What Hermione has Accomplished; Other Noteworthy Girls

[A. Vulgarweed]

No: HPFGUIDX 41145


>She's good at school - but otherwise... (the sole exception being her
>solving Snape's logic puzzle in PS)

While I essentially agree that female characters are underdeveloped and
there aren't quite enough of them and they don't do enough, I must come to
the defense of my dear Hermione - a *factual* one, not an emotional one, as
she would probably prefer. :)

Here's a partial listing of what Hermione achieves, besides the logic puzzle.

SS/PS:
Figures out immediately "who" is hexing Harry's broom (gets it wrong, but
then they all do) and thinks *very* quickly. Has the sheer Gryffindor
audacity to _set a teacher on fire_.

CoS:
Comes up with Polyjuice idea, and brews it herself.
Successfully steals ingredients from Snape.
Figures out what type of creature it was in the CoS *and how to get past it
safely*. Saves Penny Clearwater's _life_ in the process, and also plans in
advance a way to get notice to the boys in case she herself is petrified.

PoA:
Effectively passes a *double* school year with flying colors, while also
helping Hagrid with Buckbeak's legal defense.
Figures out that Lupin is a werewolf before anyone else does (*and keeps it
to herself* Why? Cause she has a Slytherin streak. More on this later.)
Catches Dumbledore's meaning with the Time-Turner suggestion long before
Harry does, and knows what to do with it. In collaboration with Harry,
saves the day.

GoF:
Gets a date with most desirable boy around without even meaning to, simply
by being her normal bookish, difficult-to-impress self. Keeps mouth shut
about it (there's that Slytherin streak again).
Manages to turn Neville down without crushing him (compare to Harry and
Ron's treatment of their "dates").
And this, possibly my favorite: figures out how Rita Skeeter is doing what
she's doing all by herself, forces her into her Animagus form, and _keeps
her in a jar_; *also without telling a soul about it until she's good and
ready to.* Slytherins WISH they were slick like that.

GerRoJen writes:

>
>I don't know.  I think the women are memorable and controversial.
>
>Hermione:  Hangs out with boys.  Now, when I was in high school, we had a
>name for girls like this and it wasn't polite.

So did we; I remember 'cause I was one. The words were occasionally
"tomboy" if she was into sports, but mostly it was "nerd" and "geek." (I
usually wound up in friendships based on obsessive mutual interests, and it
just kinda worked out that way, 'cause fashion, dancing, and social ranking
were not on my OMI list, but Dungeons & Dragons, guitar equipment, and punk
zines were). It's not that rare or freaky, as far as women and girls I know
go--glad to see JKR's got one of us prominently featured, although I
wouldn't necessarily say the Trio have an OMI, unless "keeping Harry alive"
counts. (We can all relate to the "Oh, well spotted!!" phenomenon. Being
"one of the boys" has upsides and downsides...but mostly it actually is
very comfortable most of the time.)

>
>Millicent Bullstrode:  Just a little incident in CoS that points out that
>there is more to her than 'stereotypical' teen girl.  She dropped her wand
>and caught Hermione up in a head-lock during the dueling club!  Not many
>girls would forego magic for brute strength and if they did, not many would
>use a head lock!  LOL  Teeth and nails is the 'stereotypical' girls' fight.

'Ell, yeah! Go Millicent! (Well, from a safe distance. I knew some girls
like this too. Much, much scarier than similarly thuggish boys, 'cause they
fight dirtier.)

>Angelina:  Somewhat jockish.  Nothing too different about that.  But when
>Fred asked Angelina to the Yule Ball, she first "appraised" him with her eyes
>then said okay.  She got a funny little grin but didn't disolve into giggles
>- especially considering how publicly the date was made.

My theory is that they had been an item for a while, hence the easy humor
on both their parts. Note Fred's typically irreverent way of asking. (It's
worth noting too that Angelina is black and Fred is white; it's nice to
know that Hogwarts folk don't get uptight about that).

AV