5th book - angry, feisty Ginny rebuking Harry.

6th Book - Ginny perfection, the 'heart and soul' of zee team, the princess of the castle, the lady of the lord. Fuck it.

That's why I hate Ginny. JKR characterization is deplorable enough without adding this 1-D char to the mix.

 

Hmm... I've never really thought about it that way. Still, there are some differences, the major one being that Hermione is a useful, productive member of the trio while Pettigrew is characterized by Rowling as not praticularly talented or bright.

As for the Ginny issue, I was never a big fan of Ginny/Harry because it seemed too forced and trite. I felt that Rowling, from the very first book, established the Harry/Ginny Ron/Hermione relationships, which in my opinion doesn't give her much room to expand upon it. In a sense, her characterization of Ginny is fitting within the larger context of the series because she's becoming exactly what she was meant to be from the very first book: Harry's spouse. While I may not like Rowling's character development of Ginny (as very shallow, 1-D) we have to admit that aside from Harry, most of the characters around him are very static.

Thus, it is not so much Ginny that I dislike as it is the fact that Rowling pigeon-holed herself into that pairing from the very beginning and thus, felt that she didn't need justification for a relationship that the reader was supposed to have seen coming from the very first book.

 

Whatever you think of Ginny, she's definitely not a slut. A slut sleeps with multiple guys at the same time and can't maintain a monogomaus relationship. Ginny, as far as I can tell, was faithful to Michael, Dean, and Harry. Her relationships with Michael and Dean lasted nearly a year. That's not a slut.

As easy as it is to call her a slut, she seems to fall in the pattern of a popular girl who lots of guys like. To all the guys here: have you ever lusted after the popular girl? Have you ever seen her with her boyfriend who she broke up with and then started dating someone else? Did you automatically think: "wow, what a slut?" Most teenagers who have the option to date someone they like will take it. Ginny had two such opportunities in two years before Harry.

As for calling her Harry's Pettigrew- actually, afte CoS, I think Harry should have paid more attention to her after she had a traumatic experience rather than largely ignoring her.

As for suddenly noticing her- well, if JKR weren't writing for kids, she might have writen it how something like that happened for me and many other guys- he suiddenly notice Ginny in a certain way the way a guy notices a girl after she wears a tight shirt or plays Twister in class when the teacher gave him an off day(yes, that one happened to me. I never realized how much good track did for that girl until that day). Yes, I suddenly noticed girls pretty much like that The language seems to describe lust- maybe roaring crotch monster would be more accurate. Most teenage relationships start out like that- but a lot books, movies and TV shows gloss over the fact that if a guy likes a girl, he's beating off furiously to thoughts of her every night.

So I don't have a problem with Harry suddenly noticing her in HBP- he was finally over Cho, and he had a much less stressful year. But her suddenly deciding "I'm dating someone else so now I can be myself" was too sudden- maybe she should have started coming out of her shell sometime in GoF.

Actually, what I find unrealistic was that Harry was only focused on Cho to the point of not noticing other girls.

 

Just a little input, Ferrovax stated that Hermione was Harry's Pettigrew.

Back to the original concept of this thread, the idea that pieces of Voldemort's soul are drawn together is very probable. Why wouldn't parts of his soul be attracted to each other? Like said before, it would also give very good reason to the "monster in Harry's chest".

 

I have nothing against the H/G pairing. Hell, a few H/G stories are in my C2.

What I do have something against is over-the-top unrealistic relationships, overindulgent fluff, Harry being bossed around, Mary-sue characters, the idea of soul mates, the idea that people will marry the first person they go out with, the idea that teenage relationships are anything more than practice for real relationships in adulthood, people being stronger than Harry, and more prophesies being delivered after the one in OotP.

Unfortunatly for the H/G pairing, 99.9% of H/G fanfictions contain all these things in large quantities.

 

/coughMetaphorcough

 

I'm about to use the same old, tired arguments again. Go me! Aren't I grand?

As far as canon is concerned, it isn't a distaste for Ginny's character. She didn't, and still doesn't as of HBP, have one. She was a minor who suddenly shot up to the big leagues. The way the "romance" comes into play is is simply insulting.

There is also the fact that Ginny has no character, and yet was showcased more than Cho was. As far as, in fact, to become Cho Chang Volume 2. In an instant, she goes from worthless nobody little sister to Talk of the School.

Ok. Why? So she got a little more attractive. Big deal. She was friends with the school nutjob, which in my experience, can dissuade popularity by attractiveness.

We know more about Susan Bones and Hannah abbot than we do about Hermione, as another example. To the point that I have actively wondered why he hasn't told her to piss off and find more interesting and levelheaded friends.

Fanon is just a larger and more exaggerated showcase of the same failings of poor characterization and such. The authors don't have the talent of JK Rowling, thus unable to hide those failings as subtly as she has. That is to say, neither do it very well. Sirius was introduced in canon, give much more back story than Harry (which could be viewed as part of his back story) and Hermione, then killed. The same for Amelia Bones. Fanon makes little attempt to correct this in most cases, and thus fails to present a proper front.

Edit: Oh. And if the "monster in the chest" isnt a love potion, it is the worst metaphor I have ever heard.

 

This is Rowling we're talking about; of course it's the worst metaphor in the history of half-baked romance.

 

The idea of Hermione as Harry's Pettigrew seems like a stretch. Herman has shown a lot more spine than canon attributes to young Pettigrew. She's openly objected and stood up to Harry on several occasions, at times at the expense of making her a crappy friend. I always saw Pettigrew as motivated by fear and generally going with whatever popular opinion says. I see more potential in Ron for being the Pettigrew as I don't think we've ever seen him go against his 'friends' without popular opinion on his side.

And I think people are missing the point on the Ginny/Lily comparisons saying JKR was trying to make Harry/Ginny similar to James/Lily. When really, I'd bet it was Harry/Ginny that was planned first and Lily's character was curtailed to be more like Ginny. It's a chicken-egg argument but the inevitable Ginny romance has been planned from the beginning. It doesn't mean JKR can write it in a way that any of the fandom obsesssed dorks will like (FYI: if you're reading this, you're a fandom obsessed dork).

As for Ginny's character in canon? Well, for me she's every bit as likable and interesting a character as both Malfoys, Snape, Umbridge, and Romilda Vane. All characters whose existence as far as we've seen in the books revolves directly around ruining Harry Potter for reasons bordering on obsession. And all that make fun cannon fodder for fanon.

As for book 7? Well, I'm betting Ginny's not even going to get elevated to sidekick status. It's trio time. I think the majority of the eye-gouging attempts at romance are past us. And agonizing over your fear of the so-called 'power of love' is just going to depress you.

 

So your idea is that all the peaces of Voldemort's soul are "attracted" to each other...

My slash alert just went trough the ceiling. ~_~

 

QFT. I'm thinking that nonjon probably has the most likely theory, what with H/G being planned first and then Lily being made into a Ginny clone.

 

Horrid, horrid image of Red Ranger!Potter now. Thanks. >_>

 

If your slash alert is tingling, Krull, you've got it set too sensitively.

Taure's post I agree with, 95% of the H/G fics are tripe cliche ridden monstrosities.

Vash has a few good points, but blaming the character for the sins of the author is never a good way to go. One could also wonder why she was friends or friendly with the school nutjob - and likely decide that this is an example of character, however blatant it might be.

As for Harry the Horcrux....I think it's a point that should be seriously addressed in a fic that works on Horcrux hunting. Whether or not Harry is in fact a Horcrux is another matter - it's a fear that is very valid.

In the plot outline I posited, I did not intend for Harry to actually be a horcrux, simply stating that he bears a imprint - an echo, if you will, of Voldemort's mind, which generates the feedback effect between Harry and Voldemort. In many ways, the effects this would cause would be similar to a horcrux without making Harry a literal repository for Voldemort's soul.

Earl brings up some solid points on the field of Ginny's entrance to the romance contest - frankly, Harry strikes me as being a bit obtuse about the field of personal interactions, and, while his viewpoint as presented in the books is informative, does not give us an accurate representation of what is really going on.

Edit: Can we avoid the ad hominem attacks? My sexuality is not the issue here.
Attraction, as 'To cause to draw near or adhere by physical force,' not 'To arouse or compel the interest, admiration, or attention of.'

 

Err... then I think you're presupposing an awful lot of fanon because we have no idea how the other Marauders became friends with Pettigrew. We know the way they've described him post-betrayal, but for all we know it could simply be they all got detention together the first day. Or maybe in the first charms class he accidentally jinxed Potter's underwear, providing amusement to Black and Lupin while Potter could take a joke. Who knows?

 

The exact scenario could, and most likely was different, though I can certainly see Pettigrew joining their group after an incident like that.

However, 'friends of circumstance' as you put it, typically don't last particularly long...either the friendship falls apart, or it grows into something stronger.

You don't casually break the law - unregistered animagus = azkaban - with a friend of circumstance - you do that with someone who has stood by you through thick and thin for some time. A similar incident may have started the friendship, but more would be required before 'the marauders' would trust a hanger-on - particularly one that they would have died for.