Ship predictions(scenarios)

[Jim Ferer]

No: HPFGUIDX 90616

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, udder_pen_dragon <udderpd at y...> 
wrote:
> 
> 
> "Erika L." <erikal at m...> wrote:
> 
> Toad replied:
> >You're right, Andrew. It all comes >down to interpretation. And, 
In 
> >my opinion, which pairing or person you >most identify with. Are 
you 
> >more like Hermione, Ginny or Luna? >Would you rather be involved 
> >with someone like Hermione, Ginny or >Luna?
> >
> >I'm an avid H/G shipper. I definitely >identify more with Ginny. 
> 
> *nods* I too have noticed this trend in shipping tendencies. I 
myself identify quite closely with Hermione and I ship H/H. To me 
pairing Hermione with Ron is just unthinkable. I don't relate to him 
at all as a character. I also have never enjoyed the arguing between 
Ron and Hermione. But lots of people do identify with Ron and those 
who ship R/H enjoy their bickering. I sometimes wonder if there is a 
preponderance of Ron fans on the R/H ship. Either way, I think most 
shippers are reading through tinted glass. We use canon to back our 
arguments, but the interpretation of any quote is still highly 
subjective.

I don't think that you can analyze ships by quotes, or by analyzing 
canon.  We're not trying to prove who killed Cock Robin here.

This is a retread, I've posted it before, but it's my take:

I'm an H/H shipper because time and again Harry and Hermione are 
perfect for each other, but I started out as an H/G shipper and still 
have a soft spot for it, so Toad and I are not opponents, but mirror 
images:

THE CASE FOR HARRY AND GINNY

Toad:"See, I [see] this completely different [than GEO does]. Ginny 
is over her hero- worship crush. She sees Harry with all his flaws. 
The stage is set for true love to enter the picture. I actually have 
more hope for an H/G romance after reading OotP. They wouldn't have 
stood a chance if Ginny fell in love with the Boy Who Lived."

I agree completely.  H/G would never work if she was in little 
girlish infatuation.  Now we see Ginny growing up in a really good 
way.  This girl's head is screwed on straight.  She's her own person, 
and I like how she's integrated  Fred and George into herself.  She 
has the gumption and character for a complex guy like Harry.

Ron wants it, FWIW, and he's Harry's best friend.  I absolutely do 
not believe that Ron's promoting H/G to leave Hermione clear for him; 
I am sure Ron is completely sincere in wanting to see his sister and 
his best friend together for both their sakes, which brings us to a 
mine-field concept in the shipping lexicon:

ONE BIG HAPPY WEASLEY FAMILY

OBHWF is a minefield in shipping debate, beginning with a double R/H 
and H/G wedding, and everybody living happily ever after on Walton - 
er, Weasley - Mountain.  Many shippers find it too corny and 
saccharine for words, but I don't.  Harry's going to be beat to hell 
at the end of the war, wounded, in mind and probably body, exhausted, 
and more stressed than anyone should ever be.  He'll need all the 
support he can get, and most people would count themselves blessed to 
be in the bosom of a family like the Weasleys, who know him, love 
him, and understand him.  Love is the greatest power in the Universe, 
and the deepest mystery in the Department of Mysteries.  Where else 
but OBHWF would there be more in one spot?


THE CASE FOR HERMIONE AND HARRY

I said I'm an H/H shipper, for one overriding reason: never have two 
people been more suited to each other, perfect soulmates.  Hermione 
has been the person who has prepared him for his challenges; while he 
is the greatest natural talent of his generation, she is the exemplar 
of what hard work and application can do - a perfect yin and yang.  
She understands him better than anyone else.

Hermione cares for him as much or more than anyone. When she asks 
after Harry and Cho, what's going on there? Is she not interested in 
Harry, or not aware of *how* she might care for him, or is she mature 
enough to know his feelings for Cho have to be resolved, that the 
risk must be run?  I don't know, but I know that Harry and Hermione 
love each other already.  It may not be romantic love, but they are 
incredibly close.  Hermione with anybody else - even Ron - would be a 
step backwards in intimacy.

Hermione knows exactly what Harry needs.  Her DA idea was brilliant, 
giving him a purpose and a boost he badly needed at the same time 
providing others with something they needed as well.  She sees in 
Harry his natural leadership qualities and the isolation that was 
hurting him, and came up with just the right thing that helped him 
keep going.  It's not an accident that JKR tells us more than once 
how much the DA means to Harry.  Let's remember whose idea it was, 
and how she cared for him at a time when Harry was just plain 
unlikeable. (I was mad at him about fifty times in OOP). 

Harry has noticed her, and the subtlety of the clues make them more 
convincing.  In OOP, when she suggests he tell Cho how ugly he thinks 
Hermione is, he says 'but I don't think you're ugly!' which was a 
spontaneous letting out of his feelings.  In GoF, there were true 
sparks when he noticed her at the Yule Ball.  These seeds are not 
idly planted.  They will burst out someday.

Harry's 'saved' Hermione, too.  I don't mean physically, although he 
has, but Hermione knew early that she would be a different person and 
a lesser one without being in the Trio.  She started out with an 
affinity to Percy, but look at how the two have diverged.   Because 
of her adventures, because she's discovered real purpose, she's a 
young woman of character and moral courage and Percy's a disgusting 
sycophant.  She might have been a Ravenclaw at heart when she 
arrived, but there never was a truer Gryffindor now. She's seen what 
bravery can do.  Hermione has gained immensely from knowing Harry.

WHAT DOES HARRY NEED?

If Harry ends up with Ginny, he's going to have a supportive, loving 
woman and family, a healing balm for all the hurts he's got and will 
get.  If it's Hermione, she's going to care for him in a different 
way, pushing him when he needs it, tough when she has to be, 
challenging him back to health.   Which does he need?

If anyone wants to argue their viewpoint based on the idea that "JKR 
says so," that's weak, IMO.  JKR doesn't want us to do that.  She 
wants us to find it in the meaning of her text. She keeps telling us 
everything is there, and it is.  

I come down on the H/H side, but I won't cry for him if he ends up 
with Ginny, no way. She's a great girl, and they all deserve to be 
happy.

Jim F.

P.S. When I was an enthusiastic H/G shipper, and when I was, this was 
the daily affirmation of the Good SHIP H/G:

"Say it loud, I'm corny and I'm proud!
We love Her-my-oh-ninny, but we're gonna root for Ginny!"