Some shipping questions...

[raolin1 at hotmail.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 29585

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., dsslouisville at y... wrote:
> I, myself, believe that the interest is on the part of Ron and 
> Ron alone for Hermione.  I don't think that she gives any strong 
> indication of a romantic interest in Harry, but that she may be 
> starting to see Ron in a somewhat fuzzy light.  

Yes, but based on what exactly?

> The fact that she is 
> demonstrative with Harry (as far as kissing and hugging and such) I 
> think only indicates that she is comfortable with him, and at the 
> same time is starting to notice a tension between herself and Ron.


That seems a bit backwards.  She shows affection towards Harry 
because she likes Ron?  Does not compute!  :)


> Ron is the somewhat reluctant hero, tagging along after Harry and 
not 
> always sharing his drive and determination, except when there are 
> women he loves in the line of fire.  I think that his defense of 
> Hermoine in CoS and (dare I say it?) his haste to get up to the 
> hospital wing to see her after she was given the Mandrake potion 
> shows us that he regards her in a different light than Harry.  I'll 
> wager that Harry, while he may fall for a girl hard in the 
following 
> books, will have his hands full making good and delivering on all 
the 
> promise of his reputation.
> 
> Andrea Crawford


I don't buy this either.  It's a bit of a circular argument in the 
case of CoS.  Ron likes Hermione because he sees her in a different 
light than Harry.  He sees Hermione in a different light than Harry 
because of how he treats her.  As I said before, a more parsimonious 
solution is that Ron wears his heart on his sleeve more than Harry 
does, not that he only reacts when Hermione is threatened/insulted.  
Or Ginny.  Or his mother.  Or Harry, which is not a woman he loves.  
Or his families financial situation, which isn't either.

As for the Mudblood incident, the only reason he reacts is because he 
knows what it means.  None of those incidents, especially that early 
in the series, deserve any more explanation other than that Hermione 
is his friend.

Joshua Dyal