*This is not mine! It belongs to a brillant person known as 'Brown' on the Portkey forums.*
This is my theory regarding only the shipping aspects in HBP. Why it was (IMO) written like it was. Most of the comments I make will be my opinion, because until book 7 comes out nothing is a fact. I tried to state that, but if I forgot, don’t flame me.
I've said this before in several different threads, but I want to first start off by saying that I believe JKR's interview was purposely misleading. So in considering my essay, please go back to the interview and focus on her actual words. Not on the impressions that can be taken from it. I believe she only gave enough information or worded it in such a way for us to come to the wrong conclusions. Everyone easily assumed that the Heron ship sailed and the door was shut on H/Hr forever. Let me give you an example of what I mean. JKR stated, that we now know, it's R/Hr. Herons were laughing and gloating. Harmonians were shocked and hurt. But then we recovered slightly and started to examine more closely her statement. Everybody at PK was focusing on the word “now,” but what I think we should focus on is the fact that she never says “what they are”! Herons assumed (based on their bias) that they are a couple (yet, there is no canon basis for it in book six). I believe that JKR has always had a relationship in mind for R/Hr, but she’s never stated what kind of relationship it would be (friends, lovers, long lost family members). To say that her statements in the interview combined with the way the book was written threw everyone into a tizzy would be an understatement.
Ok, I think that book six was written, as far as shipping goes, to be a process of elimination of the potential pairings that JKR had hinted at in books 1-5, (H/G, H/L, R/Hr, H/Hr, R/L). She hinted at several because, I believe, that her final pairings are important and they were meant to be discovered at the series end and not before. I think she’s accomplished this beautifully considering the war that’s going on. Let's begin with the ones that have definitely been eliminated.
Harry/Luna: Book 5 introduced Luna. She's a great character that I feel was given a lot of depth due to the fact that she was going to have a purpose further in the story. The question was, who did she like. We saw her laughing at Ron's jokes and finding him very amusing, but we also saw her interact on a deeper level with Harry. I think it's safe to say that she likes both boys. The boys, on the other hand, think she's just weird. Harry wishes he wasn't seen with her or Neville when "pretty and popular" Cho was around. Though at the end of the story, he was beginning to see past her surface and felt pity for her. She didn't deserve to be treated badly.
Welcome to book six. JKR definitely clears up one mystery here. (US pg. 311) Harry has just asked Luna to the party. “He was keen to make his intentions perfectly clear. I mean, just as friends, you know.” Well, this eliminates one pairing, H/L. As much as they connected in the past, he only considers her a friend.
Ron/Luna: Book 5. As we’ve discussed under the topic of H/L. Luna is found laughing (hysterically) at Ron and loves to sing the song “Weasley is our King”. Ron’s only comments regarding Luna are in the negative. But, he at least notices her. And though we didn’t get to read much about it, they were battling together in the DOM (not a coincidence IMO).
Book six: Luna openly expresses her opinion of Ron (US pg.310) “He says very funny things, sometimes, doesn’t he?” snip “But he can be a bit unkind. I noticed that last year.” I feel that Luna is very realistic in her portrayal of Ron. In other words, I think she hasn’t got any love goggles on. The guy’s got faults. Now, how has Ron’s attitude toward Luna changed? (US pg. 417) “I could hear the match commentary from here,” said Ron, his voice now shaking with laughter. “I hope Luna always commentates from now on ….” And (US pg. 425) Ron initiates a conversation with her. “Nice commentary last match!” said Ron to Luna as she took back the green onion, the toadstool, and the cat litter. Luna smiled vaguely. “You’re making fun of me, aren’t you?” she said. “Everyone says I was dreadful.” “No, I’m serious!” said Ron earnestly. “I can’t remember enjoying commentary more! Snip “And she walked away leaving Ron chortling, still clutching the Gurdyroot.” You know, she’s grown on me, Luna,” he said.” Ok, does anything I’ve written mean that they are in love? No, but it would be much harder to see them get into a relationship in book 7 if Ron’s last impression of Luna was the same as in book 5 – aversion. Ron’s emotional depth is growing in this scene. He’s looking beyond the surface to see more. My opinion is that all this had to happen in book six. It was not random plot filler. JKR had to make us see the gradual changing of the R/L relationship.
Harry/Ginny: Book 5. Harry barely acknowledges Ginny in this book. He still regards her as Ron’s little sister only. For the past 4 books, she was a non-event in his life emotionally. He was acquainted with her because she belonged to the Weasley family. No part of her personality drew enough attention from him to make him want to pursue a friendship with her. Was her part enlarged in book 5? Yes, but only marginally. I will argue that Luna had better development with Harry than Ginny by the end of book 5. And there is a reason for it. JKR needed Ginny to remain 2-D for book six to work.
Book 6. What is everyone’s chief complaint about Ginny in book six. That she becomes a Mary Sue or Ginny Sue if you prefer. And why do we feel this way? Well, because she was suddenly so perfect. In book six, Ginny who barely got page time before, is shoved in our faces. She is suddenly very attractive, she is suddenly an exetremely powerful witch, and she is suddenly an outstanding Quidditch player (pg. 224 US) “and Ginny Weasley who had outflown all the competition and scored seventeen goals to boot. Interesting, this wasn’t written in Harry’s POV. This part is said in narration, I think the author is going out of her way to make Ginny out to be suddenly the three “p’s” (pretty, popular and perfect). Ok, there are more scenes like this (DE attack, the skanky wizard in DA, her ability to do no-wrong in people’s eyes). It’s not Harry seeing her with rose colored goggles, but rather the author is forcing us to see Ginny. Why? Well, I don’t believe it’s because JKR has gone mad and lost her touch or that she realized too late that she’s left Ginny seriously underdeveloped. JKR (it seems to me) has perfected Ginny’s character so that she would be able to date Harry. For theirs is meant to be the most shallow of relationships. I think this is apparent in the descriptive wording that JKR chooses to use for Harry’s attraction -- the roaring monster. That totally smacks of primal lust to me. There’s nothing tender or romantic about it. And what is Ginny’s attraction to Harry? We don’t know. It’s never been written that she enjoys his sense of humor. That she finds the way he problem solves engaging. All we know about Ginny is that she has had a crush on Harry since she was 10 years old. Ginny’s long-time (I’ve never given up on you) crush and Harry’s beast are unrealistic expressions of so-called love. If it really was JKR’s intention that H/G be a meaningful pairing, she would have wrote more growth for Ginny over the course of all the books, and we would have seen the workings of their relationship on the page. But we were kept out because it wasn’t meant to last. It is clearly in canon that they break up. IMO, JKR used this shallow relationship between H/G as a growing step for Harry to get over his delusions of “ideal”. Were Harry’s immaturity regarding girls to stay the same, he would never be able to see Hermione as more than just a friend. This book and everything that happens was his first step in understanding that love is not about roaring monsters and fangirl crushes. I think when JKR stated that Ginny was Harry’s “ideal girl” she wasn’t saying Ginny’s the girl most able to make Harry happy for the rest of his life. I think she is referring to Harry’s “dream girl”. Ginny meets the criteria for what Harry thinks he wants in a girlfriend (the three P’s). JKR does go into details of Ginny’s qualities (in the interview) but certainly hasn’t written about them in books 1-6. These qualities do (in canon) describe a character that has been intrinsic to the plot since book 1…. Hermione.
Ron/Hermione: Book 5. Well, I think it’s safe to say that the interaction between these two remained the same as in previous books. The whole bickering thing which to me is old and boring is ever present. Even though they are physically older, emotionally they aren’t evolving at all. I’d like to point out a passage from book 5 that’s always struck me as quite odd. (US Pg. 404) I won’t quote because this is getting long, so I’ll just paraphrase. Hermione kisses him for good luck to distract him from seeing the badges. He touches his cheek and has a puzzled look on his face. If Ron likes Hermione but can’t express it, why doesn’t he react to being kissed by her? Why did he look puzzled? Why doesn’t the boy who turns red at the drop of a hat, blush after being kissed by the girl that he’s crushing on? I will give you my theory as to Ron and Hermione’s behavior in just a bit. Book 5 ends purposely (IMO) with no resolution regarding Ron’s feelings toward Hermione or her feelings toward him.
Book 6. In my mind, Ron and Hermione aren’t behaving so differently in book six than in previous books as well. The only variations that I do see are the tactics used by Hermione. Her usual MO is verbal attacks and withdrawal. In HBP she goes on a serious offense. Verbal insults are no longer enough. She gets physical too! Book six is filled with spectacular antics between the two. To have this stepped up hostility took us by surprise. Really confused us as to what was going on on the pages. Really pay attention to this next part because it’s gonna get your hearts a pumpin! Let me explain to you why the yuckiness of Ron/Lavender had to occur. (US Pg. 304) This scene is after the bird attack “I never promised Hermione anything,” Ron mumbled. “I mean, all right, I was going to go to Slughorn’s Christmas party with her, but she never said ……. just as friends …… I’m a free agent” I don’t know about you, but when I read this again it seems to me like Ron accepted Hermione’s invitation to go to Sluggy’s because he wanted to be in on the action and Hermione was his chance. The part where he says “but she never said (dot, dot, dot) just as friends” Let’s fill in the blanks. The bolded part is what might have been going through his thoughts, but he didn’t say aloud. “But she never said … it was a date . I thought we were going … just as friends. I think this was broken up purposely to make it more confusing. Ron is starting to think that Hermione asked him because she “liked” him! And the next part is how he perceived the invitation … they were going as “just friends”! I think this spells doom for the Herons! And the part just above was “She can’t complain,” he told Harry. “She snogged Krum. So she’s found out someone wants to snog me too. Well, it’s a free country. I haven’t done anything wrong.” It wasn’t jealousy Ron was feeling when he found out Hermione had kissed Krum. Well, he was jealous, but not of them together. He was jealous that Hermione had kissed someone and as yet, Ron (who I believe has a bit of an ego problem) hasn’t! That and the fact that his baby sister was going tongue to tongue with a guy has badly damaged this young man’s ego! And we’ve read that Lavender has been making eyes at Ron and he’s noticed it too!
I know that I’ve posted in the past that I thought it strange that the guys never talked about Hermione, and yet they do in book six! Ron is saying that he thinks of Hermione as a friend. He never considered going out with her to be a date! I think Ron is a good enough guy to not reject Hermione if he really believed that she liked him. He wouldn’t accept a “date” with her and then go off with Lavender, unless he just believed they were friends going together. That means from Ron’s perspective, all his bickering in previous books with Hermione wasn’t sexual tension. She just bugs him! (You can’t see me, but I am doing a HAPPY DANCE!) Ok, I’m going post this now, and pick up with Hermione and Harry and the whole love potion thing in “Why book six is perfect, part II. Please, please read and let me know. _________________
excuse me for being rude but the picture of Harry and Hermione snogging like Ron and Lavender were doing in HBP just doesn't do it for me. and i also don't think Harry and Ginny's relationship is shallow, i think it's very sweet. If Harry didn't really care for Ginny he would not have broken up with her to protect her he would just have kept her to satisfie his "lust". As for the roaring monster i think it is quite romantic to me - maybe a little bit sensetive and overprotective, but cute all the same. I also think Ginny was developed - espacially in CoS and OoP - and Harry does not look for the three P in a gilfriend that would be strange considering he does not like to get attention.
I really believe that Ron and Hermione were meant to beand besides the whole H/G and R/Hr would be kind of nice because they would be related if both pairs were to marry.
As for the Ron and Luna relationship, that is in my opinion just wack. _________________ "WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORENCE IS STRENGHTH" - "1984" By George Orwell
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