The 'Trio': Harry, Ron, and Hermione

[Lizzy Bennet]

I figured, if I started threads about other groups, why not this one?

There's another thread about how angry Harry was in book 5, and whilst talking to my Mum about the book today, she was saying that JKR really tapped in to the 'teenage angst' quite well in book 5, which I daresay I have to agree with. I think Harry was a bit OTT (Over-The-Top) in a few instances, but given being 15 *and* having experienced, first-hand, what he did at the end of book 4, I could see how he'd feel as he did (even if he didn't always handle himself well).

It's been mentioned once that Harry is one of the few characters that doesn't have a sense of humour, but I started re-reading book 5 yesterday, and that whole dialogue where he's mocking Dudley (calling him "Big D" and "Diddykins") and saying all this snarky stuff really cracked me up . . . I'll have to hunt up some quotes. I don't think Harry has the humour that Ron has naturally, but I do think he has his moments, even if the moments I recall him being funny are snarky ones.

Ron and Hermione being prefects was interesting, and I couldn't help but feel a little sad when Dumbledore told Harry that Harry would have been the 5th year boy prefect had he (Harry) not had so much to handle. I was sad because that would have meant Ron wasn't a prefect. Ron needed an opportunity to shine, and Harry needed to realize that he shouldn't get everything simply because he's Harry, and that being happy for someone else is part of being a good friend. I'm glad, in the end, he supported Ron, even when Ron wasn't doing well with Quidditch. I think what gave Harry the real dose of reality is when Harry saw that his own father wasn't as perfect and wonderful as possibly Harry had thought him to be.

Lastly, whereas I saw several Ron/Hermione moments in book 4 and a few in book 5, I saw quite a few Harry/Hermione moments in book 5. I don't know where JKR is going with that . . . three isn't always a pleasant number . . . one can invariably get left out. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on the 'Trio' in regards to book 5!


~ Lizzy

[Blaise Zabini]

Firstly, Ron. I honestly can't remember what he did in the book. I think that he kind of fell into the background while everything was going on around him. Sure, he played Quidditch, but that even wasn't interesting without Harry in it. I'd really wanted Ron to shine in something that Harry didn't. I was excited when he was made Prefect but then DD said at the end how it should have been Harry. And then Ron was made seeker, but Quidditch is still something that Harry is better at. Ron's a great character, but I don't think he was given as much justice as he deserved.

And Hermione still remained to be her perfect self. More than ever, I noticed that throughout the books she's really done nothing other than be authoritative. She was always right about everything, and that started to annoy me.

I don't know, maybe it was just me, but the Ron and Hermione part of the trio, didn't do much for me on OotP.

[Lizzy Bennet]

Firstly, Ron. I honestly can't remember what he did in the book. I think that he kind of fell into the background while everything was going on around him. Sure, he played Quidditch, but that even wasn't interesting without Harry in it. I'd really wanted Ron to shine in something that Harry didn't. I was excited when he was made Prefect but then DD said at the end how it should have been Harry. And then Ron was made seeker, but Quidditch is still something that Harry is better at. Ron's a great character, but I don't think he was given as much justice as he deserved.

And Hermione still remained to be her perfect self. More than ever, I noticed that throughout the books she's really done nothing other than be authoritative. She was always right about everything, and that started to annoy me.

I don't know, maybe it was just me, but the Ron and Hermione part of the trio, didn't do much for me on OotP.

Good points, Blaise . . . I completely agree about Ron not getting an opportunity to shine all his own, without Harry somehow overshadowing him even when Ron does get things or is able to do things Harry can't. I felt bad when the Twins kept giving Ron a hard time . . . what's wrong with letting Ron shine or letting up on Ron when he's struggling? Ron ISN'T Percy by any means (even if Ron did become a prefect!), nor do I think Ron ever intended or wanted to steal any limelight from the twins. As for Ron on the Quidditch team, again, I was agitated slightly at the twins because I thought, geez, isn't Ron already getting a hard enough time from the Slytherins? There seemed to be more dischord in the Weasley family in this book than ever before, and sadly, it began with Percy . . . things seemed to improve, sadly enough, when Mr. Weasley was in the hospital . . . I think the twins backed off Ron after that.

As for Hermione, I was hoping to see a slightly more human and imperfect Hermione in OotP. Don't get me wrong...I like that Hermione is bright, focused, and takes her studies seriously (it's a great foil for Harry and Ron, if nothing else), but I had to laugh when Hermione got called out by Luna who said something to the effect of Hermione not getting anything unless it's shoved up under her nose in a book. I think sometimes Hermione needs a reality check...just like I REALLY thought Cho needed a reality check, but those feelings are reserved for the 'Cho Chang' thread.

As I mentioned in my above post, while I understood Harry's anger, it did get on my nerves, after a while, him biting off everyone's head, acting so impetuous, and never seeming sorry. He was, like many of us were/are as teenagers, determined to do it 'his way' and assert himself. Hopefully no one on this forum or anywhere else (though, I'm sure there are some who have ) have had to 'pay' for this impetuousness/stubornness by losing someone they love...I can't tell you how heartbreaking the mirror and Harry's subsequent conversation with Nearly Headless Nick were. That made me cry more than the death did initially, because like Harry, I was so confused (about the veil) and stunned (about how accidental the death seemed) at the time!


~ Lizzy

[Blaise Zabini]

Oh, I know exactly what you mean about the mirror and the conversation with NHN. Both scenes were by far, the most heart-wrenching of the entire series.

But I'm not sure I agree about Harry's anger being unwarranted. I mean, the kid went through so much. I think that all of his angst and confusion and anger were a necessity. He has endured so much undeserved punishment and sadness and heshould be allowed to get throughly p***d off every once in awhile! No one has apologized to him for what he's had to go through.I don't know, it all just seemed to fit quite well.

[Lizzy Bennet]

Oh, I know exactly what you mean about the mirror and the conversation with NHN. Both scenes were by far, the most heart-wrenching of the entire series.

But I'm not sure I agree about Harry's anger being unwarranted. I mean, the kid went through so much. I think that all of his angst and confusion and anger were a necessity. He has endured so much undeserved punishment and sadness and heshould be allowed to get throughly p***d off every once in awhile! No one has apologized to him for what he's had to go through.I don't know, it all just seemed to fit quite well.

I wouldn't say Harry's anger wasn't unwarranted, and you are quite right when you write that he wasn't apologized to. However, 'once and a while' and almost all of the time, which it seemed like, in parts, are two different things. Sure, I wouldn't expect Harry, at 15 and given what he's gone through, to be happy-go-lucky (that'd be unrealistic and hokey), but sometimes it seemed he was over-the-top. Just my opinion, though. I wouldn't describe it as sad, per se, but it was haunting when Hermione said she wished she could see the threstals, and Harry painfully informed her that she doesn't really ever want that wish to come true.


~ Lizzy

[Blaise Zabini]

It seemed to me, though, that Harry's anger lessened as the book progressed. At the beginning, he was...well, quite angry at the world. But after he had the initial outburst at headquarters, he seemed to calm down a bit, ne? I'll have to continue my re-reading (which seems to be taking eons) to check, but that's how I remember things.

Oh, and I agree about Hermione's talking about the thestrals. That definitely struck me as being eerie when I read it, too.

And on a complete side note, the hopping smiley face is going in slow motion. I've no idea why it's doing so, but it just may be the coolest thing ever...

[Lizzy Bennet]

It seemed to me, though, that Harry's anger lessened as the book progressed. At the beginning, he was...well, quite angry at the world. But after he had the initial outburst at headquarters, he seemed to calm down a bit, ne? I'll have to continue my re-reading (which seems to be taking eons) to check, but that's how I remember things.

Oh, and I agree about Hermione's talking about the thestrals. That definitely struck me as being eerie when I read it, too.

And on a complete side note, the hopping smiley face is going in slow motion. I've no idea why it's doing so, but it just may be the coolest thing ever...

LOL @ the slo-mo smiley! What freaked me out was when Holly had double-smileys all across the pages, and they were all jumping up and down in a syncronized way!

On-topic, you're right about Harry...he calms down as he gets information and as the book progresses. Sadly, in the end, he realizes (or I realized, I'll have to keep re-reading as well...it's taking me a while...I'm only on chapter 2! ) after wanting to have all the answers and know everything, he sees what it cost him. The end of the book hit me hard...not when Sirius died, but the aftermath: the guilt, the realizations, the horrible discovery of desiring to know the answers cost him (Harry), etc....


~ Lizzy Bee

[Blaise Zabini]

Yeah, what is it with the difficulty in re-reading this book?! I think there's a topic somewhere about that, but it's driving me crazy! Meh, am stuck on chapter four...

But, ahem. As we the venerable moderators keep drifting off topic. Anyway, even more than Harry's wanting to know the answer to everything causing Sirius's death, what I found the worst was that his love for his godfather also played an influential part in causing his loss. I mean, it was so tragic and ironic that Sirius was really the only character whom Harry really looked up to and had love for and it was this that played a part in his death. Had Harry not been so zealous and had he not cared for his Godfather so much, no harm would have come to him. It was this, more than anything, that hit me the hardest.

[Eol]

Am I just imagining it or has ron gotten a bit dense in the 5th book. There are many instances where he seems completely oblivious to things which are obvious to both Harry and Hermione. E.g. Malfoys hint about knowing the dog was sirius on the platform.

[Meg Boyd]

Well...perhaps not dense...JKR prolly wanted somethings to stand out more...just incase us readers didn't catch it...so the best way to explain things like that is to have a character miss the details too so another character has to back up and explain...Ron is the easiest target to that since he isn't a genius like Hermione or paranoid like Harry. He isn't dense, just handy, at least that's my take on it.

[Dink Meeker]

Well said Meg. I agree whole heartedly. In addition to this, sometimes I get the feeling that Ron just isn't listening attentively or his mind is wandering off. You know.... a typical teenager.

[Meg Boyd]

Well said Meg. I agree whole heartedly. In addition to this, sometimes I get the feeling that Ron just isn't listening attentively or his mind is wandering off. You know.... a typical teenager.

he he he...I was going to make the teenager point, but then since I am teenager, I didn't want to make teenagers look bad....lol...he he

[highsorcerer]

Being a teenager is a part of life... and a hard one. You are not a child, but not an adult. As an adult, I would NEVER relive my teenage years. They were horrible.

Plus, I stand behind what I said before... Harry, Ginny, Luna, and Neville lasted longer in the battle of the DoM because they understood what they faced. Ron and Hermoine don't know it yet. And the two with the biggest horrors of their past (Harry and Neville) lasted the longest because the understood evil the best.

Ron and Hermoine just don't know the horrors of pain - Harry's parent's killed, Nevillle's tortured into insaninty, Ginny being possesssed, or Luna's loss of her mother. Maybe that is why they fell first -because they didn't understand the true horror of evil.

[hedwigslove57]

about the hermione/ron thing...i think that they have always had a thing. if you notice they are always bickering and most people are like that when they are together, also ron always seemed to care about hermione getting hurt or being sad a little more than harry did (with the exceptions of when ron was the one being a git to her!) i think harry doesnt have a chance with her its so ron and hermione! 8)