Hermione's Reaction to... Was: Re: Harry's first Kiss (is it a smoke screen?)

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 105510

 
UdderPD wrote :
> Let me start by saying that I am an 'obselete old dingbat' (63 year 
> old male).  
> 
> If ever a girl had said to me that I was  the most insensitive prat 
> she had ever had the misfortune to meet and that I had the emotional 
> range of a teaspoon, inside two minutes; I would have no illusions as
> to how much she liked me. 

Del replies :
Lol ! Then I'm afraid you might have missed an opportunity :-) You
see, sometimes, when a girl is attracted to someone but thinks that
person is not somehow good enough for her, she might resort to
insulting that person in order to force him to improve, and thus
become good enough for her.

It's a very classic feminine tool. Even women in a steady relationship
often continue to use it. Look around you : you'll see many wives and
girlfriends criticising their partners *in the hope that it will
encourage them to improve* and thus become even more lovable. I read
it somewhere called the Pygmalion Syndrome : trying to turn our loved
ones into our dream people.

I'm not saying that's necessarily what Hermione is doing, but I
wouldn't rule it out. She might be interested in Ron, but might feel
that his lack of sensitivity is a flaw that needs correction. So her
cutting remarks might just be encouragements for him to develop his
emotional range. 

UdderPD wrote :
> Ron and Hermione fight because they are almost total opposites, 
> without Harry as the catalyst I doubt they would ever talk to each 
> other socialy.

Del replies :
So what ? Many couples are like that and still work out very well. My
husband and his father are very much alike in temperament, but my
mother-in-law and myself couldn't be more different. And still we are
all happily married.

UdderPD wrote :
> Can you really imagine Hermione staying home to cook for Ron then 
> sitting meekly listening while he babbled on about Quidditch? I am 
> digressing sorry.

Del replies :
First, we never know how people are going to evolve. I was Hermione
back when I was 15. Now at age 30, I'm working happily on being Molly.
Second, we don't know that this is what *Ron* would like anyway. He
admires Hermione's intelligence, that's part of his attraction to her.
So I doubt he'd want her to become someone he couldn't admire that way
anymore.

UdderPD wrote :
> Hermione said "Of course your not," ( with reference to Harry's 
> kissing ability) without even thinking and as soon as Ron says  "How 
> do you know?" very sharply. She realises what she has given away and 
> tries to cover up by talking about Cho and telling Ron exactly where 
> he stands. 

Del replies :
But *what* has she given away exactly ??
The way I read it, she's just baffled at 2 things :
1. that the boys should conclude so fast that Cho was crying because
Harry was a bad kisser, when Cho cries all the time anyway,
2. that the boys could believe that anyone could be such a bad kisser
that they would make their partner cry ! I mean, *I* didn't know about
Cho crying all over the place, but I was completely baffled that
*anyone* could think such an absurd thing ! My reaction was exactly
the same as Hermione's : of course you're not a bad kisser, because
nobody is, at least not to that extent.

UdderPD wrote :
> Harry has too much on his mind to worry about romance; within an hour
> of all this he is in the Headmasters office talking about the snake 
> biting Arthur W. 

Del replies :
Romance blossoms even in the harshest conditions : during wars, during
natural catastrophes, in prison, and so on. I would never put it past
anyone to fall in love, whatever their conditions.

Del