A Look Back at “What Will Happen In Harry Potter 7”: Chapter 7: “Love”

This article was written by Creative Social Media staff member Megan.

Unlike other chapters of What Will Happen in Harry Potter 7, the “Love” chapter stands out because we sort of already knew what would happen in Harry Potter 7 in terms of main character relationships. Harry and Ginny broke up at the end of Half-Blood Prince, but their continued feelings for each other hinted that they might have a future (if both of them survived the series, that is – which is sort of a question for another chapter).

In the case of Ron and Hermione, interestingly, we didn’t have any concrete proof from the books that Ron and Hermione would end up together (it was more like implied proof). Jo actually gave us all the proof we needed by admitting in an interview (with MuggleNet’s Emerson) that she intended to have Ron and Hermione end up together – something she rarely, if ever, did at the time.

I will say, that yes, I personally feel – well, it’s going to be clear once people have read Book 6. I mean, that’s it. It’s done, isn’t it? We know. Yes, we do know now that it’s Ron and Hermione” (MuggleNet/TLC interview 2005).

So when it comes to our favorite pairs, despite the heavy hints we had received, what were we hoping to see in Harry Potter 7? And how did it match up to what actually transpired?

Harry and Ginny

Obviously, we (as in, MuggleNet as well as everyone who didn’t still believe in Harmony) were hoping to see Harry and Ginny make it through the final book alive, well, and in love. Here’s what we predicted:

The good news is that the future looks pretty bright. Harry will defeat Voldemort. Ginny will wait for him, and the two of them will end up together. End of story” (77).

Our crystal ball did us well, of course (though it didn’t tell us about everyone’s favorite cursed child, Albus Severus). Harry and Ginny wound up with a life that was basically as happy and comfortable as we could’ve hoped for (which is great considering how much they both had to go through in order to get there).

Ron and Hermione

If we think back to the pre-Hallows era, it was widely suggested within the fandom that the entire trio would not make it out of the series intact (the three of them making it out healthy and alive just seemed way too optimistic). Controversially, however, MuggleNet predicted a bright future for these two.

Overall, it will make them happy, and just like Harry/Ginny, this one will last. They’ve waited so long for one another that now that they’re finally together, they won’t throw it away” (81).

Basically, when it came to the main characters and their little web of relationships, you can stick some giant glasses on us and call us Trelawney because we made some rather accurate predictions in this chapter.

Remus and Tonks

Remus and Tonks had a bit of a tumultuous relationship through most of HBP, and when DH opened, we learned that these two had gotten married in secret. In What Will Happen, MuggleNet predicted their less-than-happy ending with some depressing and unsatisfying accuracy:

They are finally together, and they are happy. But sadly, their happiness could be short-lived. After all, both Remus and Tonks are on the front line of the battle against the Death Eaters. The odds would already be against them if just one or the other were heavily involved in the fight, but with both of them getting shot at by Voldemort’s army, the future looks awfully bleak for this couple.” (83)

We can all take solace in the fact that Teddy had a happy childhood under the care of Harry and Ginny, but really – no one is happy about having predicted this correctly.

Hagrid and Olympe

Hagrid and his half-giant girlfriend were not a huge focus of anyone’s attention post-OotP, but the relationship is definitely an interesting one in that it introduces us to the further depths of Hagrid’s character. MuggleNet predicted, “In the unlikely event of Hagrid surviving Book 7, his relationship with Olympe seems to be in the past.”

We were (thankfully) incredibly wrong about Hagrid dying in Book 7 (even though we all remember that terrifying period during our first read, where it really looked like Hagrid was a goner at the Battle of Hogwarts. I personally remember reading that section from my bedroom floor, having fallen off of my bed at some point). However, we were right about his relationship. And that’s okay, honestly – she was a bit of a snob (let’s be real), and bigger things were happening.

Draco and Pansy

Draco’s love life was really never emphasized in the books and therefore wasn’t that interesting outside of the fan fiction realm. (Seriously, why is he in every major pairing?) The only person he ever showed romantic interest in during his time at Hogwarts was Pansy Parkinson, to which MuggleNet said, “We believe [Draco] is about to go on the run, before being tracked down and brutally killed. It seems that Pansy is never going to see her boyfriend again” (84).

So MuggleNet was correct about the demise of the Draco/Pansy relationship, but we were very incorrect about Draco’s fate in Book 7. The fact that he survived the war came down to the love of his parents rather than the love of a romantic interest.

Neville and Luna

The Neville/Luna relationship was never explicitly stated to be romantic at any point, yet a significant number of fans felt that there was something between them (enough that they actually put the relationship in Deathly Hallows – Part 2). MuggleNet predicted that the two would survive the series and end up together – again, we were sort of right, but not totally.

The number of half-right predictions in the “Love” chapter is both a credit to Jo’s characterization skills and to her foreshadowing skills. Her characters grow and change the same way people do, so it’s as impossible to predict if her characters will end up together as it is to predict if two real human people will end up together. There are so many variables that make these things impossible to know for sure.

Additionally, though Jo has always been known for her foreshadowing, she’s also known for her very deliberate and well-thought-out plot twists. Being able to predict essentially half of what would happen proves that she is an expert at giving us what we need to follow along with her story, but not what we need to accurately figure out its ending. After all, the surprises are half the fun.

You can look back on all of the previous chapters here.