Hermione & Fleur

[Penny & Bryce Linsenmayer]

No: HPFGUIDX 15608

Hi --

Cleaning out this weeks' emails that I wanted to reply to and hadn't
....

Kimberly wrote:

> Why *does* Hermione hate Fleur so much?  She generally gives people
> the benefit of the doubt.  Even Snape, before there was any indication
>
> that he was anything but horrible.  But with Fleur she just seems to
> detest her from the very beginning.  I don't think she's ever done
> that with anyone else.  So is it only jealousy, or is there something
> else?

I don't think it's jealousy.  I also don't think it's completely
explained as a backlash reaction by brainy plain-Jane Hermione against
beautiful worldly Fleur with all her charms.  I think she doesn't
respect Fleur from the very beginning.  Gwen pointed out that Fleur was
haughty from the very first, and this is true.  Hermione was disdainful
of Fleur before she ever saw the reaction of Ron or any of the other
boys to her.  Seeing how the boys all drooled over Fleur was just icing
on the cake I think.  I think she pegged Fleur as vapid/shallow from the
very beginning -- Fleur's effect on most males just intensified
Hermione's dislike of her.

Gwen said:

> Whether or not there is something going on between Hermione and Ron at this point in time,
> Hermione finds Ron's drooling embarrassing.  She associates this with
> Fleur.
>
> To be fair, she has a similar reaction when Ron goes all silly over
> Krum.  She prefers Ron to be his usual self, and behave in a manner
> she can respect.
>
She would also find it embarassing if Harry were behaving in this
manner, which is why I reject the notion that her reactions to Fleur are
inextricably tied to feelings of jealousy over Ron.  She pulled Harry
back into his seat the World Cup when he was reacting to the veela.
Hermione is disdainful of hero-worship in any form -- as Gwen noted, she
also dislikes Ron's reactions to Krum for the same reason (well, *I*
think it's the same reason anyway!).  She also dislikes Krum at the
beginning for this reason; she apparently had the impression that he
enjoyed the attentions of all the female admirers.  So ... I think it
boils down to her having little patience for hero-worship.  She was
already predisposed to dislike Fleur since Fleur took such a haughty
attitude when she came out of the BeauxBatons carriage.  Her effect on
people around her just seals Hermione's feelings.

Gwen again:

> I also think her attitude could be attributed to a degree of
> contempt for the steroetype Fleur represented.  Fleur is an
> affirmation of what Hermione must have already started to notice.
> Smart, practical people can be daughters, students, peers and
> friends, and can be appreciated accordingly.  It's not as easy to
> find appreciation as a girl.  Your average teenager will look at the
> veela first.
>
I think this is very valid, and it does probably play into the mix of
emotions that Hermione is likely experiencing.

Penny


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]