The author once admitted to the ‘Potter heresy’ in a controversial interview

It’s that time of year again when we kick off our movie marathon to rattle through all eight of the Harry Potter films in the run-up to Christmas.

And, with all the movies now on Netflix, it’s easier than ever to cosy up and take a trip down memory lane to see all the antics Harry, Ron, and Hermione get up to in the Wizarding World of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

So, it seems only natural for all of us Potterheads to look back on all the best trivia about the film franchise, including one pretty illuminating interview with JK Rowling, which was first published over a decade back.

In the interview she and Emma Watson did for Wonderland magazine, which one fan site has posted online in full, the author opened up about the huge regret she has that will ‘break people’s hearts’.

She explained: “What I will say is that I wrote the Hermione/Ron relationship as a form of wish fulfilment. That’s how it was conceived, really.

“For reasons that have very little to do with literature and far more to do with me clinging to the plot as I first imagined it, Hermione ended up with Ron.”

Rowling continued: “I know, I’m sorry, I can hear the rage and fury it might cause some fans, but if I’m absolutely honest, distance has given me perspective on that. It was a choice I made for very personal reasons, not for reasons of credibility.

“Am I breaking people’s hearts by saying this? I hope not.”

JK Rowling once revealed her thoughts on Ron and Hermione’s compatibility (Warner Bros.)

And what did Watson have to say about all that?

Well, surprisingly, the actress actually agreed!

“I think there are fans out there who know that too and who wonder whether Ron would have really been able to make her happy,” she said in the interview.

Rowling admitted to Ron and Hermione’s ‘young relationship’, noting: “I think the attraction itself is plausible but the combative side of it… I’m not sure you could have got over that in an adult relationship, there was too much fundamental incompatibility.

Rowling admitted to the ‘Potter heresy’ (Warner Bros.)

“I can’t believe we are saying all of this – this is Potter heresy!”

“I know, it is heresy,” Watson agreed, before Rowling acknowledged that Hermione and Harry were actually the far more compatible pairing.

She said: “In some ways, Hermione and Harry are a better fit and I’ll tell you something very strange.

“When I wrote Hallows, I felt this quite strongly when I had Hermione and Harry together in the tent!”

I don’t quite know how to feel about this…