Ilya Somin, writing for The Volokh Conspiracy as it appears on The Washington Post website, reports results of an Emma Watson interview with Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. A more detailed treatment appears here on hypable.com.
Rowling says she made a plot error in the Potter series. She tells Watson that the Hermione Granger character should have ended up married to Harry Potter instead of to his funny but determinedly prosaic pal Ron Weasley. I beg to differ.
The underlying rationales of both Harry and Hermione marrying into the Weasley clan are similar. Both are outsiders to the wizarding world who form alliances with the pure blood Weasleys as a way of "joining the club," of becoming accepted, of finding a home and surrogate family within the wizard community.
Had Hermione married Harry they'd have had each other, period. As a mudblood with muggle parents and an orphan raised by muggles, neither would have had witch and wizard relatives with whom to share life's joys and woes.
Rowling tells Watson the plot choices she made came out of her own life experiences. I expect that much is correct.
