SHIP: Unpredictability - Heraldry

[Amy Z]

No: HPFGUIDX 13838

Ebony wrote:

>Yet writers also have to deliver on the promises that they make.  If 
>JKR is throwing up smoke and mirrors around potential R/H, and it's 
>really all "much ado about nothing--Hermione really likes Ron", 
>there's a contingent of close readers who will always remain 
>unconvinced about that aspect of her story.  To set the table for 
>your invited dinner guests and then not serve a well-anticipated meal 
>is considered Very Bad Manners... and the analogy to fiction writing 
>is obvious.

Very good point, as always, Ebony.  The line between dramatic 
tension/misdirection and failing to deliver on promises is a fine and 
wobbly one.  At this point I would not accuse JKR of failing to 
deliver on past hints if she revealed in book 5, chapter 1 that 
Hermione was wildly in love with Ron.  Nor would I do so if she 
revealed in book 5, chapter, let's say, 10, that Ron wasn't interested 
in Hermione (I *would* feel like she was breaking the rules if he lost 
interest in her *too* fast--unless we got an alternative explanation 
for his actions in GF; there are plausible explanations besides the 
obvious one).  She has left a lot of possibilities open with romance, 
as with everything else.

The catch about delivering the promised meal when it comes to 
characters is that characters change, and the best-developed ones have 
the most room to change without making us cry "foul play!"  People can 
be very unpredictable and still be in character.  Whether a writer 
who makes a character take an unexpected direction has lost touch with 
that character or found heretofore hidden aspects of him/her is always 
a matter of opinion.  So far, Jo has done a masterful job of being 
true to the characters while allowing them to change and also to 
reveal aspects of themselves we hadn't seen.  Several examples come to 
mind of aspects of the characters that I didn't anticipate but that 
fit:  

Ron's romantic interest in Hermione
Harry's hatred for Sirius (mid-PA of course)
Neville's deep dark secret
Snape's having been a spy against Voldemort

etc. etc.

I think Snape is the best example.  We now take for granted that he's 
a good guy.  Who thought this on July 7?  And yet it doesn't challenge 
credulity at all, IMO.  It fits.

Or to give another example:  Harry's irritation about his fame is 
almost entirely a GF phenomenon.  JKR plants it with a couple of 
comments and incidents; in ch 2 it says he got used to everyone 
staring; we see Amos D, Bagman and Karkaroff all do it; we get the 
interaction between Colin and Dennis, and Harry's reaction to it.  
These are small but significant signs that set up the explosion 
between Harry and Ron.  If you'd asked me at the end of PA whether 
Harry felt his fame to be a heavy burden, I'd have said, "not really." 
 By chapter 12 of GF I would have said "definitely"; and yet it didn't 
come out of the blue.  And, as with the shipping, I can look back and 
find traces of it in the earlier books, but only because I'm looking.

Therefore, I wouldn't be surprised if Hermione fell in love with Ron, 
Harry, or Neville for that matter--as long as Jo builds up to whatever 
happens with the same skill she used in the above examples.

Amy Z

P.S. to those using the abbreviation R/Hr:  it does not clarify, since 
HaRry and HeRmione both have "r" as their third letter.  How about 
using R/He and R/Ha if you're concerned we'll get mixed up.

P.P.S. re: Gryffindor lion, a griffin has a lion's body and an eagle's 
head, so a lion is a logical choice.  But I bet Amanda knew that.

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Dudley thought for a moment.  It looked like hard work.
                     -HP and the Philosopher's Stone
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