Krum taking a 'mudblood' to Yuleball

[nifer819]

No: HPFGUIDX 152310

I had always presumed that Krum invited Hermione because he saw in her 
some characteristics that would allow him to get through the evening 
of the Yule Ball with relatively little discomfort.  Specifically, 
Hermione did not fawn all over him like every other girl in the 
castle, she was discrete, and she is actually pretty.  

For Krum who is arriving at Hogwarts at the height of fame and 
popularity, having just competed in the World Cup, the attention is 
overwhelming.  He is seeking respite from all this in the library 
where people are forced to be quiet (or suffer the wrath of Madam 
Pince).  He notices Hermione there perhaps at first because she is 
always there, but I had assumed she stood out to Krum because she was 
unlike other girls because she wasn't persuing him for an autograph 
with whatever was handy, including lipsticks.  She was there for her 
own business.  While other girls were going to the library with the 
intenion of attracting Krum's attention and striking up a conversation 
with him, Hermione was not.

Krum was also bound to notice that Hermione was very frequently in the 
company of Harry Potter.  Krum and the Durmstrang students have to 
know who Harry is, as the whole world is supposed to know about 
Harry.  Krum is finding himself in a position of such heightened fame 
that he can't go anywhere without attracting attention and being 
harrassed by fans.  He isn't going to want to spend time with someone 
who is going to blab all the details of his converstation to the 
anyone who will listen.  Seeing Hermione with Harry may indicate to 
Krum that here is a person who has the discretion needed to remain 
friends with a famous person.

Despite Harry and Ron's ability to notice it, I suspect that Hermione 
is becoming at least a little bit pretty.  She has never been 
described by JKR as ugly, just as having bushy hair and longish front 
teeth.  Now, Hermione has taken care of the teeth issue following the 
hex she was hit with and as for the hair, that is something she can 
control as well, she just feels it's more effort that she wants to put 
out on a daily basis.  

In my opinion, the bottom line was that Krum was told he had to have 
date for the ball just as Harry was.  With that in mind, Krum saw 
Hermione as a pretty safe choice for the aforementioned reasons.  And 
a bonus would have been that once he started talking to her, he'd 
realize that she knew little about quidditch and then there would be 
even less pressure to "the quidditch star" around her. He would have a 
hope of actually having a pleasant evening.  After the evening was 
over, he could still be friends with her and perhaps more.

nifer819.