Hermione's career

[jwcpgh]

No: HPFGUIDX 80993

> 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.)
<snip> 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.

Laura:

I'd agree that Hermione has a bit of a chip on her shoulder still, 
although it's considerably smaller than it was when she was 11.  
She's bothered by her muggle heritage more than any of the other 
characters we see who aren't purebloods.  I don't think she feels 
inferior in the way Draco would have it; I think she feels that 
there's information and experience she's missing because she didn't 
grow up in the WW.  And, of course, she's right, and lacking 
knowledge makes her uncomfortable, especially since she knows that 
there is some knowledge that can only be gained through living and 
not through books.  She can never compensate for what she missed 
during the first 10 years of her life.  That may also play into her 
present lack of a specific career ambition-she just doesn't have 
enough experience yet of how the adult WW works.

As for her diplomacy or shortage of it, she has, imo, all the 
necessary components for leadership in the political/policy making 
world:  she's smart, she's observant, she makes connections and she 
has a good sense of what motivates the adults around her (she's weak 
on non-human creatures, to be sure.)  Again, I think the ways she 
plays Skeeter and Umbridge are masterful.  She has a pretty reliable 
sense of who's trustworthy and who isn't-for instance, she's always 
insisted that Snape is one of the good guys.   

What she doesn't have is wisdom-not surprising for a kid her age.  
You're assuming that Hermione will never change, and maybe the kids 
you knew who were like her never did.  But I have great hopes for 
her.  
> 
>Yes, she's far from perfect-but so far I haven't seen anyone in the 
books who gets much closer.  Well, being a cat person I *am* rather 
impressed by Crookshanks...<g> 
> 
> 
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