I'm an Uncle

My sister Mrs. S has finally given birth to my nephew after going into the hospital late Tuesday morning. Things were a bit complicated and he didn't want to seem to come out so they eventually extracted him by C-section this morning. He seems to be doing well although my sister is apparently very out of it. I'm hoping her husband gets a chance to post some pictures soon.

On another note, the casting rumors I posted yesterday have been debunked by Mugglenet so please disregard.

Deathly Hallows Thoughts - Spoiler Warning!

So the final Harry Potter novel was released this weekend. Mrs. X was very excited and as it was a very nice day outside, we happened to be outside playing with Toddler X when it arrived in the mail. She finished in about 24 hours, but this is also with sleeping and attending a little shindig with some former office co-workers. So I actually got to start reading the book before she had finished it.

Overall, I would say that it is a very good book. Very different from the six previous works, but I don’t think anyone would be overly surprised by that. Voldemort is not going to quietly die off while Harry preps for his NEWTs and captains Gryffindor to another Quidditch Championship. Instead, we get the classic hero quest.

I only have a few quibbles with the book. The middle is a little slow and I think if some of the things from the later portions of the book were placed in the middle, it might have alleviated some of the monotony. Granted, this gave her another opportunity to make Ron look like a moron, but I think we all have seen this in Ron before and it doesn’t gain us a whole lot.

Contrasting the middle, the end of the book races along and at times, it feels a tad bit rushed. Some of this is just the pacing of the action, but after 6 books of slow modified development, a racing ending feels a little out of place. Granted, it would have made the book longer, but I don’t think anyone but Rowling would have had a problem with that.

Continuing with length, I think a follow up chapter would have been good. I know the Epilogue was supposed to cover that, but I would have liked to seen a little attention paid to both the fruits of victory and the accompanying mourning of those who fell in the final battle. Of course, I would have also liked to seen Percy go apeshit on Rookwood after he killed Fred, but unfortunately, that didn’t happen. I can’t help but imagine a scene where after Percy realizes that Fred is dead, jumps up and attacks Rookwood in a blind rage, preferably killing him while screaming with bloodlust. Would have made a very interesting comeback for Percy.

Most people’s biggest flaw with the book is the Epilogue. I got a double hit on this, because I misinterpreted how it was to be done. I was expecting a listing of what happened to all major characters (similar to the Epilogue in Band of Brothers or similar tales) rather than a scene concerning a few of the main characters that didn’t really tell us anything (other than that Neville was the Herbology professor now). The other quibble with the Epilogue is that it really wasn’t that well written. Mrs. X pointed out that it felt like really poorly written fan fiction and that Rowling probably wrote it a very long time ago and never really bothered to rewrite it. As such, she hadn’t really applied what she had learned as an author to this section.

Despite these little quirks, I did thoroughly enjoy the book and I think the way the series ended was quite satisfying. I was quite amused reading through the book, how many times it felt like Rowling was deliberately answering a question someone had posed to her before the release of the book, or just shooting down elaborate theories spun by other people. Before the book was released, I read a great deal of elaborate back-stories that people invented on Red Hen. Many of them were quite good and a few of them were even validated. However, many more, especially the more outlandish ones, were blown to pieces. I have to say, this did not overly bother me. Sometimes the simplest way to tell a story is take the straightest path and I think that’s pretty much what Rowling did.

I haven’t caught the Today show interview yet, but I did read a release of it this morning. Apparently, Mr. Weasley was actually supposed to die from the bits Nagini gave him in OotP, but Rowling simply couldn’t kill him. This actually addresses a bit of a sticky point that Mrs. X pointed out as to how Mr. Weasley survived but Snape died, despite suffering almost the same injuries. We’ll just have to leave it as one of those plot points that authors are allowed to get away with once in a while.

The interview did not specifically state the follow up question as to who the two who died instead were, but some of the phrasing around the original question made me think that Lupin and Tonks deaths might have been the two she hadn’t originally been planning to kill. She did apparently say that she would go ahead and write the encyclopedia, although she plans to take a little break before taking that up. Given that she already has reams of material lying in various boxes, I don’t think it will much a writing effort, as it will be more of a compiling of what she already has. I know that she has repeatedly mentioned Dean Thomas’ back-story as one that she wants to tell. So we can now look forward to that and it will shoot down all the theories we will now formulate as to what happened to everyone after Deathly Hallows.

If you had to make me predict what everyone was doing, I would say that Harry takes to the academic circuit. He doesn’t teach at Hogwarts, but he guest lectures every once in a while. I also wouldn’t be surprised if the Ministry encourages him to write the Defense Against the Dark Arts standard textbook. Compiled with his inherited wealth, one can imagine Harry living quite comfortably while staying at home quite a lot. This would leave Ginny free to pursue her own career. Perhaps as an auror, although we’ve never seen enough of Ginny’s other side to wonder what her interests are.

I like to imagine Ron getting in with Magical Games and Sports Division of the ministry, especially once he realizes that he doesn’t quite have the temperament to be an auror. Hermione will probably agitate for Elvish rights and equal treatment for all creatures in some fashion. I’m sure she will continue SPEW as an outside force but some point she might try to work within the ministry to enact change, especially in the House-Elf Liaison office.

In her interview, Rowling mentioned that McGonagall would probably be passed over as headmistress due to her age. One could make the argument that the ministry decides to go the healing route and appoint a Hufflepuff headmistress and Prof. Sprout gets vaulted into the top job. This would clear the way for Neville to get appointed to the Herbology post immediately. However, it’s more likely that the ministry appoints an outside headmaster as an interim leader until things get settled down. This would give Neville time to either work out in the real world for a bit, or to stay on as Prof. Sprout’s assistant, until he gets the job when she retires.

Luna will eventually take over as editor of the Quibbler once her father retires, that much is just about certain. The only real question is whether she marries. I know some have liked the idea of her marrying Neville and I wouldn’t put it past them, given the friendship that they formed as being the leaders of the DA. I could also see Dumbledore’s Army being incorporated as an official group for advanced defense magic education and to be called on to defend Hogwarts if the need arises. Sort of like a wizard national guard. It would just be one more thing that Neville oversees during his tenure as professor.

I have a harder time imagining things for other characters, but I’m certain I could come up with good theories for each of them. I will say that I think that Kingsley should remain Minister of Magic for as long as he wants as he seems like he would be the most fair and honest MoM that has been seen for a while.

On a side note, Naomi Watts has been cast to play Narcissa Malfoy and Stuart Townsend has been cast to play Bill Weasley. Joseph Fiennes (Ralph Fiennes younger brother) has also been cast although his role has not been released. My guess is that he will be playing Tom Riddle Sr. Morfin Gaunt has also been speculated, but this would require a departure from the books since Voldemort is supposed to strongly favor his father in appearance. Having a strong resemblance to your mother’s brother would be a bit odd in that light; but in movies you can pick and choose how you do things.

Harry Potter addendum

Well, I will concede that I was wrong about Neville being Harry’s third cousin, once removed. I took a look at a copy of the Black Family Tapestry that had dates on it and used a few logical clues that were in the book and figured out that Harfang Longbottom could not be Neville’s great-grandfather. Most likely, he is Neville’s great uncle, a brother to his grandfather.

Probably the most fun way of determining this was to treat it as a logic puzzle. Neville was born in July 1980 (one day before Harry) and his father and mother were both aurors. Auror training takes three years upon graduation from Hogwarts and information from Mad-Eye Moody in OotP strongly suggests that Frank and Alice were already well-established and popular as aurors by the time they were killed (most likely in 1982). This suggests they were at least 21 and probably older than that when Neville was born.

In HBP we are told that Neville’s grandmother failed her Charms OWL, as was observed by Prof. McGonagall. Prof. McGonagall started teaching in December 1956, per OotP, so if she were observing Augusta as a teacher, Augusta would have had her OWLs in 1957 at the earliest, placing her graduation in 1959. For Frank to be 21 in 1980, Augusta would have had to give birth to him the same year she graduated, possible, but unlikely.

Given the way Neville’s grandmother is described, she seems to be about the same age as Prof. McGonagall, which would place the two of them right around the same year at Hogwarts. Rowling has described Prof. McGonagall as being in her 70’s and she has also stated as having no memory regarding the Chamber of Secrets being opened (1942-43 school year). In fact, given that she had no memory of Tom Riddle at all, it is likely that she graduated around 1938-39 or so, before Riddle came or after his first year.

Knowing a person’s OWL results (especially fails) indicates closeness in age; such that we might guess that Augusta and Minerva were possibly even in the same class. Thus, we might surmise that Augusta also graduated in the late 1930’s, marrying Mr. Longbottom sometime in the 1940’s. Frank was probably born around 1950 or even a little later given his status as a prized only child that Neville must emulate. This would make Frank nearly 30 when Neville was born.

Augusta would then have been born sometime around 1920 and one might surmise that her husband was also born around this time. No dates are given for Harfang Longbottom, but Callidora Black was born in 1915. At only 5 years older than Augusta, it seems likely that Callidora married the older brother of Neville’s grandfather, unless Augusta has a taste for much younger men and I don’t particularly buy that argument.

Some might speculate that there were at least 3 brothers, given that Neville frequently mentions a great-uncle Algie (probably Algernon). However, Algie’s surname is never given. He is portrayed with the air of a slightly crazy old bachelor. No evidence is given, but my own gut feeling is that rather than being Harfang and Mr. Longbottom’s brother, I think Algie is Augusta’s brother who lives near or with his older sister now that her husband has passed away. One can easily imagine Augusta deciding that Neville needed a practical male role model in addition to the ideal of his father that she would give him and invited her brother to visit regularly.

Now, all of this won’t amount to a hill of beans in the last novel, but it does make for fun logic problems.

Speaking of the last book, Mrs. X and I are waiting patiently for our copy, which will be delivered on Saturday sometime. She gets to read it first as she is the faster reader and can take advantage of times when Toddler X is napping to forage ahead. I’ll get to read it after that, although I do at least get to read the table of contents to speculate on when it arrives. We are also filling out our speculation sheets as was forwarded by Mrs. X’s brother. Most are pretty straightforward, but it will be amusing to look at our “predictions” in comparison to what actually happens.

Idle Harry Potter Thoughts

With the soon advent of the final Harry Potter novel, I’ve been roaming around, looking up interesting information to refresh myself with about various things that aren’t extremely obvious in the books. One of the really interesting things is plotting out how everyone is linked to each other (this was greatly aided by Rowling’s release of a segment of the Black Family Tapestry last year).

Ron has a line (I think in Chamber of Secrets) where he mentions that it was important for wizards to marry Muggles or Muggle-born wizards or the line would have died out. When one examines the genealogy of the various pureblood (or near pureblood) families, one can easily see how correct Ron is. Nearly all the principle characters that hail from pureblood lineages (including Harry) are related in some fashion to each other. In fact, nearly all these characters share descent from Phineas Nigellus Black.

Looking at things from Harry’s point of view, we note that Sirius Black (his godfather) is also his second cousin, as is Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy. This in turn makes both Tonks and Draco Malfoy his second cousins, once removed. Turning over to the Weasleys, Harry’s best friend (Ron) and his girlfriend (Ginny) are his third cousins. There is also speculation that Neville Longbottom is Harry’s third cousin, once removed; but it is not absolutely clear if the Harfang Longbottom mentioned in the tapestry is in fact Neville’s great-grandfather. It is also possible that Barty Crouch Jr. was Harry’s third cousin as well, but again, the tapestry stops when it comes to naming descendents not tied strongly to the male Black line.

Its also interesting to see the strong Slythern link that runs through the family lines. Draco’s grandmother was a Rosier, his great grandmother was a Crabbe, his great, great grandmother was a Bulstrode, and his great, great, great grandmother was a Flint. One could easily imagine these various families swirling in and out of each other with relative ease. The female Bulstrode and Flint are Harry’s ancestors as well, although one generation back.

Another thing to speculate about is who will take over for the various offices (assuming Hogwarts stays open). Given the problems the Ministry generated by stepping in with Umbridge, it’s likely that Professor McGonagall will be appointed Headmistress. This leaves vacancies in Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, the Deputy Head position, and the head of Gryffindor House (assuming that Professor Slughorn stays on). It is possible that one of the minor class teachers (Prof. Sinistra, Madam Hooch, Prof. Vector, Prof. Babbling, the Muggle Studies teacher) could be of Gryffindor House and could take over, but its also possible that McGonagall could just appoint the new Transfiguration teacher as the head of the house.

Given the history of the DADA job, I would think it somewhat unlikely that whoever gets that job would be appointed to be a head of house, until there is some evidence that the curse against it has been broken. Some circles have suggested that Hagrid might be the most senior Gryffindor and could get the head of house nod, but his lack of being a qualified wizard would probably count against him. What’s more, Prof. McGonagall, while fond of Hagrid, has been shown to be highly dubious of Hagrid’s decision making capabilities and is unlikely to place him in a position of heavy responsibility and power. Likewise, Prof. Binns is probably out of the running due to his being a ghost.

My own personal guess is that Prof. Flitwick is probably on the inside track to being appointed Deputy Headmaster.