I think it was a silly solution. It doesn’t make sense to store such a valuable object in such a way that three kids could get at it. Sure, Harry and Hermione were remarkable wizards, but they were eleven and they weren’t capable of much more than picking things up with their wands. At very least, we’ve seen magical locks that aren’t vulnerable to their unlocking spell; between the teachers at the school - especially Dumbledore - they might not have been able to enchant a door so tightly that Voldemort couldn’t get through it, but they certainly could have locked it well enough that no one else could. Sticking silly little puzzles in the way doesn’t make nearly as much sense as, you know, putting it behind lock and key. Later books have suggested all sorts of methods that can be used to keep things safe - why didn’t they use the Fidelius charm, for instance?
Some part of Hermione recognizes that she needs a Ron - someone who’s not intimidated by her intellect, but knocks the wind out of her sails anyway. She needs to be forced to loosen up every once in a while.
Plus, he probably has many of the same bad traits her parents have.
All of you who are saying Rowling’s not good at creating believable romances are nuts. A hundred years from now this stuff will be considered the greatest writing of its time.
Yeah, I’d consider the fact the the Trio was able to get to the Philosopher’s Stone a plot hole as the story was written. What she should have done is had a bunch of magical wards at one point that had been already broken by Quirrel. It didn’t make any sense that all of the protections could have been beaten by three first-years.
Isn’t Ron/Hermione just Beatrice/Benedick?
Um, not to sound snobby, but no, no it won’t.
You need to read some actual literature, dude.
Let’s not get carried away, ya? Will the Harry Potter stories be read in hundred years? I think so. “Greatest writing of its time?” Not so much.
Ron/Harry? Will there’s some livejournal communities I could point you to… 
Yes it does. Dumbledore spent the first six books pushing Harry into confrontations with Voldemort. He wanted Harry to try to save the Philosopher’s Stone. But it’s all academic anyway because the only true protection on the Stone was the Mirror of Erised spell that prevented those who wanted the stone for personal gain from retrieving it.
bup writes:
> A hundred years from now this stuff will be considered the greatest writing of
> its time.
Oh, please. Look, I’ve read a lot of children’s fantasy series recently. The Harry Potter books aren’t even in the top ten children’s fantasy series in my estimation. Perhaps I should say that I don’t think that they’re even among the top ten English-language children’s fantasy series, since I haven’t read any series originally written in other languages. There are a lot of series I haven’t yet read, but I suspect that if I read all such series I might rate the Harry Potter books around number 15 among all children’s fantasy series.
Why Ron? Because Ron rules, that’s why.
Ron’s my most favorite character in the series (tho’ Neville’s giving him a run for his money). I love Ron. If I were a student at Hogwarts, I’d be dogging Ron’s steps, aiming for a date. Why? Jessica Rabbitt said it best:
“Because he makes me laugh.”
Ron’s funny. He’s got a great sense of humor. Maybe he’s not the top of his class, but he is clever, and has a good head on his shoulders. He’s very loyal; he’ll always be there for you. He’s not the best at everything, no, but he’s good at a lot of things. He’s a great kid. I loves me my Ron.
This would be all the explanation I would need if I could recall (in the books) Hermione laughing even once at something Ron said, while looking longingly at him.
I’m glad I’m not the only one.
“What, Becky likes me?? Ya know, I never noticed before what great legs she has.”
Sua
Well I figured someone would have brought this up by now. I saw a little bio of Rowling in one of the TV shows promoting the first movie. When Rowling was a teenager, she went out with this guy with red hair, a smart mouth, no money, and a beat up old Ford Anglia. She also said she based Hermione on herself.
Nicely said. I think that’s all a large part of why it doesn’t work for me. Whatever Hermione (book version) may have felt about her looks and her Muggle background, she was always self-assured when it came to her studies and her magic.
In general, ISTM that what women almost universally want in a man is one who is playing the lead role in his own life. He can do that confidently, humorously, heroically, tragically, or whatever, and different women have different preferences when one breaks it down like that. But few women are looking for the insecure guy who’s always being pulled along in others’ slipstreams because he doesn’t know where he wants to go on his own, and the more self-assured the woman, the more unlikely that is.
So Hermione’s attraction to Ron makes no sense to me, at least within the HP-universe. The explanation saoirse cites is as good as it gets, AFAIAC, and that’s unsatisfactory in terms of verisimilitude.
In Harry’s case, when Rowling brought Luna Lovegood into the series, I thought that combination would have made sense, and was disappointed when she didn’t do anything with it.
And Ginny’s deep game of ‘I’ll stop overtly mooning over Harry, grow a bit on my own, but still keep him in my sights all along’ rings kinda false to me, but maybe that’s just me. Still, I think Rowling’s having thrown them back together does work.
What doesn’t work for me is (mild Book 6 ending spoiler here)Harry’s breaking off with her because Voldemort will attack Harry through those he cares about. ISTM that Voldemort isn’t so dumb as to say, “oh, they broke up - so much for trying to bend Potter to my will by capturing and threatening to do vile things to Ginny Weasley, that won’t work now.”
I was actually offering that as “further information.” Of course, any information required to understand the text has to be in the text. It’s Rowling’s job to find a reason for the two of them to be together that makes sense for the characters. The only thing I can think of is that there is more to their relationship than what goes on in front of Harry.
I agree that that’s a mistake, but I think it’s a mistake on Harry’s part, not on Rowling’s. As, I suspect, Harry and friends will discover. I mean, think about it, how often have you seen a protagonist in some story make a decision like that, and how often does it actually work?
The Ginny-Harry thing makes perfect sense to me, based on what we’ve seen of Ginny’s character. What Ginny wants, Ginny gets. Just because it might take a few years to get it, isn’t going to stop her.
Are Hermione and Ron that different?
Ron isn’t as smart as she is, but I doubt Dumbledore is as smart as she is. Ron’s pretty bright though - has to work at it.
Both are basically not great looking teenagers of marginal popularity (like most teenagers). Both are basically decent human beings with good ethics. Both have a little bit of a troublemaker streak to them, but are trusted with positions of authority.
Ron’s only unexceptional because the people around him - Harry, Hermoine, his brothers - are exceptional. But he’s well rounded and good at nearly everything he does - he is just not the best at anything.
Another thing that may endear Ron to Hermione is that he clearly thinks she is awesome. Not in a ‘hot babe’ way, but in a ‘capable woman’ way.
When she says something smart, or does magic 10 years above her supposed training, or punches Draco Malfoy just when it most needs to be done, Ron just can’t hide the fact that he thinks she’s amazing. He may not compliment her directly, but it’s clear that’s how he feels.
While Hermione generally comes off as having excellent self-esteem, that admiration has got to feel good to her. Too many teenage boys ignore or downplay a smart girl’s abilities because they feel threatened by them, but Ron doesn’t.
Of course, he still loses a lot of points for taking years to notice she can be a ‘hot babe.’
Yeah, I agree that it won’t work out like Harry hopes unless
he does more to make it more convincing that he doesn’t care for her. One thought I had is that he might fake being in a relationship with Hermione. She’ll be with him on the horcrux hunt anyway, so Voldemort won’t have much of a chance to try and capture her, and it would be plausible to the Death Eaters because of that Skeeter article that alleged they were an item in fourth year.
I’ll spoiler my answer because it refers to the same thing in your spoiler box.
That assumes Voldemort knew they were together before they broke up.