What is Hermione afraid of?

[Jim Ferer]

No: HPFGUIDX 80332

Chicofan: "After the boggart scene Lupin tells Harry he didn't allow
him to try the spell because he thought the boggart would become
Voldemort. But somehow Hermione doesn't try the spell either..."

Kirstini:" Hermione doesn't try the Boggart because JKR is saving her
worst fear up for the humourous bit in the DADA exam at the end of the
book: Hermione's worst fear is McGonagall (someone she respects)
telling her she's failed her exams (which she wanted to succeed in)."

Probably true, but the nagging doubt I have is that for everyone else
the fear is something gut, some primal terror, the stuff of which
phobias are made.  Something abstract can't have the same punch.

Kirstini: "Actually, this is interesting, as this exam comes up again
in OoP, and Hermione makes a point here about how Harry got better
marks in this exam than she did. I wonder if this re-emphasising of
Hermione's hubris means it may turn out to be significant later on?"

The students don't get their scores until July, after the end of the
story, so we don't know yet.  I don't have the book here, but I think
Hermione predicted Harry would do better.

I don't take that scene as an example of Hermione's hubris, because I
don't think she has hubris anymore, certainly not with her Trio-mates.

I would speculate that the boggart-horror she sees is something else –
Harry dead.  Naturally she would be reluctant to say it to Harry, both
for his sake and because it would be taken as an indicator of her
feelings for him (and no, this isn't a SHIP argument, nobody disagrees
all the Trio care for each other – the ship argument comes later). I
can't back that up at all, but we may see in the future what
Hermione's boggart really is.

Jim Ferer