First, I find it odd that people seem surprised and disappointed that the epilogue more or less precludes sequels, since that was exactly what it was intended to do. To quote myself in junior high: duh.

As to disappointment that 19 years down the road the characters lead seemingly humdrum lives, about which we don't hear much: again, just the point. Folks, most people don't aspire to be under constant threat of death - mostly people want to live happy, relatively uneventful lives. They want to live in a house they love, do work they enjoy, raise kids, be comfortable. The fact that killing Voldemort allowed this to happen is, I think, poignant - Harry was never comfortable as the Boy Who Lived, and now he can finally get away from it. Maybe as readers we want excitement and adventure and really wild things on the page, but by not making Harry et al want these things, Rowling is respecting the characters she created. On a certain level, I find it a profound commentary on what most people want out of life - not fame or fortune or power, but love and happiness. Odd that so many readers don't seem to see that.

I was a little disappointed by the epilogue, and wish it hadn’t been there. Apart from my slight squeamishness at the idea that these bright, vibrant people solidified into just an aged version of their 17-year-old selves, blandly marrying high-school sweethearts, I would have preferred to imagine some of this on my own. But I think Rowling wanted to be able to include Harry’s line to little Albus about the importance of choice and the fact that bravery will appear in the most surprising of places. As for what careers our heroes all settled on – well, I’m glad JKR didn’t tell us this outright, because I’d rather speculate. Here are my thoughts: Hermione is an advocate/lawyer for non-wizard species, Ron has a Ministry job in a goblin or house-elf relations office (his understanding at last of what Hermione has been saying for 4 years about house elves was one of my favorite moments in this book), Luna has taken over “The Quibbler” but spends more time on political commentary than Crumple-Horned Snorkaks, Ginny works in product development for Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, now found across the globe. And Harry? Doing speaking tours, writing Gilderoy Lockhart-esque books on fighting the dark arts, playing Seeker for Puddlemere United, living off the largesse of the Potter and Black family inheritances, or finally fulfilling his dream and working as an Auror.

Nicely done! I think it's great when considered in contrast with the more tragic figures in the book who sought fame, fortune and power - e.g. Voldemore, Dumbledore and Snape - and found only defeat and regret. I especially like the contrast of Harry's happy domesticity (also loved Ron's pride at driving a Muggle car) compared to the Dursley's self-loathing envy and hatred of others.

I for one was shocked that JKR would suggest that some people's lives get less exciting when they grow up and have kids. I certainly have never met anyone who drones on endlessly about how great at high school football they were.

The epilogue does take the wind out of the sails of people who want more Harry Potter books, which was one goal of it. "Harry Potter and the boring garden party" wouldn't sell nearly as well as the first seven. It would still top the NYT bestseller list for a year, but JKR has enough money at this point.

Hear hear! What the Book Club seems to think of as bourgeois strikes me as simply normal - parents helping their children take first steps into the world, as they once did (remember the fourth chapter of Philosopher's Stone, folks?). And besides, some things really don't change -Rowling makes it clear in the epilogue that Harry is indeed famous (heads turn to look at him as the Hogwarts Express leaves the station) and that he and the rest of the family can make easy, slightly rueful jokes about it.

Of course we want to know how the lives of the main characters turn out - one of the interesting things about the epilogue's presence is that it provides a touchstone for legions of rabid fans to speculate about just that. I don't know how Rowling feels about the piles of fan fiction that's already been penned about her world, but you can bet the fanboys and fangirls are drooling at the possibilities inherent in 19 years worth of fictional time, and a few new characters.

And what about official sequels? The poor woman doesn't need the money, and could probably use a bit of a rest. But I wonder - the epilogue is set in 2016 (only eight years away - gulp!) and I don't think it's impossible that in ten or twelve years time, Rowling might feel the urge to revisit her world. Just wait for it: Albus Potter and the Curse of Scorpius, coming to a bookstore near you! My kids, when I have them, will love it!

It's nice to see that others are thinking the same thing - at first I was disappointed, but I try to remember the themes that JKR tries to follow. And the epilogue was one of them - Harry never wanted "eternal glory"; he never wanted to the Boy Who Lived. So whatever he is doing, it is quiet and simple and we don't have to assume that Hermione and Ginny are just popping kids out. What we see is a return to normalcy and maybe that's meant for us to realize that there aren't any more stories to tell about Harry Potter. It is "Harry Potter and the Boring Garden Party" (that was very clever by the way!).

Think about many of our heroes and heroines - wouldn't it be boring to see what they were doing after they rode of into the sunset. What if Rose had married Jack (Titanic)? A little less romantic isn't it? Not to say that being married isn't romantic. I'm married and I wouldn't say that, but you have to admit your life is full of the little mundane things and the romance that comes from time to time is a plus.

Some people might say, No, I want to know, but then we'd be stuck with hundreds of books about Harry Potter and the Whatever, like we're stuck with hundreds of Star Wars novels that have completely diluted the story. The Star Wars saga is over, the rest of the books are interesting enough to get you back into the universe but how many times is the Galatic Republic going to be threatened? Maybe we want boring and happy.

(I posted this on another thread too).

Two things about the epilogue that struck me:

Point A: This was a multiplied-by-30 version of Sam's return to his home after Frodo sails off. What Tolkien fitted in 2 sentencdes, JKR uses 3 pages for....but the gist is the same, at the end evil must be fought so people can go back to the luxury of leading 'ordinary' lives with small ordinary concerns.

Point B: The middle name of Harry's second son. I got teary-eyed afresh in that sentence......

Luna, all in all I think that is pretty good speculation!

Speaking of the Dursleys... did any of y'all wonder what happened to them?

The epilogue failed for me only because there wasn't more mentioned about Teddy Lupin and his relationship with his godfather Harry. Both their parents were killed when they were infants, resisting Voldmort (directly for Harry and indirectly for Tonks and Lupin). I could care less about what happened to the Dursleys. I personally hope they got bashed in the head when Hagrids motorcycle fell from the sky.

I think she purposely kept Teddy as a brief mention in the epilogue because we never met him in the book. We know Harry has a good relationship with him, and that's enough, especially when so many wonderful characters weren't mentioned at all.

I mentioned this in another thread yesterday, but I love how she ended things. We know the main characters get to live long, happy peaceful lives, and aside from that, we have plenty of room to fill in the blanks ourselves.

I imagine... Luna becoming a Hogwarts teacher (she was wonderful helping Harry conjure his patronus). Lavender Brown became a warewolf, and now she works for werewolf rights. Goyle saw the light and married a Muggle. Dean still keeps in touch with Griphook, and sends Christmas cards to Mrs. Tonks every year. Him and Seamus taking their kids to the Quidditch World Cup together. And I especially love that she didn't mention Dudley, because now I can imagine Harry and Neville showing up at his front door, to give his son his Hogwarts admission letter. Then I can think about Vernon learning his precious granchild is like that horrible Potter boy!

But I just think it's wonderful that she told us Harry was happy, but gave us room to imagine the rest.

I imagine she just dropped the ball on this particular point. We know that Harry ends up with Ginny but she took the time to mention that. And I don't see Goyle with a Muggle - we Muggles have better taste than that.

A point I haven't seen made yet is the complete circle the epilogue makes in tone and sprirt. A light-hearted scene of the next generation leaving for Hogwarts reminds the reader of how far we have come with Harry since the first book and his/our first journey to Hogwarts. Thousands of pages later, we have been through many wars and battles, and the simplicity and contrast of the epilogue to its previous pages enforce our journey's distance.

one thing that disappointed me in the epilogue was learning that Hogwarts was still divided into 4 houses. Even though it was an idea that Voldemort had, it seemed that a major theme of the books was to overcome petty divisions like houses, and unite for the common good. perhaps Rowling just wished to be realistic about racism's tenacity (as long as slytherin exists, it seems purebloodism is still a popular and public form of thought). but still, you would think that not only being in danger of dying out, but by being destroyed by at least 2 powerful dark wizards (no masterful dark witches though - bellatrix was obviously too touched in the head to be willfully dangerous rather than just insane), that the magical world would just be happy to be alive.

Perhaps Slytherin's existence goes along with some thing like right to Free Speech. If racism is an ingrained and eternal part of humanity, it is better to give it open and acceptable outlets for expression with limits and controls, rather than trying to ban it, forcing it underground to fester and spread, obtaining the glamour of forbidden fruit. Best to keep our dark sides as much in the light as possible.