OOP: Hermione: the next Dumbledore? (without the beard)

[greatlit2003]

No: HPFGUIDX 69244

Does it seem weird for anyone else that Hermione has become 
Dumbledore Jr? I think it's great that she has become so mature and 
responsible, but sometimes I wonder if JKR made her grow up too much. 
I can understand Harry's growth...he's been through so much that he 
can't possibly be a child anymore. Ron acts ok for his age. But 
Hermione's growth has been amazingly quick.

I can't understand why Hermione was never more bothered about the 
teeth-enlarging incident. If a teacher had said that to me, I would 
probably have transferred to another class, or at least reported the 
incident to McGonagall (and sued the school for a nice sack of 
Galleons :) ) Not only doesn't Hermione do anything, which is unlike 
her usually strong personality, but she has gone out of her way to 
DEFEND Snape for more than a year. Why this DD-like defense of Snape 
in spite of his bad behavior? Why does she trust Snape so much?

I also want to know how Hermione picked up so quickly about Sirius's 
reckless behavior. (when she told Harry not to take Sirius's advice) 
Sirius seemed different to me in OOP, (depressed, lack of confidence) 
but he didn't strike me as the type who would try to live vicariously 
through Harry, and consequently put Harry in danger. It turns out 
that Hermione was right, but how did she do it? Were there any clues 
that suggested that Sirius was trying to goad Harry?

How did Hermione pick up that Voldie was trying to cash in on Harry's 
heroic tendency? Is this simply a JKR foreshadowing tool (in which 
case I feel cheated) or does Hermione have the gift of Seeing :) How 
does this girl do it?

Unrelated pondering: Doesn't Ron seem too immature for Hermione? Can 
anyone picture them together?

greatlit2003