Ginny's Role in Book 7 (was: Re: Four ponderings)

[va32h]

No: HPFGUIDX 144828

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Betsy Hp wrote:

> *Harry* can be surprised, but the readers shouldn't be so badly 
> shocked.  We shouldn't be going "Quidditch? Wha...?" because we've 
> been *around* Ginny.  We should have had a chance to notice her 
> excitment during the QWC, excitment that just wasn't there.  We 
> shouldn't be wondering when exactly Ginny became the third twin 
> because she should have been following them around (or treated 
like 
> their little mascot) throughout the books. 

va32h: I guess I'm not understanding why Ginny "should have" done 
this or that. Particularly in regard to the twins. The twins have 
routinely been dismissive of Ginny, to the point where they don't 
know any more about her than Harry (or the reader, for that matter). 
Why should Ginny foist herself on the pair of brothers who are the 
most likely to tease, prank, and pester her? It makes more sense to 
me that she would withdraw, develop her own talents and personality, 
and then come back to the table when she is truly a match for Fred 
and George. But then, I speak as a little sister who was also 
mercilessly teased by two older brothers. 


Betsy Hp wrote: 
> Everything Hermione told Harry should have rung a bit true.  Maybe 
> filled in some blanks, but not come out of nowhere.  JKR did a 
> pretty good job of using discriptors that suggested Ginny was 
pretty 
> throughout the series. (Her "bright brown eyes" in CoS, for 
> example.)  So Harry suddenly finding Ginny attractive didn't come 
> out of nowhere for readers.  It's her *character* that JKR fell 
down 
> on, IMO.  And she had plenty of places to do a better job.  

va32h:

 Well I do agree that Ginny has been something of an insta-character 
(just add water, and watch her suddenly become a vital part of the 
plot!) Hermione's knowledge of Ginny did come out of  nowhere for 
Harry and the reader, but I didn't find it contradictory, because I 
thought that Ginny was a bit of a blank slate in the first four 
books anyway. There wasn't anything to contradict! 

The examples that you cited in your previous post don't strike me as 
anything more sinister than the difference between 11 and 15. Hadn't 
Harry changed a bit between the ages of 11 and 15. Many readers were 
shocked at ANGRY!HARRY! in OoTP - such a departure from his previous 
self. Ginny in HBP is the age Harry was in OoTP. Perhaps in the 
wizarding world, one undergoes a personality reversal at the age of 
15? 

Okay, that was facetious, but I honestly don't see the difference 
between Harry's adolescent personality changes and Ginny's. 

va32h