Year 3 Hufflepuff

Rant ahead. If you can’t handle someone criticising Hermione, aggressivity, or foul language, then don’t fucking read this. 

This is my least favourite Romione moment from the books. No, scratch that. I fucking hate it because it makes me question my OTP. It does not even come close to any of Ron’s less than stellar moments because Hermione was fucking terrifying over here. I’m willing to bet anything that if the roles were reversed, Romione would NOT have as many shippers as it does. So many Romione fans who’ve happily and easily forgiven Hermione for this, would NOT have forgiven Ron. Go ahead. Prove me wrong, I fucking dare you. Tell me that you wouldn’t have painted Ron as “abusive boyfriend.” I’ll wait.    

Secondly, it does not compare to Ron telling Hermione that she’s “fraternizing with the enemy!” Ron did NOT ruin her Yule Ball night, even though the movie would say otherwise. Ron did NOT make Hermione cry. Ron did NOT imply that she couldn’t get a date. Hermione did NOT scream, “Ron you spoiled everything!” Hermione did NOT fake-cry on the stairs. Sure, Ron was rude to her but it’s not as dramatic as you think. They had a quarrel and got over it. What Hermione did with the birds was WAY worse.     

It angers me even more to see the dumbass side of this fandom excuse Hermione because “girls can be evil when they’re jealous omgg besides, Ron’s a guy who is physically stronger so he can handle it omg Hermony 4Eva!!” Or worse…morons who consider this as a badass!hermione moment, one she needs to be applauded for instead condemned, because vicious, abusive, crazy women are so awesome and cUtE!!1!! Oh. Sorry. I forgot this was the same fandom that shipped garbage like Bellatrix/Hermione. My bad.               

If I were Ron’s friend/GF/BFF/sibling/teacher/any responsible person who actually gives a fuck about Ron, I would’ve strongly discouraged him from being friends with Hermione ever again.  You know, for his own well-being and safety. To remind him to have a bit of self-respect for himself. Hermione clearly has violent outbursts which the narrative forgives and so do the fans and before you accuse me of Hermione bashing, that’s what bothers me. So, what’s going to happen in the future if she loses it with Ron again? Will she strike him? Canonically speaking, Ron has expressed remorse for his mistakes, apologized and learned from them but Hermione hasn’t. We know she considered this a cute/funny moment because of the “I haven’t ruled it out” line in the next book. What if Ron just takes it in? Good grief, what if Ron thinks he deserves it because Princess Hermione is too good for him? 

This helps me understand Lavender’s behaviour (lavender is my queen who deserved better and I, a Romione shipper, will fight for her) and I sympathise with her even more now. She didn’t like it when Ron spent time with Hermione and maybe…this is why? Maybe she didn’t trust Hermione or lost respect for her? I mean, come on. Would you want your bf/gf to spend time with a possessive, romantic rival whose attacked him? 

Oh, wait. I forgot. According to Ron bashers, Ron deserves to be attacked by canaries. Ron deserves to be /nastily/ told that he has “an emotional range of a teaspoon.” Ron deserves to be called an “insensitive wart.” Because hahaahahahahaha!! That shit is so funny, amirite? It’s a truth bomb dropped by Hermione fuckin’ Granger, therefore, we must accept it as a fact because Hermione Granger’s word is law and she can do no wrong!! (Looking at you, Emma Watson!)

Hermione can call Ron insensitive, a wart, imply that he’s incapable of feeling complex emotions, and all of that is justified because it’s a ~~true fact~~ but Ron can’t call her a know-it-all when she acts like, well, a know-it-all (and then defend her from Snape, thus, proving that he has remorse for calling her that) because that’s not true? Bitch what? Oh, I forgot. The H in Hermione stands for “hypocrite.“    

Lastly, the birds thing was NOT OOC for Hermione. Hermione CAN be very vicious and that is canon from the first book itself. However, if I improved/edited that scene, Hermione would’ve had a “what have I done” reaction. Not a “let me sob and slam the door on your face because I’m clearly the right one here” reaction. She would be punished. She would apologize to Ron. Then, they would resolve their issues, and have make-up sex. She would NOT be treated as a warrior queen who did the right thing. Seriously, in which universe, is it okay to physically ambush your friend simply because he decided to go out with another girl? (By the way, how fucking satisfying would it have been if McGonagall put Hermione in detention for hurting Ron and then confiscated her prefect badge until she completed her punishment? Oh, never mind. This is the same school where assholes get away with writing mock-songs for each other.)

People who accuse J.K Rowling for making Hermione “out of character” are the biggest hypocrites. I mean, I can easily scream “OOC!” every time Ron does something wrong. “My fave character was OOC when they did something bad” is a very selfish counter-argument, imo. But I don’t, because I take the characters for who they are. All of them. Every word, every page, every book. Every flaw, every shortcoming and every positive attribute. They do great things and I cheer for them. They make mistakes and I condemn them. But that doesn’t change the fact that I still love them. What I don’t like is when their bad actions are portrayed as positive, henceforth, my anger at the birds scene.

When hermione does something wrong: blame JKR!

When Ron does something wrong: blame Ron!!

Like, could they get any more hypocritical? 

You shouldn’t be blaming JKR for making Hermy “OOC.” You should be blaming her for portraying her actions as right. I know a lot of people are going to accuse me of bashing Hermione but rest assured, I do like Hermione. I just don’t like this part. I would be less angry with her if people criticised her as much as they condemn Ron for his flaws.

I for one dislike Hermione and ship her with Ron because Ron loves her and deserves to be loved by the woman he fell in love with.

But Hermione’s behaviour on the whole is infinitely more problematic than anything Ron might have done.

Ron being an ass during the Yule Ball night? Well yeah it’s not cool of him. And apparently he realized it because the following morning Hermione and he were back to talking like friends, “though oddly formal”, so that means he recognized he was being an ass and asked Hermione to forgive him. And he’s only 14, that’s super mature of him!! Obviously he drew lessons from his argument with Harry earlier this year!

Ron icing Hermione out after he finds out about her secret dating of Viktor Krum? Not cool, but Hermione should have been upfront with him. She could have trusted him. Ginny humiliating Ron was the worst way for him to find out about it. We know that Ron reacts very badly to betrayal - also why didn’t Harry try to clear the air between his two friends? Why did he just hover uselessly and let his friends suffer? I thought he was our compassionate hero, why wouldn’t he try to help at least a little, tell Hermione that Ginny told Ron something he didn’t like?

But for Hermione to bully Ron because he’s dating someone she doesn’t like? For her to mock him, ridicule him, abuse him and all that without so much as a slap on the wrist? No, that’s not okay, that’s in no way okay. Yeah it adds complexity to her character, certainly, but it would sure be nice if an adult could punish her for hurting another student!

‘She didn’t like it when Ron spent time with Hermione and maybe…this is why? Maybe she didn’t trust Hermione or lost respect for her? I mean, come on. Would you want your bf/gf to spend time with a possessive, romantic rival whose attacked him?’ 

@ronandhappiness Oh my gosh, your analysis on Lavender’s behaviour towards Hermione makes so much sense! I’m shocked that this isn’t talked about more often! OF COURSE Lavender wouldn’t want Ron to hang around Hermione after that! 

Lavender was probably terrified that Hermione would attack Ron again. I mean, after the bird attack, I’m amazed that Ron still wanted to be friends with Hermione. Imagine how the people around them must have felt. Most of Gryffindor Tower were likely at least half-aware of Hermione’s bird attack (gossip would travel fast when people saw Ron’s arm and facial cuts from the incident). To them, Ron becoming friends with Hermione again must have looked like someone forgiving an abusive friend for attacking them, even though the friend hadn’t really apologised. 

And I 100% behind the idea of McGonagall putting Hermione in detention for the bird attack, and taking away her prefect badge until she learnt her lesson. Ron was Hermione’s fellow prefect, McGonagall couldn’t have the two patrolling the corridors if Hermione had shown herself to be physically-abusive towards Ron. It would show Hermione that there were consequences to her actions, and that there was something very wrong in the way that she reacted to Ron dating Lavender.  

When hermione does something wrong: blame JKR!

When Ron does something wrong: blame Ron!!

Like, could they get any more hypocritical?

@headcanonsandmore Thank you!

I feel like Lavender/Ron get more shit than they deserve. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a healthy relationship because one person gave more than the other. I also find it hard to believe that Ron would pretend to be asleep every time Lavender came to visit him in the HW. Come on, Ron. I love you but that’s mean. Surely you’d appreciate a friendly face? She is your GF after all. That being said, the HP fandom is so quick to call Lavender “clingy” and condemn her for “stealing” Ron from Hermione but she’s not a bad person. She showed interest in a guy and the guy reciprocated. She didn’t do anything wrong. She has every right to be suspicious about Hermione, not only because she’s a romantic rival, but also because she hurt Ron.

Moreover, Lavender expressed her concerns to Harry and accused Hermione of liking Ron now that he was “interesting.” Now, her words would’ve carried more weight if she had walked up to Hermione and said something like, “does Ron have to face a near-death experience for you to pull your head out of the sand like an ostrich and start speaking to him? Well, that’s just sad.”

I just wish there was some build-up to Ron and Lavender becoming a couple. Lavender had never expressed an interest in Ron before. Sure, I have my own theories; maybe Lavender realised how handsome Ron got over the summer and she wanted a piece of that. Or because Ron had gained some popularity so maybe she just wanted to be romantically bonded to a popular bloke? Maybe she wanted to use Ron as her beard to hide her feelings for Parvati? The possibilities are endless.

One minute, Lavender was waving and smiling at Ron and a few chapters later, they were making out. I would’ve been so happy to see hints about Ron and Lavender bonding over anything, whether it was Quidditch, or O.W.L results or Gobstones or Chess or their outfits. Lavender asking Ron why he didn’t pass Divination considering he was good at it. Lavender casually praising him for what happened in the ministry, hearing Ron mutter something about “being the useless one” and quickly assuring him that he’s brave and brilliant and that developing into something more. Hermione’s relationship with Krum was developed. Even Cho and Harry had some build-up, even though it went downhill in Book 5. Why can’t Ron get some romance? I’m sure Ron and Lavender could’ve had a decent relationship if written correctly and they could’ve been amazing friends even after they broke up. (Oh crap. I think I started shipping Ron/Lav.)