Some shipping comments

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No: HPFGUIDX 37955

I am not usually interested in the 'shipping forecasts' (so to speak) 
that often exercise people but some of the recent discussions on 
Ron/Fleur/Harry got me thinking about what JKR might be doing with 
all this.

On the whole it seems to me to be written as just part of the 
territory of growing up. Harry has something of a major crush on Cho, 
Ginny on Harry and Ron a possibly milder crush on Fleur but I am not 
convinced that any of them will or are intended to lead anywhere. 
After all first crushes are not really based on any reality - you are 
usually fantasising wildly about someone you barely know - and people 
rarely end up with in permanent relationship with the first object of 
their adolescent desire. OK maybe some do seem to settle down younger 
in the WW but they are not that different. Cho is I feel particularly 
unlikely to return Harry's feelings. I'm sure she is a kind hearted 
girl who wanted to let him down gently but even if there had been no 
Cedric around 15 or 16 year old girls are usually more interested 
in 'older men'. Since girls do mature more quickly a teenage boy even 
just one year younger would not normally be considered. At that stage 
you want to be seen with the cool 'older guy' who seems to have more 
sophistication. At least that's how I remember it <g>. Think of 
Fleur's 'Zis leetle boy' comment which so stings Harry. I know it is 
not in relation to romance and Fleur is even further removed from 
Harry in age but I still think Cho's reaction to Harry's crush would 
be a bit on those lines.

Herminone finds the boys discovery of 'girls' a bit exasperating of 
course since her own ditsy phase was two years earlier as Ron 
obliquely pointed out when she claimed to be beyond being swayed by 
physical attractiveness. I haven't the book to hand but the phrase 
was something to the effect, 'Ron coughed something that sounded 
suspiciously like Lockhart', a line I just love! But I do think JKR 
is pointing us towards the possiblity of relationship between Ron and 
Hermione, almost precisely because they are both so blind to it for 
much of GoF while it is becoming increasingly clear to the reader 
that they are interested in each other. In other words this isn't a 
crush and indeed both may go through crushes and flirtations with 
other people before they seriously waken up to the nature of their 
feelings for each other. In one interview JKR did confirm this by 
saying that there was something going on between Ron and Hermione but 
Ron, typical boy, didn't know it yet. But I'm not sure Hermione even 
does. I wasn't sure at first that it was a pairing I could see 
working since Hermione seemed so much cleverer than Ron I thought 
they might drive one another mad but I was coming round to it in GoF. 
Now I am quite interested in seeing how Jo will develop this. If she 
ever gets on with it! (Sigh!)

As a BTW, Mike's signature started me wondering. At the risk of 
sounding indelicate, do we have any idea what the 'inappropriate 
charms' might be that Aberforth got done for for practising on that 
unfortunate goat? I assume of course they were something like making 
a goat fly and er.. er... um...  Any suggestions?

Mercia