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

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 144844


> Betsy Hp:
> I did try to take the limitation of Harry's POV under consideration. 
> And, frankly, it's not really a factor, IMO.  Harry notices Ginny 
> talking to Bill and her mom about Bill's hair (GoF), while the 
> quidditch conversation is going on.  I mean, yes, Ginny might talk 
> quidditch after he's left the room, but if she's able to talk 
> period, and she's supposed to be fairly quidditch mad (mad enough to 
> sneak into the family broom shed, etc.) why would she let Bill's 
> hair distract her from her passion?

Pippin:
Ginny is concealing her Quidditch passion from her whole 
family, not just Harry. Speaking as someone who was also the
little sister in a very competitive family, I can understand why she
would. Look at all the patronizing and teasing Ron has to put
up with from the twins whenever he shows signs of being
good at anything. Maybe the twins would have accepted her
as a mascot. But not everybody wants to be a mascot. Harry
doesn't, for one. He hasn't any use at all for tagalongs.

Betsy Hp: 
> And Harry walks into the middle of the great table fight in GoF.  
> Ginny is in the middle of an activity she started out of Harry's 
> POV.  What a perfect time to show her strutting her HBP stuff.  She 
> can blush and flub and flail *after* she notices Harry's joined 
> them, but JKR doesn't take that opportunity.  Which is why I don't 
> think JKR spent much time thinking about her personality until it 
> was time to set up the "Harry's perfect girl"!Ginny.

Pippin:
It's enough to have Harry in the house. Like having a Beatle, or
the President. Just because he's not in sight doesn't mean you
could forget he's there. Especially if you have an embarrassing
memory of running into him while wearing your nightdress. 
> 
> Betsy Hp:
> *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. (Instead, she seemed more 
> attached to Percy and Ron -- something that totally changes in OotP 
> and HBP.)

Pippin:
I think you're trying to make Ginny fit the mold of a romantic heroine,
and as a romantic heroine, she fails.

She's not. She's an epic character, like Harry himself. What I mean is,
she doesn't change dramatically over the course of the story. The
drama is in our discovery of what she's always been. Her abilities are
*supposed* to be a surprise, just as we're surprised to find that Harry 
is a natural at flying. But her basic personality doesn't change much.
Ron and Hermione, as the more romantic characters, actually have 
to develop their courage and their guile. Harry and Ginny find it 
already within themselves. 

Young Ginny perceives Harry only as a celebrity "famous, good, 
great Harry Potter" and this mask in turn masks her real
self from him. We should get to see the moment when she finally
realizes he's only human, and we do. It's in GoF, when she finds
that he's not only got feet of clay, he occasionally sticks them in
his mouth two at a time. 

Ginny was a horcrux, of a sort. I wouldn't be surprised if  she
has  some abillities that could come in useful for finding and 
destroying them. 

Pippin