Equal (?) best friends redux (was Comforting!Ron, Lying!Harry)

[Amy Z]

No: HPFGUIDX 39580

Oh dear.  I really did hope we could leave this sordid little incident 
behind us <g>.  But I feel compelled to speak.

Penny wrote:

>Amy Z goes on to bolster my continuing efforts to convince the HP >World 
>that Ron and Hermione are equal best friends in Harry's eyes --

<snip>

>I mean to say: if the only evidence that he cares for Ron more is the 
> >off-hand remark about spending more time in the library when Hermione 
> >was your best friend ... well.  Harumph.  Sorry, but that just >doesn't 
>cut it with me.

Well, that isn't the *only* evidence.  The evidence is thin, and there is 
much counterevidence, but there is more to it than this.  I detailed some in 
message 38747 and I and others did elsewhere in that thread.

>So far, all I know is that Amy Z and I are both members of the "Ron >and 
>Hermione are Equal Best Friends to Harry" club.

<stricken look> Penny, I really want to be in a club with you, and keep on 
clinking our butterbeers and all.  Our uniforms are so nifty!  Our secret 
handshake is so secret!  How could I jeopardize my membership in this 
wonderful club?  But honesty requires that I clarify my position:

(1) I really really want Ron and Hermione to be equal best friends to Harry;
(2) I think the *preponderance* of evidence is that this is the case; but
(3) there are mentions, here and there, in the books and interviews, that 
lead one to believe that it is not the case.

See, phrases like "one of his best friends" don't help us.  That phrase is 
used of both Ron and Hermione, repeatedly.  So far so good.  The trouble 
comes in when one looks for the phrase "best friend," singular, and finds it 
in those pesky interviews, where JKR says in a few different ways and 
apparently without a blink that children are concerned about Ron because 
*he's the hero's best friend.*  In contrast, the only time *Hermione* is 
referred to as *the* best friend is when there is no one else--when the 
specific issue is that Ron and Harry are not being friends at all.

I searched the Goat Pen (let's say the Goat Pasture, shall we?  Goats need 
room to run and kick up their heels) and "best friend" (again, as opposed to 
something like "one of his best friends" or "his two best friends") turns up 
no mention of Hermione.  So the score stands at:

Both mentioned as equal best friends:  many times
Ron mentioned as "the" or "his" best frienD:  a few times
Hermione mentioned as "the" or "his" best frienD:  never, except in the 
negative example of GF 20.

Thus, living in an agony of uncertainty until 2012 or whenever book 7 comes 
out,

Amy Z

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