[HPforGrownups] Re: Views of Hermione

[fair wynn]

No: HPFGUIDX 160399

> > Magpie:
> > Yes, but Hermione always thinks whatever she's trying to do is
> > justification for whatever she wants to do--even if she'd turn
> > around and scold or punish someone else for something similar. In
> > the case of CoS she steals Potions, encourages the boys to cause
> > havoc in class, knocks out two students, steals their bodies and
> > invades their privacy.
>
>Tesha:
>Knocks them out?  are you refering to the Crabbe and Goyle incident?
>Knocks them out? They grab cupcakes floating in mid air and fall
>asleep. Steals their bodies? Invades their privacy? Come on!
>
>The worse that happens is that they have their shoes borrowed without
>their permission - and the purpose of the whole exercise is to find
>out what Draco knew about the CoS...
>
>and who was the only one hurt? Hermione! She paid a high price for
>trying to help save the school.

wynnleaf,

I agree with magpie.  For instance in the COS insident, the trio really only 
had the most flimsy reasons for thinking Draco was opening the COS ("he's a 
pureblood elitist who says awful things" just doesn't rank as a good 
reason).  And on this flimsy excuse, Hermione thinks up a plans to 1. 
deceive a teacher and get into the restricted section of the Library on 
false pretenses, 2. steal from a teacher 3. have Harry and Ron create a 
diversion that injures innocent students in class 4. drug two students who 
have absolutely nothing to do with the problem at hand and steal their 
identities for a time.  And they never even got any good information for the 
simple reason that the person they suspected, Draco, had nothing to do with 
it.  Their assumption that just because Draco was their schooltime rival and 
pureblood elitist meant that *he* had to be the one trying to kill kids is 
simply ridiculous.

Hermione likes Harry and Ron, but some of her actions show an incredible 
insensitivity.  To attempt to trick the house elves into accepting freedom 
on *her* terms is terrible.  It would be one thing to try and talk them into 
it, or convince them of the desirability of freedom.  But Hermione doesn't 
much bother with this option -- after all, what does it matter whether or 
not they agree?

I was having a conversation just yesterday with a teacher of gifted kids in 
which we discussed how, when one is extremely intelligent -- and 
particularly a very bright child -- one gets used to being always "right," 
at least in an academic sense.  It is very easy for such children to be so 
used to being always "right," and always knowing more than their friends, 
classmates and sometimes teachers, that they simply assume that not only are 
their *facts* always right, so are their opinions, decisions and choices.  
Hermione strikes me as very much this way.  It's probably even worse with 
her being an only child.

If Hermione were my kid, I'd want to see her in an environment with some 
other similarly or more highly gifted kids so she could be around people who 
could challenge her opinions and decisions.

wynnleaf

_________________________________________________________________
Try the next generation of search with Windows Live Search today!  
http://imagine-windowslive.com/minisites/searchlaunch/?locale=en-us&source=hmtagline