Harry Potter: What Happened To Every Major Character After The Deathly Hallows

It can be tough letting go of your favorite characters. After eight movies spanning 10 years, fans of the "Harry Potter" films have long pressed for any additional information about the eclectic crew of wizarding world characters who survived the climactic events of "The Deathly Hallows — Part 2." What happens after fighting the Dark Lord of magic and his army while destroying an iconic school of witchcraft and wizardry in the process?

Lucky for viewers, there are plenty of resources that offer expanded insights into the later lives of our heroes and villains. These come from numerous sources, some of which are more concrete than others. For the purposes of this round-up, official canon will stem from what's been confirmed by author J.K. Rowling, whose legacy as the creator of "Harry Potter" has become embroiled in serious controversy in recent years. To that end, the published script and stage play "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," written by Jack Thorne based on a story co-created with Rowling, will be a crucial reference point for the information held within, despite it being, bar none, the worst "Harry Potter" book, according to our ranking. 

That's also to note that some characters have been afforded more post-Battle of Hogwarts life than others, and while fan speculation can be fun, popular theories and head-canon are avoided here. So, in anticipation of being served more of the same courtesy of HBO later this year, let's take a look at the long-term future of an often very chaotic wizarding world.

Cho Chang perhaps had the most sensible reaction to surviving a large-scale wizarding war while watching classmates and professors die or suffer life-altering injuries, which is to more or less opt out of the world of magic entirely. There isn't much detail about Cho's post-Hogwarts life beyond the fact that she married a Muggle man, and the two are presumably living a quiet, magic-free-ish existence somewhere.

And you know what? Good for her. The rest of the characters spend the interim decades combatting the lasting remnants of societal warfare, overhauling a bureaucracy that had previously fallen on its face to pure corruption, and putting a stop to time-travel shenanigans with potentially insidious consequences. By contrast, Cho decided to just up and leave. Met a normal guy. Maybe has a dog and a cat. Owns a reasonably sized home, makes it to the office on time, goes out for double dates with friends, all without worrying about dark wizards potentially targeting her family. All context considered: Cho wins.

Justice, for once, is served. Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) is one of the most singularly loathsome characters to grace the silver screen. Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) may be the architect of the whole Muggle-cleansing project, but it's reasonable to believe anyone watching these movies would hate Umbridge even more, perhaps because she's a bureaucrat first and a sadist second, and she's so enthusiastically vile about each. The absolute pleasure she gets from inflicting punishment on adolescent students is more than alarming. Again, it seems like Hogwarts would have some behavioral audits, but I guess Umbridge's status as an envoy for the Ministry trumps in-house procedures.

Fortunately, following the war, Umbridge is promptly arrested. She attempts to flee before being captured by Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson) during the Battle at the Ministry, which now has its own theme park ride depiction. Ultimately, she's sentenced to life in Azkaban. She does resurface briefly in "The Cursed Child," serving as Headmistress of Hogwarts in an alternate timeline where dark forces have taken over the school. Try not to think about that too hard, lest you want that shrill Umbridge screeching and pesky *hem-hem* inhabiting your nightmares.

After abandoning Voldemort's cause at the absolute last possible second, Lucius (Jason Isaacs) and Narcissa Malfoy (Helen McCrory) narrowly avoid Azkaban, though their reputations are permanently destroyed. Having spent years as enthusiastic participants in a genocidal movement before switching sides only when their own son was in danger, they find their name is more or less poison to everyone. Presumably, this is somewhat less distressing to them than their estrangement from Draco (Tom Felton), whose marriage to the notably not-violently-bigoted Astoria Greengrass they viewed as a personal betrayal.

They keep their fortune, at least. Lucius also retains his taste for collecting dark artifacts, which leads him to develop a prototype of an updated Time-Turner, which makes us wonder why he would never turn back the clock to get a re-do with being in an evil army trying to take over the wizarding community. Instead, it eventually ends up in Draco's hands and factors into the events of "The Cursed Child," because of course it does.

All right, here are the two people responsible for all those other Weasleys we'll be covering. Arthur (Mark Williams) and Molly Weasley (Julie Walters) return to The Burrow after the war, where the extended Weasley family continues expanding at a remarkable clip — the grandchild count alone, as we'll discover throughout this list, is staggering. Thankfully, we have an entire Weasley family tree to keep track of this ever-expanding bloodline.

Molly takes to her role as grandmother with characteristic intensity, presiding over a warm and unquestionably disordered household. Arthur, meanwhile, returns to the Ministry of Magic, where he continues his reliable work helping Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Kingsley Shacklebolt (George Harris) advance Muggle rights.

After the minor inconvenience of a generational war breaking out immediately after their wedding, killing a family member in the proceedings, Bill (Domhnall Gleeson) and his wife, Fleur Delacour (Clémence Poésy) settle into their home at Shell Cottage and have three children: Dominique, Louis, and Victoire, the last of whom eventually has a school romance with Harry's godson, Teddy Lupin.

Bill continues his career as a curse-breaker for Gringotts, a solid gig if you can get it. Fleur, meanwhile, is awarded honors from both the French and British Ministries of Magic for her bravery in battle. I'd argue a lot of other people were pretty brave as well, and they don't seem to be getting awarded any medals, so I'm not sure what the qualifications are here.

One of the more, uh, memorably named characters in the franchise, the high-ranking Auror and steadfast Order of the Phoenix member Kingsley Shacklebolt goes on to serve a long tenure as the 35th Minister for Magic — roughly 20 years. During that time, he works closely with Harry, Ron, and Hermione to dismantle the Ministry's long-standing pure-blood orthodoxy, pushing for the abolition of anti-Muggle laws and, notably, the elimination of the use of Dementors at Azkaban.

Hermione eventually succeeds him as Minister in 2019. As for what Kingsley gets up to afterward, the lore is conspicuously quiet on the subject. The man who spent decades as an elite Auror, joined a clandestine resistance organization, survived a war, and then spent 20 years reforming the entire infrastructure of magical government doesn't get much info past the end of his professional career. He presumably retires somewhere comfortable, and we can only assume he's content in the knowledge that he helped root out corruption in the wizarding world forever. (It will probably never come back. It's fine.)

Harry would likely be perfectly happy never seeing his abusive Aunt Petunia (Fiona Shaw), Uncle Vernon (Richard Griffiths), and Cousin Dudley (Harry Melling) again. As fate would have it, he mostly didn't. After fleeing their home in "The Deathly Hallows — Part 2," the Dursleys were placed under the protection of the Order of the Phoenix, after which they returned home and presumably resumed the bitter, small-minded lives depicted in the films. Dudley, however, eventually moved out, married, and landed on cordial enough terms with Harry that their children occasionally interact.

According to "The Cursed Child," Aunt Petunia eventually passes away. As for Dudley, he serves as something of a less extreme mirror to Draco Malfoy: Raised in an environment that taught him to hate, he appears to have, with age, come to the conclusion that his parents were simply cruel bigots. I'm sure some of us can relate.

Being named permanent Headmistress of Hogwarts seems like the bare minimum the wizarding world could offer Minerva McGonagall (Maggie Smith) after everything she's endured across Harry's seven years at the school. How many near-death experiences and conspiracies can one Transfiguration teacher reasonably be expected to survive?

She appears in "The Cursed Child," overseeing a new generation of Potters, Weasleys, Grangers, and Malfoys, who, to absolutely no one's surprise, find themselves entangled in a murderous scheme within their first year. At some point, you'd think someone might flag that these particular family names constitute an active safety hazard for the rest of the student body, but McGonagall appears to have it under control.

Following "The Deathly Hallows," Luna Lovegood (Evanna Lynch) becomes a renowned magizoologist. (If you couldn't tell, that word works out to magic zoologist. So a zoologist, but magic. You get it.) Fittingly, if Pottermore lore is to be believed, she goes on to marry Rolf Scamander — if that last name sounds familiar, it's because we got three disappointing movies about Rolf's grandfather, Newt Scamander, before Warner Bros. effectively terminated the idea of subjecting audiences to any more of those. She had twin sons, Lorcan and Lysander, and Harry would honor his friendship with Luna by naming his daughter Lily Luna Potter after her.

Following "The Deathly Hallows," Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane) continues doing what he does best: serving as Keeper of Keys and Grounds and Professor of Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts, living out his days in his hut, and getting involved in student schemes to a degree that would raise serious HR concerns at most institutions. He appears briefly in "The Cursed Child," mainly in flashbacks and dream sequences, but it's safe to assume he takes a shine to the next generation of heroes and stays loosely in touch with the core gang through their various children.

Whether Hagrid ever found companionship among fellow giants remains unresolved, but that presumably just leaves him more emotional bandwidth for his beloved creatures and whatever life-or-death situation is currently unfolding nearby.

Though he mourned the loss of his twin Fred (James Phelps, left) during the Second Wizarding War, George (Oliver Phelps, right) didn't let grief stop him from getting together with Fred's former girlfriend, Angelina Johnson (Danielle Tabor). One imagines that was at least a little complicated for everyone involved! Regardless, they marry and have two children — Fred and Roxanne — while George keeps his modest empire running at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Ron, after apparently exhausting his interest in developing landmark new methods of police work, eventually partners with George to run the shop, and the two continue selling prankish novelties to pestering first-years at Hogwarts for the foreseeable future.

Given George's entire Hogwarts career was spent pulling such pranks, going so far as to drop out of school in spectacular fashion when he and Fred revolted against the tyrannical control of Dolores Umbridge by conjuring a dragon made of fireworks, this seems to be his true calling.

Because the trajectory from war hero to law enforcement apparently runs in a straight line, Neville (Matthew Lewis) also briefly works as an Auror following the Second Wizarding War. This is despite the fact that Neville spent the majority of his Hogwarts career being mildly mocked and serving as the resident awkward dork who could often hardly get simple spells right — that he parlays his hero moment into a career in magical law enforcement is impressive.

But his true calling wins out. A deep love of Herbology pulls him back to Hogwarts, where he takes over as Herbology professor following Professor Sprout's (Miriam Margolyes) retirement. His bravery in the Battle of Hogwarts — namely, cutting down Voldemort's snake Nagini with the Sword of Gryffindor — is still spoken of with reverence among students. He also marries fellow Hufflepuff Hannah Abbott (Charlotte Skeoch/Louisa Warren), and the two settle above the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley after Hannah takes ownership.

After graduating from Hogwarts, Ginny (Bonnie Wright) channels her considerable athletic ability into a professional Quidditch career, playing Chaser for the Holyhead Harpies, one of the sport's most storied all-female teams. By the time of "The Cursed Child," she has retired from the pitch and transitioned into sports journalism, working as the sports editor at the Daily Prophet. Apparently, journalism is still a viable career in the wizarding world, which must be nice.

In the play, she takes an active role in the central conflict, serving largely as a mediator in the tense relationship between Harry and Albus, before joining the climactic confrontation against Delphi — the secret daughter of Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter). When the timeline is finally restored, she presumably returns to her desk at the Prophet, ideally without any more of Harry's past demons trying to kill her and her family.

Say what you will about Draco, but it's hard not to have at least some sympathy for a childhood spent being groomed to serve an evil, ethnically-motivated wizarding regime, which is why he's relatively low on our list of "Harry Potter" villains ranked worst to best. Fortunately, he narrowly avoids a lifetime in Azkaban when his family defects from Voldemort at the last possible moment, and he goes on to marry his more clear-eyed classmate, Astoria Greengrass, against his family's wishes.

Disillusioned by his adolescence and the war, Draco retreats to a quieter life, managing the Malfoy Estate and raising his son, Scorpius, alongside his wife. By the time "The Cursed Child" begins, however, Astoria has died, leaving Draco a widower. Scorpius befriends Harry's son Albus at Hogwarts, and Draco, in a somewhat uneasy but noticeably more civil relationship with the central trio, helps restore order as the group battles Delphi, offering the character a long-overdue measure of redemption.

Of the three heroes, Hermione is the only one to return to Hogwarts and complete her education. Typical. After finishing school, she joins the Ministry of Magic and throws herself into reforming it from the inside, including advocating for the rights and fair treatment of house-elves. Her talent and drive carry her through the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and, eventually, all the way to the top: she is elected Minister for Magic, succeeding Kingsley Shacklebolt.

That's where we find her in "The Cursed Child," working as Minister, married to Ron, raising two children, and shouldering enormous burdens while helping Harry and Ginny navigate the chaos of Albus's time-travel misadventures. In one particularly grim alternate timeline, she ends up as a bitter, Snape-type Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, which is rectified by the play's end, though it's amusing that "Hermione becomes a jaded teacher" is treated as one of the most horrifying things one could possibly imagine. Hermione's arc finds her being exactly who she always was: rule-following, principled, and proudly carrying more responsibility than anyone should reasonably have to.

Harry's best friend Ron Weasley also launches a career as an Auror, helping track down remaining Voldemort loyalists and assisting Harry and Hermione in reforming the Ministry of Magic in the war's aftermath. It's true that Ron is offered plenty of growth from an awkward, nervous kid into a valiant adult, but there's some residual credulity stretched in imagining him as a particularly effective government bureaucrat.

Maybe that's why, in typical Ron fashion, he eventually trades in the badge to help his brother George run Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, the beloved novelty and joke shop in Diagon Alley. A quieter life, but an earned one. He also had the good sense to marry Hermione, and the two have two children together, Rose and Hugo. In "The Cursed Child," Ron largely serves as a source of warmth and comic relief, playing a smaller role in the central adventure, but after a lifetime of near-death experiences, running a joke shop sounds like a perfectly reasonable retirement plan.

What's a boy to do after dropping out of magic school to fight in a war, dying and being resurrected, and defeating the greatest dark wizard the modern world had ever seen? Move into law enforcement, obviously. Shortly after his final battle with Voldemort, Harry Potter is tapped by Kingsley Shacklebolt — now the Minister for Magic — to become an Auror, the elite defense and investigative unit of the wizarding world.

It's a fitting career choice, if not a terribly surprising one. Harry spent most of his adolescence either being hunted by dark forces or hunting them in return, so the transition into full-time dark-force-hunting is about as natural a career path as the wizarding world offers. His role in the department features prominently in the stage play "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," by which point Harry has been promoted to Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. 

Outside of work, Harry marries Ginny Weasley and raises three children with her. The play finds him struggling with his own legacy and a strained relationship with his middle son, Albus Severus Potter, who resents the weight of the Potter name. Things come to a head when Albus attempts to travel back in time to save Cedric Diggory, setting off a chain of dangerous timeline alterations that Harry must help set right. Even in adulthood, Harry could never quite catch a break.