JK Rowling Says Hermione Ended Up With Wrong Man In ‘Harry Potter’
By Empress Eve
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Monday, February 3rd, 2014 at 11:00 am
If you’re familiar with JK Rowling‘s wildly popular Harry Potter series, then you know that the three main characters are Harry Potter and his two friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. The trio is very close and has been through a lot together, so it’s not surprising that when the book series came to an end with the seventh book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, that two of the friends would eventually find love with each other.
But, were these two friends really meant to be? Should they have ended up together? In an interview excerpted by the UK’s Sunday Times, British author Rowling admitted that Hermione ended up with the wrong man.
Check out the details here below – and obviously Spoilers for the Harry Potter series.
[Harry Potter stars Rupert Grint, Daniel Radcliffe, and Emma Watson in 2007. Shutterstock, used with permission.]
In the Harry Potter saga, the highly intelligent, talented witch Hermione, played on screen by Emma Watson, eventually develops feelings for her friend Ron (Rupert Grint in the films), the red-headed slacker who spent a large portion of the series with an inferiority complex. By the end of the story, the two friends admit their love for each other and in the epilogue, we learn they married and had children, who they are seen taking to the famed Platform 9 3/4 for their trip to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Now, Rowling admits that Hermione shouldn’t have ended up with Ron, and that they are not a “credible couple.”
“I wrote the Hermione/Ron relationship as a form of wish fulfilment. That’s how it was conceived, really. For reasons that have very little to do with literature and far more to do with me clinging to the plot as I first imagined it, Hermione ended up with Ron.”
Harry Potter has a very dedicated fan base, many of whom might be angered by this revelation, and Rowling knows this.
“I know, I’m sorry, I can hear the rage and fury it might cause some fans, but if I’m absolutely honest, distance has given me perspective on that. It was a choice I made for very personal reasons, not for reasons of credibility. Am I breaking people’s hearts by saying this? I hope not.
So, who should Hermione have ended up with? The hero of the saga, The Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter, that’s who. Watson, who conducted the interview with the author for Wonderland magazine, said she thinks there are fans who wondered whether Ron could make Hermione happy, and said that Hermione and Harry would have been “a better match,” while Rowling said she thinks Ron and Hermione would have eventually needed relationship counseling.
The full interview will be published in the February issue of Wonderland, which hits newsstands on February 7, 2014, and features Watson as a guest editor.
This is an interesting revelation by Rowling, who seems to like to drop bombs like this every so often (remember the whole Dumbledore is gay thing?). But we saw from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire that when Hermione was dating Viktor Krum, the strong, good-looking athlete wasn’t smart enough to keep the young witch’s mind stimulated. So, it’s highly unlikely that Hermione would want to attach herself to someone like Ron. Who do you think Hermione should have married – Ron or Harry (or someone else)?
I was actually clinging to Harry and Hermione ending up together, and Ron becoming jealous of Harry’s success and relationship. Voldermort would have eventually seduced Ron to his side. At the end of an epic battle between Harry and a powerful, evil Ron Weasley, Ron realises all his wrong-doing, and sacrifices himself, turning on Voldermort and aiding Harry to win… but I think I’ve watched too much Spiderman and Star Wars.
Comment by Michael Hollis — February 3, 2014 @ 3:24 pm
Can anyone elaborate on the whole “wish fulfilment” thing? Why was Hermione ending up with Ron a wish fulfilment?
Comment by thetimetrust — February 3, 2014 @ 4:57 pm
I always though of Ron and Hermione as ‘that couple’. The one who get together in middle/high school and then get married because everyone expects them to. Then end up devorced ten tears later. *shrugs* I’m marginally more fond of Harry/Hermione, but I also think they eventually wouldn’t do well together. I think she needed to find someone else, possibly someone that went to another school, or from an earlier or later year than she and the others were at Hogwarts (Bill Weasley’s gen, maybe?). Someone who wouldn’t have all the history that the members of the trio and their fellow Hogwarts students have… Someone to have a fresh start with.
Comment by Sage Allen — February 3, 2014 @ 5:13 pm
She’s described Hermione as being based on herself – and she married a Ron. And then divorced him. She’s now married again to someone she’s called “her Harry Potter”. She said this ages ago, so while I’m shocked she actually came out and admitted to making a mistake, I’m not surprised. She tried to force a relationship that ended in disaster in real life into a happy ending, going against everything her story and characters – and reality – were actually telling her to do.
I could very easily have seen Ron ending up as the Peter Pettigrew of the Order – betraying his friends out of jealousy. Look at how he behaves when he just THINKS he won’t get what he wants. How would he have acted had Harry and Hermione got together? Not well, I’ll wager.
JK certainly knows how to piss off her fans. Eight years ago she alienated half her fanbase by calling Harry/Hermione supporters “delusional” and now admits they were right all along – thus pissing off the other half of her fanbase. While the first half remain pissed – if validated – because the mistake stays unfixed in the books and films, which could have been so much better if done better in the first place. What a trainwreck.
She didn’t call her fans delusional, an interviewer did. And with the way the series is written, they are. Just because Rowling is saying she may have made a mistake doesn’t change what is already on the page.
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Students of the Unusual™ comic cover used with permission of 3BoysProductions
The Mercuri Bros.™ comic cover used with permission of Prodigal Son Press
I was actually clinging to Harry and Hermione ending up together, and Ron becoming jealous of Harry’s success and relationship. Voldermort would have eventually seduced Ron to his side. At the end of an epic battle between Harry and a powerful, evil Ron Weasley, Ron realises all his wrong-doing, and sacrifices himself, turning on Voldermort and aiding Harry to win… but I think I’ve watched too much Spiderman and Star Wars.
Comment by Michael Hollis — February 3, 2014 @ 3:24 pm
Can anyone elaborate on the whole “wish fulfilment” thing? Why was Hermione ending up with Ron a wish fulfilment?
Comment by thetimetrust — February 3, 2014 @ 4:57 pm
I always though of Ron and Hermione as ‘that couple’. The one who get together in middle/high school and then get married because everyone expects them to. Then end up devorced ten tears later. *shrugs* I’m marginally more fond of Harry/Hermione, but I also think they eventually wouldn’t do well together. I think she needed to find someone else, possibly someone that went to another school, or from an earlier or later year than she and the others were at Hogwarts (Bill Weasley’s gen, maybe?). Someone who wouldn’t have all the history that the members of the trio and their fellow Hogwarts students have… Someone to have a fresh start with.
Comment by Sage Allen — February 3, 2014 @ 5:13 pm
She’s described Hermione as being based on herself – and she married a Ron. And then divorced him. She’s now married again to someone she’s called “her Harry Potter”. She said this ages ago, so while I’m shocked she actually came out and admitted to making a mistake, I’m not surprised. She tried to force a relationship that ended in disaster in real life into a happy ending, going against everything her story and characters – and reality – were actually telling her to do.
Comment by iank — February 3, 2014 @ 6:25 pm
I could very easily have seen Ron ending up as the Peter Pettigrew of the Order – betraying his friends out of jealousy. Look at how he behaves when he just THINKS he won’t get what he wants. How would he have acted had Harry and Hermione got together? Not well, I’ll wager.
Comment by iank — February 3, 2014 @ 6:26 pm
JK certainly knows how to piss off her fans. Eight years ago she alienated half her fanbase by calling Harry/Hermione supporters “delusional” and now admits they were right all along – thus pissing off the other half of her fanbase. While the first half remain pissed – if validated – because the mistake stays unfixed in the books and films, which could have been so much better if done better in the first place. What a trainwreck.
Comment by iank — February 3, 2014 @ 6:28 pm
That’s how I see it. Hermoine could end up trying to get with Harry, despite being with Ginny and seemingly happy.
Comment by jbird669 — February 4, 2014 @ 9:07 am
You’re forgetting about the horcrux. Or did you only see the movies?
Comment by RickJM — February 4, 2014 @ 12:32 pm
She didn’t call her fans delusional, an interviewer did. And with the way the series is written, they are. Just because Rowling is saying she may have made a mistake doesn’t change what is already on the page.
Comment by RickJM — February 4, 2014 @ 12:35 pm
I always saw them as that couple that realized at a young age that they found their love and had a happy life.
Comment by RickJM — February 4, 2014 @ 12:36 pm