[HPforGrownups] Re: Hermione In Trouble?

[Alexis]

No: HPFGUIDX 120739

Cory wrote:
> Regarding the Skeeter situation -- blackmail is generally wrong, but
> there is a certain poetic justice to Hermione's actions.  Skeeter was
> using her position to ruin Harry's life (and hers, to a lesser
> extent), and she was using the fact that she is an animagus to aid
> herself in that task.  I don't feel a great deal of outrage over the
> fact that it is now being used against her.
> 
> As for the centaurs, I would say that situation is more comparable to
> her SPEW crusade than to the other items listed here.  It is another
> case of Hermione failing to understand the nature of creatures that
> have different value systems than her own.  I don't think she
> intended for the centaurs to cause Umbridge any serious harm.  She
> made a serious misjudgement, and if not for Grawp (and Dumbledore
> saving Umbridge), her mistake could have gotten all of them killed,
> but I don't think her intentions were as evil as they've been made
> out by some.

Now Ali:

I agree with this particular point of view.  I realize that, at the
beginning of this conversation, I said Hermione should get her
comeuppance.  I still think so.  However, my reasoning behind this is
that Hermione is still fairly young.  We're all discussing her actions
as if she's older, but the reality is that she is a young girl with
little real experience with the world.

To be sure, coming in contact with Voldemort and related conflicts
teaches her a great deal, but those situations require little
reasoning.  Voldemort is clearly evil, as are those who side with him
and commit atrocities alongside him.  In situations like S.P.E.W. and
Rita S, she acts very much like a young girl.  She sees something she
deems as wrong and sets about righting it without giving enough
consideration to the issue that her world view may just be skewed or
that there are those who might be grievously injured in the process.

In my experience, those of us in the younger set tend to have
overdeveloped senses of justice and tend not to give thought to the
idea that we may be fallible.  We see instances of this in the other
HP kids as well, but it is more pronounced in Hermione because she is
more active in her beliefs.  When I talk about Hermione getting her
comeuppance, I think of it more as life giving her a dose of reality. 
She needs to learn that just because she is exceptionally bright, she
is not necessarily always right, and only in learning this can she
reassess her ethical stance.

~Ali