“Never pretend to a love which you do not actually feel, for love is not ours to command.” Again I begin with a quote, this time coming from Alan Watts. Properly summing up love in general, Alan Watts has hit the nail on the head (or anvil, if you’d rather) about shipping.
I am a shipper. I am a proud and crazy Ron/Hermione shipper, and subsequently a Harry/Ginny shipper, and I stand defiant that these “ships” will sail.
But like the ages of pirates and line warfare have ended, the era of shipping is dwindling to a small end, a little fire still lit that is burning in the hearts of thousands (millions?) of people every day. But the fact of the matter is that J.K. Rowling has given us so many hints that the question of pairings are dying.
What was once a predominantly Harry/Hermione fandom, Harry Potter has grown to spawn the greater and more steadfast ships, the crazy crack pairings, the slightly bizarre but not totally out of the way, and the fanon pairings that sadly have taken over much of the fanfiction world.
The time for analyzing is now:
Harry/Hermione—is basically dead. As the great Emerson Spartz kindly put it, Harry/Hermione shippers, or rather, Harry/Hermione extremists, were “delusional”. He was, in fact, in that interview with J.K. Rowling herself, correct. I cringe as I imagine the still-existent Harry/Hermione shippers that may have stumbled upon my tiny spit of land. As Jo Rowling reiterated, Harry/Hermione was basically dead in Prisoner of Azkaban, but Viktor Krum in Goblet of Fire really pushed many Harmonians to convert to The Good Ship. Ron’s jealousy is ever-apparent in Goblet, and has since been in the other two books released.
Ron/Hermione—is the “Good Ship” that is ever-sailing. From the almost utter beginning, Ron/Hermione shippers have been the patient, wait-for-it-to-happen ones, the ones that will wait for apparent destiny. Their rivals, the Harmonians, were none too elated with the new front in the Harry Potter community when they joined in the ranks. The hero always gets the girl, eh? In all fantasies. But since when has Harry Potter been your average fantasy? (Never!) They still have yet to really uncover their feelings, but they seemed at least a little intimate in “The White Tomb.”
Harry/Ginny—the bold compatriot of The Good Ship, Emerald Fire has seen its fair share of good and bad days. Some thought Harry and Ginny were destined from the beginning. Those few had the good gift of foresight and were much better at Divination than Trelawney ever will be. While Ginny had gotten over her schoolgirl crush, it seemed like a good option that Harry would eventually feel the same. What d’ya know?
