Testing the Friendship/Question re: H/G

[Jim Ferer]

No: HPFGUIDX 11034

> Ebony said:" Again, I think the Friendship is going to be tested 
even further.
> No, it doesn't have to necessarily be tested by romance.  It could 
be
> tested by any number of things."
>

I think so too.


> Ebony:" The Harry/Ron and Ron/Hermione tension foreshadows things to 
come. We
> talk often about the Ron-Hermione dynamic that may or may not be
> developing.  I've said this before, it was disagreed with, but I'll
> say it again:  the Friendship between the two boys is affected by 
the
> fact that each one to some degree wants to be the other."
>
I don't know how I missed it, but I agree 100%.  Ron doesn't want
to be ordinary, a feeling he already has because of his brothers.
He is tired of not having money.  He's never done without the love
of his family, so he doesn't know what he'd be missing if he didn't
have it. Harry gets more and more tired of celebrity. He sees
the Weasley family and envies Ron. He wishes he could lay his
burden down, but at the end of GoF he realizes he can't. But I'm not
sure that's going to crop up again in a major way in the future. Maybe
they're past it.  I think Ron is beginning to sense what Harry's
going to go through.


> Ebony: "Of the three bonds, we've seen potential areas of tension 
and   conflict develop in two
> of them.  My idea is that the other bond (Harry-Hermione) isn't free 
of
> conflict/tension either.  Not if they're really best friends... I'm 
of the
> opinion that they're as close as Harry/Ron and Ron/Hermione are.
>  I leave other HP4GUers to speculate possible sources of conflict 
here,
> and will keep my opinions to myself.
>

H/H are not as close as Ron/Harry at first, but I see them growing
closer
and closer. She's maturing quickly, as girls are wont to do, and 
rapidly

getting her "know-it-all" tendencies under control. A source of 
tension
between her and Harry though, is that in the future she will again do
something Harry doesn't want her to do because she fears for him
(The Firebolt scenario again) He will be angry with her because
she scared him. (Ask my daughters: Wanna get Dad angry? Get him 
scared.)



> Ebony:"The necesssity of testing the H-R-H Friendship even occurred 
to
> me
> while writing ten years after Hogwarts.  What if the Friendship is
> *never* tested?  What if things roll merrily along with nary an
> insurmountable disagreement or serious conflict of interest?  My
> hypothesis is that eventually it would become a ticking time bomb,
> affecting the others around them.  Which is yet another reason why
> I'm not contented with OBHWF.

I don't see a fundamental conflict with OBHWF and testing of the
friendship, but it does argue that OBHWF can't happen immediately
after the end of the War.  Harry's going to disappear for a while
(Ebony and I are together on this) and he isn't going to be in any 
shape

for romance with anybody.  The conflicts have to be resolved before
Ron or Harry can have peace.  Hermione is going to come through it
better than either one.


> Ebony:"Upon first reading, I was bothered by the Harry-Ron and
> Ron-Hermione
> tension in GoF.  A lot.  My favorite aspect of the canon was the
> Friendship by far, and I didn't want anything to change.  But as I'm
> reading and thinking and making predictions about where this is
> going, I see that my previous position was a bit immature.  I now
> agree with some of the members who have pointed out that the Harry-
> Ron post-Goblet falling-out was healthy and needed to occur.  I also
> am *very* interested in observing the developing Ron-Hermione 
tension
> in future books..."

They're doing some of the work they have to do if the friendship is to
endure.
Romance could be the source of further Ron/Hermione tension, but what 
if
Ron or
Hermione believes the other isn't doing enough for Harry?  What if
Hermione neglects a
budding romance with Ron because she thinks Harry needs her? "Harry 
will
be all right
for one damned evening!" Ron snarled. "No he won't!!" Hermione 
answered
hotly.
"He needs both of us, the Death Eaters will be here any day!"  "Then 
why
don't you
just stay with him!" There were tears in his eyes now. "He's got
everything else!!"


> Ebony: "We've contrasted the Ginnys of the world with the Chos.
> However,
> those of us who are Hermiones are neither Ginnys nor Chos.  Where
> does Hermione fit into that scenario?  (Again, I'm beginning to 
think
> the idea is to Keep Hermione Out Of The Lineup.)  :-)"

Is this anything like shipping Ginny off to Draco? <g>  It's easy to
talk about Ginny and Cho,
'cuz they can be anybody we want them to be, we know them so little.