gone and given him a name that will get the stuffing beaten out of him in the first week. There's not even any good nicknames you can get out of that. It seems that he, too, is starting his first year at Hogwarts (born 2005/06). His mere existence has ignited a whole new 'shipping war: Albus/Scorpius vs Scorpius/Rose. Have fun with it, you guys. How much do you want to bet this kid gets sorted into Hufflepuff? I'd love that.
13) Arthur Weasley is still alive and kicking. Ron speaks of him in the present tense, saying he'll be disappointed if his granddaughter marries a pureblood.
14) Victoire Weasley. I admit, it took me a while to figure out who this must be, but in my defence, I was really tired by the time I got to this point in the book. The French name should have tipped me off that this is Bill and Fleur's daughter. Jo calls her their eldest, so they much have more. "Victoire" of course means "victory", which leads me to believe she was not born too long after the war ended. Indeed, if she is a seventh year, then she was born in 1999/2000, not much more than a year after Voldemort's defeat.
15) Teddy Lupin. He's all grown up and he apparently likes girls. How disappointing. He would be nineteen now, so he's left Hogwarts. He's only here today seeing his girlfriend off on the train. Much to my own relief, Teddy was not, apparently, raised by Harry, his godfather. He comes around for dinner several times a week, but no doubt grew up with his grandmother, like Neville did.
16) Harry still has Fabian's watch. Just wanted to note it.
17) Professor Longbottom. Professor Sprout has died or retired, and Neville has stepped into her shoes. He has apparently not married. The Potter kids know him well and by his first name, though they know to use his title at school, and are too embarrassed to express affection in front of their classmates. "I can't walk into Herbology and give him love ..." *giggle* I just can't quite bring myself to slash this generation yet. But...there's nothing especially contradicting my proposed Neville/Harry/Ginny fic here.
18) The kids can't see Thestrals. Their lives have been safe. The dangers of the war have passed, and they have grown up in a time of relative peace.
19) Hagrid is still alive. He must be getting on towards 90 now, but he's still around and inviting Harry's kids to tea.
20) Harry calls Snape the bravest man he ever knew. *wells up* Harry lost any hard feelings toward others on his journey into the afterlife. He learned forgiveness and he learned about second chances and he learned that everyone has good within them if you can only find a way to draw it out. Snape dedicated his life to fighting Voldemort because he loved Harry's mother. Harry honours his service now with respect and forgiveness.
21) Harry doesn't mind if his son is in Slytherin. But he tells him that if it matters to him, he can ask the Hat for what he wants. I wonder if the Hat ever tells students flat out that they can't be in the house they really want? I sort of imagined something like that happened to Sirius. He was Sorted into Gryffindor when everyone in his family, and presumably he himself, expected him to be sorted into Slytherin.
22) Ron: "I'm extremely famous." *giggle* Well, no doubt he is, but he's not as famous as Harry Potter. Do these kids not know that their father/uncle is more or less Jesus? You'd think someone would have mentioned ....
23) The unmentioned Weasley. Jo stated during a recent Q&A that George Weasley named his eldest son "Fred". Presumably he's at school with this lot, but we don't really know how old he is or who his mother might be. I just wanted to give him a mention here with the rest.
~ THE END ~
It's been a lot of fun reading with you guys. I'm going to miss this, even if it means I have a couple more hours in my day from now on to play with. And I'll miss you guys, too. Please feel free to add me if you like. I use this journal purely for fandom stuff, which for me means it's about 98% Harry Potter (though I've recently been inducted into the cult of Doctor Who). I guess I'll be seeing you around the fandom.
Farewell!