Saturday, July 16, 2011

The Happily Ever After

I'm not really going to talk about the Deathly Hallow Part 2. It's not that I'm feeling uncertain about it. I enjoyed the movie. I'm just not going to discuss it in any detail anywhere for a while. I just really don't want to spoil it for people. I don't want those who read the books to be spoiled of the changes or additions that the film made. However will contain book spoilers that may actually appear in the film. So if you haven't read the books:

Spoiler Alert






I know that there is a lot of different opinions on the Epiloge to the Deathly Hallows, 19 Years Later. I'm alright with it. It is terribly mushy, but I feel it does serve its purpose. It shows that everyone was ok, life moved on and The Battle of Hogwarts was actually the end of the Second Wizarding War. Of course, it also about showing everyone ended up with their romantic partner.

It however is terribly vague. If you're going to show me the future, I'd like to know more. Like, what do they do now? Their futures are now better known through various interviews of Rowling. I'm not upset by those futures.

However, in my own mind I have created a life after the Battle of Hogwarts for the Trio. I'm not going to get into the business of changing relationships though. I used to be pretty favorable to Harry/Hermione shipping, but I've come to feel very different about the nature of their relationship. My favorite ship at the moment is Harry/Luna, but I'm not going to get into that. We're going to stick with the (book) cannon relationships.

Harry: I'd like to think Harry became a Seeker in Professional Quidditch. It seems to me that he was a very talented player and flying was the thing that he was best at. Maybe he could lead England to the Quidditch World Cup. After Quidditch, Harry would become an Auror. After his stint as an Auror, Harry would become Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts and eventually become Headmaster.

Hermione: I think Hermione ends up a very high ranking official in the Ministry. She would work for reforms in the Ministry to improve treatment of Magical Creatures. Eventually, as the brightest witch of her age, she would become the Minister of Magic and her agenda would make the Wizarding World more just to all people and creatures.

Ron: I think after the Second Wizarding War, the Ministry would become a friendlier place for the Weasley family. And, well, that's where I picture Ron. I think he'll have the opportunities for advancement that Mr. Weasley was denied. Maybe he'd end up in middle management or possibly even upper management.

I'm sure they'd all end up very well off though. I'd imagine the demand for books and such from them would be immense in the Wizarding World.

What would the future of the Harry Potter universe look like if you were in control of it?

Thanks for reading and please comment.

-Michael

6 comments:

  1. I like your futures :) I never really had a problem with the epilogue either (aside from some of the names of the children which are sort of silly) but I agree with you, it would have been nice to know more about their lives.

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  2. I would give anything to change Harry's son's name to anything but "Albus Severus." The one named James has the honor of Harry's dad's name, which won't get him beat up. But Albus Severus...I get why Harry wanted to use those names, but I think he did it very poorly. I know they only call him Albus, which makes it a little less bad. It just seems like Harry put too much on little Al and not enough on James because, while Harry's dad was awesome and everything, he wasn't constantly present like Snape and Dumbledore were. Plus, it would seem that Harry got to pick all three kids' names and they wouldn't have nearly as much significance for Ginny (not that she'd love them any less, but still). I never thought naming a kid after their grandparent was such a great idea anyway because then you have another kid and it's like, "Okay, well, we used up the name that meant the most to us, so we'll just give this one some random one we like." So even though it may not be the parents' intent, one kid ends up seeming more significant or like the favorite. But I suppose James and Albus are both meaningful in different ways. Either way, "Albus Severus" next to "James" and "Lily" is just asking for alienation. And I think I just went around in circles without coming to any real conclusion.

    And Rose is lovely, but Hugo? Come on, now.

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  3. I couldn't imagine Harry and Ginny's children being given names that weren't meaningful. Albus Severus is hard to swallow, but if you list the potential boy names it doesn't get much better. James' middle name is Sirius, so Remus would really be the only alternative to Albus or Severus. It's hard to know what names would've been significant to Ginny. We don't really end up knowing her all that well. You would think maybe she'd like to name a son after Fred, but maybe George or Percy had already done so. Also, I don't think Albus would take too much flak for his name. I think he would just go by "Al Potter" and I think he would be able to understand his name has just as much significance as James and Lily once he got old enough to be told about the war.

    I think that Albus Severus is kind of a severe name for a child, but I think to rename him you would have to start renaming the other children.

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  4. One of Dumbledore's middle names was Brian, a PERFECTLY nice name. Not as obvious, but like you said, the war would be explained to him and the name would carry just as much weight. And yeah, he'd probably go by "Al." Something about it still just nettles me a little, like the first two were all, "We're naming you after my parents because that's what you're supposed to do," and then the third one came along and Harry went, "Welp, now I'll name you after people who I actually knew and who influenced my life in real time." Obviously that's not how it was, but my mind goes there. And Sirius seems more modern or something, so why couldn't the two boys be James and Sirius and then have Albus and Severus as middle names? You don't necessarily name kids after someone JUST because they influence your life, or you end up with kids who have ridiculous names. I was going to be named after a relative a few generations back because my parents really admired her, but her name was Gerucia Augusta and they knew what that name would do to me (I grew up and pointed out that they could have shortened it to August, but by then the point was moot). It's not so much that Albus is a terrible/mockable name as the fact that it's of such a different caliber than his siblings' and, whether positively or negatively, potentially sets him apart from them on multiple levels.

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  5. Also, sorry I didn't separate that into paragraphs.

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  6. I was named after a psychiatrist, which is funny because my Dad is bat shit crazy and still not properly medicated.

    I think another possibility would be to name the second child, Harry. If it were up to me, I don't think naming a kid after Snape would've been in consideration. Either Harry Albus or Harry Remus(my personal preference in this third degree imaginary scenario) would work.

    I don't really love the name Albus Severus, but I don't think it will cause him that much hardship. It is mockable, but also is easily shortened. Also, James would be around to keep his little brother from to much flak. Also, I don't really think it carries more weight than the others. As I said, it sounds more severe, but within context those names are just as important.

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