[HPforGrownups] The OOTP Gripe List, v. 5,432

[Magda Grantwich]

No: HPFGUIDX 126103

--- lupinlore <bob.oliver at cox.net> wrote:
> 
> 3) Ron.  His development seems contrived to some, and perhaps even
> offensive, since he was elevated to a position he had not earned at
> the expense of Harry, who had earned it.  In particular it seems
> forced and manipulative as it seems designed to fulfill a
> foreshadowing we had been assured was not a foreshadowing.  That
> is, we were specifically assured the Mirror of Erised did not 
> foretell the future.  If it did foretell the future, even by 
> coincidence, then the
> whole thing smells of poorly conceived contrivance.  Some also
> object
> to the fact that Ron's Quidditch triumph, which he certainly HAD
> earned, took place "off screen," thus once again making the sudden
> eminence of his character seem hollow and forced.

I too wish we'd seen Ron's quidditch triumph if only because we would
then have avoided the "pleasure" of meeting Grawp.  Although the
dawning realization of Harry and Hermoine of the new lyrics to THAT
song was a charming moment too and I'm glad Ron was appreciated by
the entire House and not just by Harry and Hermione.

While the Mirror of Erised does not tell the future, it does reflect
someone's strongest desires.  Sometimes those desires are not
possible - Harry will never meet his parents because they're dead. 
But Ron's desire was to outshine his brothers and there are limited
opportunities for a student to do that, and I don't think it
unreasonable that Ron achieve a couple of them (I doubt that he'll be
captain and I can't see him as Head Boy over Ernie MacMillan).

Part of Ron's problem is that he is more like Percy than the other
Weasleys and he's spent four and a half books trying to be like the
twins instead.  The twins' ideas of what is acceptable and cool have
squashed his personal ambitions for years and not until they are gone
does Ron really come into his own.  (Ginny, on the other hand, is the
Weasley most like the twins.)

So I don't really have a problem with Ron's development because it
was more of an internal realization on his part that he wasn't the
third twin and that he had just as much right to achieve his own
ambitions in his own way without anyone putting him down about it.

And I think Harry didn't deserve to be Prefect either.  Neville did.

 
> 5.  Hermione.  She seemed shrill and unsympathetic to some people,
> and
> many object to the fact that she was always right.  This last trait
> was especially grating, as it leads many to believe she was
> essentially a clumsy insertion of JKR herself into the text.  It
> also
> raised doubts that Hermione will undergo any kind of maturation in
> the
> next two books.  After all, how can she learn much-needed humility
> and respect for non-intellectual gifts if she's ALWAYS right?

She never seemed shrill to me.  And she was often right - if Ron and
Harry want her to be a little more humble or less bossy then they
might try doing their own damn homework for a change so she doesn't
feel she has to be the perfect one who's carrying the load for all of
them.

And I think she did mature - she was noticeably pleasanter to Luna at
the end of the book than she was at the beginning and it wasn't
because she saw a photo of a crumple-horned snorkack.  

Hermione rocks - she's Harry's biggest asset (his walking brain) and
her only blind spot isn't SPEW, it's that she doesn't realize that
she could be a target in her own right.

Magda



		
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