Hermione and Krum

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 39284

I asked:

What's Hermione playing at with Viktor
> anyway? Is anybody really comfortable about her being in a
> relationship with a seventeen year old boy?

Irene:

>>>>Yes, I'm comfortable with what we have seen so far.
>She really needed someone who respects her love of learning
>and sees her on her own and not as a part of the trio.<<<

AV:
>>>>I think she's "playing at" acknowledging the first 
good-looking boy who's ever responded to her _as a girl_ (not 
really counting Neville, who I think she feels too 
'maternal/teacherly' towards to ever consider 
romantically)straightforwardly and in a complimentary fashion 
(unlike Ron's dithering).
It's not totally "mature" I guess but I can't say I blame her. She's
probably curious to learn more about Durmstrang and Bulgaria, 
too. Nothingwrong with that either. They're _both_ at an age for 
short-lived
experimental dating--cut 'em some slack.<<<<

Zo?:
>>>What relationship? They went on a date to the Ball. And, as 
Hermione is the only non-Durmstrang person Viktor seems to 
have any contact with, she waschosen as his "most=missed" 
person for the 2nd challenge.  But relationship?
To my recollection, there isn't any contact between Herminone 
and Krum afterthe Ball. It doesn't seem like she agreed to go to 
meet him for the summer. It just doesn't smell like a relationship 
to me, at least from Hermione's state of mind.<<<<<


This all goes to prove my point:  it could be a problem if Viktor's 
feelings for Hermione are as intense as they seem to be.  Maybe 
they aren't, of course; there's always narrative twist. <g> Still, The 
Second Task happens after the ball, and that's when Viktor tells 
her he's "never felt this way about anyone else." Experimental 
flings and mature attitudes are all very well, but he's of age, by 
the laws of his world, and she isn't. Whatever it is, it's not a 
relationship of equals.

I'm sure Viktor is a gentleman with Hermione. But it would be 
kind of odd if Viktor had such intense feelings and they didn't 
have an erotic component, even if it's only a wistful fantasy  about 
what she'll be like when she's as mature and sophisticated as 
she looked on the night of the ball. (If not, he's considerably less 
imaginative than a lot of our list members!) 

Hermione doesn't, or shouldn't, have to deal with that. She 
doesn't have to set any boundaries with Viktor. She can rightfully 
expect him to do it for her. However,  learning to manage her 
feelings is part of what she needs to do in order to become a 
responsible adult, so, in a way, she's dodging the issue as 
much as Ron is.

I'm sure at the Ball  Hermione felt as if she'd sailed right past the 
awkward transition from girl to woman without ever going 
through it. But that's not the real her, not yet. She was pretending 
that night. Whether you think she's fourteen or fifteen, she 
couldn't keep up the illusion for very long. "Standing ten feet 
apart, they were bellowing at each other, each scarlet in the 
face"..."her hair was coming down now out of its elegant bun and 
her face was screwed up in anger." That's JKR showing us 
Hermione isn't quite up to her image.

I feel bad for Viktor. There's a real potential for Hermione to hurt 
him. I don't think she's leading him on deliberately, but she's too 
young and inexperienced, IMO, to realize she might be doing it 
inadvertently. 


Pippin