Unlikeable Hermione wasRe: Chapter 18: Dumbledore's Army

[theadimail]

No: HPFGUIDX 99348

Amy:
Proposition: Hermione, by fretting about the restlessness and
recklessness that will in fact do Sirius in, is shaping up into an
insufferable know-it-all and JKR had better bring her down a peg or
two or we'll really hate her (Hermione, not JKR) before the series
is over. Discuss.

 I think so. By far, Hermione is least likeable in this novel. Come 
to think of it, even Ron is. When I first read it I thought, JKR was 
making an attempt to focus attention solely on Harry. In fact, Harry 
for the first time outshines the other two in the attention-grabbing 
quotient. Whereas the other two and the other characters as well, 
constantly manage to take the shine away from Harry in the previous 
novels, I find Harry and only him grabbing attention in this one. 
  Well, Harry is also disenchanted with the world at large in this 
novel, so the other characters( Hermione, Ron, Sirius, Lupin) who all 
looked exciting before do not do so now, to him and because we see 
from his perspective, to us. It's like the pall of disappointment  
thrown over all the characters and we see them through these yellow-
tinted spectales and they do not look pretty.
  One thing that really irritated me about Hermione in this book was 
how she gasps so much when anything untoward happens, and keeps 
closing her mouth with her hands. And also her beyond the reasonable 
affection for Kreacher. I hope these things change in the next book, 
because they irritate so much.
  Also there is an inevitable charm that each age has of its own. I 
mean the toddlers have this cuddly sweet charm while old ones have 
this forgetful irritating but endearing charm of their own. So as 
these characters are growing  they are leaving their charm of tender 
years behind. But it's only Harry who is so manly and heroic and the 
other youngsters look, well, somewhat sheepish beside him whereas 
they all looked equal before. I suspect this will become the norm in 
the next two novels. Because Harry is destined for something very big 
he has to grow in stature to achieve that. And unless Hermione and 
Ron can share a significant responsibilty in that destiny, not just 
help him in the sidelines, they risk to be overshadowed by Harry.
 In Book One all the three had the adventure together, book two has 
Harry and Ron, book three Harry and Hermione, book four Harry doing 
it alone though both helped him out, book five has him alone most of 
the time, but for the first time, many others beyond the trio helping 
him. What can be the trend in the next two be?

e
Adi,who has written his first long mail here and deserves to be 
forgiven for elliptical style and unclear post.