Hermione's growth

[slgazit]

No: HPFGUIDX 82459

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "elfundeb" <elfundeb at c...> 
wrote:
> Hermione, of course, has many ambitions, and she has repeatedly 
shown herself willing to use whatever means is at her disposal to 
achieve them.

There is nothing wrong with being ambitious. Harry is ambitious too 
after all - he wants to become an auror - a very prestigious post.
Hermione is using tricks and cleverness to achieve her goals, but her 
goals are pure. I have yet to see one goal of hers that is solely for 
her own benefit and that hurts others (and no, studying hard to get 
top grades does not count - it hurts no one; as for Rita Skeeter I'll 
discuss that one later).

> In OOP she effectively takes control of Harry's life. This is power.

I have to disagree here. She makes her opinions very clear and does 
not hesitate to argue and make suggestions and even take the lead. 
But she always listens to Harry and always lets him make his own 
decisions - and helps him accomplish them, even when they seem wrong 
to her (e.g. the trip to the MoM). This shows her to be a true and 
very valuable friend - more so than Ron who mostly follows Harry's 
lead without question.

> However, the basilisk continued to target muggleborns after Diary!
Riddle set his sights on Harry. And at the time of the polyjuice-
brewing episode, none of the Trio had any inkling that Harry was or 
would become the basilisk's prime target.  In fact, Hermione hatches 
the polyjuice scheme just after Binns' lecture revealing Slytherin's 
unwillingness to teach muggleborns and the legend that the basilisk 
was there to rid the school of all those Slytherin thought unworthy 
to be taught magic.

And why is it wrong for her to try to save her own life when she 
thinks she is the primary target, but not wrong if she thinks Harry 
is the primary target? I miss the point.

> It's possible that Marietta would have plowed ahead even if she had 
been warned that there was a jinx on the parchment they signed. But 
it would have made her think very hard about it first had she known 
there were consequences.

I don't see how Hermione could have warned the students. Do you think 
they'd have signed on if they knew it was jinxed? And if she told 
them right afterwards, there would be an uproar. Not to mention the 
risk that the sneak would have figured out a way to get around the 
jinx - either find a counter charm or disclosed the secret in such a 
way that the jinx would be activated.
No, the best way was how she did it. And frankly, my sympathy is very 
limited. The jinx was not life threatening or painfull or anything. 
It was a very appropriate punishment for one who put an entire group 
of students (moreover the students Hermione cared most about) at a 
very real risk for expulsion.

> As I see it, this is a good trait carried to excess. She sees a 
problem and a solution, but the people who can help her carry out her 
solution are, as you say, *tools* and not people.

Where is the evidence for that?

> She is blind to everything else. Like the centaurs, other people 
become instruments of her will. She is using Luna every bit as much 
as she uses Skeeter. And, as David pointed out originally, even 
Harry, the person she's trying to help, is only a pawn in this 
business, since Hermione presumes to decide for Harry what he should 
do and when he should do it, without telling him in advance.

At no point does she force Harry to do anything. He has the right to 
say "I don't want to talk about it" and leave the room. She is not 
using him, she gives him a chance to tell his side of the story if he 
wants to - and we know he does.

As for Luna - how is she using her? The Quibbler gets a sensational 
scoop which double or triples their usual readership plus a handsom 
payoff at the end when they sell it to the Daily Prophet.

WRT Rita, ditto here. She is a nasty lying reporter who through GoF 
was on a mission to hurt as many people as possible through the 
spreading of rumors and half-truths - moreover she was hurting 
precisely the people Hermione cares about (Harry, Hagrid, the 
Weasleys, not to mention herself). When Hermione captures her, rather 
than revealing the secret and having Skeeter shipped to Azkaban, she 
gives her the choice (at the end of GoF) to keep quiet for a year and 
in return she'd say nothing about her being an illegal animagus. I 
think that was very generous on Hermione's part.

Then she gives her the option to actually publish a piece before the 
year ended. A piece moreover that is absolutely guaranteed to be the 
most important article Rita has ever written, and that can be used as 
a basis to restart her career and reform herself (not to mention the 
important lesson that people will read an article without all the 
spoofs she always adds).

Of course Hermione has her own motives here (to get Harry's name 
cleared and his story out to the public), but she is not hurting 
anyone doing that - except for the bad guys of course.

Salit