witches of the world (was: Lavender vs Hermione)

[twitterpatedbabykoala]

No: HPFGUIDX 160441

Hmmm, wow.  Way too much has been said here for me to dig back
through and find individual snippets to respond to, so...

1.) I think that Hermione is a good example of what a smart
adolescent girl who has magical powers could be.  None of us brewed
illicit potions as teens, but lots of teens steal.  And it's very
common for kids to sabotage each other - 'kick me' signs, girls
messing with each others' makeup, replacing someone's deodorant with
Raid, boys locking other boys in lockers, incessant
gossiping/tattling/backstabbing, etc.  IMO, Hermione has not done
anything that at least 50% of normal kids would not do in her
situation, IF THEY HAD MAGICAL POWERS.  The fact that we are dealing
with a work of fiction and a totally untestable universe, of course,
makes that somewhat contentious, but I can certainly imagine *my*
sixeteen year old self flying off into a fit of rage and shooting
canaries at a boy I deemed to be "cheating" on me.  I have some
sympathy for Hermione, though I couldn't say that everything she does
is 'justified.'  For me, however, it is understandable.

2.) The one possible exception I see to the above is the Marietta
situation.  Placing the hex on the sign up sheet in the first place
is not problematic for me, but not removing Marietta's 'pox' after
the point was made could be.  However, I've never been in such a high
stakes situation, myself... That is, I've never been betrayed by
someone to a group that could (and wanted to) ruin my life forever
(or end it).  At 16, under those circumstances, it might take me a
goodly long time (say, until the end of book 7) to get over it.
Nonetheless, the Marietta situation is clearly in another category
from Hermione's other transgressions, as far as I'm concerned.
Tangentially, I was similarly concerned about Ron knocking out
Lockhart in COS.  I love Weasleys so much, though, that I'm willing
to forget most of their transgressions ;)

3.) How could I have forgotten Luna when I first wrote about
this???   Yes, yes, I love Luna!

4.) I think Betsy hit the nail on the head when she said that the
constant waiting for disaster that Molly is coping with is worse than
actually having a disaster to cope with.  At least when you have the
disaster at hand, you can start formulating plans, which is what
Narcissa did.  I think Molly will excel when finally put in that
situation.

5.) The difference that I see between Molly and Narcissa is that
Narcissa nurtures only Draco, while Molly nurtures all 7 of her own
children, plus Harry and Hermione and anyone else that happens to
need a hug and hot bowl of onion soup.  Molly is a very big hearted
character.  Yes, she worries a lot.  Yes, she places too much stock
in the writings in Witch Weekly.  But I think that it takes a lot out
of a person to constantly nurture others, and I think that - given
that fact - Molly is far stronger than most people give her credit
for.


Becca.