H/G and other unobvious SHIP alternatives

[anguaorc <fausts@attglobal.net>]

No: HPFGUIDX 52166

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Penny Linsenmayer 
<pennylin at s...> wrote:
> Anyway.  I do *not* believe that all readers identify with and root 
for Hermione or that, even if they do identify with/root for her, 
would want her to end up romantically involved with Harry.  It's just 
that if Ginny is to be that person, I don't think Rowling has put the 
foundation in place.  She'll have to play catch-up, and it would, 
IMHO, have been far more effective to have H/G foreshadowed subtly 
all along, if it is to happen.  

Angua:
Hi, I'm back.  Clearly, I've been left behind in the onrush of posts 
partly started by my words (note:  never use the word "obvious" 
unless you like reading lots of subsequent posts).

I'll have to admit I'm not "rooting" for Harry/Ginny yet.  For one 
thing, we *don't* know Ginny well enough to really be in love with 
her.  OK, I know some people are in love with her, but they're 
responding very sensitively to some very subtle clues.  For most 
people, Ginny is still a mystery.  For another thing, *Harry* doesn't 
want H/G, and we mostly identify with him and want what he wants (of 
course, he doesn't want H/H either).  

I'm not emotionally attached to H/G in any way, but I'm almost as 
convinced that it's coming as I'm convinced that Harry will defeat 
Voldemort or that Neville's background will be important in the plot.

I do say that H/G is the "obvious" destiny for Harry -- whether they 
both live, both die, one or the other dies, or whatever.  It's been 
foreshadowed -- oh, yes, it's been foreshadowed, in all the classic 
JKR ways!  

We've been given full knowledge of Ginny's background and family, we 
know of the major trauma in her life, and we have a large variety of 
little "bits and pieces" clues as to what she's like.  We just don't 
know HER yet.  But when JKR starts to fill us in on Ginny, she just 
needs to touch in the foreground -- we *have* the background 
already.  The *foundation* for Ginny is firmly in place, it's the 
edifice that's lacking (so far).

JKR has worked hard to *keep* Harry from getting too close to Ginny 
or knowing her too well.  Her very crush has been hugely effective at 
keeping Harry at a distance.  He positively *avoids* her, and she 
probably avoids him as well (to avoid embarassing herself).  JKR has 
also consistently, persistently tried to trick us into thinking of 
Ginny as "young" or "too young."  She is physically small for her 
age, she holds her mother's hand in CoS, and she even falls asleep in 
her chocolate in GoF (at the age of THIRTEEN!).  Having her be the 
secret villain her first year at school also contributes to keeping 
her from getting to know Harry too well, or being a part of the Trio.

Why?  Why has JKR gone to such lengths to keep Ginny shadowy, when 
Fred and George are so familiar and well-known?  I think it's mostly 
the traditional duty of romance plotters -- keeping your hero and 
heroine from "getting together too soon."  If Harry knew Ginny too 
well, he might start thinking of her as a sister (and *that* would 
never do!).  The reader might also wonder "where did that come from?" 
when Harry starts to notice her, wondering why he never did so before
(as, for instance, R/Hers wonder why Harry couldn't care less about 
who Hermione dates).  But, since Harry and Ginny have been kept so 
firmly apart, it's perfectly reasonable that Harry would have failed 
to notice her charms until, say, the sixth book.

I think that JKR has worked hard to keep her H/G intentions from 
being too obvious, but it is possible to see her sleight of hand at 
work.  The aesthetic requirements of a unified series require that 
Harry's eventual heroine come upon the scene quite early in Book 1 
(check), be a character of major importance to the plot (check), be 
sympathetic and capable of being found to have all sorts of virtues 
and graces (check), and be present to some extent in every book 
(check).  JKR's very faithfulness to the "rules" of
mystery and 
romance make it impossible for her to fool us completely.  No other 
female in the Potterworld, except for Hermione, meets these aesthetic 
requirements (sorry, Millicent).  Hermione, of course, has a 
different role to play (and, no, I don't mean Ron's Reward; I mean 
Harry's Spock).

If Harry is to have a romance of the sort of complexity, depth, and 
entertainment value that Ron and Hermione are currently enjoying, the 
Ginny-development and the beginnings of the Ginny-noticing really 
need to start on June 21st.  I believe that they will.


Angua