[HPforGrownups] Re: Ginny/Ron and Quidditch

[Shaun Hately]

No: HPFGUIDX 72710

On 24 Jul 2003 at 0:00, janna wrote:

> Possibility A:  The game would have been close (Gryffindor losing by 
> about 130pts or so, therefore snitch=losing as happened at QWC) 
> before Ron got his courage and made a few saves.  I don't have the 
> book in front of me, but I don't think that's the case.  I think 
> they were closer scores, so the snitch should have been a big deal.
> 
> Possibility B:  Unfortunately for Ginny, she is a good player.  When 
> Ron overcomes his fear of embarrassment/losing/humiliation and does 
> play well, then he gets the accollades that are rightly hers!  That 
> happens in families with lots of children (or so I am told).
> 
> Well, those aren't really great explanations.  Anyone else?

The thing is, we don't know how the game actually went. So I'd like to 
propose a possile scenario as to why Ron is the hero of the match.

I have *NO* evidence for this scenario - it's just a possibility which 
shows why Ron may get the accolades.

If I was the Ravenclaw Captain in this game - well, honestly, I'd be 
basing my entire strategy on Ron's weakness as a keeper. Ron *is* the 
weak link in the Gryffindor team. Ginny, the Seeker, seems to be a 
pretty good player, the chasers seem to be good players (they are 
experienced), and the beaters are probably fairly weak.

Facing that type of opposition, I'd be telling my chasers to score like 
crazy. I'd be telling my beaters to concentrate on neutralising the 
Gryffindor chasers - ignore Ron, ignore Ginny, ignore the Bludgers.

I'd be relying on Gryffindors inexperienced beaters being unable to 
neutralise my chasers, and my chaser being able to score against a 
keeper who has been performing very poorly in the previous games.

In this type of situation, we could wind up with a potentially very high 
scoring game, where the Ravenclaw chasers are able to shoot very freely.

If that type of game did develop, for all we know, Ravenclaw may have 
had 30 shots at goal - a potential for 300 points. Ron performing well - 
well, he would have a lot of chances to shine. Ron performing badly 
under those circumstances - it wouldn't really matter how well the 
seeker did.

And Ron *did* perform well. Maybe he saved 25 goals under constant 
pressure. We don't know.

Ginny - well, from what we've seen of seeking, there's a lot of luck 
involved in it. There's certainly skill as well, but we've seen that 
Harry normally only sees the snitch a couple of times in a match - and 
captures it soon after he sees it. So seekers basically spend most of a 
match looking for the snitch - their skill really comes in after it 
appears. If it was unusually elusive on the day in question, Ginny may 
simply not have had a chance to do anything except fly around looking 
for it for a long time.

My point is - I think there are plenty of scenarios that can explain the 
reaction to Ron's performance.

I played cricket at school - and I wasn't much good at it. But I had one 
game, where all I did was stand there and block the ball for four hours. 
I scored 8 runs in all that time. The guy who was out there with me 
scored 167 runs, slogging the ball to the boundary, or over it on a few 
occasions.

When I left the field I got a standing ovation which was nice (-8 But it 
wasn't because of my performance, as much as it was because I'd enabled 
him to achieve what he had. And *nobody* (including me) had expected me 
to be out there for more than ten minutes. I was clapped because I'd 
performed against all expectations when it counted. And I think Ron is 
experiencing the same thing.

Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one
thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the 
facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be 
uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that 
need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil
Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia