Is "Deathly Hallows" Really the Last Potter Novel?

Personally – I don’t think so. I think Rowling left just a wee bit of an opening for herself to – if she (or someone else) wants to - write a whole new series of Potter-world novels. I say this for two reasons: Reason 1: The final two sentences of the "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:" "The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well." The phrasing invites one to speculate that all would NOT be well in the future – particularly if Harry’s scar started to "itch" again. Just because it had been quiescent for 19 years does not mean it would be quiescent in the future… Why, you ask, would Harry’s scar start to "itch" again after 19 years? Hints were given throughout Novel 7 of a deeper relationship between Bellatrix and Voldemort, and this leads to point 2. I’m not going to trawl through the novel now to write them all down. Suffice to say that Rowling made sure we got the gist of Bellatrix’s fascination with and, indeed, nearly god-like worship of, Voldemort – and there was certainly a sexual element implied if not explicitly conveyed in her various descriptions of their interactions, including this scene: (Page 724 U.S. hard cover version): "My Lord…my Lord…" It was Bellatrix’s voice, and she spoke as if to a lover. (Page 725 U.S. hard cover version): "My Lord …" "That will do," said Voldemort’s voice. …Voldemort seemed to be getting to his feet. Various Death Eaters were hurrying away form him, returning to the crowd lining the clearing. Bellatrix alone remained behind, kneeling beside Voldemort. In the final battle scene, Bellatrix is fighting "fifty yards away from Voldemort, and like her master she dueled three at once" (Page 735). After just missing Ginny Weasley with a death curse, Mrs. Weasley shoves the three Hogwarts duelers aside and herself engages Bellatrix in a one-on-one battle to the death, slipping a killing curse in underneath an upraised arm just as Bellatrix taunts her: (Page 736): Bellatrix’s gloating smile froze, her eyes seemed to bulge: For the tiniest space of time she knew what had happened, and then she toppled, and the watching crowd roared; and Voldemort screamed. Reason 2: Based on these hints of a deeper relationship, I believe that Bellatrix and Voldemort conceived a child and Bellatrix gave birth prior to the final confrontations in "Deathly Hallows." The child was – depending upon the time line – either forcibly taken from Bellatrix while she was still imprisoned and hidden away with an adoptive family (Muggles in Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA, for instance?) or whisked away to a place of safety by Voldemort’s minions before – or after – Bellatrix’s escape from Azkaban. I can easily see a story line developed around a relationship between Voldemort after he re-incorporated into a physical body (in that spell that used some of Harry’s blood) and a physical union with Bellatrix, who then conceived Voldemort’s child. Voldemort's motives for such a thing happening - well, I leave that to the writer's imagination. The time line of the novels provides sufficient time for a child to have been conceived and born –either after Bellatrix and the other death-eaters were broken out of Azkaban (Book 5 - "Order of the Phoenix"), or perhaps Bellatrix conceived and possibly even gave birth while she was still imprisoned – the child could have been conceived, for instance, during an occasional fly-by visit of Voldemort to Bellatrix's cell… That child – now older than 19 years (I think age 21) – would have a physical link to Harry (via Harry’s blood that had been taken in by Voldemort and then passed along to his child) – and thus Harry’s scar could possibly be reactivated if, for instance, that child learned of his or her true heritage and decided to follow in the footsteps of his parents… Well, the possibilities for developing an entirely new series along these lines are overwhelming. Remember my sugestion in a prior post about a Harry Potter daugher (whom I called Penelope)? According to the postscript in #7, Harry and Ginny have three children: James, Albus Severus, and Lily. What if Lily and the offspring of Voldemort & Bellatrix mix it up in subsequent novels...