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As a writer myself, I hope to be published one day. And should I be so lucky as to attract anything resembling a fan base, I will take care not to treat it with the contempt with which you have treated those of us who have shipped Harmony. Who among those of us who have rooted for Harry and Hermione could have missed the barely disguised jab at the Hippogriff love theory? (Are we really supposed to believe that the girl who ran up to Buckbeak to pat him in GoF would find the prospect frightening in HBP? Or was the tattoo joke really just a harmless aside?) Who among us could be in any doubt that you had the HMS Harmony and her arguments in mind in some of the scenes you wrote. To engage in a barely disguised dialogue with your fan base through the narrative is a contemptible act and entirely unethical. Enjoyed the arguments did you? I’m glad that at least someone in the world did.

Ultimately, I think our only fault was to point out the logical holes in your romantic proposals but you took care of that too, I see. Had you written these characters in this way from the beginning, there would be none among us who could doubt that Harry and Hermione were completely unsuited. I see now how much they disagree – not because of romantic tension of course but because they are incompatible. I see now how much Ron and Hermione and Harry and Ginny are suited, how well they know each other, how supportive they are of one another, how loyal – not because they are platonic friends, but because they are meant for one another.

And this is what I mean by a lack of craft. The only way you could sell it was to turn it all on its head. If you had done the job, you should not have had to.

There are many in the fandom who will accuse me of being bitter and they may be right. After all, they saw these characters in this way from the very beginning. You and they have been on the same page. They saw more clearly than my shipmates and I and, on my part, I apologise for not listening to them more carefully. They kept telling us it was just a children’s book and we refused to accept it. In the end we really were reading different texts. Ultimately, I can see that the real Harry Potter series has limited value for adults searching for more depth and meaning.

If only I had listened when my children’s literature lecturer at university told me in no uncertain terms that it was a conservative, traditional and patriarchal story that lacked originality and depth. If only I had listened to the critics who argued that, despite its popularity, it was poorly written. I did not know what they meant. I was confused and more than a little defensive. I get it now. The hero only ends up with someone beautiful enough to have attracted many men, so as to be a worthy trophy. He ends up with that girl with the beautiful hair and lovely features. He ends up with the one who does not question him or ask him to justify himself. He ends up with the one who will fulfill her feminine role in the most traditional of ways by remaining unquestioningly loyal and jumping to his defense should anyone dare to criticise him. He does not end up with the bookworm, who doesn’t have time to do fix her bushy hair because she is too busy finding ways for him to stay alive. He does not end up with the best friend who has proven herself a hundred times over as the most remarkable witch of her generation. He ends up with the beautiful, popular, funny, exciting, sporty girl who just happens to have a mean bat-bogey hex that she can use when the going gets tough. (However did she keep all that fabulousness hidden?) (freezepage)

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lupin_snape

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railway

gilly_halliwell

sienna291973

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