SHIP Couples in the Potterverse

[ladygvorkosigan <kmapes@uclink.berkeley.edu>]

No: HPFGUIDX 47917

 
S Holden:
>   What gets me with this is that we ALL completely ignore how early 
it was for JKR to reveal this.  Yes, I'm an H/Hr, but with JKR style 
of writing.  Her obvious not meaning the obvious, I can see this R/Hr 
as misdirection.  JKR has proven time & time again that she will lead 
you down one path them hit you with something you least expected.  
She revealed this in Book 4, in the middle of the series!  How often 
has JKR revealed a clue and shown it to be false in the end.  She's 
done it with Snape, Sirius, Moody, and plenty others.  If she does it 
in the main plot, she can certainly do it in the sub plot.  I do see 
some slight support of R/Hr, but I see more for H/Hr.

Well, whether or not you think halfway through the series is "early" 
is entirely a matter of opinion.  She's revealed a number of key 
things so far.  We know that Harry's dad was an animagus, as were his 
three best friends.  We know that Snape was once a Deatheater but 
betrayed them at great risk to himself.  We know that Voldemort was 
once a student at Hogwarts named Tom Riddle.  Was it too early to 
reveal this important information?  Does this mean it's automatically 
going to come untrue in future books?

Plus, I don't see any reason why Rowling needs to set romantic 
relationships up as a plot twist or mystery.  The one mystery we've 
seen as far as interpersonal relationships go is Percy/Penelope, and 
honestly, we see so little of them that this doesn't strike me as a 
good model for the relationships of Harry and his best friends.  
Generally speaking, she seems to more enjoy focusing on the details 
of their relationships, not making them mysterious.  We see Arthur 
and Molly Weasley bickering, we see Harry and Ron drooling over Cho 
and Fleur, and yes, we see Ron making an idiot of himself because he 
won't admit that he has a crush on Hermione.  None of these things 
lend themselves well to surprise or hidden clues.  They're in a 
different style.

Finally, I think if she's going to develop a long lasting 
relationship between two of the main characters she darn well better 
start doing it early or we'll be left thinking "Huh?  Harry's dating 
Neville?  Where did THAT come from?"  It takes time to establish 
things such as attraction and compatability in a manner that's both 
believable and still a subplot.  


> 
>   With Ginny, I see a lot of different things.  We saw more of her 
in CoS & we will see more of her in OotP.  Why do I get the feeling 
that Ginny will be evil in OotP????  She was possessed (?) by Tom 
Riddle.  That's got to leave some sort of affect on the poor girl.
> 
> --S Holden
> 

Actually, I think Rowling has gone out of her way to show Ginny as 
the type of person NOT likely to go evil.  Her reaction to the 
dementors is second only to that of Harry's, and it seems unlikely 
that she would want to relive any of that by joining Voldemort 
deliberately.  Furthermore, she keeps Hermione's secret about her 
Yule Ball date, and she passes up an opportunity to go with Harry to 
maintain her commitment to Neville.  If she was going to turn evil in 
the next book, I'd want to see at least some sort of legitimate basis 
of manipulative or mean behavior in the previous ones.  

Katie