Harry Potter and the Editor of Imagined Endings

Sometimes, when I watch movies or read non-Bleak-House books, I can't turn off the editorial voice in my brain. It's not always a bad thing, but it can be distracting. It can also be kindof awesome, in the cases where I invent a new scene to fill a perceived hole, or change all the "said"s to "ask"s as I read along, if the speaker is, in fact, asking a question. (Andrew Grant, I'm looking in your direction ...) :)

Often, I read in bed before I fall asleep, and as I slip in and out of dreamworld, I continue the plot of whatever I'm reading. I'll wake up, face-first in a drool-covered book, trying to find the paragraph where I left off before imagining that all the characters ate Pop Tarts and went to Mars.

Reading the final book in the Harry Potter series was one of those times when my editorial voice started chiming in. Of course, Rowling had me at hello, and no matter how it turned out I knew I'd be engrossed, surprised, delighted, and moved (not to mention devastated that it was all over). I enjoyed the Deathly Hallows as written, and I applaud the author for bringing her characters through an amazing journey, and for the level of craftsmanship needed to create and maintain the whole Harry Potter world.

But ... I have an imaginary ending. And it has to do with the Horcruxes.

WARNING: THERE ARE MASSIVE HP SPOILERS BELOW. FOR BOOK 7, AS WELL AS BOOK 2.

Ok, so, you remember how there's that awesome scene in HP7 where the locket Horcrux begins to strangle Harry, as he's trying to retrieve the Sword of Gryffindor from the bottom of that lake? And Ron appears, and saves Harry, and Harry's all, "The locket! Destroy it with the sword!" and Ron's all, "Ok!" and the locket is all, "Wooo, I'm a creepy Horcrux and I'm all in your face, Ron, making you doubt Harry and feel jealousy and don't destroy me destroy hiiiiiim!" and then Ron's all, "I'm overcoming my jealously and feelings of secnod-best-ed-ness, and proving my loyalty to my friend Harry, whom I love!" and then he smashes the Horcrux and it's awesome?

Yeah, me too. I loved that scene -- and more than that, I loved the interplay of the Ron/Harry relationship, and how Rowling didn't shy from showing that there was competition and jealousy between the boys, but that overcoming You-Know-Who was bigger that them, and that ultimately what mattered was love, trust, and loyalty. So I got to thinking ...

There are seven Horcruxes, and we know that they must all be destroyed in order for good to triumph over evil. A main theme of the novels, from the very beginning, has involved trust and belief and facing difficult and scary truths in order to survive. The Ministry refuses to believe that You-Know-Who has returned, and it costs them. Harry is often cast as a boy seeking attention and fame, inventing scary stories so people will think he's important. He's bolstered by a band of misfits, other people who have experienced the pain of, "No one believes me!" or "Everyone thinks I'm weird!"

So, ok: Wouldn't it be great if each of Harry's friends were required to detroy a Horcrux, as the physical act of doing so would prove their strength and loyalty to good? AND, wouldn't it be great if each Horcrux taunted that friend with their main weakness? (As the locket did, with Ron's jealousy?)

Yeah! Right, well, the Horcruxes are:

1. The locket (Which Ron ably took care of, as discussed above.)
2. The ring (Which Dumbledore destroyed, though it taunted him with the promise of ultimate power, which he amits is a temptation.)
3. Hufflepuff's cup (Which Hermione destroys with her brilliant knowledge.)
4. Ravenclaw's diadem (Which Luna suggests is a Horcurx -- in this imaginary ending of mine, she is the one who must destroy it.)
5. Nagini (Ugh, I'm terrified of snakes, and this one was especially malicious. I LOVE that Neville was given the honor of killing her.)
6. The diary (Remember way back in book 2, when Ginny gets possessed and Harry has to destroy the diary to save her life?)
7. Harry himself

Listen, my version is about to get a bit dark.

If we go ahead and imagine the changes needed to spell out that in order for Harry to be triumphant, he needs his friends, and the specific, physical thing he needs his friends to do is to each destroy a different Horcrux, and if we apply this edit retroactively to book 2, and Ginny and the diary ... she failed in her friendship to Harry. Or rather, in that first test of her friendship, when she was young and impressionable and not yet fully in love with him (though she did have quite the crush).

So Harry destroyed her Horcrux for her, which then would mean ... wait for it ... that she would need to destroy his.

And his was, you know, himself.

Yes, readers, in my version of HP7, Ginny must kill the man she loves. She must stab Harry Potter with the sword of Gryffindor. Tears all around, eh?

After that, I'm fine with the whole train-station-Heaven scene, and Harry being resurrected, and so forth and etcetera. I know it's not popular, but I actually kinda liked the "flash forward they're all married and have kids omg!" epilogue. It's just the climactic action that I have the urge to revise.

(Oh, and Fred. I'd bring back Fred. Sob.)

Well, all that was a fairly long excersise in getting to this simple question (and thanks to those of you who've stuck this out): When you read, do you imagine the characters behaving differently? Do you invent new endings? If you could go back and change the end of one great work, what would it be and why?

Comments

[Maria]

Just how much coffee did you drink this morning?????

Sure, I picture different endings (or just totally blot out horrid scenes and replace them while I'm waiting to fall asleep.) Sometimes I find myself imagining the ending--because there's a book or two that seems to just end as though someone ripped out the last five pages. I really hate those. Those I ACTIVELY sit and think of a satisfactory ending, all while cursing the author, the editor and even the copy editor for allowing the book to fall off a cliff like that...

I'm not so sure I've ever re-written an entire series as you did above...

:>)

Fun stuff!

[Lynne Patrick]

I'll be looking out for Jasper Fforde's next Thursday Next adventure - if HP comes into it, I'll know he's a closet Dead Guy visitor...