Harry Potter and the Irate Shippers

The San Francisco Chronicle has published an article on the chaos that ensued online following the shipping/romantic revelations in book six and the MuggleNet/The Leaky Cauldron interview with J.K. Rowling where Emerson referred to some Harry/Hermione shippers as being “delusional.” Melissa of The Leaky Cauldron and Emerson are both quoted in the story.

“I was surprised,” says Spartz, 18, of the furious response. “But in hindsight, I shouldn’t have been. I forgot how emotionally invested these ‘shippers get. I knew they weren’t going to be happy … but I did not see it generating this much hate.” He adds, “Romance in the books is the most prominent source of debate in the online fandom, where many of the fans border on obsessive, but casual readers will never understand what the big deal is.”