Rules: There may be spoilers for all seven books and 8 movies Each match will last for exactly 24 hours. Any votes after that point will not count. Discussion is encouraged but not required. Make sure all of your votes are obvious. I should know who you are voting for, basically don't bury your vote in the middle of a paragraph. No alt-voting. Ties will be replayed the next day with the rest of the matches. No vote-saves or rallying for specific characters. Telling people to vote is encouraged but don't tell them how to vote! Don't complain about the seeds, they were the result of a save-my. Because matches can overlap, results will be in this topic. http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/61327435
Eh. I never got all the love for Cedric. I guess it's because he's a Hufflepuff student that's not totally without merit? Meanwhile Parvati's pretty cool. She went to the Yule Ball with Harry and doesnt afraid of anything. But seriously though, her friendship with Lavender and twinship with Padma makes her slightly more interesting than Hufflepuff hero who was cool for a while and then got sacrificed like a pawn.
(7)Filius Flitwick (2)Ginevra "Ginny" Weasley
Same arguments as last time: half man, half goblin little old professor who is both wise and.brave, enough so that the Sorting Hat had difficulty picking between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor for him (before ultimately deciding on the former), who is adorable to top it all off. Big things, small packages, etc. Also, most importantly: he's not that whore Ginny Weasley.
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Arcanine: The best pokemon ever. Dewott: The cutest pokemon ever.
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When you've got a pretty-boy monkey on your back constantly calling you a puppet, you hardly want to seem like you're happy to be used. - DSakaCharanJ
My problem with Pavati is that she never really...does anything. She's there along with Lavender to be a token Gryffindor girl who likes Trelawny, thinks Firenze is hot, and a few things like that. I think I'd have more respect for her if I could remember unique things about her. Like...I think she was the one who wore the ridiculous butterfly hairclip in book 4, went to the Yule ball with Harry in book 4, and...actually I forget which of her or Lavender made the comment about Ubridge's ugly pink cardigan. The funny thing is, if I could nail this stuff down to one character, I'd probably like said character a good deal. More than Dean or Seamus, certainly.
Cedric does get the spotlight. He's abashed that his father is bragging about his Quidditch victory over Harry when Dementors were involved. He helps Harry in reverse after Harry helps him with the Dragons. He tries to walk away from the glory of the cup. He gets Cho Chang.
And hm, you know, unexpectedly I seem to have more to say about Pavati, even though I didn't think I could remember much about her. I guess maybe Cedric just has less going for him than I thought?
(7)Filius Flitwick (2)Ginevra "Ginny" Weasley
Yes, yes, Ginny is a Mary-Sue. She doesn't have any character flaws, and is awesome at everything she applies herself to, and highly popular, and pulls talents out of nowhere with explanations like "I've spent much of my life around Fred and George" and "I broke into your broom closet when you weren't looking."
I understand the frustration people have with this, but seriously, Flitwick is more or less a non-character. I mean, if you want to talk about character flaws, I struggle to think of any about Flitwick either. I mean, the main stuff that stands out about him is stuff pertaining to his race (like being short and having a squeaky voice).
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Cats land on their feet. Toast lands peanut butter side down. A cat with toast strapped to its back will hover above the ground in a state of quantum indecision
GaryOak151 posted... this ginny hate is unacceptable. Explain youself heathens
She a ho. No but seriously first impressions are important. First impression of Snape is that he's one of few professors that it not only not riding Harry's Chosen One jock, but that he actually seems to hate him. He's mean, snarky, and pretty damn unique. First impression of Ginny is that she's naïve enough to get tricked into injuring 8 Hogwarts students and faculty members and then, after trying and failing to solve her own issues by throwing them down a toilet, becomes the typical damsel in distress that needs to be rescued. Not good. Not good at all.
But not completely devastating either. You can recover from a first impression if you get substancial development: see Neville Longbottom. Problem is Ginny gets next to none of that. Very next appearance we see of Ginny is of her crushing on Harry (oh geez, more hero worship). This doesn't really set her apart from Romilda Vane, Cho Chang, etc. So all the way up until OotP we know nothing of her personal prowess in wizardry, only of her lovelife- of which she is faster than her older brother much to Ron's chagrin. EDIT: I just remembered a Bat-Bogey Charm she had casted on Michael Corner I think. Sounds like something Fred/George could've taught her, but to master it must mean she was a decent witch I suppose. Still nothing amazing like Hermione, but this at least proved she had potential. I guess we are to assume she's average in magical regard but not without potential. Blah blah Harry trains her and a handful of others, she improves as do the handful of others, she fights at the Battle of the Ministry or whatever that was later called as do some of that handful of others and she manages to hold her own for a while as do whatever is left of that handful of others. You see where I'm going with this? There's nothing to set her apart really.
Then in Halfblood Prince unrequitted love blossoms into mutual affection OUT OF NOWHERE! Ginny was always into Harry since that time he saved her life, FINE. I accept that. But there's nothing that ever indicated Harry ever thought Ginny was anything more than pretty. Nothing that sets Ginny apart from any other idol-worshiping, Chosen One-jocking, Hero-not-Harry Potter-loving girl out there. Is "he saved my life once" really any better reason to "love" someone than "he's destined to defeat the Dark Lord"? I think not.
So like I was saying that romance comes out of nowhere basically. IIRC Harry says kissing Ginny "just felt right". Well it certainly didn't feel right to me. It felt weak and forced. I know I should be blaming Rowling for that, but I can't help but blame Ginny for being so unspectacular for five books. Oftentimes I wonder if the character Ginny was conceived solely to bare Harry's children since Ron and Hermione had already hooked it up, and the epilogue practically confirms this, but if that's the case wouldn't Rowling have wanted to polish up her character a bit, so as not to offend and alienate half her fanbase? I mean Rowling had a total of five books since the time Ginny was actually introduced (not a brief cameo at King's Cross) to improve upon and refine this girl's character and in my opinion she utterly failed to do so.
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Arcanine: The best pokemon ever. Dewott: The cutest pokemon ever.
(3)Cedric Diggory Cedric is awesome. He's a tri-wizard tournament champion, and the representation of Hogwarts in the tournament. I don't really remember much about Parvati. She goes to the dance with Harry... and that's about it. She likes Trelawney. And she has a twin sister in Ravenclaw. She and Hermione hardly ever hang out. If ever. Cedric on the other hand is a major character, who is mentioned before his major appearance. People always talk about Huffelpuffs like they're a joke. But there are a number of good Hufflepuffs including Tonks and Ernie MacMillian. Not to mention that Hufflepuff was the house that had the second most students to stay behind for the battle of Hogwarts -- and I just realized now that loyalty was not only to Hogwarts, but to Cedric -- a bit of fridge brilliance really. Hufflepuff doesn't get nearly enough credit, and Cedric is a good example of them.
(7)Filius Flitwick My problem with Ginny is that as a love interest... she's a pretty weak character. She does some big things -- most notable is probably her going with everyone to the Ministry of Magic. But... her great love with Harry? It's weak. We see her crush from the beginning. But nothing from Harry until the sixth book. And then... it's kind of tossed aside. Harry spends moments with her, and we never really hear about them. We don't see them. Almost no time is given to develop their relationship. It just... develops. Flitwick on the other hand is a character who's very underused. For a Hogwarts teacher, he doesn't show up nearly enough. But -- he does fight against Voldemort along with McGonagall, and Slughorn. He's the head of Ravenclaw. And he's a great duelist. Both of these characters are underused, but I have to give it to Flitwick, because I really like most of the Hogwarts staff, and Flitwick is no exception.
Because she dates two boys before coming to the guy she'll eventually marry (instead of one like Harry/Ron/Hermione)? Seriously, I still stand by the accusation that Ginny is a Mary Sue without flaws. Are you really trying to claim that dating two boys at different points in high school is a character flaw?
GenesisSaga posted... Then in Halfblood Prince unrequitted love blossoms into mutual affection OUT OF NOWHERE! Ginny was always into Harry since that time he saved her life, FINE. I accept that. But there's nothing that ever indicated Harry ever thought Ginny was anything more than pretty. Nothing that sets Ginny apart from any other idol-worshiping, Chosen One-jocking, Hero-not-Harry Potter-loving girl out there.
Other than Harry and Ginny hang out over summer vacation, play Quidditch together, and actually enjoy each other's company. (All of which is only really possible after book 5).
There's two things that had to happen before Harry would look at Ginny seriously. First, he had to go after Cho Chang; he'd been hot for her for a long time. It was destined to fail for various reasons, but he had to go there. Second, he had to stop thinking of her as "Ron's annoying first-year sister whom we avoid because we don't have anything we'd want to do with a helpless little brat." Suddenly she's relevant at Quidditch, and fights in the department of Mysteries (even though Harry doesn't want to bring her along because he expects her to be helpless). She's someone that Harry doesn't mind chatting with about common interests. Not only that, but they do end up hanging out from time to time.
Granted, this makes her one of three plausible candidates for Harry to date (Hermione, Luna, and Ginny). People have written essays about this stuff, so you can search for them if you want, but it comes down to...for a variety of reasons, Harry/Hermione doesn't make romantic sense. Harry/Luna...the problem is Harry doesn't see her as a peer; he sees her as this less-fortunate one that he doesn't mind doing a favour from time to time. Although there is some sexual tension there.
GenesisSaga posted... I know I should be blaming Rowling for that, but I can't help but blame Ginny for being so unspectacular for five books.
Nah, that's a deliberate writing technique. Standard mystery writing; "who's the girl who Harry is going to hook up with"--can't make her too obvious, or else people will guess. So...you downplay the target for a while.
For what it's worth, essays written by people who know their foreshadowing figured out after book 5 that Harry would end up with Ginny (partially BECAUSE she was getting suspiciously little screen time for a Weasly who's around the Burrow).
So...if you don't like such writing techniques, you absolutely should blame Rowling.
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Cats land on their feet. Toast lands peanut butter side down. A cat with toast strapped to its back will hover above the ground in a state of quantum indecision
Genesis pretty much covered my feelings on Ginny. She is basically a Mary Sue created to end up with Harry. And then her and Harry isn't even a very good/enjoyable relationship.
Of course I am also one of the people that thought Harry and Parvati had actual chemistry in book 4 and hoped that would turn into something. Instead we got Ginny and Harry. This was not an improvement.
Seriously am I the only one that thought the Patil sisters were awesome in book 4? They made the ball not completely horrible. They were funny and seemed to be pretty cool and potentially strong characters. Plus the idea of having these two twin sisters in different houses always seemed interesting to me, like do they get into fights about their houses or share all of its secrets? How does that affect their relationshp? From what I remember they are the only case of family not all being in the same house. And then they got ignored.
-- (Maniac64 at work) Guns don't kill people, Kinder eggs do. I saw it in a post on GameFAQs. ~FAHtastic
metroid composite posted... GenesisSaga posted... She a ho.
Because she dates two boys before coming to the guy she'll eventually marry (instead of one like Harry/Ron/Hermione)? Seriously, I still stand by the accusation that Ginny is a Mary Sue without flaws. Are you really trying to claim that dating two boys at different points in high school is a character flaw?
This was said in jest. Hence, why I followed it with "No but seriously"
There's nothing wrong with dating a few guys. There's nothing wrong with being faster than your older brother (maybe that's his fault because he's clueless with women). But having your most memorable trait for three (?) books being that you go from one guy to another in a short amount of time (and I swear to god I could've sworn there were at least three) does not speak wonders for your character. But I'll admit, perhaps I was imposing Ronald's wonderment regarding Ginny onto her character which is not fair to her. However:
Other than Harry and Ginny hang out over summer vacation, play Quidditch together, and actually enjoy each other's company. (All of which is only really possible after book 5).
Spending one summer together and enjoying one another's company does not a strong argument for love make. Harry enjoyed Luna's and Hermione's company (admittedly not the former's immediately), and spent that same summer with the latter. Mind you this was the first time they spent more than a few minutes in each other's company etc. but this is not nearly enough to see her in a whole new romantic light imo.
There's two things that had to happen before Harry would look at Ginny...
My problem with this is that not enough time was spent developing their relationship at all. I would honestly prefer less focus on Ginny throughout the books, and Harry ending up with her later in life with little explanation than the poor attempt at foreshadowing followed by the "felt right" we got. See that way, it feels less like Rowling is trying to justify Ginny's existence by conforming to the earlier conceived epilogue.
Granted, this makes her one of three plausible candidates for Harry to date (Hermione, Luna, and Ginny)... Harry/Hermione doesn't make romantic sense. Harry/Luna...the problem is Harry doesn't see her as a peer; he sees her as this less-fortunate one that he doesn't mind doing a favour from time to time. Although there is some sexual tension there.
However so? Harry seemed to care more for Hermione than he ever did for Ginny before Book Six, and any care for the latter could potentially be written off with the sentiment, "She's my best friend's sister. I have to look out for her!" Unless you mean to say it's because Hermy was always more into Ron, which I don't buy. Their romance feels more natural than Harry and Ginny's, but it didn't exactly feel set in stone either. That is until you read the epilogue, which again can explain Rowling's previous plot developments and how they conform to this preset idea she pigeonholed herself into.
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Arcanine: The best pokemon ever. Dewott: The cutest pokemon ever.
Nah, that's a deliberate writing technique. Standard mystery writing; "who's the girl who Harry is going to hook up with"--can't make her too obvious, or else people will guess. So...you downplay the target for a while.
But what if "people", by which I mean people buying your books would prefer an obvious character that's unique and likeable to a mystery character that's unspectacular in most regards? I mean maybe it didn't matter to her since it was her final book and the money was already in her bank (brilliant!!), but I know I wasn't the only one a little miffed at how these things went down.
So...if you don't like such writing techniques, you absolutely should blame Rowling.
Fine, but blaming Rowling for an unspectacular character lacking substantial development whether intentional or otherwise doesn't make said character any more spectacular or developed. In fact it makes me more miffed that measures weren't taken to make her a more engaging, more likeable character. As such, she is near Ron-tier for me which is not a good place to be.
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Arcanine: The best pokemon ever. Dewott: The cutest pokemon ever.
My problem with this is that not enough time was spent developing their relationship at all. I would honestly prefer less focus on Ginny throughout the books, and Harry ending up with her later in life with little explanation than the poor attempt at foreshadowing followed by the "felt right" we got. See that way, it feels less like Rowling is trying to justify Ginny's existence by conforming to the earlier conceived epilogue.
I can agree with this. It's not like EVERYONE has to end up with their high school sweetheart. I'm pretty sure the girl that Draco ended up marrying was hardly mentioned in the books if at all, unlike the obvious choice of Pansy Parkinson.
MarvelousGerbil posted... My problem with this is that not enough time was spent developing their relationship at all. I would honestly prefer less focus on Ginny throughout the books, and Harry ending up with her later in life with little explanation than the poor attempt at foreshadowing followed by the "felt right" we got. See that way, it feels less like Rowling is trying to justify Ginny's existence by conforming to the earlier conceived epilogue.
I can agree with this. It's not like EVERYONE has to end up with their high school sweetheart.
And in fact hardly ANYONE ends up staying with their high school sweetheart. It's pretty rare actually. I can look through my high school yearbook right now and count the "hot couples" that stayed together on one hand (on one finger to be more accurate). Maybe things work differently in the wizarding world, but that's kind of a stretch. Honestly, if Rowling couldn't just abandon the epilogue outright (the best option next to writing a brand new epilogue), I prefer she not mold the plot around it. And if she didn't do that outright, it sure as hell did feel like she did.
I'm pretty sure the girl that Draco ended up marrying was hardly mentioned in the books if at all, unlike the obvious choice of Pansy Parkinson.
This is a good point. Some others, Luna for example, married people we never even heard of in the book.
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Arcanine: The best pokemon ever. Dewott: The cutest pokemon ever.
I am a Hufflepuff and it would take a lot for me to not vote for the best Puffer in the books! Now from a fanfiction perspective Parvati is mostly absent from any real meaningful stories while Cedric has had plenty of time to shine in the alternate universe spotlight. He is gone in any canon following works but he is a very strong character most of the time when people decide to use him, so this is an easy win.
(7)Filius Flitwick (2)Ginevra "Ginny" Weasley
Ginny can be quite good in fanfiction, but my god can she be really bad. Just so many awful characterizations of the poor weasel that it is utterly sad. Flitwick, on the other hand, is almost always a cool mentor type and a nice addition to any story. Ginny also has betrayed poor Harry far too much in fanfiction for me to be able to forgive her easily.
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Ngirl is a toll bridge - Wigs Gotta pay if you want to come inside! - Ngirl
GenesisSaga posted... This is a good point. Some others, Luna for example, married people we never even heard of in the book.
Oh yeah I had completely forgotten about that. TBQH, sans RonxHermione, her marriage makes the most sense out of all the school kids, maybe even more. She never fit in while in school, found the author of the books she loved and got together with the guy's son.
If I'm being fair to Rowlings, I'm actually still with the girl I dated my last year of high school (been together six years now), so it DOES happen, but none of my friends are with anyone they met before college.
Cedric was a pretty cool guy in spite of being Harry's rival and everything. He seemed like he deserved to be a Hogwarts champion (although the whole triwizard thing was kind of ridiculous, much as I love the book Goblet of Fire). Parvati was always around in the books, but I never felt like we saw much of her character. At least I don't remember it.
(7)Filius Flitwick (2)Ginevra "Ginny" Weasley
I think a bunch of people kind of hate Ginny, but I'm not one of them (even if I think Harry and Hermione would have made a lot more sense as a couple). And really it's pretty obvious Ginny is the one who deserves to win here unless she's dragged down by hate. She's just way more important to the story... and she actually became kind of badass in the later books, a big contrast from the way she was in book 2. I wish we'd gotten to see more of the year when she, Neville, and Luna were leading the DA at Hogwarts.
-- I made a living on time trial blowing myself off to cross the finish line at ludicrous speed. -transience