Monday, October 4, 2010

More Potter Books?

Author J. K. Rowling has apparently told Oprah Winfrey that she will write more books, perhaps even books in the Potter "universe." This article in The Week, which reports the interview, takes the view that nothing more can be written about Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the crew.

I beg to differ. The Book Seven epilogue which says who married whom and who had what children leaves out many interesting details - careers of the principals and lives of many interesting secondary characters, like Luna, Neville, Cho, and most especially Draco. Are there monstrous off-spring of Hagrid and Maxime thundering about somewhere?

There are so many loose ends to tie up. Did the history-loving ice cream vendor of Diagon Alley resurface? Did the surviving Weasley twin continue as a successful merchant, or did his twin's untimely death in battle cause a change in life trajectory? Did Cousin Dudley become an adult friend of Harry, having at last recognized Harry as an equal? Did Hermione become a civil rights leader or is she a professor at Hogwarts? Speaking of which, why is the entire teaching faculty at Hogwarts unmarried?

The above-mentioned epilogue is a lapse into chic-lit cliche: who married whom, whose children look like whom, with whom will they mate? These are important life issues, but they are not the only important life issues.