Hermione & Important Death

[Penny Linsenmayer]

No: HPFGUIDX 1488

Hi

<<<"As for JKR wondering why no one ever begs her not to kill off 
Hermione.">>>

Simon said: <<<This would leave the story very short of important female 
characters. It would also leave a big hole in the triad, especially as there 
would be no one doing the bookwork. They need to get all their information 
from somewhere.>>>

I also think it's unlikely that Hermione would die and for some of the 
reasons already mentioned, plus others.  As Simon said, it leaves the Triad 
unbalanced.  If one of them dies, it's far more likely to be Ron.  Lori & I 
have talked about this before, and I seem to remember that her argument was 
that it was so unlikely in conventional literature that the heroine (or 
strongest female character if one doesn't believe Hermione is the heroine) 
would be killed off, leaving 2 male characters.  Now, I'm the person always 
saying that JKR doesn't always subscribe to conventionality, so that theory 
could be a bit off-base.  But, Hermione is based on JKR herself.  Does that 
mean Hermione would be the death that would half-crucify her (JKR)?  I still 
don't think so.

I'm not as convinced as Lori that Ron has an aura of doom & gloom around 
him, although I certainly think his eventual death (particularly in a 
triangle/betrayal scenario) wouldn't be a complete shock.

As for the death that will half-crucify JKR (allegedly in Book 5) - I think 
Hagrid, Lupin, Dumbledore or Sirius fits this bill.  She has said that Lupin 
is *her* favorite character, so I suppose he remains a top target in my mind 
for that reason.  However, I do think she's particularly fond of Hagrid (as 
are most all of the HP fans) -- so his death could be enough to cause her 
emotional anguish.  I think most of us are very fond of Dumbledore, but I'm 
not sure his death is the one that would affect JKR in that manner.  I also 
am not convinced he'll die so early (then again, I'd never have predicted 
that Voldemort would rise again in Book 4).

Much to my dismay, someone has made some rather convincing arguments that 
the important death of the series could well be Sirius.  I can't remember 
who argued this awhile back, but their point was that while Lupin might be 
JKR's favorite character, Sirius is clearly the death that would affect 
*Harry* the most.  The anguish his death would cause Harry might well be 
enough to half-crucify JKR (and I would guess she's quite fond of Sirius 
herself in any case, even if he isn't necessarily her favorite).

For now though . . . . I will avoid thinking about Sirius dying in Book 5 & 
continue to write ASA.  <g>

<<<"Welll.....what we know is that James was Head Boy but remember Lily was 
Head Girl, which also means something!   And 'cleverest' student isn't the 
same as 'best wizard'.">>>

Simon said: <<<Hermione and Harry demonstrate this very well. Hermione is 
top of the year but by her own admission Harry is the better wizard. He 
possesses many other necessary attributes needed to be a great wizard.>>>>

I agree with Simon btw.  It squares nicely with my balance arguments ---that 
is, the talents/skills of Harry and Hermione are far more balanced than the 
talents/skills of Ron and Hermione (or Harry and Ron for that matter).

Back to the Marauders' generation -- top graduates = those who received top 
marks, right?  Book smarts will only get you so far at Hogwarts though, 
right?  I mean Hermione clearly has more book smarts than anyone else, but 
she must have the natural talent/inherent magical abilities to go with it, 
or she couldn't handle the practical aspects of their assignments.  She 
can't just know the theory behind the summoning charms; she also needs to 
perform them satisfactorily to achieve full marks.

So, James & Sirius are said to be the cleverest in their year.  But, they 
might not necessarily have had the most natural talent, so there's no way of 
knowing for sure how they ranked at the end of their Hogwarts education.  
The fact that James was Head Boy & Quidditch star might indicate that he was 
top in his year, but then again, neither of those honors necessarily signal 
natural magical abilities.

Penny




>From: "Simon Branford" <simon.branford at hertford.ox.ac.uk>
>Reply-To: HPforGrownups at egroups.com
>To: "HPforGU" <HPforGrownups at egroups.com>
>Subject: [HPforGrownups] teabags/tealeaves, hermione, james and lily
>Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2000 10:44:00 +0100
>

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