Hermione In Trouble?

[ohneill_2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 120656


greatelderone wrote:

> GEO: How does that make Hermione and co. different from Umbridge 
and 
> co.? From the perspective of the book, both have done things in 
> order to further their respective cause. Umbridge may be wrong, but 
> how exactly does that make Hermione right? Trying to get her killed 
> by the centaurs, blackmailing reporters and cursing her fellow 
> students isn't any better than Umbridge using her authority except 
> maybe for the fact that Hermione is the underdog while Umbridge has 
> the establishment behind her,
> 
> Furthermore are we going to see Hermione get her comeuppance just 
as 
> Umbridge get hers and probably Draco, Voldemort and Lucius will get 
> theirs. Rowling can't spare Hermione and punish the others for 
their 
> various offenses especially when Draco was practicaly brainwashed 
by 
> his father's ideology.

Now Cory:

I understand your point.  Please understand, I am not trying to 
defend Hermione's actions; I'm simply giving my interpretation of the 
text and offering an opinion as to the message that JKR is sending.  
I agree that some of Hermione's actions in OotP were what one might 
call ethically questionable, and at some point I would like to see 
her learn a lesson in that regard.

To answer your question about how Hermione and Umbridge are 
different, I would respond that I think the difference JKR wants us 
to see is that Hermione's actions were taken in furtherance of a 
cause that we (the reader) are supposed to believe is "good," while 
Umbridge's actions (and Rita Skeeter's) were taken in furtherance of 
a cause that we are supposed to think of as "evil."  In real life, 
this is a difficult distinction to grasp -- nobody thinks they 
are "evil"; the Delores Umbridges of our world do what they do 
because they believe they are right, and they believe the ends 
justify the means.  In Potterverse, however, I still think that's the 
message JKR is sending:  If you truly *are* on the side of good (and 
we know the heroes are, because they're, well, the heroes), then the 
ends truly *do* justify the means.

Again, I'm not agreeing on an ethical level, just giving my 
interpretation...

--Cory