My Daughter on GoF

[fantasyfiend09]

I'm reading Goblet of Fire to my 7 year old (in the hopes of finishing the series before her friends give away everything).  I question her as I read to see if she's understanding. I read her the part where Ron is furious with Hermione at the Yule Ball and asked my daughter what she thought was going on. She said that Ron was jeaous. I probed more, and she said she thought Ron wanted to go to the ball with Viktor.

I had never considered that. I am so proud of her for not making the heteronormative assumption, and I realized that her assumption actually has more support from the book than what I had assumed and JKR intended. We see Ron obsessing over Viktor, following him around, wanting his autograph, and even having a doll of him. My daughter interpreted that (quite sensibly) as a boy with a crush.

I wonder how many queer youth read it the same way as my daughter and thought that this beloved series was providing them with a gay or bi main character, only to have their hopes dashed. I ship Ron/Hermione, but in that moment I was sad to know that Ron would choose Hermione and rule out any same sex pairings.

All the more reason to take my kids to the new Beauty and the Beast before they come to assume that all male characters will want only women.

Comments

[ravenclawsquill]

What a smart assumption to make based on the content of the book! I'm sure a load of people (myself included) are now kicking themselves for not seeing it that way before.

It must be so nice to share the joy of HP with your daughter. (I sincerely hope my future child enjoys it, though they won't have much of a choice. I have visions of myself dragging them off for reading time and them saying "Oh no, not more Harry Potter! Please!!!!".)

[fantasyfiend09.livejournal.com]

I am so happy that my daughter loves Harry Potter. I think it would have killed me if she'd hated it.

We went to the Universal Studios in California, and she loved everything! I would have held off on reading the later books, but her classmate already gave away that Cedric dies (on accident), and I fear her finding out about Sirius and Dumbledore!

My son (who is five), sat through the illustrated version of the first book, but is clearly too young. He hears parts of each book as I read to my daughter. I tend to think he's not listening, but then there will be a mention of a place that was at Universal Studios and he'll call out, "Three Broomsticks? We ate there!" I figure it's only a matter of time...

[khalulu]

:D Makes sense to me!

[rabbit-says.livejournal.com]

That makes total sense, she sounds like a smart cookie :)

[icicle33]

That's so cute. It must be so fun and rewarding to share your love of the HP series with your daughter.

It's wonderful to hear that she thought Ron had a crush on Krum because I can see it being read like that too. I hope more kids will see queer relationships as normal too.

Looks like your daughter is smart just like her mother. = D

[digthewriter]

That is so smart!

[fantasyfiend09.livejournal.com]

Me too, once she'd said it. Why didn't I think of that?

[fantasyfiend09.livejournal.com]

She is. Total Ravenclaw like her daddy. Or Slytherin like her grandfather. Time will tell.

[fantasyfiend09.livejournal.com]

Flattery will get you everywhere. ;) She's definitely smart and (just as important) wants to be smart. She's very into Hermione and wants to be a Ravenclaw, and I'm just so excited that she cares!

I hope more kids will see queer relationships as normal
This! Exactly! Maybe she can grow up in a world where she won't have to go to a special section to get media with queer relationships.

[fantasyfiend09.livejournal.com]

She really is. She loves books and facts and wants to be a Ravenclaw. Of course she is also sneaky and manipulative, so I'm not certain she won't be a Slytherin. 4 years until Sorting. ;)

[piratesmile331.livejournal.com]

Sounds like she's really smart like her amazing mom!

[capitu]

That is wonderful. :) It's amazing, actually. I remember reading GoF with my nephew and back then he told me he thought Harry and Ron would end up together. :)

[enchanted-jae.livejournal.com]

That's awesome!

[icicle33]

Yes, I hope so too. ♥

[fantasyfiend09.livejournal.com]

I was thinking about you and your lovely daughter and hoping that I can take my daughter to conventions some day. I wonder if I'll be lucky enough to have her ship the same pairings I do...

[fantasyfiend09.livejournal.com]

Again, so much support in the books, especially when they rescue what they'll miss most in the lake. Viktor and Cedric both save their romantic interests as Harry saves Ron. So it seems logical that Harry feels for Ron what Viktor feels for Hermione. I love kids!

[fantasyfiend09.livejournal.com]

:D
I love rereading the books with her and seeing them in a whole new way.