Harry Potter would have been a better match for Hermione Granger than Ron Weasley, author JK Rowling appears to suggest in a new magazine interview.

Speaking in Wonderland magazine, the writer said she made Ron and Hermione a couple "for very personal reasons, not for reasons of credibility".

"If I'm absolutely honest, distance has given me perspective on that," she told guest editor Emma Watson.

The actress played Hermione in the film versions of Rowling's fantasy novels.

In the interview, published in full in the latest edition of the Wonderland quarterly, Rowling admits she made a mistake in having Hermione marry Ron at the end of her seven-novel cycle.

"I think there are fans out there who know that too and who wonder whether Ron would have really been able to make her happy," Watson responds in excerpts from the interview printed in the Sunday Times.

Rowling said she could "hear the rage and fury it might cause some fans" of her work and that she hoped she would not be "breaking people's hearts" with her revelations.

Ron and Hermione, she reportedly goes on, would have needed counselling to sustain a relationship the best-selling author describes "as a form of wish fulfilment" on her part.

Potter fans will be aware that Ron and Hermione eventually marry at the end of the Potter saga, and that Harry himself marries Ron's sister Ginny.

Daniel Radcliffe played the title role in the eight Harry Potter films, while Rupert Grint and Bonnie Wright played Ron and Ginny respectively.

I didn't mind the Ron + Hermione pairing so much, personally. I thought it was cute the way they'd bicker with each other from time to time throughout the novels, and I find couples in which the two are complete polar opposites to be the cutest, most interesting, anyway.

The Harry + Ginny seemed more sudden, though. Harry never paid much attention to Ginny until the sixth book, and all of a sudden he's madly in love with her. Ginny could have used some more character development, too. She was one of the most two-dimensional characters in the series.

And I've always been taken aback by the idea of many Wizarding families being inter-related. Does that mean there are some incest problems going on? Will the characters have to perform some kind of magical test to make sure their intended partner is not related to them somewhere down the line?  :P

I didn't mind the Ron + Hermione pairing so much, personally. I thought it was cute the way they'd bicker with each other from time to time throughout the novels, and I find couples in which the two are complete polar opposites to be the cutest, most interesting, anyway.

The Harry + Ginny seemed more sudden, though. Harry never paid much attention to Ginny until the sixth book, and all of a sudden he's madly in love with her. Ginny could have used some more character development, too. She was one of the most two-dimensional characters in the series.

And I've always been taken aback by the idea of many Wizarding families being inter-related. Does that mean there are some incest problems going on? Will the characters have to perform some kind of magical test to make sure their intended partner is not related to them somewhere down the line?  :P



I don't think it was "sudden." Harry did save Ginny in the second book. And remember, Harry spent a lot of time with the Weasleys so he sort of grew up with her. But by the time the 6th book came around Harry's relationship with Cho had fizzled as did Ginny's relationship with Dean. They were "free agents" at that time. But also in Book 5: Order of the Phoenix, Ginny was very active in the D.A. & she was one of the 6 people who went to the Ministry along with Neville & Luna, so sharing that had really brought them closer.


Cat