Hermione is Umbridge

[ericoppen]

No: HPFGUIDX 93009

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Kia" <kiatrier at y...> wrote:
>> 
> They carry each other's middle name deservedly. The real 
> difference between them besides looks, age, conscience and 
> other "unimportant" details (Yes, I am sarcastic.) is that they are 
> on opposing sides and Hermione's side is the one, we 
> sympathise with.
> 
> If Pansy Parkinson or even Cho Chang had been responsible for 
> "The Marietta Incident", we would have hated Pansy or Cho for it. 
> Fandom would have them tarred and feathered. 

I don't know about that, myself.  People who tattle to authority are 
seldom very popular (I rather imagine the atmosphere in Marietta's 
dorm was...a little chilly for her...for quite a long time, spots or 
no spots.  Considering what the Weasley twins could have come up 
with, I could make a case that Marietta got off fairly easy---what 
are a few more spots when you're a teenager?

> Umbridge is sadism. Umbridge is cruelty. 
> Umbridge is the lack of compassion. Umbridge is selfishness. 
> Umbridge is hunger for power. Umbridge is everything we 
> identify as evil or ingredient for evil, but she isn't Voldemort. 
The 
> difference between her and Voldemort is the intention. Umbridge 
> believes that she can do good, that she is doing good, that what 
> she does is constructive, that she is the epitome of morality. 
> What stops Umbridge from being evil and what keeps her 
> human is her belief that she does good. Her morality is totally 
> screwed up, but if you screw up your eyes and read OotP 
> upside-down, you might realise how - from her point of view - 
> she is doing the right thing and nothing but the right thing. And 
> you might also see how she believes that the means justify the 
> ends.
> 
> And now if get your eyes and your book back to normal, read 
> Hermione and you'll see that she also believes that she is doing 
> the right thing and that the means justify the ends. She isn't 
> using the Cruciatus -- yet, but I do not doubt for a second that if 
it 
> was doable for Hermione to do so and it appeared necessary to 
> her, she would use it in a heart beat.
> 
> Umbridge is exactly how Hermione could be. 
> 
> 
> And might will be.
> 
> 
> 
> Kia

Very thought-provoking essay.  I have said myself, on this list, that 
I thought Hermione had a pretty steely, ruthless streak under 
that "good girl, gets good grades" exterior.  As someone else pointed 
out, she blackmailed Rita Skeeter.  She also aided and abetted a 
notorious escaped prisoner's escape, nearly ruined her own health 
with a Time-Turner to take more classes than normal, and stole potion 
supplies from the single most feared teacher at Hogwarts.  

The supplies theft was one of the earlier instances where we could 
see the other side of Hermione Granger.  Personally, in her boots, 
I'd have at least looked into obtaining the proper supplies from a 
Diagon Alley supplier---AFAICR they never even thought of that, 
although I would think that Snape would know _just_ what was and was 
not in his supplies cupboard, and when he noticed things missing, he 
would probably be able to figure out what it could be used for.  

But Hermione chose to steal the supplies, and apparently did so with 
perfect icy aplomb.  If she'd been raised on the British equivalent 
of "the wrong side of the tracks," and had had a lifetime's 
experience of dealing with angry/suspicious adults and authority 
figures, she couldn't have done it better.  

She may be on the right side, but I for one would not want to be 
standing between Hermione Granger and something she decided she 
wanted badly enough.  She's no Umbridge (she's much too 
compassionate) but she has a very ruthless, pragmatic streak about 
what needs to be done.