Finished Deathly Hallows? SPOILERS WILL PROBABLY ABOUND.- Page 12

[GuitarGirl]

Posted: 7/26/07 at 10:39pm

^ That was my initial reaction.

It sucks that everyone I know is either a)not up to that book, b)not done with it, or c) doesn't read Harry Potter.

[RENTingFAME]

Posted: 7/26/07 at 11:43pm

People have been pissed at me for taking my time. But I'm glad I did, and I'm still sad it's over.

I hated the epilogue. DH is my favorite now; I just wish it was missing the last paragraph of the last chapter and the epilogue.

[GuitarGirl]

Posted: 7/27/07 at 8:40am

I didn't mind the epilogue. It was sort of too sweet, but it doesn't annoy me to know end. I like the first ending better, definitely.

My mom has been wanting to read the book for awhile, so she got upset when I took my time.

Did anyone catch JKR's interview this morning? I caught the tail end, when she talked about her mother, which house she'd like to be in, the Harry Potter theme park in Universal Studios (wow!), and how the characters are defined by their views on death.

[Anakela]

Posted: 7/27/07 at 10:20am

Question for those of us who were not fans of the epilogue: would you have enjoyed it if it had been written in a narrator form, rather than with the dialog? I know it wouldn't have fit in with the writing style of the rest of the series, but...

I've been thinking about it, and I actually really love the *idea* of the epilogue- the 19 years later, the children on their way to Hogwarts, getting that glimpse into the next generation, etc. But I think where the epilogue lost me was the dialog- I just found it *such* cheese that I was actually a little disappointed by it. And I think if it had just been a narration I would have really liked it. I don't know, just a thought.

[Pippin]

Posted: 7/27/07 at 10:47am

"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.”
Photos by Andrew Kandel for TODAYshow.com
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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.”

rowling gives us more of the epilogue

Updated On: 7/27/07 at 10:47 AM

[uncageg]

Posted: 7/27/07 at 10:53am

I watched this morning's interview. She talked about the last line in the book. (Which I heard that she knew what it would be all along but changed it) I kind of like the last line she had at first about Ron and Hermoine being the only people to be able to see his scar. (Or something to that affect). But she said that the line she replaced it with "just felt right". Looking foreward to Sunday.

[GuitarGirl]

Posted: 7/27/07 at 11:19am

That would be interesting, if that was the case. But then again, so many people were involved in the fight that it would be odd if only Ron and Hermione could see the scar. The "All was well" ending line is nice.

Personally, I felt the epilogue was cheesy, yes because of the dialogue, but also partly because of the children's names, in Harry's case. It was nice, though. By the way, I was readin a topic on another site which speculates the middle names of Harry's children James and Lily. Popular choices were James Sirius (I like this one) and Lily Molly or Lily Ginevra (I like this one better).

[Pippin]

Posted: 7/27/07 at 11:46am

I laughed out loud during this book more than any of the others. I think Rowling struck the perfect balance between scary and funny moments. Did anyone else think this was the funniest book she has written as well?

[GuitarGirl]

Posted: 7/27/07 at 12:03pm

I thought some parts were hilarious, but I can't yet say if it was the funniest. It's up there, though.

[Anakela]

Posted: 7/27/07 at 12:20pm

By the way, I was readin a topic on another site which speculates the middle names of Harry's children James and Lily. Popular choices were James Sirius (I like this one) and Lily Molly or Lily Ginevra (I like this one better).


I think his name is James Dobby. :)
I kid, I kid, I totally assumed the kid's names was James Sirius once we learned Albus' middle name was Severus.

I just don't see Ginevra- there was no Harry Potter Jr, so they just didn't seem like the kind of parents who had to name the kids after themselves directly like that. I could see them passing down the middle name Molly, though...or, I actually kinda like Minerva, but that's just me.

[GuitarGirl]

Posted: 7/27/07 at 12:46pm

It seems fitting, in the "James Sirius" case, because Harry loved Sirius so much it would be weird if he didn't have some living tribute to him (to go with his parents, Snape-of all people, and his mother). Besides, James and Sirius were like brothers, so yet again, the whole "James Sirius" thing would make sense.

It could be one of those things that ends up in that encyclopedia.

[RENTingFAME]

Posted: 7/27/07 at 1:37pm

I'm speculating about who got Fred as a middle name...

[GuitarGirl]

Posted: 7/27/07 at 1:42pm

Lily.

Kidding, kidding... :P

Possible Hugo.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 7/27/07 at 3:43pm

I'm not crazy about the epilogue as is, but I know I'd hate it if it were a departure in narrative style. I don't think the way it was written that was the problem, rather, the content. The descriptions and dialogue gave me absolutely no feel for characterization or...anything. One of the things I'd most want answered by an epilogue is what the characters are like now, not even in terms of careers, etc., but just the sort of people they'd matured into being. That's what was missing for me.

...Did I just reply to a message that was deleted? Updated On: 7/27/07 at 03:43 PM

[GuitarGirl]

Posted: 7/27/07 at 4:02pm

Well, the epilogue did show how Harry had grown to accept people from all houses, which was done by his accepting that Snape was a brave and good man.

Ron seemed the same, but I wasn't surprised by that.

[Ariella]

Posted: 7/27/07 at 4:42pm

So much of the epilogue was a foregone conclusion once the book revealed that neither Harry, Ron, Hermione, or Ginny died. Naturally the couples married and naturally they are good parents. I agree with Siren; there's no revelation in that, no window into who the characters have become nineteen years later. I'd have been curious to see how such unusual adolescences affected them later and life - essentially how the story told in the books might play out. Perhaps Rowling was making the point that the characters are ordinary now, but in light of her recent interviews that doesn't make sense. If they're "revolutionizing" the ministry and "creating a New Order," that's hardly ordinary and mundane. I think some of this information she's revealing now could have had a place in the epilogue, thus making it more profound.

[RENTingFAME]

Posted: 7/27/07 at 6:45pm

I agree, Ariella.

The end felt like a lot of fluff compared with everything else. I could just see Albus's face though... "What if I'm put in Slytherin?" So cute and sad.

[GuitarGirl]

Posted: 7/27/07 at 6:50pm

I love how Harry was so understanding of him. James reminded reminded me a little of Harry's father.

[Ariella]

Posted: 7/27/07 at 8:53pm

Yes, James Jr. seemed to be very well named. The fact that Rowling recycled the names gave the end of the book a cyclical feeling, with another happy generation heading off to Hogwarts. I wonder if/when the next James will be presented with the cloak.

[GuitarGirl]

Posted: 7/27/07 at 8:57pm

Good question. Possible when he leaves Hogwarts, as a sort of graduation gift.

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 7/27/07 at 11:58pm

James Jr. reminded me of Fred more than anyone else. I think Albus will get the cloak.

[GuitarGirl]

Posted: 7/28/07 at 9:02am

That's actually a really good question...I think James, being the oldest, should logically get the cloak, but maybe Harry might feel that Albus would be a little more responsible, so he might give it to him.

Ginny might want to give it to Lily.

[Ariella]

Posted: 7/29/07 at 7:58pm

I just watched the 1-hour feature with Rowling. It included the segments shown earlier in the week with a lot more details.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 7/29/07 at 8:13pm

A lot more? I actually felt that there was a very frustrating lack of new material. At least 3/4ths of the actual interview footage was what they showed on Today on Thursday and Friday. It was interesting to get the actors' reactions, but overall it was kind of unfulfilling.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/29/07 at 8:18pm

Ginny might want to give it to Lily.

It's Harry's to pass on. I really liked that he paid such tribute to Snape, because in the end, it's not an "of all people" kind of thing, to me. Harry is perfectly aware of what Snape did for him, and so much of what happened became clear. It doesn't excuse his bitterness and cruelty, but it's not as though Harry named his child after someone who he'll remember for torturing him.

Dateline was totally unfulfilling and self-indulgent.