Hermione SHIP question

[cressida_tt]

No: HPFGUIDX 79530


> Emily (that's me) says (kind of long):
> 
> Well, I would consider myself very much a H/Hr shipper. And it's 
> often hard for me to admit, though I have always admitted it, that 
> Ron and Hermione are more obviously attracted to each other and I'm 
> pretty sure that they will get together. But, hey, a girl can dream 
> right? Now, while Ron and Hermione are the obvious couple, I 
believe 
> (doesn't mean that it's true) that there are very, very subtle 
hints 
> in the series that point to the possibility of Harry and Hermione 
as 
> a couple. Bear with me, however, as I tend to stretch possibilities 
> and clues, take it as you will. But please lets not make this into 
> an argument over who should end up with who, in fact I'd be fine if 
> Ron and Hermione get together. 

Cressida replies:

To begin with I would say that I am an impartial shipper. I read the 
books because I enjoy the characters and plot and I also enjoy 
reading posts here because for the most part they avoid the constant 
desperate sentimental search for a romantic conclusion of some sort 
that afflicts many other sites. It is apparent that along with 
personal choice and the conflict between good and evil, love in it's 
truest sense is a major theme running through the series. By love I 
mean all that love encompasses and that includes respect, 
brotherhood, loyalty and self-sacrifice rather than solely romance. 
To reduce the series to simply the endless nit-picking quest for that 
most clichéd of scenarios, a romance between the lead male and the 
lead female, is both to short change JK Rowling as a storyteller and 
to overlook what is truly important in the books.

Don't misunderstand me, I realise that the characters are at that 
stage of development when hormones are raging and the formation and 
testing of relationships in a `sexual' way becomes important; I 
emphasise that I use sexual in it's loosest sense here. To this end 
we have seen Harry's tentative efforts with Cho Chang forming an 
effective sideline to the plot. 

I would also raise the point that in earlier days of interviews 
before she became more canny with press and fans, we have the well 
remembered comment that Harry and Hermione are `very platonic 
friends'. I am sure like all good shippers our Harry/Hermione 
supporters have a habit of carefully overlooking and re-writing 
anything that doesn't fit the necessary requirements but therein lies 
the futility of shipping.

JK Rowling has laid her clues and plot devices carefully and has also 
for the most part avoided falling in to clichéd traps. At this point 
in time we none of us know how the series is going to turn out to 
which end we spend hours in contemplation of it. Having strung her 
audience along for the course of five books and hopefully for two 
further volumes I would put it to the reader that she is highly 
unlikely to use a plot device that would make every reader 
scream `cliché' and `boring' and obvious and like in all good 
Hollywood epic blockbusters, the hero always gets the girl. If Harry 
is going to have a romance other than the normal teenage longings 
then I am sure that we can rest-assured that JK Rowling will not be 
showing them bonding yet in the way that we have seen Harry and 
Hermione as friends thought out the course of the five books so far. 
Give the woman some credit, she'll be keeping it under wraps.

I simply haven't the time and inclination to go though all those so 
called clues but simply wish to add that all of them were extremely 
tenuous and some of them downright tasteless and certainly not what 
we would expect of the way Rowling treats her younger characters. 

As for Hippogriff:

A legendary animal, half horse and half griffin. Its father was a 
griffin and its mother was a filly. It is often found in ancient 
Greek art and appeared largely in medieval legends. It is also a 
symbol of love. 

This definition from Brewers book of Myth and Legend gives the 
Hippogriff as a symbol of `love' not specifically romantic love. I 
would ask you to recall that it was Sirius whom Harry and Hermione 
rescued using the Hippogriff. Having spent some time on looking up 
Hippogriffs and their meaning I can find no obvious reference to 
romance – merely love and impossibility. Maybe this is implying that 
a love between Harry and Hermione would be impossible? It is all so 
open to interpretation is it not?