The Harry Potter Spoilers Thread

[Obi Chris Kenobi 0]

I just felt it was really cheesy and wasn't needed

[Anakin Flair 0]

J.K. Rowling gave an interview to the Today show, in which she gave some more insights on what happened during those 19 years.

 

From NBC.com:

 

Finished ‘Potter’? Rowling tells what happens next

Exclusive: Author gives details on events after the book’s final epilogue

 

NBC News video

 

Exclusive: J.K. Rowling on final 'Potter'

July 26: J.K. Rowling talks to TODAY's Meredith Vieira about the final "Harry Potter" book and the aftermath of certain characters.

Today show

 

 

TODAY exclusive

 

AP

In her only television interview after the highly anticipated release of the seventh and final installment in the Harry Potter series, author J.K. Rowling sat down with NBC's Meredith Vieira in Edinburgh, Scotland, to discuss the conclusion of her series for the first time. Tune in to TODAY on Friday, July 27, to see more of the interview.

 

By Jen Brown

TODAYShow.com contributor

Updated: 6:38 a.m. CT July 26, 2007

Spoiler alert: This story reveals some key plot points in the final Harry Potter book. So if you've haven't finished the book, J.K. Rowling asks that you not read this story.

 

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.”

Photos by Andrew Kandel for TODAYshow.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

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.”

 

Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19959323/

[Mik 0]

It's nice to see a writer who cared about her story so much.

 

I anxiously await her next project.

[NYU 0]

True. It's a shame she couldn't teach David Chase how to write a proper finale.

[Brett Favre 0]

Chase would've ended it when Harry finished talking to Dumbledore.

[Maztinho 0]

I just felt it was really cheesy and wasn't needed

 

Maybe it's just my nature but I love endings that tell the future of characters to a point. Like the end of Animal House, I love that shit, so the ending worked beautifully for me.

[hyperchord24 0]

I always thought that Harry would make a terrible Auror. Ever since reading about the DA, I always thought he would be a teacher at Hogwarts and eventually headmaster. I thought that would be more realistic, rather than him becoming what he always wanted. I mean, come on, when does that happen in real life? He always thought hogwarts was home to him, why not be there as your job?

[Maztinho 0]

Auror's fight Dark Magic... that's the perfect job for Harry. What would have been unrealistic if he'd become a World Champion Quidditch player out of left field, even though he was skilled at the sport.

 

 

[hyperchord24 0]

Auror's fight Dark Magic... that's the perfect job for Harry. What would have been unrealistic if he'd become a World Champion Quidditch player out of left field, even though he was skilled at the sport.

That's far from a normal life. He's been wanting a normal, happy life since the day he was born.

[Maztinho 0]

Actually it is a normal life, it's a regular job. He's a Wizard Cop. He's not Minister of Magic, he's not like I said a Quidditch player, or Headmaster of Hogwarts, or even a Teacher there. Auror is a typical wizarding job. Going beyond the school that he felt like his only home is the most typical thing a person could do. Holding onto Hogwart's was something that Tom Riddle wanted to do.

 

Harry had a wife and three kids, he worked a normal job for a Wizard, and seemed content. That's normal.

 

He was famous for the same reason he was always famous, but other than that, he was just Harry. Ron joking to the kids "I'm quite famous" when they didn't know why all the other students where staring was proof that Harry's kids didn't think he was anything but a normal Dad.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

found this at another site:

 

[Craig Th 0]

They should do a spin-off with Neville. I fuckin love him.

[Obi Chris Kenobi 0]

Yeah, I was a bit upset there wasn't so much Neville Longbottom in the book, but the bit there was really heart warming. And to think he's now Head of Gryffindor. I was expecting him to get the killing blow on Bellatrix and co though.

[Craig Th 0]

Yeah, but I think Mrs. Weasley needed something to show how good of a witch she is. Well it makes sense; she has always been portrayed as a caring mother and when Bellatrix tried to kill one of her kids, she flipped out.

 

I wonder what J.K. is going to do next. No matter WHAT she does, it won't live up to the Harry Potter. Does anyone think she will try to do another series? Or just little things?

[benn 0]

I read somewhere that she was planning to put out a couple of young children's books that she's been working on for a while.

[Obi Chris Kenobi 0]

Yeah, there was a thing in the paper saying she's currently writing two stories - one for children and one for adults. She said that's how Harry Potter started, that she was writing two different stories at once and Harry Potter took over, so she stuck with it, she didn't give any details if the stories were fantasy or something totally different.

 

And yeah, you're write about Mrs. Weasley, it really was a powerful 'HOLY SHIT!' moment in the book for me when she started to kick off.

[benn 0]

It was a great moment but I still think that Bellatrix's fate should have been up to Neville. It would have been better for Mrs. Weasley to take out Greyback making a pass at Ginny since there's also the history of him mauling Bill.

[Brett Favre 0]

But Neville chopping the snakes head off was pretty cool.

[Jingus 0]

I think you're all missing one thing: Neville wasn't going to "take out" anyone, period. There wasn't a single instance of a kid killing anyone, anywhere in the entire Harry Potter series (except maybe for Young Voldemort, but even that one's iffy). I understand why she wrote it that way, children's books and all, but I thought it was kind of weird that you had kids being killed, tortured, etc, but none of them ever snapped and killed someone themselves. The rare times a minor caused someone's death (Crabbe, Voldemort) it was always by accident. So, Neville wasn't gonna kill Lestrange, so she had Mama Weezy do it instead.

[LaParkaYourCar 0]

Yeah having a kid kill someone might have been a bit much. Other than Harry killing Voldemort of course, but that had to happen.

 

I finished reading the book the other day and it is easily my favorite of the 7 books. So many powerful moments...I would hate to see a hack job movie made of this one. I was marking out left and right while reading this book. As a big Ron/Hermione supporter I loved the scene where Ron destroyed the locket. Such a powerfully emotional scene with the Horcrux taunting Ron about Hermione never loving him and then sealing the deal by forcing Ron to watch an image of Harry and Hermione kissing. Ron stabbing the locket and then breaking down into tears was incredible writing.

 

Of course this book was filled with moments like that.

[Jingus 0]

Yeah having a kid kill someone might have been a bit much. Other than Harry killing Voldemort of course, but that had to happen.

 

The rare times a minor caused someone's death (Crabbe, Voldemort) it was always by accident.

 

Harry was just trying to disarm him. It was one of those kinda annoying "PG-13 children's entertainment" endings where the villain had to die, but the author didn't want to seem un-PC by actually having our heroes kill him, so he just ended up dead by coincedence instead.

[Anakin Flair 0]

Yeah having a kid kill someone might have been a bit much. Other than Harry killing Voldemort of course, but that had to happen.

 

I finished reading the book the other day and it is easily my favorite of the 7 books. So many powerful moments...I would hate to see a hack job movie made of this one. I was marking out left and right while reading this book. As a big Ron/Hermione supporter I loved the scene where Ron destroyed the locket. Such a powerfully emotional scene with the Horcrux taunting Ron about Hermione never loving him and then sealing the deal by forcing Ron to watch an image of Harry and Hermione kissing. Ron stabbing the locket and then breaking down into tears was incredible writing.

 

Of course this book was filled with moments like that.

 

I loved that, but the scene I liked even more was at the end, when Ron stood up for the Horse Elves and Hermione just dropped everything and snogged him sensless; meanwhile Harry's standing over to the side saying "Hey, Guys? There's a war going on..."

[Craig Th 0]

Yeah having a kid kill someone might have been a bit much. Other than Harry killing Voldemort of course, but that had to happen.

 

The rare times a minor caused someone's death (Crabbe, Voldemort) it was always by accident.

 

Harry was just trying to disarm him. It was one of those kinda annoying "PG-13 children's entertainment" endings where the villain had to die, but the author didn't want to seem un-PC by actually having our heroes kill him, so he just ended up dead by coincedence instead.

I got it the idea that Harry DID kill Voldemort.

 

He was the rightful owner of the Elder Wand, so when Voldy shot the killing curse at Harry, Harry used expelliamus against it. That reflected it and shot at Voldy.

 

Harry killed Voldy. But I could have read that wrong.

 

EDIT: I just read that again and thats what I am getting out of it.

[Jingus 0]

Since when does expelliarmus reflect another spell back at the caster? Before now, all it's ever done is just knock the wand out of their hand.

[Craig Th 0]

Yeah, but the way she describes it, it sounds like it deflected the spell.

 

How else did it happen?

 

[Jingus 0]

Like I said, sounded like sheer magical accident, which seems to happen a lot in Rowling's universe. I vaguely recall Snape talking one time about being able to block spells and return them to sender, but Harry never learned how to do that. Certainly that particular spell has never been portrayed as powerful enough to not only stop but reverse a killing curse.

[Obi Chris Kenobi 0]

I'm guessing its just like in silly Manga cartoons where two guys are shooting coloured shit out of their hands at each other, and the beams meet in the middle and some power struggle happens, only for one guy to over come and send his enemy's beam flying back at him.

[benn 0]

I'm not saying that Neville should have actually killed Lestrange, because then you have his character losing his innocence just like if Draco had gone ahead with killing Dumbledore. I just think it should have been him who took her down, whether he just disarmed her and was like "I'm not going to kill you because I'm better than you" or stunned her or whatever, it doesn't really matter. In my opinion his parents should have been avenged.

[CanadianChris 0]

I'll take a stab at it...

 

Before the spells were cast, Harry speculated that the Elder Wand might know he was its true master instead of Voldemort. If that's true, Voldemort couldn't use the wand to kill its rightful master, and any spell he tried to cast against Harry with the wand might be reflected back by any spell Harry (as the wand's true master) performed on him.

 

Sheer guesswork, I know, but I can't think of another reasonable explanation.

[vivalaultra 0]

Well, remember earlier in the novel, after the '7 Harrys' episode where Lupin was telling Harry that his 'trademark' Expelliarmus wasn't going to cut it and he was going to have to use Killing Curses if he wanted to defeat Voldemort and the Death Eaters. I thought it was kinda poignant with Harry using the Expelliarmus spell to defeat Voldemort. As for why it actually killed him, I think it was a combination of Harry being the rightful owner of the Elder Wand and the same reason that Voldemort couldn't kill Harry in the first place-because Harry's mother's sacrfice gave him extra protection where Voldemort's spells couldn't hurt him, similar to when Voldemort cast a spell at Harry during the first chase and Harry cast a spell that he had never heard of and had never learned, even though Voldy was using a wand that didn't have a twin core shared with Harry's wand; it was Lilly Potter's love that protected Harry.