Hermione and the D.A. List

[Robert Jones]

No: HPFGUIDX 88942

While I'm thinking about Hermione, here's another instance 
of "Little Miss Perfect," as that cow Rita Skeeter called her, 
screwing up in OOTP.  It concerns the D.A. list.

First, the jinx.  If Hermione had simply told the students about the 
jinx, no one would have told Umbridge.  Think about it.  If she was 
relying on the students' honesty all along, why bother putting a 
jinx on the list in the first place?  And if she doesn't tell them, 
why did bother putting the jinx on it at all?  The jinx wouldn't 
work to keep the secret unless they know it's there.  It's like the 
Doomsday Device the Russians had in the movie "Doctor Strangelove": 
it is only a deterrent if they bother to tell the Americans.  Was 
Hermione's object to keep the list secret or was she just being mean?

Of course, the students would be mad at her at first when she 
finally told them about the jinx ("Oh, by the way, I put this little 
jinx on the list . . .), but they would get over that and realize 
that they were safe of being exposed.  Isn't that what is important?

So . . . was the purpose of the jinx to protect the students and the 
list, or was it just a nasty little trick to catch someone?

Second, Umbridge getting the D.A. list.  Hermione apparently "left 
[the list] behind"  "pinned" to the wall of the Room of Requirement, 
to quote the book.  Why in the world was she carrying the list to 
the D.A. meetings at all, let alone putting on the wall?  Why bother 
taking attendance or anything else connected to the list?  Why 
didn't she leave it somewhere hidden in her dorm room?  

If you reply that it wasn't her copy of the list but one that the 
Room of Requirement provided Umbridge (since the room provides 
whatever is needed and Umbridge needed that), there is still a 
problem.  Wouldn't JKR have Hermione the next day say something 
like "It's not my list!  Mine is still in my room!" or "The list 
vanished from my room!"?  The way the scene is written she 
apparently pinned her copy to the wall, and DD ended up fired.

Bobby