Hermione's Flying skills and Apparition (was her age)

[templar1112002]

No: HPFGUIDX 119874


> Yb wrote:
> So what could Hermione possibly fail?... What if she fails 
> Apparition? It's probably like flying; you can read all you want 
to on the subject, but actually trying it is the only way to learn 
it. So she could finally flop at something,losing her perfect 
record...
> 
> 
> mcmax wrote:
> This is something that could happen. Unlike fanon and Steven 
Kloves, JKR doesn't make Hermione perfect and I can see her having a 
problem with apparating and maybe she will have to work at it while 
Harry is poping all over the place and ever Ron gets the hang of it 
quickly.



*******Perhaps this has been discussed in this site some time ago, I 
run a search and as usual nothing relevant came up... I apologize if 
so.
But I just couldn't help my writing a reply to what I consider one 
of the biggest misinterpretations with regards to Hermione: her 
flying skills are not good, mainly because she cannot learn it from 
books.

I can understand where part of that belief comes from, the reader 
might be left with that impression because of Harry's POV in SS, but 
she most definetely is not 'that' bad at it.  I guess that many 
assumed that her fear of learning how to fly in her first lesson in 
PS was never overcome.  But then, how do you read the scene I quote 
below?:


"...They each (the trio) seized a broomstick and kicked off into the 
air, soaring into the midst of the cloud of keys.  They grabbed and 
snatched, but the bewitched keys darted and dived so quickly it was 
almost impossible to catch one.
<snip>
Ron went speeding in the direction that Harry was pointing, crashed 
into the ceiling, and nearly fell off his broom.
<snip>
Ron dived, Hermione rocketed upward, the key dodged them both, and 
Harry streaked after it; it sped toward the wall, <snip> Ron and 
Hermione's cheers echoed around the high chamber.
They landed quickly, and Harry ran to the door, the key struggling 
in his hand. ..." SS pages 348/349, p/b SE.


As a matter of fact, it's Ron who is not so good at flying in this 
scene -he crashed into the ceiling.
Hermione managed to fly with only one hand on the broom while trying 
to snatch at the keys, she rocketed upward when she was ordered to, 
and then she landed quickly.

Or perhaps, some readers think that she is not good at flying or 
that she is scared of flying because of the Buckbeak scene in PoA?  
Let's read it again:

"...The executioner!  He's gone to get the dementors!  This is it, 
Hermione --
Hermione put her hands on Buckbeak's back and Harry gave her a leg 
up.  Then he placed his foot on one of the lower branches of the 
bush and climbed up in front of her.  Her pulled Buckbeak's rope 
back over his neck and tied it to the other side of his collar like 
reins.
'Ready?' he whispered to Hermione.  'You'd better hold on to me --'
He nudged Buckbeak's sides with his heels.
Buckbeak soared straight into the dark air.  Harry gripped his 
flanks with his knees, feeling the great wings rising powerfully 
beneath them.  Hermione was holding Harry very tight around the 
waist; he could hear her muttering, 'Oh, no --I don't like this --
oh, I really don't like this --'
Harry urged Buckbeak forward.  They were gliding quietly toward the 
upper floors of the castle... Harry pulled hard on the left-hand 
side of the rope, and Buckbeak turned.  Harry was trying to count 
the windows flashing past --
'Whoa!' he said, pulling backward as hard as he could.
Buckbeak slowed down and they found themselves at a stop, unless you 
counted the fact that they kept rising up and down several feet as 
the hippogriff beat his wings to remain airborne.
<snip>
'Stand back!' Hermione called to him, and she took out her wand, 
still gripping the back of Harry's robes with her left hand.
'Alohomora!' ..." PoA, pages 413/4, p/b SE.


Well, she didn't like flying Buckbeak in the beginning, but got used 
to it later on and even managed to do the Alohomora spell... To be 
fair, Harry didn't like flying Beacky the first time, either.  Read 
on:

"...Without warning, twelve-foot wings flapped open on either side 
of Harry; he just had time to seize the hippogriff around the neck 
before he was soaring upward.  It was nothing like a broomstick, and 
Harry knew which one he preferred; the hippogriffs wings beat 
uncomfortably on either side of him, catching him under his legs and 
making him feel he was about to be thrown off; the glossy feathers 
slipped under his fingers and he didn't dare get a stronger grip; 
instead of the smooth action of his Nimbus Two Thousand, he now felt 
himself rocking backward and forward as the hindquarters of the 
hippogriff rose and fell with its wings.
Buckbeak flew him once around the paddock and then headed back to 
the ground; this was the bit Harry had been dreading; he leaned back 
as the smooth neck lowered, feeling he was going to slip off over 
the beak, then felt a heavy thud as the four ill-assorted feet hit 
the ground.  He just managed to hold on and push himself straight 
again. ..."  PoA, page 117, p/b SE.


Also, Hermione rode a Thestral to the MoM and she managed to 
dismount it in a more graceful manner than, say, Ron.


To sum up, Canon!Hermione is a good flyer, or average at least, and 
doesn't whimper or whine when the ocassion calls for some flying.  
Fandon!Hermione is highly perceived as hating to fly or scared of 
doing so. And maybe that's the reason for this 'contamination' of 
views, or perhaps it's the popular and infamous belief that women 
are not good drivers, *chuckles*.

 
Sooo, I hardly think that Apparition would be an issue for Hermione. 
I think that it would be a big deal for her (like any driver's 
licence is to any teenager :) ), but I doubt that she'll have 
problems learning it. 
As for the kids learning Apparation and how Jo would deal with that, 
I strongly think that she will not dwell on that for too long.  The 
most she's done with explaining the magic behind a spell, so far, 
was with the Patronus and with the Summoning ones, which both 
coincidentally demand a lot of concentration in the beginning to be 
able to perform it 'casually' afterwards.  And those two spells we 
know for sure that Harry and Hermione can manage with.  Somehow, Jo 
has not let us know about Ron's Patronus yet.

Marcela