Character Summary: Hermione Granger

[Kimberly]

No: HPFGUIDX 15230

Awesome character summary Penny!

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Penny & Bryce Linsenmayer <pennylin at s...> 
wrote:

>She excels in all her courses,
> but her best subject appears to be the one taught by Professor
> McGonagall: transfiguration.

Amy already addresssed this a bit, but I wanted to mention how 
well she does at Charms and Potions.  Just as she is the only one who 
can do some of the transfiguration work on the first try, she's also 
the only one who could make the feather fly on the first try, and the 
only one who consistently hit the mark with the pillows.  Amy already 
mentioned the 112% on her Charms exam, as well.  As for Potions, 
Polyjuice is supposed to be terribly difficult; I doubt Harry and Ron 
could have managed it without her.  She also whipped up a sleeping 
draught in CoS.  It's probably quite difficult to 'fix' a potion once 
it's already gone south too, but she managed to do that for Neville's 
shrinking solution, saving Trevor in the process.  

> Hermione has developed a self-assured dignity and maturity by GoF. 
> She is self-confident enough to keep her Yule Ball date a secret and 
> to transform herself from a "nerd girl" into a stunning young woman 
> for this occasion. 

It's funny, because this was one of the few places in GoF where I 
still saw a lingering trace of Hermione's insecurity.  I think if she 
was fully self-assured, she'd have just said she was going with Krum.  
I got the impression she was avoiding teasing by keeping it a secret.

> She seems very disdainful of "hero-worship," particularly in GoF.  

Now that *is* one of the signs for me of how much she's grown and how 
much more secure she's become.  I don't think she'd be fooled by a 
Lockhart type anymore!

> QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:

> 1. Is she still the same bossy know-it-all that she was in PS/SS or 
has
> she "lightened up" quite a bit already?

She's definitely lightened up, and I don't think she's bossy really 
anymore.  She still has the occasional know-it-all (Hogwarts: A 
History!) moment, but she doesn't force it on people at random 
anymore.  I think she's learned a balance.
> 
> 2. Does she just study hard, either to make up for her average
> intelligence or out of insecurity, or does she instead possess
> above-average intelligence?  Both?

Both!  There'd have to be some innate ability in the magical arena, as 
it wasn't book learning that made that feather fly, and she's got a 
very strong, logical mind, but I don't think she's a flat-out genius 
or a lot of the studying for the sake of studying would bore her to 
tears.  She's a smart kid, and she's got a desire and the 
perserverance neccessary to put her over the top. 
 
> 4. Is she a braggart?

I don't think so.  I think she may have done a touch of that in the 
first book - kids that age tend to toot their own horns in hopes of 
impressing their peers.  But since then, I think she's been downright 
modest about her accomplishments.

> 9. Do you like or dislike Hermione?  Do you identify with her 
character?
> 

I love Hermione!  She's wonderful!  I don't identify with her much at 
all, though.  She's grown into this person who is just so strong and 
well-rounded and clever and... practically perfect in every way, as 
Mary Popins would say, that I can't get inside her head and look out 
the way I can with other characters.  I like her, I admire her, I even 
envy her a little, but I can't quite identify with her.

kimberly