Hermione's career

[B Arrowsmith]

No: HPFGUIDX 80990

Laura:

If I may paraphrase Sirius, reading between the lines, mate, I'd
guess you're not fond of Hermione. <g>


Kneasy:
I'm  not altogether sure that we're  meant to like her. Sure, she 
resonates with a lot  of the posters, but  I think  she's meant to be 
an irritant, a speck of grit that *may* produce a pearl, but far from 
perfect for all that. The  generation before mine would refer to her as 
"a right little madam." (Note to US readers - madam does not imply she 
runs a house of ill-repute, but is getting above herself.)

Laura:
But really, I think you're being awfully hard on a 15 year old girl. 
Most of the people I knew as teenagers were burning idealists (okay, 
this was the late 60's, but still). And they've learned over the years 
to work in the real world. Isn't it better to start out with some 
vision of the way you think the world could be better and change the 
way you work to bring that about than not to have any vision at all? I 
agree that if Hermione were 35 and still acting the same way, she would 
be not only unpleasant to be around but ineffective as well. But she's 
got lots of time to learn.


Kneasy:
Quite possibly I am being hard. But as a committed observer of the 
human condition, I've reached certain conclusions. I may be wrong, but 
I  think the ideals of youth tend to become the default  mode in 
adulthood. The first reaction when presented with a possibly anomalous 
situation is  to revert to  old guidelines. Only after considerable  
argument and explanation is any modification of view considered, often 
reluctantly and with suspicion. I suppose it's natural  to try and 
validate your youthful actions. Fair enough, you may say, it's healthy 
to have open discussion. The problems arise when a proposal is  made  
that  supports your youthful instincts. Discussion is then viewed as 
irrelevant and any counter-view is obviously wrong. Dodgy, very dodgy. 
A lot of people end up being very unhappy.

Laura:
I suspect you're right about the house elf situation-there may well
be more there than meets Hermione's eye. But if it turns out she's
wrong about their status, that will be a very important lesson for
her to learn-as you say, make sure you've done your prep work before 
you charge off. And better to learn it at school than later, when she 
could, indeed, do some real damage.


Kneasy:
I  think she's  being set up to be wrong, but in the right way, if you 
get my meaning. Her friends will be able to say that she 'meant well' 
But we all know where good intentions lead.


Laura:
Not to get overly personal, but did you know what you wanted to do
with your life when you were 15? I sure didn't. Hermione's drive
for knowledge is motivated by 2 things: her continuing awareness of
her shaky status as a muggle-born in the WW, and her simple desire to 
learn. The girl loves learning! Harry loves Quidditch, Neville
loves herbology, Fred and George love creating practical joke
products, and Hermione loves soaking up as much knowledge as she can 
find. More power to her for it, I say.


Kneasy:
Oh,  yes, I had very definite goals when I was 15. They changed later 
of course, as the realities of the world impinged onto my imagined 
certainty. You find out you don't have the necessary aptitude or 
academic leanings and that a treasured career path was not what you 
imagined. It's a pity that ideals can't be modified in the same 
reasonable, realistic manner.

As to Hermione, what can she do? She'd be a disaster in the political 
field ("How can the majority be right when they disagree with me?"). 
She'd be  very unhappy.

With her love  of knowledge I see two possibilities for her:

Either she becomes an academic and writes papers and theses that  are 
never read and the WW can safely ignore and file at the back of the 
cupboard,

or, she wins the  equivalent in the WW of "Who wants to be a 
Millionaire?" and spreads the money around what she considers to be 
good causes. That would make her very happy.






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