Great Expectations

DISCLAIMER: I DID NOT WRITE THIS, FOUND IT ON MUGGLENET.COM AND THOUGHT MIGHT SHARE IT.

Original copy by Brookes.

    Ah, romance. The possibilities of young love admist the fantasia of Jo's wizarding world seem to be a hot topic nowadays. Of all the Potter mysteries I happened to feel compelled to write about, I was surprised to find myself drawn to the (perhaps not so relevant but) endlessly amusing shipping theories. At first, I ignored the impulse to waste precious mental energy on formulating petty shipping hypotheses, and instead focused on trying to decrypt the more serious matters at hand (How will Harry vanquish Voldemort and live to tell the tale? Will Snape become the ultimate turncoat by betraying the Order? Do Crumple-Horned-Snorkacks really exist?), and although I think my HBP theory, that Neville's toad Trevor is an animagus and the Half-Blood Prince quite possibly oozes with the pulitzer prize-winning brilliance, I've decided not to go there. Instead, I'll take to the underworld of the shipping debates and attempt to shed my own light on the subject while there's still time. So, here goes nothing.

Preface

Up to this point, the books do not seem to be riddled with clues, either subtle or outright, implying that romantic love will play an integral part in the end. Indeed we've observed the formidable power of parental love, and the substantial effects of deep platonic affection as well. Love, in general, is significant to this series. But on the whole, any moments of romance (or hints of it) have been few and far between. Perhaps Jo has interjected these moments simply for fun, or to add an element of realism for us to relate to by taking Harry and his peers through the angst-ridden experiences that all teenagers go through. However, any avid Potter reader will agree that this story is not just of good vs. evil. As true fanatics, we are acutely aware of Jo's multi-dimensional writing, and we know that her many layers of story lines and characters reveal to us that the story is about more than one ideas. There are several latent convictions, morals and irony embedded into the story.

Some of the greatest stories ever told have been, at their core, manifestations of unconditional (or atleast unrequited) love. I'm not talking about "trashy romance novels" here, but you knew that. Formulated, commercial romances do not qualify as great love stories in that the writing is usually contrived, the story exists solely for the purpose of romance, and the endings are frequently predictable. Nor am I proposing that Harry's tale will ultimately culminate in a profound romantic denouement. In truth, my current theory surrounding the output of the series does not rely on the ramifications of the romantic attachments at all. However, it is possible that a special relationship between Harry and a significant female might play a bigger role than we're expecting at the final climax and/or conclusion of the septology. Keeping this possibility in mind, I began to examine Harry's current options by looking at it not only from our perspective as a reader, but also as Jo's choices as the author. The shipping wars are obviously being feuled by our discrepancy between are personal beliefs and Jo's romantic intent for the characters, and the written words.We can not overlook the subtle implications of her narrativc, nor can we simply discount clear, canonical evidence. In trying to guess her intent by honouring her written words, while at the same time fostering our built-up expectations based on individual perseptions, we come to interesting cross-roads of romantic prospects for Harry.

Pre-requisites, Disclaimers and the Like

Before I delve into the shipping commentary, let me clarify that I do not presume to know Jo's intentions with these characters. When I say "we" (referring to us, the readers), it is a very generalized "we". I am aware that literacy analysis includes a broad spectrum of opinions, and the relative point of view often trumps the tried and true methods of deductive reasoning. None of us are entirely wring in our theories, save those who completely discount the original source of material. That being said, I set up a guidline for myself by sticking to the following suggestion. (This idea is based on recurrent patterns and their variations evident in literary examples of successful story-telling techniques).

In general, primary characters do not end up in romantic pairings with secondary characters. Many of you are thinking, "Duh--who didn't already know that?" But some of you are saying, "What!? You mean Harry won't end up with Eloise Midgen?". Here is where individual perception throws are wrench in. When we disagree with each other about who the forefront characters are, we are at an impasse with regard to shipping and theories about how the septology will end. We love (and love to hate) all the characters that Jo has created. But not all of them are of equal importance to the main storyline, no matter how much we want them to be. So how do we tell that which characters are the most crucial to the story? By observing who Jo gives us the most time with. If Draco were our protagonist, the story would be told from his point of view. If Dean Thomas would've been Harry's best friend, he would have been accomanying Harry on his adventures thus far instead of Ron. Jo gives us the most time with the characters she wants us emotionally invested with.We care about the actions and experiences of the central characters because Jo has orchestrated it that way by including them more frequently than the others. This is why Ron, Hermione and Hagrid are so important to us and the final outcome. It is also why Ginny, Neville and Luna are becoming fast more prominent characters. In book five we got to spend some wuality time with these three which resluted in renewed emotional invesment in our part. Ginny, Neville and Luna are currently secondary characters on the brink of main character stardom. For the purpose of this editorial,, I have decided to focus on only these six, which I believe that up to the point are them most likely to pair up amongst each other because Jo has given us the most time with them. Here is my take-on some of the non-slash, realistic shipping theories out there.