Hermione's imperfections

[Rhyannon]

No: HPFGUIDX 88718

This is my first post here, after lurking for several months.  As the stay
at home mom of an 18 year old, an 8 year old and a 5 year old, I'm not sure
if I'm the most obsessed Harry Potter Fan in our house, just the one with
the most unlimited access to the computer and the most unrestricted ability
to stay up late reading... (aw the power of being the one who has her name
on the mortgage and the ability to send other people to bed .....;-)

Anyway, I have often observed Hermione with a mixture of fondness and
embarrassment, as I was definitely one of the kids who always sounded like
she had eaten the textbooks before the class, and had a real need to
demonstrate my knowledge to the teachers....I'm sure my classmates often
wanted to choke me!  As I hit my adolescence I also discovered a "cause", I
will not bore you with the details, but as I read GoF I groaned with JKR's
introduction of SPEW..... b/c it so very much reminded me of the earnest,
young girl I had been.

I think that what Hermione most needs to learn as she matures is that she
does NOT know what is best for others.  Currently, she believes that because
she values freedom (and freedom is a value shared by many), that it
justifies her manipulation of the house elves into becoming free-- whether
they want to or not. (OoP Chapter 13, pg. 255, where she leaves hats out,
disguised with trash).  She frequently acts as if her intelligence justifies
her making decisions for the house elves despite the fact that she really
hasn't spent very much time in their company, and while she may have a
theoretical understanding of their history (I remember her doing research on
them in GoF) she doesn't seem to have a very good understanding of their
motives, their culture or their goals as a minority within the WW.

Remembering my own confrontation with the reality that passion for a cause
does not equate moral authority to champion it,  I know that reading about
Hermione's learning this lesson is going to be painful.

Anyway, I really appreciate the thoughtful and interesting insights that
members of this list have!


Rhyannon Endymion