Why did Hermione lie?

[Brian <bkb042@yahoo.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 51514

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "errolowl 
<nithya_rachel at h...>" <nithya_rachel at h...> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> Going way back to PS for a trivia question.You know, Hermione's 
> reaction to the Troll-in-the-bathroom scene in PS has always 
confused 
> me and I haven't found any discussion on this. Lets see,
> 
> Hermione is crying in the bathroom `cause Ron insulted her;
> she misses the Halloween feast.
> She doesn't know about the Troll or hear the order to get back to
> the dormitory 
> Harry remembers Hermione
> Harry and Ron go to warn her
> Enroute they bump into the troll and imprison it in a room
> Then they realize that that's where Hermione is
> They enter the bathroom, battle and defeat the troll
> McGonagall, Snape and Quirrel find them
> McGonagall demands an explanation
> 
> Then comes the passage that confuses me. 
> 
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
> "Please Professor McGonagall – they were looking for me"
> "Miss Granger!"
> Hermione had managed to get to her feet at last. 
> "I went looking for the troll because I – I thought I could
> deal with it on my own – you know because I've read all about
> them"
> Ron dropped his wand. Hermione Granger telling a downright lie to 
a 
> teacher?
> "If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead by now. Harry stuck
> his wand up its nose and Ron knocked it out with its own club. 
They 
> didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish
> me off when they arrived."
> Harry and Ron tried to look as though this story was not new to 
them. 
> "Well, in that case.." said professor McGonagall staring at
> the three of them, "Miss Granger you foolish girl, how could you 
> think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"
> Hermione hung her head. Harry was speechless. Hermione was the 
last 
> person to do anything against the rules, and here she was 
pretending 
> she had, to get them out of trouble. It was as if Snape had 
started 
> handing out sweets. <g>
> 
> <snip>
> "Good of her to get us out of trouble like that". Ron
> admitted.
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> 
> *What* trouble?? As far as I can see, they did nothing wrong. They 
> did go and save her when there was no time to get anyone else. The 
> only thing that Hermione lied about was *her* reason for being 
there. 
> She was crying and missed dinner. Surely that was better than 
saying 
> she went after the troll herself?
> 
> Perhaps they were so new that they didn't realize that missing a
> meal was not a major transgression. Still that's *Hermione* in
> trouble not the boys. Hermione could just have said that she'd
> been in the bathroom, (no need to mention she'd been crying), and
> hadn't heard the announcement (true), and that the boys had come
> to 
> get her(all the same as before). 
> 
> I just don't _get_ this thing! :(
> 
> Errol

The question that I've been asking myself for a while now is not WHY 
she lied, but HOW she managed to come up with a lie that so 
perfectly fit the situation without any consultation with Ron or 
Harry?
Consider this: She's in the girls lavatory during dinner. There's no 
way she could have heard Quirrell's warning in the Great Hall. She 
couldn't have known that there was a loose troll within the castle 
that was threatening the student body. Also, by first stating that 
Harry and Ron were looking for her, and then telling McGonagall that 
she went looking for the troll, wouldn't that imply that Hermione 
TOLD Harry & Ron that she'd "take care of the troll"? Why wouldn't 
the teachers punish the boys for not informing on Hermione prior to 
her embarking on this reckless (albeit fictitios) troll hunt? 

Something's fishy, and it's not a troll.

bkb042