[HPforGrownups] Hermione's Magical Power (Was: Re: Lily & Petunia Evans (& Who's more magical?))

[herm - own - ninny]

No: HPFGUIDX 55592

Laura wrote:
>There are a lot of references in canon to her [Hermione's] study >habits, 
>her intelligence, and so on...but as far as I can tell >there's not much 
> >to support her being an incredibly powerful witch.  >Not to say that 
> >she's a bad witch, but intelligence does not equal power.

Me:

This brings up a whole new can of worms: what *is* wizard "power?" How do we 
define it? Hermione seems to have a limitless reserve of spells which she 
can perform accurately. Surely this would make her a "powerful" witch during 
a duel. However, this then implies that any wizard who has the initiative 
could go out and *learn* to be powerful, rather than being born that way.

Harry presents the opposite side of the coin. He appears to be a very 
powerful wizard who does not yet know his full potential, and who certainly 
isn't taking extra steps to "learn to be powerful." Therefore we can only 
assume that he was born like that.

So which is it? Does wizard power come from knowledge and practice, or are 
they simply born with a certain level of power and that's that? I've always 
seen it as a bit of both. It's like, oh I don't know, running. (Bad analogy 
time *grin*). See, some of us are born better runners than others. With 
training one can improve their skills. However, if you are born a slow 
runner no amount of training will land you an olympic medal.

So wizards are born with a certain level of power. At Hogwarts they not only 
learn to control their magic, but also improve it through practice. Hermione 
is thus more powerful than your average student because she practices on her 
own time. Harry is more powerful than your average student because he 
started out that way. In GoF he beats the Imperius curse *faster* than 
anyone else, but does this mean that the other kids wouldn't have done over 
time? For example, if Neville practiced day and night would he eventually be 
able to beat the Imperius curse as Harry had done, or would he never be able 
to do it because he lacks the power?

Is there anything in canon that supports limits on what wizards can do based 
on their level of power? Neville seems to fumble most spells, but it's not 
for lack of trying, therefore it must be for lack of power.

He *is* good at Herbology though. This says a lot to me. Maybe we shouldn't 
use the word power as a blanket statement (ie: Dumebledore is powerful). 
Canon suggests that wizards have different degrees of power in different 
areas. Neville may not be "powerful" in potions, but he's powerful in 
Herbology. The same can be said for Harry. To call him a powerful wizard 
isn't accurate then. He's powerful in Defense Against the Dark Arts, but is 
likely worse off than Neville in Herbology. Or maybe these are just their 
'strengths' and shouldn't be considered when determining their overall power 
as a wizard. I don't know. I've confused myself, lol. Any thoughts?

dina



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