JKR gave an interview recently, parts of which were shown on the
Today show last week. She gave some details that had not been included in the epilogue. Being told is not the same as reading it, of course, but if you are interested...
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She said that initially the epilogue was much more detailed, but it was necessary to edit it down. So it sounds like there was quite a bit of tweaking going on. She also mentioned that for the longest time the last word had indeed been "scar".
Harry and Ron have both become Aurors. Hermione has risen to some high post in the Ministry of Magic. She did not give a name to the Headmaster at Hogwarts, but said only that he/she was new, because McGonagall would be too old by this time.
Some time ago I had heard that she had to make at least a minor change in the epilogue, since one character that was supposed to die in Book 5 actually survived through the whole thing. She revealed that it was Mr. Weasley.
She also mentioned that although she feels that Harry's story is done, she does plan to write an encyclopedia about this world, so more questions will be answered.
Some people insist that Harry did die for a few moments, and met Dumbledore in the space between Here and Beyond before choosing to return back to life and finishing the job. Others say he was simply knocked out and dreamed the whole encounter.
After reading this scene, I thought it was the former. In the interview, JKR said that at one point Daniel Radcliffe asked her if he [meaning Harry] was going to die. She answered him, "You get a death scene". That seems to indicate to me that she did write him as dying...temporarily.
Kathy
