Return to the Potterverse?

Mike sent me this article a week or so ago from The Daily Mail that references J.K. Rowling's interview with Time Magazine. Time interviewed her for her third-place finish in its Person of the Year issue. In the interview, she alludes to having had "moments of weakness" since Deathly Hallows in which she has considered an eighth Potter book. Although, I'm not really sure that I should say it would be a Potter book as Rowling indicates that the book would not, in fact, center around The Boy Who Lived. After all, his story has been told. But just as she slings it out there, she snatches it back by saying, "Let's talk in ten years."

I've mulled this one over...and, well, it makes me nervous. Rowling undoubtedly penned one of the most beloved, most captivating, most iconic showdowns between good and evil in history. The universe she created is certainly rich enough that we all want to go back there. The number of tears I shed over leaving is proof enough of that. But can we? Can we recapture the magic? And would a story from the Potterverse that was less than the ultimate meeting of good and evil, less than the entire world at stake, less than the triumph of love over despair, be as satisfying?

Plus, there's the absence of Harry (and therefore, likely Ron, Hermione and Ginny) at the core of this new tale. It's not that I doubt Rowling's ability to craft new and compelling characters. But I do think it will be hard to go to Hogwarts without the same cast of characters. Those second rounds of characters - the next class, the new generation - never seem to quite capture the allure of the initial characters. One could consider, too, that Rowling might go to a totally different landscape and pull it off with great success.

If she attempts to turn seven into eight, I hope she's more successful a concocting a worthy follow up than Neville in potions. I don't want to buy into Felix Felicis and end up with a melted cauldron. And most of all, I don't want to be disappointed. Although, I imagine if she had a boggart, it would be an eighth book that was a colossal failure with fans. Other magical thoughts?