Happy Endings: aren't they always a lie? Happily Ever After??? NEVER! Where does one find a happy ending these days? Name a book. Don't they all offer more realistic and problematic endings? Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy ends with the lovers parted; Lord of the Rings ends with the passing of the magical Age; Narnia sees the children killed in a train wreck.

Though "Princess Bride" is one of my favorite movies I do think they will always have problems and such. I think Jo will likely leave us with a great sense of loss and yet still happy with victory and hope for the future. So while I think H&G and R&Hr will happen (in the end) they may still suffer from the loss of not just friends both family members as well

thant being said, I also do not think everything will be tied up all nice and neat to leave the reader with a sense of satisfaction that everything will be alright. JKR has shown us that evil occurs in cycles (in the case of Grindlewald and then LV)so we know there will be another one, because good cannot exist without evil She also shows us that life is not fair (too many examples to mention here) and makes sure we know that even those who are on the side of good do not make the best decisions and can be down righ foolish and spiteful and wrong! Life is simply not perfect. Our hero is not perfect.

JKR has always said that this book was not warm and fuzzy and it leads me to expect that everything will not work out to many of our satifactions. The fact is that war is a terrible thing and the innocent suffer. JKR has said this as well. I fear that while Harry will not die, we will lose some characters we have grown to love, because in war we cannot pick and chose who lives or dies.

As Jo says "they don't target extras" they target main characters." I have always feared for Hagrid and Ron.


What if she kills off one of the trio? One of the twins? Ginny? This being said, what is the responsibility of the author to her fans? What will happen to to those who have invested so much into the characters of the septology? is this a lesson in coping with death? she has created more here than just some literary character,there is geneneration of people (adults and children alike) who will be affected by the death of this young hero or his two best friends? (I certainly can remember reading "Little Women" in 4th grade and sobbing when Beth died..to this day!)

Well, I doubt Harry will die at the end. And I doubt that was JKR's intention from the start. Harry Potter is a Coming of Age story. And that's what will happen in Book 7, in more ways than simply Harry turning 17.

Harry will leave the Dursleys, he'll leave Hogwarts, and he'll face Voldemort for the last time. And what does Voldemort represent to Harry? He represents Evil and mortality and injustice. And Harry will have to stand up to that.

He wouldn't die in the fight. As much as some want a sacrifice, it wouldn't make literary sense. Harry will emerge a mature adult with grownup wisdom at the end of Book 7. Not dead. There's nothing the dead can do.

The ending of HP will have mixed feelings... sorrow for the losses (of whoever), regret for things that could have been (loose ends we'll never know about), and joy at the destruction of LV, hopefully satisfactorily. It will be a perfect harmony, and when you close the book you'll just say, WOW.

I haven't seen that many Disney films. My parents say they ruin classical stories, and I expect that's true. I haven't seen 'The Little Mermaid' but I have the real story and she doesn't live! Wretched Disney! Thank God JK R didn't sell them the film rights!

I agree davidenglish, I do not think she was intending to kill Harry, I think she is invested into HArry so much that he is a living breathing soul to her. But what of Ron? What will happen if one of the twins die? Or Molly or Arthur? The death of Ron Billius Weasley will send HP fans into a tailspin.

I'll be disipointed if the ending is too sad, but I agree there will probably be some realistic losses. JK doesn't over dramatize death, I really like that about her. I'm hoping for a bitter sweet ending, maybe a little romantic, but mostly all I want is the WOW factor.

I agree davidenglish, I do not think she was intending to kill Harry, I think she is invested into HArry so much that he is a living breathing soul to her. But what of Ron? What will happen if one of the twins die? Or Molly or Arthur? The death of Ron Billius Weasley will send HP fans into a tailspin.

Beatrix Potter... HA HA HA! Those bad little animals get whipped by their momma, lose their clothes, have no supper... do they learn a lesson I wonder, and does that make it a happy ending? It depends on what "hat" the reader is wearing. As a child, those endings horrified me! An adult might see them as just or even funny.

It was just a dream.

Harry wakes up from a coma sustained in a car crash which killed his parents. Sort of like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, Bobby Ewing in Dallas.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

I agree, M. JKR does not, IMO, necessarily have a responsibility to her fans to create a Happily Ever After ending. We've seen the deaths of two major characters: Sirius and Dumbledore. And Hagrid and Ron...I hope she doesn't, but she just might kill them. She might kill off Harry too, while she's at it. I think we all need to prepare for that possibility.

Look at the reaction when Sirius died. And Dumbledore. And even Cedric, even though he is in no way a major character. Even now, there are those who believe that Sirius is alive, despite JKR's adamant insistence that he is dead; in her world, dead is dead, and there's no coming back. Can you imagine what would happen if Harry is killed? But this is her story, and she has to tell it in her own way. If killing Harry, or any of the trio, is what's on her agenda to tell the story, then that's her perogative. We'll just have to live with it.

I think movies have popularized the idea of a happy ending much more so than books have. Even when the ending isn't completely sad, there are plenty of books out there where the ending is ambiguous or mixed. Gone With the Wind, Little Women, Grapes of Wrath, Rebecca... and so on. In my opinion, a happy ending can be a cop-out. I'd like to see some of our questions answered and the loose ends tied up, but I'd be satisfied even if it's not nice and neat, so long as JKR is true to her voice and her style.

I do worry about Ron and Ginny, for exactly that reason. As a writer you have to write what's in your heart even if you know it won't be popular. And the hero has to go on alone in the hero's journey, which I think is a model JKR is clearly following. (But no worries... LV isn't Harry's father and Hermione won't turn out to be his sister. I hope.) Siriusly, though, I wouldn't be surprised if Ron bites it in the last book. We know he'd sacrifice himself for Harry -- he's already done it once.

davidenglish said:
Well, I doubt Harry will die at the end. And I doubt that was JKR's intention from the start. Harry Potter is a Coming of Age story. And that's what will happen in Book 7, in more ways than simply Harry turning 17.

Harry will leave the Dursleys, he'll leave Hogwarts, and he'll face Voldemort for the last time. And what does Voldemort represent to Harry? He represents Evil and mortality and injustice. And Harry will have to stand up to that.

He wouldn't die in the fight. As much as some want a sacrifice, it wouldn't make literary sense. Harry will emerge a mature adult with grownup wisdom at the end of Book 7. Not dead. There's nothing the dead can do.

Well, I don't think Snape is the key to it all. He won't turn out to be Harry's father. And I doubt he'll be revealed to be Voldemort's son.

Snape is, like Benedict Arnold, an odd fate. A key figure, but never really accepted by the either side.

Snape is, like Benedict Arnold, an odd fate. A key figure, but never really accepted by the either side.

It is more likely that Snape and Regulus are somehow linked. Regulus, or RAB, remains a final mystery. And I'm sure Snape will be bound to the fate of Sirius's brother.

Ginnyiscool , I think there will be at least one dead weasley in the books. There are9 of them after all and I think just by playing the odds we will lose one. I still put my money on ron. When researching his wands for the wand threads we see two things.

the first is that his first wand has the hair of the unicorn (cedric had unicorn tail in his wand) plus, his new wand is willow (Lily had a willow wand). Not looking good for poor Ron!

I have also said previously in many other threads that according to DD in PS/SS Ron feels overshadowed by his brothers (and now by Ginny!). He feels like Harry's side kick for most of the series and I think that through his sacrifice to save Harry in book seven, he will get his "fame and Glory"

(I am reminded of Hermione in book one when she says "You're Harry Potter" and says to Ron, "And you are..?")

PS, page 117, UK paperback
'...-I´m Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?'
Harry looked at Ron and was relieved to see by his stunned face that he hadn´t learnt all the books off by heart either.
'I´m Ron Weasley,' Ron muttered.
'Harry Potter.' said Harry.

So I think we don´t have to be afraid there will be a sappy, cheesy, unbelievable happy ending. Just look at the end of HBP. We have just lost Dumbledore, we were at his funeral. That is, IMO, hardly a happy ending, although Harry and his friends are still alive. They will never be the same after this. They will never be the same after the whole series has ended.

I may be in the minority on this, but I want an unhappy ending. To me, that would be the ultimate 'Happy Ending'. Of all the book series I've read, or just plain books in general, I haven't come across that one ending that makes me cry wholeheartedly. I am looking for something like that in Harry Potter. I'm looking for the death of a huge character, or for someone to be scarred for life; mentally, not physically. I know, I know. It's horrible of me. But I want this series to end with a jarring scene.

What? Dumbledore's death didn't bring tears to your eye?

What? Dumbledore's death didn't bring tears to your eye?

Well, I do not want a completely unhappy ending without any kind of hope but if the HP Series has a truly Hollywoodesque ending I would be really really disappointed (Please Jo, don't do that!).
I want a realistic ending. Point. The magical world is in the middle of a war and as Jo said, "They go for the main targets". Characters will die (including some important ones, for example, who knows about Harry?) and many of them will be affected either physically or emotionally (or even both). Of course I believe that LV is going to be defeated and vanquished in some way (he has to be!) but evil won't just disappear forever. Quoting a well-known Potions Master,

I may be in the minority on this, but I want an unhappy ending. To me, that would be the ultimate 'Happy Ending'. Of all the book series I've read, or just plain books in general, I haven't come across that one ending that makes me cry wholeheartedly. I am looking for something like that in Harry Potter. I'm looking for the death of a huge character, or for someone to be scarred for life; mentally, not physically. I know, I know. It's horrible of me. But I want this series to end with a jarring scene.

Suppose Molly is lured away by a fake message from Percy and murdered. It would be a great shock and further frame Percy, who would have to come to terms with his behaviour.

So would H/G and R/Hr surving Deathly Hallows but at the cost of several loved ones (like Hagrid and Molly for instance) be an acceptable ending? Not too happy but not so sad that it's depressing?

So would H/G and R/Hr surving Deathly Hallows but at the cost of several loved ones (like Hagrid and Molly for instance) be an acceptable ending? Not too happy but not so sad that it's depressing?

I don't know if that would satisfying. I would want to see more deaths. Is that horrible of me?

The Closing of Hogwarts might be cause for grief. If the final battle takes place there, the whole building might tumble down.

And certainly some unseemly secret that might taint Harry's fond memories of the parents he never knew. Such as Lily having a crush on Snape or some such thing.

And then there's Snape & Draco. Harry positively nurses his hatred of these two and he was beside himself when they both escape at the end of HBP. I think there'd be some melancholy if Harry had to reliquinish some of that hatred due to circumstances.

There is some discomfort in finding out that the world isn't quite how one imagined it. Harry's suffered this kind of knock a couple of times. So I can see it happening again.

I agree the end of Hogwarts would truly be unbearable. Many have speculated that the house system might be abolished as it segregates the students and because of the sorting hat's warnings. I do not think that will happen. But if HW were to cease to exist, it would signify the beginning of the end of the wizarding world.

Davidenglish, I always thought Snape would live, and be a cripple of some sort not Harry, possibly blind. However, if it were to happen to Harry, I would also be crushed. I personally need him to come out of this as unscathed as he has from the rest of the encounters with LV. He just plain deserves it. Then again, as we have seen over and over in this book, Life is not fair.

Snape blinded? No way . Don't you think he's suffered enough, MemyselfnI? Almost certainly more than we've been told.

as far as HW, I agree that it will last. I think that in the world JKR created, there will always be wizards born and there will always be a magic book to capture their names when they come into this world. However, it will be a different Hogwarts. Hopefully, it will be reminiscent of the Hogwarts that Dumbledore tried to create. One that allows all kinds of wizards, regardless of class, blood status, or affliction.

I was just reading another thread and it occurs to me that the model for the ending of Harry Potter might come from Shakespear. I mean his later plays called Romances or Tragicomedies. That would be Pericles, Cymbeline, Winter's Tale, and The Tempest.

In these fantastic tales, where magic often figures, a demi-paradise is threatened by dark forces, a series of adventures end in near tragedy, but all comes right in the end. A figure, long thought dead, is revealed to be alive --though thoroughly changed-- and the young lovers are finally united.

I am willing to bet that the figure long thought dead is Regulus Black, who will look distressingly like Sirius to Harry.

I'd also like to interject my thoughts on what happens to Voldemort. It would be the most Disney like of endings if Harry simply finished him off. I reread and was interested to read Jo saying what "Harry" knows he must do. (Not quite the same as saying "What I'm going to write is".) Shakespear's Romances often involve great reversals and transformations. I can see Voldemort making a deathbed conversion after Nagini dies.

Why? Well, Voldemort is evil because he cannot empathize; only he exists and only he is truly real. However, he has used Nagini as a horcrux; Dumbledore said it was highly dangerous to make a living being a vehicle for a part of one's soul. But what better metaphor for empathy. I'm looking for a big emotional grieving scene when Nagini dies. How could Voldemort not empathize with the death of part of his soul? (Again, Dumbledore has hinted at this when he muttered something about Voldemort's attachment for Nagini being unusual.)

It would suggest that Harry doesn't kill Voldemort with an Unforgivable Curse; he kills him by breaking his heart. I know it sounds silly, but so do synopses of most of Shakespeare's Romances, but I've seen all four performed on stage and they all blew me away. (The Winter's Tale, in particular, has the most startling imagery at the end. When I last saw it I felt I'd been through a violent thunderstorm and suddenly the sun broke out and the birds began singing. It was miraculous.)

Happy Endings: aren't they always a lie? Happily Ever After??? NEVER! Where does one find a happy ending these days? Name a book. Don't they all offer more realistic and problematic endings? Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy ends with the lovers parted; Lord of the Rings ends with the passing of the magical Age; Narnia sees the children killed in a train wreck.

What makes a good ending? How does a story resolve itself without pandering to the reader? Is a happy ending just wishful thinking? And when is a tragic ending just the author engaging in cheap pathos, that is, bathos? What endings haunted you, infuriated you, inspired you, thrilled you?

I was just reading another thread and it occurs to me that the model for the ending of Harry Potter might come from Shakespear. I mean his later plays called Romances or Tragicomedies. That would be Pericles, Cymbeline, Winter's Tale, and The Tempest.

In these fantastic tales, where magic often figures, a demi-paradise is threatened by dark forces, a series of adventures end in near tragedy, but all comes right in the end. A figure, long thought dead, is revealed to be alive --though thoroughly changed-- and the young lovers are finally united.

The Winter's Tale, in particular, has the most startling imagery at the end. When I last saw it I felt I'd been through a violent thunderstorm and suddenly the sun broke out and the birds began singing. It was miraculous.

The Consolation even more essential to the essence of fairy-stories is the Happy Ending. The uplifting conclusion does not presuppose an absence of “sorrow or failure,” however; in fact, Tolkien explains that “the possibility of these is necessary to the joy of deliverance.”

Darkness might, perhaps even must, precede light, Tolkien says. Otherwise the reader would not value the “Eucatastrophe,” the joyous turn that is the “highest function” of the genre. The potential for grief and tragedy in effect makes the Happy Ending all the sweeter….”

Each Harry Potter volume includes the joyous turn that “denies…universal final defeat,” savoring a victory made all the more potent by the suffering and danger than preceded it….In fact, Rowling consistently delivers her Happy Ending in a literary one-two punch, with Harry’s escape from peril and frustration of Voldemort’s plan followed by a second revelation once he has returned from danger….”

“In fact, death and bereavement and what death means, I would say, is one of the central themes in all seven books.”

I don’t at all relish the idea of children in tears, and I don’t deny it’s frightening. But it’s supposed to be frightening! And if you don’t show how scary that is, you cannot show how incredibly brave Harry is.

So does that imply and expect, from the previous three books that we will get just one big main character death and some minor ones?

Again I have said it as well that we can have a sad and hopeful ending that wouldn't be too overly happy with a suriving H/G and R/Hr.