Troll comment again, Hermione's blush

[anguaorc <fausts@attglobal.net>]

No: HPFGUIDX 50341

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Amy Z <lupinesque at y...>" 
<lupinesque at y...> wrote:
> OK, both of you.  Where do you get the idea that Hermione is "hurt" 
> by Ron's remark, or even thinks it is a comment on her own 
> appearance?  The key words are "splutter of 
> indignation," "bristling," "snapped," and "swept off."  Where's the 
> cue about hurt as distinct from anger?  Where's the cue that she's 
> taking it personally at all?

I can only answer for myself.  :)  I believe Hermione takes Ron's 
remark personally for three reasons:

1 - We have recently been strongly reminded of Hermione's insecurity 
about her own appearance.
She ran away sobbing at Snape's cruel remark after her teeth were 
lengthened by the Densaugeo curse.  We will soon discover that she 
went so far as to trick Madam Pomfrey into changing her teeth.  To 
keep this all fresh in our minds, we have had Pansy's taunts 
about "Stunningly pretty? Her?" and "chipmunks."

2 - Hermione overreacts.
Ron's statement is nothing more than the typical casual boorishness 
that one might see anywhere from teenaged (and older) males.  Fred, 
for instance, has just said something very similar.  Hermione could 
have handled it with a roll of her eyes and a quick retort that Ron 
is not such a prize himself.  But, instead, she sputters, bristles, 
and sweeps off.  

And then, later, she quotes the conversation indignantly to Ron, 
gleefully revelling in his situation when the first girl he asks 
turns him down.  Such a vehement response to a mild stimulus is 
*suspicious*.

3 - Hermione's particular situation.
Hermione happens to be a girl whose two best friends are both boys.  
It happens that one of these friends MUST have a date to the Ball, 
and the other one seems to feel he needs one as well.  And yet, 
neither of these boys has so much as suggested that they might go 
with their best-friend-who-is-conveniently-a-girl, even just as a 
friend.  She might be pardoned for wondering why not, and if 
something is wrong with her.

I would maintain that young girls who wish to date are almost always 
maximally anxious about their own appearance on the occasion of their 
first invitation-dance.  I would think this would be magnified if 
they had recently been the subject of public humiliation about their 
appearance "flaws."  It is worth noting, too, that at this point 
neither Ron nor Harry has even noticed Hermione's smaller teeth.

So, yeah, I think she's reacting personally here.


> Likewise, I see a non-SHIP-related explanation for the blush.
> 
> How about this?  She's blushing because they're talking about her 
> dating life.  It's personal.  It's embarrassing.  It touches on 
> something heretofore secret and rather exciting.  Hence, a blush.  
<snip>
> Amy
> who has the misfortune of being one of those people who blushes at 
> the drop of a hat

Ahhh, but we have reason to believe that Hermione is *not* one of 
those people.  For instance, though she blushed the first time that 
Ron noticed her crush on Lockhart, the next five times he mentioned 
it to her, she managed *not* to blush, though she was embarrassed.

Hermione does not blush when the first or second Skeeter article 
comes out, at least not until Snape reads the second one out loud 
with pauses for uproarious laughter.  Harry says "*Even* Hermione was 
blushing scarlet now" (emphasis mine).  Hermione does not blush when 
they see Krum ()in his swimsuit) diving into the lake and she defends 
him as "really nice."  She does not blush when Krum asks to speak to 
her alone to say goodbye to her or when they return afterward.  She 
does not blush before the Yule Ball when her secret mystery date is 
publicly revealed to all.  There is no indication that she blushes 
when the whole school is teasing her about being the thing that Krum 
would miss most.  She does not blush when Harry tells Molly 
that "Hermione's not my girlfriend."

So when Hermione *does* blush, especially when it is described as "so 
deeply that she was the same color as Parvati's robes" or "Harry 
could almost feel the heat coming from her," I think we are justified 
in believing that she is feeling something more interesting than 
general embarrassment about dating.


Angua, who almost never blushes