Views of Hermione

[juli17 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 160508

Tesha wrote:
2. Did you ever think that you just know more about Hermione than you
do many of the other characters? We see their world through Harry's
eyes and he only found out things that came to the open - like that
Draco would use the hippogriff's natural behavior to have his father
force the most painful removal of the beast, hurt Hagrid and thus
Harry and friends? What else has been done that we know nothing about?
 
Julie:
Of course we know more about Hermione. And we can only debate the
actions we know about through Harry. However, it's really not 
relevant what Draco has or hasn't done. When Betsy and others say
it's about Hermione, what they mean (I'm assuming) is that we 
accept Draco is a little git, Marietta very wrongly betrayed a 
trust, etc. But it's NOT a contest. We expect Draco to behave 
badly. We have higher expectations of Hermione, and when she 
disappoints us it's not a matter of "Well, Draco does worse." 
It's simply a matter of whether Hermione behaved as well as we'd
like to see her (or any of the "good guys") act. 


3. My daughter would probably behave like Hermione if we were in the
same circumstance, right down to the worst, and I would love and
support her in it all. Oh, I'd scowl and rant and rave a bit, but I'd
be proud my little kid would be so resourceful and independent.
 
Julie:
My reaction would depend on the incident. The polyjuice bit probably
wouldn't bother me much, as it seems the regular kind of teenage
high jinx magical kids pull on each other. I'd just remind her that
that stuff can get out of control (she did cause injury in the Potions
class) and to think about what she's doing first (and I'd figure her
becoming a cat was a good lesson). 
 
The times she forces her will on others, like trying to trick the
house elves into wearing clothes and setting up the DA without 
Harry's knowledge, would be more disturbing to me. I'd let her
know that just because she thinks she's got the moral high ground
doesn't justify her imposing her will on others. This is the 
Umbridge way after all, not to mention the way of a variety of
fascist movements. I'd be very determined that she not continue
in this direction.
 
As for Marietta, my response would be twofold. One, if Hermione
was trying to protect the DA, I'd be disappointed in her lack of
forethought, since *telling* the signers what would come if they
broke their promise is the only way to protect the DA. If she 
put the hex on the parchement as a method of retribution, then
I'd tell her what my mom told me, that "two wrongs DON'T make
a right." Retribution doesn't solve anything. I'd also tell her
to remove the hex--Marietta apologizing is beside the point, as
I'm concerned about my *daughter's* behavior, not Marietta's.
Marietta can be a traitor and untrustworthy forever as far as
I'm concerned, but my daughter will be held to a much higher 
standard by me, thank you very much. 

4. I do believe you are taking characters, who are in the case we
started with 12 years old, and asking them to behave as adults.
 
Julie:
On the contrary, the years of childhood and adolescence are all
ABOUT guiding and shaping moral behavior. I'd expect them to 
make mistakes. I'd just like to see more moral guidance by the
adults in the WW (thank you Arthur for taking the twins to task
over the two-ton toffee incident!) but I know morality is quite 
a bit more loosely-defined in the WW than it is in the real world.


5. I also believe that you are taking apart story lines to prove your
points. Hermione had to make the polijuice potion because JKR needed
an excuse for the 3 to become familiar with the bathroom where 2 would
later enter the CoS.
 
Julie:
We wouldn't have much to argue about if we just accept that anything
that happens in the books is because JKR needed an excuse that feeds
the plot. Tom Riddle is an orphan who went bad because it feeds the 
plot. Snape's a nasty git of a teacher because it feeds the plot.
Dudley is fat and spoiled because it feeds the plot. No one is 
responsible for their behavior because those behaviors were foisted
on them to feed the plot. 

Basically, if we're going to hold some characters responsible for
their behavior, i.e. the baddies like Voldemort, Draco, Marietta,
then we have to hold *everyone* responsible for their behavior,
including our heroes Harry, Hermione, Dumbledore, etc, etc. 
 
All IMO of course, 
Julie 
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