"Dam' Good Auror"

[L. Inman]

No: HPFGUIDX 27157

Catherine wrote re: Cat, Rat, and Dog:

> I hate to say this, because I love 
> Hermione dearly, but she has shown before that she panics in a 
> crisis, and this could have been one of those times.

This seems like a good opportunity to put forward something I've been 
stewing on for a while.  *flashes a dazzling smile* Don't worry, 
you'll have your Trio back when I get through with them, ha-ha-ha!

I recently converted my friend to HP (after allowing myself to be 
converted to "The West Wing"), and one of the comments she made to me 
after finishing GoF was that Harry, Ron, and Hermione together "make 
a damn good Auror.  When they're apart, not so much" -- at least, not 
yet.

I thought about this, and realized that it's actually a very good 
description of how the Trio works together:

1)  In PS/SS, the Trio become friends, then each use their particular 
strengths to solve the problem and apprehend the malefactor.  Harry 
uses his intuition to divine connections between package, Gringotts 
burglary, and third-floor corridor; Hermione's research skills tell 
them what the suspect is after; Ron's impulsive energy culminates in 
his masterly rout of the white queen.  After the chess game, 
Hermione's logic and Harry's intuition and stubbornness together 
finish solving the case.

2)  In CoS, Harry and Ron are paired together to balance intuition 
and impulse to puzzle out what Hagrid means about the spiders, what 
the bathroom has to do with Moaning Myrtle, and, with Hermione's 
research pried out from her Petrified fingers, find the Chamber of 
Secrets and rescue Ginny.

3)  In PoA, when they are not busy fighting or battling demons from 
the past, the Trio uses their solidarity to shore up one another's 
weaknesses and confront Sirius, Lupin, Snape, Wormtail, and the 
dementors.  In fact, they might have solved this one sooner if they 
hadn't all been fighting; Harry and Ron may (or may not) have 
benefited from Hermione's knowledge about Lupin, and Hermione could 
have benefited from Harry's intuition (and nocturnal witness) about 
Crookshanks.  It is possible that between them they might have 
puzzled out what the black dog has to do with a live cat, and what 
they both have to do with a rat.  

4)  In GoF, their abilities as a three-fold Auror are again 
sidetracked by squabbling (with the addition of puberty), and by an 
understandable misapprehension of why Harry is in the Triwizard 
Tournament.  While they are training Harry for the third task, Ron 
comments that this training will do them all good "for when we're all 
Aurors."  What Ron doesn't realize is that together, they already 
*are* an Auror, and they've accomplished feats that rival Mad-Eye 
Moody's at his height.

5)  In each case, where one member of the Trio is weak, another is 
strong.  Hermione's documented panic under pressure ("Are you a witch 
or not!?") is balanced by Ron's impulsive energy (a double-edged 
sword in most cases) which is balanced by Harry's intuitive talents 
(coupled with his tendency to dig in his heels) which are balanced by 
Hermione's research abilities -- and so on.

Now, this is pretty much old hat.  What's new is, we're giving the 
Trio's teamwork a designation -- Aurorhood.  (That looks really 
funny.)  While I'm not sure that Hermione, Ron, and Harry can make a 
career out of their teamwork, as students they seem to have one up on 
the Ministry for effectiveness -- which, considering their recent 
obstacles, doesn't say much for the Ministry.  :)

So, whaddaya think?

Lisa I., delurking