Hermione's rude comment

[tomatogrower88]

No: HPFGUIDX 74434

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Wanda Sherratt" 
<wsherratt3338 at r...> wrote:
> I've always respected Hermione's judgment and good sense, but at the 
> beginning of Ch. 27 of OotP her comments about Firenze really grate 
> on me.  Granted, Parvati is baiting her, but I think her remarks are 
> pretty tasteless:
> 
> 'Not really,' said Hermione indifferently, reading the Daily 
> Prophet.  'I've never really liked horses.'
> ....
> 'He's not a horse, he's a centaur!' said Lavender, sounding shocked.
> 'Either way, he's still got four legs,' said Hermione coolly.
> 
> Wow, I thought, pretty fresh mouth on that girl, considering she was 
> the one being called 'mudblood' for the last few books.  Would she 
> say the same thing about Hagrid?
> 
> "I've never really liked giants."
> "He's not a giant, he's a half-wizard!"
> "Either way, he's still 8 feet tall."
> 
> Is this supposed to *mean* something?  The fact that basically 
> nobody reacts, except a couple of girls who are signalling "silly 
> schoolgirl crush" with every word, makes me think that there's 
> nothing deeper here, which I find pretty disappointing.  It's as if 
 
> Rowling is just following the template, which states that "Hermione 
> must always have the last word," so she just comes up with some 
> smartass comment for Hermione to say, whether or not it's in 
> character or fits in with the rest of the story.  
> 
> Wanda

This has got me thinking. Do you think that this fits in with 
Hermione's misunderstanding of centaurs or is it just a flip remark. 
When she leads Umbridge in the forest she does not seem to know what 
centaurs are like for all her book knowledge. I guess that is why I 
like the books. No character is perfect and I always have alot to 
think about.

Myrth