[HPforGrownups] Hermione & Flying, Quidditch (was Re: Quidditch for Harry HBP?)

[Lindsay]

No: HPFGUIDX 126797

> SSSusan:
> I don't think this is weird, Bookworm.  Well, I mean, it may be still
> seem somewhat unlikely, but I wouldn't think it's as unlikely as
> Hermione. :-)  Hermione is just not comfortable flying a broom, from
> what we've seen.  But Neville, as many people have pointed out, gives
> indications that he's potentially quite talented & powerful; he just
> may need to learn to *harness* his powers.  (Think about all the
> comments which have been made concerning what he might be able to do
> with a NON-hand-me-down wand.)

Lindsay:

While I'm not advocating Hermione being on the House team, but I don't
think this anti-flying Hermione thing is really accurate.  I think
Hermione would probably do better on a broom than Neville.

We see Hermione and brooms twice: The first class, where she was not
able to get her broom up first like Harry was.  Harry speculated that
the broom might be able to sense if the owner was nervous, like it
obviously did with Neville.  Hermione as a Muggle-born who doesn't
seem to take everything in stride like Harry does, being nervous about
her first broom flight, is not at all unusual.  We don't know if she
was nervous of the flying itself, or of doing badly, since Harry also
says that Hermione found something that cannot be learned by books
alone.  Hermione, if nothing else in PS/SS, was always trying to prove
herself.  And like Harry having thoughts about being awful on a broom
and falling off in front of Malfoy, I imagine Hermione did, also. 
Perhaps also like Harry did in PS/SS, Hermione thought that if she
screwed up too much, they'd send her back to the Muggle world.

The second time we see Hermione and a broom is also in PS/SS, when
they're in the key chamber.  At that time, they all grab brooms and
start chasing keys.  It could have been a moment of the thing, but
Harry definitely does not notice Hermione being at all awkward on her
broom.

The other two times we see Hermione flying is on Buckbeak with Harry
and on the threstral.  On Buckbeak, I don't have a book with me at the
moment, but Harry hears Hermione muttering as she clings to him,
something like "I don't like this." or "Not like this." (My memory is
a bit fuzzy, don't have a book on me for exact quote).  But then
again, the first time Harry flew on Buckbeak, he was also very nervous
- the animal's back sloped downward, the feathers were slick, his legs
caught uncomfortably under the wings.  Harry was also afraid of
falling off Buckbeak when he was riding by himself.  Imagine Hermione,
not being able to grab Buckbeak's neck, or have her legs under his
wing joint, sitting on the animal's rump and only hanging on by
clinging to Harry?  I'd be scared, too.

And lastly, the thestrals.  Hermione can't see the thestrals, which
was undoubtably nerve-wracking, but we didn't hear one peep out of her
about the whole thing.  Harry didn't notice Hermione looking nervous
or scared or anything.

I do not think Hermione is afraid of flying.

As for Quidditch, Hermione was really getting into the games in PS/SS,
when we got to go to her and Ron's PoV in the stands.  She was jumping
up and down, dancing on the seats, screaming and hollering with the
rest.

Throughout the rest of the books, we see Hermione definitely put
school in front of Quidditch, which is exactly the responsible,
Hermione thing to do.

She questions why the others get so worked up about Quidditch and why
it has to create house rivalries that extend outside the pitch in
OOtP.  Again, I don't have the book on me, but I just read this
passage the other night, and the boys told Hermione that she just
didn't get Quidditch.

I think what Hermione doesn't get is that the rivalry for most of the
Houses doesn't extend outside the pitch, it is just perceived that
way.  It's like any rival teams in any sporting event.  Very
competitive, sometimes insults are thrown, but at the end of the day,
no matter who wins or loses, nobody hates the other team. 
Unfortunately, Gryffindor and Slytherin have already have a rivalry
that isn't just in the Quidditch pitch, and I think Hermione is
confusing that rivalry with the normal Quidditch rivalry that
Gryffindor has with the other Houses.  I suppose she might fear that
the Gryffindor/Slytherin hatred might develop between Gryffindor and
the other two Houses *because* of Quidditch, when they all are really
supposed to be working together.

In the end, though, Hermione would put her schoolwork before any game.

However, I don't for a second think she isn't a Quidditch fan.  I
think she is, and if she has any hand-eye coordination, she could
probably turn out to be a Chaser.

The problem for Hermione would be priorities, but seeing as it is
sixth year and Hermione seems to really have no trouble staying at the
top of the class, I would say it is possible.  It would definitely be
one of those out-of-nowhere things, but JKR likes to throw out red
herrings all the time - we think we know someone, and though we have
hints of otherwise, we tend to ignore.  We always thought Neville was
a bit slow, no backbone - now we know that we just didn't know Neville
well enough, even though we had hints with him standing up to them in
PS/SS and him doing well in Herbology.  Ginny, we always thought of as
shy and soft-spoken, even though we always heard other characters talk
of her differently.  Turns out, we just didn't know *that much* about
Ginny beforehand, but now we know.  For all we see of Hermione, we
really do not know *that much* about her.  We know a ton of a lot more
about Ron, in retrospect.

So I could very well see Hermione filling a Chaser spot in HBP.  If
Harry isn't Seeker, because I do give the Ron/Harry as Beaters theory
merit, then that will probably be Ginny, and I just can't see Hermione
being a Keeper.  She seems too short, whereas Wood and Ron are both
tall.

--Lindsay