Ron (just Ron ... no SHIP); Bickering

[catorman]

No: HPFGUIDX 38717

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "serenadust" <jmmears at c...> wrote:
> > <<<<But, but...Ron *is* more important to Harry when push comes 
to 
> > shove. I really don't want to "hugely offend" you but JKR makes 
it 
> > clear on two occasions in GoF, that if forced to choose, Harry 
> would 
> > prefer Ron to Hermione.
<snip>
In the 
> > second task, of course, Ron is the one thing Harry will miss 
> most.>>>>>>


OK, about time I forced myself out of lurkdom and weighed in here, 
because I share very similar views on Ron to Penny, and wanted to 
make a really annoying, nitpicky, LOON-y point.

According to canon, Ron is *not* the one thing that Harry will miss 
the most.  The line in the song is:

"We've taken what you'll sorely miss," not, what he would miss the 
most.  The "miss most" line came from Dobby, who heard this second 
hand:

"The thing Harry Potter will miss most, sir!"

As far as this task is concerned, it is very convenient that Krum has 
feelings for Hermione.  If this relationship wasn't apparent to the 
staff at Hogwarts, Hermione would surely have been in the running for 
being what Harry sorely missed, and they would have had to choose 
between her and Ron.  It would have been very interesting to see what 
perceptions of their relationship JKR gives to the other Hogwarts 
residents.  

However, I always felt that JKR was very clever in this sequence, 
because she allows us to speculate upon what Harry would have done in 
different circumstances - 

I've always wondered - if Dobby hadn't made it clear to Harry that he 
was supposed to rescue Ron, would he automatically have gone for Ron 
first in the Lake?  Of course, it wouldn't take Harry long to come to 
the conclusion that Hermione must be there for Krum to rescue, but in 
the split second before he thought that through, who would he have 
gone for - Ron or Hermione?  In other words, what where would his 
instinct have led him?

Catherine