H/G and other unobvious SHIP alternatives

[Amy Z <lupinesque@yahoo.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 52155

Penny wrote:

<<<<Um.  Sirius is not intended to be Harry's *love interest.*  I 
think that's where the sticking point is for me with that particular 
line of reasoning.  It's one thing to have a "good guy" turn out to 
be a villain (Scabbers- Pettigrew) or a "bad guy" turn into a good 
guy (Sirius, Snape).  It's quite another to suddenly take a minor 
female character and turn her into the love object of the hero, if 
you haven't laid the foundation for that in some manner.  And, I 
maintain that JKR has not set that foundation in place for H/G.>>>>

No argument here.  The key word is "suddenly."  I don't think JKR is 
going to do anything "suddenly"--though of course she may also pull 
that off.  I had no problem accepting that Harry would have a crush 
on Cho from the first time he laid eyes on her.  JKR could turn Ginny 
into a much more interesting character (I already think she's more 
interesting than you find her) in the space of one scene.  Look at 
what two incidents do to Neville:  imagine Neville without the 
confrontation in PS and the secret of his parents' torture.  It 
doesn't take much to sketch in enough background to make a character 
very interesting indeed.

> I guess I expect the Hero to hook up with the woman we're all 
>rooting for down deep

<snip>

> I guess I just don't get how it can be *obvious* that Ginny is 
going to get Harry in the end

I don't think it is obvious; I just think it's perfectly plausible.  
But, ugh, can we not say "get Harry"?  It makes the poor boy sound 
like a choice cut of meat.

But speaking of what's obvious, it is assuming rather a lot to think 
that Hermione is "the woman we're all rooting for down deep."  Even 
if all readers *did* love Hermione to distraction, which is clearly 
not the case, surely that wouldn't mean we'd all want her to end up 
in a romance with Harry?  I adore and identify with Hermione, and I 
just want her to be (a) alive, (b) happy, and (c) not evil.

Amy Z