Sorry, Haters, Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley Were Destined For Each Other
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Ginny Weasley: annoying little sister, expert Quidditch player, queen of the Bat-Bogey Hex, and as we all know, the lucky lady who locked down Harry Potter for life. I've always had mixed feelings about Ginny and Harry ending up together. As a character, I think Ginny is actually a pretty amazing witch. She doesn't have it easy living in the shadow of her older brothers, but she consistently proves herself to be unique, brilliant, and extremely powerful. She's an asset to Dumbledore's Army, and once she got over the whole fangirl crush on Harry, she became an integral part of the inner Potter circle.
Did I, at some point, secretly ship Harry and Hermione? Maybe. Was I a huge fan of how Ginny was portrayed on screen? Not so much. Still, speaking from the books perspective, Ginny does make sense as a match for Harry. Most importantly, J.K. Rowling herself thinks so. Years ago, in an interview, Rowling revealed her feelings about Ginny Weasley and explained why she wanted Harry to end up with her. Here's the wisdom she shared with fans.
"He needs to be with someone who can stand the demands of being with Harry Potter, because he's a scary boyfriend in a lot of ways. He's a marked man."
". . . The plan was, which I really hope I fulfilled, is that the reader, like Harry, would gradually discover Ginny as pretty much the ideal girl for Harry. She's tough, not in an unpleasant way, but she's gutsy. He needs to be with someone who can stand the demands of being with Harry Potter, because he's a scary boyfriend in a lot of ways. He's a marked man. I think she's funny, and I think that she's very warm and compassionate. These are all things that Harry requires in his ideal woman. But, I felt — and I'm talking years ago when all this was planned — initially, she's terrified by his image. I mean, he's a bit of a rock god to her when she sees him first, at 10 or 11, and he's this famous boy. So Ginny had to go through a journey as well. And rather like with Ron, I didn't want Ginny to be the first girl that Harry ever kissed. That's something I meant to say, and it's kind of tied in.
One of the ways in which I tried to show that Harry has done a lot of growing up — in Phoenix, remember when Cho comes into the compartment, and he thinks, 'I wish I could have been discovered sitting with better people,' basically? He's with Luna and Neville. So literally the identical thing happens in Prince, and he's with Luna and Neville again, but this time, he has grown up, and as far as he's concerned he is with two of the coolest people on the train. They may not look that cool. Harry has really grown. And I feel that Ginny and Harry, in this book, they are total equals. They are worthy of each other. They've both gone through a big emotional journey, and they've really got over a lot of delusions . . . together. So, I enjoyed writing that. I really like Ginny as a character."
The queen spoke, and who are we to question her?
— Additional reporting by Lauren Harano