Hermione and power (touches on SHIPping)

[Hella]

No: HPFGUIDX 29959

Hi-

Those were great responses that helped me gain a firmer grip of 
Hermione's character.

Ebony asked: "Could it be that your friend really doesn't have her 
finger on the pulse of the characters (Eb humbly asked)?"

:D I agree with you there. She has only read the books once and 
continues to insist that they are `derivative' of Lord of the Rings, 
so I tend to listen to what she says about HP with a grain of salt
 
It was just the way she said it that jolted me.

Jenett wrote: "Hermione is a clever young woman - and she's certainly 
learned a lot more social skills and gained friends over the years - 
but she has nothing like the easy sociability/charisma of Harry or 
Ron."

<snip>

"Honestly, I'd say more of her motivation comes from a quest for 
knowledge, including the kinds that can't be learned from books."

I think you've hit the nail on the head here. That is unquestionably 
Hermione's motivation, and that quest for knowledge (and not only the 
knowledge to be found in books) is why she cultivates `mentoring' 
relationships with her teachers, as Ebony suggested. Indeed we know 
she has a relationship with Professor Vector as well. Moody and 
Dumbledore are slightly intimidating, as Cindy pointed out, so she 
never approaches them directly. That probably is the reason for her 
not cultivating a closer relationship with Lupin – he may not make 
himself that approachable to one of Harry's best friends. Or perhaps 
she was intimidated by him because she knew that he was a werewolf 
and didn't quite know what to make of that information. She did keep 
to herself a lot that year, so I suppose the fact that she didn't 
have a closer relationship with Lupin was circumstantial.

Many people have come to the conclusion that what is meant by power 
in this case, is probably fame, and they have made a fantastic 
argument against this theory. I will say though, per Hollydaze's 
post, that I think what my friend meant is `magical power'. Harry may 
not be powerful in the sense that he can change his circumstances or 
that he will be listened to, but he is a powerful wizard, as is Krum. 
Lockhart appeared to be a powerful wizard *and* he was approachable. 
So my conclusion thanks to your ideas, would be that Hermione is 
attracted (not necessarily romantically, could be intellectually) to 
magical power, as long as the person wielding that power permits and 
encourages the relationship.

I can rest assured now of the integrity of Hermione's character, and 
I shall endeavour never to listen to my friend again concerning HP! 
She scares me too much. Thanks Ebony and Penny for your comments on 
the differences in the shipping camps; I'm much clearer now on why 
this has been such a sensitive topic.

Thanks,
Hella