Obsessive lurrrrrrrv
Reading too many a post by the Guns'n'Handcuffs people had got me thinking: Were the so-called H/D subtext (otherwisely known as text that can easily be taken out of context) purely unintentional?
It's unlikely Rowling is blissfully unaware of the barely underground empire that is slash, especially H/D fandom, what with Cassandra Claire's Draco Trilogy and Rhysenn's Irresistible Poison making news. Even in my post-OOTP-OMGisDracodoomedtoremainHogwartswalkingpunchbag?!!! state of mind I took notice of the Snarry-ness, and I didn't (still don't) ship Snarry! Of course, in OOTP Harry's official love interest was still Cho, and in HBP that role was taken over by Ginny, these alone theoretically should have shut the slashers up, and it is possible that (assuming Rowling is both aware of and does not want to encourage slashers) Rowling reasonably believes by having Harry bluntly snogging a *girl* all thoughts of him having romantic feelings toward another *male* would be dispelled.
I did see a few posts by ex-slashers admitting their defeat upon the undeniable establishment of H/G in canon, but they are most definitely of minority. Most of the canon-fodder-seeking H/Ders (the pure fanon folks truly can be stopped by NOTHING) seem to treat H/G as a) A necessary prelude to the epic that is H/D (most likely in a post-year-seven setting) or b) A necessary obstacle for H/D to eventually overcome or most simply c) Hadn't they broken up anyway?? It also seems that H/D shippers do not normally believe in monogamy, with some of them advocating Harry's having feelings for Draco (he just hasn't realized it yet) even when he's dating Ginny, and others already plotting fics in which Harry cheats on wife!Ginny with Draco after the series has come to an end.
Anyway, while pairing one male character with a female character is an effective way of killing a het-ship involving the said male or female character with someone else, the only effective (or *more* effective, at least) way to kill a slash ship would be making sure that the text depicting the two men/women's relationship to be unambiguously platonic. And "delusional" as we (again, canon-fodder-seeking) slashers are by nature, there are reasons some slash ships are much less popular than others.
So, what were the bits I found especially NOT unambiguously platonic in regards to H/D in HBP? They were mostly to do with obsession:
"Harry, however, had never been less interested in Quidditch; he was rapidly becoming obsessed with Draco Malfoy."
This sentence was "problematic" in that, to dispel unwanted brow-raising, it could totally have been written like: ... he was rapidly becoming obsessed with finding out what Draco Malfoy was up to. Which, some of the non-H/D shippers insist was of course what the obsession was referring to.
The "problem" further intensified when Ron said, "...You're getting a bit obsessed with Malfoy, Harry. I mean, thinking about missing a match just to follow him..." Again, obsessed with Malfoy, not what Malfoy might or might not be up to, or in short(and more Ron-speak-ish) the Malfoy 'thing'.
Then, Hermione chipped in by telling Harry firmly,"For the last time, just forget about Malfoy." Did the pair of them somehow see through the real driving force behind Harry's detective endeavor ;-)?
Adding fuel to the fire, was Slughorn's remark about Amortenia: ... he said, nodding gravely at Malfoy and Nott, both of whom were smirking skeptically. "When you have seen as much of life as I have, you will not underestimate the power of obsessive love." Now, while I fully believe Merope was the one this remark was supposed to remind us of, it's unlikely pure coincidence Harry's stalking behavior of Draco was described directly as obsessive twice (and indirectly numerous times more), and that Draco was mentioned in the middle of Slughorn's speech on obsessive love.
While I reckon it was necessary for the plot that Harry spied on Draco continuously (or how else were we able to watch Draco as he struggled and gradually grew into his own person?), I thought the description on Harry's part could easily have been vastly different, for example:
"Ron and Hermione are wrong about Malfoy, I'll show them!" Thought Harry indignantly, as his two best friends again shrugged off his theory about Malfoy's plan.
It just wasn't clear at all that proving himself right, or foiling Malfoy's evil attempt was what made Harry lose interest in Quidditch, his friend's turning 17, his duty as a Captain, and Dumbledore's assignment. Harry's behaviors were too irrational, too devoted, to a degree that was almost embarrassing (though as a shipper I only found it adorable).
So do I truly think Rowling is a closet H/D shipper, and was hiding her secret message to fellow shippers in the book like an Easter Bunny with chocolate eggs? Hardly. It just kind of feels like she was doing a fanservice, or telling a private joke, or baiting the H/D followers. All three scenarios (or accusations ;p) sound downright insane, but I can't help feeling there is something suspicious going on. *Locates Rowling on the map and starts stalking*
It's unlikely Rowling is blissfully unaware of the barely underground empire that is slash, especially H/D fandom, what with Cassandra Claire's Draco Trilogy and Rhysenn's Irresistible Poison making news. Even in my post-OOTP-OMGisDracodoomedtoremainHogwartswalkingpunchbag?!!! state of mind I took notice of the Snarry-ness, and I didn't (still don't) ship Snarry! Of course, in OOTP Harry's official love interest was still Cho, and in HBP that role was taken over by Ginny, these alone theoretically should have shut the slashers up, and it is possible that (assuming Rowling is both aware of and does not want to encourage slashers) Rowling reasonably believes by having Harry bluntly snogging a *girl* all thoughts of him having romantic feelings toward another *male* would be dispelled.
I did see a few posts by ex-slashers admitting their defeat upon the undeniable establishment of H/G in canon, but they are most definitely of minority. Most of the canon-fodder-seeking H/Ders (the pure fanon folks truly can be stopped by NOTHING) seem to treat H/G as a) A necessary prelude to the epic that is H/D (most likely in a post-year-seven setting) or b) A necessary obstacle for H/D to eventually overcome or most simply c) Hadn't they broken up anyway?? It also seems that H/D shippers do not normally believe in monogamy, with some of them advocating Harry's having feelings for Draco (he just hasn't realized it yet) even when he's dating Ginny, and others already plotting fics in which Harry cheats on wife!Ginny with Draco after the series has come to an end.
Anyway, while pairing one male character with a female character is an effective way of killing a het-ship involving the said male or female character with someone else, the only effective (or *more* effective, at least) way to kill a slash ship would be making sure that the text depicting the two men/women's relationship to be unambiguously platonic. And "delusional" as we (again, canon-fodder-seeking) slashers are by nature, there are reasons some slash ships are much less popular than others.
So, what were the bits I found especially NOT unambiguously platonic in regards to H/D in HBP? They were mostly to do with obsession:
"Harry, however, had never been less interested in Quidditch; he was rapidly becoming obsessed with Draco Malfoy."
This sentence was "problematic" in that, to dispel unwanted brow-raising, it could totally have been written like: ... he was rapidly becoming obsessed with finding out what Draco Malfoy was up to. Which, some of the non-H/D shippers insist was of course what the obsession was referring to.
The "problem" further intensified when Ron said, "...You're getting a bit obsessed with Malfoy, Harry. I mean, thinking about missing a match just to follow him..." Again, obsessed with Malfoy, not what Malfoy might or might not be up to, or in short(and more Ron-speak-ish) the Malfoy 'thing'.
Then, Hermione chipped in by telling Harry firmly,"For the last time, just forget about Malfoy." Did the pair of them somehow see through the real driving force behind Harry's detective endeavor ;-)?
Adding fuel to the fire, was Slughorn's remark about Amortenia: ... he said, nodding gravely at Malfoy and Nott, both of whom were smirking skeptically. "When you have seen as much of life as I have, you will not underestimate the power of obsessive love." Now, while I fully believe Merope was the one this remark was supposed to remind us of, it's unlikely pure coincidence Harry's stalking behavior of Draco was described directly as obsessive twice (and indirectly numerous times more), and that Draco was mentioned in the middle of Slughorn's speech on obsessive love.
While I reckon it was necessary for the plot that Harry spied on Draco continuously (or how else were we able to watch Draco as he struggled and gradually grew into his own person?), I thought the description on Harry's part could easily have been vastly different, for example:
"Ron and Hermione are wrong about Malfoy, I'll show them!" Thought Harry indignantly, as his two best friends again shrugged off his theory about Malfoy's plan.
It just wasn't clear at all that proving himself right, or foiling Malfoy's evil attempt was what made Harry lose interest in Quidditch, his friend's turning 17, his duty as a Captain, and Dumbledore's assignment. Harry's behaviors were too irrational, too devoted, to a degree that was almost embarrassing (though as a shipper I only found it adorable).
So do I truly think Rowling is a closet H/D shipper, and was hiding her secret message to fellow shippers in the book like an Easter Bunny with chocolate eggs? Hardly. It just kind of feels like she was doing a fanservice, or telling a private joke, or baiting the H/D followers. All three scenarios (or accusations ;p) sound downright insane, but I can't help feeling there is something suspicious going on. *Locates Rowling on the map and starts stalking*