Hermione must be stopped, ...-Hermione's Crimes

[a_svirn]

No: HPFGUIDX 149448

> Catherine:
>    
>   You know, Rita wasn't just being a little mean. She was 
publically slandering the people that Hermione cared about most. She 
was also trespassing onto Hogwarts grounds after being told she 
wasn't allowed. Eavesdropping in to private conversations....In 
fact, I think that that's what drove Hermione to go as far as she 
did. The mystery of HOW Rita was getting all of her
>   information, things that she couldn't possibly have known. 
<snip>    

a_svirn:
Sure. The question is just how far was that? Some folks out there 
claim that Hermione's actions do not qualify as revenge or even 
blackmail. My point is that they are both. Whether she was justified 
in her thirst for revenge is another matter. It depends on whether 
you think that vengeance is allowable in principle or not. 

I must say, however, that your suggestion that Hermione's vengeance 
was but a way of satisfying her academic curiosity strikes as me 
more than a little disturbing.  Revenge I can understand (as long as 
we do not pretend that it's anything else). But this
 You know, the 
challenge of the unknown was probably what had driven people like 
Voldemort and quite possibly Snape to the Dark Arts. If Hermione is 
prepared to sacrifice others for the sake of intellectual exercise – 
well, this way lay darkness. (Not that I believe that, mind. I think 
she was just getting even with Rita.)