Speculation, speculation

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WARNING: This is a very opinionated post!

Keith Olbermann has made some bold public predictions about the end of the series on his TV news show, Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Make sure you read the second page of the article before making judgment. It is my personal belief, and not necessarily that of the rest of the MuggleNet staff, that he is not far off the mark in his guesses. Except for that whole Harry turning into a Muggle business. I mean, really?

In other news, Scholastic has published the results of their fourth fan poll question. They claim a majority of fans – 56% – believe that Harry will end up with Hermione, 20% believe that Ron will end up with Hermione and 19% believe that Harry will end up with Ginny.

Um, was Scholastic polling people who have actually read the books? 56% of fans are wrong. I quote JKR, in the interview Melissa and I conducted with her two summers ago:

JK Rowling: Yes, we do now know that it's Ron and Hermione. I do feel that I have dropped heavy hints. ANVIL-sized, actually, hints, prior to this point. I certainly think even if subtle clues hadn't been picked up by the end of Azkaban, that by the time we hit Krum in Goblet…

I would think it's difficult to interpret “Yes, we do now know that it's Ron and Hermione” and “anvil-sized hints” any other way, but apparently 56% of fans disagree with me (or just haven't read the interview… or Book 6… or Book 5… or Book 4…). But then, many fans still believe Dumbledore is alive, despite JK Rowling saying that he is “definitely dead.” Come on, guys. Wishful thinking isn't going to bring him back.

Note that the question wasn't Who Do You Want to End Up With Whom?, but Who Will End Up With Whom?. There's a difference between wanting something to be true, and believing it is true. There is a word in the English dictionary for holding a belief without evidence, and in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary… I'll give you a hint, it starts with a D.

UPDATE: I don't know if I can make this any clearer, but I will try one more time.

I am not calling all Harry/Hermione shippers delusional! I respect H/Hr shippers who acknowledge the obvious: that JKR paired up Ron and Hermione, but wish she hadn't. The only people I am calling delusional are the shippers who try to wriggle and rationalize their way around “Yes, we do now know that it's Ron and Hermione” and still believe the two will make babies in Book 7. Right, because JKR was lying to us? HOPING is different from BELIEVING!