Am I the only one...

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 134879

Mariana wrote: 
"Hermione worships books to some extent. She doesn't think they are
wrong, in terms of information they provide (which is a naive point of
view). "

Del replies:
Not true. We've seen Hermione doubt books before, the biggest example
being her harsh criticism of "Hogwarts: a History", for not mentioning
House-elves.

Hermione doesn't worship books. She loves the knowledge they bring
her, she loves being able to find answers to her questions. But saying
she worships books, or that she doesn't think they can be wrong, is
too much. Even 11-year-old Hermione knew that there were more
important things than books, or more important qualities than cleverness.

Mariana wrote:
"Snape criticizes her in DADA for quoting answers straight from the
book. For DADA especially, this is not a good quality, since it is
ever-changing, and requires initiative and creativity to defend
yourself. (Hermione got an E in DADA)."

Del replies:
First off, E is NOT a bad mark. It stands for "Exceeds Expectations",
remember?

And secondly, just because Hermione can quote answers straight from
the book does NOT mean that she can't ALSO have initiative and
creativity. Do not make the classical mistake of opposing
book-learning and practical applications. Those two go together, they
are not opposed.

Now we do happen to know that Hermione doesn't show as much initiative
and creativity in DADA as *Harry*. But so what?? Just because she
isn't as good as Harry does not mean she isn't extremely good still.
Comparing anyone to the best is pointless. If we do that, then Ginny
is a bad flier, because she doesn't fly as well as Harry, who is a
natural. Silly.

And finally, I completely disagree that book-learning is not a good
quality in DADA. Harry himself learned nearly all his jinxes and
curses and whatever from books! And the rest from professors. I can't
remember Harry inventing a *single* new charm or jinx in DADA. Feel
free to refresh my memory if I'm wrong. So book-learning definitely IS
a good thing in DADA as in everywhere else. Otherwise, why would
Sirius and Lupin have offered *DADA books* to Harry on Christmas??

Mariana wrote: 
"She is attracted to the smell of books, and shows a certain derision
to the fact that Harry is following "handwritten" instructions. "

Del replies:
Again, not true. Hermione isn't objecting to the fact that the
instructions are hand-written. She is objecting to the fact that they
don't know *who* wrote them. That's not the same thing at all.

Mariana wrote:  
"Just because Hermione is the brightest student her age, does not mean
she doesn't have weaknesses in the way she learns. I think of her more
as the type of person who would scour the library for the answer,
instead of using what she knows to figure something out. (she does do
the latter, but she is more prone to waste time on the former first)."

Del replies:
I couldn't disagree more.

First, Hermione does not "waste time" scouring the library. Just ask
Harry and Ron how grateful they are for the time and energy she spends
researching books, and you'll see that *they* don't consider that time
as wasted. Rightfully so too: researching is as integral part of
inventing and creating. 

Second, Hermione *does* use what she knows to figure other things out.
In fact, she does that *much more* than either boys. She is usually
the one who manages to put 2 and 2 together. And Harry heavily depends
on her for that.

Milz wrote:
"But when she's without the books, without the instructions, she falls
apart as HBP has shown."

Del replies:
Huh? What are you referring to? Are you referring to the fact that
Hermione systematically came second (only...) to Harry in Potions? In
that case, let me remind you that Harry was NOT inventing anything: he
was simply following a better book.

Milz wrote:
"As I wrote in another message, HBP was able to figure out how to
improve the book instructions to get the results. If you truly know
what you are doing, bad or lacking instructions won't stop you."

Del replies:
I don't remember that we have any clue as to how long it took the HBP
to figure out the improvements. No matter how much Slughorn keeps
harping about how Lily was a natural, I still don't see why we should
assume that whoever the HBP was just stood in front of their cauldron
and invented the improvements instantly. For all we know, those
improvements came after months and months of research.

Milz wrote:
"I once read in a NY Times article that described the difference
between a cook and a chef. A cook is someone who follows the recipe.
However, if something goes wrong, a cook won't be able to improvise
and compensate to get the perfect result. A chef will be able to
compensate and improvise to get the final result no matter what,
because a chef is more knowledgeable about the ingredients, cooking
methods, etc."

Del replies:
You say so yourself: more *knowledgeable*. As far as knowledge goes, 
Hermione comes way out on top of Harry or anyone else in their class.
She *knows* her stuff by heart. Nobody else does. If anyone in their
class is to become a "chef", it will be Hermione, because she alone
truly masters her subjects.

Milz wrote:
"HBP has shown us that Hermione lacks this skill---she's only as good
as her books, which is unfortunate because books have flaws too. Her
ability to think outside the box is limited. This is usually due to a
lack of creativity or a lack of real understanding of the material
(that is, understanding beyond memorizing and regurgitating information)."

Del replies:
Maybe, but HBP has also shown us that even with those "flaws",
Hermione is still way better off than anyone else! *Nobody else* is as
good as she is. She knows more than any of them. And when it comes to
concocting the composite antidote, she is the one most at ease.

And once again I'll point out that Harry did NOT come up with the
bezoar on his own. He READ it. In a BOOK... Just like he learned his
DADA jinxes in BOOKS...

Del