SHIP: Why I do not ship H/H (wasSusan Bones - The Candidate)

[lunamk03]

No: HPFGUIDX 128069


Neil <BrwNeil at a...> wrote:
> Now a question for the group in general concerning Hermione 
> being in a relationship with either Harry or Ron.  What makes
> one more plausible than the other?  Many of the arguments 
> I've heard against one pairing would apply equally to the 
> other pairing.  I'm not saying that Harry and Hermione belong 
> together, but I would like R/Hr shippers to explain why they 
> feel their  relationship would work, but Harry and Hermione 
> wouldn't.
> Snip


Hi Neil! I'll give you my personal view of why I do not ship H/H. 

I don't ship a specific ship according to my personal preferences. I
don't really care if H/H are better suited than R/H or H/G or
Harry/Ron. Who's better suited for whom is a far too personal and
subjective matter to be discussed `objectively.' Each person has a
different view and ideas of what a good relationship should be like.
This is why we get so many heated discussions when it comes down to
shipping. I respect H/H'ers views, and actually share the same values
they put forward: a strong friendship can indeed be the first step for
a romantic relationship (if chemistry shows up along the way).
Unfortunately, our personal preferences are, er
 very much irrelevant
when it comes down to who is going to end up with whom according to
Jo.  Jo is the boss; these are her books. So I prefer to pay attention
to what she's telling to us in her books and in her interviews.

As I see it, H/H is technically an impossibility. Why? Let's analyze
the books' plot and character structure:

Plot: So far, the romantic aspect of the books hasn't played an
important role in the main plot line. It has been used as red herring
in COS, Percy/Penelope served to deviate our attention from Ginny, and
Hagrid / Mme. Maxime introduced us to the concept of `half breeds' in
GOF. 
The main plot has a clear general direction: `Harry is the only one
who has the power to kill LV and the war has started.' Now more than
ever, Harry is going to need both Ron and Hermione by his side. He has
also been given more friends who have started to provide emotional
comfort too and who will continue to support him through out the war.
Everything is being set up for the war. Loosing his best friend is a
luxury Harry cannot afford in war times. The main message is `stay
united and you will vanquish.' We see this already starting to happen
with the D.A.  Harry, Ron and Hermione will depend on their friendship
more than ever, this has been confirmed by Jo when she said that they
were stronger united than divided (when commenting on Harry / Ron
fight in GOF).

In the romantic front regarding the trio, the only thing Jo has
clearly showed to us is that Ron has `something going on' for Hermione
(still doubting about it? Read Jo quotes below). This situation has
provided some comic relief for us, the readers (although I suspect
that many readers don't find it funny at all. Well, humour is not
universal, especially British humour ;-). 
Now to the point, if Harry starts developing more than friendly
feelings for Hermione and Hermione returns his feelings, a conflictive
love triangle will be created. The trio will be divided, as Ron will
surely feel betrayed by his best friends and will rift away from them.
This in itself will greatly irrupt the main plot line where now the
main aspects are the war, the need of unity and friendship. The main
plot will then become the love triangle situation where Ron perhaps
will betray Harry and Hermione out of resentment; everything will turn
around Harry and Hermione together fighting against evil forces.  In
short, this twist of events would transform the main plot into a
mixture of the O.C. and Beverly Hills 9210(?) episode
 And somehow I
have faith in Jo not doing this


Now, let's see the characters structure: We have a hero (Harry, Level
1) who's being supported by two sidekicks (Ron and Hermione, Level 2),
we have `third characters'  (Ginny, Luna, Neville, etc
Level 3) and
finally background characters. This structure is continuously
changing, some background characters become third characters and
vice-versa. The only stable and unchanged element is the idea of the
trio (some people say that they're now a sextet, I agree, but still
the trio remains unaltered). Ron and Hermione are still acting as
Harry's support. According to Jo, Ron represents Harry's freedom and
Hermione is the voice of reason. So, Ron and Hermione getting together
wouldn't irrupt the trio balanced structure. They're the two faces of
the same coin. They're at the same structural level in the books.
Regardless of the relationship they develop, they'll still be there to
support Harry because that's foremost their `raison d'être' in the
books. Their romance (if there is one) would be surely just to provide
some comic relief and would be limited to the background
 But if Harry
get together with Hermione, the balance will be broken. Ron will be
left out of the trio, Hermione will become the co-hero, thus the trio
will be disintegrated. I recommend you re-read the scene where Ron and
Hermione announce to Harry that they'll be traveling in the prefects'
compartment. Harry has a sense of loss. But then again, Ron and
Hermione come up later and keep up on providing support to Harry. 

Finally, let's have a look at Jo's quotes (only those that
specifically refer to romantic relationships):

Regarding Ron and Hermione: 

Chat with the Yahooligans, 2001 : 
sammyohyeah asks: Is it just me, or was something going on between Ron
and Hermione during the last half of GOF? I love your books, btw, and
two of them I've read straight through cover to cover in under 24 hours. 
jkrowling_bn: well done on the reading speed! Yes, something's 'going
on'... but Ron doesn't realise it yet... typical boy.

About what is going to happen in OotP, NBC Dateline Show, 2003:
Couric: "Any snogging with Hermione?" 
JKR: (slight frown) "Hermione and Harry! Do you think so?" 
Couric: "No I'm kidding. 
JKR: "Ron and Hermione, I would say, have more potential (or did she
say "tension") there" [some words were hard to hear]. (I recommend you
watch the video and see her facial expression)

Web site : (For Jo it is very obvious the answer to this question ;-)
I agree)
Does Hermione love Ron or Harry? JKR: "I can't believe that some of
you haven't worked this one out yet"

Regarding Harry and Hermione:
JKR: *looking through questions* No, don't like that one. Oh, I like
this one
 do Harry and Hermione have a date? [laughter] No. They are –
they're very platonic friends. But I won't answer for anyone else,
nudge, nudge, wink, wink. [laughter and sound of kids going "Aaah!"] 

BTW, I've read that since this statement is in present tense, it only
refers to GOF, but putting this question into context, (read the other
questions. Most questions referring to GOF specifically say so.) we
see that this is a general statement. Present tense is often used to
express a general statement considered to be true by the person giving
the statement. Example: `the sky is blue' (the sky was blue, is blue
now and will continue to be blue in the future) `Marc and Lynda are
very good friends,' etc
 And as Jo, who knows for sure if they would
ever date, is saying this general statement, I have no reason to doubt
her words. Also see how she changes from present tense to future tense
in the second part of the answer. Formulae: Present tense stating
general truth, and then correcting perception of what is going to
actually happen.  

If I had any doubt about the analysis presented above, they were
cleared up by Jo's straightforward comments on the matter. 

I have to point out to the fact that given the amount of people that
ship H/Her, I have to be humble and recognize that there must be
something more to it that I haven't taken into account. But, so far, I
haven't seen any argument that would be based more in actual reasoning
than in subjective and deeply personal matters and book
interpretations on symbology, etc. 
Of course, if Jo is thinking about getting the couples formed after
the war (something I am strongly inclined to believe), there is a
stronger possibility for H/H. But from book 1 to book 7 (excepting the
epilogue) H/H is unlikely to happen, as I see it, bien sûr ;-).

Luna (Who thinks that Susan Bones would be a great candidate for
Harry, but somehow has the feeling the girl will be Ginny)