SHIP: JKR Interview (what she said and what she didn't say)

[Jim Ferer <jferer@yahoo.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 52097

Angua:"Angua: Yes, I'm struck by that [Ron doesn't realize something
is going on] as well, because it implies that Hermione *does* know it.
Which is how I've always interpreted Book 4, and is also what Harry
says:  

"he somehow thought that Hermione had gotten the point much better
than Ron had."  

*Who* thought that Ron *did* know it? We R/Hers have always had the
position that Ron still doesn't realize his own feelings, just as
Harry implied. We think Hermione *has* realized hers."

Agreed, and Ron and Hermione will, apparently, have that romance. I
believe, because of Hermione's emotional growth, she is aware of her
feelings.  Again, I believe it is short-term.

You went on at some length to examine what JKR was saying in an answer
to the question. In another message she answered a much better phrased
question similarly. In both, she said Harry and Hermione are platonic
friends. Okay. She didn't say "will remain," and didn't mean it, and
that's the only statement I would accept as closing the door on a
future H/Hr ship.

Angua: "I can't pretend, even in my own mind, that these are real
people with real futures."

No? That's a shame. They're pretty real to me. That's JKR's genius and
the secret of her success - she's given us characters that do have
hearts and minds, that we care about and want to know better. I look
at the twists and turns of documents enough at work; I don't need to
prove who killed Cock Robin for fun.

Angua:" What R/H means to *me* is that JKR has planned these books so
that Ron and Hermione will be a romantic couple and Harry and Hermione
will be platonic friends. I do *not* believe that Harry and Hermione
are "excellently suited to be partners for life" -- and I think it's
abundantly clear in the books that they're not. To be quite honest, I
think that your idealistic romanticism in that regard is preventing
you from reading these books as JKR intended them."

You may be right that she did so, and in that case I'm wrong. I've
said before why I think Harry and Hermione are suited, and I believe
the text shows them coming together.  You have to forgive me if I have
a better opinion of my interpretive abilities than that.  Maybe you
*are* reading the books as JKR intended them, and maybe she's "winding
you up," as Harry would say. Maybe. Neither one of us knows. 

Angua:"She will be, for instance, less bossy and argumentative than
Hermione is, and will have a subtler, more continuously-active sense
of humor. She will be a better listener and less judgmental than
Hermione is, and will be able to get Harry to confide in her about the
feelings and fears he currently keeps secret from both Ron and
Hermione. Harry will feel entertained and comforted around her in a
way he does not feel with Hermione (see the Ron-Harry fight in GoF,
for instance). And Harry will find her far more sexually attractive
than he finds Hermione."

As Penny has pointed out, the bossy and argumentative Hermione is
gone, replaced by a rapidly maturing young woman who has shown us
heart more than once. A lot of readers are stuck on first-year
Hermione without noticing how much she's grown. As far as confiding
goes, Harry owns a large part of that problem; while Ron and Harry are
best buds and I hope they stay that way, there's nothing showing Harry
"confiding" in Ron, either, or at least Ron alone.

And Harry *has* noticed Hermione. In the Yule Ball scene, he sees her
transformed, and wonders why he hasn't noticed [her] before. I don't
think he's forgotten.

Angua:"And, come on, let's state the obvious -- her name will be Ginny
Weasley."

I started out as an H/G shipper, and still have a soft spot for it; I
only gave it up as Ginny fades more and more into the background. 
It's as hard to be pro-H/G as it is to be "anti" H/G, because there's
so little to go on.  Could that change? Yes, but when? It has to be
fairly soon, no? 

Some folks are still afraid of H/G; she's often paired with Draco in
fanon to get her out of the Harry's way. Given my opinion of Draco,
it's the equivalent of tossing her off a bridge tied in a sack.  But I
digress.

Jim Ferer, to whom Harry, Hermione and Ron are very real indeed.