SHIP Harry/Ginny (was:CHPDISC: HBP14, Felix Felicis)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 151941

> >>Betsy Hp:
> > <snip>
> > However, Ginny is *consistently* angry at this point.  She's    
> > angry and cruel to Ron during practice.  She's angry and cruel   
> > to Ron in the corridor.  And then she's angry and cruel towards 
> > Zacharias at the Quidditch match. As Angie pointed out in the    
> > part I snipped, she was angry and cruel towards Zacharias on the 
> > train to Hogwarts. Heck, she was even angry and cruel towards   
> > Fluer back at the Burrow (with a side of angry and cruel to Ron 
> > at the same time).  Which points away from JKR being a bad       
> > writer and towards something being up with Ginny.

> >>Magpie:
> I honestly think a lot of what we're seeing here is just the      
> author trying to make this character stand out in a way she thinks 
> is positive.  Ginny's "real" personality is revealed in OotP when 
> she enters the book establishing herself as no longer ordinary and 
> a little shy, but aggressive, cool and fun (so anything from books 
> 1-4 goes up in smoke).  She's not treated as a little sister in    
> many ways in this new incarnation; the twins respect her in ways   
> they don't respect Ron. 
> That's when it becomes clear Ginny is supposed to be the ideal    
> girl (and so the ideal girl for Harry).
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
Oh, I absolutely *hate* how Ginny treats Ron.  It's exactly how the 
twins treat Percy, and it's totally and completely wrong.  The 
disrespect is absolutely terrible, and it drives me up the wall.  
And why Percy and Ron don't come down on their younger siblings like 
a ton of bricks I really don't know.  (They're much more accepting 
of that sort of behavior than I'd have ever been. Of course, I 
didn't have to deal with the boy versus girl dynamic, so that might 
be tying Ron's hands, I don't know.)

I wonder though, is super-cool!Ginny the real girl? We do have that 
moment at the end of HBP where Ginny confesses that she's *always* 
been in love with Harry.  So, even while dating Michael and Dean, 
she's been carrying a torch for Harry.  Which would mean that if she 
did follow Hermione's advice she is playing at a detachment that 
doesn't actually exist.

> >>Ceridwen:
> <snip>
> If I recall right, I'm in the minority on the board in thinking   
> that Hermione's advice, to be herself and have fun, forget
> about Harry, all of that, however it was worded, wasn't very good 
> after all.  How can Ginny be herself if she's dating other people 
> when she would rather be with Harry?  That would mean she's using 
> some nice, or not so nice, guys to pretend not to be interested in 
> Harry.  Not nice, and it will affect her personality, in my       
> opinion.

Betsy Hp:
I agree with Ceridwen here.  While Hermione worded it as Ginny being 
more herself, she's actually suggesting Ginny *not* be herself.  And 
Ginny does go out and practice her quidditch (which *had* to have 
occured in the middle of the night -- no other logistic works for a 
place like the Burrow) so she can join the team too.  So Ginny is 
putting *a lot* of work into being the sort of girl she knows Harry 
is interested in.
 
> >>Magpie:
> She gets funny one-liners that make everyone laugh, puts people in 
> their place easily.  She's not dating Michael Corner in secret--  
> Ron just doesn't happen to know and is surprised because he's a 
> bit virginal, but Ginny's always cool (as in the opposite of being 
> a loser) with Michael (dumping him for being a sore loser, saying 
> he can go comfort Cho, I think she once goes over to stop         
> him "being an idiot").

Betsy Hp:
But could Ginny's casualness with Michael be more about her lack of 
interest?  After all, she's still in love with Harry while she's 
dating Michael, so she's going to be more critical than a girl in 
love should be.  She's not emotionally involved with Michael, so he 
can annoy her more easily.  In a sense, Ginny is in the more 
powerful position because obviously Michael approached *her*.  He's 
the one with the emotional involvement.

And it's the same thing with Dean.  Dean must have approached Ginny 
and again, she's in the more powerful position.  The thing is, Dean 
is a pretty easy going, laid back kind of guy.  It must have been 
hard for Ginny to find a reason to break up with him.  Which is why 
she grabbed onto the "too nice" excuse.

> >>Magpie:
> In HBP her idealness steps up a notch and I think that's just what 
> we're seeing is the author's coolest girl ever.  She has a fiery   
> temper.  She stands up for herself, especially when the issue has 
> a feminist angle.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
But, if you'd never read a single interview and had to base your 
judgement of Ginny soley on what you've read in the books, doesn't 
it seem that she's not fiery, she's out and out angry?  I mean, she 
nearly *cries* in the hallway scene.  That's anger.  Major, major 
anger.

I'm just wondering if Ginny has been placed on too high a pedestal 
by JKR's declaration that she's "Harry's perfect girl".  When 
really, we should pay just as much attention to that judgement call 
as we should have paid to the "Draco's bad news" or "Hagrid is 
wonderful" or "Dumbledore's the epitome of goodness" declarations 
JKR made over the years, that the books haven't born out.

Actually, there's been suggestions made that JKR answers interview 
questions based on where Harry is in the books.  And at this point 
in time Harry is quite certain that Ginny is just wonderful, since 
he's full of the flush of first love.  But JKR usually does such a 
good job of writing her characters full of flaws.  Perhaps Ginny's 
temper isn't meant to be a good thing.  It does screw Ron's playing 
up something terrible, with all the fall-out that brought about.

> >>Betsy Hp:
> Hopefully!  Actually, now I wonder if Ginny doesn't calm down once
> she and Harry start dating.  It only occurs towards the end of HBP,
> and I don't think Ginny goes into any rampages after they get
> together.  If Ginny has been carrying a torch for Harry this whole
> time, that would necessarily put her under some stress (with the
> added growing pains every teenager goes through).

> >>Potioncat:
> You know what is super cool about this idea? Merope pines away     
> because of love. Tonks becomes a shadow of her former self and    
> loses powers. Ginny just gets mad and Merlin help anyone who gets 
> in her way. I like it.

Betsy Hp:
The interesting thing is, HBP is all about bad love, isn't it?  
Tonks is weakened, not strengthened, by love (ditto with Lupin, 
actually).  Merope becomes her father and abuses a muggle in a 
horrible way, destroying Tom and herself in the process.  Draco is 
held captive by his love for his parents.  Bill and Fluer's love 
cause havoc in the Weasley family.  Ron and Hermione are horrible to 
each other because of their love.  And yeah, Ginny weakens her 
quidditch team and may have even made collecting or destroying a 
horcrux that much harder (if Zacharias is connected to the 
Hufflepuff cup).

Things start to turn around at the end of HBP, and we get some hints 
things have improved.  But I wonder if this last book will show us 
good love?  Where the love strengthens and improves those involved.

Just a thought.

Betsy Hp