Ron and Hermione at the Yule Ball

[sistermagpie]

In his totally enjoyable read-through of GoF, pauraque has gotten to the Yule Ball, and Ron's treatment of Hermione therein. It made me look at it from Ron's pov

In his recap of chapter 23 he says :

'Viktor's just gone to get some drinks.'

Ron gave her a withering look.

'Viktor?' he said. 'Hasn't he asked you to call him Vicky yet?'

Hermione looked at him in surprise.

'What's up with you?' she said.

'If you don't know,' said Ron scathingly, 'I'm not going to tell you.' (366)

'[H]e said he'd been coming to the library every day to try and talk to me, but he hadn't been able to pluck up the courage!'

[...]

'Yeah, well -- that's his story,' said Ron nastily.

'And what's that supposed to mean?'

'Obvious, isn't it? He's Karkaroff's student, isn't he? He knows who you hang around with ... he's just trying to get closer to Harry[...]' (367)

pauraque: Goddamn! I generally like Ron, but he's such a bitch in this scene. The "If you don't know, I'm not telling you" is especially outrageous (I despise it when people say that to me), but telling his supposed friend that she only got a date because he's trying to spy on Harry? Again, I don't really get it... If the idea is that he's attracted to her, WHY is he constantly putting her down? WHY does he keep going on about how absurd it is that anyone could BE attracted to her? He honestly sounds like he's jealous of her for dating him, not jealous of him for dating her. No slash goggles required. Hermione is right to get upset.

This made me first realize that Ron does the same thing to Hermione as Arthur does to Percy. She shows up pleased with herself for having been chosen by someone and looking nice, and Ron says Viktor could never like her for herself, he just wants to get to Harry. So she's even more humiliated, because she was feeling so good the moment before.

As pauraque points out, Ron really is a bitch in this scene. I started thinking about why. We know the Weasleys, for all of Ginny's sass, are a very traditional family. All the boys are very protective of their little sister. Ron's "almost calling Ginny a slut," as angry as it makes fandom, is not just Ron almost calling Ginny a slut, it's Ron concerned that his sister will be called a slut by others for making out with people in public--think Tony Manero to Angela in Saturday Night Fever: "Are you happy now? Now you're a pig." It's ugly, but Ron's and the Twins' concern isn't just about their being stupid, it's about how they see the world working. Ron's not really wrong after all--people in fandom actually do call Ginny a slut!

That was a total tangent, written really just to point out that the Weasleys are very traditional and often unsophisticated when it comes to men and women, and this has always suited them just fine. They make a distinction between "girls like this" and "girls like that." And I think that unfortunate, ugly subtext is present in Ron's accusations of Hermione here. His anger at her and his accusations, to me, echo Molly's "scarlet woman" accusations of later on.

But I don't think that's all it is. I don't think the problem is that Ron thinks Hermione is a whore in the scene. I think it's something more about Ron. We're hit over the head with the fact that the boys don't even immediately recognize Hermione when she walks into the ball. (I'll quote pauraque here because he's funny>:

It was Hermione.

But she didn't look like Hermione at all. She had done something with her hair; it was no longer bushy, but sleek and shiny, and twisted up into an elegant knot at the back of her head. She was wearing robes made of a floaty, periwinkle-blue material, and she was holding herself differently somehow -- or maybe it was merely the absence of the twenty or so books she usually had slung over her back.

[...]

Parvati was gazing at Hermione in unflattering disbelief. She wasn't the only one, either[...] (360)

And her eyes were violet, and she was the last of the cat people, and she was secretly Sirius's daughter, and a flying unicorn Animagus, and and and!

*snicker* Honestly.

While my first thought is to think Ron and Harry don't recognize Hermione because as described she sounds like a chaperone in her periwinkle and modest twist hair, we get that she's supposed to be suddenly pretty. We're not told she's wearing make-up, perhaps because Harry might not think of it or perhaps because, in the fine tradition of Mary Sues, Hermione does not have to wear it, but I'm assuming she is enjoying the effects make-up can give even without using it: it makes her look different.

She is different, probably even more so for Ron. Ron, I think, divides the world very clearly between one type of girl and another. This is why he gets uncomfortable when the one kind (like his sister) acts like the other kind (by making out in a hallway). In Hermione's case, though, I don't think Ron is upset by Hermione dressing in a way that suggests she's sexually available in a general way. I think her showing up as a different girl with Viktor makes him upset that she's not this girl with *him.*

I mean, from the girls' pov--certainly from Hermione's--it's very empowering and sensible to say you're not going to waste time dolling yourself up everyday. But from the boys' pov it may be more straightforward: you make an effort to look pretty for him and not for me. Ron spends time with the bushy-haired Hermione who snaps and nags. Viktor comes along and she goes to great lengths to do what Ron isn't worth--get dolled up. I would suspect that up until this moment it never occurred to Ron that she *could* look like that, because in his mind there's girls who do and girls who don't. It's all very well to demand, on principle, that a boy be less shallow, but they really do often see a huge difference depending how one is dressed.

See, there's always a lot of emphasis put on the fact that Ron never treats Hermione well--he takes her for granted, he drools over Fleur, he doesn't even notice she's a girl. But by showing up at the ball with Viktor looking like that, Hermione is doing the exact same thing as Ron, making it clear that she does not find him desirable or care about him desiring her, it's *Viktor* she desires and wishes to find her desirable. pauraque describes Ron here as telling his friend that it's absurd that anyone could be actually attracted to her, but that may not be his intention. He doesn't insult Hermione's attempt at transformation or criticize her attempt to look pretty. It's more like he's accusing her for looking pretty all along and criticizing the man she's looking pretty for--he has nefarious motives.

And Hermione continues to do this throughout the series. Angry that Ron doesn't notice her, Hermione becomes even more adamant about not going out of her way to "chase" him. *He's* supposed to notice she's attractive and show her he has. Instead he goes after Lavender-and what did Lavender do? She treated Ron like a boy! She flirted with him, batted her eyelashes, made it clear she was interested. Everyone seems to take it for granted that it's obvious Hermione likes Ron (Harry knows it, but perhaps a "real" Harry, one who isn't really a fictional construct written by a woman, would not), but really, this is the only time in canon when Hermione really suggests that she's interested in this type of thing, and it's for somebody else. It's not that unbelievable to think that Ron, upon seeing Hermione at the ball, is drawing the same line that Hermione feels Ron is drawing for Fleur: that's a person I'm interested in sexually; you do not get that kind of notice from me. Ron's "Hermione, you're a girl!" line in GoF is pointed to as an example of his cluelessness--Viktor immediately saw her as a girl. But ironically, Hermione has yet to actually do the reverse with Ron. It's Lavender who treats him like a boy, not Hermione.

With Hermione safely tucked into the same category as "sisters" for Ron, he's probably unaware of how his staring at Fleur comes off to her--he doesn't think Hermione thinks about stuff like that anyway. As far as he's concerned at that moment, any romance within the Trio is unthinkable. Then, from his pov, Hermione suddenly reveals herself to have been a "real girl" all along, only that part of her is reserved for boys other than Ron, just as Ron's attention to female beauty seems to her to be reserved for girls like Fleur.

This is the reason Ron is such a bitch in the scene. He's not just putting her down out of spite, or being insensitive. I think he sees Hermione's appearance at the ball as a rejection, a sign that Hermione withholds this from him for a reason, and he automatically falls into a clumsy defense of himself: Oh, so you're "one of those girls" for him? I'm not good enough for you? Well, I'm the one who likes you for yourself. He's just trying to get to Harry.

I think this is why JKR can drag this romance out in ways that H/G could never have been. Harry and Ginny have never been "just friends." They began their relationship as a potential couple with Ginny's crush. Not to mention the fact that Ginny has always been a potential love object, period. Throughout the series she's pursued and been pursued by males. There's no "wait, you're a girl?" moment with Ginny, because being a girl has always been her main defining feature.

p.s. So I see one comment about changing the "currents" on my flist and finally tackled S2. I felt like I had to try to keep things as close to the same as possible, but I'm still tweaking. I think I spent about 5 hours last night working on getting things almost the same, just to change that one thing!

Comments

[anehan]

"I don't want anyone else to find you attractive"

I definitely think that Ron is a person who could think like--if only subconciously. Like Magpie said, the Weasleys are old-fashioned, and Ron has exactly the same kind attitude when he freaks out because of Ginny's boyfriends. It's the 'no sister/girlfriend/wife of mine is that kind of woman' attitude.

I think it's possible that, should Ron and Hermione date and marry each other, it might cause some conflicts. Ron might not like it if Hermione were to show her beautiful or lively side outside their home, and Hermione certainly doesn't take kindly to that kind of interference. I think it's clear Hermione comes from a liberal family and does not understand Ron's more traditional opinions.

[violaswamp.livejournal.com]

I think it's clear Hermione comes from a liberal family and does not understand Ron's more traditional opinions.

You know, I'm not sure about that. Hermione's family is probably liberal, and so is Hermione herself, but at the same time she seems to share the contempt that Ron and Harry have for women who are overtly pretty and "feminine" and flirty--e.g. Cho, Fleur, Parvati, or Lavender.

[anehan]

True. I completely forgot that. And now I wonder why she'd want to become like them for the Yule ball (flirtatiousness excluded) when she usually is dismissive of them.

[ackonrad.livejournal.com]

at the same time she (Hermione) seems to share the contempt that Ron and Harry have for women who are overtly pretty and "feminine" and flirty--e.g. Cho, Fleur, Parvati, or Lavender.

This is why I've always wondered why Hermione doesn't hold any contempt for Ginny, who is, exactly like the girls you mentioned, pretty, popular, flirty and feminine. It's not as though Lavender or even Cho have had more boyfriends than Ginny, or have had every stranger on the street comment on their beauty.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Ginny doesn't work for it, is probably the idea. She's just as contemptuous as Hermione about people who care about their looks. She can't help it that she happens to be naturally pretty! And far from being flirty, she pushes boys around and they correctly fall at her feet.

[ackonrad.livejournal.com]

She can't help it that she happens to be naturally pretty!

But Fleur and Cho and Parvati are naturally pretty, too - Seamus called the Patil twins the prettiest girls in their year, and Cho's popularity is partly due her good looks, too. As for Fleur, she is part Veela - it's not her fault she's been born pretty either.

It's probably JKR trying to be logical and failing miserably, if you ask me. One one side, we're supposed to dislike girls like Cho who happen to be pretty and popular, on the other side, we're supposed to drool over Ginny, who is - surprise! - pretty and popular, too. WTF?

She's just as contemptuous as Hermione about people who care about their looks.

Um, can you point out to me when Ginny says that or does something to indicate it, because as much as I try to remember such a moment, I can't.

And far from being flirty, she pushes boys around and they correctly fall at her feet.

Are we supposed to believe this is how she got Michael and Dean, too? If yes, then we can expect a lovesick Zacharias Smith in the next book. *gags*

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Um, can you point out to me when Ginny says that or does something to indicate it, because as much as I try to remember such a moment, I can't.

My bad. I just assumed it. We never hear, that I can think of, of post-OotP Ginny saying anything about her books. I just assume she's think any girl who didn't have her interests and outlook and was also popular was shallow. I mean, she's so aggressively "I couldn't care less" about guys except for Harry. I don't think we're supposed to think of Cho as shallow, actually. She's wimpy and all, and her hanging around with girls doesn't bode well for her in OotP, but she doesn't ever seem too described as being too into her looks, so she's okay. If she were really into her looks Harry would no doubt not have been "fooled" as long as he was.

Are we supposed to believe this is how she got Michael and Dean, too? If yes, then we can expect a lovesick Zacharias Smith in the next book. *gags*

This yes, I do think is true. Of her whole relationship with Michael we basically hear about her hexing him while he won't hex her back at the DA, we hear her going over to order Michael to do something in OotP, and then she says she dumped him because he was a bad loser. With Dean she says she's "chosen him" in response to Ron, and says when Dean expects her to hang out with him, but in their relationship we hear she's pissed at him over Harry's Quidditch accident, and she snipes at him for "helping" her through the portrait hole. She puts down Blaise, whom Pansy says finds her attractive.

The Weasly Princess

[(Anonymous)]

Ginny is the Weasley Princess, the only girl, the youngest, protege of her twin brothers, "protected" by Ron, and even Percy, and given Bill and Charlie's ages, has probably been their adorable little baby sister that they indulge and admire. She's used to being in the focus of attention of men, she knows how get her way, she's not intimidated by how boys act, she probably expects boys to notice her, and to be able to get them to do as she wants. I can't remember ever hearing something about her looks, though, before Blaise's comment, but I'll assume she's always been pretty.

I think she does care about looks, look at how she loves the idea of being able to change looks by will when Tonks is present. Harry's not that interested, Ginny and Hermione are riveted. (I actually don't think Hermione is that uninterested in looks either, her non-daily-dolling-up looks to me to be a of principle and rebellion more than lack of vainness, but...) She also cares about how it will look that she goes to the ball with Neville, whom she obviously thinks is a little bit beneath her.

I think it's interesting how she reacts the first time she gets serious competition, because that's exactly what Hermione is not. Hermione is safe. (As is Luna, I can't remember any other female friends, even though I'm sure she has some, probably a little bit afraid of her.) Hermione is not only less attractive, but within the Weasleys she's only Ron's second best friend, easily expandable as shown by Mrs Weasley's chocolate eggs. Hermione does not threaten Ginny in any way. Fleur, on the other hand, does.

I haven't reread HBP yet, so, I may be remembering things wrong, but I got a clear feeling that Ginny was jealous of Fleur, and that she resented Fleur being in the house and being with a Weasley at least partly because she's competition. Fleur is probably more attractive than Ginny, what with the Veela genes and all, she's exotic, she's powerful and smart -- the most powerful and smart in her whole school!, she's older, experienced with handling men, used to getting her own way, and here she is, living with them, disrupting Ginny's normal status. Both Bill and Ron seem to prefer Fleur. The horror! That bitch, Phlegm! Let's get her out of the way.

Heh. I don't like Ginny. Can you tell? ;-)

- Clara

Re: The Weasly Princess

[slinkhard.livejournal.com]

Hermione is safe.

Oh, yes. Ginny's aware Hermione doesn't want Harry; Hermione is, for obvious reasons, okay with Ginny being around Ron. Funny, for all the 'Slytherin is the political house' and 'Lavendar/Parvati/Pansy are shallow'; those two have an alliance apparently based entirely around mutually benefitting each other chasing guys.

I got a clear feeling that Ginny was jealous of Fleur

Yup, at one point, and very rarely for her (catching her fly with honey, and all) she even snarked at Harry for liking her, iirc.

Re: The Weasly Princess

[(Anonymous)]

Uh - She might have been competition for her brothers' attention - but certainly not Harry's and I very much hope she is far more interested in that kind of attention from him.
To see how she deals with competition, look at the Easter Egg scene again: Harry seems upset, she confronts him, and tells him that he could still approach Cho. It seems she's more interested in Harry being happy, than being happy with her.
She's really not all bad ;-)

[go-back-chief.livejournal.com]

Um, can you point out to me when Ginny says that or does something to indicate it, because as much as I try to remember such a moment, I can't

Well, there is the "Phlegm".

[violaswamp.livejournal.com]

That is weird. Maybe because Ginny's more "masculine" in her behavior--i.e. aggressive and unemotional--than those other girls?

[saturniia.livejournal.com]

Yes, but at the same time, Ginny falls into at least two categories that the others don't: "Ron's sister" and "sporty girl". As Ron's sister, Ginny's not in competition with Hermione the same way the other girls are; she's not a potential girlfriend of Ron, the boy in whom Hermione has the most interest. As a "sporty girl", she has something in common with Cho in the same way a basketball player has something in common with a track star or dancer.

The Seeker, like Cho, is the track star/dancer. The position places great physical demands on the player, since the Seeker must accelerate and decelerate quickly, dive, climb, and make turns with split-second accuracy, and constantly keep alert for a little golden ball. At the same time, though, the snitch is the only thing that needs to have the Seeker's constant focus (well, the snitch and the score, but the snitch is the only thing actually on the pitch). Yes, the Seeker must also be alert for bludgers and beaters, but these are occasional hazards, since the seeker can fly high above and below the rest of the field of play. Furthermore, Cho isn't as "good" as Harry (since Gryffindor has a pretty good record of beating Ravenclaw. Cho could very well beat both Draco Malfoy and the Hufflepuff seeker with one hand tied behind her back, but that's neither here nor there).

The Chaser, on the other hand, is like a basketball player. He or she is right in the thick of the action, passing, catching, dodging bludgers and bats and elbows. The awareness of the Chaser is different from that of the Seeker because the Chaser must always process tens of stimuli at once: all that I've listed above, plus the distance from the ground, the distance to one's own goals, the distance to the opposing team's goals, the positions of one's own and also the opposing Keeper. The physical demands may be less along the Z-axis (left-right=x, in front-behind=y, up-down=z when one is facing the goals with feet toward the ground) and the ball of which a Chaser keeps track may be larger, but the other physical challenges are equal or greater.

Woo, I've gotten off on a tangent. Anyway, my point is this: Hermione doesn't have contempt for Ginny because they're not in competition, and because Hermione seems to respect "sporty girls".

[(Anonymous)]

I always read it kind of the other way around, actually-- girls like Lavender and Parvati have no interest in Hermione because Hermione *isn't* the type to fawn over the boys and spend hours on her hair.

But, I also freely admit that I might be projecting some of myself into Hermione's character on that point-- I was always a plain, bookish girl who didn't care enough about her looks to do anything with her hair, and frankly, I spent my early teenage years wishing I could be part of a group somewhere, though it took me quite a while to find one. And, as I grew older, I developed a real contempt for those girls who were sickeningly sweet when they wanted a lab partner, and who made condescending comments about showing me something to do with my hair. I've always had a hard time carrying on conversations with females my own age-- they seem to be talking about tv shows I don't watch, magazines I don't read, stores I don't shop at and clubs I don't go to. On the flip side, if I try to engage them in a conversation about the theme of voicelessness in The World According to Garp, most of my peers look at me like I've sprouted two heads-- they've never read the book, and if they did, they certainly wouldn't equate a dozen characters with speech problems to societal oppression and taboo.

The contempt/disinterest was and is entirely mutual, and that's what I see between Hermione and Lavender/Parvati-- girls who have nothing in common, and who each represent something the other yearns for.

In the first book, we do see a Hermione who feels very sharply that she's an outcast and a misfit-- she's crying in the bathroom, remember? Why? Because Ron made a comment about no one liking her.

Ginny, by contrast, does like Hermione. She (at least kind of) knows her through Ron, so Ginny is a different type of girl. For one thing, she's not competition, for another, she and Hermione *do* have something in common-- Ron, and Harry later on. Aside from that, I've never had the impression that Ginny is shallow, the way Lavender and Parvati and Cho come off. Ginny is witty and smart and talented, and I get the impression that she could hold her own in a conversation with Hermione. I can see Lavender kind of smiling and playing dumb (whether she actually is or not).

Once again, though, I'm projecting into all of these girls. I see Parvati and Lavender as the cheerleader-types, pretty, popular, flirty and feminine, yes, but nothing else. Ginny, by contrast, adds athletic, powerful, witty and sensible to the mix.

[dazzleberry.livejournal.com]

And the anon post was from me

[ackonrad.livejournal.com]

girls like Lavender and Parvati have no interest in Hermione because Hermione *isn't* the type to fawn over the boys and spend hours on her hair.

I would accept this as an explanation if it wasn't for two things - first, we don't know that much about Lavender and Parvati to put them into the 'cheerleader girl' category, and second, in HBP Hermione spent most of her time being concentrated on Ron and dating other boys just to annoy him, so IMO, she definitely was fawning over him. In comparison, we haven't seen Parvati fawn over anyone, and as for Lavender, just like Hermione, we've seen her fawning over one boy, namely Ron. I can't recall to have read anywhere that Parvati and Lavender are girls who fawn over boys and think of their pretty hair. Sure, we've seen them giggle a couple of times, but then again, we've seen Ginny giggle, too. Sure, Lavender and Parvati did admire Professor Trelawney, who is a horrible teacher, but Hermione and Ginny admired Hagrid, who is a horrible teacher, too. IMO, Lavender and Parvati are too vague described to be put into a certain category and say that Hermione wasn't worthy of them because she is a bookworm. It's Hermione who talked condescendingly of Fleur, not the other way around.

In the first book, we do see a Hermione who feels very sharply that she's an outcast and a misfit-- she's crying in the bathroom, remember? Why? Because Ron made a comment about no one liking her.

Well, I know I'm going to be in the minority with this comment, but I think that it's not easy to like Hermione. I was a studious girl, too, and even though I've always been vain, I happened to be very good friends with a girl the type you described - girl who didn't pay attention to her looks and was a bookworm like me nonetheless. The problem is, however, that this is not the only thing that characterises Hermione. She is a lot more than a girl who doesn't care about her hair and reads a lot. Being a bookworm and being an annoying (IMO) Know-It-All is not necessarily related.

Aside from that, I've never had the impression that Ginny is shallow, the way Lavender and Parvati and Cho come off.

Well, it seems that we have a very different perception of Ginny and therefore can't agree on that. I see the way Ginny treated both Michael (dumping him because he was a bad loser and then going and crashing into Zacharias Smith after a Quidditch match because of something he said is shallow to me) and Dean (dumping him because he wanted to help her to go through the portrait of the Fat Lady is shallow in my eyes) as not only shallow, but also immature. I don't see why exactly people think that Lavender sucking face with Ron makes her shallow, but Ginny sucking face with Dean makes her mature.

Ginny is witty and smart and talented

This is, again, a matter of opinion. I agree about the talented part, but I've never found anything Ginny's said witty or funny. The entire 'Phlegm' comments were lame and IMO, spoke of a girl who has a lot of growing to do. As for the smart part, I still have to see it, because only hearing of her amazing use of the Bat-Bogey hex can't convince me she's as wonderful as JKR clearly wants her to be.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Actually, I do think that Parvati and Lavender are subtly shown to be a bit more interested in looks in the narrator's opinion--and this is coming soley from my memory of a scene where Parvati is curling her eyelashes with her wand while they talking about Firenze being the new teacher. There she and Lav are being mildly provoking to Hermione, but only to say they bet Hermione now regrets dropping Potions (where she was rude to the teacher they like).

Hermione, otoh, to me always seems negative and impatient about Parvati and Lavender in ways we've never seen them be about her. I honestly can't think of any time that the two of them seem to be obnoxious to her. It's more that she shows impatience towards them. I can only remember Pansy being mean to her about her looks.

It does seem to me that Hermione doesn't have friends in her dorm, which would make me lonely--in OotP it honestly seems like she is staying up late to avoid bedtime with her dormmates. But like you said, it's a bit of a leap to say this is because the other girls rejected her first because she was too intellectual, and not necessarily fair to say that they are incapable of any interesting conversation. Parvati stands up for people at times in the books and Lavender is one of the kids who stays behind to help with Hagrid's Skrewts so they're not overly prissy, even if they are very much girls. What we more get is Hermione's attitude, which seems to be frankly superior, so why assume it was them who were rejecting first? Like you said, there's a difference between being bookish and being a know-it-all, and Harry and Ron don't like Hermione first year either. They're hardly intellectual companions. I mean, not being interested in fashion or make-up doesn't immediately make you a deep person, and looking fashionable doesn't make you shallow. Even Harry finds it a bit tedious hanging out with Hermione alone.

Cho doesn't start getting disapproval until OotP where she seems to be confused and grieving over a boy she really liked, and this is eventually characterized as a character flaw (even while Harry is having his own tantrums all over the place). I have a problem with the way the narration seems to view groups of giggling girls--i.e., a group of girls who are laughing together. Why is MWPP ("let's play dumb jokes and talk about sports!") held up as a great example of friendship but two or more girls enjoying "girlie" jokes shallow? From Harry's pov I think it's just supposed to be a joke on girls being intimidating to him, but sometimes the narrator seems to add something more judgmental.

As for Hermione and Ginny, as I've said before, to me their relationship reads like two sisters in law. They're friends through their men, not because Ginny is so much more witty or talented than other girls in the school (which I certainly don't think she is-and really, if Ron called somebody "Pghlem" would Hermione consider it witty?). I don't think they'd any more be friends than Hermione and Hannah Abbot if Ginny wasn't a Weasley. But then, I also am annoyed by that scene that makes it clear the H/G is about to happen--Hermione gets too critical of Harry and Ginny gets, imo, unnecessarily vicious (and that's when I knew H/G was just around the corner). The structure of their relationship has always been built around the men folk. Parvati, Lavender and Cho are the ones who have "best friends" who are girls, and unfortunately this sometimes seems to be part of their problem.

[funwithrage.livejournal.com]

Well, as someone who pretty much shares her opinions of said girls, it's also the obsession with *trying* to be pretty, the overemotionalism, and so forth that distinguish the group.

[slinkhard.livejournal.com]

When are Lavendar and Parvati overemotional?

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Actually, they're not obsessed with trying to be pretty either, that I can think. Parvati and Padma *are* pretty, it seems to me. Like I said, there's that one moment where Parvati is curling her eyelashes at the table, but she doesn't seem to have to put in that much effort.

[slinkhard.livejournal.com]

I remember Lavendar crying because her bunny died, but that doesn't seem excessive - one sob in six years of school is probably less than I ever managed, and I'm the least emotional person I know.
I mean, Ginny and Hermione have both cried more than that, and over 'pettier' issues.

[funwithrage.livejournal.com]

Well, "Won-Won" and so forth pretty much does it for Lavendar. I admit there's not as much evidence for Parvati, but their reactions to astrology and so forth do resonate very much with the "it feels right and thus it must be true" school which comprises the clientele of the Psychic Friends Network et al.


Perhaps I should've said overemotional and/or flakey.

[gingersomething.livejournal.com]

that could just be simple jealousy, though.

[copa-cetic.livejournal.com]

Someone was talking about how Ginny is shallow for dumping Michael and Dean-but think about it-when you're fifteen, you don't really need much of an excuse to break up with someone if you think that you're not compatible with the other person. That's the thing with teen dating, it doesn't have to be serious, and I thought the whole portrait hole thing was just tensions mounting over something stupid.

[gingersomething.livejournal.com]

you're exactly right. i think sometimes people forget that these kids are still supposed to be kids. that's why they don't act maturely, haha.