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!!!!".)

[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!

[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!