Books
Where Are The Harry Potter Characters Now? All Is Well In The Wizarding World
Today is September 1st, 2017, the day that Harry Potter sends his son Albus Severus off to Hogwarts for the first time, and we're all officially old. It's bittersweet to reach the "19 Years Later" epilogue of The Deathly Hallows, and to know that we've come to the end of original Harry Potter books once and for all. But, lucky for us, J.K. Rowling understands that we're all having trouble letting go of the series that defined our childhoods. She's provided us with enough hints and Pottermore bonuses over the years (not to mention that whole entire play) that we can piece together a few things that are happening in the Wizarding World right now.
The first Harry Potter book was published twenty years ago, in 1997, but it was actually set in 1991. That means that boy wizard Harry is currently 37 years old. Our Harry is all grown up with wizard children of his own now. It's been 19 years since Dumbledore's Army defeated Voldemort back in 1998, and let's hope those years have been filled with some well-deserved rest, relaxation, and therapy for all of our favorite characters. Whatever they've been up to in the meantime, here's what's going on in the Wizarding World right now:
1Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy are starting Hogwarts
...where they will be sorted into (spoiler alert) Slytherin and start a "horrendous names" club. No matter how you feel about Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, it's pretty darn beautiful to see Al and Scorpius overcome their dads' wizard feud and start a true wizard friendship.
2Ginny writes for The Daily Prophet
After graduating from Hogwarts, Ginny played Quidditch professionally for the Holyhead Harpies for a few years, because we all know that Ginny is a badass jock. By 2014, she was the Quidditch correspondent for The Daily Prophet, and she's now well on her way to being The Daily Prophet Sports Editor by 2020. Oh yeah, and she married her high school sweetheart, Harry Potter, and had three kids: James, Albus, and Lily.
3Harry is still fighting evil wizards
Let's hope he took a few years off in between, but Harry is back to his evil-fighting ways. After defeating Lord Voldemort, he became an Auror. Harry worked his way up the ranks to become the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement by the time that Albus was heading off to Hogwarts, according to Rowling, and he's ensured that his ministry department stays corruption-free.
4Ron is co-running Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes
Ron became an Auror alongside Harry after the Battle of Hogwarts, but he retired from fighting crime after a couple of years to co-run Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes with his brother George and be an awesome dad to Rose and Hugo. He still got to have his face on a Chocolate Frog Card, though, and isn't that why people get into the evil-fighting business in the first place?
5Hermione is the Minister of Magic
Because of course she is. Hermione was the only one of the Golden Trio to finish her N.E.W.T.s, too. She then went on to work in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, before succeeding Kingsley Shacklebolt as the Minister of Magic. Tear it up, Hermione.
6Luna Lovegood is a magizoologist
Luna is now a renowned magizoologist, or magical naturalist, traveling the world in search of fantastic beasts (she eventually had to accept that there's no such thing as a Crumple-Horned Snorkack, though). She's also married to Newt Scamander's grandson, Rolf Scamander, and they have twin boys named Lorcan and Lysander.
7Neville is the Herbology professor
Neville Longbottom, everyone's favorite alternate-chosen one, is now the Herbology professor at Hogwarts. He also married Hannah Abbott, that Hufflepuff girl who had a couple of lines one time.
8Percy is Head of the Department of Magical Transportation
What a perfectly Percy job. After years of rolling his eyes at his father's attempts to make cars fly, Percy is now the Head of the Department of Magical Transportation. He's married to a witch named Audrey and they have two daughters named Lucy and Molly (awww).
9Draco is...unemployed?
Draco is just... independently wealthy, I guess? He never bothered to get a job? No one will hire him because of his family's associations with You-Know-Who? Take your pick. He's married to Astoria Greengrass (who is still alive as off 2017... but not for long), and Scorpius is their only child.
10Teddy and Victoire are an item
Ah, teen wizard romance. Today is also the anniversary of James Potter catching Teddy Lupin and Victoire Weasley snogging it up on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. Teddy, the son of Lupin and Tonks, and Victoire, the daughter of Bill and Fleur, seem to have been going out for three years now, since they were spotted engaging in PDA at the 2014 Quidditch World Cup.
11Cho Chang is married to a muggle
Sure, the other members of the D.A. talk a big talk about muggle rights, but only Cho is walking the walk by marrying an actual muggle. We just want you to be happy, Cho.
12George and Angelina named one of their kids “Fred”
Yes, Fred and Angelina went to the Yule Ball together and yes, she is now married to George and yes, they named one of their kids Fred and we're all crying about it.
13Charlie Weasley is a “confirmed bachelor” and dragon wrangler
Look, it's cute how every single character in the entire series got married in their early twenties and all, but it's nice to know that Charlie Weasley is still out there happily single and wrangling dragons as of 2017. You do you, Charlie.
14Dudley is on “Christmas card terms” with Harry
According to J.K., Dudley and Harry aren't exactly close, but they still exchange Christmas cards and very occasionally visit one another. These visits are "dreaded by Harry's children" (can't blame them).
15Magical “creatures” have better legal protections
Thanks to Hermione's progressive revamp of the Ministry of Magic, things are a little better for House Elves, centaurs, werewolves, and the like. Maybe not perfect, but they have a lot more legal rights in 2017 than they did in the days of Fudge and Umbridge.
16Viktor Krum is still playing Quidditch
Krum is still a star player on the Bulgarian team, and even kind of friends with Harry Potter now (although Ron will never, ever root for Bulgaria again).
17Rita Skeeter is still writing fake news
It's kind of surprising that Minister of Magic Granger hasn't locked her up for being an illegal beetle-woman, but I guess Hermione has better things to do. Skeeter published Dumbledore's Army: The Dark Side of the Demob a couple of years ago, "exposing" the "truth" behind Harry and his friends, so we can assume she's hard at work on a sequel right now.
18Professor McGonagall and Hagrid are still at Hogwarts
Minerva is currently Headmistress of Hogwarts, although this newest generation of Potter-Weasley kids might make her reconsider that position. Hagrid is still Hagrid, and none of us will ever forgive Harry for naming his kid "Severus" instead of "Rubeus."
19All is well
Yeah, yeah, I know that trouble's brewing with all that Cursed Child stuff. But for right now, on the 1st of September, 19 years after the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry is feeling pretty good about his life. All, as far as he is concerned, is well.