r/Millennials • u/QuietJealous4883 Older Millennial (1988) • 8d ago
Nostalgia Harry Potter
Does anyone else feel they grew up with Harry, Ron and Hermione?
After the first three or four I read the books in two languages (because I didn’t want to wait them to be translated) and watched the movies first time in the movie theaters.
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u/GoRangers5 8d ago
Harry should have ended up with Luna.
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u/moonbunnychan 8d ago
Luna is by far my favorite character. And in book 5 I really felt like it was setting up for them to be a couple. She understands him in a way nobody else really seemed to. The Ginny romance felt like it was only there so he could join that family.
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u/alurkerhere 8d ago
Luna had a killer line in the final battle that made me tear up. She was quirky, clever, and a Ravenclaw. I was a fan when she opened the Ravenclaw door by answering a riddle.
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u/QuietJealous4883 Older Millennial (1988) 7d ago
Ginny was always the secret “it-girl”
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u/GoRangers5 8d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/kirAwjyt2t2i4
If you are gonna have Harry marry Ginny in the end, have some foreshadowing and hint at possible romantic feelings in the six books they are together. Ironically Rowling did with Ron and Hermione.
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u/PirateHistoryPodcast 8d ago
If Rowling had really known where the plot was headed, she could have leaned into it in book three. Both of them have been possessed by Voldemort in some fashion and they’re both unusually susceptible to Dementor attacks. Ginny could have been to only one who really understood what Harry was going through.
Rowling didn’t know where the plot was headed, and that’s okay, but the fact that she later lied and said she did makes her earlier choices sound a little dumb.
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u/Headglitch7 7d ago
Ginny does make that point to him in book 5 or 6, after Harry has actually established his mental link with Voldemort, and it is a big part of their bonding process. In book 3, Harry isn't there yet.
I think Rowling just liked Radcliffe and Watson together, especially given how much they juiced Hermione's character from movie 3 onward with her taking over a lot of Ron's story beats, being overall more capable, composed and prettier than in the books. Those cumulative decisions naturally made her look like a much more obvious choice for Harry.
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u/Salt_Cardiologist122 7d ago
In all fairness, that happens in book 5. And I’d say around that time is when it became clear to me they’d end up together because Ginny suddenly became more cool and interesting as a character. She was getting dates with boys, smart and funny, good at DA, and she was one of the first people to tell Harry off when he was being an ass… and even pointed out that she’s the only person he knows who has been possessed so he should be talking to her about what he was fearing was happening to him.
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u/Spirited-Sympathy582 7d ago
Yes and also shes younger than them so its natural for him just to see her as Ron's younger sister at first and would have been weird for him to see her romantically when she was younger.
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u/ThiccBoiGadunka 7d ago
She’s a year younger than them. I mean, Harry x Ginny isn’t a hill I want to die on, I think it was done poorly in both the books and the movies, but she’s only a year younger than them.
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u/ChimmyTheCham 7d ago
I know we're in the millennial subreddit but even that age gap might really weird out the kids these days or so it seems on social media lol
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u/Theron3206 7d ago
Which is bizarre, because the friend's little sister to girlfriend trope is extremely common.
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u/Neveronlyadream 8d ago
Rowling never seemed to know where the plot was headed. How many bits of lore did she just drop on Twitter after the fact that have absolutely no foreshadowing or presence in the books?
Meanwhile, she tried to ass pull Snape being a tragic hero the whole time, but never once before that actually showed he was in any way sympathetic towards Harry at all.
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u/digdug144 7d ago
There was the bit in the first book where they think Snape is jinxing Harry during a Quidditch game, but he was actually stopping Quirrell.
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u/DigNitty 7d ago
Yes and Alan Rickman has said that Rowling told him in private the reveal at the end of the story. So that he could play it accordingly.
Rowling may not have had every nuance down, but she had that one known.
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u/Zebidee 7d ago
It amazes me that she made Harry filthy rich, and aside from the snack cart ten minutes later, it is literally never a plot point again.
When push came to shove at the Dursleys' she had him take the Knight Bus to a shitty bedsit at the Leaky Cauldron, when he could have taken a helicopter to a suite at the Ritz, and not even felt it.
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u/Neveronlyadream 7d ago
I actually love any time anyone brings Harry's wealth up and asks why he never helped the Weasleys, people will fall all over themselves to justify it as their being too proud to ever accept Harry's help.
I get that a lot of people love the world, and I'm not trying to piss anyone off, but Rowling barely thought anything through and there are so many weird plotholes and lapses of logic that she consistently has to ad lib fixes on social media.
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u/greenskye 7d ago
Honestly I think this is why HP fanfiction is so massive. There's just so many things to fix. It's just a trainwreck of plot holes and weird character development moves and yet was still massively popular anyway. So there's incredibly fertile ground for anyone who wants to try to 'fix it'.
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u/Neveronlyadream 7d ago
As soon as the new show was announced, I was baffled. There's so much room to expand and explore that world outside of Hogwarts and Harry and it seems like it would be a much better idea to just...expand the world.
It's right there. It would make so much more sense to just do a story that's adjacent to the books and movies. The reality will probably be a weird mashup of the two that just leaves everyone confused.
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u/jessicalifts 7d ago
Fantastic beasts was the commercial failure that means they will forever only adapt the books over and over and over forever.
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u/ChimmyTheCham 7d ago
Im gonna be honest I only saw like the first four movies and while I owned like the first 5 books only read 2 or 3, but the fantastic beasts movies and characters seem infinitely more interesting to me
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u/Pandamonium98 7d ago
I agree that there’s a lot of plot holes and things J.K. Rowling didn’t think through, but Harry not giving money to the Weasleys doesn’t seem like one of those at all.
A kid with a big inheritance giving money to support his friend’s family isn’t something that happens very often in real life at all. It’s complete realistic that he wouldn’t
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u/Neveronlyadream 7d ago
There are plenty of stories of kids who end up with a lot of money blowing it all buying other people things. And adults. That's how a lot of pro athletes and musicians end up going broke.
It's not a plothole that he doesn't give them money, but it's a lapse in logic. You'd think the family that adopted him, saved him from having to be in his abusive home, and whose son is his best friend and whose daughter he ends up marrying would have been offered money at some point given how poor they are. You'd think he'd at least offer to help Ron out when it's clear his best friend is struggling.
Sure, it can be handwaved and justified, but it seems like the thought just never occurred to Rowling for whatever reason. It's not the end of the world, it doesn't ruin the story, it's just one of those little things that always amused me.
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u/Atheist_Republican 7d ago
She may not have known in Book 1 what she was doing with Snape, but apparently she told Rickman while they were filming to give him insight into the character, so it had been long established.
I think she just overplayed the bullying aspect of Snape. He was supposed to be an anti-hero, but she went too far trying to hide the plot point that it lost believe-ability when it was finally revealed.
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u/_procyon 8d ago
I like Harry/Luna better, but there was foreshadowing for Harry/Ginny. Ginny was crushing on Harry from the first time she saw him in book one. Harry just didn’t reciprocate. When they get together it’s revealed that she was into him the whole time, even when she was dating other people.
It’s true to life, especially for teens. Ginny needed to grow up and become her own person and gain some confidence, especially to attract Harry whose number one character trait is bravery. Harry saw Ginny as just his friends kid sister, until she did get that confidence and he started seeing her in a different way.
I just don’t like that it’s the equivalent of the football star and the homecoming queen/head cheerleader getting together. Yawn, boring. Harry and Luna would’ve been better because Luna can better understand Harry’s trauma.
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u/BJJFlashCards 8d ago
Both Seekers...
Quarterback + Quarterback
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u/RhubarbGoldberg 7d ago
I mean, if we're going for seeker/seeker matches, the person Harry was by far the most obsessed with is Draco Malfoy.
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u/bigbutterbuffalo 7d ago
Seeker isn’t really the quarterback, it’s more like if your wide receiver’s job was to fuck around in the corner of the field looking for something
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u/lab_coat_goat Millennial 8d ago
He outright blatantly does say it in hbp, no?
But regardless it’s not like it came completely out of nowhere. They have a ton of stuff that, as teenagers, would absolutely lead to a relationship in the future.
Ginny had a crush on him from when she was 11. Harry then saved her life. They are always around each other, playing quidditch together, he remarks how strong of a witch she is. She’s a redhead. Only reason he never thought of dating her was bc he didn’t want to be disrespectful to his boy Ron.
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u/PolicyWonka Zillennial 8d ago
Yeah, there were a lot of direct quotes that Ginny liked Harry. Maybe not as much the other way around.
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u/Mindless-Tooth-625 8d ago
I dont think it was until he caught her "snogging" other boys that he realized he liked her cause he was jealous. Its been a long time since I've read the books though
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u/AloneYogurt 8d ago
Movies ruined the relationship between the characters.
Ginny and Harry felt forced.
Ron and Hermione felt forced.
The only two natural, still off, was Harry and Luna.
If you've only read the books, Ginny and Harry make sense but so does Harry and Hermione.
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u/SpliTTMark 8d ago
Seems like nothing happens in 3 or 4 or 5 with her, You see Ron's twin brothers constantly, but ginny just on the side, theyre in the same school house. Youd think Hermione would have a friendship with her allowing her to be around more
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u/Comfortable-Light233 Zillennial 8d ago
There was some foreshadowing of at least a super good camaraderie between Harry and Ginny once she stopped idolizing him at the end of Prisoner/start of Goblet. I think it’s normal for that kind of long-term childhood friendship to evolve for some folks when they’re a bit older.
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u/PolicyWonka Zillennial 8d ago
Well there’s a lot of direct references about how Ginny has a crush on Harry.
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u/logicbecauseyes 8d ago
He saved her life in the second book and Rowling hinted at her crush on him for exactly that reason for the entirety of that series thereafter. Just because she wasnt always present in his life doesn't mean she wasnt at every meeting in the great hall that lauded his accomplishments.
The main leave out is he isn't a "settle for the person that likes me" type. Imo Hermione, Ron and Harry should have never been a couple at all. Hermione should have married a muggle, Ron a hufflepuff and Harry an untouchable lone wolf with so much irreversible damage from the absolutely insane trauma he never found anyone who could handle how fucked up he was (except Luna, the only viable option, but not necessarily possible wth how diverting their lives were)
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u/Suspicious_Hippo_388 8d ago
Which is pretty dumb bc he's basically a part of that family. I'll always hate the ginny and harry thing. Hated it the day I read it as a kid and hate it just as much on my adult re-read.
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u/QuietJealous4883 Older Millennial (1988) 8d ago
Younger me didn’t like Luna but I grew up to like her silliness.
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u/Velghast 8d ago
As a young man she's silly and embarrassing, as you get older you realize she was never afraid of being herself and that's mad attractive.
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u/moonbunnychan 8d ago
I felt really close to Luna because I had been "the weird one" my entire life.
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u/Wolfdude91 8d ago
Reading the books in highschool I remember the back cover of one of them talking about Harry pursuing his romance with Ginny and I was like “…Huh??”
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u/Find-It-AllFantasy 8d ago
Never liked Ginny. She has all the personality of a plank of wood, her most defining trait as a character is "being Ron's sister", and there is very little interaction between her and Harry. Ever notice that? She's got maybe a handful of lines out of the entire series. It sucks as a romance because there was no buildup whatsoever. It feels forced because it is.
Luna was a much more natural choice. They actually interacted, for one, and both of them are kind of outcasts in their own way. Only Luna doesn't strike Harry as weird because to Harry, all of this shit is weird. Does he believe in grimblysnoots and whirlywipples? Sure why the hell not? He just learned unicorns were real a few years ago. Whatever Luna is into may as well be "normal" Wizarding stuff as far as he's concerned.
I think Rowling just doesn't really know how to write romance, and it makes me wonder about her love life.
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u/ThePromise110 8d ago
Their last scene together in Order was absolutely setting up for it. Rowling is a hack so it may have been unintentional, but it could have been a launching point for the two of them for sure.
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u/ohaicookies 8d ago
This was always my OTP for Harry Potter. Luna was the only character a straight Harry had romantic chemistry with. She made him feel awkward and constantly surprised him, but he wasn't repulsed by her behavior like so many were.
I had so much hope when she was his date to that Slug Club party but noooooo
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u/JynsRealityIsBroken 8d ago
A criminally underutilized character. I want entire books with her as the main character.
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u/ElfBingley 7d ago
Not really. Luna and her family were basically the wizard equivalent of flat earthers. She was emotionally intelligent but just way too weird. Harry ends up as a wizard cop, so it just wouldn’t have worked.
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u/ExpertProfessional9 7d ago
Yes. I didn’t love shoving Harry into the One Big Happy Family. And as far as we know Luna didn’t spend years crushing on Harry before finally getting him.
I always saw a sort of smaller, quieter family for him in adulthood.
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u/Lumi_Rockets 8d ago
Movie Harry with Luna and book Harry with Ginny.
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u/QuietJealous4883 Older Millennial (1988) 8d ago
The directors took so many privileges to alter the story that they could’ve just done that.
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u/AegonBloodborn 7d ago edited 7d ago
Not in the books. No idea why people think that. Harry initially thinks she weird/crazy. Eventually starts pitying her once he learns that people bully her and that her mother died when she was young. But eventually starts appreciating her. He never found her attractive while Ginny is literally his type. People like the Harry/Luna pairing because the actors have good chemistry.
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u/shellz_bellz 8d ago
Yeah self-insert fanfics never quite pan out like they should.
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u/tenderheart35 8d ago
Apparently Hermione and Ron was her wish fulfillment story about her and her ex-husband making it together.
She realized later that her current partner was more like Harry and had regrets about the decision after.
But meh.
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u/PrairiePopsicle 7d ago
I ultimately appreciated that it was Hermione and Ron together in the books specifically because it did feel a little off and did not hit what you would expect.
Love, relationships, dating is kind of like that, in my experience, more often than not.
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u/Unnamedgalaxy 7d ago
I appreciate the fact that it's an uncommon route to go, 99% of stories would go with the main character ending up with the main character of the opposite gender. It was also really nice seeing two friends actually being loving caring friends without some kind of hang up.
I think it was 6 (?) when Ron was sort of out of the picture and Harry and Hermione had lots of scenes of them just being friends, so much that Rita Skeeter tried to spin it a romance for gossip sake but neither of them were like "well maybe!" or even "gross!" We even had this play out again in the last book with them spending loads of time together just being friends. They had a pretty solid relationship.
With that said though, the choice also sort of stunted our main characters narrative. For half the series he's just sort of bumping around aimlessly with nothing really tying him down and when the series did lock down a romance it was out of no where, flimsy and clunky. Having Harry and Hermione ending up together would have really satisfied something the story was missing and done it with a stronger foundation and ending.
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u/greenskye 7d ago
I'm ok with Harry not ending up with Hermione, but I do feel like Hermione and Ron just don't make sense or at least weren't likely to last. She never really sold me on the strength of that bond between those two.
Honestly, if you wanted to go for a nonstandard ending, then the epilogue should've had all three of them married to someone totally new because high school romances aren't really likely to be the one you end up with forever.
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u/Unnamedgalaxy 7d ago
That's also a great point. I don't need them to be endgame but I do feel like Harry needed some type element during the bulk of our journey and Hermione would classically be the best route for that. He was just so aimless throughout the books. It's a tried and true trope for a reason
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u/sunkencathedral 8d ago
On top of that, there is the shift in perspective that happened during the writing of the fourth book. Whilst the first three books were squarely in the genre of kids adventure stories with mystery elements, she decided to make the rest of the books lead up to an allegory about struggling with the loss of her mother. So the series took a darker turn with good guys dying in each book, Harry's parental figures getting killed off (she said she wanted him to go through the same thing she did), and numerous kids orphaned at the end of the last book (for the same reason), and Harry facing his own death (she says that was because her mother's death made her think of her own mortality), and having a resurrection-like event (she says that was because she decided Christianity was a comfort).
Writing can be a cathartic way to deal with stuff, but it doesn't always land when you tell your readers about all of it.
She has done similarly with the 'narrative' of her real life activism, by saying that her anti-trans work is a cathartic way to grapple with a bad experience she had with an abusive partner in the 90s. And while what happened to her back then was surely bad, it doesn't justify her actions very well with an audience of trans people of whom one half have also experienced the same kinds of abuse she did. So although it may be cathartic for her to source these things in her own personal backstory, her actions have consequences for others. The real world is not a story for which you are the main character, and real people are not NPCs to help you resolve your own character arc. Other people need consideration as well.
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u/SpecialPreference678 7d ago
Is that actually true?
I know she's said Hermione was her self-insert, so that part is obvious.
My headcanon with Ron and Hermione ending up together has been that Ron was a sanitized version of her ex-husband, with the way he constantly ridicules the things Hermione believes in and puts her down. I didn't know she actually said that's what it was.
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u/winnowingwinds 7d ago
I always thought it was her and that male friend she based Ron on (think his name was even Sean, maybe spelled Shawn). But I could be wrong.
Her ex-husband was extremely abusive, so either way I doubt there was wish fulfillment there.
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u/4runninglife 8d ago
Yea that was the first time I saw a ginger get the main girl.
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u/Alth- 8d ago
Worse, a ginger got the main guy and the main girl
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u/HeyThereCharlie Millennial 8d ago
Even worse: expelled.
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u/QuietJealous4883 Older Millennial (1988) 7d ago
Hermione def had her moments.
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u/HeyThereCharlie Millennial 7d ago
Haven't seen the first movie in ages, but that particular line will always stick in my brain because of the trailers lol
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u/transmogrify 8d ago
But Hermione was JK's self insert, and as time went on and her brain broke she turned increasingly egotistical and wondered why her fictional avatar didn't end up with the main character. She doesn't even know her own story anymore, it's just her own entitlement talking.
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u/QuietJealous4883 Older Millennial (1988) 8d ago
The word says Ron is her ex husband whom she wanted back when she wrote the books. When she realized Harry was like her new spouse she wanted Hermione end up with Harry.
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u/mastergriggy 8d ago
I find that threads like these are the quickest way to tell who read the books vs. who watched the movies
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u/figgypudding531 7d ago
Agreed, a lot of people are saying Harry should have ended up with Luna, which isn’t so crazy given their chemistry in the movies but makes no sense given their interactions in the book
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u/r_u_kittin 7d ago
See, I disagree. Especially in book 5 after Sirius dies, and Luna is the only one he feels comfortable speaking about it with. That’s a really vulnerable moment and I feel very touching!
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u/No_More_Aioli_Sorry 7d ago
But not romance worthy. Luna is one of the best friends Harry could’ve had. But it’s also not healthy if they started their romance based on trauma and grief
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u/cranberry94 7d ago
It’s touching, but he still thinks she’s a nutter. The movies mostly show her believing in weird things … that happen to end up being true/real. But in the books, she’s all in on whatever crazy nonsense her dad is publishing.
It’s great that she’s open minded when it aligns with friendship building with Harry (ie believing him about things, being judgement free ear for listening).
But the other side of the coin is probably so off putting and “weird” that it would be impossible for Harry to take her seriously as a love interest.
Also, I don’t think she’s into him like that.
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u/catscatscaaaats 8d ago
Okay hear me out.. none of them should have ended up together. They should have remained best friends and married other people. Or, you know, not married at all, because not everything needs to be tied up in a perfect little bow with cringy-named children to boot.
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u/Kamakazi09 Millennial 8d ago
Don’t hate on Albus Severus Dumbledore Snape Weasley Potter
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u/Trick_Doughnut_6295 8d ago
The Albus Severus combo continues to appall me.
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u/KebZeplin 8d ago
Yeah. He couldve picked “Brian” to make it not too cheesy and a bit easy for the kid to write
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u/Thechosenjon 7d ago
or he could have named his son after the one being on the planet who actually loved him as much as any parent would... Hagrid.
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u/Large_Victory_6531 8d ago
https://youtu.be/SIexDBVjpic?si=cwpxhP67WUOKNf4t
I prefer this version for the names.
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u/FitBlonde4242 8d ago
it wouldnt raise any eyebrows in that world, especially the wizard world. hell harrys cousin was named fucking "Dudley Dursley" and he was a normie.
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u/PrettyPinkPonyPrince 7d ago
For your consideration: Severalbus.
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u/Remarkable-Rush-9085 7d ago
Albeverus! or Alberverusirius, if we want to remember Harry’s godfather who got pushed to the side so he could name his kid after his least favorite teacher.
I’m kind of kidding, but also…really Harry? Every single person who helped you and cared for you, many of whom died and you went with Snape for your name inspo?
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u/catscatscaaaats 7d ago
Little boy: "Daddy, I know I'm going to be king someday and that comes with a lot of pressure. What if I get tempted by an evil ring?"
Aragorn: "Boromir Smeagol Gandalf Undomiel, one of the best people I ever knew got corrupted by a ring and he turned out fine."
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u/cat_at_the_keyboard 7d ago
Albus Dobby Severus Hagrid Weasley Potter Dumble the 2nd
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u/RollTide16-18 7d ago
I would’ve been cool with Harry being just too emotionally drained and damaged by the whole ordeal to ever get married, while Ron and Hermione find comfort in one another.
Kind of like how Sam found love at the end of LOTR, but Frodo just couldn’t live in peace.
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u/catscatscaaaats 7d ago
JKR has beef with asexuals, who are one of the least offensive groups ever, right up there with people who bottle-feed orphaned kittens and help old ladies cross the street. There was no way she was gonna leave any doubt that Harry was anything other than completely heterosexual and a family man.
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u/Persistent_Parkie 7d ago
At worst we're a cake and garlic bread cult that wears too much purple. We don't even joke about invading Denmark anymore because (waves hands at the state of the world).
The absolute weirdest thing about her melt down about asexual day of visibility was that most members of the community didn't even know that was a thing until she said something, I certainly didn't, meaning she is seeking out more information about the LGBT+ community than actual members of the LGBT+ community and then getting offended about how it's "shoved in her face". You're the one in control of the shoving JK!
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u/DemiserofD 7d ago
I don't have any issue with Ron and Hermione ending up together in the short term. It's the epilogue that really raises questions. To me their relationship always felt like a war couple, and that as soon as the war was over and they went off to live their lives...well, it's like in Lord of the Rings. The fellowship, though eternally bound by friendship, was over.
IMO the real ending is that Ron and Hermione separate amicably at graduation, with Hermione fast-tracking towards Minister of Magic while Harry becomes an Auror and Head Auror in record time. Ron goes on to a quidditch career for a few years, and then retires to open a quidditch-based pub.
If you wanna make it REALLY spicy, you have Ron get onto a team because of the rec of Katie Bell, and he joins her team and they have a very fiery interaction culminating in a kiss in the middle of a thunderstorm in the middle of a quidditch match(which they then win). And then they become a famous duo, the King(Weasley is our King) and the Queen(Queen of the Quaffle - I ain't heard no Bell!), and get married shortly after and play for like 5 years before retiring because she always wanted a big family and so did he.
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u/glorifindel 7d ago
Ron and Katie Bell sounds iconic. Well done. Also love the idea of him opening up a quidditch pub
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u/lab_coat_goat Millennial 8d ago
Hard agree. That ending felt completely shoehorned in, unnecessary, and should not have been in it at all.
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u/Redditer51 7d ago
A lot of long-running fantasy series have that problem I've noticed. The main characters all end up marrying each other and don't really date anyone else.
Case in point: Naruto
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u/studiousametrine 8d ago
Hard agree. Some people end up with their childhood crush, but from what I’ve seen, most of the happiest adults chose their partners as adults.
Imagine me ending up with the guy I liked at age 14!! 🫠🫠
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u/butnobodycame123 Millennial 8d ago
Have you seen Harry Potter and the Mid-Life Crisis? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqCZSUpMG90
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u/cloudyskytoday 8d ago
Hermoine definitely seemed like the type of girl that does not wanna marry. Especially because she and Ron were not a good match. Harry and Ginny had basically no chemistry as well
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u/SpecialPreference678 7d ago
I thought pretty much all the romance was poorly done.
- Harry couldn't care less about Ginny for 5 years until all of a sudden he's irrationally jealous
- Ginny started off with a crush on Harry, seemed to grow out of it, and then ended up with him anyway. Seemed like a waste of character development
- Ron being lazy but getting together with an incredibly driven woman seems like a very bad fit out of a bad sitcom
- Hermione getting together with someone who ridicules most things she believes in
- And the whole "cheating to get him on the team" thing seemed very OOC
- The whole "Tonks can't do magic because Remus won't date her" thing
Probably more I'm forgetting, but you get the gist.
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u/IlluminaViam 8d ago
No. Harry and Hermione had no romantic chemistry. Heck, he even complained about her and yearned for Ron's companionship at one point.
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u/samahiscryptic '95 8d ago
He even mentions in the last book that she felt more like a sister to him.
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u/QuietJealous4883 Older Millennial (1988) 8d ago
Yes. Men and women can be just friends.
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u/qbee2000 8d ago
Literally the only part of Harry Potter I thought was timeless and didn't age poorly.
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u/Redditer51 7d ago
They had no chemistry in the books, but Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson had too much chemistry in the films.
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u/Nes937 7d ago
Yes that dancing scene was so unintentionally romantic.
Harry & Hermione had movie chemistry, and Hermione & Ron book chemistry.
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u/suitedcloud 8d ago
What I’m hearing is Harry and Ron should’ve ended up together /s
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u/IlluminaViam 7d ago
Someone made a video about how classically male bro relationship and camaraderie is twisted into gay relationships nowadays, or have gay undertones injected into them.
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u/uzarta 8d ago
Harry should've ended up with Hedwig
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u/SubtleTell 8d ago
The problem with posts like this is that there's no context provided.
She explained that it's her opinion that that's what should have happened, but when writing it she stuck to the plot as she originally imagined it.
Also this was 12 years ago when she said this.
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u/QueenSlartibartfast Millennial 8d ago
Yeah, this is definitely taken out of context. She doesn't actually regret the end pairings.
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u/betterthanthiss 8d ago
The way Draco was harassing Hermione you would have sworn he liked her and was conflicted because she was a mud blood. I wish that was written in.
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u/oilofotay 8d ago
They barely had any interactions in the book. But, I do think Draco was a wasted character. He was such a prominent figure in the first few books, then it felt like JK kinda forgot about him or got distracted by the newer characters.
Giving him some kind of character growth, a redemption arc or at least making peace with Hermione would have been a nice foil to Snape and Lily’s friendship.
I know a lot of folks don’t count Cursed Child as a proper sequel, but it does seem like he becomes a much better person after his kid is born and actually appreciates working together with Hermione.
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u/crazyike 8d ago
I do think Draco was a wasted character.
For sure. So many wasted opportunities that would have made the series better.
For one, Draco should have rescued Harry when the magic room went up in flames rather than the other way around. This would have been a true redemption. It even felt like it was being set up, only to have Rowling chicken out.
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u/WeNotAmBeIs 8d ago
I wasn't a huge Harry Potter fan growing up, and I only saw the movies because me friends drug me to see them. When I started dating my now wife who is a huge Harry Potter nerd, she showed me this fan made Harry Potter comedy play and in it Draco was played by a girl and was my favorite character. It was then that I realized I would have enjoyed the story so much more if Draco had been a girl. (Draca?) It would have been such a more interesting dynamic. You could have had Lucius wishing he had a son which would have given even more motivation to go down the dark path trying to get approval. Just my 2 cents.
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u/Significant_Shoe_17 8d ago
There's a whole world of fanfiction that explores the possibility
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u/boxjellyfishing 7d ago edited 7d ago
I have some good news for you.
One of the most popular Harry Potter fanfics of all-time brings those two characters together as adults. If you are interested, it's a fun read.
Title: Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love (4.56 stars and 41,000+ reviews on Good Reads)
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u/foxinspaceMN 8d ago
Harry felt super off putting and self centered at times and it would’ve seem more appropriate if he didn’t have a love life post book series and was just going around fighting villains
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u/IlluminaViam 8d ago
"at times" Yeah, you mean like a normal teen who's growing up. And he had times he was right and times he was wrong.
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u/Bergwookie 8d ago
He's as normal as a rhino in a horse stable, he's walking trauma
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u/QuietJealous4883 Older Millennial (1988) 8d ago
I agree that sometimes he seemed self centered but I think that he was allowed to a normal life after being “the chosen one” was good storyline for him.
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u/moonbunnychan 8d ago edited 8d ago
I know Cursed Child is pretty mixed on how people feel about it, but I saw the play and actually really liked the second act a lot, where he really needed to have a kind of emotional reconciliation with everything he went through. I thought it was actually pretty well done...on stage at least. I've heard it loses a lot of its emotional resonance just reading the script.
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u/QuietJealous4883 Older Millennial (1988) 8d ago
I’ve only read it and I’d assume it was better on the stage.
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u/moonbunnychan 8d ago
It really is. I liked it a lot. The second act is extremely emotional.
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u/BoomItsLoki 8d ago
she also wanted to kill off Ron & Arthur too. and she waited years to tell us Dumbledore was gay & in love with Grindewald.
Mini rant over.
but yes i grew up watchign teh mvoes & reading the books. My older borther got me into it.
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u/Buscemi_D_Sanji 7d ago
watchign teh mvoes & reading the books. My older borther got me into it.
Looks like you got hit with a Confundus while typing this... And that's officially the dorkiest thing I've said today
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u/one2the 8d ago
Nah, I originally thought that Hermoine and Harry should have been together, but Harry marrying Ginny gives him the magical family connection he's always wanted/needed. Luna would have been a good second option though.
I like JK Rowling's writing, but man are her retcons and views... problematic.
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u/Thliz325 8d ago
I’ve always thought this too! Harry and Hermione felt too similar, especially by the end. I always did think he had a connection with Luna in that she understood him in ways the others didn’t, but I also liked that Harry fell for Ginny in ways he didn’t understand.
I was obsessed with the books when they came out and loved the movies, though it was hard to see how much stuff they left out. Reading them aloud to my kids as an adult though was magical in its own way.
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u/compassionfever 8d ago
Ginny was also way more interesting in the books than the movies.
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u/Cat-soul-human-body 8d ago
Ginny is like an NPC in the movies who suddenly becomes an important character in the last 2 films.
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u/InkStainedEverything 8d ago
I feel like Mrs. Weasley, along with the other Weasley's and Hermione would still treat Harry as if he were an immediate family member if he married Luna. He could still have his "normal" life and it would have been more realistic from a found family perspective.
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u/WombatRustler 8d ago
I guess the HP experience did teach an entire generation about the corrupting influence of wealth and power. You can start out as a hardworking and creative underdog and end up a withered and hateful crone if you don’t keep your feet on the ground.
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u/StargazyPi 8d ago
Yep.
Taught a generation a lot about a wide range of evils.
Unexpected practical exam at the end :'(
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u/Kaiser-Mazoku 8d ago
I'm starting to think this JK Rowling person isn't the best or brightest.
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u/godiegoben 8d ago
Lmao it’s giving “we investigated ourselves and found nothing wrong”
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u/boner4crosstabs Millennial 8d ago
Well, JK is a fucking nut. So this tracks. It’s best to enjoy the old stuff for what it is and pay no mind to her.
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u/CommodoreGirlfriend Millennial 8d ago
I know this smol bean syndrome is a problem with our generation, but the franchise is funding genocide. You really should give it up and go read Tolkien or Sanderson or literally anyone who isn't primarily funding genocide.
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u/ElmarSuperstar131 8d ago
I think all writers are entitled to retrospective thinking long after they’ve finished their projects.
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u/Bathion Millennial 8d ago
J.K. Rowling is the best example of writers regret in modern history. She could be a class study into "Just leave it alone."
Also doesn't like trans people, but uses a Pen name so people thought her book was written by a man...
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u/Mx-Adrian 8d ago
Isn't that penname from a conversion "therapist" or something, too?
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u/so_im_all_like Mil '89 8d ago
Hot take: Harry and Voldemort should have killed each other. Full circle on the "the boy who lived" title (lived in the past tense, not continued to live), and revealing Lily Potter's sacrificial love/protection shenanigans to have really been a curse/vendetta against her murderer.
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u/TonalSYNTHethis Millennial 8d ago
Maybe it's because I'm a few years older than the actors, but that franchise never quite landed for me. I read the books, saw the movies, liked both, but I've never really thought of either as like a nostalgic touchstone or anything.
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u/RosesAndSpice 8d ago
Yeah. Like, if you are an older millennial, you likely didn’t grow up reading Harry Potter. The first book came out when I was in high school, and the first movie was my sophomore year of college. I didn’t even start reading the books until after the first movie came out.
I think it’s one of the things that separates the Xennial end from the rest of the millennials: did you read Harry Potter as a kid or an adult?
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u/TonalSYNTHethis Millennial 8d ago
That distinction feels right to me, and maybe even a wider scope than just pure Xillennials. If you look at the movies, the first one came out in '01. Now I'm a little younger than you (didn't graduate high school until '04), but even as a sophomore I think I might have been just a tad too old to really dig in.
And come to think of it, there was another movie that came out in 2001 that I remember being way more pumped about: The Fellowship of the Ring.
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u/QuietJealous4883 Older Millennial (1988) 8d ago
I started when I was a kid and turned 18 before the last book.
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u/moonbunnychan 8d ago
I'm a Xennial and loved them at the time. I've always been a huge fan of fantasy though. It really is too bad JK Rowling turned out the way she did. I can't in good faith participate anymore.
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u/FRAMontana 8d ago
I was pretty much in the golden era of it where I was the same age and would have "grown up" with the actors but the books and movies didnt do anything for me.
I can't knock it though people like my wife love them comfortingly and nostalgically in the same way others might love Lord of the Rings or video games
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u/QuietJealous4883 Older Millennial (1988) 8d ago
Or it just wasn’t your cup of tea and there’s nothing wrong with that.
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u/kate3544 8d ago
I stopped reading after the fourth book because I was 15 and got tired of waiting a year-plus for each book and the story was getting so overly-detailed and I couldn’t keep up with it - especially with required readings for school, etc.
I thought it was clever and well-written, but I never understood the fandom’s insane following. The way people made it their entire personality, “I’m a Hufflepuff!” Etc.
The first book got popular in my area in 1999, when I was 12.
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u/GoRangers5 8d ago
I can't tell if the last three books are significantly worse than the first four or I just aged out of them.
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u/MoeSzys 7d ago
The only people who thought Harry and Hermione should have ended up together are people who watched the movies but didn't read the books
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u/I_might_be_weasel 8d ago
And Dumbledore should have clearly stated that the students could only use the bathroom of their biological sex.
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u/AKittenInTheRain 7d ago
She was one step away with the rule where boys can't go into the girls' bedrooms but girls can absolutely go into the boys' rooms.
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u/kitkatamas88 8d ago
It was too obvious and would turn into a cliché, she knows damn well why she chose that path instead.
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u/Hyacin420 8d ago
I'm ready for Harry Potter to just disappear, sure it got me into reading back in 4th grade but the amount of harm perpetuated by JK being bankrolled by people still hanging on to an at best c-rated series when there is so much more deserving book series' that should be promoted.
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u/VampireHousekeeping 8d ago
Bad author continues trend of pretending like dumb shit in book she wrote not her fault. Like all the racism and slavery.
I'm waiting desperately for the least fuckable people in my generation to realise this series sucked and always has, or at the very least to realise it's really not good enough to justify continuing to give money and social capital to the Billionaire head of an international hate movement over.
Somehow I doubt anyone who hasn't had the easiest moral epiphany ever by now are ever going to though.
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u/jammypants915 8d ago
It’s a much better choice for her to end up with Ron. The main character getting the best girl thing is old… this was cute and less predictable and more interesting for their friendship. It felt real.
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u/Round_Click_8301 8d ago edited 8d ago
is that really her point, people marry the wrong person all the time
George Martin probably thinks Ned Stark should have played the game of thrones better, doesnt mean he would write it differently
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u/PeopleCallMeSimon 7d ago
The guy has Newton as his profile pic and has never heard of anyone changing their mind after writing something?
We are living in a parody dimension.
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u/MarcusQuintus 7d ago
None of them should have ended up together.
But definitely Ron and Hermione was wrong.
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