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There are a lot of theories floating around the internet on
the behaviour of the characters and the “rightness” of how
things ended. However, we (Cas and I) can’t seem to justify
certain red flags.
For instance, the crazy/out-of-character behaivour of our
little cast in the book from hell. For those who cannot see
that the characters were a tad bit wonky I can offer no help,
but for those who did see and were...let’s say confused (to
put it nicely) by said wonkiness, I offer you this...
the behaviour of the characters and the “rightness” of how
things ended. However, we (Cas and I) can’t seem to justify
certain red flags.
For instance, the crazy/out-of-character behaivour of our
little cast in the book from hell. For those who cannot see
that the characters were a tad bit wonky I can offer no help,
but for those who did see and were...let’s say confused (to
put it nicely) by said wonkiness, I offer you this...
| The Granger Defense |
Hermione is acting crazy because her whole world got turned
upside down, she feels out of control. She is worried sick
over Harry, her parents, herself - being a Muggleborn and a
main target.
She’s feeling the pressure from the reality of war life
sinking in; other people’s families are getting attacked, some
parents want to pull their kids out of school, some already
have. The evil HBP book is corrupting Harry (and she’s the
only one to see it while no one heeds her warnings), the
random attacks on Katie and Ron, ultimately leading to
Dumbledore...
Ron and Harry both acting superficially, she expects/wants
them to be better, but they’re acting like typical teenage
boys even in the face of imminent danger...no one’s even asked
her if she’s okay after the Department of Mysteries...and then
the death of Sirius and the revelation of the prophesy strike
their sweeping blows within two weeks of each other. This
clash/fight with Ginny whatever it may be...
And she starts to fray at the edges...the pressures here are
greater than they were in Third Year...or at least of a
greater magnitude. If she missed a step that year, she’d only
fail a test or her marks would slip. If she misses a step in
Sixth or Seventh Year, someone can die.
I think to oversimplify by saying she’s jealous of one or both
boys does her a disservice. Yes, that may be a factor, but I
think there’s more to it than that.
She’s a very complex person, intelligent, thoughtful, she
feels things deeply. She seems lost.
I think she also feels unneeded and unwanted, and unnoticed.
This is a girl who is completely insecure and feels the only
thing she has to offer anyone is her brain and when Harry
doesn’t need that in Potions anymore, where does that leave
her?
She’s passed up by both boys several times based on looks,
something she is sensitive about, and the only time she got
attention for being the beauty I know her to be, she got
smashed down by one of her so-called best friends insinuating
that she was a traitor.
Though it is important to note that though she may not think
of herself as a beauty, both boys seem to be attracted to
distinctly pretty girls (Cho, Fleur, Lavender, Ginny)
specifically Ron, who if you agree with leaping Anvils, would
immediately and directly imply that our little bookworm is
indeed quite the looker.
Harry himself says what for a teenage boy is a gigantic
compliment by arguing the point with her that he doesn’t think
she’s ugly. Not exactly shining praise, but again, for a
teenage boy that’s as good as saying the girl is beautiful.
Krum, an international sports star, finds her attractive even
though she is at least three years younger than him and she
catches the eye of that idiot Cormac McLaggen, which may or
may not be a compliment in itself, but I do think it’s to show
the idea that there are other boys at Hogwarts that do think
she’s attractive, but lack the spine to approach her for one
of two possible reasons:
upside down, she feels out of control. She is worried sick
over Harry, her parents, herself - being a Muggleborn and a
main target.
She’s feeling the pressure from the reality of war life
sinking in; other people’s families are getting attacked, some
parents want to pull their kids out of school, some already
have. The evil HBP book is corrupting Harry (and she’s the
only one to see it while no one heeds her warnings), the
random attacks on Katie and Ron, ultimately leading to
Dumbledore...
Ron and Harry both acting superficially, she expects/wants
them to be better, but they’re acting like typical teenage
boys even in the face of imminent danger...no one’s even asked
her if she’s okay after the Department of Mysteries...and then
the death of Sirius and the revelation of the prophesy strike
their sweeping blows within two weeks of each other. This
clash/fight with Ginny whatever it may be...
And she starts to fray at the edges...the pressures here are
greater than they were in Third Year...or at least of a
greater magnitude. If she missed a step that year, she’d only
fail a test or her marks would slip. If she misses a step in
Sixth or Seventh Year, someone can die.
I think to oversimplify by saying she’s jealous of one or both
boys does her a disservice. Yes, that may be a factor, but I
think there’s more to it than that.
She’s a very complex person, intelligent, thoughtful, she
feels things deeply. She seems lost.
I think she also feels unneeded and unwanted, and unnoticed.
This is a girl who is completely insecure and feels the only
thing she has to offer anyone is her brain and when Harry
doesn’t need that in Potions anymore, where does that leave
her?
She’s passed up by both boys several times based on looks,
something she is sensitive about, and the only time she got
attention for being the beauty I know her to be, she got
smashed down by one of her so-called best friends insinuating
that she was a traitor.
Though it is important to note that though she may not think
of herself as a beauty, both boys seem to be attracted to
distinctly pretty girls (Cho, Fleur, Lavender, Ginny)
specifically Ron, who if you agree with leaping Anvils, would
immediately and directly imply that our little bookworm is
indeed quite the looker.
Harry himself says what for a teenage boy is a gigantic
compliment by arguing the point with her that he doesn’t think
she’s ugly. Not exactly shining praise, but again, for a
teenage boy that’s as good as saying the girl is beautiful.
Krum, an international sports star, finds her attractive even
though she is at least three years younger than him and she
catches the eye of that idiot Cormac McLaggen, which may or
may not be a compliment in itself, but I do think it’s to show
the idea that there are other boys at Hogwarts that do think
she’s attractive, but lack the spine to approach her for one
of two possible reasons:
1) because she is a strong, intelligent,
independent young woman, which could intimidate
anyone and does in fact force most grown adults
to take her seriously and bow to her judgment,
or
2) her two best friends are boys: big, sporty,
protective types who have been known to get
into a few scrapes over lesser things then some
intruder manhandling their best friend.
independent young woman, which could intimidate
anyone and does in fact force most grown adults
to take her seriously and bow to her judgment,
or
2) her two best friends are boys: big, sporty,
protective types who have been known to get
into a few scrapes over lesser things then some
intruder manhandling their best friend.
In my opinion, it’s a little bit of both.
(Can’t take credit for the idea for Hermione being beautiful
as supported by the idea that both boys think she’s cute read
it online somewhere. But for the record I’ve completely
worshipped her since 1st year and I’ve thought she was
beautiful the whole way through, just waiting for these stupid
blokes of hers to open their eyes and say “gee, Hermione, you
look nice today.”)
Hermione is the main girl. She is the standard to which all
others are held. She’s also the first and, for the most part,
only girl in Harry’s life. The first physical form of
comfort, his “model” girl in the sense that this is how he
thinks girls should act.
So why should someone who has proven themselves to be above
and beyond the normal standards...a fiercely independent,
strong, capable, intelligent young woman suddenly pull the
brakes and jump the track, derailing to become just another
insecure, weeping little girl so desperate for approval she
throws herself at the first thing that shows any type of
interest, despite the fact that the interest shown is damn
near abusive?
Why does Rowling turn Hermione into the same stupid boy-like
character in the end? “Hi, Ron. We’re in the middle of a
battle but I think I’ll snog you now.”
I mean, how many pathetic teen movies have we all been forced
to sit through (maybe even enjoyed) with similar plots? The
shy girl/boy wants to win the heart of the popular boy/girl
who treats her/him horribly so she/he strikes up a deal with
one of the other cool kids and gets transformed only to find
that now she/he has the attention of aforementioned popular
boy/girl, she/he doesn’t really like him/her at all...she/he
has fallen for the cool kid who did the transforming!
But to expect me to believe that they all got married and had
kids barely five years from the end of the seventh book?!?!
Pleh!
(Can’t take credit for the idea for Hermione being beautiful
as supported by the idea that both boys think she’s cute read
it online somewhere. But for the record I’ve completely
worshipped her since 1st year and I’ve thought she was
beautiful the whole way through, just waiting for these stupid
blokes of hers to open their eyes and say “gee, Hermione, you
look nice today.”)
Hermione is the main girl. She is the standard to which all
others are held. She’s also the first and, for the most part,
only girl in Harry’s life. The first physical form of
comfort, his “model” girl in the sense that this is how he
thinks girls should act.
So why should someone who has proven themselves to be above
and beyond the normal standards...a fiercely independent,
strong, capable, intelligent young woman suddenly pull the
brakes and jump the track, derailing to become just another
insecure, weeping little girl so desperate for approval she
throws herself at the first thing that shows any type of
interest, despite the fact that the interest shown is damn
near abusive?
Why does Rowling turn Hermione into the same stupid boy-like
character in the end? “Hi, Ron. We’re in the middle of a
battle but I think I’ll snog you now.”
I mean, how many pathetic teen movies have we all been forced
to sit through (maybe even enjoyed) with similar plots? The
shy girl/boy wants to win the heart of the popular boy/girl
who treats her/him horribly so she/he strikes up a deal with
one of the other cool kids and gets transformed only to find
that now she/he has the attention of aforementioned popular
boy/girl, she/he doesn’t really like him/her at all...she/he
has fallen for the cool kid who did the transforming!
But to expect me to believe that they all got married and had
kids barely five years from the end of the seventh book?!?!
Pleh!