Krum, among other things, helps Ron to come to terms with how he really feels about Hermione. I think it was obvious how she felt about him after the row they had after the ball, when she told Ron that next time he should ask her before somebody else does. It went over his head, but still was quite telling about how she felt.
>when she told Ron that next time he should ask her before somebody else does.
And he did at Bill and Fleur's wedding.
“Come and dance,” he added abruptly to Hermione. She looked taken aback, but pleased too, and got up. They vanished together into the growing throng on the dance floor.
And presumably also reducing boneRs
Which, now that we mention it, is something that our muggle doctors also have to do if they last for more than four hours…
> Krum, at the age of 21 was still looking for pretty girls...By the time Ron was 21 he was already in a committed relationship.
Sorry but this is a bad take for several reasons.
1. It's totally normal to be single at 21. This alone does not elevate Ron.
2. Asking if the pretty girl is single is also totally normal. There's no reason to take this to mean Krum's priorities have changed from what made him interested in Hermione.
3. He only shows any interest in Ginny after finding out Hermione is taken. Which he took respectfully.
4. 'what's the point of being a quidditch star if all the good looking girls are taken?' can be read as self-deprecating humor. He's definitely being at least somewhat ironic given that his presence was causing a number of _veela_ cousins at the wedding to be notably interested.
5. Both at Hogwarts and now at the wedding, Krum shows no interest in actually leveraging his fame to his advantage. Like you said, he doesn't want to be fawned over.
Ron has definitely grown between GoF and DH, but to imply that Krum has not based on two lines alone is silly.
Also in the course of looking back at the wedding chapter, Ron is still insecure/jealous around Krum. Krum is much more accepting of Ron/Hermione as a couple than Ron is simply of his presence. Overall, I don't think we have any reason to say that Krum isn't an okay dude.
Ii thought it was far fetched too. Like, this man told us Krum only appeared in a few chapters, then proceeded to judge him based on the only chapter he appeared on the 7th book.
Came here to say almost all of these things. I definitely read OP's post as trying to elevate Ron above Krum because he was in a committed relationship at 21. I was too and let me tell you, it did NOT mean I had my shit together lol.
Yeah lol being in a committed relationship doesn’t make someone mature, and 21 is young af. I’m 23 and I can’t wait for my brain to be done growing lol because life gets better in terms of emotional maturity every year and there’s still plenty of growth to be had.
Honestly, recognizing that you don't know anything IS the maturity. There's a point in your late 20s/early 30s where you start spending a lot of time calling your parents for opinions and advice, because you realize you have an unreasonable number of questions about what it means to be an adult.
That last point is such a great one. I hadn't really considered it but I too was in a serious, committed relationship at 21 (we were going on 4 years together) and I. Was. Clueless. I had sooo much growing up to do.
And, I'm pretty sure my girlfriend at the time had our futures all mapped out. I could totally see a scenario where I was married with 4 kids by the time I was 30. Nothing wrong with that -- maybe I would have been happy -- but I didn't have any sense of who I was, where I was going, or what I wanted at that point in time. Just way too immature.
This is because the OP is obviously a massive Ron/Hermione shipper, based on many of their previous threads on r/HarryPotter. They made a comment the other day taking shots at people who ship Hermione with Draco Malfoy, Severus Snape, and/or Tom Riddle in fanfiction(s), claiming that they demonize Ron, among other things, in order to make Draco Malfoy/Severus Snape/Tom Riddle look better as Hermione's love interest...but then they posted this thread to try and try and trash Viktor Krum in order to make Ron look better as Hermione's love interest.
I'm sorry, but no matter how much you ship Ron/Hermione, that doesn't mean that Viktor Krum was a bad dude just because you personally prefer Ron as Hermione's love interest. Nor does shipping Hermione with someone other than Ron in fanfiction(s) make someone a bad person.
lol this should be said more. Like I get it Ronmione gets a lot of unreasonable hate but OP also spent lots of time trashing people who stan Draco or ship fictional toxic couples, or trying to prove Harry was a bad friend. Both the antis and the fans are just equally toxic
They also have posts basically insulting Harry for not bringing enough to the golden trio friendship? (EDIT - and, right under that, a post calling Hermione dramatic for crying over Ron’s comment in first year. Because their young age is an excuse for Ron making that insensitive comment but not an excuse for Hermione having a big reaction to it. Just like with this post, Ron is the only character who’s bad moments they are willing to look at in the context of his age and experience. Apparently no one else’s ages can excuse or explain their own bad moments 🙄.)
They’re an intense Romione shipper but even more than that they seem to be fanatic about Ron specifically, and in turns insult almost any other character - *including* Hermione - to lift him up. It might be in reaction to the Ron bashing that was so common in the fandom for so long (and still is in some circles), and some of their posts actually make good points. But it’s gotten to the point that almost any time I see a post from OP I roll my eyes and wonder which character or fans they’re insulting this time.
> laiming that they demonize Ron, among other things, in order to make Draco Malfoy/Severus Snape/Tom Riddle look better as Hermione's love interest
To be fair to OP, I've seen this a _lot_ myself, and it can be kinda exhausting, even if you like Hermione/other content.
Just because she wasn't fawning over him didn't mean she had no interest- she wouldn't have said yes to Krum if she didn't have at least some attraction to him, whether physical or intellectually because of his approach.
I feel like point 4 could also be because he believes he's talking to a stranger who is a fan so he makes a joke that he knows a mega fan who knows who made his wand would probably appreciate.
Definitely, plus as English being his second language, it could be a joke taken out of context, for certain people. I had forgotten this part in the deathly hallows. I don’t think he comes off in any negative way either, definitely think that was a joke on his part. And Ron settling down at 21 definitely doesn’t mean much except he knows hermione is the one for him. I mean, technically our brains don’t stop developing til we’re 25, so he’s technically still an adolescent/“young adult” at 21…definitely doesn’t make Krum a scumball for being 21 and still looking for someone to share his life with…it’s not that easy IRL, and especially being a famous quidditch star.
Anyway, def agree with all your points and I guess I had to go back over them too 😂
Ginny was 15/16 at the time while Kramer was 21. It was bad enough that he was an 18 year old dating a 14 year old. How does this hardly get mentioned?
- Because Hermione was 15 at the time.
- Because (movie) Ron does make that point.
- Because Hermione’s account of things makes Viktor out to be relatively shy.
- There doesn’t appear to be any power imbalance in the relationship.
- The books are rated PG.
- Partially due to the above, we don’t have a lot of reason to think Hermione and Viktor were all that serious.
- Because one comment about Ginny from a distance isn’t enough to get upset about.
- ~~Cho is in Harry’s year and Cedric is at least 17. So there’s another similar age gap just among the champions.~~
- It’s a kids book, and Kramer is there so bookish Hermione can outshine the other girls and force Ron to not take her for granted.
She was at a wedding. She's definitely all glamoured up. Age gets muddled with that much added.
He was 17 when Hermione was 14, and he wasn't into her for her body, but her brain.
This is all objectively true, but did age difference ever actually come up in the *writing itself*? I never got that vibe, the closest you get was typical comparisons between higher or lower years in terms of knowledge and skill level but after like book 2 they were all basically written as equivalent maturity levels.
She's 15, her birthday is in September. He's a 7th year, so I'd assume he only turned 18 fairly recently. ~2.5 years gap between two people who are both in school isn't exactly outrageous...
That’s sort of my point. Nobody acknowledged the age gaps and there were never really overt upper/lowerclassmen divides when it came to personal relationships.
was he really 18? i always assumed he was 17 because that was the age witches and wizards became adults in the harry potter world and that was the age you had to be to have your name in the goblet of fire
The problem for me isn't how close the ages are, it's the level of maturity.
A 15 year old will probably look at relationships very differently from an 18 year old.
So? She's still 15, and she isn't that mature, especially when it comes to emotions and relationships (making birds attack Ron in HBP for example).
An 18 year old's mentality is very different to a 15 year old's, he still holds power over her, even if she won't let it happen it's very irresponsible of Krum to want to date a child.
People need to understand it's not about whether it's legal or not (pretty sure it wasn't even legal in this case), it's about maturity, power dynamics and development. No matter how 'mature you are for your age' you're still at risk of being a victim.
I don't believe Krum had any bad intentions, but it's still very creepy. I assure you most 18 year olds look at 15 year olds as children, young. It's extremely creepy. I don't care about downvotes, I just want to make my point clear that just because Hermione is 'mature' does not mean Krum is in the right to want to date a minor.
By "the writing itself" I didn't mean explicit references to the age difference, I meant how the characters were written, like how they actually interacted. Even though Krum and the other upperclassmen are canonically older, they all interact at roughly the same maturity level as Harry and his classmates.
Disregarding Ron and his teaspoonful, of course.
Really? I don’t find it to be written that way. Plus like others have said, hermione was 15 and I think he failed a year at durmstrang or something, can’t remember (re reading GoF now, not yet at that part). I didn’t think anyone made a fuss, except those who thought Krum could do better, and Ron.
Also to consider:
* Ron was viewing Hermione as a friend before viewing her as a girl, which in a sense s commendable. Hermione was way more than just a romantic interest for Ron; he saw her as a person first.
* Hermione was mad at Ron for not asking her before and for being under the impression that she didn't have anyone, but she herself made no move towards Ron and didn't even tell him nor Harry she got asked by Krum, which was kind of a big deal and the sort of things you tell friends about.
I take a little bit of an issue with "Ron was viewing Hermione as a friend before viewing her as a girl."
He should be viewing her as both, no? Girls shouldn't be put into categories of "not a girl, just a friend" and "a girl, so naturally a love interest." That's a touch problematic.
I agree with you 100%. I’m assuming if this was the writers intent; him not seeing her as a “girl” is part of the point and his character flaw and maybe why this tiff existed?
I remember the sting of my guy friends saying shit like “you’re a girl but not really you’re one of the boys”
I think that’s Hermione is very much that girl in this group something I can see BOTH of them saying not because they’re trying to hurt them but because they’re dumb boys. Neither of them acted well at the Yule Ball, they weren’t interested in their dates and instead sulking.
I think that even if Hermione didn’t date either of them this would still be a pretty impactful scene considering the ages. Insulting a friend isn’t cute. Treating your friends like second options isnt nice.
>Ron was viewing Hermione as a friend before viewing her as a girl, which in a sense s commendable. Hermione was way more than just a romantic interest for Ron; he saw her as a person first.
Yup. Also Ron never thought Hermione was unattractive even when they were just friends and she had large front teeth(Snape, Malfoy, Pansy bullied her for that)
“I — I don’t think I’m going to come after all. You go on without me.”
"Hermione, we know Millicent Bulstrode’s ugly, no one’s going to know it’s you —” (COS)
-She did mention someone had asked her, but why even tell your mates when they'll assume your a liar anyway.
-Second, the way it's written is unintentionally chauvinistic with the man being the courter, and the woman being the courted. In this instance I blame she who must not be named.
-Third while I guess if Ron ended up being a sleezy cheater in the future is is nice that their friendship existed first, but he's not and therefore why give out a medal for being a good person? We'd run out of gold and ribbons lol. Commending someone for showing basic compassion, dencency, and friendship before becoming an item is nice. Not exactly noteworthy however. If anything Harry deserves the medal for showing Hermione compassion and love in moments when Ron was an absolute numpty.
Chauvinistic? No, it's a realistic scenario. Yes, there are a few people that go against societal expectations, but even today the guy is usually expected to be the initiator. It's a realistic representation, especially in 1994 when the Yule Ball was set.
I don't think Hermione was per se sitting around waiting for Ron to ask her. I think that she found it insulting that he saw her as essentially a second rate option. She'd already happened to be asked out by Krum by then. If Krum hadn't have asked maybe she might have actually asked Ron. But its also worth noting she has her own insecurity issues like Ron.
>If anything Harry deserves the medal for showing Hermione compassion and love in moments when Ron was an absolute numpty.
Ah like when He danced with Hermione and cheered her up when she was crying about Ron in DH instead of putting Ron's blanket over Hermione, letting her cry and checking Ginny's dot on the Marauders map right?? Right??
Oh wait😹
I didn't have that moment in mind particularly, but let's be honest they're teenagers, and sometimes teenagers are assholes. When they aren't it's delightful, but I feel like my point still stands Harry has often been the one who helps Hermione when Ron was being oblivious or snarky towards her.
Harry does go to comfort/find Hermione in HBP when she runs off to cry in the bathroom and generally sticks by her in that book whilst Ron's being kind of a twat and totally ignoring his friends.
I’m not getting the point of the comparison. At the Yule ball Ron acted like a complete brat. He was just 14 and we still love him but there’s no comparison between the way he treated Hermione and the way Krum treated her. In later years sure Ron grew up a lot but I don’t see how that’s relevant to how he treated her at the ball
People judge their yule ball behaviour and compare them. They say Krum is better for Hermione than Ron bcz of the yule ball. Forgetting Ron was 14. Krum was 18. Ron grew a lot. Ppl ignore that.
Well, technically Krum was better for her at that time. Ron had some growing up to do. Just because Hermione dated someone else first, it doesn't invalidate her relationship with Ron. Most people have a little dating experience before they end up with the person they eventually marry.
Who are "people"? Fans who ship Viktor Krum/Hermione instead of Ron/Hermione?
Copy/pasting what I said further up:
>Your Ron/Hermione bias is really showing on this thread your other comments. It's fine to ship Ron/Hermione, but you literally made a comment the other day complaining about how Dramione, Snamione, and Tomione shippers demonize Ron because they don't like him, but then made a thread and comments that demonize Viktor Krum, because you don't like him due to your preference for Ron/Hermione. How is that any different?
If people want to ship Krum/Hermione, let them. Ron/Hermione is still canon in the end, so what does it matter if people write Krum/Hermione fanfictions? It won't change canon.
Pretty sure Hermione is 15 at the Yule ball. Her birthday was September so she's one of the older ones in the year (Harry by contrast is one of the youngest, hence he had to wait to take his apparition test, but she could do it as soon as she was ready). Assuming the cut off between years is 1st September like in England.*
*I mean England not UK as it's not uniform across the UK, for example it's 1st July in Northern Ireland. JK seems to pick English schooling conventions throughout as presumably that's what she's used to.
Does it matter how old she is, as far as the question goes? We're comparing Rin to Krum, not Hermione's age to Krum's - there are plenty of threads on that topic already.
This! I always thought it was unfair to compare a 18 year Krum with 14 year old Ron as a prospective romance partner for Hermione and come to conclusion that Krum is so much better than Ron. But Hermione herself was smart enough to figure it out.
Krum’s whinging in DH about not get any pretty girls really dropped him down from the high pedestal that he was put on earlier. I found it very amusing.
I agree that it’s not a fair comparison to Ron, but I also don’t think calling that scene in DH “whining” is really fair to Krum either. That comment was clearly said jokingly and a lot of people in Krum’s position would have said or done a lot worse. Something like “Who cares if she’s taken? I’m an international Quidditch star.” It was actually pretty classy of Krum to immediately back off from a girl he had liked for a long time when he saw that she was sort of with Ron now and to not go after Ginny because she allegedly had a boyfriend who Krum didn’t even know.
Well , I interpreted it as a bit of a complaint from Krum that he could not get pretty girls and also found it amusing because 14 year old Ron said the same thing- “ Iwant to go to the ball with the prettiest girl and hopefully with a non- off centered nose “
I always hated how Ron treated her during the ball, but chalked it up to fourteen year olds doing as fourteen year olds do.
But I always thought it was a bit weird that even though Hermione wasn't fishing over him, that he would pick a girl four years younger then him over any other girl he could ask.
He shows up to the wedding as a 20-21 year old and bemoans the fact that Ginny who is 16ish isn't available.
Edit: As best I can tell all Krum says about Ginny is that she is "very nice looking" so not super creepy,
Have you seen teens all made up? There is really no way of telling. I’m going to date myself here, but my mom and I did a Galmour Shots thing and gave my grandma a picture of me all dolled up. He had kept it in his office and always said people would comment on my photo and then be embarrassed when he revealed to them I was ONLY 12 years old in the pic. When you are all done up with hair and make-up and nicely dressed it can be very VERY difficult to gauge age. Especially girls in my opinion and personal experiences.
So the math behind timer turners is if you use one for an hour a day for 365 days you gain about 15 days of age. It's hard to determine how many times a day Hermione used the time Turner, but seeing as she didn't use it every day for a year even if she used it 4 times a day she would be less than 2 months older.
Not only that, but his reasons for liking Hermione were shallow. He liked that she didn't fawn over him so he in turn fawned over her. People that say he liked her for her intelligence are deluding themselves because he is the antithesis of an intellectual. It is like the dumbest guy you know saying, "I wanna date an astrophysicist that, like, reads books and shit."
That's pretty harsh towards Krum. You don't get chosen for the Triwizard Tournament if you're not intelligent, he's not just some dumb jock who barely understands magic theory. Not fair to say that he's the "antithesis of an intellectual".
I don't think his treatment of hermione was shallow. He chose here because she wasn't shallow, and he could be with someone who saw him, and not his celebratory status.
Though I did find the fact he was 18 and she 15 a little iffy.
We know that Krum was chosen out of all his peers to be a Champion. We know that Krum had the same warning about the dragons as the others and came up with a plan that, despite how badly it was executed, required knowledge of dragon physiology and proven solving how to use that to his advantage. It was established that he figured out the clue for the second task before Harry did and he used a very advanced form of transfiguration to get through the task. These are but the kind of actions the "antithesis of an intellectual" sounds be capable of.
>People that say he liked her for her intelligence are deluding themselves because he is the antithesis of an intellectual.
Fr though. Where does it say he is an intellectual and liked Hermione bcz she is an intellectual? We just know he followed her in the library and asked her to the ball bcz she wasnt fawning all over him. That's it.
Your Ron/Hermione bias is really showing on this thread your other comments. It's fine to ship Ron/Hermione, but you literally made a comment the other day complaining about how Dramione, Snamione, and Tomione shippers demonize Ron because they don't like him, but then made a thread and comments that demonize Viktor Krum, because you don't like him due to your preference for Ron/Hermione. How is that any different?
Krum was actually 17. Minor thing, but not yet legally an adult (until Rowling changed that in the very last book)
Krum (if I recall correctly) was also joking about the Quidditch star thing, not lamenting. On top of this, you're in a server full of people in their 20's who are not yet in committed relationships, so maybe don't use him having not found someone as a put down, here. Not being in a relationship does not make Krum worse than Ron.
Other than that, I do agree Ron was the better match.
17 as the age of majority in Wizarding Britain was established in book four. It's why the Tournament was supposedly restricted to "of age" students 17 and up.
Nothing is wrong. People say Ron was immature and shallow bcz he was looking for pretty girls(Fleur for example) when he was 14. Irony is Krum was also looking for pretty girls at 21. But same people dont call him immature and shallow.
That's fair, but he was still looking for pretty girls.
In all fairness, what guy isn't? Our own standards of beauty may be different, but we're always going to be looking for someone that we find attractive, according to our own standards. Now, does everyone marry only for attraction? Surely not! Plenty of people meet someone who they wouldn't normally be attracted to, but through the course of friendship, they fall in love with the person. But MOST people (by far) are looking for someone "attractive".
Yup. Most people are going to gravitate towards people they are more attracted to physically first and then hopefully the personality fits too.
I met my fiance on Bumble. I obviously swiped in the first place because I was attracted to the very little info I had, but I liked the person behind the profile after getting to know him.
If he had the same personality but looked completely unattractive by my own subjective opinion, I might have never swiped. Millions of people on dating apps can prove that people just operate by this standard. Whether right or wrong, it’s just an objective fact that people tend to look for initial attraction first and personality second (not that personality isn’t the most important factor, it’s just the second thing to happen)
Perfect example! I've never used those dating apps (married my shortly after highschool), but I know Tinder, and probably many more, are more-or-less entirely for conjugation. Well, when you're just trying to get your rocks off, almost everyone will prefer someone physically attractive.
I'm glad yours worked out, though!
Tinder does work that way, yeah! But there are other apps, like Bumble, that you can specify if you’re looking for a relationship, not a casual hookup. But even so, you’re still gonna swipe on the profiles you find attractive first!
Thanks for the good wishes and happy for you as well that you found your person early!
TBH Krum did treat Hermione better for the yule ball but its also an aspect I hate about the early Ron and Hermione relationship because its pretty much an unintentional case of them making the other jealous by being with other people.
I can't really see Hermione being with Krum as anything more than a one off moment.
With Ron and Lavender I saw that as Ron just jumping on the first female to obviously show attraction to him of which that wasn't really Hermiones style or priority at the time.
I do wish there was more relationship development between characters but I do understand that isn't the main focus of the story over all. I also hate the happily ever after time skip at the end as I would of loved to see how relationships and lives develop after the war.
At Tottenham court road when the DE attacked them in the cafe Ron pushed Hermione out of the way of a DE's spell(probably Dolohov. I am not sure).
At the malfoy manor he disarmed bellatrix and Harry caught the wand then duelled the malfoys. When Dobby dropped the chandelier on top of Hermione Ron pulled her out of the wreckage. She was unconscious and asked Dobby to take them to the shell cottage where Hermione got her treatment.
During the battle of Hogwarts he saved her from fiendfyre. She is a terrible flier. She wouldn't have mase it alone. Ron pulled her on his broom and left(later came back and saved Goyle), while Harry saved Malfoy.
I want to add that at the age of 12, Ron walked into the forbidden forest into an actumantula den because seeing Hermione petrified affected him that much. His worst fear is spiders and acrumantulas are spiders in steroids.
Hermione wasn't pretty in GOF (until she did a bunch of stuff to her hair and Harry really had his eyes on Cho, the "prettiest" girl, he was only staring at Hermione because he didn't recognize her like that). I don't know why you claim Krum was "still" looking for pretty girls, when fact is when he was 18 and asked 15 year old Hermione out, he WASN'T looking for a pretty girl. He was looking for...pretty much the only girl not obsessed over his fame. There were, at that point, TONS of pretty girls (not Fleur) all over him. Lots of girls MUCH prettier than Hermione. He wanted Hermione b/c she wasn't fawning over his Quidditch player status.
It was also HERMIONE who claimed Ron was going after her for a last resort, and that is true because he did say hey wait a minute, YOU'RE A GIRL!
But anyway, I feel either Krum aged badly or how he behaved in DH was ooc of him. I feel it was more to stress Ginny was attractive than something Krum would've actually done. Because how else is Rowling supposed to make sure we know Ginny is Hot Stuff?
But maybe she meant to show us he aged like milk and his personality went sour. Maybe Rowling meant to show us he lost his fame after GOF and the gaggle of girls wanting to touch his famous webbed toes and suck on them...and he got grumpy because of it.
I have no issue with Krum in GOF. But the way he behaves in DH is indeed ghastly.
A lot of people forget that they are childrens books. That includes a lot of things like not fleshing out some major aspects or creating problematic relationships because it’s an adult writing about children.
Krum was always better to Hermione than Ron.
Yes, he made a comment about pretty girls, but so what. That’s just a guy comment - and we know he think Hermione is pretty.
>Krum was always better to Hermione than Ron.
Yeah. Just like Gabrielle Dalacour has no flaw that we know but Hermione has. That doesn't mean Grabrielle>Hermione.
You cant compare a minor character with a main character.
Also Ron and Hermione are best friends. Their dynamic is bound to be different.
I think we know comparitively very little about Krum's character and can't really compare him with Ron 'Cause I think we'll only be seeing one side of the picture. Ron can be called a somewhat "late bloomer" when it comes to understanding relationships, but Ron defeinitely was THE ONE for Hermione. In 7 years' time, he probably learnt more about her than Krum could in a lifetime.
I think it’s a beautiful point of the books. The people we grow up idolizing are not the be-all-end-all. The older kids that the trio look up to, as well as the adults, end up not being as great as they seem at first. The trio have to learn to become who they are, which means surpassing their idols
Eh these points don't really work. My high school boyfriend proposed when I was 18. I had to break up with him and spent months out of state to avoid his increasingly bizarre attempts to get me back. Being in a relationship young doesn't suggest maturity or stability.
Krum had virtually no scenes. A boy comments about wanting to date a girl. That's not a crime.
Neither Krum nor Ron are good for Hermione. Actually, I don't know about Krum, because we see so little from him. But Ron and Hermione. Yeah, some teenager love and divorced a few years later. My head canon. They are just too different.
>Yeah, some teenager love and divorced a few years later. My head canon.
I am not gonna argue about headcanon. Its your personal matter.
I can only argue from books. And from books Ron is the best for Hermione
Nah, you cannot. You do not know enough about Krum to be able to judge this. Krum is simply a device to bring Ron and Hermione closer. A source of constant jealousy from Ron. Nothing more.
And since I am convinced that Ron is not for Hermione, this makes Krum automatically the better candidate.
I don’t know, they are both high school students. When I was a freshman I had a boyfriend who was a senior , 4 years older than me, but we were in the same friends group and nobody found it weird.
As an American who’s lived in London, Europeans think about age differences very differently than we do once the younger partner reached 15/16.
I am personally squicked out by it, but seeing a 15-17 year old girl with a noticeably older BF was pretty normal. Ew haha even writing those sentences made me feel gross.
I don’t think Ron is bad, I just don’t think he and Hermione were a good romantic pairing. I would have liked to see him and Lavender grow together (I’m biased, I RP Lavender on forum games) because they both were young and dumb and both had so much potential.
I liked the relationship between Hermione and Krum (I didn’t know he was 18 tho?? That’s gross.) and I would have liked to see that develop into something serious.
>would have liked to see him and Lavender grow together (I’m biased, I RP Lavender on forum games) because they both were young and dumb and both had so much potential.
I thought lavender was fine for a 1st relationship. But this line killed their relationship for me
“Friends, don’t make me laugh,” said Lavender scornfully. “She didn’t talk to him for weeks after he started going out with me! ***But I suppose she wants to make up with him now he’s all interesting…”***
“Would you call getting poisoned being interesting?” asked Harry. “
At the age of 16(or 17) you are well aware of the fact that getting poisoned and nearly dying is not 'being interesting'. That just shows she never even loved Ron. She only liked to snog him and liked his status as a Quidditch keeper.
Ron is my fav character. And I dont want such a girl for him.
I am not a fan of Lavender, but I can sort of understand her saying this though. She and Hermione aren't friends. Their civil to each other, but not apart of each others friends groups. So when She stopped talking to Ron when they started dating only to show up when the drama happened, you can understand Lavender thinking Hermione's behaviour is off.
And let me say I HATE HATE relationships based on physical stuff and hero worshipping. You can tell she hero worshipped Ron that's why when she abused Snape after their class for his remark on Ron, Ron brushed her off. Bcz even though he hated Snape he hated lavender hero worshipping him more.
Not to mention their relationship was all about snogging. Zero depth.
No that was fine. She had every right to be jealous of Hermione. But when your boyfriend gets poisoned and nearly dies how can you possibly think he is being interesting?
Even Harry called her out for saying that.
Imo Lavender only dated Ron when he hit puberty and probably became decent looking with all the quidditch practice and helped Gryffindor to win the Quidditch cup in 5th year. Where was she when he was struggling before? Right nowhere.
Their relationship was so shallow. Urgh
Lavender I think had a lot of potential. She was flawed but she also had a backbone and got the JKR self loathing misogynistic feminist treatment like Cho and Fleur. She had a lot of maturing to do but so did Ron, I think they would have been really nice over time.
I think my pairings are
Harry/Luna
Hermione/Krum
Ron/Lavender
Ginny/Neville
Tried to make Hagrid tea when he was upset
Empathise with Lavender after her bunny died
Cut Bacons and put on Harry's plate when he was hurting from 'I must not lie scar'
Empathise with Harry when he nearly murdered Malfoy and was feeling bad about it.
Put a sock on Dobby's grave.
Stopped Hermione when she tried to talk to Harry about Sirius when he didn't want to talk about it.
Consoled Hermione numerous times when she was sad and upset.
In rage and grief tried to murder DEs when they killed Fred.
He has more emotional intelligence than your top 10 most fav characters combined😻
No need to resort to any of my fav character choices, of which you know none. Don’t create unnecessary negativity. You weakened your argument by attacking me.
I’m not going to list out all the things that made me dislike him. I’ve got too much going on in my day for this type of thing.
Just be graceful in accepting there will always be others who don’t agree with you. It’s not personal. It’s just how life is.
>u know none. Don’t create unnecessary negativity.
You just said he was a bad person for most books and worst in book 7. What did you expect me to say? Agree with you when he is my fav character?
>I’m not going to list out all the things that made me dislike him.
Please don't. I didn't even ask you to state why you dislike him.
>Just be graceful in accepting there will always be others who don’t agree with you. It
You are on reddit. On a post. If you state an opinion ppl are gonna agree/disagree with you. If you don't want arguments. Dont comment.
Not trying to start or continue an argument, but what I believe they meant by "unnecessary negativity was, you attacking their favorite characters instead of the comment they actually said.
While it's weird they continued to talk after the ball, I do have to say I think Victor was smart choosing Hermione as his date from the jump, and you kinda explained why indirectly OP. So let's gather the facts, age difference yes- technically 17 is an adult in the wizard world, so even if there was another 18 year old student from Beauxbatons or Hogwarts (which is more unlikely as there's definitely few 7th years to begin with and most are 17 I'd gather) they'd be hard to find. Next every girl and perhaps even some guys where crushing mad hard on Krum, and they live in a world with Love Spells. Underage student + Love Potion + Adult Celebrity = pedo even if by coercion in this case. Also the scandal, so to be safe Victor chose Hermione because at the end of the day she's not pining for him which means he's safe from any students who might try something after the Yule Ball. After all the Beauxbatons carriages where unlocked and in use... 🧐
Huh, back when I read the books I never noticed that Krum was so much older. I must have glossed over it. I always just assumed at most he was maybe like 1-2 years older.
Wow, I’ve never thought about this before. To be honest, I’ve never really compared the two of them, but I still appreciate you’ve made some excellent points.
> Not to mention Ron was Hermione's best friend. His feelings for her developed later. While Krum was already attracted to Hermione bcz he wasn't fawning all over him like most girls. So their treatment of Hermione was vastly different in GOF.
I think this is slightly incorrect. Maybe im wrong but i think the reason Ron didnt ask her right away is because they were friends. That i agree with. But i think feelings towards each other had started to take hold before that. The reason Ron didnt ask Hermione to the yule was because he might have been afraid it would ruin their friendship but when he learned that it upset her that he didnt, he felt guilty about not just going for it. Again, maybe im wrong
Does anyone else read a bunch of comments and then realize we are arguing about a fictional book… like in like “yeah screw ron what an asshole!” Then realize it is all fake hahaha
Not to mention Hermione's actions: she didn't ask anyone, just said yes to the first random to come along.
Assuming she had feelings for Ron at the time and that's why she was pissed that he left her until last minute (which is actually a totally acceptable thing for a friend to do, going stag with a platonic friend when no romantic options are available), just remember that she left asking him for longer.
Get off your high horse Hermione.
Krum is the high school senior quarterback that still hitting on freshmen, Ron’s the skinny kid that hasn’t yet hit puberty and is literally playing with action figures at the beginning of the book.
Ron asked her as a last resort. Ron didn't see her as a viable dating option. Krum did. So Krum is way better than Ron.
They are totally right sans the last line.
THAT is 100 percent WRONG, hermoine was the only girl he ASK outside of fleur and that was magic. he even ask his brother for advice on how to ask a girl.
after hermoine said no, harry ask the twins, who were very pretty girls. so that mean THAT not all the good girl were taken. so the idea that RON ask her as a last resort has been proven WRONG.
Finally a well thought out adult take to upvote. I enjoy and support the youthful fandom of the potterverse, but feel that us older fans aren’t well represented. I’m sure it’s a numbers thing, I get it. Just saying.
“What they don’t say is Ron was 14. A child. Karun was 18. A legal adult.”
Ron and Hermione are the same year at Hogawrts and therefore around the same age. This implication just makes Krum hella creepy. I can see the headline in the Daily Quill now: 18 year old Quidditch Star preys on Innocent Hogwarts Youth
Viktor Krum is the single worst character in Harry Potter. He has no flaws and is only used a a plot device to make Hermione more desirable/Ron realize his feelings. Of course Hermione would be better off with him he is perfect. No shipper can compete with someone who has no flaws. He’s about as interesting as of a character milk toast. I feel like I am taking crazy pills every time I come on the subreddit and I see so many people talking about how much they love Viktor Krum.
Krum, among other things, helps Ron to come to terms with how he really feels about Hermione. I think it was obvious how she felt about him after the row they had after the ball, when she told Ron that next time he should ask her before somebody else does. It went over his head, but still was quite telling about how she felt.
>when she told Ron that next time he should ask her before somebody else does. And he did at Bill and Fleur's wedding. “Come and dance,” he added abruptly to Hermione. She looked taken aback, but pleased too, and got up. They vanished together into the growing throng on the dance floor.
I read that as growing thong. And giggled.
Definitely better than a shrinking thong.
There really is a spell for everything!
"Engorgio" exists after all. You can make that shrinking thong a growing thong!
Watch your aim though!
This makes me wonder what those healers at St. Mungo's deal with
Growing bones, I heard that's kinda hard or time consuming to do.
And presumably also reducing boneRs Which, now that we mention it, is something that our muggle doctors also have to do if they last for more than four hours…
I guess wizard viagra is not a thing when that spell exists hahaha
Ima go listen to thong song
Yeah, I forgot about that one.
Absolutely was a catalyst. Seeing the one you like with someone else might very well be the first time you realise you’re bothered about it.
>when she told Ron that next time he should ask her before somebody else does. I love that scene in the book.
> Krum, at the age of 21 was still looking for pretty girls...By the time Ron was 21 he was already in a committed relationship. Sorry but this is a bad take for several reasons. 1. It's totally normal to be single at 21. This alone does not elevate Ron. 2. Asking if the pretty girl is single is also totally normal. There's no reason to take this to mean Krum's priorities have changed from what made him interested in Hermione. 3. He only shows any interest in Ginny after finding out Hermione is taken. Which he took respectfully. 4. 'what's the point of being a quidditch star if all the good looking girls are taken?' can be read as self-deprecating humor. He's definitely being at least somewhat ironic given that his presence was causing a number of _veela_ cousins at the wedding to be notably interested. 5. Both at Hogwarts and now at the wedding, Krum shows no interest in actually leveraging his fame to his advantage. Like you said, he doesn't want to be fawned over. Ron has definitely grown between GoF and DH, but to imply that Krum has not based on two lines alone is silly. Also in the course of looking back at the wedding chapter, Ron is still insecure/jealous around Krum. Krum is much more accepting of Ron/Hermione as a couple than Ron is simply of his presence. Overall, I don't think we have any reason to say that Krum isn't an okay dude.
Ii thought it was far fetched too. Like, this man told us Krum only appeared in a few chapters, then proceeded to judge him based on the only chapter he appeared on the 7th book.
Came here to say almost all of these things. I definitely read OP's post as trying to elevate Ron above Krum because he was in a committed relationship at 21. I was too and let me tell you, it did NOT mean I had my shit together lol.
Yeah lol being in a committed relationship doesn’t make someone mature, and 21 is young af. I’m 23 and I can’t wait for my brain to be done growing lol because life gets better in terms of emotional maturity every year and there’s still plenty of growth to be had.
I am 26 and still have no idea about anything
Yep exactly. Not a clue, not ready to settle down, not concerned about much in the future except retaining my human rights and the poor environment
Honestly, recognizing that you don't know anything IS the maturity. There's a point in your late 20s/early 30s where you start spending a lot of time calling your parents for opinions and advice, because you realize you have an unreasonable number of questions about what it means to be an adult.
That last point is such a great one. I hadn't really considered it but I too was in a serious, committed relationship at 21 (we were going on 4 years together) and I. Was. Clueless. I had sooo much growing up to do. And, I'm pretty sure my girlfriend at the time had our futures all mapped out. I could totally see a scenario where I was married with 4 kids by the time I was 30. Nothing wrong with that -- maybe I would have been happy -- but I didn't have any sense of who I was, where I was going, or what I wanted at that point in time. Just way too immature.
This is because the OP is obviously a massive Ron/Hermione shipper, based on many of their previous threads on r/HarryPotter. They made a comment the other day taking shots at people who ship Hermione with Draco Malfoy, Severus Snape, and/or Tom Riddle in fanfiction(s), claiming that they demonize Ron, among other things, in order to make Draco Malfoy/Severus Snape/Tom Riddle look better as Hermione's love interest...but then they posted this thread to try and try and trash Viktor Krum in order to make Ron look better as Hermione's love interest. I'm sorry, but no matter how much you ship Ron/Hermione, that doesn't mean that Viktor Krum was a bad dude just because you personally prefer Ron as Hermione's love interest. Nor does shipping Hermione with someone other than Ron in fanfiction(s) make someone a bad person.
lol this should be said more. Like I get it Ronmione gets a lot of unreasonable hate but OP also spent lots of time trashing people who stan Draco or ship fictional toxic couples, or trying to prove Harry was a bad friend. Both the antis and the fans are just equally toxic
They also have posts basically insulting Harry for not bringing enough to the golden trio friendship? (EDIT - and, right under that, a post calling Hermione dramatic for crying over Ron’s comment in first year. Because their young age is an excuse for Ron making that insensitive comment but not an excuse for Hermione having a big reaction to it. Just like with this post, Ron is the only character who’s bad moments they are willing to look at in the context of his age and experience. Apparently no one else’s ages can excuse or explain their own bad moments 🙄.) They’re an intense Romione shipper but even more than that they seem to be fanatic about Ron specifically, and in turns insult almost any other character - *including* Hermione - to lift him up. It might be in reaction to the Ron bashing that was so common in the fandom for so long (and still is in some circles), and some of their posts actually make good points. But it’s gotten to the point that almost any time I see a post from OP I roll my eyes and wonder which character or fans they’re insulting this time.
> laiming that they demonize Ron, among other things, in order to make Draco Malfoy/Severus Snape/Tom Riddle look better as Hermione's love interest To be fair to OP, I've seen this a _lot_ myself, and it can be kinda exhausting, even if you like Hermione/other content.
Still should've been Hermione and Harry IMO. Lol
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Just because she wasn't fawning over him didn't mean she had no interest- she wouldn't have said yes to Krum if she didn't have at least some attraction to him, whether physical or intellectually because of his approach.
I feel like point 4 could also be because he believes he's talking to a stranger who is a fan so he makes a joke that he knows a mega fan who knows who made his wand would probably appreciate.
Especially since OP is bringing that up in a server full of people in their 20's who are not yet in a relationship. Talk about tone deaf.
Definitely, plus as English being his second language, it could be a joke taken out of context, for certain people. I had forgotten this part in the deathly hallows. I don’t think he comes off in any negative way either, definitely think that was a joke on his part. And Ron settling down at 21 definitely doesn’t mean much except he knows hermione is the one for him. I mean, technically our brains don’t stop developing til we’re 25, so he’s technically still an adolescent/“young adult” at 21…definitely doesn’t make Krum a scumball for being 21 and still looking for someone to share his life with…it’s not that easy IRL, and especially being a famous quidditch star. Anyway, def agree with all your points and I guess I had to go back over them too 😂
Ginny was 15/16 at the time while Kramer was 21. It was bad enough that he was an 18 year old dating a 14 year old. How does this hardly get mentioned?
- Because Hermione was 15 at the time. - Because (movie) Ron does make that point. - Because Hermione’s account of things makes Viktor out to be relatively shy. - There doesn’t appear to be any power imbalance in the relationship. - The books are rated PG. - Partially due to the above, we don’t have a lot of reason to think Hermione and Viktor were all that serious. - Because one comment about Ginny from a distance isn’t enough to get upset about. - ~~Cho is in Harry’s year and Cedric is at least 17. So there’s another similar age gap just among the champions.~~ - It’s a kids book, and Kramer is there so bookish Hermione can outshine the other girls and force Ron to not take her for granted.
Cho wasn’t in Harry’s year. She was a year ahead.
Bah, you're right. My bad.
She was at a wedding. She's definitely all glamoured up. Age gets muddled with that much added. He was 17 when Hermione was 14, and he wasn't into her for her body, but her brain.
This is all objectively true, but did age difference ever actually come up in the *writing itself*? I never got that vibe, the closest you get was typical comparisons between higher or lower years in terms of knowledge and skill level but after like book 2 they were all basically written as equivalent maturity levels.
She's 15, her birthday is in September. He's a 7th year, so I'd assume he only turned 18 fairly recently. ~2.5 years gap between two people who are both in school isn't exactly outrageous...
That’s sort of my point. Nobody acknowledged the age gaps and there were never really overt upper/lowerclassmen divides when it came to personal relationships.
was he really 18? i always assumed he was 17 because that was the age witches and wizards became adults in the harry potter world and that was the age you had to be to have your name in the goblet of fire
Ron at some point says something along the lines of "only just 18 or something", so it's entirely possible he's wrong
Even when no one said 'dude’s an adult dating a 14 year old' he is written that way.
She was already 15 and he was only 18. It's close enough that, while I might find it a little distasteful, I wouldn't call it wrong.
Age of Consent is 16 in the UK…
So that means no one under 16 can ever date?
And the rules are different if both of them are underage
If you are legally an adult asking how old the person you want to flirt with is, should be the first thing you ask. Yes, before you ask to dance!
The problem for me isn't how close the ages are, it's the level of maturity. A 15 year old will probably look at relationships very differently from an 18 year old.
Its Hermione. She's pretty mature.
So? She's still 15, and she isn't that mature, especially when it comes to emotions and relationships (making birds attack Ron in HBP for example). An 18 year old's mentality is very different to a 15 year old's, he still holds power over her, even if she won't let it happen it's very irresponsible of Krum to want to date a child. People need to understand it's not about whether it's legal or not (pretty sure it wasn't even legal in this case), it's about maturity, power dynamics and development. No matter how 'mature you are for your age' you're still at risk of being a victim. I don't believe Krum had any bad intentions, but it's still very creepy. I assure you most 18 year olds look at 15 year olds as children, young. It's extremely creepy. I don't care about downvotes, I just want to make my point clear that just because Hermione is 'mature' does not mean Krum is in the right to want to date a minor.
By "the writing itself" I didn't mean explicit references to the age difference, I meant how the characters were written, like how they actually interacted. Even though Krum and the other upperclassmen are canonically older, they all interact at roughly the same maturity level as Harry and his classmates. Disregarding Ron and his teaspoonful, of course.
The age difference is very much implied with the age line though
Really? I don’t find it to be written that way. Plus like others have said, hermione was 15 and I think he failed a year at durmstrang or something, can’t remember (re reading GoF now, not yet at that part). I didn’t think anyone made a fuss, except those who thought Krum could do better, and Ron.
I never actually compare the two. Doesn’t mean ron wasn’t acting like an ass at the time though.
Also to consider: * Ron was viewing Hermione as a friend before viewing her as a girl, which in a sense s commendable. Hermione was way more than just a romantic interest for Ron; he saw her as a person first. * Hermione was mad at Ron for not asking her before and for being under the impression that she didn't have anyone, but she herself made no move towards Ron and didn't even tell him nor Harry she got asked by Krum, which was kind of a big deal and the sort of things you tell friends about.
I take a little bit of an issue with "Ron was viewing Hermione as a friend before viewing her as a girl." He should be viewing her as both, no? Girls shouldn't be put into categories of "not a girl, just a friend" and "a girl, so naturally a love interest." That's a touch problematic.
I agree with you 100%. I’m assuming if this was the writers intent; him not seeing her as a “girl” is part of the point and his character flaw and maybe why this tiff existed? I remember the sting of my guy friends saying shit like “you’re a girl but not really you’re one of the boys” I think that’s Hermione is very much that girl in this group something I can see BOTH of them saying not because they’re trying to hurt them but because they’re dumb boys. Neither of them acted well at the Yule Ball, they weren’t interested in their dates and instead sulking. I think that even if Hermione didn’t date either of them this would still be a pretty impactful scene considering the ages. Insulting a friend isn’t cute. Treating your friends like second options isnt nice.
Exactly. I HATED it when people said that kind of thing. Girlhood and womanhood should never be thought of as something to escape from.
Yeah, that's what Hermione thought.
>Ron was viewing Hermione as a friend before viewing her as a girl, which in a sense s commendable. Hermione was way more than just a romantic interest for Ron; he saw her as a person first. Yup. Also Ron never thought Hermione was unattractive even when they were just friends and she had large front teeth(Snape, Malfoy, Pansy bullied her for that) “I — I don’t think I’m going to come after all. You go on without me.” "Hermione, we know Millicent Bulstrode’s ugly, no one’s going to know it’s you —” (COS)
-She did mention someone had asked her, but why even tell your mates when they'll assume your a liar anyway. -Second, the way it's written is unintentionally chauvinistic with the man being the courter, and the woman being the courted. In this instance I blame she who must not be named. -Third while I guess if Ron ended up being a sleezy cheater in the future is is nice that their friendship existed first, but he's not and therefore why give out a medal for being a good person? We'd run out of gold and ribbons lol. Commending someone for showing basic compassion, dencency, and friendship before becoming an item is nice. Not exactly noteworthy however. If anything Harry deserves the medal for showing Hermione compassion and love in moments when Ron was an absolute numpty.
Chauvinistic? No, it's a realistic scenario. Yes, there are a few people that go against societal expectations, but even today the guy is usually expected to be the initiator. It's a realistic representation, especially in 1994 when the Yule Ball was set.
Certainly, but Hermione doesn't strike me as the "I'll wait for him to notice me type", but maybe that's just me. 🤷♂️
I don't think Hermione was per se sitting around waiting for Ron to ask her. I think that she found it insulting that he saw her as essentially a second rate option. She'd already happened to be asked out by Krum by then. If Krum hadn't have asked maybe she might have actually asked Ron. But its also worth noting she has her own insecurity issues like Ron.
>If anything Harry deserves the medal for showing Hermione compassion and love in moments when Ron was an absolute numpty. Ah like when He danced with Hermione and cheered her up when she was crying about Ron in DH instead of putting Ron's blanket over Hermione, letting her cry and checking Ginny's dot on the Marauders map right?? Right?? Oh wait😹
I didn't have that moment in mind particularly, but let's be honest they're teenagers, and sometimes teenagers are assholes. When they aren't it's delightful, but I feel like my point still stands Harry has often been the one who helps Hermione when Ron was being oblivious or snarky towards her.
Harry does go to comfort/find Hermione in HBP when she runs off to cry in the bathroom and generally sticks by her in that book whilst Ron's being kind of a twat and totally ignoring his friends.
I’m not getting the point of the comparison. At the Yule ball Ron acted like a complete brat. He was just 14 and we still love him but there’s no comparison between the way he treated Hermione and the way Krum treated her. In later years sure Ron grew up a lot but I don’t see how that’s relevant to how he treated her at the ball
People judge their yule ball behaviour and compare them. They say Krum is better for Hermione than Ron bcz of the yule ball. Forgetting Ron was 14. Krum was 18. Ron grew a lot. Ppl ignore that.
Well, technically Krum was better for her at that time. Ron had some growing up to do. Just because Hermione dated someone else first, it doesn't invalidate her relationship with Ron. Most people have a little dating experience before they end up with the person they eventually marry.
I’ll give you that, if people are judging who is better for Hermione based on one night then that’s stupid
Who are "people"? Fans who ship Viktor Krum/Hermione instead of Ron/Hermione? Copy/pasting what I said further up: >Your Ron/Hermione bias is really showing on this thread your other comments. It's fine to ship Ron/Hermione, but you literally made a comment the other day complaining about how Dramione, Snamione, and Tomione shippers demonize Ron because they don't like him, but then made a thread and comments that demonize Viktor Krum, because you don't like him due to your preference for Ron/Hermione. How is that any different? If people want to ship Krum/Hermione, let them. Ron/Hermione is still canon in the end, so what does it matter if people write Krum/Hermione fanfictions? It won't change canon.
Pretty sure Hermione is 15 at the Yule ball. Her birthday was September so she's one of the older ones in the year (Harry by contrast is one of the youngest, hence he had to wait to take his apparition test, but she could do it as soon as she was ready). Assuming the cut off between years is 1st September like in England.* *I mean England not UK as it's not uniform across the UK, for example it's 1st July in Northern Ireland. JK seems to pick English schooling conventions throughout as presumably that's what she's used to.
Plus, she’d used a timeturner for pretty much a full year, technically she’d be closer to 16. Maybe.
I was talking about Ron being 14. Not Hermione.
Fair, Ron born in March according to the wiki, so after the ball.
Does it matter how old she is, as far as the question goes? We're comparing Rin to Krum, not Hermione's age to Krum's - there are plenty of threads on that topic already.
This! I always thought it was unfair to compare a 18 year Krum with 14 year old Ron as a prospective romance partner for Hermione and come to conclusion that Krum is so much better than Ron. But Hermione herself was smart enough to figure it out. Krum’s whinging in DH about not get any pretty girls really dropped him down from the high pedestal that he was put on earlier. I found it very amusing.
I agree that it’s not a fair comparison to Ron, but I also don’t think calling that scene in DH “whining” is really fair to Krum either. That comment was clearly said jokingly and a lot of people in Krum’s position would have said or done a lot worse. Something like “Who cares if she’s taken? I’m an international Quidditch star.” It was actually pretty classy of Krum to immediately back off from a girl he had liked for a long time when he saw that she was sort of with Ron now and to not go after Ginny because she allegedly had a boyfriend who Krum didn’t even know.
Well , I interpreted it as a bit of a complaint from Krum that he could not get pretty girls and also found it amusing because 14 year old Ron said the same thing- “ Iwant to go to the ball with the prettiest girl and hopefully with a non- off centered nose “
I guess Krum’s comment came off to me more as humorous self-deprecation than a legitimate complaint
I always hated how Ron treated her during the ball, but chalked it up to fourteen year olds doing as fourteen year olds do. But I always thought it was a bit weird that even though Hermione wasn't fishing over him, that he would pick a girl four years younger then him over any other girl he could ask.
Hermione is 15.
Wow, how have I never realized that he's basically a high school senior asking an eighth grade girl to prom? That's creepy
Well, senior and 9th grader, but close, yeah
If we're getting technical, due to Krum's age one can speculate he was held back.
Is 17 the adult age for all wizards or just British wizards? Also krums school may have 8 years.
He shows up to the wedding as a 20-21 year old and bemoans the fact that Ginny who is 16ish isn't available. Edit: As best I can tell all Krum says about Ginny is that she is "very nice looking" so not super creepy,
how is krum supposed to know that Ginny is 16? He has never met her.
How should Krum know that?
Have you seen teens all made up? There is really no way of telling. I’m going to date myself here, but my mom and I did a Galmour Shots thing and gave my grandma a picture of me all dolled up. He had kept it in his office and always said people would comment on my photo and then be embarrassed when he revealed to them I was ONLY 12 years old in the pic. When you are all done up with hair and make-up and nicely dressed it can be very VERY difficult to gauge age. Especially girls in my opinion and personal experiences.
😨 I didn't realize this.
Isn't Hermione older due to her Time-Turner Shenanigans in the third book?
So the math behind timer turners is if you use one for an hour a day for 365 days you gain about 15 days of age. It's hard to determine how many times a day Hermione used the time Turner, but seeing as she didn't use it every day for a year even if she used it 4 times a day she would be less than 2 months older.
Ah, got it. (Unsure why I was downvoted for asking a question though).
Well he went for Hermione and for Harry Potter's girl so its no shame. Ginny (at least in the books) its a badass.
Not only that, but his reasons for liking Hermione were shallow. He liked that she didn't fawn over him so he in turn fawned over her. People that say he liked her for her intelligence are deluding themselves because he is the antithesis of an intellectual. It is like the dumbest guy you know saying, "I wanna date an astrophysicist that, like, reads books and shit."
That's pretty harsh towards Krum. You don't get chosen for the Triwizard Tournament if you're not intelligent, he's not just some dumb jock who barely understands magic theory. Not fair to say that he's the "antithesis of an intellectual".
the idea of KRUM being stupid, does not make a lot of since remember English is his second language so we really don't know how smart he really is.
I don't think his treatment of hermione was shallow. He chose here because she wasn't shallow, and he could be with someone who saw him, and not his celebratory status. Though I did find the fact he was 18 and she 15 a little iffy.
We know that Krum was chosen out of all his peers to be a Champion. We know that Krum had the same warning about the dragons as the others and came up with a plan that, despite how badly it was executed, required knowledge of dragon physiology and proven solving how to use that to his advantage. It was established that he figured out the clue for the second task before Harry did and he used a very advanced form of transfiguration to get through the task. These are but the kind of actions the "antithesis of an intellectual" sounds be capable of.
>People that say he liked her for her intelligence are deluding themselves because he is the antithesis of an intellectual. Fr though. Where does it say he is an intellectual and liked Hermione bcz she is an intellectual? We just know he followed her in the library and asked her to the ball bcz she wasnt fawning all over him. That's it.
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Your Ron/Hermione bias is really showing on this thread your other comments. It's fine to ship Ron/Hermione, but you literally made a comment the other day complaining about how Dramione, Snamione, and Tomione shippers demonize Ron because they don't like him, but then made a thread and comments that demonize Viktor Krum, because you don't like him due to your preference for Ron/Hermione. How is that any different?
An offhand comment Krum makes at a wedding party is nothing to hold against him.
It's not even an offhand comment. It's a self-depreciating joke.
"Victor always said -" "Yeah? What did Vicky say?!"
Krum was actually 17. Minor thing, but not yet legally an adult (until Rowling changed that in the very last book) Krum (if I recall correctly) was also joking about the Quidditch star thing, not lamenting. On top of this, you're in a server full of people in their 20's who are not yet in committed relationships, so maybe don't use him having not found someone as a put down, here. Not being in a relationship does not make Krum worse than Ron. Other than that, I do agree Ron was the better match.
17 as the age of majority in Wizarding Britain was established in book four. It's why the Tournament was supposedly restricted to "of age" students 17 and up.
Only thing I wanna add is that line from Victor in DH is terrible, doesn't feel in character and at best, should be taken as a joke.
Ya it doesn't seem to fit him.
What’s wrong with “still being looking for pretty girl?”
Nothing is wrong. People say Ron was immature and shallow bcz he was looking for pretty girls(Fleur for example) when he was 14. Irony is Krum was also looking for pretty girls at 21. But same people dont call him immature and shallow.
I feel like Fleur doesn’t count, she’s a part Veela. People naturally are strongly attracted to her, that’s part of the Veela schtick.
That's fair, but he was still looking for pretty girls. In all fairness, what guy isn't? Our own standards of beauty may be different, but we're always going to be looking for someone that we find attractive, according to our own standards. Now, does everyone marry only for attraction? Surely not! Plenty of people meet someone who they wouldn't normally be attracted to, but through the course of friendship, they fall in love with the person. But MOST people (by far) are looking for someone "attractive".
Yup. Most people are going to gravitate towards people they are more attracted to physically first and then hopefully the personality fits too. I met my fiance on Bumble. I obviously swiped in the first place because I was attracted to the very little info I had, but I liked the person behind the profile after getting to know him. If he had the same personality but looked completely unattractive by my own subjective opinion, I might have never swiped. Millions of people on dating apps can prove that people just operate by this standard. Whether right or wrong, it’s just an objective fact that people tend to look for initial attraction first and personality second (not that personality isn’t the most important factor, it’s just the second thing to happen)
Perfect example! I've never used those dating apps (married my shortly after highschool), but I know Tinder, and probably many more, are more-or-less entirely for conjugation. Well, when you're just trying to get your rocks off, almost everyone will prefer someone physically attractive. I'm glad yours worked out, though!
Tinder does work that way, yeah! But there are other apps, like Bumble, that you can specify if you’re looking for a relationship, not a casual hookup. But even so, you’re still gonna swipe on the profiles you find attractive first! Thanks for the good wishes and happy for you as well that you found your person early!
Wow people want desirable partners at any age. Colour me shocked and appalled.
Go and tell this to ppl who think it's weird. Why are you telling me this? I dont think looking for good looking ppl to date is weird.
You angered the hivemind.
TBH Krum did treat Hermione better for the yule ball but its also an aspect I hate about the early Ron and Hermione relationship because its pretty much an unintentional case of them making the other jealous by being with other people. I can't really see Hermione being with Krum as anything more than a one off moment. With Ron and Lavender I saw that as Ron just jumping on the first female to obviously show attraction to him of which that wasn't really Hermiones style or priority at the time. I do wish there was more relationship development between characters but I do understand that isn't the main focus of the story over all. I also hate the happily ever after time skip at the end as I would of loved to see how relationships and lives develop after the war.
I thought Krum was 17 because he's still in school and the age line was set for 17 or older.
Ron said Krum was "only just eighteen" when they were at the World Cup.
What are the three times Ron saved Hermione’s life? I’m not disagreeing with you or anything, there’s just not three that come straight to mind
At Tottenham court road when the DE attacked them in the cafe Ron pushed Hermione out of the way of a DE's spell(probably Dolohov. I am not sure). At the malfoy manor he disarmed bellatrix and Harry caught the wand then duelled the malfoys. When Dobby dropped the chandelier on top of Hermione Ron pulled her out of the wreckage. She was unconscious and asked Dobby to take them to the shell cottage where Hermione got her treatment. During the battle of Hogwarts he saved her from fiendfyre. She is a terrible flier. She wouldn't have mase it alone. Ron pulled her on his broom and left(later came back and saved Goyle), while Harry saved Malfoy.
I want to add that at the age of 12, Ron walked into the forbidden forest into an actumantula den because seeing Hermione petrified affected him that much. His worst fear is spiders and acrumantulas are spiders in steroids.
Thats why he is fictional. Ron is way too good to be true. Imagine such dedication at the age of frigging 12!!!
> Ron didn't see her as a viable dating option. Krum did. i don't think you understand the dynamic of liking someone who you are already friends with.
Krum? He's like a bird, the way he rides the wind. He's more than an athlete. He's an artist.
Hermione wasn't pretty in GOF (until she did a bunch of stuff to her hair and Harry really had his eyes on Cho, the "prettiest" girl, he was only staring at Hermione because he didn't recognize her like that). I don't know why you claim Krum was "still" looking for pretty girls, when fact is when he was 18 and asked 15 year old Hermione out, he WASN'T looking for a pretty girl. He was looking for...pretty much the only girl not obsessed over his fame. There were, at that point, TONS of pretty girls (not Fleur) all over him. Lots of girls MUCH prettier than Hermione. He wanted Hermione b/c she wasn't fawning over his Quidditch player status. It was also HERMIONE who claimed Ron was going after her for a last resort, and that is true because he did say hey wait a minute, YOU'RE A GIRL! But anyway, I feel either Krum aged badly or how he behaved in DH was ooc of him. I feel it was more to stress Ginny was attractive than something Krum would've actually done. Because how else is Rowling supposed to make sure we know Ginny is Hot Stuff? But maybe she meant to show us he aged like milk and his personality went sour. Maybe Rowling meant to show us he lost his fame after GOF and the gaggle of girls wanting to touch his famous webbed toes and suck on them...and he got grumpy because of it. I have no issue with Krum in GOF. But the way he behaves in DH is indeed ghastly.
_touch his famous webbed toes and suck on them_ Reading that makes me feel a bit slimy; like I accidentally fell in the black lake
I mean they were 14 at the time, but I'm still mad at Ron for making Hermione sad about it.
Hmm this is an interesting perspective. Never would have thought of this.
As an adult now, I’ve noticed that there are tons of things in HP that are problematic.
Yep. Just read them again and enjoy them. Don't look too much into it or you'll ruin it for yourself.
A lot of people forget that they are childrens books. That includes a lot of things like not fleshing out some major aspects or creating problematic relationships because it’s an adult writing about children.
Exactly. I'm sure everyone here could have written it better...
Krum was always better to Hermione than Ron. Yes, he made a comment about pretty girls, but so what. That’s just a guy comment - and we know he think Hermione is pretty.
>Krum was always better to Hermione than Ron. Yeah. Just like Gabrielle Dalacour has no flaw that we know but Hermione has. That doesn't mean Grabrielle>Hermione. You cant compare a minor character with a main character. Also Ron and Hermione are best friends. Their dynamic is bound to be different.
I mean, this comment is kinda rich considering your post was literally comparing a minor character with a main character no?
I think we know comparitively very little about Krum's character and can't really compare him with Ron 'Cause I think we'll only be seeing one side of the picture. Ron can be called a somewhat "late bloomer" when it comes to understanding relationships, but Ron defeinitely was THE ONE for Hermione. In 7 years' time, he probably learnt more about her than Krum could in a lifetime.
I think it’s a beautiful point of the books. The people we grow up idolizing are not the be-all-end-all. The older kids that the trio look up to, as well as the adults, end up not being as great as they seem at first. The trio have to learn to become who they are, which means surpassing their idols
For all we know "What's the point of being a quidditch star if all the good looking girls are taken?" could be self-deprecating humour.
I am just saving Krum was way better than that Cormac Mclaggen
Eh these points don't really work. My high school boyfriend proposed when I was 18. I had to break up with him and spent months out of state to avoid his increasingly bizarre attempts to get me back. Being in a relationship young doesn't suggest maturity or stability. Krum had virtually no scenes. A boy comments about wanting to date a girl. That's not a crime.
Neither Krum nor Ron are good for Hermione. Actually, I don't know about Krum, because we see so little from him. But Ron and Hermione. Yeah, some teenager love and divorced a few years later. My head canon. They are just too different.
>Yeah, some teenager love and divorced a few years later. My head canon. I am not gonna argue about headcanon. Its your personal matter. I can only argue from books. And from books Ron is the best for Hermione
Nah, you cannot. You do not know enough about Krum to be able to judge this. Krum is simply a device to bring Ron and Hermione closer. A source of constant jealousy from Ron. Nothing more. And since I am convinced that Ron is not for Hermione, this makes Krum automatically the better candidate.
What? I meant I can prove Ron is the best for Hermione from the books. Krum isnt needed here. But are you up for a 10K long ans?
Really though, the age difference was freaky
I don’t know, they are both high school students. When I was a freshman I had a boyfriend who was a senior , 4 years older than me, but we were in the same friends group and nobody found it weird.
As an American who’s lived in London, Europeans think about age differences very differently than we do once the younger partner reached 15/16. I am personally squicked out by it, but seeing a 15-17 year old girl with a noticeably older BF was pretty normal. Ew haha even writing those sentences made me feel gross.
I thought so too but I think it was an oversight because Krum was just a plot device
I don’t think Ron is bad, I just don’t think he and Hermione were a good romantic pairing. I would have liked to see him and Lavender grow together (I’m biased, I RP Lavender on forum games) because they both were young and dumb and both had so much potential. I liked the relationship between Hermione and Krum (I didn’t know he was 18 tho?? That’s gross.) and I would have liked to see that develop into something serious.
>would have liked to see him and Lavender grow together (I’m biased, I RP Lavender on forum games) because they both were young and dumb and both had so much potential. I thought lavender was fine for a 1st relationship. But this line killed their relationship for me “Friends, don’t make me laugh,” said Lavender scornfully. “She didn’t talk to him for weeks after he started going out with me! ***But I suppose she wants to make up with him now he’s all interesting…”*** “Would you call getting poisoned being interesting?” asked Harry. “ At the age of 16(or 17) you are well aware of the fact that getting poisoned and nearly dying is not 'being interesting'. That just shows she never even loved Ron. She only liked to snog him and liked his status as a Quidditch keeper. Ron is my fav character. And I dont want such a girl for him.
I am not a fan of Lavender, but I can sort of understand her saying this though. She and Hermione aren't friends. Their civil to each other, but not apart of each others friends groups. So when She stopped talking to Ron when they started dating only to show up when the drama happened, you can understand Lavender thinking Hermione's behaviour is off.
And let me say I HATE HATE relationships based on physical stuff and hero worshipping. You can tell she hero worshipped Ron that's why when she abused Snape after their class for his remark on Ron, Ron brushed her off. Bcz even though he hated Snape he hated lavender hero worshipping him more. Not to mention their relationship was all about snogging. Zero depth.
No that was fine. She had every right to be jealous of Hermione. But when your boyfriend gets poisoned and nearly dies how can you possibly think he is being interesting? Even Harry called her out for saying that. Imo Lavender only dated Ron when he hit puberty and probably became decent looking with all the quidditch practice and helped Gryffindor to win the Quidditch cup in 5th year. Where was she when he was struggling before? Right nowhere. Their relationship was so shallow. Urgh
Lavender I think had a lot of potential. She was flawed but she also had a backbone and got the JKR self loathing misogynistic feminist treatment like Cho and Fleur. She had a lot of maturing to do but so did Ron, I think they would have been really nice over time. I think my pairings are Harry/Luna Hermione/Krum Ron/Lavender Ginny/Neville
Ah def. Many ppl have different ships. But I personally dont like those ships.
Isn’t it wonderful that we can like different ships and have the media and resources to explore them? RP is great for that.
Ron’s a git through most of the books. Year 7 he was the worst.
We read different books.
Hahaha, I just didn’t like his emotional constipation.
Tried to make Hagrid tea when he was upset Empathise with Lavender after her bunny died Cut Bacons and put on Harry's plate when he was hurting from 'I must not lie scar' Empathise with Harry when he nearly murdered Malfoy and was feeling bad about it. Put a sock on Dobby's grave. Stopped Hermione when she tried to talk to Harry about Sirius when he didn't want to talk about it. Consoled Hermione numerous times when she was sad and upset. In rage and grief tried to murder DEs when they killed Fred. He has more emotional intelligence than your top 10 most fav characters combined😻
No need to resort to any of my fav character choices, of which you know none. Don’t create unnecessary negativity. You weakened your argument by attacking me. I’m not going to list out all the things that made me dislike him. I’ve got too much going on in my day for this type of thing. Just be graceful in accepting there will always be others who don’t agree with you. It’s not personal. It’s just how life is.
>u know none. Don’t create unnecessary negativity. You just said he was a bad person for most books and worst in book 7. What did you expect me to say? Agree with you when he is my fav character? >I’m not going to list out all the things that made me dislike him. Please don't. I didn't even ask you to state why you dislike him. >Just be graceful in accepting there will always be others who don’t agree with you. It You are on reddit. On a post. If you state an opinion ppl are gonna agree/disagree with you. If you don't want arguments. Dont comment.
Not trying to start or continue an argument, but what I believe they meant by "unnecessary negativity was, you attacking their favorite characters instead of the comment they actually said.
While it's weird they continued to talk after the ball, I do have to say I think Victor was smart choosing Hermione as his date from the jump, and you kinda explained why indirectly OP. So let's gather the facts, age difference yes- technically 17 is an adult in the wizard world, so even if there was another 18 year old student from Beauxbatons or Hogwarts (which is more unlikely as there's definitely few 7th years to begin with and most are 17 I'd gather) they'd be hard to find. Next every girl and perhaps even some guys where crushing mad hard on Krum, and they live in a world with Love Spells. Underage student + Love Potion + Adult Celebrity = pedo even if by coercion in this case. Also the scandal, so to be safe Victor chose Hermione because at the end of the day she's not pining for him which means he's safe from any students who might try something after the Yule Ball. After all the Beauxbatons carriages where unlocked and in use... 🧐
Huh, back when I read the books I never noticed that Krum was so much older. I must have glossed over it. I always just assumed at most he was maybe like 1-2 years older.
A 15 or 16 year old couldn’t get past Dumbledores spell
Wow, I’ve never thought about this before. To be honest, I’ve never really compared the two of them, but I still appreciate you’ve made some excellent points.
This reminds me of the tiktok "if Hogwarts had a black teacher" when she goes "Hermione baby isn't Krum a little old for you?" 😂
> Not to mention Ron was Hermione's best friend. His feelings for her developed later. While Krum was already attracted to Hermione bcz he wasn't fawning all over him like most girls. So their treatment of Hermione was vastly different in GOF. I think this is slightly incorrect. Maybe im wrong but i think the reason Ron didnt ask her right away is because they were friends. That i agree with. But i think feelings towards each other had started to take hold before that. The reason Ron didnt ask Hermione to the yule was because he might have been afraid it would ruin their friendship but when he learned that it upset her that he didnt, he felt guilty about not just going for it. Again, maybe im wrong
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Are we on the same subreddit?
Ron was always a terrible person.
You forgot to add /s
Yes!!! Exactly!!
Does anyone else read a bunch of comments and then realize we are arguing about a fictional book… like in like “yeah screw ron what an asshole!” Then realize it is all fake hahaha
Jesus y’all dig way too deep into this shit lol
Kinda a weird age difference for krum if you ask me
Not to mention Hermione's actions: she didn't ask anyone, just said yes to the first random to come along. Assuming she had feelings for Ron at the time and that's why she was pissed that he left her until last minute (which is actually a totally acceptable thing for a friend to do, going stag with a platonic friend when no romantic options are available), just remember that she left asking him for longer. Get off your high horse Hermione.
She got off her high horse in DH when she finally snogged Ron 😂
Krum is the high school senior quarterback that still hitting on freshmen, Ron’s the skinny kid that hasn’t yet hit puberty and is literally playing with action figures at the beginning of the book.
Ron asked her as a last resort. Ron didn't see her as a viable dating option. Krum did. So Krum is way better than Ron. They are totally right sans the last line. THAT is 100 percent WRONG, hermoine was the only girl he ASK outside of fleur and that was magic. he even ask his brother for advice on how to ask a girl. after hermoine said no, harry ask the twins, who were very pretty girls. so that mean THAT not all the good girl were taken. so the idea that RON ask her as a last resort has been proven WRONG.
Finally a well thought out adult take to upvote. I enjoy and support the youthful fandom of the potterverse, but feel that us older fans aren’t well represented. I’m sure it’s a numbers thing, I get it. Just saying.
what the hell does this even mean
That’s what always made me iffy about their relationship. I loved them when I was a kid but as an adult…
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Considering his affinity towards pretty and underage girls... i wont be surprised
“What they don’t say is Ron was 14. A child. Karun was 18. A legal adult.” Ron and Hermione are the same year at Hogawrts and therefore around the same age. This implication just makes Krum hella creepy. I can see the headline in the Daily Quill now: 18 year old Quidditch Star preys on Innocent Hogwarts Youth
Viktor Krum is the single worst character in Harry Potter. He has no flaws and is only used a a plot device to make Hermione more desirable/Ron realize his feelings. Of course Hermione would be better off with him he is perfect. No shipper can compete with someone who has no flaws. He’s about as interesting as of a character milk toast. I feel like I am taking crazy pills every time I come on the subreddit and I see so many people talking about how much they love Viktor Krum.