Of Crushes, Kickers of Buckets and Creeveys

[Tabouli]

No: HPFGUIDX 20692

AARGH, look at all the comments I've snipped!  This list is starting to take me over...

Amy said:
> I agree.  The Yule Ball was about all I could take of Hermione Goes Gorgeous.

You know, I actually liked Hermione Goes Gorgeous, and since reading people's grumbles, I'm trying to analyse why.  It may have been as a backlash against the "a woman only has a right to either brains or beauty" argument.  The ol' Just World Hypothesis, *no-one* is allowed to have it all, it's not fair, which is why anyone who appears to have too much in a desirable domain (beauty, brains, money, talent, etc.) has to be very careful, lest other people get out their daggers and rip him/her to shreds to find some terrible character flaws or gaping voids in other domains or prove that they're Not So Great After All to make them feel better about themselves.  Nasty.  This, alas, is so common in Australia that it's been given a name, the Tall Poppy Syndrome.  Another possibility (or another dimension of my reaction) is that Hermione copped a lot of rudeness about her looks in GoF, from Snape, Pansy, Draco, Parvati, Rita and so forth, and I felt a bit of "so there!" on her behalf when she showed 'em at the Yule Ball.  Hassling an adolescent girl about her looks is very very cruel.  And good on her even more for not having her head turned by it afterward!

>From JKR's point of view, however, Gorgeous Granger was a great gimmick to fuel tension between her and Ron for future plot development...

Steve said:
> Her reaction to that disappointment isn't that 
of a "silly schoolgirl," however. She doesn't pout or try to send a 
message to Harry that she would have loved to have gone. She doesn't 
do any of the flirty games things that girls her age do (and I see 
endlessly in school where I teach). In fact, her demeanor in that 
whole scene is remarkably mature.

B added:
> I think that it's telling of
her advancing maturity that we get the idea Ginny *doesn't* rush
off to cry into her pillow when she finds out Harry asked Cho to the 
dance. 

Isn't the Stiff Upper Lip pretty characteristic of the English/Magic upper class?  (which surely the Weasleys are, even if they're poor and struggling.  Old money, though not much of it!).  Ginny's already demonstrated countless times that's she's deeply embarrassed by her unrequited love for Harry with blushing and attacks of clumsiness and fleeing to hide her face in shame: surely her failure to pout or flirt or show strong emotions in public is much more to do with personality and culture/class than maturity in this instance.  She did stiffen when she heard about Cho, and we don't know whether she secretly cried into her pillow afterwards.  I'm not saying that Ginny's particularly *immature*, but I don't see her reactions in that scene as evidence of her maturity!  She's certainly kind and compassionate, and can keep secrets, but I don't think those things are particularly related to maturity either.  Hey, I've met 10 year olds who are kind and can keep secrets and 50 year olds who are compassionless and hopelessly indiscreet!

On the subject of cultural differences in emotional expression (hey, back here again!), I read an article about HP in France which said they had trouble conveying the bizarre notion that sex and romance could be the source of such embarrassment to French children...

Heidi quite rightly pointed out that:
> I think that even if she was, such a crush (i.e. 4 years old, from age 
10ish to age 14ish) is not especially enduring or long lived

You tell 'em, Heidi.  I had a crush on someone from the age of 9 to the age of 13, and a crush on someone else from 14 to 23!  None of this fickle stuff for me, *my* love is enduring...

Devika speculated:
> I think it's very possible that Ron will suspect that something is going on 
between Harry and Hermione, when in actuality they are just friends.  

Yeah, when it finally dawns on Ron that he wants Hermione, I wouldn't be surprised if he suspects that she prefers Harry (like everyone else in the world seems to).  Cue a sulky and embarrassed Ron who prickles for weeks before Harry figures out what's going on with the help of Hermione and initiates a massively awkward conversation explaining that he's not interested in her with Ron, after which Ron and Hermione shyly tiptoe together.

Vicky mused:
> Albus, is indicative of a pure mind. However, his judgment is not perfect (Quirrel and Lockhart)

I always did think that hiring an incompetent like Lockhart for a subject as important as DADA for a year was a trifle irresponsible.  All the same, JKR once said that Dumbledore hired Snape despite his nastiness because he believes that school should provide a range of life experiences, and teachers like Snape provide one of them.  Could the same argument be extended to Lockhart?  As for Quirrell, I didn't think it was clear that he was as useless as Lockhart: scared and hopeless at
disciplining the kids, maybe, but perhaps he *did* know his stuff (with Voldemort whispering hints into his turban if necessary?  Though of course, V would probably have preferred Quirrell to teach badly...)

Melanie asked:
> Why wouldn't it be Ginny?

In the same vein, Michi mentioned:
> if indeed JKR thinks it's time for one of the characters to kick the bucket

Reading this list, I realise just how hard I worked to track down all of the chats with JKR on the web!  In one of them, she said that characters would continue to die, and that (in OoP?) one would be someone her readers "really gave a damn about", unlike Cedric, who was pretty peripheral in the grand scheme of things.  She also said something like "the next book will mark the end of an era", which kind of hints at (the pointedly ageing in GoF) Dumbledore, doesn't it?  Though I suppose he could retire, rather than die.  Presumably McGonagall would then take the reins.  Who'd take over as head of Gryffindor then, Hagrid perhaps??

I'd say Dumbledore will eventually be for the chop.  At some stage he's bound to hand over the Gryffindor torch to Harry to continue fighting the forces of darkness in his stead, etc., even if it's left to a grand Book 7 finale, where seeing Voldemort kill Dumbledore with forbidden magic gives Harry the strength to avenge his mentor.

My views on this are based on what one person termed the laws of fiction, or perhaps authorly instinct.  Harry, Ron and Hermione are safe until the last book, because they're far too central to the plot to sacrifice (killing one of them would be so significant it would have to be a grand finale end of Book 7 event).  That probably goes for Hagrid too (unless he gets slain in the Return of the Giants stuff... just possible, but he'd be quite a sacrifice.  Hey, what a ghost he'd make!).  There aren't that many significant "good" female characters, which provides those that there are with a form of insurance, so my bet is that Ginny and McGonagall are safe too, and Molly Weasley will probably be OK.  As for Snape, he might end up doing the ultimate double agent sacrifice, but there are volumes of intrigue left to explore there: I'd give him at least another book or two of mileage.

So who does that leave who's important enough to make an impression, but not so important as to leave a gaping plot hole?  Hmmm.  Lupin, Sirius, the other Weasleys, Neville.  I lean slightly towards Lupin, actually, if only because he's both well-liked and vulnerable, but not crucial to the plot or, IMHO, showing signs of further essential character development.  Then again, JKR could do another Cedric cop-out (set up a previously minor character, e.g. Angelina, Seamus etc. with a bigger part and then do the straw man knockdown trick).

Rebecca's view on Dennis Creevey:
> Dennis, on the other hand, I adore.  Not only is he outrageously cute, but
anybody who thinks falling in the lake and getting tossed out again by a
giant squid is a thrilling experience is somebody I've got to respect

Yeah, I have to say I found this endearing.  Sort of a human version of Pigwidgeon, whom I've always adored, especially when Ron was waving him about furiously in GoF and he was hooting happily as if he were in a rollercoaster...


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