[HPforGrownups] Harry, Hermione & Ron [SHIP + CRAB]

[Erika L.]

No: HPFGUIDX 74552

I, Erika (Wolfraven) said:
> I've gotten to the point where I simply don't trust JKR's interview
> comments. They tend to be fairly misleading and usually novel specific. 
> Besides which, Rowling has no interest in telling readers what is going to
> happen in the novels. She constantly drops hints about what may or may not
> happen just to whet people's appetites and keep people guessing. Until she
> gives a straight yes/no answer on the SHIPping front, I think all bets are
> still on.

Oboek8 at aol.com replied:

>What about the Katie Couric interview on >NBC a while ago when Katie asked, 
>"So, are Harry and Hermione going to get >together?" and J.K. Rowling said, 
>"Harry and Hermione? No, really you think? >More like Ron and Hermione." Maybe she's 
>trying to lead everyone on, but I think >the books really do suggest something 
>is there. Love is blind, and they're both >young, so they don't realize it 
>yet.

 
I'm familiar with the Katie Couric comment, though I haven't read a transcript of the interview as a whole at this point. Here's a quote from another interview, though. It's  the June 19th 2003 Newsnight/BBC interview by Jeremy Paxman.

JP: Unlikely pairings? Not Hermione and Draco Malfoy or anything like that? 

JKR: I don't really want to say as it will ruin all the fan sites. They have such fun with their theories - and it is fun, it is fun. And some of them even get quite close. No-one has ever - I have gone and looked at some of it and no-one's ever... There is one thing that if anyone guessed I would be really annoyed as it is kind of the heart of it all. And it kind of explains everything and no-one's quite got there but a couple of people have skirted it. So you know, I would be pretty miffed after 13 or 14 years of writing the books if someone just came along and said I think this will happen in book seven. Because it is too late, I couldn't divert now, everything has been building up to it, and I've laid all my clues. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3004456.stm

  So here's an example of Rowling saying that she doesn't want to tell what's going to happen. Note that in the Katie Couric interview, she doesn't explicitly say there will be an R/H ship, only that it looks like there's more going on on that front. As an H/Her I read this as her being coy, trying to divert one's attention to the more obvious pairing. But again, in the Paxman interview, she says that she isn't about to make revelations and that's the one thing I believe. Why would an author give away the end of the story? Not knowing for sure is what keeps us all foaming at the mouth.

    I'm not trying to imply that R/H isn't a valid SHIP. I certainly think the books suggest there's something going on on Ron's end-- that's painfully clear, but, as many an H/Her has said before me, I believe Hermione's feelings remain ambiguous. I simply, and respectfully, disagree with most R/Hers' interpretation of Hermione's feelings towards Ron.

    As for JKR's comments they can all be seen as attempts to obfuscate, to muddy the waters further. She drops hints certainly, but it's anyone's guess as to what they really mean. After all, look at the job she did in preparation for OoP. She tells everyone that an important character is going to die. As a result everyone spent months guessing who it would be, and hardly anyone was right! It created excitement and stirred up hype certainly, but I think she also released this information to affect the way we read the book. For example, when Mr. Weasely was bitten by the snake, I was thought for a time that it was going to be him, particularly when it was mentioned that the wound was not healing properly. At other points in the book I worried about other characters including Lupin, Mrs. Weasely, and Sirius himself. The book became a guessing game because of her comment. If she hadn't announced that someone would die, I probably would bot have worried for Mr. Weasely at all; I would likely have assumed that he would be fine. And I certainly wouldn't have gotten so edgy when Hermione was pointing out how being cooped up was making Sirius unusually reckless.

    My point is that the comments she makes do have a specific role in that they keep us guessing, which is just what JKR wants. She'll drop hints, make vague remarks, but I don't believe she's in the habit of giving straight answers when it comes down to questions about where she's going with things. She wants to keep us guessing. And like she said, "it is fun, it is fun". It's torture, but in a good way right? (I just keep telling myself this as I imagine the long wait for books six and seven ;-)   )

    And about that last comment:

>Love is blind, and they're both young, so >they don't realize it yet.

This is exactly what many H/Hers say about our own ship ;)

Happy SHIPping

Erika (Wolfraven)



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