Am I the only one...

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 134866

Laura Walsh wrote:
"But it is interesting that Hermione doesn't experiment with potions.
 She follows instructions exactly and she gets good results, but she
doesn't come up with her own formulations."

Del replies:

1. One major basis of true creativity is knowledge. One can't break
the rules without first knowing them. One can't transcend what they
don't know. Hermione is, very appropriately, learning the rules *first*.

2. I don't see anyone else experimenting with their Potions either.
Especially not Harry, who is only doing the very same thing Hermione
is doing: following the instructions in a book.

3. Potions are *dangerous*. Experimenting with them can lead to all
sorts of results, including permanent incapacitation or death. I
understand that Hermione wouldn't be in a hurry to experiment.
Especially considering what happened to her when she made an extremely
minor mistake while concocting the Polyjuice Potion: for having used a
cat hair instead of a human hair, she was turned into some rather
monstruous creature for weeks.

4. Maybe Hermione hasn't invented something entirely new yet, but she
*has* showed creativity in using what she knows. The Protean Charm she
put on the DA Galleons, the Sneak Jinx that nobody has managed to
break, those are not exactly textbook charms, are they?

Laura Walsh wrote:
"In fact, in the whole series, we see remarkably few students
experimenting with new magic. Fred and George are arguably the most
adept at it.  But we don't see most students come up with new charms,
new ways to transfigure, new curses, new defenses, etc. "

Del replies:
Remember Eloise Midgeon, who tried to curse her acne off and ended up
without a nose? *That* is the reason many students don't fool around
with magic, IMO.

Moreover, the students are just that, students. It is *extremely* rare
for a Muggle high school student to invent something that isn't
already in the books. Why should things be any different at Hogwarts?

Laura Walsh wrote:
"The example of the Polyjuice Potion isn't really a counter-argument
to this.  She was willing to make it, and she was very good at making
it, but she didn't change it one iota. She followed the instructions
exactly."

Del replies:
No she didn't. It was involuntary, granted, but she did NOT follow the
instructions exactly, and she ended up paying a high price for that. I
have no problem imagining that this would persuade her to stick to the
recipe very closely from then on.

Laura Walsh wrote:
"The outstanding on her OWLs is also not a counterexample, as, again,
this simply shows that she is excellent at following and remembering
instructions."

Del replies:
Well, that's already good, don't you think? At least *she* got an O at
this OWL, unlike some other people. 

Laura Walsh wrote:
"The OWLs didn't ask them to concoct an entirely new potions that
would make the drinker's hair turn into feathers or something like that. "

Del replies:
No, it didn't, because as 5th-years, they are apparently not
*supposed* to be inventing new stuff. I think the examiners have
better things to do than putting right all the horrible results of the
students' experimentation.

Laura Walsh wrote:
"I wouldn't call her mediocre for not experimenting - just cautious."

Del replies:
Yes, but at least *she* is learning all the bases, so that she *will*
be able to experiment later if she chooses to. Ron won't, for sure,
and I doubt Harry will ever be able to invent anything new except in DADA.

I find it a bit absurd to criticise Hermione for following the
instructions in a book, when *nobody* around her is doing any better.
Everybody else is doing exactly the same thing, including Harry. And
Hermione is easily the best at following instructions, remembering
principles and applying her knowledge. When the time came for Harry to
show some creativity by inventing a composite antidote, he was
completely lost. He was saved only by the bezoar twist, but as far as
concocting an antidote potion goes, he was dreadful, and Hermione
wasn't. Harry could never have concocted that antidote for the Love
Potion that Ron accidently took, while I'm sure that Hermione could
have done it.

Just because whoever wrote those annotations in the HBP book was a
true genius at Potions (or had had a LOT of practice), doesn't mean
that anyone else should be. Harry is a natural at flying, but he
doesn't expect anyone else to be. So I say let's recognise Hermione's
amazing abilities, and let's stop asking her to be even more of a
genius than she already is.

Del