Blog EC

I didn’t realize until it was mentioned in class earlier on in the semester and then later expounded upon, that the epilogue was such a big deal for people in the Harry Potter fandom. I head that in class it felt like a disappointment to many people and many wished that it had been executed in a different way.

When I first read the epilogue I was really confused at first. I’m not a careful reader to begin with but I thought that the sudden onset of names were confusing. Yes, I understand that there are a lot of characters in the series, a lot of new faces to meet and old ones to discuss, but these were repeat names such as Albus and James. It caught me off guard, like who are these people, aren’t they dead? It took me forever to figure out who the new Lily was.

Many people didn’t enjoy how far into the future it the epilogue delved into. I think my biggest issue with the epilogue is how little it went into the future in details. I enjoy the stories of Harry Potter just as much as the next person, and seeing the books come to an end was really painful. But seriously, this epilogue was like a dirty teaser. It was rude and offensive because we all know how much more J.K. Rowling could’ve gone into this section. How many pages did she fill to create this series? How many more pages has she filled, spilling more secrets about Hogwarts? How much effort and creative thought was put behind Pottermore and the movies and the sister novels? She could’ve done so much more, we know it, and she knows it.

I thought the epilogue lacked creative detail. Sure, Rowling wrote about the fog at the station and mentioned Malfoy’s receding hair line. That was mere pleasantries for her.  I would’ve loved to hear about the Potter family trip to Diagon Ally.

There are some people who think that Rowling shouldn’t have jumped ahead in the future that far. That detail didn’t bother me as much. I feel like if the epilogue was going to do anything, it needed to look into the future. The fact that Harry is now a grown man with kids didn’t exactly phase me. I’m sure that if I had been younger and reading the books – like really growing up with Harry and the gang like most of the kids my age – it would have bothered me more. Harry Potter is married and a dad??? Sure, that’s kind of gross for children and teens. But the farther I progress into adulthood, these sorts of developments become more and more expected. It actually makes me happy for Harry. Look! He hasn’t died! He hasn’t felt the pain of his scar! Ron is still clumsy (drivers license incident), Hermione is still a goddess, and Ginny is still sweet and caring. I’m very happy for them, I just would like to have heard more about them.