Ginny Weasley

Template:HP character Ginevra Molly "Ginny" Weasley is a fictional character in the Harry Potter book series written by J. K. Rowling. In the series, she is a young witch who, like protagonist Harry Potter, was born with magical powers and attends Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Early in the series, Ginny's role is minor; she is associated with Harry mainly because she is the younger sister of Ron Weasley, Harry's best friend. Rowling depicts her as having an unrequited crush on Harry in the second book, which serves as an occasional source of comic relief. Later, as the series progresses, Rowling greatly expands Ginny's role, developing her character and eventually including her as an active participant in some of Harry's adventures.

Ginny is described in the series as being small in stature, having long red hair and bright brown eyes, although she is portrayed with blue eyes in the movies. Rowling has described her in interviews as "a fairly forceful personality" who is "tough, not in an unpleasant way, but... gutsy." She also characterized Ginny as "funny" and "very warm and compassionate." As Ginny's character emerges, readers see evidence that she has a fierce temper and can be unkind when angered but thoughtful and comforting when sympathetic. Rowling's decision to place her in Hogwarts' Gryffindor House, the traditional home for students who value and possess courage, indicates bravery as one of her central traits.

Background

Rowling casts Ginny as the youngest of seven children and the only daughter in the Weasley family. In fact, Rowling has described Ginny as being "the first girl to be born into the Weasley clan for several generations". Based on the chronology of events in the books, her date of birth is estimated to be 11 August 1981 Her family is portrayed as financially struggling but pure-blood, meaning that all family members in recent generations have possessed magical ability. Rowling sets up blood purity as a concept that some characters in Harry Potter value as being akin to nobility, but the Weasleys are shown to discount this notion, believing that blood purity is unimportant. This, along with their poverty, leads some other pure-blood families (mainly the Malfoys) to disdain and openly insult them.

Name etymology

Rowling has given many of the characters in Harry Potter names which hint at certain of their attributes, so enthusiasts of the series often analyze character names closely. Ginny's full first name is not revealed in the Harry Potter series, but Rowling has stated that it is Ginevra. Ginevra, in Italian dialect, refers to the Juniper tree. Ginevra is also the Italian variant form for the Swiss city Geneva and the personal name Geneva, which also refers to the Juniper tree. Also, Rowling has said that Ginevra is related to Guinevere, the queen consort of King Arthur. Ginevra is also a Celtic name for "white as foam".

Role in the series

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Ginny is introduced in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. She is the first girl of about Harry's age seen in the series. She makes only two appearances in Philosopher's Stone, both at King's Cross Station. The first is a scene where Harry and her brothers are leaving for Hogwarts; Harry sees her interacting with her family and then watches her chasing the train, laughing and crying, as it leaves the station. In this first scene, her connection to Harry is established with Harry overhearing a scene in which Ginny begs her mother to be able to go on the train and see the famous Harry Potter, but her mother does not permit Ginny to do so, stating that Harry is not a zoo animal at which to gawk. The second is a brief appearance at the end of the book where she is excited to catch a glimpse of Harry when he returns from Hogwarts.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Ginny becomes more involved in the story line when she starts attending Hogwarts in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, a year after Harry and her brother Ron. While she appears to play a mostly behind-the-scenes role in the book — looking mysteriously ill and providing light humour with her obvious crush on Harry — Ginny turns out to be behind the year's biggest mystery, a series of unexplained attacks that leave several Muggle-born students petrified. Harry eventually discovers that a magical school diary made by Tom Riddle (the young Lord Voldemort) had been possessing her in order to access the Chamber of Secrets and unleash a Basilisk on the school.

It emerges that Lucius Malfoy was responsible for making sure that Ginny got the diary; he hoped to use her actions to discredit her father, who had proposed a Muggle Protection Act that he opposed, and to have Dumbledore thrown out of Hogwarts (and to personally devastate Mr. Weasley). After Ginny naively tells "Tom" about Harry's survival and the destruction of Voldemort, Riddle changes his plan. Instead of using Ginny to attack Muggle-borns, he decides to bring her down to the Chamber to restore himself to full life by killing her and absorbing her life. More importantly, he, already understanding Harry's hero complex from the information with which Ginny has unwittingly provided him, knows that her abduction will lure Harry into the Chamber as well. Riddle is very curious about how Harry "defeated" him, and wishes to kill him.

Harry does in fact enter the Chamber, but with help from Fawkes and the Sorting Hat he manages to destroy both Riddle and the Basilisk, and thus saves Ginny's life. Following this, he expressed a strong concern over Ginny's not being expelled, as did Ginny. But his anxiety proves to be unfounded as Dumbledore places complete responsibility on Riddle, clearing Ginny of any wrongdoing. Harry notes at the end of this that Ginny seems 'perfectly happy again.' As a reader, it seems that this plot line has been resolved, though Ginny still remembers her experience and seems to have learned a great deal from it.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Ginny is not involved in the story lines of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and she only directly interacts with Harry three times. In book three, she catches Harry's eye and laughs over Percy's efforts to impress his girlfriend. In book four Ginny grins at him and they speak freely in each others' presence, though not to each other. A few months later, she honours a promise to attend the Yule Ball with Neville Longbottom despite Ron telling her to attend with Harry - whom she still has a crush on. She appears in the background in these two books, however, minimally interacting with other characters or just being mentioned in passing. She is badly affected by the Dementors on the train in Prisoner of Azkaban (most likely remembering her experiences of being possessed by Riddle the previous year), and on another occasion she stands up for Neville, demanding that Ron and Harry stop laughing at him.

Her background appearances, however, give the reader glimpses of her personality when she isn't hamstrung by her crush on Harry. In book two, Ron remarks to Harry that, "You don't know how weird it is for her to be this shy, she never shuts up normally." It is made clear that around her family and those she is comfortable with, she is talkative and shown to enjoy laughter. She is known to stand up for herself and others which has resulted at times in her lashing out at those who provoke her anger - having a temper seems to be a shared Weasley trait.

Ginny meets Michael Corner at the Yule Ball and they begin dating at the end of the school year, though this is not revealed until Order of the Phoenix.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix finally shows Ginny's true character as she emerges as a forceful personality with a sense of humour and playfulness. She also displays a talent for Quidditch which had not been formerly known to the reader, or even to the rest of the Weasley family. According to Hermione Granger, since her brothers wouldn't let her play Quidditch with them, Ginny had broken into the broomshed and practiced flying secretly with their brooms since the age of six, to Fred and George's impressed and suprised reactions.

Ginny appears to have gotten over her childhood crush on Harry. Harry and Ron are surprised to learn that she met her current boyfriend while accompanying their classmate, Neville Longbottom, to the Yule Ball the previous school term. Hermione was the only one in the group who knew that Ginny had a boyfriend and didn't tell her brothers because she knew they would "take it badly." Ron wonders what happened to Ginny fancying Harry and Hermione proclaims that Ginny "gave up on Harry months ago." Ron immediately begins to dislike Michael, a member of Ravenclaw, who joins the D.A. to spend more time with Ginny. Harry realizes that the reason why Ginny is now able to speak freely and be herself around him is because she is over her crush on him.

Ginny is one of the few characters who can address Harry calmly during his worst moods. While others, such as Hermione and Ron, address him as well and sometimes achieve results, they can be left teary-eyed or flustered. In one scene, Harry wallows in miserable thoughts of himself being a weapon Voldemort might use to attack people, feeling "contaminated" and unworthy of the company of his friends. Ginny, with the help of Ron and Hermione, manages to convince Harry that he has not been possessed. This stirs quite a reaction out of Harry when she reminds him that she had been possessed, and as such, would be a good source to refer to - however, despite direct involvement in Ginny's possession, Harry had forgotten, and sincerely apologises to her. Ginny is also involved in another notable scene in which Harry confides to her about his desire to see Sirius, after hiding it from everyone else - Ginny responds in a way which makes Harry feel hopeful (Harry is indeed somewhat confused about the source of this sudden comfort, as well as a mysterious lump in his throat - perhaps the first unconscious sign of his eventual romantic feelings for Ginny).

In Order of the Phoenix Ginny stands up for Neville, telling him not to call himself a "nobody." It is also learned that she has a friendship with Luna Lovegood, a fourth year Ravenclaw whose bizarre views relating to almost everything make her a loner at school.

When Dolores Umbridge gives Harry a "lifetime" ban from playing Quidditch, Ginny replaces him as Gryffindor's Seeker. Though everyone agrees that she is not as talented a Seeker as Harry, she proves a good replacement as she catches the Snitch in both games. She also joins (and suggests the name for) Dumbledore's Army, a group started by Harry, Ron, and Hermione, to provide students with practical instruction in Defence Against the Dark Arts. Both these events are examples of Rowling's subtle parallel contrasting Ginny with Cho throughout book five (as displayed on her chapter-plan for the book on her website), in order to establish which girl is a better match for Harry - not only did Ginny beat Cho to the Snitch, she also came up with a more imaginative name for the Dark Arts group. Ginny is one of the five DA members who join Harry's attempt to rescue Sirius Black from the Department of Mysteries. During the fight a Death Eater breaks her ankle but it is mended by Madam Pomfrey, back at Hogwarts.

Ginny breaks up with Michael when she finds him to be "sulky" over his house's Quidditch team suffering a loss to her house's team. Michael goes on to date Cho Chang, Harry's recent ex-girlfriend and the Seeker for Ravenclaw. At the end of the school year during the journey home, Ron tells Ginny to choose a better boyfriend next time, giving Harry an "oddly furtive look." She responds that she's already "chosen" Dean Thomas.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Ginny's role consists of being a fulltime Quidditch player, romantic love interest, popular student and secondary heroine in the attempt to defend Hogwarts from the Death Eaters.

Early on in Half-Blood Prince readers learn that Ginny has indeed started going out with Dean Thomas. From Harry and Ron's point of view, she is now "... too popular for her own good".^[HP6] She does not become a prefect but the new Potions professor Horace Slughorn respects her magical abilities enough (after seeing her cast the Bat-Bogey Hex on Zacharias Smith) to invite her to join his "Slug Club", an exclusive group of students hand-picked by Professor Slughorn as promising young achievers or students from influential families. Ginny spends more time with Harry when she becomes a Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, alongside Katie Bell and Demelza Robins and substitutes Harry as Seeker following the detention he ended up in prior to the Quidditch Final.

After witnessing Ginny and Dean kissing fiercely in a private hallway, Harry wonders why he has the sudden urge to jinx him. He tried to chalk up his emotions as those equal to Ron's; she's like a sister to him. He convinces himself that it's natural for him to be protective of her and want to look out for her. Harry soon comes to terms with the fact that he has fallen for Ginny. He tries his best to keep his feelings hidden as he does not want to upset his best friend by going after his sister; he constantly refers to his feelings as the "creature inside his chest," which roared with anger, frustration or desire. The only one who appears to notice Harry's feelings is Hermoine, whom Harry not-so-subtly asks questions about Ginny's relationship with Dean, thus, arousing Hermoine's suspicions. The couple appears to be serious, to Harry's heartache; after years of Ginny longing for Harry, he is now, ironically, yearning to be with her. Ron is not pleased at Ginny's newfound popularity and attempts to interfere. He claims he doesn't like his sister being the subject of school gossip. Their fighting leads to a shouting match and cold relations between them until Ron is poisoned on his birthday, after which all is forgiven.

Independent and sassy, Ginny hates for Dean to hover over her (such as walking behind her and leading her into rooms) and the relationship turns sour after Christmas. They finally break up in April (with a helpful "nudge" from Harry under the effects of Felix Felicis, a lucky potion). Though worried about Ron's reaction, Harry now takes advantage of any chance to spend more time with her and the two often go for walks alone together after team practices, away from the prying eyes of their classmates. After Gryffindor wins the Quidditch Cup against Ravenclaw, Ginny trumps Cho in the final as Harry serves a detention with Snape. When Harry returns to the common room, Ginny rushes to him and he spontaneously kisses her during the euphoric post-match party, surprising his classmates. Ron "blesses" Harry with a nod and Hermione approves enthusiastically, signaling the start of their relationship.

Ginny, along with the other four members of the DA that went to the Ministry with Harry the preceding year, tries to protect the school when Harry and Dumbledore are away (Harry having given what is left of his Felix Felicis potion to her, Ron and Hermione). They, along with several members of the Order of the Phoenix end up fighting the Death Eaters that have entered the school aided by Draco Malfoy. She escapes without injury, telling Harry that "if we hadn't had your Felix potion, I think we'd all have been killed, but everything seemed to just miss us."^[HP6]

After the death of Hogwarts' Headmaster and Harry's mentor, Albus Dumbledore, Harry decides to end their relationship as he fears Lord Voldemort would use his feelings for Ginny against him, as Voldemort had previously done in the second book. Harry is surprised at how well Ginny handles his decision after she asks him "this is for some stupid, noble reason, isn't it?" She does not cry, argue or convince him to not do it, rather, she accepts his decision, even saying she knew this would happen eventually. She noted that his nobility is one of the reasons why she likes him so much. She also makes it clear that she never gave up hope on him; with advice from Hermoine, she carried on with her life, but always hoped he would notice her better once he saw the real her, and not the girl with a crush who couldn't speak around him.

Though their time together was brief, Harry felt that being with Ginny made him "happier than he had been for a very long time", and considered it as being like "something out of someone else's life", no doubt a reference to the respite his relationship with her gave him from his duties as 'the Chosen One'. Ginny is also referred to as Harry's "best source of comfort". Despite this, Harry does not discuss his role in the war with her; Ginny is not told of the prophecy that indicates Harry's role as Voldemort's one true opponent nor of the information Dumbledore told him regarding Voldemort's past, which Dumbledore had instructed Harry only to reveal to Ron and Hermione.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Main article: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Rowling has promised fans that they'll, "See impressive [stuff] again" from Ginny in the final book, implying that at some point, whether Harry likes it or not, she will become involved in the fight against Voldemort.

Role in the films

Ginny is played by Bonnie Wright in the film adaptations. She makes only a brief appearance in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone at the beginning of the film when Harry wants to know how to get onto platform 9 ¾ - after her mother tells Harry what to do, Ginny wishes him good luck.

Ginny's role in the second film is considerably larger, although many elements found in the book, such as her crush on Harry and most of the hints about her involvement with the Chamber are given considerably less attention in the film version. Since Ginny doesn't play a major role in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, she only appears in the third film as an extra, though she has one line ("The Fat Lady, she's gone!").

After those sporadic appearances in the first three films, Ginny becomes much more visible in the movie adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. She still only has a handful of lines, but she is a frequent presence in the background (and sometimes the foreground) through most of the movie. While she seldom deals directly with Harry, she spends quite a bit of time in the company of Hermione, Ron, Fred and George, and Neville Longbottom (her date to the Yule Ball), and both her friendship with Hermione from the books and her relationship with her brothers are clearly shown for the first time in the films. Subtly, she also displays some of the qualities that Ginny shows in the fifth and sixth books, and it has been suggested that Steve Kloves was steadily building up both Ginny and Neville for their larger roles in the fifth film.

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Ginny displays much of the power evident in the fifth and sixth books. In the film, she is the first to produce a Patronus Charm in the form of a horse. While training in the D.A., Ginny uses a very effective Reducto Curse, which destroys the object with which they were training. During the battle at the Department of Mysteries, Ginny casts a powerful Reducto Curse once more to Disapparate approaching Death Eaters, shattering several prophecies in the process. Despite her display of magical ability and increased presence in the foreground, she has a sparse five lines throughout the entire film, consequently stunting her development in the film in contrast to her development in the book. Despite this lack of lines, Ginny's character development in the scope of the films has expanded considerably.

External links

• Ginny Weasley at the Harry Potter Lexicon

References

• Rowling, J. K. (1997). Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. London: Bloomsbury/New York City: Scholastic, et al. UK ISBN 0-7475-3269-9/U.S. ISBN 0-590-35340-3.
• Rowling, J. K. (1998). Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. London: Bloomsbury/New York City: Scholastic, et al. UK ISBN 0-7475-3849-2/U.S. ISBN 0-439-06486-4.
• Rowling, J. K. (1999). Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. London: Bloomsbury/New York City: Scholastic, et al. UK ISBN 0-7475-4215-5/U.S. ISBN 0-439-13635-0.
• Rowling, J. K. (2000). Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury/New York City: Scholastic, et al. UK ISBN 0-7475-4624-X/U.S. ISBN 0-439-13959-7.
• Rowling, J. K. (2003). Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. London: Bloomsbury/New York City: Scholastic, et al. UK ISBN 0-7475-5100-6/U.S. ISBN 0-439-35806-X.
• Rowling, J. K. (2005). Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. London: Bloomsbury/New York City: Scholastic, et al. UK ISBN 0-7475-8108-8/U.S. ISBN 0-439-78454-9.