[HPforGrownups] Re: Hermione must be stopped, ...-Hermione's Crimes

[Susanne]

No: HPFGUIDX 149517



Hi,

Sunday, March 12, 2006, 4:23:37 PM, Steve wrote:

> Once again, Hermione is not doing this for
> personal gain. Blackmail is when you say to some one, pay me 'X'
> amount of money or I'll tell the world you did THIS. For Hermione
> there is no 'X' amount of money. Hermione gains nothing and Rita gains
> a valuable lesson in morals and ethics.

I do think Hermione gains something (power over another
human being) and I also think that she was far more
motivated to catch Rita and teach her a lesson after things
became personal.

She even said so herself. Something like: "I'll get her back
for that".

Hermione disliked what Rita was doing to Harry and Hagrid
with her articles, but she didn't react strongly at all even
when Rita painted her to be a "scarlet woman".
She laughed it off.

But then Rita attacked her intelligence and maturity by
calling her a "silly little girl" and that's when Hermione
became personally offended and very angry.

And she did seem to enjoy her power over Rita in the jar,
which is understandable.

Ultimately, things worked out for Rita, but more so for
Hermione, who could force her into writing the article about
Harry.

Yes, Rita did wrong, and Hermione didn't turn her in, but I
still don't feel Hermione *only* did it for the greater good
of the WW. I strongly suspect there was an element of
revenge and personal satisfaction on Hermione's side.
The silly little girl showed Rita who triumphed in the end.

This doesn't make Hermione a horrible person, but I don't
think she is meant to be a saint, either, who never thinks
of herself.

For example, I also feel that making the Polyjuice potion in
CoS was partially because Hermione really wanted to make it,
and the circumstances gave her the perfect opportunity.
Even when Ron and Harry didn't really think it was the thing
to do, she pushed for it very strongly.

Again, this is just a counter weight to the "perfect
Hermione" who can do no wrong that I often see presented and
defended on many forums.

-- 
Best regards,
 Susanne                           mailto:siskiou at vcem.com