[HPforGrownups] Re: Hermione WAS percy/molly/hermione

[Laura Huntley]

No: HPFGUIDX 35937

Jo Serendust said:
>Gee Laura, you were doing so well with Molly.....
>I had just gotten all comfy in her lap, ready for my bedtime story 
>and, well, now I'm all upset and bothered.

^_~ That's me...messing with your head.  *melodramatic evil cackle*...

Jo continues:
>Firstly, have you ever actually had to deal with anyone like 
>Hermione in the first year?

Uhm..when I was that age, I knew quite a few people like Hermione...*coughs* actually, one of them was me..(I have been told repeatedly that I "just *have* to be right"... :(  it's just that my idea of a friendly debate seems to be everyone else's idea of a violent verbal assault -- seriously, I have no idea I'm doing it)  However, it seems like you are referring more to her fanatical insistence that she and everyone else absolutely must follow the rules (a trait which, I am sorry to say, I certainly *do not* share with her ^_~)...In this aspect, a girl I've known since fourth grade comes to mind (which, incidentally, is about the age of the kids in PS/SS).  The more I consider it, the more I suspect that this girl *is* Hermione.  I remember well my first day at the tiny private school I had opted to attend (the public grammar school were I live is simply horrid).  It was Wednesday, and the kids at this school were required to dress up on Wednesday, and I thoroughly abhorred dressing up at that age.  So there I was in my little white dress with my thick white socking and bulky little boots, and up comes this girl with frizzy brown hair and overlarge ears, who promptly orders me to get down on my knees so that she could tell if my skirt was too short.  Well, given my personality at that time, I was *this close* to punching her, however, after this not-so-pleasant first encounter, this girl has come to be one of the *few*, and I do mean *few* friends that I absolutely trust and admire.

    We have not always been friends, nor have we ever been insanely close, however, I have *always* recognized the rarity and strength of her qualities.  I never worry about her as I do for many of my other friends (some of whom seem bent on destroying themselves and taking down everyone else around them).  I know she will always be doing the right thing.  She's one of the strongest people I know.

    Hermione is like this.  She hates to break rules, yet if the situation calls for it, she is more than ready to sacrifice her obedience to her elders for the greater good. Remember drugging Crabbe and Goyle in CoS?  To me, her potential to do something like that if need be has always been apparent to me.  Not only that, she is *not* as stuck-up as people imagine her to be.  She seems strong in assessing other's good qualities, as is made apparent in her words to Harry before he faced off with Voldie in PS/SS.  Furthermore, I believe her tendencies to "show off" in class have more to do with her excitement at learning than any sort of arrogance.  I have also been accused of being too vocal in the classroom and I assure you that, for me at least, it has nothing to do with wanting to show off what I know and everything to do with being absorbed with the material.

Jo some more:
>As for her great loyalty to Ron, she sure showed that during the 
>whole Crookshanks/Scabbers conflict in PoA.  He repeatedly asks her 
>to keep the cat away from his already ailing pet, and she completely 
>ignores his feelings, although I can't see why anyone would find his 
>request to be unreasonable at all.

mmm...well, I don't know about other people's cats, but it is pretty near *impossible* to keep mine from being *anywhere* she wants to be (even now when she's getting quite old).  It *is* pretty unreasonable of Ron to ask Hermione to try to keep Crookshanks away from Scabbers.  What's she supposed to do?  Lock him in her room?  Impossible.  Every time someone opened the door the cat would have gone streaking out and (I don't know how cats do this, but, trust me, they do) would have seemed to have completely disappeared until everyone had given up looking for him.  Furthermore, imagine locking a cat in a bedroom 24 hours a day.  What a nightmare.  It's not like she could have carried him around with her either.  Crookshanks is a big cat, and, trust me, she wouldn't have been able to hold him if and when he really wanted to get away.  The logical solution to the apparent problem would have been to keep Scabbers in Ron's room.  I mean, the rat is sick and not really surfacing for air from Ron's pocket much anyway (I think PoA mentions that he *did* stick his nose out to "sniff hopefully" at the Christmas dinner), the room would have been more than an adequate place for him.  Plus, as far as anyone could know, Crookshanks couldn't open doors, so Scabbers would be safe.
    Although, of course, Scabbers did fake his own death in the room, so Ron wouldn't have known this.
    Furthermore, Hermione is a *very* sensible person.  What would you say if someone accused your cat of "having it out" for a rat?  Cats aren't really supposed to think that way now, are they?
    Anyway, my point is, there was really no way to contain Crookshanks, while Scabbers would have been better off in Ron's room anyway, even if there was no Crookshanks -- what's Ron doing lugging a sick rat around anyway?  The poor thing belongs somewhere quiet, dark, and peaceful.

>  Her insensitivity to others can 
>be breathtaking at times. Remember her response to the death of 
>Lavenders rabbit? She consistently favors being right >over being kind.

I'm sorry, but I flat-out disagree with this one.  First of all, Lavender was being a little...well, silly, at this instance, and, if I do recall, Hermione was trying very hard to approach the topic delicately, while still point out that perhaps Prof. Trelawney may not be all-powerful -- which I would like to point out Lavender *needs* to know.  It's not healthy, the way she and Pavarti view the old fraud.  Frankly, I see it as dangerous.  That kind of naivety and susceptibility to cons can only lead to pain and trouble.  Sometimes it is necessary to be insensitive in order to help others in the long run.

Furthermore, I see her as *very* receptive to other people's feelings.  I have, in previous posts, listed instances in which this hold true, but I will repeat them here for the sake of argument.

1.  When Moody performs Crucio on the spider, Hermione (quite distressed for her friend, it seems)  tells him to stop on behalf of Neville, who seems to be having a nervous breakdown.  There was no indication that anyone even noticed that Neville was upset, and if they had, from the way the class views Neville, they would probably have assumed that it was just him being his easily-terrified self.  Neville himself tells Ron that Hermione has "always been really nice, helping him out with work and stuff."  As far as I can see, Hermione is the most sensitive person towards Neville in the entire school.  While most everyone else scorns or laughs at him (or both), Hermione is always trying to help him out.  Furthermore, she can't be all *that* insensitive, bossy, intimidating, etc. if Neville had the nerve in the first part to ask her out.  Obviously he deems her to be approachable, at the very least.  

2.  When Harry wakes up after his fight with Ron, he is dreading going to the Great Hall for breakfast, yet he is hungry and he doesn't want to stay in the common room lest he be molested by the Creevey Brothers.  And, wa-la, there is Hermione, bringing food, reassurance, explanations, and the suggestion to take a walk.  She doesn't just take Harry's side either, GoF says she goes between the both of them, trying to get them to talk to each other again.  She tries to get each boy to see the other side of the situation, and BTW, she's at least more sensitive towards Ron's feelings than Harry -- she knows *exactly* what's wrong with the ornery little red-head right from the start.

*sigh* I was going to list more, but I'm kind of getting sick of typing...^_~ anyway, of course Hermione isn't perfect, but I still think she's a pretty admirable person.

laura


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