class='quotetop'>QUOTE

class='quotemain'>Who Does Hermione Love?
An

original editorial by Turambar.


From JKRowling.com:

/>
"Does Hermione love Ron or Harry?
I can't believe

that some of you haven't worked this one out yet, but I'm not going

to answer because that would spoil the arguments, which I enjoy."



One of the latest MuggleNet polls, on whether Ron and

Hermione will get together in book six or not, makes for interesting

reading.

A huge number of respondents believe that if they

don't get together in book six, they will in book seven. This is despite

the fact that the Ron/Hermione relationship has failed to develop in a

romantic direction - not what a lot of people expected of OoTP, considering

Ron's interest in Hermione has been pronounced since the Yule Ball in

GoF. Both Harry and Ron woke up to the fact that Hermione is an attractive

girl and responded in different ways.

Notice JKR framed the

question on her website, quoted above, as who "does HERMIONE

love?"

The basic position of those who believe the

Ron/Hermione relationship will happen is based upon these ideals:


/>1) Hermione fancies/romantically loves/prefers Ron over Harry
2)

Harry and Hermione's relationship is only a deep, non-romantic, platonic

friendship.

I'm going to assume as a given in this essay

that a key sign of attraction - since we can't see inside Hermione's

head - is a strong interest in and focus on the person a character is

attracted to.

My contention is that the poll result is

misleading; people are picking what they want to happen rather than what

will happen. There are a number of factors people convinced of the certainty

of a Ron/Hermione romance should consider:

1) This is

Harry's story.
It's a simple fact but an important one

when you consider the romantic options in the books. This is Harry's

story; it is about his journey from child to man, from family lost to

(probably) family found. Harry looked in the Mirror of Erised and his heart

told him he was seeking his family. He can either find it by dying and

joining the family he has come from or (more likely) by finding love and

starting his own family.

Wat would be the point of the main

romance in the HP series NOT involving Harry? What is the point of Ron and

Hermione getting together? Surely Harry needs to experience love himself; he

can't experience it through his friends.

Should Harry be

paired with Ginny, the main romance of the series would STILL, in effect, be

Ron/Hermione. It would have to be because it would involve two members of

the trio - the key unit of the books. If you don't believe me, think

about how it would work on screen in the HP films. We would have spent at

least five or six films watching Hermione as the undoubted female lead, and

five or six films feeling emotionally attached to the trio characters. The

only film we know of where Ginny will have a role of any significance will

be OoTP, and even then she will be well and truly overshadowed by Hermione.

Now really - after all this time spent with the trio characters, would

people realistically care more for the pairing of Harry/Ginny than they

would for Ron/Hermione? They wouldn't, and that's important because

the obvious question arising from that is: why would JKR want a romance

involving her hero and main character overshadowed by a romance involving

his friends?

If we take the view that Harry's romance is the

main one and consider the romantic options for Harry that would make the

most structural sense in the series and have the most emotional impact, the

logical girl for Harry is Hermione.

Some people in fandom

believe Harry will not have another romance, which would allow a

Ron/Hermione romance to function as the main romance of the series without

competition. While this is possible, it is unlikely considering the emphasis

placed on love and Harry's heart in OotP and also JKR's statements

at her World Book Day chat 4/3/2004, which suggest strongly that Harry will

have a romance:


Q: Will Harry fall for another girl in

book six, or will he be too busy for romance?
JKR: He'll be busy,

but what's life without a little romance?
Q: Will Harry be

receiving a second kiss in his last two years at Hogwarts?
JKR: He

might well be receiving another kiss (or two) but I'm not saying who the

kisser's going to be...

The Harry 'lone wolf'

theory has similarities to Star Wars. Consider the contortions George Lucas

wrought to achieve 'lone wolf' status for Luke. In order to remove

the 'hero' Luke from romantic consideration, Lucas had to

symbolically neuter him by revealing him as Leia's brother. Simply

making Leia choose Han over Luke or Luke becoming interested in another

character was not enough. Luke was unable to have a romance of his own

because any romance would have been overshadowed by Han/Leia, because

that's where the buildup/actual romance was. Any romance needs apparent

buildup to be effective. JKR's delineation of hero (Harry) and sidekick

(Ron) is stronger than Lucas's where Han was as much of an action man as

Luke. Harry is most definately the leader and action man of the series.

/>
2) Series structure
This is a book series. JKR has to

believably show why Harry would prefer Ginny or Luna to Hermione, or why

Hermione would prefer Ron to Harry. A character's romantic partner

should believably be the most significant person to them. Considering that,

JKR has left herself with a hard sell if she plans to show Ginny or Luna

becoming closer to Harry and more significant to him than Hermione. At this

stage - the start of book six - Hermione is indisputably the most

significant female friend Harry has. JKR has already shown Viktor and Cho

being jealous of and threatened by Harry and Hermione's closeness.

/>
Having Hermione as the female lead for three quarters of the series

and then having her deposed as the most significant female in Harry's

life with one or two books to go poses the problem of how can there be two

female leads? At the moment, Ginny and Luna are clearly supporting

characters. The rise of a romantic partner would have to correspond to a

lessening of Hermione's influence on Harry and importance to him and the

plot. Otherwise, any romance for Harry would be as emotionally unaffecting

and contrived as Harry's romance with Cho: merely skin deep. That was

okay for Harry/Cho; Cho was obviously meant as a first crush. But a final,

series-ending romance for Harry should be more meaningful, especially since

love and Harry's heart appear to be central to the plot.


/>There's a structural problem here also: Ginny and Luna are - like Cho

- in a different school year from the trio. This means Harry will be

spending all his class and homework time with his two best mates as usual

unless there is a radical change from what's happened in the past five

books. This is hardly the recipe for Hermione's role to be reined in.



Finally, is it at all believable for Hermione's character to

sit back and allow another girl to get closer to Harry than she is and

perhaps influence him in ways that could put Harry in danger? No way.

Hermione is desperate to keep Harry safe and alive. She wouldn't trust

that role to anyone apart from herself. Think about it: she was even right

about Harry when Dumbledore was wrong.

3) Scenes that

don't make sense from the Ron/Hermione viewpoint

Bear in

mind that we are looking at the scenes from the point of view that Hermione

romantically loves Ron and only sees Harry as a friend.

a) Why

the hugely extended hug from Hermione to Harry at 12 Grimmauld Place?

/>So the boy has been in danger and threatened with expulsion. But at the

time they meet up, all three are aware he's okay and the only emotion

all three are experiencing is pleasure at seeing each other again. Hermione

isn't grabbing Harry out of great relief from fear for him. JKR is

emphasizing the joy Hermione feels at this meeting. Why? The hug nearly

knocks Harry flat, Hermione rambles uncontrollably and Ron has to intervene

to actually end the hug. Is it really just platonic feeling on

Hermione's part? I don't think so.

b) Why isn't

Hermione overjoyed at Ron being made prefect?
This scene is completely

illogical from the Ron/Hermione viewpoint. Think about it: Ron, supposedly

Hermione's crush, has gained an honor - a big event for someone usually

overshadowed by Harry. Yet Hermione rushes in expecting Harry to have

received the badge and shrieks with joy when she thinks Harry has been made

prefect.

There are two things here: Firstly, JKR directly

compares Hermione's shriek of joy over Harry with Mrs. Weasley's

reaction to Ron's getting the badge. "Mrs Weasley let out a shriek

just like Hermione's." JKR is showing the intensity of

Hermione's response with that comparison. We know Mrs. Weasley loves Ron

- he's her son. What does that imply about the strength of

Hermione's feelings for Harry? Secondly, in the moments after Hermione

bursts in, she is completely oblivious to Ron's feelings. Say Harry HAD

been made prefect, shouldn't she have spared a thought for Ron's

disappointment, seeing as he's her crush? Shouldn't she have felt

disappointed she wouldn't be getting to spend time with Ron as prefects

together?

Hermione is completely shocked that Ron could possibly

warrant being made prefect and then can't think of anything he's

done to justify it. She doesn't show ANY joy at Ron becoming prefect.

For two whole pages of text she and Harry stand silently looking on while

the Weasleys discuss it. This is not the behavior of a girl whose preferred

guy has just achieved something important to him. Something, furthermore,

that means she'll get to spend time alone with him.

c) Why

does Hermione suddenly appear to lose interest in Quidditch as soon as Harry

is off the team? And why is she so underwhelmed at Ron making the team?

/>She says, "it's only a game," and, "at least my

happiness doesn't depend on Ron's goalkeeping ability." This

from a girl who, with Ginny, was wearing "red and gold scarves, gloves

and rosettes" for Harry's last game; a girl who, in PS, was

watching Harry play so intently she didn't notice Ron was fighting

Malfoy under her chair. When Ron makes the Quidditch team, Hermione falls

asleep and only sticks around out of politeness. This is a big thing for Ron

- possibly the biggest thing, in a personal sense, to happen to him at

school. Compare that to the joy she feels for Harry when Rita's article

comes out. It was her idea and yet she gives Harry all the credit.


/>4) Other things to consider:

a) Hermione tries to get

Harry to spend time alone with her making elf hats.
b) Hermione gives

up a skiing holiday with her parents at Christmas in OoTP to come to

Harry's aid.
c) Hermione grabs hold of Harry for physical and

emotional support, including when the fat lady is slashed in PoA and in the

DoM... when Ron is THERE both times.
d) She goes with Harry to find

out what Hagrid wants instead of watching Ron play in the Quidditch final,

when Harry could easily have gone on his own. Neither of them even considers

that possibility.
e) Hermione is shown to have given thought to and

discussed Cho's problems and love life, Ginny's love life and

Harry's love life. She writes a long letter to Viktor. She is also

forthright in many of her opinions to Ron and Harry. The idea that she

somehow has romantic feelings for Ron and yet is too nervous and shy to

broach the subject with him, or is unaware if he is interested in her or not

and so doesn't broach the subject with him, simply doesn't equate

with the Hermione of OoTP. (Hermione is generally confident and shows

leadership in OoTP). She knows, on the other hand, that Harry has a crush on

Cho, and that he has to get over that before anything else can happen.

/>f) Hermione tries to behave as a good friend would to Harry over Cho, but

she is clearly bothered when she finds out Harry has kissed Cho.
- she

keeps very close tabs on their relationship
- she finds out the gossip

on Cho
- she keeps bringing the subject up with Harry to find out how

he's getting on and how he's feeling
- she asks Harry to meet

her on Valentine's Day even though Harry's having his first date

with Cho
- she only gives Harry advice after he's had trouble with

Cho

g) Nothing happened between Ron/Hermione while they were

spending time together over summer.
- they said nothing happened

/>- Ron said Hermione was "going spare" over Harry
- there

were no embarrassed looks when Harry turned up
- they didn't

discuss their relationship (if they had, why is Ron surprised when he finds

out later that Hermione is in touch with Viktor?)

5)

Harry's feelings
For the past three years Harry has had a

crush on Cho while, unanalyzed by himself, his friendship with Hermione has

been steadily developing. In OoTP, JKR not only resolves Harry's crush

on Cho (Cho's feelings are less certain), but for the first time she

starts to bring Harry's feelings for Hermione closer to the surface.

/>
a) For the first time, Harry feels extreme disquiet at Ron and

Hermione getting together without him over the summer and spending time

together without him.
b) For the first time, Harry starts to connect

the voice he hears in his head as his conscience with Hermione.
c)

Harry has a dream where Cho, his crush, turns into Hermione.
d) In the

forest scenes with Grawp, Hagrid and the centaurs, Harry shows a strong

instinct to physically protect Hermione. This did not happen during the

Shrieking Shack and time turner scenes in PoA. JKR is showing a clear

change, a clear progression in Harry's feelings. In the PoA scenes,

Harry allowed Hermione to grab hold of him for emotional and physical

support. Yet they were facing equally scary foes as in OoTP: the Whomping

Willow, the dementors, Lupin as a werewolf, Sirius as a big dog. Harry also

instinctively looks to protect Hermione when the group of six is escaping

the Death Eaters in the DoM.
e) There are examples of uncharacteristic

behavior by Harry towards Hermione that show her opinion has become more

important to him. He helps her with revision, he hides his bad marks from

her and he responds badly when she doesn't get angry on his behalf when

he thought she would. JKR shows another progression: in PoA, Harry lied to

Hermione about Hogsmeade without remorse. In GoF, he felt guilt about lying

to her over the egg but ignored it. In OoTP, when he lies to her over

Occlumency, he can't meet her eyes.
f) He spends a lot of time

staring at Hermione in OoTP. There are constant descriptions of what

she's doing. Noticeably, for the first time there are descriptions of

her "eyes shining" and "face glowing."
g) He

sticks up for Hermione to his crush, Cho - even after Cho has made it clear

she's suspicious and jealous of Harry's closeness to Hermione.

/>h) Ginny is given a literary makeover and Harry still doesn't show any

attraction to her. What's going to make him become interested if

she's 'Super Ginny' now and that's not enough? How and in

what ways is would she have to change?

6) Harry and Hermione

are developing together
JKR makes a special point of showing Harry

and Hermione developing together as leaders of the students and having an

influence in the wizarding world.

a) It is significant that

Hermione keeps pace with Harry in OoTP. Ron doesn't.
- Hermione

thinks up the DA group and Harry teaches the students
- Hermione

invents a system whereby Harry can tell students when the meetings are and a

jinx to protect them
- Hermione gets Harry's story to the public

via Rita
- Hermione starts saying Voldemort's name. Only

Dumbledore, Lupin, Harry and Hermione now do so.
- Harry and Hermione

get rid of Umbridge via the centaurs
b) JKR makes Hermione the one to

make a practical difference to how Harry feels during the year.
- he

gets great enjoyment out of teaching the students and it was her idea

/>- he gets his story, because of her efforts, across to the public and the

students and it changes what people think of him
- she's the main

person responsible for getting rid of Umbridge, who made Harry's life a

misery
- she's the one who gets him out of the room at Christmas

after Sirius, Ron, Ginny and the other Weasleys had proved ineffectual

/>c) JKR steps up Harry and Hermione's development together. They had

one major adventure together in PoA, and a significant period of time

together in GoF. In OoTP, they have two forest adventures together and fight

alongside each other in the DoM.

Now to answer JKR's

question, "who does Hermione love?" I say she loves both. But she

loves Ron only as a friend while she has intense romantic feelings for

Harry. That's the only conclusion I can draw from the HP series.

/>

class='quotetop'>QUOTE

class='quotemain'>taki długi i po angielsku??? no czys

ty oczalała kobieto!?!? 

class='quotetop'>QUOTE

class='quotemain'>proponuje jednak patrzec na ta sprawę

trzeźwo a nie z czyjejś perspektywy [i ty który nakłaniałes do czytania

eseju L/H to mówisz!!! Shame on

you!]

class='quotetop'>QUOTE

class='quotemain'>Harry będzie kontynuować związek z

Cho