Could Hermione Fight the Imperius Curse?

[catherine at cator-manor.demon.co.uk]

No: HPFGUIDX 25329

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., cynthiaanncoe at h... wrote:
> ---Jenny wrote
> > Does anyone else think Hermione could throw off the Imperius 
> Curse?  
> But we've seen that maybe, just maybe, she doesn't do quite as well 
> on things that depend on raw talent.  She can fly (PS/SS), but 
> there's no evidence that she's especially good at it.  She never 
> fights off a boggart (she fails this part of Lupin's final exam).  
> Fighting off an Imperius Curse seems like something that depends 
> largely on pure force of will -- there's no incantation.  (Although 
> Ron complains that he hasn't had time to read up on fighting 
Imperius 
> in GoF).  
> 
> But I'm willing to be persuaded to the contrary.
> 
> Cindy

I don't agree.  I am of the opinion that much of magic relies on 
focussing and strength of mind.  That is one of the reasons that 
Hermione does so well in subjects such as charms, because it isn't 
merely theoretical - it requires practice, concentration and 
singlemindedness.  We know this is the case from the way Hermione 
teaches Harry how to do the summoning charm.    Considering this, I 
would have thought that Hermione would have the strength of character 
to fight off a curse.

Regarding the boggart - doing badly is one of Hermione's biggest 
insecurities.  I think in this instance, it wasn't her lack of 
strength of mind that failed her, I think that it is entirely 
possible that she lost her head for a moment, which we know she is 
able to do in a crisis, such as in the "But there's no wood!" scene.  
A completely different kind of weakness from lack of strength of mind.

Generally speaking as well, I would say that Hermione is a very 
strong person.  She very much knows her own mind.  She sticks to her 
guns - is very singleminded about doing what is right for her - 
including all the studying, the house-elves and generally standing up 
for what she believes is right and fair.  Marrying this obvious 
strength with her strength as a witch, then I think she has the 
potential to be extremely powerful, and therefore likely to be able 
to conjure a Patronus or not allow her mind to be bent by someone 
else.

Finally, why do you think it was Ron that JKR focussed on in that 
scene?  Is she warning us - dropping one of her little clues?  Or is 
she dropping a massive red herring.  I do tend towards the former.

Catherine