J.K. Rowling Changing Her Mind Is Okay

The most recent "controversy" in the Harry Potter Fandom News is that J.K. Rowling has admitted that half way through writing the last books of the Harry Potter series, she wanted to pair up Harry and Hermione and kill off Ron. This upset a lot of fans who waited seven books so see up-tight, book worm Hermione Granger get together with laid back and sarcastic Ron Weasley. It also gives the Harry/Hermione shippers something to gloat about. According to most fans, this is an unspeakable crime! "How dare she want to change her creation and project that she spent half of her life on and poured her soul into! Can't she see it's perfect the way that it is?!" Honestly, I think those people are overreacting a bit. I mean, all of the books are already published. There's nothing she can do about it. There's really no reason to get upset or angry at her about it.



This is where the perspective of author's intent and reader's response really clashes. Who is right, the author who created the art work, or the reader who is the perceiving audience and must come up with a concrete interpretation? Are fans right in telling J.K. Rowling that she's wrong and that the changes she wanted to make would have ruined her creation?
I personally think that it's okay to be taken aback, like I was, but not to take it so personally. The books are fine the way that they are, but that doesn't mean J.K. Rowling will see it that way. The Harry Potter franchise is a huge series with many layers one can dive into and with many details and ideas that are great to explore. I think in Rowling's mind, she just wanted to explore another aspect of her fantasy world and maybe change it up and experiment with it. And that's okay, we readers have no right to hold that against her. But from what I've read, she kept Ron alive and set him up with Hermione because she knew majority of her fans wouldn't have appreciated it. I mean, losing Sirius was bad enough! So in that sense, it was smart of her to stick to the original plan.
As I have mentioned, there are fans out there that wanted Hermione and Harry to get together, and I can understand why. They're really good friends and have good chemistry. Hermione and Ron, however, are also really good friends and are opposing personalities that clash a lot, but they often learn and grow from each other like a real couple would. That's my interpretation, anyway.
So if you're a Harry/Hermione shipper, then you can count this as a small victory knowing Rowling is on your side. Whether you agree with Rowling or not, we can all at least still enjoy the books as they are.