Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In today’s video, we’re going
to be ONCE AGAIN discussing the events that transpired in the Harry Potter universe AFTER
the books and films ended. I have made 2 videos on this topic to date, parts 1 and 2, which
each cover 10 separate characters and what they got up to post Deathly Hallows. Today,
I’m going to be continuing that trend and giving you PART 3 of.. WHAT HAPPENED to these
10 characters AFTER the war? I’ll link parts 1 and 2 in the PINNED comment.
The new Fantastic Beasts films, such as the Secrets of Dumbledore (dropping April 2022),
are giving us new insights in to the beloved characters of our childhoods, releasing never
before seen information about their backstories. That got me thinking- what happened to these
characters AFTER the story had ended?
Today, we’re going to be taking a closer look.
Aberforth
Aberforth Dumbledore was a British half-blood wizard, the older brother of Ariana Dumbledore,
the younger brother of Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore, and the son of Kendra and
Percival Dumbledore. Aberforth had a poor relationship with his brother, as they were
both involved in the three way duel involving Grindelwald that led to the death of their
sister, Ariana. When Ariana died, it basically ended their relationship, as Aberforth blamed
Albus for her death. Even though Albus and Aberforth were brothers, and fairly close
in age, they were always very different.
Aberforth is presented by Rowling in a bit of an interesting light, perhaps to provide
a bit of comic relief, as in the Goblet of fire it’s mentioned (briefly) that Aberforth
has a bit of an unusual relationship with his goats. In fact, he was even prosecuted
for the supposed things that he did with goats. What he did with goats has never actually
been disclosed, but what we do know about this odd-natured wizard- and this shouldn’t
surprise you- is that after the war he kept a low profile- living about the rest of his
days tending to his goats. Of course, Aberforth also resumed his role as the barman at the
Hog’s Head Inn- where he served Butterbeer to the future generations of Hogwarts students
for decades to come.
No one knows if Aberforth ever truly forgave his brother, Albus, for his role in the entirely
AVOIDABLE duel that resulted in his sisters death, but I certainly like to think so.
Fleur Delacour
Fleur Isabelle Delacour (later Fleur Weasley) was a French quarter-veela witch born in the
year 1977. Fleur is first introduced in the Goblet of Fire under the context of the Triwizard
tournament, and emphasis was placed on her because she was the champion representing
her school, Beauxbatons.
Shortly after the events of the triwizard tournament, in the summer of 1995, Fleur took
on a role at Gringotts in order to improve her English. It was here that she met one
of the older Weasley children- Bill- who was working there as a curse breaker. The two
hit it off straight away, and nearly immediately began dating- with Bill eventually proposing.
The pair get married in the story, but it seems to occur just as the wizarding world
is collapsing- so my question is, given that the two of them survived the war, what happened
next?
Well, it should come as no surprise that Bill and Fleur, after getting married, went on
to have children of their own. Fleur became the mother of three children- Victoire, Louis,
and Dominique Weasley- expanding the already prolific Weasley clan even more. Given that
both Victoire and Dominique were female- and that Fleur had veela blood in her veins, her
daughters also possessed Veela blood. This made them ⅛ Veela. Technically, Louis had
the same blood in him, but it has been reinforced through canon that Veelas are only women.
Though Bill survived the war and his severe injuries inflicted by the notorious werewolf
Fenrir Greyback, specifically avoiding becoming a WEREWOLF himself, it has been expressed
that he did develop the tendency to enjoy very rare steaks.
Seamus Finnigan
Seamus Finnigan was an Irish half-blood wizard born in the year 1980, whose father was a
muggle and whose ‘MAM’ was a witch. Seamus was a fellow Gryffindor, sharing a common
room with the likes of the trio, and as a secondary character in the series, pops up
every once and a while throughout the entire story- starting as early as the first book.
Seamus helped as best he could during the Battle of Hogwarts, and fortunately was able
to survive the war. Immediately after the battle had ended, he could be seen sitting
with Dean Thomas and Aberforth Dumbledore.
While this hasn’t been confirmed through canon, I like to imagine that Seamus ended
up working in some kind of role pertaining to pyrotechnics. The young Irishman had a
knack for blowing things up, after all. Perhaps a career in magical fireworks?
McGonagall
Minerva McGonagall was a Scottish half-blood witch born in 1935 to parents Robert McGonagall
and Isobel Ross. After a chaotic first few decades of her life, involving familial issues
and heartbreak, she eventually found herself working at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and
wizardry, the same school that she herself attended in her youth. We know McGonagall
as the stern but kind transfiguration professor that was always quick to call out Harry and
Ron for being late, but was also the first person to be standing in front of and defending
her students if something went awry. McGonagall’s loyalty to Hogwarts eventually earned her
the title of headmistress after Dumbledore had died and Snape had been ousted from the
school. McGonagall played a pivotal role in the defence of Hogwarts school during the
final battle, and luckily she survived.
After the war ended, she was awarded the Order of Merlin by Minister for Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt
due to her loyalty to the Order of the Phoenix. Once the school overcame the destruction,
McGonagall returned to her position as Headmistress of Hogwarts and stayed in the role until at
least the 2021-22 school year. Whether she’s still there or not remains unclear.
Narcissa / Lucius
Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Malfoy (born Narcissa Black) were the prejudiced, pure-blood extremist
parents of secondary and sometimes primary antagonist Draco Malfoy, Harry’s peer. Lucius,
despite his commitment to the dark lord, was known to be a bit of a snivelling coward-
which meant that, similar to Pettigrew, he showed loyalty to wherever he believed the
power was.
After the battle of hogwarts had ended, Voldemort was dead, which meant that they no longer
had the security-blanket that came with any kind of association to him. This left their
fate entirely up to the good guys- the rest of the wizarding world. When it started to
look like Voldemort’s regime was about to fall, the Malfoy family simply hung their
heads and walked away from the Hogwarts grounds in shame. So, what came of them? Were they
given life imprisonment in Azkaban? Or were they forced to endure some other equally awful
fate?
It would appear that, after the events of the Deathly hallows, Lucius and his family
managed to avoid sentencing by revealing information, names etc about the surviving Death Eaters.
Ensuring that the wizarding world could move forward in perfect harmony, with no more spikes
in evil, meant that capturing the remaining death eaters was of utmost importance. Therefore,
when Lucius willfully offered to reveal this information in exchange for him and his families
freedom- the ministry of magic (which was in tatters at that point) was more than willing
to take him up on it.
After being pardoned, it seems as though they kept a relatively low profile. Despite no
longer being OPENLY evil, they certainly still held on to a lot of the same beliefs that
they always held- and weren’t any more tolerant of muggles or half-bloods. The pair also remained
critical of Draco and his wife for raising their grandson Scorpius with a more tolerant
world view.
Cormac Mclaggen
Cormac McLaggen was a british pure-blood wizard born in 1979 who is probably best known for
his pompous attitude. Mclaggen was a fellow Gryffindor, just one year above Harry, and
was also a member of Slughorn’s ‘slug club’.
Like most Gryffindors, McLaggen too participated in the final battle of the Second Wizarding
War, fighting alongside the defenders of Hogwarts. McLaggen survived the final battle, and no
one really knows what happened to him after the war.
Despite Mclaggen’s arrogance throughout MOST of the story, we do have to give him
credit for the role that he played in the final battle- acting as a leader and showing
immense bravery. Maybe Mclaggen didn’t turn out so bad after all.
Grawp
Grawp, a small giant (bit of an oxymoron there) and Hagrid’s half-brother, is first introduced
to us when Hagrid brings the trio to the Forbidden forest to make introductions. Hagrid discovered
his brother Grawp while making a trip to the tribe of giants in 1995 on Albus Dumbledore’s
orders.
The first thing I want to address is that Grawp did in fact survive the Battle of Hogwarts-
and immediately after their victory could be seen celebrating and laughing while students
threw food in to his mouth.
Other than not being listed as a casualty in the battle, there’s no definitive canon
answer as to what happened to Grawp. But I do have a fairly conservative theory. You
see, after Umbridge had been sacked at Hogwarts, Dumbledore and Hagrid thought it would be
best to send Grawp to live in a cave in the mountains near Hogsmeade. As it turns out,
Grawp enjoyed the cave quite a lot- and much preferred it to the forest where he lived
previously. Though Grawp emerged from his mountain cave to fight in the battle of Hogwarts,
I think that the cave was actually a great home for Grawp, and that he simply returned
to live there after the battle.
By this stage Grawp had developed considerably from when Hagrid first found him- and even
began to show an understanding of human emotions like happiness and joy. Given that Hagrid
stayed on as Gameskeeper, I think that Grawp would have simply lived out his days travelling
between Hogwarts school and the mountains near Hogsmeade.
Rita Skeeter
British witch Rita Skeeter, the extremely conniving journalist, built her infamous reputation
around writing defamation pieces FULL of misinformation for the Daily Prophet. No one was safe from
her poison pieces- even Albus Dumbledore who once remarked that Skeeter was ‘enchantingly
nasty’.
We don’t have to ‘guess’ what happened to Skeeter- because it’s been well touched
on by Rowling in interviews:
"Naturally, what could stop Rita from still reporting. I imagine she immediately dashed
off a biography of Harry after he defeated Voldemort. One quarter truth to three quarters
rubbish."
It has been revealed that she also wrote biography / hatchet jobs on both Severus Snape and Newt
Scamander. These pieces were titled ‘Snape: Scoundrel or Saint?’ and ‘Man or Monster?
The Truth about Newt Scamander’, respectively.
Essentially, Rita lived out her days being Rita, continuing to live and work as a successful
reporter and author.
Slughorn
Horace Slughorn is a british wizard with a long history at Hogwarts. He was head of Slytherin
house, resident potions master, and even the official host of ‘slug club’. Slughorn
infamously told Tom Riddle about Horcruxes, and Slughorn’s fear of Dumbledore finding
out led to his initial retirement from the post. However, Slughorn later returned to
the school after a long hiatus, continuing on as Potions Master.
Slughorn played an important role in the wizarding war, fighting valiantly in the final battle
alongside his students and peers. Fortunately, Slughorn was able to survive, and continued
working at Hogwarts, acting as Head of Slytherin and overseeing the first year Sorting Ceremony.
Sometime before 2016, Slughorn fully retired, and he received the honour of having a portrait
of himself placed in the Slytherin Common Room.
Dean Thomas
Dean Thomas was an English half-blood wizard born in the year 1980- the son of a wizard
and a Muggle mother. Dean was notably in the same year as Harry Potter, and was also a
Gryffindor student.
Dean pops up quite a lot in the Harry Potter story, and it should come as no surprise that
he fought valiantly alongside his allies in the battle of Hogwarts- a battle that, fortunately,
he was able to survive.
So, what came of Dean after the battle? Well- immediately after, Dean was seen sitting next
to Seamus Finnigan and Aberforth Dumbledore in the Great Hall. Beyond that? Well- canon
doesn’t give us any info.
If I had to guess- Dean pursued a career as an artist. I say this because throughout the
story he demonstrates an affinity for art, and he was said to be quite good with a quill.
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Until next time
Remember
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live