If you haven’t finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and intend to, you better not have watched Today this morning, which featured the first of Meredith Vieira’s two-part sitdown with author J.K. Rowling. PopWatch would like to congratulate Today both on the big "get" — and for not drowning Rowling in the same smoke effects they used on poor Daniel Radcliffe when he stopped by to promote Order of the Phoenix. (He kindly referred to his trick-or-treated-out set as "incredibly magical.")
After the jump, we run through Rowling’s answers to some burning Hallows questions, including the details she left out of the epilogue. SERIOUS SPOILER ALERT: Stop reading now if you haven’t finished the book.
- Okay, so if you’re still reading this post… you know that Harry Potter lived. What jobs do Harry, Ron, and Hermione hold 19 years after the final battle with Voldemort? Rowling told Vieira that Harry and Ron now work in the Auror Department of the Ministry of Magic, while Hermione is in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. No word yet on Ginny Potter’s profession. (Oh, you know she took his name).
- Would Snape have still helped Harry if he hadn’t felt unrequited love for Harry’s mother? Rowling said no way. More interestingly, she balked when Vieira asked her whether Snape was always intended to be a "hero." Rowling said she doesn’t seem him as a "hero." He’s brave, she said, but he’s also spiteful and a bully.
- Which passage made Rowling sob the most while she was writing it? Chapter 34: Harry’s walk to his then-certain death in the forest. (Was anyone not sobbing while they read it? Christ. And you know you’ll cry in the movie theater, too. Just accept it now.)
- Which character was supposed to die but didn’t? Mr. Weasley. Rowling said she actually meant to kill him off in Year 5, but couldn’t bear it. Maybe on Part Two of Vieira’s interview, airing Friday, we’ll find out why Rowling didn’t feel as strongly about Fred…
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I have a burning question…why didn’t RITA SKEETER get it in the end…most of what propelled Harry in his quest to discover what was true about him was driven by the rancid publishings by Rita…and I so wanted her to finally pay in the end…and then nothing. I really wanted Rowling to stick to Skeeter!
Wow. That Today Show set for Radcliffe was almost as ridiculous as his matching shirt and tie combo. Honestly, who told him leopard print was a good idea?
Um, I sobbed and sobbed during that part. I needed to put the book down, walk around my apartment for awhile, restock my Kleenex, and take several deep breaths before I could continue. And I am not ashamed to admit it at all. Also gut-wrenching for me…Dobby’s Demise. Sigh. My question isn’t exactly burning, just curious is Romione’s kids’ names have special significance…??
I teared up just hearing Jo mention chapter 34! I’m glad to know what their careers are but wouldnt you think being an auror is kinda anti-climatic for Harry when he’s already defeated the most evil wizard ever? And yes, I know they must always work to keep furure evil at bay, but I was hoping to see Harry as Headmaster at Hogwarts.
Yeah I must know her answer for why she felt she couldn’t bear to kill off Mr. Weasley, but FRED was not immune from her “killing curse.” WTF. I’m still very bitter about that. And of course she didn’t have a profession for Ginny–she’s the most grossly underdeveloped character in the whole series, made only for Harry to pine for and make babies with.
I hope she says something about Lupin, Tonks, Neville, and Luna too.
Court, I agree! I think I cried more for Fred than for any other character. Actually, I think I started crying for the last 5 chapters and didn’t stop until the end. I’m such a wuss.
i need to know what happened to umbridge! please tell me they killed that evil woman! also- what happened to the ministry during the 19 years and where oh where is luna lovegood?… i love her!
Love that she has provided more info. Looking so forward to the eventual encyclopedia. Yeah that Harry and Ron are Aurors. Yeah that Hermione is in magical law enforcement. I wonder, did Mr. Weasley’s reprieve lead to the death of Fred? With so many Weasley’s involved in the fight, did she feel one of them had to die? Why couldn’t it have been Percy or even Charlie (sorry, Charlie)?
Melissa…Is “Romione” the new Brangelina? I like it.
Also, couldn’t Harry and Ginny (or maybe Romione) have named one of the kids Doby (good for a boy OR a girl) instead of saddling one of them with the incredibly cumbersome “Albus Severus…”
Paige: If you check the link you’ll see that Luna was a wizarding naturalist and that she might have ended up with Neville, although I thought Dean was the right choice.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19959323/
Hmmm, I don’t know about Neville, but I thought I saw a couple of hints that Luna and Dean were about to get into a little sumthin’ sumthin’.
If you read the article on MSNBC, Jo gives a little more details. Man, so upset I couldn’t watch this interview (stupid work), but they are running a special on Dateline NBC on Sunday, in case anyone couldn’t catch the Today show this morning and tomorrow morning. I don’t know, I like that Harry’s an Auror…he never wanted to teach, never had the inclination. And with their experience with dark magic, what better place for him and Ron. I hope that Jo has answers to everyone’s problem with the Epilogue’s “lack of details” is satisfied with the fact that Jo has many of the answers.
Ceballos – YES, Romione is the new Brangelina, Vaugniston, whathaveyou. I thought it was very fitting, and as they are my favorite characters, I thought they needed a special name. Although I love Luna SO much, and someone I know came up with “Nevuna” for Luna + Neville.
(I never imagined I would reach this level of nerdery, but alas, here I am! And I’m very OK with it!)
After the Prince’s Tale chapter, I was more confused about Snape. First, if he loved LP so much, why did he join the Death Eaters? And, if they are so strong on blood purity, wouldn’t they oust him because he is a half-blood? Also, I didn’t understand if he really cared about Harry or just protected him for the sake of LP.
Check out usatoday.com, Rowling also did an interview with them, and gave out spoilers.
Sorry, my last sentence didn’t make much sense. Meant to say I hope that her revelation of more details is satisfying those who were so unhappy w/ the Epilogue. BTW, so excited to hear she’s writing again.
Well i see part of my question was answered above.. Snape may have been “good” after all, but there’s no doubt that he had questionable morals.
According to USA Today interview, Lupin and Tonks were the two who died that she had intended to keep alive. I think that makes me feel even worse about it.
ceballos, i think the name is alberus severus potter so that his intials are ASP and he will definitely be in slytherin house…just a hunch!
Ericalina – I agree with you. In my fantasy-land, he dabbles in the dark arts. Why else would they have him being so worried about being in Slytherin? Sigh.
Nic–me too!
Melissa–don’t worry it’s okay, because practically everybody else in the ENTIRE WORLD is at that level of nerdery with you.
“Would Snape have still helped Harry if he hadn’t felt unrequited love for Harry’s mother?”
Why ask Rowling such an obvious question? She could not have made it any more apparent why Snape did what he did. Talk about wasting a good opportunity…
Mandi, I love your write-ups, and EW in general, but was it necessary to use Christ’s name in vain like that? I know, you’ll just think I’m some religious nut job, but it offends me to see it baldly in print in that context.
The girl who asked the question about Snape was about 9 or 10 years old.
Ok, I’ve thought about it, and I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m just not hardcore enough…
What would be the significance of Harry’s son’s initials being ASP…any help is much appreciated.
Ceballos~ Asp, snake, Slytherin.
Does anyone know how Neville got the Gryffindor sword in the end to chop off the snake’s head? I thought the goblin had it.
Sorry if this is a silly question, but even reading back over parts of the books, how did Neville get the original Griffyndor sword to cut of the snake’s head? I thought the Goblin ran off with it, never to be seen (or written about) again.
W and Dork,
The sword came out of the Sorting Hat for Neville, just like it appeared for Harry in the Chamber of Secrets.
W and Dork,
The sword came out of the Sorting Hat for Neville, just like it appeared for Harry in the Chamber of Secrets.