Entertainment

The Internet Reacts to J.K. Rowling's Announcement

by Emma Cueto

As anyone with an Internet connection has probably realized by now, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling announced over the weekend that, in retrospect she regrets pairing Hermione Granger up with Ron Weasley. Cue the sound of one big record scratch cutting through the mind of an entire generation. Cause, I'm sorry, but WHAT?

Needless to say, the Internet exploded. Because you can't simply drop this kind of bombshell and not expect something to blow up. This is even bigger than that time J.K. Rowling told the world that Dumbledore was gay. At the time, that seemed to be controversial among fans, but it's nothing compared to this latest little announcement. I mean, she said that Hermione should have ended up with Harry. She said Hermione should have ended up with Harry. And she had some good reasons or something. I think, anyway; I was a little distracted by the part where she said Hermione should have ended up with Harry.

So for those of you who are freaking out as much as I am, know that you are not alone. Here's a sample of reactions from other Harry Potter fans who can't quite believe any of this either.

For some, of course, this was welcome news.

For others, the news wasn't so welcome. Plenty of people liked the Harry Potter ending just the way it was.

Of course, plenty of people also didn't care whether or not J.K. Rowling might be having second thoughts; the books, after all, are written.

But even as the Hermione/Harry vs. Hermione/Ron debate wages across social media, plenty of people looked outside these options altogether, taking the opportunity to share their alternative shipping favorites — or lack thereof.

No matter what your opinion may be on the biggest, most important shipping war our generation will ever face, however, there is one thing that we can all agree on:

Yeah, no kidding.