There's nothing better than getting Harry Potter news even all these years later. When the books finally all came out and the movies wrapped, many fans thought maybe we'd never have anything Harry Potter to look forward to again. Fortunately that hasn't been the case and the latest news* is that the Harry Potter cast has opened up about their characters and where they'd be today. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was recently expanded and to celebrate, several of the film's original stars met up at the fake Diagon Alley to do a bit of press for the expanded Universal theme park. Entertainment Weekly took advantage of the reunion to ask a few of the actors and what they imagined their characters doing after the final book's epilogue. Sadly, the golden trio was absent, but Bonnie Wright, Tom Felton, Evanna Lynch, and Oliver Phelps all offered up suggestions that seem pretty darn plausible.
Of course their answers got me to thinking about the world beyond the seven books. Since J.K. Rowling frustratingly refuses to write about the next generation of Hogwarts students, we're left to imagine it for ourselves. With this new help from the actors themselves, here's where I envision our favorite characters are today.
DRACO MALFOY & FAMILY
Tom Felton has already confessed that he still feels sympathy for Draco today, so it's not surprising that he had a ready-made future for his character's son Scorpius when asked about it.
He would be back at home pretending to be doing homework and doing bugger all. I’m sure he’d be doing something mischievous, something he shouldn’t, and following in the footsteps of his father.
I see Scorpius Malfoy being his generation's Harry Potter — also known as going where he's not allowed, sneaking out after dark, and generally causing trouble. Especially when he's competing with Harry Potter's kids, the young Malfoy would want to bring some honor to his name and make his dad proud. And I bet you whenever he gets caught he throws out the old "My father will hear about this," line because it's basically the Malfoy family motto.
HARRY POTTER & GINNY WEASLEY
Although Daniel Radcliffe skipped the press event, Bonnie Wright spoke up on behalf of her fictional husband.
What would Harry and Ginny and the kids do here? They’d probably walk in and assume it was actually Diagon Alley and start shopping for their yearly supplies for Hogwarts. I think they’d go straight to Leaky Cauldron and then take all the kids for ice cream at Florean’s. I want to believe they would go to the Simpsons land. You have this recognizable yellow Simpsons family and this Wizarding family; maybe the two could merge.
I can totally see the Potter/Weasley crew making the theme park circuit because Ginny wouldn't have done that stuff growing up. Plus Harry would want his kids to get some of the muggle upbringing he was deprived of when he was stuck with the Dursleys. I bet Harry would make them all drive to the park on a road trip in a real car and the kids would be like, "Aw man, no magic?" And Ginny would be like, "Shh, this is important to your father."
Harry would probably get even more excited than the kids on the rides because he never dreamt he'd get to do this stuff when he was just a young boy in a cupboard.
GEORGE WEASLEY
The death of Fred Weasley can make even the strongest of Harry Potter fans break down into tears. But fear not, Oliver Phelps has a future in mind for George that makes the best of a bad situation.
George would probably try to open a chain of Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes. He was obviously doing really well with it. I think he’d have a spin-off, Fred’s Dead, and try to see the lighter side of it.
Yes, if there's one thing George wouldn't do, it's dwell on the sad things. He'd pick himself up and throw himself into his business as a way to keep himself happy and his brother's memory alive. And of course he'd create Fred's Dead with a whole line of morbid tricks and treats because that's the kind of sense of humor the twins have. Remember when the followed Harry around in the second book mocking him about being the heir of Slytherin? While the rest of the school shrank back, the twins made jokes. That's what they do and I don't doubt George would continue that legacy in his brother's wake. (And yes, that was a death joke, I'm getting into the Weasley spirit here.)
In addition to his joke store conglomerate, I think George would expand his entrepreneurial knack into other areas like fashion. After he and Fred made it big they could be seen wearing a rather unique set of clothes, namely lurid, green dragon skin coats, so clearly George has his own eye for fashion.
Whether or not the line would be successful is another story, but I'm sure he'd give it everything he had and maybe even throw some joke outfits in like a replica of Ron's horrible dress robes from Goblet of Fire.
RON WEASLEY & HERMIONE GRANGER
Neither Emma Watson nor Rupert Grint could attend the event, but that's not going to stop me from making up my own version of their life after book seven. Much like with Harry and Ginny, I think Hermione would fight to maintain some of the muggle-ness of her childhood in her children's lives. While Harry chooses to chase what he can't have, I'm sure Hermione would want to give her kids what she fondly remembers.
Perhaps this would mean putting some of the restrictions on her kids that her parents placed on her — like no magically fixing their teeth. And while I'm sure that Hermione would still encourage her children to study hard, living with Ron has probably softened her up a bit so that she even encourages her kids to do a little exploring on the Hogwarts campus. But not enough to dock their houses any points of course.
I can also see her and Ron playing good cop/bad cop when raising their kids, with Ron egging them on and an exasperated Hermione pursing her lips McGonagall style. But she'd eventually let the kids get away with whatever they did because she loves Ron too much to get very angry.
LUNA LOVEGOOD
While Evanna Lynch didn't offer up a story for Luna, she did say where she'd like to go herself next — into the Fantastic Beasts movie.
I did mention [to J.K. Rowling] ‘How about Luna narrates the story for her grandchildren? Just have an aged voiceover.' If not, I just want to be in some sort of fluffy animal suit, hiding. No one will know!
But that got me thinking and I see grown-up Luna telling fantastical tales to her children. They'd all be real to her, of course, and her kids would then repeat them to their friends. Their friends would probably all think she was the weird, but cool mom.
I don't think Luna will have ever lost her eye for wonder, but I think she'll play it a bit more safe than her own mother did, especially after her mom died trying to invent new spells.
And there you have it—just because the books are over doesn't mean the story is finished. We can always imagine their lives beyond. After all, as J.K Rowling said, "Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home."
Right in the feels.
Images: Warner Bros. [4]; giphy [2]; cannonsrule/Tumblr; harrypotterreactions/Tumblr; weheartit
