Quora Questions, Harry Potter Fan Edition
This turned into a sort of spontaneous Harry Potter Fan Q&A via Quora. Hey, with snowflake going on, why not? I'm leaving this entry public for the occasion. :) Spoilers for all seven books.
Are you a Harry Potter fan who dislikes JK Rowling? Why?
Honestly? No. I do think she needs a publicist to advise her on what to and what not to say. I also don't think she's perfect, nor are her books. Her books are far from perfect, and I say this as someone who will always be a fan of them. But I don't dislike her as a person. Honesty, I think she's probably a nice person who means well.
Really, Jo makes me think of people I know and love IRL, who are good, even lovely people, but... the things they say or post on social media have me facepalming, because they just don't think about what they're saying. Especially online. The difference is that they're not world famous writers with thousands of followers. Or posting it online at all.
Finally, while I think there's a lot of legitimate criticism of both the books and the things JK Rowling has said, done, and defended... I do think some fans criticize her based on what they wish had happened in the books instead. That's not a fair fight; they're her books, and she wrote what she wrote.
Where did you think the relationship between Harry Potter and Hermione Granger would end up later in the series when you finished reading "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"?
I don't know if it was PS/SS specifically, but I actually kind of shipped Harry/Hermione until I got into fandom. And in the later books, they just seemed more like siblings than future romantic partners. I always felt that Ron and Hermione's relationship was heading towards romance, although if we're going to be honest, I didn't like how JKR eventually ended up writing it. I was iffy on Harry/Ginny too, for that matter. I didn't ship them at all before OoTP, but after OoTP, I really did. I just didn't like how they played out in HBP.
Why didn't anyone in Harry Potter use Felix Felicis (either Voldemort or his opposition) to accomplish their tasks?
That's a very good question, and one I have wondered about myself. My guess is that when used in excess, it would ultimately backfire, since bad things would still happen elsewhere. It could also lead to a lot of greed, when you think about it. Someone might originally use it with only good intentions, but start to use it to their own advantage. "Just this one time." (Isn't that what happened to Harry? HBP is the book I've re-read the least.) The books make it fairly clear that while wizards and witches can do magic, things like potions are not replacements for human action.
What were the problems with Rowling’s plotting for her romantic pairings in Harry Potter? How could Ron/Hermione, Ginny/Harry, and James/Lily been better developed?
I don't think there's much that could've been done with James and Lily, since we only really see them in flashbacks. With Ron/Hermione, I would've scrapped 87% of their arc in HBP. At best it was contrived, at worst we have Hermione attacking Ron with birds.
With Harry and Ginny, I really wish they'd developed from the friendship they were beginning to have in OoTP. That's why I started shipping them. Then in HBP we go back to Harry and Ginny barely interacting until towards the end, aside from Harry's chest monster.
What character's death upset you the most in the Harry Potter series?
Sirius's because of how I found out. I took a break while reading OoTP, and a friend IMed me on AOL. I didn't know she'd skipped to the end.
Friend: I know who dies.
Me: Who?
Me: WAIT WAIT WAIT, I MEANT TO TYPE HOW!
Friend: *At the exact same time* Sirius.
It pretty much ruined the book for me the first time around.
Is Snape Harry Potter's real dad?
Considering Harry looks just like James, I'd have to say no to that. Unless Lily was very skilled at DNA Modification Potions.
Did “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” ruin the series?
Not for me, personally. I just don't consider it canon.
What will be the next "Harry Potter" in literature?
I'm not sure. I feel like the big blockbuster books only really happen every few decades. That being said, I also think that Harry Potter came at a perfect time, as I call 1999-2008 The Collective Nerdgasm. We had the LOTR movies, we had the Star Wars prequels, Buffy was popular in internet nerd circles, Pirates of the Caribbean, even The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe ducked inside towards the tail end of it. That's just movies - there were also a lot of other popular fantasy series out, if less popular, like A Series of Unfortunate Events and His Dark Materials. I think Harry Potter also came just in time for teens who'd recently outgrown popular middle grade novels, for late teens and early twenty-somethings who were nostalgic for The Goonies.
I think that if The Hunger Games had come out around a similar time, it also might have had the same furor. I'd be curious to know when other universally popular books became huge hits, to see if there's a trend.
Are you a Harry Potter fan who dislikes JK Rowling? Why?
Honestly? No. I do think she needs a publicist to advise her on what to and what not to say. I also don't think she's perfect, nor are her books. Her books are far from perfect, and I say this as someone who will always be a fan of them. But I don't dislike her as a person. Honesty, I think she's probably a nice person who means well.
Really, Jo makes me think of people I know and love IRL, who are good, even lovely people, but... the things they say or post on social media have me facepalming, because they just don't think about what they're saying. Especially online. The difference is that they're not world famous writers with thousands of followers. Or posting it online at all.
Finally, while I think there's a lot of legitimate criticism of both the books and the things JK Rowling has said, done, and defended... I do think some fans criticize her based on what they wish had happened in the books instead. That's not a fair fight; they're her books, and she wrote what she wrote.
Where did you think the relationship between Harry Potter and Hermione Granger would end up later in the series when you finished reading "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"?
I don't know if it was PS/SS specifically, but I actually kind of shipped Harry/Hermione until I got into fandom. And in the later books, they just seemed more like siblings than future romantic partners. I always felt that Ron and Hermione's relationship was heading towards romance, although if we're going to be honest, I didn't like how JKR eventually ended up writing it. I was iffy on Harry/Ginny too, for that matter. I didn't ship them at all before OoTP, but after OoTP, I really did. I just didn't like how they played out in HBP.
Why didn't anyone in Harry Potter use Felix Felicis (either Voldemort or his opposition) to accomplish their tasks?
That's a very good question, and one I have wondered about myself. My guess is that when used in excess, it would ultimately backfire, since bad things would still happen elsewhere. It could also lead to a lot of greed, when you think about it. Someone might originally use it with only good intentions, but start to use it to their own advantage. "Just this one time." (Isn't that what happened to Harry? HBP is the book I've re-read the least.) The books make it fairly clear that while wizards and witches can do magic, things like potions are not replacements for human action.
What were the problems with Rowling’s plotting for her romantic pairings in Harry Potter? How could Ron/Hermione, Ginny/Harry, and James/Lily been better developed?
I don't think there's much that could've been done with James and Lily, since we only really see them in flashbacks. With Ron/Hermione, I would've scrapped 87% of their arc in HBP. At best it was contrived, at worst we have Hermione attacking Ron with birds.
With Harry and Ginny, I really wish they'd developed from the friendship they were beginning to have in OoTP. That's why I started shipping them. Then in HBP we go back to Harry and Ginny barely interacting until towards the end, aside from Harry's chest monster.
What character's death upset you the most in the Harry Potter series?
Sirius's because of how I found out. I took a break while reading OoTP, and a friend IMed me on AOL. I didn't know she'd skipped to the end.
Friend: I know who dies.
Me: Who?
Me: WAIT WAIT WAIT, I MEANT TO TYPE HOW!
Friend: *At the exact same time* Sirius.
It pretty much ruined the book for me the first time around.
Is Snape Harry Potter's real dad?
Considering Harry looks just like James, I'd have to say no to that. Unless Lily was very skilled at DNA Modification Potions.
Did “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” ruin the series?
Not for me, personally. I just don't consider it canon.
What will be the next "Harry Potter" in literature?
I'm not sure. I feel like the big blockbuster books only really happen every few decades. That being said, I also think that Harry Potter came at a perfect time, as I call 1999-2008 The Collective Nerdgasm. We had the LOTR movies, we had the Star Wars prequels, Buffy was popular in internet nerd circles, Pirates of the Caribbean, even The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe ducked inside towards the tail end of it. That's just movies - there were also a lot of other popular fantasy series out, if less popular, like A Series of Unfortunate Events and His Dark Materials. I think Harry Potter also came just in time for teens who'd recently outgrown popular middle grade novels, for late teens and early twenty-somethings who were nostalgic for The Goonies.
I think that if The Hunger Games had come out around a similar time, it also might have had the same furor. I'd be curious to know when other universally popular books became huge hits, to see if there's a trend.