According to the Harry Potter series, September 1, 2017 is the date of the final scene in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows . Not the scene where Harry triumphs over Voldemort, but rather the epilogue, simply titled, “Nineteen Years Later.”
“Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first of September was crisp and golden as an apple, and as the little family bobbed across the rumbling road toward the great sooty station, the fumes of car exhausts and the breath of pedestrians sparkled like cobwebs in the cold air. Two large cages rattled on top of the laden trolleys the parents were pushing; the owls inside them hooted indignantly, and the redheaded girl trailed tearfully behind her brothers, clutching her father’s arm.”
This is the scene where every Potter fan got to see what exactly happened to Harry, Hermione, Ron, and the rest of the gang following the near destruction of Hogwarts and the power vacuum left by the defeat of Voldemort and his cronies. In that scant epilogue, we find that Harry and Ginny Weasley have married and have three children: James Sirius Potter, Albus Severus Potter, and Lily Luna Potter. Hermione and Ron have also married, with two children, Rose Granger-Weasley and Hugo Weasley.
In case you’re ready to feel a little old, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was published ten years ago in 2007. For years, that short epilogue was all that Harry Potter fans had to go on.
Today’s the day Albus Severus Potter boards the Hogwarts Express at King’s Cross for the first time #19yearslater ??
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 1, 2017
Of course, then in 2016, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child premiered in London, expanding on that epilogue. The play opened up exactly where Deathly Hallows had ended, with the epilogue.
Cursed Child tells of the misadventures of Albus Severus Potter and his unlikely friend Scorpius Malfoy, the son of Draco Malfoy and Astoria Kolfrey. With the help of the Time Turner, first seen in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban , the pair travel back in time to try to prevent the death of Cedric Diggory. Unfortunately, their interference leads to the creation of two different timelines. One where Ron and Hermione were never married, and one where Voldemort wins the battle of Hogwarts. Of course, with cleverness, everything works out in the end.
Have just heard that James S Potter has been Sorted (to nobody’s surprise) into Gryffindor. Teddy Lupin (Head Boy, Hufflepuff) disappointed.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 1, 2015
Two years ago, J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, took to Twitter to let everyone know where James Sirius Potter had been sorted upon his arrival to Hogwarts. Only time will tell if J.K. will follow up with updates about the misadventures of Albus and Scorpius as well.
Of course, with the release of Cursed Child , everyone knows that Albus doesn’t follow in his family’s footsteps. Instead of being sorted into Griffyndor, Albus is sorted into Slytherin. Of course, only time will tell if this is that reality or if we’re all living in an alternate reality where Albus is sorted into Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw instead.
[Featured Image by Warner Bros. Pictures]