Author: Anna Ravenelle
We’ve all imagined what would happen to the main Harry Potter characters after the last book ended. With a sequel play coming out later this year in London’s West End, it’s only fitting we try to figure out what happened since we last saw our favorites. Since Cornell is basically Hogwarts (or, at least, the Law School is), and our individual colleges are basically Hogwarts houses, what better place for the main seven to further their education?
Draco Malfoy: Hotelie
From the moment he started filling out his college applications, Draco knew he’d be a Cornell hotelie. He’s the first one to offer his hand to a promising new classmate but also the first to retract it if he finds out that – ick – the person went to public school. He is a major proponent for the College of Business merger and had his father pay the other Cornell trustees to vote in its favor. He did extremely well on his napkin-folding exam and his go-to pick up line on a Friday night is “Mind if I slither-in?”
Luna: Animal Science & Communication
Luna’s preparing to take over the Quibbler after her father retires, so she’s combined her passions for this CALS double major. Find her studying in a tree (don’t ask how she got up there), wandering through the Plantations, or walking barefoot all over campus. If you walk by her study station in Mann, you’ll notice all her notes are upside-down and backwards, but don’t worry: it’s to ward off Nargles.
Ginny: Engineering
Ginny grew up with six older brothers, so she’s used to the boys’ club. She chose engineering because she heard it was the school with the least amount of girls and she wanted to prove a point. In her spare time, she’s volunteering at the Women’s Resource Center and pushing for gender equality and consent education—she knows all too well what it’s like to be taken advantage of. After graduation, she eschews the Engineering career track and joins the women’s national soccer team; after campaigning for equal pay with the men’s team, she wins it, and makes more money than any of her classmates in her first two years.
Neville Longbottom: Plant Sciences
Though Neville’s a Cornell legacy through both his parents and grandparents, he just barely made it in off the wait-list. Stumbling through his first few semesters of required classes and – ugh – chemistry, he eventually majored in plant sciences and is currently pursuing independent research in water plants of the Mediterranean. He’s the top caller to his RA for getting locked out of his room, but walking the slope everyday has trimmed him up, turning him into a major hottie.
Hermione Granger: ILR
Hermione came to Cornell hoping to major in everything—and she basically has. Taking no less than twenty-seven credits a semester, this bookworm and elf-rights activist transferred into ILR (pre-law) at the beginning of sophomore year and is now president of the ILR Women’s Caucus, Cornell Organization for Labor Action (COLA), and Amnesty International, in addition to founding a Cornell chapter of S.P.E.W. (the Society for Promotion of Elfish Welfare). She spends most of her time in the Olin stacks, spouting facts from Cornell: A History, or hanging out in her dorm room, which she’s transfigured to be the approximate size of Willard Straight.
Ron Weasley: Economics
Ron entered Cornell undecided in Arts & Sciences. Like Neville, he’s a legacy, but with five highly successful older brothers (working in exotic animal research, finance, government, and a tech startup, respectively), Ron’s just looking for something that will make himself stand out. He has a work-study job at the Green Dragon, a new Macklemore-esque haircut, and spends most of his time being pressured to study by Hermione or stuffing his face in one of Ithaca’s many restaurants. After he gets an email threatening to kick him out if he doesn’t declare his major, he decides on economics, so his family will never be poor again.
Harry Potter: Dropped Out
Harry saved the world six times over before freshman orientation so O-Week introduction games were a little awkward. After suffering through classes for a day or two and visiting A.D. White library once, he realized Cornell only accepted him because he’s the chosen one; he promptly withdrew. He visits his friends frequently, but he figures, as the chosen one, he deserves a bit of a break—and who can argue with that?
