JKR's Intent

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 178800


> > >>Jen: This is where I would veer off to say that the last line of 
> > a book or an epilogue does not a story make.  Others have said it   
> > with points from the story so I'll leave them to it.:)
> 
> Betsy Hp:
> But it does lend to a conclusion.  Stories have an arc, and that arc 
> is important.  Where a story ends does a great deal (possibly the 
> greatest) to define a story.  So, IMO, ignoring where the arc ends 
> will lead to a misinterpertation of theme.

Pippin:
By that standard, we never find out whether Frodo found peace
beyond the Sundering Seas, or whether Sam stopped feeling torn
in two and became Mayor of the Shire as Frodo predicted (the
appendices were not originally published with The Lord of the
Rings.)

 And yet it's very important for the completion of the story arc that 
we assume those things.

This kind of fictional history starts before the action of the story
proper, and can be assumed to continue  afterwards.

"Don't the great tales never end?"
"No, they never end as tales," said Frodo. "But the people in
them come, and go when their part's ended. Our part will end
later--or sooner."

"And then we can have some rest and some sleep," said Sam.
He laughed grimly. "And I mean just that, Mr. Frodo. I mean
plain ordinary rest, and sleep, and waking up to a morning's
work in the garden." --LOTR

Harry Ron and Hermione finished their part in the great tale
of defeating Voldemort, and then as we saw, they went 
back to ordinary lives, the lives they'd been planning before 
the war. In which case, Harry and Ron became Aurors, and
Hermione sought ways to improve the condition of House Elves.

Her original plans, in GoF, were to Stop The Outrageous 
Abuse of Our Fellow Magical Creatures and Campaign for
a Change in their Legal Status. She wanted fair wages --
if the Elves would rather be paid in kindness than in galleons,
is that not their right?

Pippin