Hermione's skepticism (Was: Laughing All the Way to the Bank)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 176063

Random832 wrote:

> Hermione's incredulity about the various things Luna [and now
Xenophilius] talks about has always struck me as a bit odd. I mean,
we're talking about someone who on her eleventh birthday discovered
magic is real. I'd expect at least a certain level of - to quote a
'Men in Black' tagline, a "What will you know tomorrow?" kind of
effect. But despite her concept of the world presumably having been
shattered once already, she doesn't seem to be able to accept even the
possibility that there are more things in heaven and earth, so to
speak, than are dreamt of in her philosophy.

Carol responds:

I always viewed Luna as Hermione's antithesis and expected her to
prove Hermione wrong on some point--for example, she and her father
would find a real Crumple-Horned Snorkack (rather than being tricked
into buying an exploding and very dangerous Erumpent horn--I wonder
who the young wizard who tricked them, Quirrel-style, was?). However,
we did get Xenophilius referring to Hermione to her face as "painfully
limited. Narrow. Close-minded" (DH Am. ed. 410), and it turns out that
he's right about the Deathly Hallows actually exist. The skeptic is
wrong; the deluded old eccentric is (mostly) right.

And I loved having Luna use an imaginary Blibbering Humdinger as a
diversionary tactic to allow Harry to escape from the Great Hall and
find some peace and quiet (745). Maybe she's gained a little insight
into her own delusions, even if Hermione hasn't learned a parallel
lesson regarding her own limitations. 

BTW, I loved the way Harry and Hermione understood and forgave
Xenophilius for his treachery. Even though he's a father protecting a
daughter, he fits the pattern of mothers protecting their sons (or
children in general), even to the outspread arms, which remind Harry
of his mother protecting his crib in Voldemort's memory (an image we
see again with the mother futilely attempting to protect her children
when Voldemort is searching for Gregorovitch--who must be *how* old if
he's older than Grindelwald?)

To return to Hermione, both she and Ron looked longingly or admiringly
at the Elder Wand, not a good sign. The thing has not lost its Dark
power over anyone except Harry, its master.

Aside from that incident, I think that Ron has grown, assuming
leadership when Harry is obsessed with the Deathly Hallows and
overcoming his self-doubts when he destroys the locket Horcrux, a
wonderful symbolic moment, IMO. Ron retains all his good
traits--loyalty, courage, and a sense of humor--and loses the
self-defeating doubts and jealousies. He also has a kind of common
sense (I was glad to see that the fear of Voldemort's name had a basis
in VW1 reality and that Ron was the one to explain the Taboo) even if
he'll never be as gifted or intelligent as Hermione. Ron is still Ron
even in the epilogue, but he's grown up, able to joke about Harry's
fame instead of resenting being second best.

But does Hermione undergo a similar process? I thought that in
"Kreacher's Tale," she showed a new understanding of house-elf
psychology, enabling Harry to respect Kreacher's way of thinking and
show compassion for him, and then she turns around and tells Griphook
that "they" (meaning Hermione herself) want to free the house-elves
(who, so far as I can see, don't want any such "gift"). And, of
course, there's that tendency to take things like her parents'
identities into her own hands. She forgives Ron (eventually) and
accepts his love for her. I *think* she loves him in return, but
perhaps it's less clear (it takes his remark about the house-elves to
get her to kiss him). She's proud of him for coming up with the
Basilisk fang idea and getting into the CoS. And she has her
priorities straight in terms of her own education vs. the fight
against Voldemort. But has she really grown up? Has she changed in any
fundamental way (more forgiving and less vengeful, for example, or
less controlling)? 

Carol, who thinks that Harry, like Ron, has grown up but wanted to
focus on Hermione (in contrast to Ron) in this post