Relatively little canon material defines Ginny Weasley. From the facts of her name and birthdate to her probable friends and future, much is subject to debate. We do know that she is the youngest of seven children born to Arthur and Molly Weasley. Her older brothers are Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George and Ron. Ginny is the only daughter. She is a pureblooded wizard but her family is notoriously poor. According to Ron, she is normally outgoing and talkative, although she was very quiet during her first year at Hogwarts. Events at the end of that year revealed the cause: her possession by Tom Riddle's memory via an enchanted diary. She had a crush on Harry (who rescued her from the Chamber of Secrets), but later turned aside his invitation to the Yule Ball in Goblet of Fire to honour Neville's earlier invitation.

The most common suggestions are Virginia (although some have dismissed this as too "American"), Guenivere, Genevieve, Ginger or Regina. Doctor Cornelius notes that in the books she's only referred to as Ginny. This seems to hold true for chat and interview transcripts as well. The IMDB website listed Virginia "Ginny" Weasley but without any official source. For now, fans are free to choose.

What does Ginny look like?

All we know from Chamber of Secrets is that Ginny has red hair of an unspecified length and brown eyes (Arabella alerts us to the American recordings giving her green eyes by mistake). Regarding complexion, BBennett reminds us of Draco Malfoy's comment: "All the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford." Bonnie Wright's casting in the film lends some credence to a vision of Ginny with shoulder-length straight hair.

It's established in the first book that each Weasley has a signature jumper colour. No one yet knows what Ginny's colour is, although VoxM makes a good case for Molly choosing pink for her only girl. The more style-minded SQers vote for peach as a better colour for redheads.

What is Ginny's character?

Madhuri sums up Ginny's character succinctly:

1. Brave, and possibly quite powerful, (from CoS).

2. Very Talkative. Ron says so, but we have never seen a scene from Harry's PoV when she is, except for her first scene, in which she didn't know who Harry was.

3. Possibly rebellious. She sided with Bill when he and Molly were having an argument about the way he dressed. 'You're just old fashioned, Mum.'

4. Sensitive and caring. The scene when she was consoling Ron after he asked Fleur to the Yule Ball proves that.

5. Trustworthy and has matured a lot from PoA. Hermione obviously trusts her, and she handled the fact that she missed her chance to be with Harry at the Yule Ball with a lot of decorum and grace.

Ron helps establish the initial impression in Chamber of Secrets: "You don't know how weird it is for her to be this shy. She never shuts up, normally." She's clumsy and tongue-tied (squeaking, slamming doors, elbow in the butter dish), but that seems to be atypical and more a symptom of her crush on Harry. Of course, she's only eleven years old at this point, as well.

She's brave enough to be sorted into Gryffindor and even to challenge Draco Malfoy (on Harry's behalf): "'Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!' said Ginny. It was the first time she had spoken in front of Harry. She was glaring at Malfoy."

Her family tends to shelter Ginny (keeping her out of some of the tombs in the family's tour of Egypt (Prisoner of Azkaban). Despite this, she's not especially clingy. Even after the terrors of her first year, Ginny's described at the book's end as "perfectly happy again."

Still, the possession had to have affected her. Hildigunnur notes: "I'm sure she was deeply affected by Tom Riddle's possession of her soul. Her reaction to the Dementor would prove that. But does she have a connection with Voldemort now?"

What is Ginny's birth date?

Debate rages fiercely over this issue. Imagraduate lays out the basic essentials:

"There's a time frame in which Ginny could have been born: Let's say at least 9 months after Ron was born- so our lower limit is December 1, 1980. And she can't have been born after September 1, 1981 because I think that's the cutoff for her being only one school year behind the trio. If she's born after September 1, 1981, she'd be two years behind them."

Some have suggested that wizarding schools might operate under a different cut-off date than Muggle schools: either Halloween or New Years' Day. Bittersweet points out that Halloween "is the new year for the ancient celts." For that reason, Irina used Halloween as Ginny's birthday in her Morrigna series, even though it is inconsistent with the British school entry cut-off of September 1. Zsenya also uses Halloween as Ginny's birthday in her story A Mother's Spell.

Did Ginny send the singing Valentine?

"His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,
His hair is as dark as a blackboard.
I wish he was mine, he's really divine,
The hero who conquered the Dark Lord."

Draco Malfoy sure thinks so and Ginny's crush would seem to support this. La chimiste wonders: "I just reread CoS, and I've found that there's absolutely no proof that Ginny sent the Valentine. She was there when Harry received it, and she was embarrassed because of the journal. It's probably her, but it's not sure." Tom Riddle's influence is generally discounted, since Harry had the diary at this point. The Wolf Fenrir suggests Fred and George might have planted the Valentine both for the fun of the joke and to embarrass Ginny.

What is there in Ginny's relationship with Harry?

Is her crush simply hero-worship or something more? If you believe she wrote the Valentine, it seems that hero-worship is an undeniable part of the early attraction. On the other hand, Ginny's retort to Malfoy: "Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!" suggests feelings of protectiveness and empathy. After Chamber of Secrets, Ginny is little evident, but when she "suddenly stopped smiling" at news that Harry had approached Cho for a date, it seems likely she still carries a torch for Harry.

Harry's rescue of Ginny could have important ramifications. Dumbledore pointed out that when one wizard saves another, it creates a life debt or a bond between the two. Mrs Sirius Black adds: "I think the real bond between Ginny and Harry is the bond that comes from both of them having faced Voldemort. Ginny is the only person of Harry's generation that can really understand him because she has faced what he faces."

Despite Harry's belated invitation for Ginny to be his date to the Yule Ball in Goblet of Fire, there is little indication so far of Harry holding deeper feeling for Ginny.

Does Ginny have friends?

Madame Snuffles suggests that Ginny's possession probably limited her chance to make friends during her first year at Hogwarts and paints a scene of her second year onwards:

"Ginny makes a few half-hearted, painful attempts at a normal social life, perhaps, but probably not with much success. Bonds were formed between the kids the year before. But then someone responds more, and then Ginny progresses into a group of friends.
However: I don't think Ginny is going to have any particularly close friends. Not one you'd tell everything to, such as her love for Harry, her pain over the diary, and why she really has nightmares. . . ."

Several friendships seem to develop. First off, there's Hermione. In Goblet of Fire it was Ginny who Hermione trusted with the secret of her date with Viktor. Ginny and Hermione have been thrown together by circumstances (Hermione sharing Ginny's room at the Burrow and again, a tent at the World Cup). Circumstances also limit the friendship, as Mrs Sirius Black notes: "At the beginning of Goblet of Fire, the trio had to wait for Ginny to leave the room before they could discuss Sirius.

Another possible friend is Colin Creevey who's both in her year and House. It's noted that Ginny's upset over his petrification (though that could be a manifestation of guilt).

Neville Longbottom also has some sort of relationship with Ginny. He asked her out to the Yule Ball (and trod on her feet).

What is Ginny's future in the series?

We can't know any character's future, but J. K. Rowling has promised that Ginny will play a larger role in Order of the Phoenix. Some have worried that Ginny is destined to die based upon the comments that book five would contain a death difficult to write and that it was a character who was a special fan of Harry's.

Even if Ginny survives book five, many have speculated that Ginny's first year encounter with Tom Riddle could come back to haunt her.

Sources: SQ ezboard forums, Scholastic Chat Transcripts, HPL: Ginny Weasley (http://www.i2k.com/~svderark/lexicon/ginny.html)

The Sugar Quill was created by Zsenya and Arabella. For questions, please send us an Owl!

A Collection of Posts Re: Ginny Weasley

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