The "other ending"

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 177192

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "coolnim_11" <coolnim_11 at ...> wrote:
>
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "James Casey"
> <c_and_s_live@> wrote:
> >
> > Have any of you read the first ending that JK said was not fitting
> > together? In this one she lets us know what has become of our
> > characters such as thier jobs in latter life?  Now I will tell you
> that in this alternate you still do not
> > get the closer you will seek.  The only thing still not mentioned
> in
> > the alternate is headmaster at Hogwarts, I still assume it is
> > McGonagall. I was interested in your views on this. > mention of
> it yet.
> >
> >
> 
> 
> Nimisha:
> I think that the new headmaster could also have been Longbottom as
> he did a lot for the school. JKR has also not mentioned whether Harry
> became an auror or not. No mention has been made about Ron and
> Hermione's jobs.
> 
> I would really like to know whether any of you know anything about
> this.

Geoff:
Just for completeness, the full quote from the article I mentioned in 
post 177123 is:

"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."

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."

>From an interview on the :"Today" show 26/07/07.