Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Deathly Hallows/Epilogue
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[edit] Synopsis
The epilogue is the final chapter of both Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and the Harry Potter series. It is set 19 years after Voldemort's defeat at the Battle of Hogwarts. Harry and Ginny are married and have three children, James Sirius, Albus Severus, and Lily Luna. They are at King's Cross to see off their two boys to Hogwarts, where Neville Longbottom is now the Herbology professor. James, the eldest, is already at Hogwarts, while Albus Severus, 11, is starting his first year. Lily, two years his junior, is moaning – very much as Ginny did in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone – about being unable to go. Also present are Ron and Hermione, likewise married and with their own two children, Rose, who is also just starting Hogwarts, and Hugo. Ron tells Harry he has just passed a Muggle driving test after confunding the examiner – but he does not want Hermione to know. In passing, Harry sees Draco Malfoy and his wife with their son, Scorpius. Malfoy acknowledges Harry with a curt nod. Teddy Lupin, Remus' and Tonks' orphaned son, is spotted kissing Victoire Weasley, Bill and Fleur's daughter. Albus is worried that he will be sorted into Slytherin, but Harry reassures him and says that he is named after two Hogwarts Headmasters; one was a Slytherin (Snape) and possibly the bravest man he ever knew. Harry also confides to Albus that the Sorting Hat takes the student's own choice into consideration, as it had done for Harry when he was Sorted - something Harry has never told his other children. After the Hogwarts Express leaves, Ginny comforts Harry, saying their children will be fine. Harry reflects on his scar: it has not bothered him for 19 years. The epilogue ends with: "All was well."
[edit] Analysis
Rowling's epilogue provides a satisfying, but sketchy, update on the characters' post-Voldemort lives. However, in post-book release interviews, J. K. Rowling has given additional information. Harry and Ron are Aurors for the Ministry of Magic, although Ron also worked for a time in George's joke shop, which has become quite successful. The Ministry has radically changed from what it once was, and both Harry and Ron have been instrumental in overhauling the Auror department. Harry is now its head. Kingsley Shacklebolt is the Minister for Magic, with Percy Weasley working under him in a high position. Hermione also works for the Ministry in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and has also done much to improve life for non-human magical beings. Luna Lovegood pursues her interest in biology, and searches the world for magical and unusual creatures. She eventually marries Rolf, the grandson of the noted naturalist, Newt Scamander. Curiously, although Draco has married and has a child, Rowling does not identify his wife in the book. In the "J. K. Rowling... A Year In The Life" documentary created by ITV in the UK, the author does draw out family trees for the Weasley family, and a small tree for Draco, showing that he is married to one Asteria Greengrass, who did not appear in the books, and his son is named Scorpius Hyperion. The same tree indicates that George married one Angelina (quite probably Angelina Johnson), and has children named Fred and Roxanne. It is from this family tree that we learn Harry's eldest son's full name; in the book, he is only ever called James.
[edit] Questions
[edit] Review
- Whom did Harry name his second eldest son after? Why?
- What might Harry and Draco's relationship be today, based on how they interacted at King's Cross Station?
- Why doesn't Ron want Hermione to know about his driving test details? Based on this experience, do you believe the two have changed much over all these years?
[edit] Further Study
- Overall, how have the characters lives changed after Lord Voldemort's death, and could it be said that they've all changed for the better?
[edit] Greater Picture
Many fans have expressed annoyance at this epilogue, and at the post-publication interviews giving extra, and perhaps extraneous, details of the characters careers after the close of the main sequence of events. It is not the place of this work to criticize the epilogue in this manner; it is part of the published work, we should not debate the merits of its inclusion. We will mention that it does seem to show the ongoing development of the characters in the series. Neville, for example, has played to his strength, becoming an instructor of Herbology, his best subject at school. We see that, rather than remaining sworn enemies, as presumably their parents had been, Harry and Draco have achieved a nodding relationship, signifying that Draco has mellowed over the years. We see that Ron largely retains his immaturity in small ways, though in other ways he has matured significantly. And we see that Harry has gained what he has wanted all his life, a loving and stable family. This confirmation of the character development we expected has the effect of reassuring us that, while our long attachment to these characters perforce has ended, they have prospered since we left them, and so eases the pain of our parting with them.
Details given by the author in post-publication interviews, however, seem less pertinent. In particular, the small facts given concerning the future of various characters, while true to the characters themselves, often feel made up to quiet the fans, rather than being organically part of the characters we have come to know. For instance, in one interview, the author mentioned that Neville had married Hannah Abbott, now landlady of the Leaky Cauldron. This information seems to us something that could have been made up on the spur of the moment, in order to provide a pat answer to the question. For the sake of completeness, Neville should marry; Hannah Abbott is as good a choice as any. But making her the innkeeper at the Cauldron seems, if you will, tacked on, not a part of the little character of Hannah that has been exposed to us. For his reason, while we have reported some small details of what has been "revealed" since publication, we do not feel that it is worth cataloging such.
