OoP: 2 things I keep coming back to - Hermione & the Veil

[ronin_economist]

No: HPFGUIDX 61712

> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "txjen70" <jen60565 at a...> 
> wrote:

>First does Hermione come off as too perfect right now?  I mean I 
> know that the theory is that there are 2 characters you can get 
> away with saying about anything, and she is one of them, but she's 
>too  perfect. I mean is there anything they don't have her doing?  

About Hermione being too perfect, I thought so too, especially with 
her coming up with that scheme toward the end. I mentioned it to my 
boyfriend, saying that while she's always been really smart and 
able to think on her feet, in the other books she was very annoying, 
too.

To which he replied, "What are you talking about, she IS annoying!"

Which, upon reflection, is quite true. Hermione's insightful 
commentary on feelings and relationships reads well, and makes us, 
the adult readers, nod in agreement. But think of how it sounds to 
her teenage friends -- it's exactly the same kind of lecturing 
she's been doing all along, only on a different subject. For all her 
insights on people's behavior and feelings, she needs to learn some 
tact.
 
Not to mention her delusons about the house elves -- I kept waiting 
for all the hats to play some role, maybe the creation of a freed 
elf army to help the Order -- but no, Hermione was wrong, and no 
elves other than Dobby wanted anything to do with her. 
 
These aren't huge flaws, but they're enough to make her character 
imperfect and set up the possibility of some real mistakes further 
on. It's Hermione who mentions Harry's "hero thing," but she has 
several dangerous "things" herself.

>The other thing that came to me as I was falling asleep came out 
> of my mouth in one word - execution.  Does anyone else think that 
> that room is used for execution for wizards?  Maybe they stopped 
>with executions, and that's why it 
> is in ruins, but that's what came to mind.  

About the veil, my first thought was of a wizard oracle of some sort, 
a place where advice from the dead could be thought. But wouldn't 
that have been covered in Divination? I'm really liking 
the execution idea, Jen, though the WW does strike me as the kind of 
place that would still have a death penalty. (Which Vernon asks 
Harry about in the beginning -- is that a hint?) Though since an 
extended term in Azkaban IS pretty much a death penalty, perhaps they 
decided they don't need to go through the trouble of executing anyone 
anymore.

Reene