Čt 06 srpna 2020

(my comments on the thread “why does almost everyone hate the Harry/Hermione ship?” by patriot_man69420)

I don’t hate the ship, although I generally prefer Hinny, I could admit that Ginny is extremely poorly written by JKR, and fanfiction has to add a lot of her personality to make her viable (which fortunately Northumbrian and other great Hinny writers did). I can even agree that when we limit ourselves just to what’s in the books, Harmony is even more likely. I also fully support the notion that foundation of every long-lasting romantic relationship must be deep friendship (yes, my wife is also my best friend, and I am very glad for it). It is one of the greatest things I have against JKR that her romance is just about physical relationship. What all pairs in HP universe do? They snog, or perhaps when appropriate they ended up in the bed, not much else. The only romantic scene in whole heptalogy is the disastrous date between Harry and Cho at the Madam Pudifoot’s, and that is not exactly the best example of romance. There is even less collaboration between lovers on something else: ignoring Trace (which I see just as a hapless plot-crutch created in the last second) I don’t see any reason why Hermione and Ron could be with Harry on the Horcrux action, and Ginny couldn’t. Perhaps she couldn’t physically go with them (she was underage, so she couldn’t leave Hogwarts without consent of her parents), but she would be certainly in know and she could organize some action at Hogwarts in coordination with the Trio. All those lovely communication coins stopped work? Kreacher couldn’t transport messages? Etc. No, the true problem is that in the JKR mind romance is just about snogging (and that’s getting too close to discuss her personal life, so I stop it right here).

Having said that, my biggest problem with most Harmony stories is that they are just poorly written. Ron/Weasley/Dumbledore bashing is not just a cute feature of those stories, but a sign of insufficient plot and missing story. Strenuous effort to persuade us how Harry and Hermione fit together is just boring, because the only thing we ever learn about the development of their relationship is that there is none. They just so well work together, and they so love each other, and there is no conflict between them, and did I tell you how well they click together? Their chemistry is just awesome … [reader snores]. The only relational conflict in “Notebooks and Letters by chem prof” (which is IMHO one of the best Harmony stories, don’t let me be misunderstood) is when almost(?) naked Cho literally jumps him, and Harry doesn’t run away from her kiss fast enough (just a kiss, nothing more happens). Harry is then so much tormented by his guilt, that he almost breaks their engagement (until fortunately Hermione’s parents explain him he is stupid). Really, that’s it. And there is (comparing to most other Harmony stories) at least that relational conflict.

Let us compare it with some random Hinny stories. In Hunters and Prey by Northumbrian, Junior Auror Harry Potter arrests his beloved completely drunk Ginny when she shouts at him how she hates him while firing curses at him (it turns later she was under the influence of some potion given to her by Death Eaters). Harry is after couple of weeks he spent on the Auror mission in complete isolation when he was struggling with doubts whether their relationship will really grow as he would like, confronted with this. In Inner Demons by serendipity_50, Ginny struggles with PTSD to the level she makes him leave England (and subsequently attempts suicide, when she recognizes what she did). Harry then spends two years on the overseas mission (while the tabloid press lies about his sexual achievements with strange beauties of the Eastern Europe). When Harry finally returns to England, Ginny continues to struggle with her fear and flashbacks whenever she considers how dangerous profession Harry has. In Meaning of One, Part One: Stone and Fire by Sovran (it is a soul-bond story) eleven years old Harry and ten years Ginny get around their soul-bond conflicts with her parents (no, the story is not paedophile, I don’t think they get to having sex at all … the story has been abandoned after CoS) to the level they completely explode faces of both Molly Weasley and the Headmaster Dumbledore.

Would you agree with me that these examples look more realistic and more fun (as in interesting, not funny) than your average Harmony story? Did I forget to tell you how perfectly Hermione and Harry fit together?

{UPDATE 2021-03-23} What I have never expressed in this post, I have only later discovered: a character must not only move from A to B as I linked above, but it must struggle with his character development.

Category: literature Tagged: review harryPotter blogComment