[HPforGrownups] Re: Hermione: Panic Attacks & Tears?

[Penny Linsenmayer]

No: HPFGUIDX 38974

Hi all --

I conceded that Ron was cool under pressure but noted that Hermione & Harry both are as well.  In particular, I noted that Hermione had never panicked under pressure other than the Devil's Snare incident in SS.  Pippin responded with:

<<<<Hermione panicked in GoF as soon as she was hit by Draco's 
curse, *before* Snape sneered at her  -- and it could be that the 
sneer was meant to bring her to her senses, just like Ron's 
"HAVE YOU GONE MAD? ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?">>>>>

She was "whimpering in panic" at what Malfoy's curse had done to her.... but it's not as though she was involved in a life-or-death situation immediately prior to being cursed and panicked as a result of the pressure.  There was no edge of pressure beforehand; no sense that she needed to be mentally prepared for Bad Things.  If she were an Auror, she's approach all life events a bit differently.  However, she probably (and understandbly) didn't expect that potions class could be dangerous for her that day.  <g>    

Sorry, but I'm going to pass on even attempting to excuse Snape's behavior in this instance.  Deliberate cruelty, just for the sake of cruelty, to a student is not something any teacher should engage in, IMHO.  Besides, "bring her back to her senses?"  How so?  "Let's see, my teeth are hanging down past my chin & continuing to grow ... oh yeah, now that I'm calmer, I can see that yes, indeed, my teeth *are* hanging down past my chin & continuing to grow.  Yes, I feel better about it all now."  No, I think Hermione was quite well aware of the reality of the situation.     

Pippin again:

<<<<<<Ron can think logically  --when playing chess or solving the keys 
puzzle, but he can act in a hurry because he  trusts his intuition. 
Hermione needs *time* to think everything out. When she has to 
deal with a situation she's not prepared for in advance, she 
tends to panic -- as with Boggart McGonagall, to give another 
example.>>>>>>>>

Well, I can't comment on how much logic is involved in chess, but more than once, Ron has commented, "Hush up ... give me some time to think about this" when he's playing chess.  So, I'm not so sure that Ron is any more quick on his feet than Hermione.  As for the keys puzzle, all Ron did was examine the lock & suggest what shape key they were looking for.  I'm not so sure that's logic either; not in my book.  Can you give me some other examples where Ron acts quickly and it is actually the right action, the right answer, etc.?  I can't think of a single instance ... but maybe I'm just not being fair to Ron.  

As for Hermione, I don't think she panics in unfamiliar situations at all.  We have 3 instances of panic: the Troll incident, which I'd forgotten until just now, the Devil's Snare in SS and the rebounded curse on her teeth in Potions discussed above.  Devil's Snare was her first "adventure" -- since then, she's been fine.  Dumbledore awarded her points for the "cool use of logic in the face of fire."  *He* doesn't think she panicked under fire, despite the Devil's Snare snafu.  In fact, Hermione's one big post-Troll slip-up corresponds nicely with Ron's one shining moment of glory, also in PS/SS (the chess scene).  <eg>  

Back to Hermione though ... let's see.  Potions Challenge -- covered that.  CoS ... I don't think her reaction to her mistake in the polyjuice (turning into a cat rather than Millicent Bulstrode) can be considered panic.  She's embarassed but not panicked IMO.  And, what would Harry/Crabbe & Ron/Goyle done with her as a large cat anyway?  They really couldn't have taken her along, even if she'd wanted to join them anyway.  <g>  She was petrified by the basilisk, which precluded her participation in the dangerous events of journeying down to the Chamber... but it hardly seems that she panicked ... she was carrying a mirror around in the interests of preparedness and wasn't killed as a result.  In the duel in CoS, how are we to know that Millicent Bulstrode didn't initiate the non-duelling aspect of their duel.  Given their sizes, it seems reasonable to presume that it might not have been Hermione "forgetting once again that she is a witch" as Pippin suggests ... but if Millicent jumped her, knocking her wand to the floor & restrained her in a headlock, it'd be a bit difficult to respond back.  :--)

PoA -- I don't think Boggart McGonagall qualifies as panicking in unfamiliar situations.  All Boggart McGonagall confirms is that Hermione fears failing academically more than anything.  Hermione is certainly under considerable pressure from her overly ambitious academic schedule in PoA, and this manifests itself in her emotional outbursts on a few occasions.  But, by the end of the book, she's learned her lesson, turned in the TimeTurner & gone back to normalcy, realizing her own limitations.  In the high-stress scenes at the end, I can't think of an instance when Hermione panics either.  She succumbs to the Dementors; but so does Sirius Black.  She did *try* to help Harry conjure a Patronus.  She sounds skeptical at various points along the way but she helps Harry figure out what needs to be done to rescue Buckbeak & Sirius.  She's nervous about riding on Buckbeak ... but that hardly seems reason to disqualify her from being an Auror.  She does admittedly seem paralyzed & unsure what to do when she & Harry need to follow Ron & dog/Sirius into the tunnel near the Whomping Willow.  But, Harry doesn't know what to do there either; it's Crookshanks who gets them through that barrier.

GoF -- Since Harry was really more or less on his own during the pivotal events, I'm having a hard time thinking of any possible situation when Hermione might have panicked in any way.  Anyone?

<<<<<<I am not sure why Ron's intuitiveness  should be thought such a 
handicap to an Auror. Ron's off the cuff suggestions are 
sometimes useless but they aren't usually harmful. Sometimes 
they do suggest the solution, as when he takes Harry's bugging 
remark  literally.  That's thinking outside the box, IMO.>>>>>>

Thinking outside the box .... OR a lucky happenstance remark, which suggested the solution to *Hermione*.  <g>

I said:
>>>She also doesn't succumb to an emotional reaction except 
when personal arguments with friends are at play or in the case 
of the Snape incident that you mention, when she has been
personally attacked by someone in a position of authority <<<

Pippin asked:

<<<So it's okay for an Auror to lose it when things get personal? <g> >>> 

Ron is just as apt to "lose it" when things get personal.  He just doesn't cry; he loses his temper.  :--)

 
<<<<Also, as has just been pointed out in another thread, Evil 
Wizards generally hide their dark marks under  someone else's 
sleeves. If Hermione becomes an Auror, she'll have to be 
prepared to deal with it  should someone in authority  turn on 
her. Suppose she'd been with Harry when Lockhart  tried to 
curse them in his office, would she have caught the wand like 
Ron did, or would she have panicked?>>>>

If she becomes an Auror, she *will* be prepared for this sort of thing.  I don't think she needs to expect that her teachers will make cutting remarks at her personal expense to satisfy their own cruel whims.  

I think we're losing sight of the reason that Crouch-as-Moody suggested that both Harry and Hermione would make good Aurors is because their minds "work the right way."  He apparently didn't think that Ron's mind works the same way, and I don't think it does.  Now whether Crouch-as-Moody had ulterior motives & *really* thinks Ron is the dangerous one to DEs and other Bad Guys is open to debate.  But, the fact is: all we know so far about the qualification for an Auror, though admittedly from a source who may not be entirely reliable, is that their minds need to work a certain way.  Harry & Hermione (esp. Hermione) *do* tend to use logic and to a lesser extent emotional gut reactions.  Hermione uses more logic & less emotions; Harry uses more emotions & less logic ... but they both employ a mix of thought processes.  IMHO, Ron does not.  It makes perfect sense to me that his talents are not the same type as his friends.  This is not intended to suggest that he doesn't *have* talents, but I'm having a hard time understanding why we have to try & make his talents be the same type as those of his friends, Harry & Hermione.  Why can't we just accept that they each bring something different to the equation?  Maybe what Harry & Hermoine have in the way of talent *does* make them more suited to careers as aurors.  I'm not sure we know enough about aurors & what they do on a day-to-day basis to make conclusions about Ron's suitability or not. 

Penny







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