Daniel Radcliffe (left), JK Rowling, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint at the world premiere of ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2’ in London July 7, 2011.
Credit: Courtesy of MCT
J.K. Rowling, author of the “Harry Potter” series, has been having second thoughts about her cherished novels. In a recent interview with Emma Watson, Rowling admitted she thinks Harry and Hermione Granger should have ended up together rather than Ron Weasley and Hermione, according to CNN.
Watson was conducting the interview for the magazine, “Wonderland,” as a guest editor. The full interview is expected to come out Friday.
Rowling also said she believes Ron and Hermione would have ended up needing marriage counseling.
In the interview, Rowling said, “I wrote the Hermione/Ron relationship as a form of wish fulfillment. 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.”
Rowling added, “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.”
Watson apparently agreed with Rowling’s statement, saying, “I think there are fans out there who know that too and who wonder whether Ron would have really been able to make her happy.”
As a Harry Potter fanatic, the comment instantly shocked me. I thought to myself, “How could J.K. Rowling question her literature that shaped so many people in my generation?”
But after my immediate fits of rage, I began to think rationally that maybe Rowling is right about her change of heart.
Rowling created Ron as a best friend character, rather than the lead. Throughout the series, Ron exhibits insecurity issues that ultimately could have broken the marriage between him and Hermione.
Rowling has said she created Hermione in her own image. Hermione is an independent, intelligent woman who might have eventually gotten annoyed with Ron’s issues.
But I love Hermione and Ron. No matter what Rowling wrote in her series, I personally would have been happy with whatever the outcome. Hermione with Ron, Hermione with Harry or Hermione with Neville, I think all fans just wanted Hermione to be happy.
