The Ginny Weasley Quotient

[Veronica]

No: HPFGUIDX 44811

Judy Writes:
>. . . What bothers me about Ginny is her nearly total self-
>absorbsion. It is natural for young adolescents to strongly focus 
>on themselves, but Ginny's is unnatural. When she is not being self-
>absorbed, she is obscessing over Harry. 
<snip>
>
>I only remember seeing her with Hermione or hovering 
>around the fringes of the Trio.

My thoughts:

I don't think Ginny is any more self-absorbed than any of us were at 
that age--from what we see. Now, I don't know what she is like all 
the time, but I don't see her all the time. Take GoF for example, 
while H,H, and R are chatting away on the Hogwarts Express, where is 
Ginny? We don't know. While H, H, R, and Neville are riding to 
Hogwarts in the horseless carriages, where is Ginny? We don't know.

Now, we can suggest a couple of different things. If she cares about 
nothing but herself and her feeling for Harry, she must be sitting in 
her own compartment on the train, or in her own carriage 
thinking, "Oh, poor me! Harry will never notice me!" But I don't 
think that is likely. I think she is probably hanging out with her 
own friends that we have not met -- because they have not been 
relative to the story. Just because we don't see them or meet them, 
however, we can't assume that they don't exist. She is probably, like 
any other girl her age, talking about classes, Quidditch, boys (even 
some other than Harry), clothes, anything!

The truth is that we don't see enough of Ginny to know whether or not 
she is self-absorbed because, 1) she has not been important enough to 
the story in most cases (except of course in CoS) and 2) she has not 
been important enough to Harry, who is telling the story after all.

I just don't think it is fair to write Ginny off as too silly and 
giggly or too self-absorbed until we get to know her. We just don't 
have enough information yet.

As for her pitiful woes and deepest fears and darkest secrets (CoS), 
I'm with Lilac "SHE IS ONLY 11 YEARS OLD!" When I was 11, my deepest 
fear was that I would be picked last for softball in PE, and my 
darkest secret was that David, the quarterback of the football team, 
would find out that I worshipped him and kissed his picture in my 
yearbook every night before I went to bed. I think she's handled it 
all pretty well. And if she isn't her usual chatterbox self when 
Harry is around, is it any wonder? Not only does she think he's 
dreamy, but he is *THE* HARRY POTTER. Kind of intimidating if you ask 
me.

Finally, as for her reaction at the end of CoS. I think you could 
write a lot of it off as shock. When shock sets in after a tramatic 
experience, we're never thinking logically or saying the right thing. 
Her whole world just crashed down around her. Harry's always 
concerned he is going to get himself expelled, and he's never 
unleashed a monster in the school! 

I don't think she is ungrateful; I think she is upset, embarrassed 
(that Harry saved her), worried (about what she has done and what 
will happen to her and the victims), and just plain scared. How many 
of us could really have done any better?

Finally, MarEprhaim wrote
>
>As an aside: I don't believe Dumbledore will die at the end either. 
>This idea seems to rest on the consideration that Harry alone will 
>be left to challenge You Know Who. Pish posh! A convincing argument 
>has been made in various threads that what will defeat He Who Must 
>Not Be Named does lie in magic but strength of character. Harry will 
>be able to do that without the sacrifice of Dumbledore. Also, the 
>only possible benefit to the major plot of a departed Albus would be 
>that Harry succeed him has Head Master. Let's be clear, Harry needs 
>to work on his grades then. Too much time chasing adventures, not 
>enough time in the library with Hermione!

I see no reason Harry would have to be Headmaster. I proposed 
McGonagall would be promoted, and Hermione would return to Hogwarts 
as the Transfiguration professor. (And if anything happens to Hagrid, 
Ron can return as Groundskeeper.) =) Not that I *want* Dumbledore to 
die; I just think that it is inevitable.

Veronica
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A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the 
subject.
		-- Winston Churchill