86 comments ↓

#1 Samanther on 02.19.09 at 3:08 am

Wait, Harry marries WHO?!

I agree with you.

#2 Keira on 02.19.09 at 9:43 am

Yep- Harry and Ginny get married and have three kids which we see in the epilogue as they depart for Hogwarts.

#3 Tracy on 02.27.09 at 10:20 am

I think that Harry and Ginny are equal to each other. Ginny was possessed by Voldemort and they both share that in common. Ginny also understands Harry ,and she knows when to push him and back off. Hermoione nags him all the time and Luna makes him unconfertable. Oh yea and Ginny is a powerful witch and she is smart mabe not as smart as hermione is but she is no dummie. Ginny got over her chrush on Harry when she started talking to him and saw him as just her brothers friend. I could go on but this is already really long. Oh and one last thing there were any little clues that in the books that Harry and Ginny were going to be together.

#4 Defender Paladin on 02.28.09 at 5:17 pm

Can we just drop the insanity known as cannon. I agree with this article. I could see Harry with…Fluer’s little sister just as easily as I could with Ginny. They have just about the same amount of ’screen time’ after all. (Until Book 6) How the blazes is someone supposed to go from ‘I don’t really care one way or the other to: I love you!!!’ In a heartbeat. Yes, Ginny may be this sweet girl. But we really know next to nothing about her.
Harry and Hermione, or Harry and Luna, or even Harry and Cho are much more realistic relations. People grow because of the people the associate with.
A marriage is based on trust.
If we ignore the epilouge We must answer this one question.
Who Does Harry trust the most (female wise)?
Would it be Hermione, who never, literally never, left his side, point just once where she truly left him, I am fairly certain it is not going to happen. Ginny who’s last words to Harry in book six were Something like…’You won’t be happy unless you’re fighting him’. (Does Harry like getting into wars or something Ginny?)
Cho, who was the leaky faucet and used Harry to get closer to Cedric, or Luna, the oddball that helped heal Harry after Sirius died.
I could go on but I don’t want to start a tirade here.

#5 Tracy on 03.01.09 at 9:22 am

What Ginny ment in book 6 is that she knew Harry would not just sit back and wait for Voldemort to come and get him,or watch other people get hurt becuae of him. Also Harry risked his life for Ginny by finding and going in the Chamber of Secrets. Thats not really something you do for someone you don’t care about. He seamed really worried about her.When you said marriage is based on trust,so you think HArry does not trust Ginny? The other things you said about not know Ginny at all,but what do we really know about Luna or Cho ? We know just as much about Luna that we know about Ginny. How did Luna help harry heal ? She might have made him feel better for that time ,but when Harry went back home for the summer he was still greaving. He did not want to talk about Sirus at all.

#6 Ciara on 03.05.09 at 10:37 am

I completely agree with the article. I could see Harry/Hermione or even Harry/Luna happening before Harry/Ginny, even when the books were still being written. Hermione is his only constant friend throughout the series – Harry and Ron get into a few notable fights, but he and Hermione don’t. Luna shares his pain as far as losing parents go, and while being a bit strange, they can also connect because she is an outcast and he is essentially one when they meet up in the fifth book. Ginny, on the other hand, was essentially a fangirl, who had the privilege of being younger sister to the Boy-Who-Lived’s best friend. If Harry didn’t become friends with Ron, Harry most likely would not have gone to save Ginny in the Chamber. Or if he tried to, the urgency would have been a bit less, and he probably would not have gotten there in time and she would be dead. Despite this, Ginny then disappears for pretty much two books, making a small appearance in the fifth book and then going back into the background until the 6th. The whole series could have been done without her, and frankly the adolescent romance would not have gotten in the way of the 6th book.

#7 Chris on 03.15.09 at 7:32 pm

I agree with the article. While it is true Harry saved Ginny in the Chamber in Book 2, he did the same with Hermione, troll, in Book 1. If you’re going to say they share a connection to Voldemort in common then I’m somewhat icked to say that Harry and Ron share that same connection. There was no connection between Harry and Ginny until Book 6 at which point Harry randomly discovers he has feelings for her. If there was any hinting it was towards Cho, Luna, or Hermione. Rowling pushing Hermione at Ron shows that girls should be attracted to people they argue all the time with and have little in common with. Yeah forgive me if I don’t want to marry someone I’d likely argue with more then agree with. Cho could be pushed aside as Harry’s first crush and bad luck on getting the rebound.

#8 Keira on 03.15.09 at 7:51 pm

Thanks Defender Paladin, Ciara, Chris! (Tracy too!)

Hermione and Ron are my second least favorite couple in the series. I could write a post on that but the title for that post would just be weird lol and Chris nails exactly what I despise most about them as a couple.

Really? Hermione wants to be with a guy that alternately cries foul that she knows more than him and then belittles her for not knowing everything he does.

Then Hermione acts towards Ron in a similar manner as Molly and that’s too weird for me . If anybody needed a mothering presence in his life it’s Harry, not Ron. Molly is plenty all on her own. lol

#9 Tracy on 03.18.09 at 9:23 am

Harry tried to save Hermione ,but it was really Ron who saved her by knocking the troll out. I don’t really know what you mean by Harry and Ron ,but what I ment was that Harry and Ginny were the most hard hit. Yes you could argue that everyone was affected but they were the key players. The one thing I feel that is special about Harry and Ginny’s relationship is that Ginny was right in front of him the whole time and he did not notice her at all. Harry even says somthing like we could been together all long ime ago if I wasnt so dumb. Like I said before Ginny understands Harry and respects him. When he brakes up with her she just lets him ,and she dose not try to fight him about it or try to come with him because Ginny knows that he needs to do this by himself and that she would only be in the way. I really don’t think that Hermione would be able to just let Harry do his thing. I guess we have to agree to diagree. LOL HArry and Ginny are my fav couple if you can’t tell.

#10 Carmen on 03.18.09 at 10:15 am

I think Hermoine and Ron were a better literary couple. I love Harry, but I’m with you, not in the top 5!

#11 Zack on 03.25.09 at 9:21 pm

The books were enjoyable even if the literary romance wasn’t, i guess you’d call it, top notch. The old patriotism found in the Hermione and Ron pairing was somewhat touching, even classical if you like the ‘love you under my words’ garble. But what upset me most was that dark space where Ginny and Harry should have been. The relationship could have been a whole lot stronger, even inspiring, if J.K. made the relation a bit more obvious and in the open. Sure there were hints, but i can’t help but feel Ginny and Harry were neglected in the whole plot of things. A repetition of their bonding would have been nice. Something of a recurrence (in all books) of their relationship would have enlightened me. Instead , the feeling like a bombshell went off near the 7th book raised an eyebrow. As for other pairings besides Ginny for Harry… eh, not quiet fond of any of them unless they’re in a fiction sense. Presumably, J.k. decided Ginny and Harry at one point for her series, so anything else would be like be like filling the king’s seat with the wrong person. Hope that’s not to contradicting to what i said earlier…

#12 Ian on 04.18.09 at 8:24 am

In an amazing feat of literary crap… Rowling failed in the writing of books 6 and 7. What a shame, really.

#13 Professor Y on 05.05.09 at 2:48 pm

While I agree with almost everything in the article, you overlook one huge event in the story that, in fact, does set up a Ginny/Harry relationship.

That is the events of second year, in particular, the close call in the Chamber of Secrets.

Of course, the events that transpired within can be refuted and picked apart to show that, indeed, Ginny and Harry were never a romance, however… sacrifice does come into play, however briefly, and pathetically.

#14 Keira on 05.05.09 at 4:32 pm

Ah, you’re right of course… but…

Harry noticed Hermione’s absence during the Halloween emergency in year one and forced Ron to help him find her and save her from the troll. In year four, Harry saved Gabrielle, Fleur’s sister from the mermaids. In five, Harry desired to help find Luna’s stolen things and to protect her from her classmates picked on her.

Not to mention the other people he saved throughout the series or tried too. So it could be contributed to his saving people thing more so than any romantic inclination.

#15 mitch on 05.06.09 at 4:18 pm

i agree with everything in this article. Sorry but there is simple no way that Harry and Ginny realistically stand a chance of having a long surviving realtionship, they may get together in the end but it would soon fall apart. As far as the Chamber of secrets goes i don’t think it really mattered that it was Ginny down there, if it were anyone else boy or girl Harry would have gone down there to save them. Not to mention with the troll it was Harry who noticed Hermonie’s missing, Harry who had to drag Ron to find hermonie and Harry who jumped on the Trolls neck to distract. Comparing that to ron who had just said a magic spell which he should have gotta anyway from living surrounded by magic everyday it just doesn’t make me say oh Hermonie and ron are goign to get together

i don’t know how Ginny can understand Harry, and as far as just letting him go and fight voldemort without any help just sounds pretty cowarly to me. she knows she can’t help him. however Hermonie doesn’t let him go alone because she knows he’ll get killed, and she also knows that she is one of the few who can help him.

Also Ginny being right in front of him for most of the years but hermonie has been with him for all of those years so tracy you can see why i don’t agree but eh to each their own.

PS ignore any spelling mistakes i am running late for school so i don’t have time to fix it up laters.

#16 Tracy on 05.27.09 at 8:39 pm

Harry showed no love interest in Hermione at all. They were just friends that is all she has ever been to Harry nothing more nothing less. Your right Ginny can’t help Harry because she is underage and still has the trace on her. Ginny also knows that Harry said that he had to do it alone and that he did not want her to get hurt, and she expected him to brake up with her. She may not have wanted this but she excepted it. In the end Ginny did what she had to do and went behind everyone’s wishes and fought that’s not being a coward. I understand that a lot of people don’t like Ginny , but what I don’t see is where people say that I could have seen him with Hermione or Luna. I don’t really recall any clues that is was going to either of the two.

#17 mitch on 06.01.09 at 4:48 am

sorry but i disagree, there are certain parts within the series that show that harry does really care for hermione and tht she cares for harry just as much such as the troll incident, being pertfrified, helping sirius escape etc etc (though i think that the one most commonly used is the kiss at the end of the fourth book). and like i said before with Ginny she can’t possibly understand Harry because she didn’t go through the same kind of hardships that he went through hence why she is completely wrong when she said he had to do it alone why else would Ron and Hermione go with him? because they know he can’t do it alone that was pretty much the point of the power of love!. i Don’t really see Harry saying i don’t want you to get hurt just to Ginny because the type of character harry is he wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt for something he feels is responsible. Though then again you could just chalk it up to Harry believign that she is not strong enough to endure what the trio has to, which i just another point against Ginny anyway. and going behind everyone’s back fighting is pretty much a given like hell you wouldn’t do that, i would of been surprised if she didn’t.

as far as you not seeing where people say Harry could be with Hermione or Luna well that is completely up to you and how you read the books, no one will be able to change your opinion of it, only influence it. But my main point is that Harry lovign Hermione is not really told in the books so much as it is shown, yes there is friendship, there would not be a couple still together who could not say that their relationship is minimum a friendship and at most lovers. Again it comes back to how you read the books, that collective points in the series like i have mentioned above illustrate the H/Hr ship.

oh btw reading over my last comment i would like to say sorry to anyone i am have offended i was a bit of an arse in trying to express my point. So sorry

#18 Nettie on 06.05.09 at 2:55 pm

I agree with everything in this article. I loved the HP series, and it has given readers something that has been missing from children’s literature for a long time. A story that dares to tackle big questions like life and death, and love and hate.

I am not a shipper and have no real interest in who Harry ends up with. But I am a believer in Story, and whether we like it or not all stories have rules that we instinctively know to be right and which feel wrong if violated. The rules for Story are the same for life. Just as in real life we feel deceived if indications of a relationship turn out to be false, we also feel deceived if indications of a close relationship between two characters are ignored by an author in favor of an another pet character.

The fact is, the way the series was written, most readers were lead to the obvious conclusion that Harry would end up with Hermione. If Ginny really should be The One,
then we wouldn’t have to hunt through the book with a magnifying glass to find fleeting signs of interest. Nor would we have to explain to others their match. There would be no debate. Find me one person that thinks that Mr Darcy should have married someone other than Elizabeth Bennet.

Now, Ginny and Harry. It is apparent that Ms Rowling had always planned Ginny (a thinly veiled idealized version of herself, right down from the red hair to the similar consonantal sounds of their names) and Harry to meet and marry from the very start. She was as far as JK was concerned, the book’s true unsung heroine. After all, every storytelling tradition since the beginning of time has the hero marrying the heroine, no?

But, if she had intended this then why did she break the first law of the fictional heroine, by making her completely peripheral to the ENTIRE series, and giving the super intelligent Hermione (interestingly enough, a portrayal of her less idealized self) the Heroine’s role.

The heroine’s role in traditional heroic tales is not of a spunky, popular, pretty girl who is good at sports. The heroine is always the hero’s wise counsel, his help mate, his oasis and ultimately his savior. She is the one he guides him on the right path, and confronts him when he steps out of line. She is the one who is always by his side when death is staring him in the face.
If Ginny was supposed to be the heroine, the girl who at first puts her elbow in the butter then goes on ultimately to save his soul, then a skilled author would have allowed her to go on the journey WITH Harry, not allowed to languish on the sidelines till the nth hour. Then everyone would have cheered poor Ginny along the way, without FAIL.

Instead we have many fans confused because the traditional heroine role is played by Hermione! We all know it’s an authorial error, because it’s the way of story telling traditions from the beginning of time. The woman who is SHOWN to have the most growth in a story alongside the hero is the one who marries him in the end.

What she did with poor Ginny and Harry, is the literary equivalent of a Kitty Bennet marrying a Mr Darcy.
And what did Kitty do throughout the entire book apart from going to dances and being popular with boys?

And don’t get me started on the why any father would send his children to a school which was merely providing cannon fodder for Voldermort, I shall never know.

#19 Nettie on 06.05.09 at 3:53 pm

I should have said “why any father such as Harry Potter, would then send his children back to a school that ultimately provided cannon fodder for Voldemort , I shall never know.”

#20 Nathan on 06.16.09 at 10:56 pm

Ok, I’m going to do a couple of responses:

@ Tracy, #5: You say, and I quote,
“Harry risked his life for Ginny by finding and going in the Chamber of Secrets. Thats not really something you do for someone you don’t care about. He seamed really worried about her.”
First off, hate to be a nit-picker, but its seemed. Second, as Mitch brought up, Harry would have rescued anybody that was down there. Whether Hermione, or hell, even Malfoy, I believe, as Harry has his saving people thing, he would have gone down there to save him/her.

“How did Luna help harry heal ? She might have made him feel better for that time ,but when Harry went back home for the summer he was still greaving. He did not want to talk about Sirus at all.”
Right… How exactly did Ginny help Harry heal over that summer? I must have missed that.

@#6: Ciara: Yes! thank you for bringing up the fangirl. Wasn’t she more or less in love with him from like age 5? Before she even met him? I wouldn’t put it past a crazy fangirl who is sure she is in love with Harry to use Amortentia…

@#9:Tracy (again)
Ok, sure. Ron knocked out the troll. Big frickin’ deal. Would he have gone if Harry hadn’t dragged him? Who was the first to respond in the bathroom? *CoughHarryCough* Who tried to tackle a troll? (See previous cough) Who was the reason she was in there? Ron of course!

@ #16: Tracy! What a surprise!
“Harry showed no love interest in Hermione at all. They were just friends that is all she has ever been to Harry nothing more nothing less.”
Right… and lets think about something for a second. disregarding the “beast” that appeared in book 6, when did Harry show any love interest in Ginny? They were just friends, and it appeared in the fifth book it was going to stay that way.

“In the end Ginny did what she had to do and went behind everyone’s wishes and fought that’s not being a coward.”
Right… and so did Colin Creevy, and a whole bunch of others. you don’t see Harry marrying them, do you? (granted, Colin died, but still. He was the same kind of crazy fan…)

“but what I don’t see is where people say that I could have seen him with Hermione or Luna. I don’t really recall any clues that is was going to either of the two.”

Okay. that’s a valid point. no real hints are dropped that he wants to go out with either of them. Well, he does ask Luna out (though as friends), but besides that, your right.

Okay, now my questions/responses:

-anyone else weirded out by how Ginny’s description matches Lily’s pretty closely?

-Anyone have parents (I’m assuming a stable family life here, so please don’t respond if you are otherwise. not to sound cruel, but that’s a small minority) that seem to always be fighting? No. Most couples tend to trust one another with almost anything (*CoughHermione/HarryCough*)

#21 Tracy on 06.17.09 at 5:43 pm

Your right Harry does have a saving person thing and you could argue that he only went after Hermione in the bathroom because of his saving people thing too. Ginny made Harry happy by making him laugh (laughter is best medicine) She played Qudditch (I didn’t say Ginny helped him heal) the reason I said that Ginny fought in the last battle was because someone said that Ginny was a coward. I wasn’t saying that she was the only person to fight. As far as the fan girl thing goes Ginny was not the only one who got excited about Harry being a celebrity (example Ron, Fred, George) she had a crush on him she was not a fan girl Romilda Vane no thats a fan girl. I think most people talk to celerity’s and don’t get so embarrassed that they don’t talk to them. She was 11 years old it was just an innocent crush.

#22 Realistic_dove on 06.25.09 at 2:47 am

I just don’t get how people see Harry saving Ginny as a base for romance when Hermione said in book five or six that Harry has a “Saving people thing” If it would have been RON or HERMIONE in the chamber he would have done the SAME THING. It had nothing to do with romantic feelings and that shouldn’t have been the base for it. Harry and Ginny have essentially nothing in common aside from their love for quidditch and the heck if that makes a romance. both being in the same house doesn’t either. Ginny being brave doesn’t either because all of Harry’s friends are brave. All of Harry’s friends risked their lives, I don’t get why Ginny suddenly became his love interest when their were no real clues previously.

Honestly, I like Ron/Hermione. Their arguments may seem stupid, but their is a wonderful explanation for it. Both Ron and Hermione like their squabbles. Harry doesn’t and it may seem annoying as its from his own view because he himself doesn’t like arguing, but Ron and Hermione do. I also am a fan of Harry/Luna. I thought they’d be better than H/G.

#23 Shadow on 06.30.09 at 1:57 am

Tracy read the books through out the whole serious she is pointing toward Harry/ Hermione. Then WHAM, he is head over heals in love with Ginny right after they learn about love potions. Also their is NOT ONE little hint about Hermione liking Ron, who by the why ruined the biggest night of her adult. Can you look me in the eye and say that you would date the guy that ruined your prom because he didn’t like your date?

didn’t think so you would have strong feeling for said idiot and i know the like wouldn’t even be in the same time zone. get real Harry with Ginny makes about as much since as Albus Servius Potter…. How stupid does Rowling think we are?

#24 Lina on 07.01.09 at 9:32 pm

Why do people like Harry/Luna ? He laughs at her, feels embarassed for her and by her, feels pity for her and describes her in the most unattractive way possible. He also doesn’t feel that comfortable around her. How on earth would that make a good pairing ?

#25 Tracy on 07.02.09 at 10:56 am

Shadow I have read all the books several times and don’t see how it was point to Harry and Hermione. Seriously give some examples in the books because I don’t see it. That’s ok if you don’t want to be in a relationship with someone like Ron .but Hermione does. I agree with Lina about Harry and Luna.

#26 tanasha on 07.07.09 at 5:02 pm

i dont and will never agree with this artical. It is full of balone. I think harry and ginny are a great couple. I mean sure she wasnt in a few books but still they are perfect for each other. and probable the late bloom of love and passion harry & ginny have for each other is because that love was just building and building over time.
I also think ron & hermione are a great couple. I mean sure they dont have alot in comen but they have loved each other for years are you that stupid. there were loads of sighns. In the second book book hermione huged harry because they were just friends but she didnt hug ron they just shook hands, then it got all ocwared bettwen them.
And with that i rest my case. some people are just totaly clueles wen it comes to relationships.

#27 tanasha on 07.07.09 at 5:08 pm

and i also definatly disagree with shadow mabey you should read the seventh book again mabey you will understand about albus severis potter.

#28 Harry Potter romance a total failure. « m e l i s s i m o on 07.20.09 at 4:05 pm

[...] honest, I thought it was just bad acting and screenplay on the movie’s part but after reading why JK Rowling would be absolutely useless at writing anything remotely related to romance; I’m convinced that Harry x Ginny fanboys/girls are absolutely deluded. That and I have [...]

#29 Kat on 07.20.09 at 10:15 pm

We all know it’s an authorial error, because it’s the way of story telling traditions from the beginning of time. The woman who is SHOWN to have the most growth in a story alongside the hero is the one who marries him in the end.

I disagree with this comment. Not every story telling tradition requires a romantic ending, so I don’t see how this could be true.

I agree that Harry and Ginny had very little chemistry as a couple. (At least, in the book. I think there was more in the films, but I’d have to watch them again to be sure.) But at the same time, Harry always struck me as someone who just wanted a quiet life with a loving family. In that sense, marriage with Ginny gives him his dream.

I love that Rowling resisted the temptation to pair Hermoine up with Harry. I think there was a bit of do-I-don’t-I for harry in Goblet of Fire, but I love that Rowling keeps it platonic.

I love Ron and Hermione. I wasn’t at all surprised by this couple because they were shown spending lots of time together during their holidays. I love that the guy who’s always in Harry’s shadow gets the best girl in the end.

#30 Keira on 07.20.09 at 10:41 pm

There was more in the movie. It’s actually quite plausible due to the acting and movie script.

Still, Ginny is very left field. She really is not in the picture until she’s suddenly in the picture.

Harry doesn’t have any real conversation with Ginny; not like with Luna.

In the movie, Ginny comes across like she cares for Harry.

The books read more like the fangirl getting her dream guy… it was just shallow.

I’m listening to the audio version of Half-Blood Prince again. I will post more observations as I hear them.

#31 Keogh on 07.21.09 at 8:50 am

In my personal opinion, the way Rowling wrote Harry/Ginny’s romance merely seems like a highschool crush. How it sort of appears out of nowhere, yet how it seems like its a forever thing.

If Rowling fleshed out the romance a bit in the previous books, the fans of the series wouldn’t be scratching their heads and complaining like they are (no offense intended).

#32 Asha Greyjoy on 07.25.09 at 3:53 am

Lol – delusional fangirl shippers are delusional.

You seem to forget that Harry Potter is not romance literature. It is not literature about romance.

It is literature that includes (a bare minimum) of romance.

The romantic development happens off-page. Because this isn’t a story about romance.

Of course delusional HarMOANians and H/L shippers will never understand that.

(Link found via Portkey)

#33 Keira on 07.25.09 at 11:28 am

I don’t deny that Harry Potter is NOT romance. I wrote the article as a response (to a now invalid link) at Miami Book Examiners that put Harry/Ginny in the top 10 Romantic Literary Couples of All Time.

#34 Serena on 07.30.09 at 7:54 am

I am sorry that some H/G shippers (I repeat, SOME) feel the need to respond to this well written article calling anyone who doesn’t share their view “delusional”… it reflects really badly on the fans of couple, who before this comment had been discussing the issue in a completely civilized manner.
Anyway, I’m here thanks to a link posted @ Fanforum’s Couples We Dislike Thread (which, as you can imagine, is pretty much ruled by Harry/Ginny dislike) and what can I say other than wonderful article, I agree with every point. It is indeed true that both Harry/Hermione and Harry/Luna would have made far more sense.

#35 lil c on 07.30.09 at 3:56 pm

harry wud hve saved anybody, thats who he is. he has saved malfoy ron ginny mr weasley hermione from death and in the last book alot of muggle borns while he was in the ministry. little on page action between harry and ginny. like someone said it just happened, a monster roared within his chest its just like all of a sudden out of nowhere he notices her. as for ginny rowlings did drop hints throughout the whole series that she has loved him. starting when fred george and ron take harry to the burrow and ginny runs off when seeing harry and knocks things over. in the first book ginny begs her mother to let her see him and gets excited but at the time of course we think thats only becuz hes famous. but if u look throughout the book series there are hints and its obvious this ginny/harry thing has been planned since the beginning

#36 Cris on 07.31.09 at 11:22 pm

Lol, Harry and Luna? Many people don’t even think this pairing exist at all. Luna barely got any development in the books, she never changes and she’s this adorable loner we’re suppose to love. She’s the Mary Sue. And she’s like a child, Harry would be like a pedophile if he ever date Loony. Any pairing but this.

#37 Taryn on 08.03.09 at 2:40 pm

But what if the Harry/Ginny relationship developed after Book 7?

I mean, by the time the series is over Harry is 17 and Ginny is 16… hardly anyone has a serious relationship at that age. I didn’t start one until I was 19, with a guy I knew since I was 14… yet we never showed any romantic interest in the other until I was 18.

Hence, I agree with the article in that there wasn’t much H/G romance throughout the books and any of the other girls could have been a better romantic choice for Harry. The H/G romance didn’t seem realistic.

But again, my point is… what if Harry and Ginny didn’t really hit it off as a rightful couple until after Ginny graduated from Hogwarts? They would have a 5 year span (at least) to build a relationship before James II is born, and since there’s no Voldemort around anymore I don’t think they would have had much interruptions xD

#38 q on 08.03.09 at 2:42 pm

while i agree that harry and ginny are nowhere near the top 5,let alone top 20,some of your arguments to back it up are a bit tame,especially those that think that harry would have likely ended up with either luna or hermione,i mean come on..lol..what indication in the books,a true indication down on paper was there that suggested that he would end up with one of the 2,especially luna,you surely know harry better than that.on the other hand there also was no hint what so ever about ginny.my biggest problem about the 2 is that jk never gave them a single conversation in book six to show the reasons why harry liked her to begin with,coz even though he talked about liking her and fighting that ‘monstor’ he never actually really explains the qualities that make him like her..the relationship between him and cho,though doomed for various reasons,was a lot more realistic and satisfying..this one was just…rushed..
it’s not a romance novel yes,but hello,not even a decent conversation between the 2 of them while they were a couple,apart from the break up bit?puh-lease
.)

#39 Nemrut on 08.04.09 at 1:46 pm

Great article , I agree with everything you’ve said. My personal favorite would be Luna, or even better, just forget the epilogue. Without it, everyone could have made their own ending of Harry Potter and it would have been perfect, Instead we got this mushy crap fest, which was the only part in any Harry Potter book I genuinely disliked .

#40 Julie on 08.06.09 at 10:37 am

Wow, a lot of different opinions. First of all, I don’t really like disagreeing with the author about how the story goes or who ends up with who. Rowling saw them together in her head and she wrote it so well that I just can’t see any other couples than the ones she wrote about.
You could notice from book one that Harry and Hermoine would be and stay friends, nothing else. And about Ginny… Well, I know that there aren’t much people who like her but I liked her because she was mysterious. And after that I liked it even better, to learn more about her. To me, she is the perfect fit for Harry. She’s Ron’s sister, which makes the best friends even closer, she’s quite intelligent, and I guess that the both of them look soooo much alike with James and Lily. I could go on, but bottomline, I think they’re really adorable. Ron and Hermoine even so. They are my absolute favourites. They complete eachother, isn’t that enough? Why do you have to be similar in a relationship? Sounds like a enormous mistake to me.

#41 Lessa on 08.07.09 at 10:39 pm

I agree with this article. But I want to make a comment about being in a relationship with someone similar. It’s not always an enormous mistake. My boyfriend is very similar to me. The main differences between us is he’s a game freak and I’m a book freak. Just because your similar doesn’t mean it’s a mistake. After all not everybody who is similar is exactly alike it just means they have common interests. I’m going to quote one of my favorite authors on her comment about Love when asked why her character Alanna ended up with George instead of Jon. “It’s hard to describe a relationship like theirs to people, because most of us were raised to think love is fire, passion, and prolonged bouts of giddiness and strained emotions. The quieter kind of love looks kinda boring on the surface, even cool-hearted. Nobody wants that at first. Some people never learn how wonderful it is to be friends with a lover or spouse, to know that here is someone you can be yourself around, and they will love you anyway, sometimes not in spite of your worse characteristics, but because of them. That kind of lover will stay with you through thick and thin, will make you feel valued always, and will make any disastrous occasion seem less so because you are with that person.” That’s just a snippet but I think it fits rather well. I think it fits especially well for Harry and Hermione. They’re my favorite pairing but I can read just about any pairing. I personally just never thought that Harry/Ginny made no sense. I can agree about romance being developed but some people are forgetting that Ginny told Harry that she always knew she would end up with him. I can’t remember the exact quote now but that sounds a little like a fan-girl to me. Someone commented on Ron and the Twins getting to know him for his fame. Yes that’s true but they also got over it in his first year. Ron kept showing the signs of jealousy true but the twins never did. In fact they didn’t want to take Harry’s winnings from the Tournament he had to force them do so. Please do let me know where Ginny gets over that after meeting him? Also someone commented about the Lilly thing and I have to agree that it would be disturbing to date someone who looked like my dad. I’m a girl so obvioulsy I’ve switched it but the reasoning still stands. Also Harry appears to get jealous out of nowhere and in book 5 he didn’t care that she was dating different guys in fact I don’t believe he took much notice of it at all. Sorry for my absurdly long post. I like to chat and I also enjoy debates so I couldn’t resist adding in my own two cents.

#42 Tracy on 08.08.09 at 9:46 am

First off Gnny never said that she always knew she would end up with him. Ginny said she never gave up hope that he would finally notice her. I also want to point out that crushes docome out of nowhere all the time. One day you could be friends with someone at the next ay you could have a crush it happens. Harry suddenly had a crush on Cho in his third year, and that came out of nowhere but people don’t complain about that. I don’t think Ron knew he had a crush on Hermione until she went out with someone else. The something happened to Harry with Ginny. She got to spend all summer with Harry and she showed her personality and they had fun together. Throughout the 6th book we get kind of see that Harry missed spending time with her because they did not really hang out with the same people at school. Harry just did not realize that he had feeling for her until he saw her kissing Dean.

#43 Lessa on 08.09.09 at 4:13 pm

True enough. You make some good points Tracy. I know some people get violent over the pairings but like I’ve said I will read just about anything. The main reason I always thought he and Hermione would be a great pair is because she was at his side through thick and thin and always looking out for him. In a way I think Hermione probably understands him better than anybody. That’s just me. I think that really Harry could end up with just about anything and on the Cho thing that would be because he’s a teenager in that book and Cho is one of the prettiest girls in the school and he probably noticed her because of the Quiditch thing. That crush was a bit more consistent than the one he had on Ginny because to me he was crushing on Cho for about 3 books. The Ginny thing kinda seemed forced to me and that was because his best friends had gotten wrapped up in their own little problems and he felt maybe a bit left out and he was still upset about Sirius’s death. Someone commented on how she knew when to not force him well sometimes you do need to force your friends to talk. After all it’s not healthy for them to keep everything bottled up inside.

#44 Bri on 08.09.09 at 7:37 pm

I DO NOT AGREE with this atrtical at all! How do you think Harry\Luna be a good relation ship? So he took her to Slighorns party. he only took her because she was the only girl not begging him to take her. Cho betraied him. Hermione is like a sister to him. She’s his best friend. Harry and Ginny are a match made in heaven. So is Hermione and Ron. Out of the four girls either Ginny or Hermione would be his best match but Ginny is the very best. Ron and Hermione are my favorite couple and Harry and Ginny are my second. I agree all the way with Tracy.

#45 Andie on 08.16.09 at 12:24 pm

All issues of other pairings aside, I think Harry/Ginny fails on its own merits – or lack of them. But on the whole Rowling seems to fail at her romances. She’s clearly an adventure/mystery writer and I think she probably would have done well to just avoid the subject for the most part, rather than throwing in epilogues that marry people off and weird gratuitous pairings. I mean, when you think about it, Tonks and Remus came out of nowhere and had no development, and so did Bill and Fleur. Arthur and Molly were probably her best couple and they were already well-established in their marriage. Lily and James and Lily and Snape were both romantic in their own ways but were only ever seen through fairly distant lenses, and for all we know Lily and James would have been divorced in a few years if Voldemort hadn’t killed them. Ron and Hermione had that whole love/hate thing from the get-go, but even though it was clear (to me, anyway) that she was going to pair them off from the first book, she did such a poor job actually developing the reasons why they SHOULD be together (versus the obstacles she gave them) that the whole thing just seemed pretty anti-climactic when it finally happened. In the same way Harry and Ginny might have had hints early on, but they were far more vague and subjective and in the end the pairing was poorly executed. Harry’s thoughts seemed more lustful than loving – tempered by the fact that he’s a good person, and so not an utter jerk to people he lusts after and probably unfamiliar with recognizing the difference in feelings – and none of the issues for the pairing are ever really resolved. There are too many reasons for Harry to be with Ginny that have nothing to do with Ginny. People cite her being Ron’s sister as a benefit – but Harry wants to have a family like the Weasleys, and so from a romantic perspective it actually puts a dent in the idea, because what if her appeal for him has more to do with her family than herself? It’s sort of like if someone who’s always wanted to be a head chef dates someone who owns a restaurant. Even just subconsciously they might have ulterior motives, and unless those are addressed I’m left to think that they’re unresolved. My impression of the pair is that Harry started dating her and wound up marrying her because he couldn’t break ties with her without feeling like he’d be breaking ties to her family as well. Not very romantic. Then there is, as someone mentioned, the fact that what we know about Ginny and what we know about Lily is freakishly similar. Considering the pedastal Harry puts his mother on… well, it just makes me think that he doesn’t know Ginny at all. In Chamber of Secrets when he goes to rescue her he’s not thinking about how a friend of his is in trouble. He’s thinking about how nice the Weasleys have been to him, and how Ron’s his best friend and he doesn’t want them to lose their little girl. There’s nothing to indicate that Harry’s there for Ginny in specific and not her family in general, and that holds true for the entire series.

#46 Andie on 08.16.09 at 12:28 pm

Also, to Cris’ comment about Luna being a Mary-Sue – a Mary-Sue is a wish-fulfilment character who is unrealistic and acts as an avatar for the author (or the reader, sometimes) to insert themselves and live out a fantasy with impossible standards, either from the world they’re in or from the other characters of the story. How is that, in any way, Luna Lovegood?

#47 Julie on 08.19.09 at 4:58 pm

Lessa, of course you don’t want to date anyone that looks exactly like your father or mother; but It was actually proved that you find people more attractive if they have the same features as your parent from the opposite sex. It’s nothing freaky or anything, just science. But you do have a point about the love thing. With some people love is passionate and for others it means stability. But I think you have to have loads of passion at first and later on, as the relationship evolves, you have other priorities. Though I believe, when in a healthy relationship, the passion never dies.

Anyways, everyone has their own opinion. I don’t mind, keeps things interesting

#48 Arya Stark on 08.26.09 at 2:05 pm

@#32: That is exactly what I thought when I read the crazy debate going on here. (Plus, love your ‘name’! Can’t wait for the next book!)

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion of course, but in the end Harry DID end up with Ginny. Therefore discussion about alternatives is in and of itself, ridiculous. Personally, I find Ron/Hermione to be the relational travesty in the books and not Harry/Ginny.

The majority of comments here are severely off topic, since this article isn’t about whether or not Harry and Ginny should have ended up together, and instead whether or not they should be counted as one of the great literary couples of all time. In which case I first refer back once more to Asha’s comment at #32. This isn’t supposed to be romance! And secondly say, agreed. Since they aren’t developed a romantic couple, they don’t really stand up next to couples that are (Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett being the primary example).

#49 Vivi on 08.31.09 at 6:05 pm

I totally agree with you!
Harry and Ginny was never meant to be, maybe only in Ginny’s head. Ginny was one of the most boring character there was in the JK world, she wasn’t developed very well, the readers’d always be told she was special, but in fact we’ve never really got to see it. And then their romance started out of nowhere.
I was for some time a H/Hr fan, and I still like them together, but over the years I’ve got more and more convinced that Harry and Luna should be the ones together. They just seemed to get each other. Sometimes I even think that maybe JK thought it too, but in the end she didn’t have enough courage to make them a couple.

#50 Mandy on 09.07.09 at 4:31 pm

I completely agree with this article, and in fact I am glad there are people around who like me strongly disliked the 7th book, and the romance in HP.

First of, I believed in the beginning of their adolescence that Hr/R were destined to be together. When Book 7 and Ron’s ‘betrayal’ came out though, I felt it was stupid to let the most intelligent witch of her generation and a stupid bloke who happens to be good at chess (I seriously can’t explain that talent) get together.

Now, there are arguments against and in favor of all ships, but personally I just can’t see Harry with any of the girls… Sure Hermione helps him, but… It is always a sisterly kind of love, there are some people who just can’t be romantically involved. Heck, I am a fan of HP Slash, as long as it’s well written, but Harry/Ginny… I’ll explain why it is utterly pointless immediately.

Ginny is, was, and will be, a fangirl. I agree with Tracy’s comment on how all crushes start out of the blue, but it’s just that, CRUSHES. No way can you fall in love, yet alone marry a person you met when you were 12 and realized they existed after 5 years.

There’s no dynamic in the pair. Harry is too kind, gentle, and broken from life for Ginny to understand, who grew up in a loving family and faced no true danger until the Riddle incident in CoS. She just passes off as Ron’s little sister until in Book 6 she is suddenly transformed into a rare beauty, with, I quote “her long red hair dancing behind her”. If that’s not OOC, then I don’t know what is!

I had not thought of the possibility Ginny used Amortentia on Harry… Interesting idea, and it would fit with Harry being powerful enough to fight the sudden impulses that appeared in the beginning of the school year.

Er. Tell me again, how in the blazes Ginny is the perfect match for Harry? They share nothing in common, and Ginny was turned into a Mary Sue in B6. Sarcastic, funny, with witty comebacks, a temper, beautiful, and popular. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

Harry is too deep and Ginny too shallow.

I don’t think H/Hr would work, as I said, siblings in my head, Luna… Haven’t read a story about them yet, I can see her with Neville more easily. If you are against slash I suppose your choices are limited, but I’m not so…

Really though, guys, JKR had to give Harry a romance acceptable by the teenagers, as I guess most H/G and Hr/R supporters are. After GoF, the books for me went downhill in regards of character development, though the plot and the Horcrux idea was amazing, not to mention the Deathly Hallows. The moment HP became the most popular book in the world, JKR had fans to please before creating the story as it was in her head. I for one believe she intended to kill Harry, thus the non-existent romance (I’m not counting Cho) and the sudden appearance of his everlasting love for Ginny. I guess it wouldn’t be a good idea to kill the hero of so many kids, so she had to follow a different course. My guess is she doesn’t even like the romance, but had no other choice.

Thankfully there’s fanfiction around!

#51 Holly on 09.08.09 at 2:45 am

I have to say that i agree with the author of this article entire, in fact I would say it doesn’t go far enough. I have wondered since OotP what happened to this story as less than half way into the book it was if a different author entirely took over the writing. Harry Potter started as a series for children and ended the series in a pair of books I would not let a child read.

The whole Harry/Ginny mess was…pitiful. Harry who has always hated attention and notoriety is suddenly paired with his greatest fangirl who according to the books used to play marrying Harry Potter as a child. In fact I kept flipping back and forth in the books trying to figure out where I missed the lead in to the ‘romance’ and wondering if there was a missing unpublished book or if a psychotic editor had done a hack job on the manuscript or the characters had suddenly developed schizophrenia as at times I really had trouble recognizing them as the the same characters from earlier books. I too as many have mentioned kept waiting for the Amortentia punchline and found the joke was on me.

So I wouldn’t call it ‘great literary romance’ I would in truth be hard pressed to call it even teenage hormones.

#52 khrystal on 09.15.09 at 2:27 am

Just want to share my shallow comments. I don’t feel any chemistry between Harry and Ginny. Compared to that pairing I’d rather go for a Malfoy-Hermione pairing. Now, that would be a great story. haha..

#53 That Guy on 09.22.09 at 2:23 am

“I had always planned that Harry’s true soul mate, which I stand by, is Ginny, and that Ron and Hermione have this combative but mutual attraction. They will always bicker, there will always be rough edges there, but they are pulled together, each has something the other needs.”

I stared at her, sensing she wasn’t finished, and a sense of foreboding crept in around the edges.

“[Kloves] felt a certain pull between them at that point. And I think he’s right. There are moments when [Harry and Hermione] touch, which are charged moments. One when she touches his hair as he sits on the hilltop reading about Dumbledore and Grindelwald, and [two] the moment when they walk out of the graveyard with their arms around each other.”

I was holding my breath at this point. She wasn’t done.

“Now the fact is that Hermione shares moments with Harry that Ron will never be able to participate in. He walked out. She shared something very intense with Harry.

“So I think it could have gone that way.”

Directly From J.K’s mouth. She preferred Ginny, but it easily could of been Hermione. One of the reasons she didn’t change it was because of how far the story was already planned for in advance. Also Hermione was based on her, Ron on her EX-husband, Harry on her current husband, and Ginny how she wished she was like back as a teenager. When looked at like that its hard to deny that Hermione and Harry had only a brother/sister connection. Even the director from blasted movies even thought that it was gonna be H/Hr.

#54 lissa on 09.24.09 at 9:05 am

i disagree with the article. maybe there is no conversation between harry and ginny till the 5th book,so what! ginny had always loved harry but she could never tell about it to him.harry could not realize his love for ginny because he did not spend enough time with her. but in the sixth book , harry spends time with ginny. he starts having feelings about her and feels jealous when he sees her with dean. i think harry/ginny is a great couple.
even ron and hermione is also a great couple. JKRowling had always given clues of their being 2gether. sorry for spelling and grammatical mistakes.

#55 LynnS/AAR on 10.19.09 at 3:18 pm

I totally agree. When I read the books and it became obvious these two were getting together, I kept thinking, “Where did SHE come from?” I liked Ron and Hermione, but Ginny seemed a bit bland and her character never really came to life for me.

#56 Keira on 10.19.09 at 3:36 pm

Ginny is very generic. She’s practically a Mary-Sue if you think about it. Pretty. Popular. Sporty. Smart. She’s too good at everything to be realistic.

#57 Bridget on 10.24.09 at 1:47 pm

I disagree the article.

Ginny was possesed by Voldemort in book two. She probaley didnt have that many friends that year like Harry shuns his in book 5. Ginny is strong and knows not to push Harry like Hermione. Hermione just nags and Luna always stares off in space. Ginny makes Harry laugh and forget about all of dark lord problems when they are around each other, he said this himself in book 6. While hermione always wants to plan it and Luna just says riddles about the furture.

What people dont understand is that the book doesnt say every interaction with every character. Harry and Ginny could of talked alot during the summer to book 6 so he starts a crush that turns into jealousy with dean. J.K. Rowling knows the characters better than everyone else and she said so herself that they are ’soul mates’ so I think we should just leave it to her to know what kind of people have the best romantic conncections.

#58 Linda on 10.30.09 at 2:07 am

What’s the point in getting into such a fuss over someone’s PERSONAL choices ? No wonder people say HP shippers are crazy.

#59 HPfan on 10.30.09 at 9:38 am

It’s ironic how Harry being with his “#1 fangirl” is the very thing that made him feel for once like he wasn’t the famous Harry Potter.

Harry told Ginny that their time together was like something out of someone elses life. Being with her made him feel like a normal wizard, who didn’t have the fate of the wizarding world resting on his shoulders.

(From DH Chapter 8:

Harry’s mind wandered a long way from the marquee, back to afternoons spent alone with Ginny in lonely parts of the school grounds. They seemed so long ago; they had always seemed too good to be true, as though he had been stealing shining hours from a normal person’s life, a person without a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead.)

After all that Harry had suffered, he deserved someone that could give him that life, free of Voldemort, free of the war.

Ginny grew out of her fangirl phase, just as Harry grew out of his phase with Cho.

Also, the whole “Amortentia” excuse is really getting old! I think you’re confusing Ginny with that Romilda Vane chick.

Mary Sue? The book is told from Harry’s POV and he thought Ginny was perfect! That’s why Ginny comes off looking like a Mary Sue, when she is anything but!

#60 Maria on 11.03.09 at 1:13 am

to be honest, I don’t care about Harry and Ginny much. my fave couple, and not only in HP, but in the whole literature is Ron and Hermione. they really match each other. yes, they love bickering. maybe that’s because each of them tried to hide feelings for another…
I didn’t see in the books any hints on H/Hr. and I’m sure that if they’re together, they would die from boredom. both Harry and Hermione need someone who will provide lightness to their lifes. and those people are Ginny and Ron.
not to mention that Harry likes pretty girls. and he obviously never saw Hermione as one of them.
and I hate that JK listen to that idiot Kloves…
sorry for my English

#61 Juanita on 11.04.09 at 11:59 pm

I could never really see Harry with Ginny aside from the “oddly furtive look” in HBP, but I disregarded because everyone was insanely out of character. The only constant for Harry throughout the entire series has been Hermione.
Book 1, she’s with him up until the potion scene.

Book 2, she’s petrfied, but solves almost everything before she goes.

Book 3, that was her book. The entire plot centralized on her.

Book 4, even with the interest of another guy, she’s still with Harry 100% even after Ron walks away.

Book 5, she and Harry in battle together was an incredible visual and the scene where he thought she was dead was pretty powerful. They were even paired up how I thought they would be romantically in the Department of Mysteries: Harry/Hermione, Ron/Luna, and Ginny/Neville.

Book 6, when she’s wrong, she’s not off by much. Even in an argument, she’s still there for Harry. Doesn’t anyone else find it weird that she knows the way to Harry’s heart?

Book 7, three words: Bonded for Life. Need I say more?

The Epilogue? Harry and Hermione didn’t even speak. Even Malfoy got a head nod, what the heck? In fact the only person she spoke towas Ron.

#62 Tracy Cooper-Posey on 11.05.09 at 12:32 pm

Wow, I came into this one late, didn’t I?

I admit I felt cheated by the love relationships in Potterworld…they never did seem to sit right with me. I was shocked as hell when I found out that Hermione didn’t end up with Harry. I thought perhaps there might be some sort of lover’s triangle thing go on for a while with Ron, but Harry would win the day. But Ginny??? Out of left field.

#63 Keira on 11.05.09 at 4:31 pm

@Tracy Cooper-Posey: Very left field! I think Harry and Ginny come off as a tell not a show in the writing. As in JKR went, “Dangit! I meant these two to get together from the beginning and they will because I say so!” as opposed to any actual text to show readers they were meant to be together.

@HPfan:

Harry told Ginny that their time together was like something out of someone elses life.

Exactly and that’s how it read to others. It wasn’t HP anymore it was some random bloke like Perry Rotter.

#64 Unic on 11.06.09 at 6:32 am

“But, Harry and Ginny ARE romantic! She loves him for the longest time and he saves her from the Chamber and then he started to notice her but they can’t be together yet and he goes off to kill the bad guy and then he comes back and marry her!” That’s what my 12-year old cousin told me in regard of H/G being romantic or not.

So, I guess Harry and Ginny ARE one of the Great Literary Romances, at least for a child, well it’s a child book to begin with anyway. But, if you analyze it with an adult point of view, yes, they seem to be something missing there…

And I think that’s why JKR jumps to 19 years later, Harry Potter is NOT a romance book.

#65 Rettop on 11.09.09 at 3:56 pm

I think there is more material that would make a Harry/McGonagall pairing than Harry/Ginny.

I think the only semi-pairing that was good was the one-sided love between Snape and Lily.

Harry/Luna or Hermoine would have made more sense. Both of them are rather knowledable about the wizarding world and they would know about books that were writen about him and his parents. The only diference between Luna and Hermoine is that Luna gently pushes Harry into the right direction whereas Hermoine forces him.

None of the pairings in the series made sense, The only married couple we saw were the Malfoys and the Weasleys. Neither of them was romantic in any way.

#66 jay wolfe on 11.13.09 at 4:36 am

Read my facebook on the matter of their relationship! I agree, Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley were never meant to be together.

#67 Lina on 11.15.09 at 7:47 pm

I’m amazed so many people just couldn’t see the Harry/Ginny coming. It just seemed so clear … anvil sized hints and all. But of course, if one things being nagged or laughing at, pitying someone and being embarassed by them has romantic potential, then maybe it’s not such a surprise.

#68 Lina on 11.15.09 at 7:48 pm

Also, Rettop – Does Ginny not have any knowledge of the Wizarding World ? You know, being a witch all her life and not just gaining the info from books ? WTF biased much ?

#69 Stephanie on 11.20.09 at 4:30 am

I realize this is kinda late but maybe someone will come across it and agree. Anyway I always felt like the H/G and H/R romances [which I don't support] were forcing them all into being a family since Harry has no one and Hermione had her parents sent to Australia (?) but is basically alone. This way they were all incorporated and would be forever tied together. But I also felt that was stupid after everything HHR went through. Does this make any sense? Anyway I wanted Harry/Hermione or Harry/Luna and Hermione/Anyone but Ron [Actually I like Hermione/Draco but that wouldn't fit into what's been presented in the books]

#70 heidenkind on 12.02.09 at 11:06 pm

Aw, I missed a great discussion. I agree with you for the most part–the idea of Harry and Ginny as a “romantic couple,” let alone of the greatest of all time, is hi-larious. I actually do like Harry and Ginny as a couple–at least now Harry gets to be part of the Weasely family–but I was very disappointed in the way it was handled in the books. You’re right, there’s like 3 lines of, “Oh, I spent the summer with Ginny and it was awesome!” and that about it.

As for Hermione and Harry, or Hermione and Ron, I always thought it was a bit odd Harry never even thought of her as more than a friend. It’s great that we’ve reached a place in male/female relationships where boys and girls can be friends and everything’s cool, but I (vaguely) remember being a teenager, and I just can’t see any of the kids not at least playing the scenario out in their minds, you know what I mean?

Harry and Hermione I can see as a couple. Hermione and Ron…? Yeah, it’s a bit odd. He’s not really at her level.

As for the REAL epic romance in HP–urm, the one between me and Snape that goes on in my head? ;P Oh, no, wait–Snape and Dumbledore! They were having an affair the entire time. It all makes sense now….

#71 Keira on 12.02.09 at 11:49 pm

LMAO!

Actually I think it must be Dumbledore and Grindelwald – their lurv was star-crossed, unrequited, caused Wizard World War 1, involved the most epic of epic trophy wands, a struggle between friendship and frienemies, forced one to imprison another in a tower for the rest of their freakishly long lives between two uncannily intelligent men with a knack for foolish wand waving.

#72 heidenkind on 12.03.09 at 12:27 am

That’s genius. Oh, the tortured love life of Albus Dumbledore, always pining for Grindelwald but knowing he can never have him….

#73 Keira on 12.03.09 at 9:45 am

Snape might be there somewhere in the middle too – poor Snape. Caught between Voldy and Dumbledore. Plus his unrequited love for Lily.

#74 Beth Kery on 12.03.09 at 10:17 pm

Oh, wow, brilliant post! Cheers to someone who thinks about these ’so’ important matters as much as me.

I will admit it, there have been times when I wondered why, oh why, Harry and Hermione couldn’t have been meant for each other?–why Harry smelled Ginny’s scent on the Amortentia fumes in book six, for instance, while Hermione smelled…what? ( I always wondered, because it clearly signaled Ron, because she blushed and stopped talking, recognizing the connection. Dirty socks? Owl droppings? Aunt Tessie’s armpits?)
In J.K.’s defense, these things are inexplicable, no only in romance, but real life. AND, Rowling wasn’t writing a romance.
I just had to add, at the risk of people throwing tomatoes at me for being Freudian: Harry never had a mother. Genny is red-haired like his mother. She’s feisty and full of vibrancy. She’s the ‘favorite’ of Slughorn, just like Lily was.
Er…yeah, I think J.K. knew she was making these parallels.
Thanks for the fun post!

#75 heidenkind on 12.05.09 at 12:38 am

Oh, I think Snape and Dumbledore are definitely man crushing on one another. Why else would Dumbledore put up with him?

#76 Clara on 12.20.09 at 6:27 pm

@#47 The whole passion before settling down thing doesn’t seem like as much to me. I’m probably biased but when I read The Song of the Lioness series the Heroine Alanna ended up with George because whenever she walked into a room that he was in she was home. George and Alanna had a quieter love but there was passion to it. George worried over her whereas Jon cheated on her. I also agree with the whole bit about Ginny being so popular. Ginny has very little she and Harry can share. Luna as someone pointed out has known Loss and Hermione has always been there for him and she doesn’t let him bottle everything up. She makes him let it out because it’s healthier. Ginny was raised on bedtime stories of him. They just don’t work to me.

#77 Nick on 01.01.10 at 6:21 pm

Ginny also shares Loss with him doesn’t she ? She also tells him to STFU when he needs it where Hermione doesn’t ( aka read OOTP). And she also shares a common sense of humour with him and passion for quidditch. Finally, she is the ONLY person who shares a possession by Voldermort. Very little that she and Harry can share ? Are you serious ? Did you even READ the books ? If Luna and Harry sharing “loss” can be enough for the basis of a relationship (say what ?) then surely Harry and Ginny have the most basis because they share the most than Harry does with Luna or Hermione !

Also, she was raised on bedtime stories of him ? Not in my copy of the book – that’s your own personal projection I think – it’s never stated anywhere in the book ya know ?

#78 Nick on 01.01.10 at 6:24 pm

Also I have to laugh at all the comments about Ginny being boring and undeveloped and then all this stuff about Luna being so great. Seriously ? That’s Luna – boring and undeveloped. Plus Harry kind of laughs at her and pities her – no way did JKR ever consider going there. Or else, woah, that’d be a major fail.

#79 Alice on 01.08.10 at 10:44 pm

I like Harry Potter as a mystery, adventure, fantasy story I complete ignore the undeveloped, unrealistic, shallow, and forcedly written romances in this book, every single one. I always wanted Harry to die. After reading the books over and over I have come to the conclusion that Harry Potter is such a shallow jerk. Hermione is a bossy old maid, Ron is for comic relief (sidekick) Ginny is fangirl.
To be on topic I really don’t think Harry and Ginny relationship should be on the same level as Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy – that is just offensive. So I guess I agree with everything said in this article.

#80 vir on 01.18.10 at 1:29 am

i agree that rowling did a shitty job writing the relationship, but i think they would have made a good couple otherwise… well to be honest, harry was too busy surviving and saving the world to have “true love” romances. it would be better if ginny was just portrayed as a distraction, as the hot piece of ass harry got to have with and enjoy for a while… and then went onto his mission. but no, she is supposed to be like his soulmate, and its sooooo terribly written!! =/

i’m a huge ron/hermione shipper though. they belong together.

#81 vir on 01.18.10 at 1:33 am

why are there so many harmony shippers?? it was obvious that ron would end up with mione since the first meeting. its the takahashi couple, one that never gets old if its well handled. i think ron/hermione was well handled, or at least decently. i dont see any h/hr hints at all o.O

#82 vir on 01.18.10 at 1:37 am

and ron isnt stupid. i think people are watching the movies too many times. ron is insecure about his abilities and feels like less when he isn’t, that’s why he acts stupid. he’s smarter than he acts. he and hermione balance out each other really well.
the romance in harry potter made sense to me. although yes harry ginny was not well written but when it comes out from the mouth of a bitter h/hr shipper i get annoyed.

#83 vir on 01.18.10 at 1:42 am

there were many conversations between ron and mione that harry missed too. its just told from harry’s pov and we don’t see them. ron and hermione belong together in jo’s world, and maybe hermione belongs with draco in fanfiction world XD. but h/hr is ridiculous!! what are people thinking?

#84 vir on 01.18.10 at 1:44 am

and ron and luna?? what? ron thinks she’s nuts. yes, he starts admiring her courage, uniqueness or whatever it is later like harry in book six, but that doesnt automatically mean romantic love. jeez…

#85 Keira on 01.18.10 at 1:59 am

takahashi couple???

#86 vir on 01.18.10 at 2:06 am

the bickering couple… rumiko takahashi is famous for all her bickering couples, thats why i called ron/herm a takahashi couple.

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