More Rowling musings for the DVD extra features: http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/11/01/jk-rowling-harry-potter-hagrid-lupin/?hpt=hp_bn11
Well, I loved Ron, but lord you’re right about the second part. Ron and Hermione make NO sense as a couple, and the one way the books would have been improved if Ron had bitten the dust would be to spare us that mess.
I was keeping my fingers crossed from almost Book 1 that she’d kill off Hagrid. He may have been my least favorite character - second, perhaps, to Dobby.
Oh well. I find I’m a minority in both these opinions!
Okay, that’s a *little *farther than I, someone who wanted Harry and Hermione together, would go because I would have spared Fred and George.
I liked Ron in the first couple of books, but I pretty much hated the moody, whiny bastard by the end.
I may have said this before, but I was always struck by the symmetry of Harry and Ron’s desires as shown in the Mirror of Erised in the first novel. Harry wanted his parents to be alive and to have an extended family, while Ron wanted to be a Quidditch champion, head boy and other signs of fame. In other words, each wanted what the other had. And at the end, they each had achieved their desire; Ron was a Quidditch champion and prefect, and Harry had his own family (and loving in-laws).
I didn’t want Ron to die, but it wouldn’t have hurt my enjoyment much, I suppose. He wasn’t really that central to the quest by the last couple of books.
It would have enhanced my enjoyment if she’d written some important reason why I’d miss him. Remember back when he was eleven, and a great chess player? She seemed to be setting him up as the strategy head of the trio, but dropped that right away. And they could have used some more strategic thinking.
Can I say I was so happy when Sirius died? I feel like I’m the only person who disliked him from the very beginning.
I would rather Harry die than Ron, though.
I liked Hagrid all right but dear Lord, did I hate Dobby. So freakin’ annoying! I’ll admit that I felt a little sad when he snuffed it, though.
Well, one thing that bit did was to further demonstrate Dumbledore’s impressive intuition & vision. Ron wouldn’t have gotten there but for the assistance of the deluminator–which Albus somehow knew Ron would need even before he died.
And a thousand fanfic writers approach their keyboards with glee. 
I picked him as likely to die, too - it could have been very moving. I was actually expecting many more deaths than actually occurred. I was certain one of the twins would die, both because they’re twins from a very large so they’re, uh, expendable, and because the idea of George living on without his other half is really rather tragic.
Killing off Ron would have been a bit much for a kids’ book, even with really heavy foreshadowing.
He could still have died after that - others did.
Dumbledore being gay is not something she made up after the fact. It is implicit, in Deathly Hallows, in what we learn about his relationship with Grindlewald. Young Dumbledore was clearly infatuated with Grindlewald, and thus tempted by ‘the dark side’, and this bit of history is crucial to understanding what set the overarching plot in motion. It is true that there is not really any sign of Dumbledore’s gayness in teh earlier books, but we know that Rowling had the culmination in Deathly Hallows mapped out in her mind from the very beginning, before she wrote the rest of the series (this, presumably, is why Deathly Hallows is so over-congested with new plot points), so I think Dumbledore was always gay in her mind. Perhaps she went too far in avoiding revealing his gayness in the earlier books, but it was always hiding in the closet there.
Thanks for the spoiler in the topic title. I hadn’t seen the last few movies (or read the books) yet. Now I’ll know not to worry about Ron no matter what situation he’s in. 
I suspected it before she said it. Literary gaydar. 
You managed to miss all the Deathly Hallows Part 2 posters including Ron? And you wouldn’t have noticed any ensuing outrage over a major character dying? It’s kinda like telling any adult that Darth Vader is Luke’s father.
WHAT?!?!?!?!? :eek:
Do you mean that you actually picked up Dumbledore’s gayness from something in the first six books? If so, I would be interested to know what. (No snark intended.)
If you mean you got it from the earlier movies, that may be a different matter. I suppose Rowling might well have told Richard Harris and/or Michael Gambon, and they might have put subtle cues into their performance that someone with good gaydar might detect.
I really don’t understand that. Hermione making friends in book 1 affected her character (there’s much later, when Harry starts learning about Tom Riddle, that he briefly wonders how Hermione would’ve turned out if she’d been lonely and friendless while still extremely clever and “better” than her classmates: probably not good).
And Hermione and Ron make a good couple because they complement each other. Hermione brings common sense and obeying the rules; Ron brings levity. It’s no coincidence that they mirror the very happily married Mr. & Mrs. Weasly in that regard.
You can even see it in the fighting: Ron and Hermione have a lot of fights/ arguments, but aren’t bothered by it - Ron is used to this from at home, and Hermione argues about what’s important to her.
That’s why Hermione and Harry are good friends, but wouldn’t make good partners: Harry needs a partner who cheers him up; he needs harmony in his relationship because he’s brooding and depressed on his own. Ron needs somebody to rein him in, Hermione needs somebody to argue against and to break some rules with. It all fits nicely.
As for Dumbledore being gay: it didn’t come up before Book 7 (implied) because none of the sex life or private lifes of the teachers come up. (Lockhart has lots of witches who have a crush on him, but we still don’t know anything beyond that).
Are any teachers married? Do they go home to spouse and children during the holidays? (We only see a few teachers rooms who seem to be single, but not everyone’s). Are teachers required (like in Muggle old times) to stay single? What hobbies does McGonagall have? We simply don’t know because it’s Harrys perspective and kids aren’t interested in their teachers private life. Kids usually don’t even think that adults have private lives, it’s off their radar.
I did wonder about that, especially considering Neville’s eventual job. I mean, a pairing with Luna would have been tidy to the point of cliche but you’d think he might end up with someone.
Also on that note, I thought Rowling was setting up Harry to be the DADA teacher, which would have fit in nicely with his background, experiences and secret teaching. But then, even if teachers could marry, we wouldn’t have had the last scene. I dunno.
Rowling has stated that Neville eventually married Hannah Abbott. And that Hannah took over running the Leaky Cauldron, so she presumably lived on the pub premises in London.
So, still no evidence for any married teachers’ quarters at Hogwarts itself. Presumably, however, any Hogwarts teacher will have mastered Apparition, so all a married teacher would have to do is walk out the gates on their days/weekends off to be instantly transported to their distant conjugal home for a little family time.
Luna and Neville don’t fit, though. They’re both outsiders, but otherwise, Luna is a bit eccentric - I think Rowling said somewhere that she starts chasing exotic beasts in Africa, following in her father’s footsteps.
Neville is just an ordinary guy who found his skill with plants, so herbology prof was a good conclusion.
I agree. But while we’re on the topic, can somebody tell me whether, despite the contradiction with book and backstory canon, Neville said something in the HP 7-2 movie about liking Luna? During one of the lulls in the battle scenes? I saw the movie twice and couldn’t quite make out either time what Neville was saying at that point. (Needed subtitles in American, I guess.)
Yes, we only see McGonagall, who’s head of a house, so extra duties might require her to stay on the grounds during the night. Even that doesn’t really exclude married teachers - since space is flexible with magic, and in Hogwarts, they could have more than one room for married teachers.
On the one hand, the magic community is a bit old-fashioned, and in previous centuries, teachers usually were (more or less explicitly) bachelors (to devote all their time to science and the pupils).
On the other hand, there’s no logical reason for teachers to be celibate or single (that we Muggles know of, nor is it ever mentioned that in the Potterverse, sex weakens your magic or similar) and since Wizards do some things different than Muggles, they might just not care as long as the school runs. We know that Dumbledore doesn’t care about Snape’s teaching methods, or what a failure Trelawny is, or DADA… (although he had a reason in each case - but the board of governors just accepted his word).
In addition, whatever was the rule during Dumbledore’s time is not automatically the rule during the 20 years later epilogue - surely sweeping changes were made at the ministry, and also at Hogwarts with McGonagall as Headmistress.