Top 10 Craziest Things J.K. Rowling Has Revealed About Harry Potter

Regardless of whether you choose to treat the events the stage play “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” as canon or not, before that, fans had spent years wondering what happened to their favorite characters after the books came to a close. In a 2015 tweet that uses the real world timeline of the books (which took place starting in 1991), J.K. gave us diehards some long awaited information. In that year, Harry’s son, James Sirius would be entering his first year at Hogwarts. She tweeted that James was sorted into Gryffindor (to no one’s surprise) but the more shocking reveal was the fact that Teddy (Lupin and Tonks’ son) was actually a Hufflepuff- and head boy to boot!

Save for a couple of notable exceptions, the Harry Potter series largely takes place in the wizarding world of the United Kingdom. Readers had always been curious about what magic looked like abroad, and in recent years they’ve been given a lot more insight into these other magical communities. On Pottermore, JKR not only revealed that there are eleven major wizarding schools around the world, but she has actually written pieces on each one so fans can learn more about the different ways magic is taught depending on the region.

Anyone who has read the books knows that Severus Snape is the series’ most complex and divisive character. Depending on who you ask, you’ll either be told that he’s a hero or that he doesn’t deserve the accolades he receives because of how he treated other characters. J.K. Rowling cleared up her thoughts on this enigmatic figure in a 2015 tweet. She says that in her mind, Snape is “all grey” and can’t be easily defined as either a good guy or a bad guy. She also revealed that Harry gave his second son Snape’s name to honor him for the sacrifices he had made.

During the final legs of the fight against Voldemort, Harry, Ron and Hermione are all forced to leave school in order to spend their time focusing on destroying horcruxes. They miss their entire 7th year which is probably for the best considering what was going on there during that time. It probably comes as a surprise to no one that after the Battle of Hogwarts was done and peace was restored, Hermione returned to school to complete the final year of her education. Equally unsurprising was the fact that Harry and Ron did not return, likely coasting on the fact that they had- you know- defeated Voldemort instead.

Despite their aforementioned abandonment of their studies, Harry and Ron along with Hermione all got jobs at the Ministry of Magic not long after the battle of Hogwarts. Fulfilling a wish he first expressed in the fifth book, Harry joined the Auror department alongside Ron while Hermione worked in Magical Law Enforcement where she also continued to advocate for the rights of house elves. Ron went to help George at the joke shop after a couple of years while Harry continued on to eventually head the Auror department. Hermione was eventually elected Minister for Magic.

In recent years, JK Rowling hasn’t hesitated to get a little political on social media, commenting on various news pieces and giving her insight on how they relate to the world of Harry Potter. One thing many fans were happy to hear was that Hogwarts students do not pay any tuition. Things aren’t perfect however, because as we’ve seen in the books, students do still have to pay for all their books and supplies which causes families like the Weasleys some financial strife. At least every witch and wizard has a right to education though!

By the end of the series, many beloved characters had been lost. Some deaths had always been planned because Rowling knew it was key to have Harry lose some of his mentors and finish his journey alone. In “Order of the Phoenix”, Rowling seriously considered killing Arthur Weasley because she knew the entire family couldn’t realistically survive the war. She had also considered at one time killing Ron, though this was a more fleeting thought. In the end, Lupin and Tonks were the ones who met their end at the Battle of Hogwarts, though she hadn’t always intended on killing them. It was her vision for Teddy’s future that caused her to make the decision.

When casting news for the upcoming play “The Cursed Child” was released, many were surprised by the fact that Noma Dumezweni, a black actress, would be playing Hermione. Rowling quickly responded via Twitter with her support for the casting decision, saying that in all the things she had written about Hermione over her seven books, her race had never been directly specified. Long before this casting news, there had been communities supporting the idea of the character being black or of mixed race so many fans were overjoyed by Rowling’s announcement.

Most serious fans of the books saw Ron and Hermione’s relationship coming from the beginning of the series, and Rowling has always said that she always knew they would end up together. In 2014 however, in an interview she did with Emma Watson, she admitted that the two may not have been the best pairing. She called the relationship “wish fulfillment” and said that they have some basic incompatibilities that might have sent them to therapy later in life. While headlines at the time said otherwise, Rowling never stated expressly that Hermione should have ended up with Harry instead.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
We've been Pronouncing Voldemort Wrong


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Harry and Voldemort Are Distant Blood Relatives

One of the bombshells that JKR dropped soon after the publication of Deathly Hallows with surprisingly little fanfare was the fact that our favorite Hogwarts headmaster was gay. She downplayed the revelation as much as possible, saying that his sexuality wasn’t relevant to Harry’s story and therefore never appeared in the books. She has gone on to say that Dumbledore is her favorite character after Harry. She is a strong supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, and when asked if there were gay students at Hogwarts responded with this inspirational meme