The 10 Biggest Post Potter Revelations For Cursed Child

We count down the ten biggest revelations J.K. Rowling made after the Harry Potter series ended that may effect the upcoming Cursed Child.

J.K. Rowling may become famous for her Harry Potter series, but it’s what she did after that seems to have defined her in a way that’s different from many other writers in her genre. Since the series ended, Rowling has taken to Twitter, and has made many post-series revelations over the years. And we’re not just talking about the retro-fitting of Dumbledore as gay, or the realization, brought on by persuasive American fans, that Rowling had never once described Hermione Granger as Caucasian on the page, making it easy for the character to be retconned as a person of color in Cursed Child. We’re talking all those other details, like whether Harry ever actually finished Hogwarts. And what about Ron and Hermione?

All of those details matter even more than they did before, when Rowling casually mentioend them on Twitter or in interviews, or backfilled them on Pottermore. With previews for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child just over a month away, we count down through some of the biggest revelations Rowling has made about our leading characters, revelations that will probably affect their lives on stage.

Next: Chocolate Frog Trio

10. Harry, Hermione and Ron are all on Chocolate Frog Cards

During the 2007 book tour for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released, J.K. Rowling revealed that all three of the “Golden trio” would go on to be featured on Chocolate Frog Cards. This may seem a small and rather silly factoid to keep in mind—though don’t tell Ron that. As far as he’s concerned, it’s the greatest honor he could ever receive. (Much like Dumbledore himself said.)

And Dumbledore and Ron are both right to keep something like that in perspective. After all, children may learn about great wizards and witches from dusty old books, but it’s getting a Chocolate Frog Card with a name, picture, and three easy-to-remember facts that really makes a historical figure stick in the mind of an eleven-year-old child. Think back to how important those cards were in the first two Harry Potter books, as Harry and Ron collected them. It was the Chocolate Frog Card for Dumbledore (the one that mentioned Nicholas Flamel) that helped Hermione solve the puzzle of the Sorcerer’s Stone. One can bet that seeing their parent’s faces on those cards will affect the Potter and Weasley children deeply and at an impressionable age.

Next: Professor Longbottom, I presume?

9. Professor Neville Longbottom

The movies might have suggested that Neville and Luna would be the ones to hook up after the Battle of Hogwarts, but by 2011, we all knew perfectly well that, even if such a short-lived fling were to occur, a future together was not in the cards for them. When most people think of Rowling’s 2007 talk at Carnegie Hall, they remember her announcement that Dumbledore was gay. But during the same Q&A, she also revealed Neville’s fate: not only would he go on to become Professor of Herbology at Hogwarts when Professor Sprout retired (as revealed in the novels) but he also gets married, and not to Luna Lovegood.

"To make him extra cool he marries the woman who becomes, eventually, the new landlady at The Leaky Cauldron, which I think would make him very cool among the students, that he lives above the pub. He marries Hannah Abbott."

Hannah Abbott, for the record, was originally supposed to be a pure-blooded witch, so the two of them marrying would have been a pure-blood match, even though neither of them would have cared much. Although that got muddled up in the movies, leaving Abbott a half-blood. Still, it’s good to keep in mind that the owner of the Leaky Cauldron is an old friend of all three characters, even though she was in Hufflepuff, and Neville will be the kids’ professor.

Next: Cousin Dudley

8. Harry and Dudley’s Kids Play Together

The movies actually made this far clearer than the books (one of the few times we can say that happened). But Rowling herself also confirmed it—later in life, Harry and Dudley put aside the emotional crap that the Dursleys tried so hard to build up between them, and find a sort of peace with each other. This was another factoid that came out at the 2007 Carnegie Hall talk, as Rowling referred to the two men as being on “Christmas card terms.” (Such a British way of putting it.)

Don’t worry though: Dudley doesn’t suddenly wake up and discover one of his kids got an invite to Hogwarts. As Rowling noted, magic in the blood would have been instantly iced by contact with “Uncle Vernon’s DNA.” Still, Harry and Dudley do visit and allow their children to play together, which is a huge step considering how Vernon and Petunia acted about anyone with magical abilities. Harry and Dudley don’t have much to say to each other, but that’s alright—that they allow their children to get to know their extended family members is big enough, and certainly something that could come up in Cursed Child.

Next: Teddy Lupin

7. Teddy Lupin Turns Out Ok

For me, one of the hardest revelations that Rowling made over the years was that she didn’t originally plan for Tonks and Lupin to die. Tonks is hands-down one of favorite characters, and the idea that she left her newborn son in the care of her mother and then went to Hogwarts to die side-by-side with Lupin is one of the more tragic subplots of the final novel. But as Rowling explained, she needed to leave an orphan at the end for Harry to become the guardian of, thereby bringing the story full circle. In the end, that was Teddy Lupin. (This, by the way, is why so many fans get upset Teddy was cut from the final movie.)

So though Harry and Ginny have three children, Harry also has guardianship of a fourth, much older kid, who he helped raise with Tonk’s mother, Andromeda Black (yes, that would be his godfather Sirius’ aunt, tying Harry to the Black family even though Sirius was dead.) Teddy was almost done with his Hogwarts education 19 years later, and will probably be an independent adult by the time we arrive at the events of Cursed Child. But chances are that Teddy will be a part of the story, and perhaps someone Harry turns to to remind himself that he wasn’t the world’s worst father figure. As Rowling promised us: Teddy turns out all right.

Next: Harry's Other Broomstick is a Motorcycle

6. Harry has Sirius’ Flying Motorbike

Do you want to see Harry Potter riding a flying motorbike in his adult years? I’ll bet all of us do. And he can. You may remember that the last time Harry rode the flying motorbike, it didn’t end well. During the Battle of the Seven Potters, Harry and Hagrid wound up using every last spell the bike featured in order to escape the Death Eaters, and then they still had to abandon it midair (along with the dead Hedwig) in order to survive. The bike…well, it wasn’t in the best shape after that.

But Rowling knew how much that bike meant to fans—after all, it was one of the first magical items seen in the series—and how much it meant to Harry, as one of the last things Sirius left him. According to her, Arthur Weasley quietly snuck the bike pieces back to his shed of Muggle items, and spent a couple of years tinkering until he finally got the damn thing back together and in flying condition. And if there’s one thing a 40-something year old wizard having a midlife crisis is bound to break out and go for a ride on, it’s a flying motorbike.

Next: Scorpius Malfoy

5. Astoria Raised Scorpius Right

Draco Malfoy is one of those characters I don’t think Rowling realized would become such a hit among fans, which is why it wasn’t until 2014 that she finally got around to filling his backstory out as part of the 12 Potter Christmas Stories. She admitted at the time she was “unnerved” by how unhealthily obsessed fans were with him, and that she never meant for him to become such a major force in the Potterverse.

But that’s the thing about art—once it’s out there in the world, you can’t control how people react to it. And so now Draco is a major character, with a fully fleshed-out childhood describing how he was raised by people bitter about being on the losing side of the First Wizarding War, and that Voldemort’s return was seen as a chance at redemption.

As for his future, he did not marry Pansy Parkinson—Rowling took the name from a girl who had bullied her badly in grade school, and could not allow her to have such a happy ending. Instead, Draco married Astoria Greengrass, a nice girl from an acceptable pure-bloooded family, but not one that was crazed about it, or who drilled into their children that Muggles were lesser beings. In fact, Astoria made it a point to teach their son Scorpius that Muggles are not to be looked down upon, which causes quite a bit of tension at family gatherings. With both Draco and Scorpius as part of the Cursed Child cast, it will be interesting to see this new Molfoy in action. (However, by all accounts, Draco still somewhat romanticizes Dark Magic, and is an avid collector of dark magic-related artifacts. This may also be a plot point to keep in mind.)

Next: Ron Weasley, entrepreneur

4. Ron took Fred’s place at Wealsey’s Wizarding Wheezes

The death of Fred Weasley was very difficult to take. Rowling admitted that someone from the Wealsey family was going to have to die in the last book—it was simply too unbelievable that a family that large wouldn’t lose at least one member in the fighting, although she changed her mind several times over who it should be. Arthur? The family patriarch dying would be hard for all the Weasleys, but he was also of the older generation, and his death wouldn’t have had as much impact on readers. She seriously considered killing Ron off—and there are sometimes hints of that in the middle books. In fact, Ron almost was the one to go, but Rowling couldn’t bring herself to not have him and Hermione together in the end as an opposites-attract marriage.

So perhaps it’s not that surprising that, since Fred was the victim, Ron stepped up and took his place at Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes. Rowling didn’t reveal that at first—she just said that “he and Harry went on to become Aurors.” But soon that changed. Ron wasn’t happy as an Auror, or as a government drone. (Because Ron as a government drone is just not a thing, you know? Especially when he was married to Hermione, who would rise through the ranks while he did not.) So after a couple of years, he dropped out and went into the new family business with George. (George, by the way, married Angelina Johnson, who had been dating Fred. And yes, their son is name Fred, too.) By all accounts, the business is still successful. Perhaps those separate successes are part of why his relationship with Hermione survives? I feel like we’ll probably get a good look at all of this in Cursed Child.

Next: Hermione Granger, Still Working

3. Hermione is Deputy Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement

Of the three members of the Golden Trio, all of whom dropped out of Hogwarts in their final years, it was only Hermione who took her education seriously enough to go back, finish her schooling, take her NEWTS, and ace those bad boys. Because of course she did. Rowling was very clear about this: Hermione was the Greatest Witch of Her Age. She could choose to do anything. So why is she currently only the Deputy Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement?

Now, I know: moving up the political ladder is a slow process, and Kingsley Shacklebolt is probably still a fantastic Minister of Magic. And her work in that department is focused on scrubbing the Ministry of “antiquated prejudices.” But the fact that Hermione is not the Head of Magic Law Enforcement, but only the Deputy head, is a little startling to me. I know she and Ron have a couple of kids, and Ron dropping out of the Government after two years probably didn’t reflect that well on her. But Hermione is an ambitious woman. I’m really surprised that she hasn’t advanced farther. Hopefully, we’ll find out why (and maybe see her promoted once or twice) during the events of Cursed Child.

Next: Byline: Ginny Weasley Potter

2. Ginny’s Quidditch Career

Ginny’s fate actually wasn’t revealed until later—much like Malfoy, Rowling didn’t get around to letting us in on Ginny’s doings after the Battle of Hogwarts (other than that she married Harry and they had three kids) until the 2014 Quidditch World Cup.

How did we find out about Ginny via the World Cup? Because it was Ginny Weasley’s own articles for the Daily Prophet that were published on Pottermore to let us know what was happening at that huge sporting event. Yes, Ginny Weasley is a writer now, and a big time name at the Prophet. She heads up their sporting coverage, especially of Quidditch.

How did she get this position? Well, of course, Rita Skeeter would have us believe it’s because of who she married. But Ginny is also a celebrity in her own right. After the Battle of Hogwarts, she took her Quidditch skills and became a chaser for the Holyhead Harpies! She retired after a few years when she had kids with Harry, and then returned to sports as a sideline reporter, eventually working her way up to head coverage of the 2014 World Cup for the Prophet.

Will Ginny’s own fame affect her children? After all, it’s hard enough having one famous parent—how about two, and one who gave up her career to have you? We’ll have to see how that plays out.

Next: Harry Potter, The Government Worker Who Lived

1. Harry Stayed a Hogwarts Drop Out

Our final entry is, of course, about Harry himself. When most hero’s journey stories end, they stay ended. One doesn’t hear about Dorothy in her 40s, raising children in Kansas or in Oz. Ender Wiggin is forever an overweening teenager. No one knows what happened to Buttercup and Westley after they rode off into the sunset. No one’s seen Lyra Belacqua since she returned to her world and the doors between the universes closed. Harry’s is one where it didn’t stay that way, and for many, it’s odd to realize that the hero, after his journey ended, went on to…middle management. But as the Cursed Child synopsis says:

It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.

Yep, middle management in government. I know—that’s it? But remember, unlike Hermione, Harry never completed his education. As Rowling herself revealed early on after the final book was published, neither he nor Ron ever went back to Hogwarts or took their NEWTS. It’s not as important in Ron’s case—after all, once he realized that his lack of education meant he was in a dead-end job, he went to go work for the family business. Harry doesn’t have that—last we checked, his family business was defeating Voldemort. It’s kind of hard to continue that job with Voldemort gone. Certainly, it won’t pay that well.

So here Harry is, unable to rise any higher than he has, and yet still Harry Potter, famous man on a Chocolate Frog Card. It cannot be an easy thing to reconcile—the true definition of “peaking at age 17.” And yet, it is what Rowling tells us was and will be. It’s probably the thing we all want to know the most about when Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is released.

Next: How the Harry Potter Films Failed Their Female Characters

Did we miss anything? Any other revelations we should have taken into account? (Like Luna marrying Rolf Scamander?) Sound off in our comments!