The Epilogue -- What did you think?

[parselmouth777]

I thought it would get a 8/10 . I wish that it would have been longer. I also wish that Ron's son wouldn't have been named Hugo. I think he should have been named Fred or Arthur or something...

[fruitia pickleweed]

Originally Posted by parselmouth777

....I also wish that Ron's son wouldn't have been named Hugo....

Just noticed that "Hugo Weasley" is also a little hard to pronounce.

Originally Posted by Wimsey

That simply is not true. People get over the deaths of loved ones. Yes, there are occasional poignent reminders: but in day-to-day life, one does not spend much time grieving for lost parents/grandparents/mentors/etc., especially if they have "here and now" things to occupy their attentions....Again, I can testify from personal experience that this is simply not true. I, myself, have the life that I want despite loss. Sure, sometimes something reminds me of my parents/grandparents/etc., and that is momentarily a bit sad, but that also is part of life....I am hardly unique in this: most people I know have lost close family members by now, yet they continue. It is always the same thing: once in a while, something reminds of the lost person, but most of the time, you are just living your life.

Certainly many people "get over" deaths that occur in the course of nature, in the sense that they don't think about them 99.9% of the time. But these are aggravated circumstances: before the age of 18 Harry has experienced the deaths of both his parents, Sirius, Cedric, Dumbledore, Hedwig, Moody, Lupin, Fred, Tonks, Colin, and dozens of others in a seven-year battle for the soul of the wizarding world starting when he was 1 1/2 years old. He has faced, from the age of 11, responsibilities and dangers that most adults never do. What happened to him was more like coming through World War II...in Germany!...than it was like the losses that most most us suffer at some point. Ask some WWII combat veterans if they "got over" it. They may be quiet about it, but few are unmarked by the experience.

In the epilogue, Harry is in the train station where it all in a sense started...a place that was even mirrored in his private version of the antechamber to "afterlife"...with his children headed off to the place where he "saved the world"...and none of this crosses his mind at the time?

However, it is fiction. In real life, a child actually raised in a cupboard under the stairs, treated like a servant, and regularly beaten up by Dudley would not likely have grown into a nice boy like Harry, anyway. Possibly there was some unmentioned charm placed on him to inoculate against psychological trauma.

[wicked87]

I just re-read the book for the third time, and I still wasn't crazy about the epilogue. I don't hate it like I did-but the names still really bothered me because whenever I heard those names I envisioned their real counterparts-like Harry was talking to a version of his father, if that makes sense. And the fact that we see so little of Ron and Hermione bothered me. But it was nice for Harry to finally be happy and safe.

[bevblack]

I thought that the Epilogue was just about right. It showed clearly that Harry was happy and that end of Voldemort had made a better world for them all. It showed that the houses were not united but that the hatred between them ahd gone (Harry was happy for Albus to potentially be in Slytherin). JK couldn't possible fill in the gaps on everyone -she'd have had to have written a whole other book! All sorts of people get fleeting mentions - you can work out wuite a lot of details if you think it through. The only thing missing in my opinion was that Luna wasn't mentioned at all. Very glad that H and G got it together in the end. I thought name choices were fine - remember we don't know any middle names for James and Lily - I bet Ginny made sure there were some Weasley references in there!And cute that R and H had a mini R and H!

[Thinktank]

I don't have a very clear opinion of the epilogue one way or the other. When I read it I thought it was incredibly cheesy and rushed, like it only took five minutes to write it. I came pretty close to just setting the book aside until I got to the part where Albus Severus's full name is revealed. That pretty much made up for all the cheese in the preceding six pages.

I see the point Jo was trying to make with the epilogue, showing how the characters had moved on after the war while still maintaining this air of mystery about them. But yeah, at times it read like a work of fan-fiction, like Harry naming his kids Lily and James, or Teddy snogging Victoire. Those parts just made me cringe.

[perry]

i don't know whether this has been discussed in this thread (haven't been through the whole thing yet) so forgive me in advance if it has:

why does the epilogue take place "19 years later" why not say, 10 or 15 or 20? that would be september 1st, 2017 if my calculation's right. is there any significance to the date other than the start of hogwart's school year? is there any significance to the year 2017 relating to characters/events in the series? is there some other external event that's somehow symbolized in this date/year? maybe i'm just reading too much into this. i just thought that the choice of timeframe had some significance.

[VenomBDP]

I actually thought the epilogue was fitting. My wife felt it was too clean and perfect for a book so dark, but I felt that, BECAUSE of how dark the book (and the one before it!) was, there NEEDED to be a 'happily ever after', especially considering the fairy-tale nature of the series. My only complaint is that Harry didn't name either of his boys after Sirius. But hey. Minor complaint.

[huckleberry]

THe epilogue was satisfying. That ended some of my longing questions. But I hoped to see something about The ministry, George, and Hogwart's new headmaster.

[Khanh]

The epilogue was very poor in my opinion !

If I could start a new thread 'Mark the Harry Potter book 7"

Outstanding:
Exceed Expectation:
Acceptable: I would just mark A
Poor:
Dreadful:
Troll:

[HedwigOwl]

Originally Posted by sparkly

I think there was some of the "inner Harry" we've become used to. I don't have my book with me, but Harry feels a sense of loss as he waves good-bye to his second son, the one who looks most like him. I was right there with Harry as he looked at Albus, remembering what it was like to be scared to get on the train, to wonder what House he would join and his unspoken dread of being sorted into Slytherin. We don't have the explicit comparison, but it was easy for me as a reader to extrapolate from what I was given to what Harry was thinking.

I think the comparisons to their own experiences would have less effect because Harry and Ginny had already seen one son off to Hogwarts. That would have been the time for the comparisons. Now Harry is over the first time and now he can concentrate on his son. Harry doesn't need to remember how he felt 25 years ago - he did that last year.

I agree, and we also see that Harry still has shadows from his past trauma, as he lowers his hand from the long wave goodbye, the absent-minded touch to his scar.

I've read the book in its entirety twice, and have read a few more times from the apparating to Hogsmeade to the end. Each time, my appreciation of the epilogue grew, there is much to be found there. And after all, it is meant to give only a glimpse. Also, given that the epilogue takes place 19 years later and the age of the trio's children, it seems there were at least a few years before they got married and had a family, so the post-trauma issues were implied indirecty -- and I don't think I would have wanted a more direct description.

[hermyweasly]

Actually my friend didn't like the epilogue cause she didn't find Ron a grown man. She thinks that he is still 17 year-old. All that cause he acted childish in the Driving test as he confunded the tester and lied to Hermione!! I actually see that as a joke nothing more.

[Redhart]

Hmmmm ....To tell you the truth, I was a bit disappointed. There was just a little "too" much good natured laughing and chuckling, like an old episode of "Father Knows Best" or "Leave it to Beaver." I kept expecting Harry to pull out a pipe and call one of the kids, "The Beav". While it did serve the purpose of tying up some loose ends and letting us know how the characters progressed, I did find it (as another poster described) a bit "cheesy."

I also got lost in all the kids names. I had to re-read it all to get it straight between all the new names, who was from which parental set, and needed a snogging program. But then, that may just be me. I have so many kids I do that at home, too (er...less the snogging program. They would never do that in front of me! )

The book and series, overall, were exemplary. Perhaps that's why I expected a bit more depth in the epilogue. You can't have everything It wasn't so bad that I was gagging, either, but I just felt she could have done a bit more with it. After writing seven books in all those years, I can certainly forgive her a "Father Knows Best" departure .

[xoxtapdancexox]

Originally Posted by rotsiepots

Honestly, I thought it was a little bit ... umm ... unnecessary? That's not the right word, I don't think, but I'm struggling to come up with a more appropriate one. I sort of felt it demystified too much, possibly. Or maybe I'm just too inarticulate at the moment to really describe how I feel? Anyone else?

Plus I thought Harry and Ginny's choice of names was slightly creepy!

maybe the right words are she wrapped it up too much?

[KinDzaDza]

I think the epilogue was absolutely unnecessary and lousy.

Even the 7th book finished far away from what I expected, but it was at least the good ending. When JKR saved Harry’s life, even though she promised to “completely” complete the series, I feel very fine with that, I feel actually happy.
In my opinion the last conversation and short last battle between Harry and Voldy was written very well; celebration of victory; last conversation between Dumbledore and Harry – everything are very well described.

And suddenly… the Epilogue.

“Nineteen years later”. Okay, I said to myself, making quick calculation, so Harry, Hermione and Ron they are 37, Ginny is 36… grown-up folk. I closed my eyes and tried to imagine every one of them as adult. Hmm, not easy task, but let’s start to read… And I started to read.

When I finished the chapter I felt disappointed. I suddenly feel like I am reading the Sci-Fi, all mystery of Harry Potter books disappeared. Why did JKR even write this epilogue? I heard that by this she wanted to let us know that Teddy Lupin is a normal human. But there are the thousand other ways to let us know about it.

The epilogue shows us Ron, who did not grow up a bit mentally or “wizardry”. I was not able to imaging him as a Man at all. I tried to compare him with Snape in the first book, who also was about 36-37 years old at that time. Not even comparable.
No much information about the other characters life was provided. We knew perfectly that Ron and Hermione or Harry and Ginny will marry at the end. But what’s happened in their life since the end of the 7th book? Did Harry become an Auror? Does he work in the MOM? What’s Hermione doing in her life? And I wanted to know about others live as well. What about Luna? What’s happened to her? Did I overlook that info somehow?

Funny to say, but I wanted to know whom Draco was married to.

The kid’s names like Albus Severus or Scorpius by my opinion are ridiculous and pathetic. Scorpius.. phff.. why not Viperus?!



To Serric...

Originally Posted by Serric

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I was pretty disappointed with how the Deathly Hallows turned out. Not just the epilogue, but several events. I think the book was good and wrapped up the series nicely, but it left me feeling as if something were missing.

So I have decided to indulge in a little guilty pleasure and note, once and for all, for all to see, how I would have altered the events in the final half of the book. Agree or disagree, that is your choice, but this is what would have made me put down Deathly Hallows and said “Wow! That was a really good book.”

Firstly, Snape’s death, to me, was a waste of a character. I would have changed that slightly. In my mind, Snape’s entire character was built up for a major climatic moment that never came. I would have re-written the scene of Voldemort and Snape in the Shrieking Shack and have added Harry present. In fact, I would have had Harry be there first, about to get his butt kicked by Voldemort, and have Snape enter the scene. Voldemort, taking great pleasure in his right-hand man being present, would have allowed Snape the final blow; a reward for putting up with Harry for six years. Snape would have agreed and spilled out some witty monologue, then, at the last moment, turn his wand against Voldemort.

Of course, Voldemort, trusting no one, would have reacted quickly and struck Snape down, but would have suffered damage severe enough for him to make a hasty escape, especially if Ron and Hermione were coming on to the scene, outnumbering Voldemort three to one.

As Snape lay dying a hero’s death, he could have still shared his secret with Harry. Perhaps this would be why Harry would later choose to give the name Severus to one of his children instead of Sirius.

Secondly, in the final battle in Hogwart’s, I would have had Voldemort and Harry actually duel a little more instead of a one-short kill but with one major twist; I would not have had Voldemort strike Harry down in the forest. Voldemort wouldn’t know Harry was a horcrux and, therefore, would not hesitate to attack him. Of course, Harry wouldn’t actually actively murder Voldemort (at the risk of shredding his own soul) but would act in self defense and strike the final blow. Now Harry is alive and can feel the final remaining part of Voldemort struggling for dominance.

Knowing what must be done, Harry would turn to the one person he could trust with the truth, Neville, and ask for an ultimate sacrifice: kill Harry so the last remaining spirit of Voldemort would too be destroyed. This would play into the prophecy more ”Neither may live while the other survives.” and would serve to tie in the fact the prophecy could have been speaking of Neville just as much as Harry, as they were both born around the same time.

So Harry would be sacrificed and Voldemort would be destroyed, leaving Neville as the only one left with the true knowledge of what happened that day.

Of course, it would have been a sadder ending but ore fitting, I would think. Harry would still be the one to defeat Voldemort as he would willingly sacrifice himself so that the Dark Lord would be destroyed forever. A perfect tragedy.

Who needs neat little bows anyway?

What do you think?

I like your "other ending" describing. I also feel like something else should happen to Snape in his end. You are right that his character was written for more than this quick, un-heroic ending. For some reason I knew JR will “kill” him, but I feel it is unfair for the writer to give us so much credits and mystery for that character and abounded him in the last book. I feel frustrated.

I thought that Harry will die in the end. …”Neither may live while the other survives”… JR promised that no one will be ever write anything about Harry Potter after 7th book. But she left the door open for herself in the future, to have full rights to continue the story or fulfill the 19 years gap.

I disagree however that Neville will agree to sacrifice Harry's life...

[LudwigVan]

Originally Posted by KinDzaDza

I thought that Harry will die in the end. …”Neither may live while the other survives”… JR promised that no one will be ever write anything about Harry Potter after 7th book. But she left the door open for herself in the future, to have full rights to continue the story or fulfill the 19 years gap.

At first I thought that too, but there is a 19 year gap, and that really is the ending. After 19 years this is way finished, she closed the series for ever with this (not even in 100 years when the rights belongs to anybody who wants to re write it), we are left with Harry, Ron and Hermione having a normal life, theres no more to write about.

[KinDzaDza]

Originally Posted by LudwigVan

At first I thought that too, but there is a 19 year gap, and that really is the ending. After 19 years this is way finished, she closed the series for ever with this (not even in 100 years when the rights belongs to anybody who wants to re write it), we are left with Harry, Ron and Hermione having a normal life, theres no more to write about.

You are right. I agreed, that the story basically finished. But hear me out.

Do you remember what’s happened to “Star Wars” series? The “Star Wars” basically is the story about single life of Anakin Skywalker and about the time he lived in. It is the story about the rise of his power on the Good side of the Force, his rise to the power on the Dark side of the Force [“for the Greater Good” as Dumbledore said] and in The End – his choice of the Good side against the Dark side of the Force. And this last choice of the Good is because his love to his own son is more powerful than his loyalty to the evil Emperor.
I completely understand that “Star Wars” books are not written by the same author. No “all rights reserved”. But there are the books were written not only about Anakin’s life, but about the others life’s as well, and about history of the Jedi and Siths and books about the children of the Jedi, and their grand children, and etc… Some books fulfilled the time gap between episode 3 and 4. There is about 17-18 years gap. Some books fulfilled the time gap between episode 1 and 2…
One day JKR can just sit at her desk and started to write the books about what’s happen with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and others before that day at king’s station 19 years later… It is possible. And definitely, many-many fun’s Fics will be written… And maybe their stories will be even printed out by independent Publishers…
But if Harry would die in the 7th book… well… it will be very sad… I will cry myself… but no one, even in Fun Fics, will write down something like “Harry Potter and.. his battle against corruption in MOM” because we whould know HIS story from the beginning to the end.

And again, I love that Harry survived, but in the same time I feel disappointed for some strange reason.

[SimiHP89]

I liked and disliked the epilogue at the same time! I liked the fact that they were all happy. But I do feel that the epilogue should either have covered the initial aftermath of the book's events or gone into more detail about Harry et al's new lives. And although Harry found out the truth about Snape I doubt he liked him enough to called his son Severus, but meh then again Snape helped Harry stay alive so that in the future Harry could have a family etc, just as Lily would have wanted.

[MC2456]

Originally Posted by Wimsey

Hmm, I missed this thread! It seems to have died down a bit, but it is worth discussing....

Quite the opposite is the case. A 14-year old "fan-girl" would have given us a list of what all of the characters did. It would have been all details with no sense of meaning. It would have lacked any subtlety or literary purpose. In other words, it would not have anything to do with the story.

What Rowling gave us was a definitive conclusion to the very first story and a conclusion to what has been a recurring theme throughout the remainder of the series. Stone is a tale about right vs. easy choices of desires, and the protagonist is someone who wants (more than anything else) people who actually care about him. Wherever the Hogwarts Express is taking him, it has to be somewhere better than what he was leaving. Well, now we see to what the Hogwarts Express ultimately took him. In the end, we see that it took him to a nice normal family life, having married his teenage sweetheart, and still in close contact with his two best-friends (and, as luck would have it, in-laws). How Harry & Ginny recommensed, got engaged, married, procreated, etc. is irrelevant. Ditto for Ron & Hermione. What mattered is where they stood in the end: back where they started on one hand, but completely removed from it on another hand.

The Epilogue also touched upon at least three of the other stories in thematic ways. We see in it:

1. Harry's loyalty to those who died for him in the names of his children, including to Snape (so, yes, "Albus Severus" is quite appropriate!);
2. Isolation vs. unity: people are gawping at the famous Harry Potter, but they seem to have kept their children sufficiently sheltered from their celebrity status that they are unsure as to why people are staring, all of which indicates that Harry has the balance that he's long wanted;
3. bravery: Harry's son is terrified of winding up in the wrong house, but Harry gives Albus what he'll need to perservere.

I think that the primary point we readers need to remember is that Rowling was writing this as a novel that concluded a series of novels, not a soap opera. She was not interested in trivial details: she wanted to make thematic points about what she considered to be "good" things in life. Her epilogue did that. Trivia about what Luna, George, Grawp, etc., were doing would not have done that.

Hey i'm a 14-year-old girl! >

[lushesx3]

I liked it okay. Some of it did seemed like they were jotted down too fast in comparison with the rest of the book and the earlier ones.

[YellowRose]

Originally Posted by perry

i don't know whether this has been discussed in this thread (haven't been through the whole thing yet) so forgive me in advance if it has:

why does the epilogue take place "19 years later" why not say, 10 or 15 or 20? that would be september 1st, 2017 if my calculation's right. is there any significance to the date other than the start of hogwart's school year? is there any significance to the year 2017 relating to characters/events in the series? is there some other external event that's somehow symbolized in this date/year? maybe i'm just reading too much into this. i just thought that the choice of timeframe had some significance.

I think it has a lot to do with the first year at Hogwarts of Harry's second son Albus. Albus goes to Kings Cross with as many worries and doubts as Harry did, even if he grew up in a very magical family, where as Harry didn't. So Albus's worries are different to what Harry's had been but they are just a strong.
Harry and Ginny didn't have children straight after the battle of Hogwarts, and JK has stated that Ginny became a professional quidditch player for about five years (where she obviously didn't have children yet) , so I think it was '19 years later' to allow time for their children to be born, grow up and go to Hogwarts, especially Albus.