By The Books
(Ginny Weasley as Written)

Benjamin A. Sorensen

The function of this analysis is not to pair Harry up with another character. Nor, indeed, is it to cast aspersions upon J. K. Rowling’s epilogue¹. It is simply to look at what the books themselves have to say about the relationship between Harry and Ginny. The study will be further subdivided into the following categories: the inspiration for their attraction, the form of attraction, and the methods Ginny uses to achieve her goal. I would discuss Harry’s methods, but it is clear that he needs merely to crook his finger to make her come running. Such requires no analysis.

Inspiration, or It’s Not How You Play, But Who You Win

Ginny Weasley shows up fairly early on. Her first words on the subject of Harry Potter are “Oh, [Mum], can I go on the train and see him, [Mum], oh please . . .” (I 97) Well enough for a young girl. Nevertheless, the source of Ginny’s attraction to Harry Potter finds its roots in his being a celebrity. It is clear enough that Harry does not approve of this approach. “Hermione’s words about Krum kept coming back to him. ‘They only like him because he’s famous!’ Harry doubted very much if any of the girls who had asked to be his partner so far would have wanted to go to the ball with him if he hadn’t been a school champion. Then he wondered if this would bother him if Cho asked him.” (IV 389)

We never get the chance to find out; Cedric Diggory has already asked Cho. The clear implication, though, is that a relationship must have something more substantive than one of its members being a celebrity in order to properly function. Ginny is only attracted to Harry because he is a celebrity in the first book. “‘Harry Potter!’ she squealed. ‘Look, [Mum]! I can see–’” (I 308) It’s impossible for her to have based the attraction on anything else. She hasn’t even talked to him at this point, but she’s still jumping up and down and squealing. In the second book, we know that Harry did not communicate with anybody wizardly before arriving at the Burrow, and Ginny still doesn’t talk to him, so there’s been no communication between them over the summer. Her attraction still has nothing to do with Harry as a person and everything to do with Harry as a celebrity. This is all well and good; she’s not even twelve.

The question we must ask ourselves is whether the reasons for her attraction ever once change in the course of the books. I would submit that they do not. Obviously, in Chamber of Secrets they do not. Around Valentine’s Day, we learn that the extent of her attraction is that he conquered Voldemort. (II 238) Even when she’s trying to confess, she won’t talk to Harry, though she claims she was trying to tell him later on. (II 286, 323) Though Harry having saved her life now gives her a personal reason for being attracted to him, it hasn’t replaced the former. It has only worsened it. She doesn’t look on Harry as a person but as a hero. This does not change in the third book for the simple and sufficient reason that she does not interact with Harry in the third book. Harry, on the other hand, is noticing Cho because she’s pretty². Rowling states unequivocally that Ginny’s feelings have not changed in the fourth book: “[. . .]she had been very taken with Harry ever since his first visit to the burrow.” (IV 54)

Further on in the fourth book, Ginny shows that she has no clue what Harry’s personality is like by agreeing to dance with Neville, figuring that Harry will not ask her. (IV 401) Her reaction to discovering she has no clue what Harry’s actually like will be discussed later; for now, it is sufficient to say that after three and a half years of contact with him, she still does not understand the most basic elements of his personality. This means that, by the middle of the fourth book, her attraction still is not based on him as a person. The attraction is based strictly upon him as a celebrity – a desirable object, nothing more or less.

By the time we reach the fifth year, she has apparently given up and started dating other guys. This would be a positive development only if she has lost her previous obsession with Harry Potter. But if her obsession has continued, then it has continued on exactly the same basis. And this is precisely what we find in the sixth book. (VI 647) Ginny never once gave up her old attraction. And this attraction was based completely on Harry as a celebrity.

As for the source of Harry’s attraction, this is clear and simple. He was attracted to Cho because she looked good. His attraction to Ginny is based, from start to finish, on the exact same concept. The attraction first rears its large, scaly head³ when he sees Ginny body-locked with another boy. (VI 286) He imagines himself kissing Ginny, and that’s the only direction he wants their relationship to go, only more so. (VI 289) His dreams about her are physical in nature, and when they finally get together⁴, he isn’t looking for conversation. Harry’s attraction to Ginny is based entirely upon his concept of her as a sexual object. Any lingering fear that this may have changed by the end of the sixth book is erased by the beginning of the seventh book. (VII 116)

Form, or I Love What You Do When You Do What You Do . . . What?

Herein follows a summary of Harry and Ginny’s meaningful personal conversations in the seven books:

The break up at the end of the sixth book.

That’s it. Look for any contact beyond that indicating that their attraction is anything more than a physical liaison and you will not find it. It isn’t there⁵. As far as the books are concerned, their relationship consists of kissing one another. Anything else that he has done with Ginny, he has done with others. The entirety of their meaningful contact consists of Harry telling Ginny that they cannot be together because he must face Voldemort and Voldemort might use her as a weapon against him.

Given that this is their only meaningful conversation, we should look at it as highlighting the substance of their conceptions about the way the relationship is working. I will paraphrase; those who are interested may follow along with the conversation: (VI 646-647)

Harry: We need to break up.

Ginny: Your reason is pathetic, even though I haven’t heard it.

Harry: It has been great, but I have a responsibility.

Ginny: Apparently, the concept is foreign to me, as I don’t respond to this by asking if I can help you in your responsibility.

Harry: Voldemort used you to get at me once just because you’re my best friend’s sister. Now you’re something more, and you’ll be in danger because he’ll try to hurt you to get at me.

Ginny: I don’t care if I’m in danger.

Harry: I do.

Ginny: Since I’ve just conclusively shown that even when I’ve got you, I can’t understand your personality or emotions, I’ll look away from you over at the lake. In fact, to support this, I’ll tell you that only Hermione could tell me how to get you. But that didn’t work, because you didn’t notice me in the fifth year when I was being myself. You only noticed me once I gained sexual significance.

Harry: Apparently, Hermione is aware that I make decisions on impulse. I wish I’d had more time, except that I could have had it were I not paying attention to Cho, who was pretty, while you were busy being yourself through the fifth year.

Ginny: I still like you just because you’re a heroic celebrity. Heaven knows I’ve conclusively demonstrated that I’m not actually interested in you for yourself. If you doubt me, simply look at this conversation. How many times have I talked about your feelings? Once, at the end, and I got that wrong. You’re hunting Voldemort out of responsibility. The phrase “you wouldn’t be happy unless you were hunting Voldemort” indicates I’m more interested in my concept of you than in finding out what you’re actually like.

I wish I were exaggerating, but look at the points each are making in the conversation, and you will find that the discussion communicates what I’ve written. Ginny, for the bulk of it, is concerned only about herself and her feelings. The only time she mentions Harry’s feelings, she gets them completely wrong. For Harry’s part, he’s only marginally better at understanding her feelings, but on the positive side, he speaks of “we” and “you.” Ginny speaks of “I” and “me.” In other words, in the only conversation that has a direct bearing on their relationship, Ginny shows herself to be completely self-centered and ignorant of Harry’s feelings, while Harry shows that he’s idealizing the non-physical aspects of their relationship. He thinks “they understood each other perfectly” (VI 646), but when the chips are down, Ginny doesn’t understand the reason for the break-up. He has to explain it to her step by step.

With this being the only significant conversation between them, we have here an unformed and unstable relationship, and it doesn’t go anywhere after that. Even at the end of the seventh book, we still have the same unformed and unstable relationship, and we do not see the process by which it transforms to the point where they are actually capable building a solid family for their children, which is where the Epilogue jarringly puts them.

There is no evidence anywhere in their school years to suggest that Harry wants anything from Ginny but to sleep with her.

Methods, or How to Be a Scribe, Pharisee, and Slut

And there’s absolutely no evidence that Ginny objects to such. There is every indication that she would, in fact, welcome premarital sex with Harry. If there are those who are offended and shocked by this statement, I would dearly enjoy hearing their interpretation of why Ginny takes Harry alone to her bedroom, gives him a more passionate kiss than she has ever given him before, and allows Harry to grope her. (VII 115-116) Not only that, but she also flatly objects to Ron’s interruption.

It is clear that Ginny’s attempts to attract Harry have narrowed to the strictly physical by book six. The process is fascinating. Her first attempt occurs in the second book, of course, with the Valentine. Here she expresses her interest through words, and Harry does nothing.

This drives her into retreat through the third and fourth year. Then Hermione suggests a new plan of attack: “[. . .] get on with life, maybe go out with some other people, relax a bit around you [. . .] she thought you might take a bit more notice if I was a bit more – myself.” (VI 647)

This is the approach she used in the fifth book. However, just being herself was not enough to attract Harry’s interest. He spent the book interested in Cho Chang, who was pretty. It is in the sixth year that her approach shifts for the final time – and this time, it works. Her approach is to get Harry physically interested in her. Along the way, she becomes a hypocrite and a slut, both. This is a strong statement. It is unfortunately accurate.

We learn that Ginny dislikes Fleur. Mrs. Weasley disapproves of the wedding by saying, “Whereas Bill and Fleur . . . well . . . what have they really got in common? He’s a hard-working, down-to-earth person⁶, whereas she’s–” (VI, 93)

Here Ginny corrects Mrs. Weasley. “But Bill’s not that down-to-earth. He’s a Curse-Breaker, isn’t he, he likes a bit of adventure, a bit of glamour . . . I expect that’s why he’s gone after Phlegm.” (VI, 93)

The cat is out of the bag, here. Bill likes adventure and glamour, and so he went after the attractive and glamourous Fleur. Ginny’s conception of Harry, as their conversation at the end of book six shows, is that of a person who cannot be happy unless he’s hunting Voldemort. In other words, Ginny believes that Harry is somebody who likes adventure and glamour. Ginny hates Fleur for succeeding where Ginny has failed. Hence, “It’s the way she talks to me – you’d think I was about three!” (VI 91) The only negative comment Fleur makes that we hear is about cooking and chickens being the primary activities at the Burrow. But she doesn’t show any hint of talking down to any specific person. Indeed, her comments seem to be on the same level as decrying Hogwarts for not being Beauxbatons. Ginny has taken it personally, but we see no evidence of Fleur treating her as though she is three years old or singling her out.

She’s also disliked Fleur before Harry even shows up at the Burrow. Therefore her reasons for disliking Fleur are neither Mrs. Weasley’s nor Hermione’s⁷, and all we are left with is Ginny’s statement that Bill likes a bit of adventure and glamour, and that’s why he went for Fleur.

Ginny’s method in the sixth book is to convince Harry that she is a source of adventure by showing him just how physically frisky she can be. Along the way, she ceases to be herself in order to get Harry, and the hypocrisy starts shining through.

She mimes vomiting when she sees Fleur stroking Bill’s nose, but chews out Ron for being disgusted by her full-body kiss with Dean. (VI 108, 287)

She gets after Ron for talking about her dating life to Fred and George, but later on, we find she’s been talking about Ron’s dating life to Fred and George. (VI 121, 326)

Ginny shames Ron into practicing heavy kissing⁸ with Lavender, then calls him a “filthy hypocrite.” (VI 288, 300) Ginny maintains that Ron’s only objection is that he hasn’t done it himself. Later events prove the falseness of this. Ron engages in snogging, but grows disillusioned with it. Any sort of moral superiority on Ginny's part collapses because Ron realizes that snogging is not enough for a relationship, retreats from the girl, and finally breaks the relationship off. Afterwards, he still heartily disapproves of it. He is not a hypocrite for doing what Ginny suggested he do. He proves her wrong – something, incidentally, that she refuses to accept.

Ron still disapproves of the practice in the seventh book. (VII 117-118) Harry has not been just kissing Ginny. Ron clearly states that he was groping (Harry does not argue the point), and Ginny is still just as angry when he calls her down for it. Ginny, not Ron, is the hypocrite in this matter – Ron tried it, and it didn’t change his position. His mumbled excuses show clearly that he was troubled by it even while he was doing it. Ginny’s comments – especially the crack about “he’s got to refine his technique somehow” (VI, 300) – show that she looks on intimate physical contact as nothing more than a tool. This is her ultimate hypocrisy. She tried being herself in the fifth book in order to get Harry to like her, and it failed, so she will accept using blunt physical attraction as a means to get Harry to lust after her, and then call that love.

She does this by the simple expedient of dating other boys and kissing them where Harry can see her. She chooses the shortcut Harry usually takes to engage in snogging with Dean. This cannot be accidental. She’s been obsessed with Harry as a celebrity and trophy catch since before she went to Hogwarts; there is no way she would not know his habitual routes if she is to be believable as a character.

She has chosen to demonstrate her particular technique there because Harry is bound to come that way, and he will see her in action. She uses her physical attractiveness to get him, but she’s already given it to other boys. The expression “snogging” does not denote a quick kiss. It denotes all the usual groping, and she has done this with any number of boys, not because she was seriously interested in them, but because she has never given up hope and is trying to make Harry physically jealous.

Not emotionally jealous. Physically jealous. How else does one define a slut other than one who engages in intimate physical contact without regard for the strength of the relationship?

That this approach works is no good reflection on Harry, but it is consistent in that he has always made his decisions based on impulse rather than on intellect or emotional sensitivity. But Harry’s feelings for her are from start to finish triggered by lust, and nothing in the books changes this.

Ginny’s feelings from start to finish are triggered by the desire to nab a celebrity. The books give no evidence that this changes. The methods that win her the prize are relentlessly physical, and the seventh book makes it clear that if she could, she’d sleep with him early and often. There’s no other way to interpret her taking him up to her bedroom to engage in groping.

Conclusion, or The Lack Thereof
And because we see no change in the books in either of those attitudes, there’s every reason to consider that Ginny and Harry have gotten married in the Epilogue because they had to. The Epilogue is jarring for this reason among others. Ginny is so completely absent from the seventh book that there was never opportunity to see the relationship grow into something more than lust on one part and the manipulation of lust on the other. Tragedies are founded on such. Not families.

Notes

1. I do that elsewhere.

2. We all know how that turned out.

3. Rowling's words, not mine.

4. Such as it is.

5. Some might argue for the possession conversation in the fifth book. The unfortunate truth of the matter there, however, is that this is an example of a meaningful conversation initiated by Hermione and involving a group. Ginny is an adjunct, not a focus. If Ginny had been the one to beat down Harry's door and force him to talk, then we'd have something solid to work with.

6. One wonders how Mrs. Weasley describes Fleur serving Harry breakfast in bed as though Fleur were a maid.

7. Fleur's obvious effect on Ron.

8. One need only use the search term "snogging" at Youtube for a practical example of what Ginny was doing and what she thought Ron ought to be doing. "Heavy kissing" is putting it delicately.

* All quotations from the American release hardcover versions. "Mum" substituted for "Mom" according to, so tradition goes, J. K. Rowling's wishes.