Ron and Maroon/Ginny and Crushes

[serenadust]

No: HPFGUIDX 45034

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Risti" <kristin at j...> wrote:


> As for the dress robes, well, think about a Muggle second hand 
> store.  
<snip>
 the classic baby blue, ruffled tux.  I'd always pictured Ron's 
maroon 
> lace dress robe to be the equivilent to one of these.  There 
honestly 
> wasn't much selection, especially when you take into consideration 
> that he's a 14 year old boy, and therefore finding the right size 
> could be tricky.

This is an excellent point and I've never thought to make this 
parallel.  Also, when you consider the relative smallness of the WW 
and the fact that the Yule ball is being held for the first time in 
many years, just how many second hand dress robes could there 
possibly be to choose from for a fourteen year old boy?  I can't 
imagine any other occasions when a boy that age would need one, so 
it makes perfect sense that the few available would likely be *very* 
old.  Well done, Risti!


Risti again:
 

<snip examples from Risti's experience>
  
 This is the state I see Ginny 
> reaching in GoF.  Harry is no longer just 'the boy who lived,'
>
> at a point where she can start acting like herself around Harry, 
and 
> truly be his friend, no matter what emotions might still swirl 
around 
> inside of her head.


Again, I think that you are correct. Many posters seem to be stuck 
in their impressions of Ginny as a 10 year old, worshiping this 
famous boy from afar.  However, after having spent 3 entire years 
(by the end of GoF) around Harry, there's no way she could still be 
in the same hero-worshiping state.  Not only does she see him all 
the time at Hogwarts, he actually spent weeks at her home in the 
summers sitting at the same breakfast, lunch, and dinner table.  The 
Burrow sounds like a pretty intimate place, so even if she wanted to 
avoid being in his presence, I don't see how she could manage it.  
At this point in the story, I think Ginny knows Harry far better 
than any other girl in the books (apart from Hermione, of course).

IMO JKR has sent pretty clear signal in GoF, that Ginny has matured 
a great deal through her behavior surrounding the Yule ball, and if 
she were still the same swoony adolescent she wouldn't have had the 
nerve to risk Harry's irritation by telling Hermione that he and Ron 
had been turned down by the girls they invited to the ball.  She was 
ticked off at both of the boys at that moment, and not afraid to 
show it. 

Jo Serenadust