Hermione's AND Hagrid's rude comments

[hickengruendler]

No: HPFGUIDX 75207

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Wanda Sherratt" 
<wsherratt3338 at r...> wrote:
  Hermione 
> just safely despatched her jibe sitting at the breakfast table, and 
> there was no excuse for it, except that she wanted to score off 
some 
> girls.  As I said before, she wouldn't dare say that to a centaur's 
> face, but she'll do it when there's no risk.  I'm not developing a 
> theory that Hermione is a secret racist, I'm more concerned with 
> what a line like this is doing in the book.  Rowling should have 
> known better, and an editor would have noticed that it was 
> discordant with the larger theme.  I think she is getting too 
> indulgent with her characters, and not keeping them disciplined. 
I'm 
> just not in the mood to think up elaborate excuses for a lazy 
> author.  

And why do you think, that JKR was a lazy author in this case? If I 
remember correctly, one of the centaurs later asks Hermione if she 
thinks, that centaurs are just pretty talking horses. So I think it 
is likely, that JKR wasn't lazy, when Hermione called the centaurs 
lazy, but that it happened on purpose, and that Hermione later had 
sort of an comeuppance. Really, I think these books show again and 
again, that everyone is prejudiced, and that they have to overcome 
their prejudices. Why should Hermione be an exception? And no, I 
don't think that JKR is on Hermione's side in this case. Hermy has 
normally more common sense than Lavender and Parvati, but that 
doesn't mean, that the readers have to agree with her everytime she 
has another opinion than the other two girls.

Hickengruendler