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What do you think of Harry/Hermione?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Cameron, Jun 4, 2018.

  1. Joe's Nemesis

    Joe's Nemesis High Score: 2,058 ~ Prestige ~

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    So, my wife decided we needed to watch all the movies again. We're on the last one tonight. Through them, I noted how often Hermione acts in ways that really are quite horrid.
    • Book 1: she's an arrogant little ass. "Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then." and a second later after Ron's supposed spell, "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few... and it's all worked for me." She even accuses people of acting "childishly," and this was all on the train to Hogwarts so far. Of course, there's several cases of this during the school year like her constant nagging, which is referenced a couple of tiems, but let's get to the uglier parts. She comes across judgmental and perhaps, even jealous when Harry gets his broom in the mail "So I supposed you think that's a reward for breaking rule?" She sets Snape's robe on fire rather than bumping him or doing anything else that will break eye contact. Uses flattery to trick Hagrid into telling her what she wants. And, she attacks Neville with a spell without a second thought in the text. Sure, she felt sorry after, but it didn't affect her decision at all. This carries through in further books.
    • Book 2. Her arrogance is tempered a bit, but it's still there as noted in her reaction to the flying car (she's compared favorably with Percy) and her attitude continued the next day until after Ron was bawled out by a Howler. Once she "seemed to think they had now been punished enough [she] was being perfectly friendly again." Of course, she's completely two-faced with Moaning Myrtle at the Death-day celebration and giggles out of the blue at Ron's phobia about spiders, then almost laughs at him after he explains that it occurred when he was three and one of the twins changed his teddy bear into a spider. In context of the story, it shows a cruel side of Hermione—someone with little empathy. Then, once again, there's her flattery, this time with Lockhart concerning a note for the restricted section. Of course, she had absolutely no qualms about stealing, either. In fact, she goaded Ron and Harry into it "Well, if you two are going to chicken out, fine."
    • Book 3. Her first entrance is now chastising Harry for breaking a rule and blowing up his aunt, although it was accidental magic. This, of course, after she broke all sorts of rules the year before, including stealing which is much more than a "school rule." On a side note, it's pretty amazing how rudely she treats Ron, snapping at him or ignoring. I'd say perhaps almost half of the speech tags for Hermione towards Ron are negative. Then, of course, there's her attitude in Divination, beginning with her flippant remark, "Everyone knows that!" to Trelawney's reading of the cup, and then outright contradicted her, "I don't think it looks like a grim." Of course, she then summarily dismissed everything Harry and Ron told her when they were talking about Harry seeing a Grim. Of course, at the end of that discussion was her temper tantrum when Ron hit a nerve, "You just don't like being bad at something for a change." Not to draw this out, but there's also her slapping and then pulling her wand to curse Malfoy when he insulted Hagrid. While we cheer it, in truth, it shows once again her disdain for others and how she easily resorts to violence or illegal acts as seen in later books. Of course, then there's her arrogance again interfering with Harry and the broom he received from Sirius.
    Those are just the first three years. All-in-all, she really is an arrogant, condescending, know-it-all with little empathy and even less patience for anyone who might disagree with her. On the other hand, she's also very loyal and loves both Harry and Ron.

    EDIT: Of course I wonder now how many times I can use "of course" in the course of writing a few paragraphs.
     
    Last edited: Jun 8, 2018
  2. Rhaegar I

    Rhaegar I Death Eater

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    Don't forget Scabbers and Crookshanks. By the end of the POA, we know Scabbers was Pettigrew the whole time and Crookshanks was working with Sirius to catch him. Before then, all we know is Hermione's cat is trying to eat Ron's rat, and Hermione doesn't seem to care. And at one point, Crookshanks seemingly did eat Scabbers, and Hermione doesn't treat it like a big deal. And in the end, Ron "Emotional Range of a Teaspoon" Weasley was the one who apologized to her about it.

    Can someone remind me why people love Hermione so much again?
     
  3. Zombie

    Zombie Black Philip Moderator DLP Supporter

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    Because she obviously belongs with Harry.
     
  4. ScottPress

    ScottPress The Horny Sovereign –§ Prestigious §– DLP Supporter

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  5. Rhaegar I

    Rhaegar I Death Eater

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    Nonsense. Harry clearly should be with Daphne Greengrass the Ice Queen!
     
  6. Dubious Destiny

    Dubious Destiny Seventh Year

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    Dare I call her an ideologue? (this label fits surprisingly well- eg.her SJW attitude towards house elves)
     
  7. Arthellion

    Arthellion Lord of the Banned ~ Prestige ~ DLP Supporter

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    Beauty covers a multitude of sins.

    Actions which might be considered creepy by someone you dislike can be considered highly romantic by someone you're attracted to.
     
  8. Joe's Nemesis

    Joe's Nemesis High Score: 2,058 ~ Prestige ~

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    A hypocritical ideologue, perhaps. I'm not sure it fits because, in my opinion, an ideologue would stay the course more as they're a little more dedicated to their ideals. I just think she's supremely arrogant and thinks she is smarter than pretty much everyone around her except for her professors (excluding Trelawney). So, whenever she does something that is against the rules or her ideals, it's okay because she's the one doing it and there's always an exception for her. However, it doesn't apply to others.
     
  9. kinetique

    kinetique Headmaster

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    Are there any others?
     
  10. Joe's Nemesis

    Joe's Nemesis High Score: 2,058 ~ Prestige ~

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    Very much so, but this isn't the thread for that discussion.
     
  11. Tobin

    Tobin Banned

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    I think Harry/Hermione is so popular because everyone pictures Hermione as Emma Watson who is really beautiful and forget the canon character.

    If you really look at the canon Hermione, she's a pretty great friend to have, but poor girlfriend material.
     
    Last edited: Jun 13, 2018
  12. Rhaegar I

    Rhaegar I Death Eater

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    I could have sworn I read something similar about the live action Beauty and the Beast movie.
     
  13. Arthellion

    Arthellion Lord of the Banned ~ Prestige ~ DLP Supporter

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    Surprisingly, I really liked Beauty and the Beast. It was very well done
     
  14. RottedKarma

    RottedKarma First Year

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    Out of curiosity, would you read a well-written fic if it was revealed to be Harry/Hermione, and became a major focus of the story?
     
  15. James018

    James018 Third Year

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    Absolutely. The problem with Harry/Hermione is not that it's a bad pairing, it's that the vast majority of Harry/Hermione fics have other very unattractive features, most notably Weasley bashing.
     
  16. Sesc

    Sesc Slytherin at Heart Moderator

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    Welcome to the dark side. I would add high-handed, hypocritical and cruel. It's not getting better in later books.

    I've disliked her for precisely this since the books came out. She is the literal opposite of me and what I appreciate in people, and @RottedKarma, I dropped stories at exactly that point. See all around this post as for why.

    She is, yes. In both the best and the worst sense. She has very clear ideas of what is right and wrong, strong ideals, always wants to do what's best, trying to be a source of positive change, but on the other hand, in the pursuit of what she has determined is right, everything is game. She takes no prisoners.

    Consider the way she justifies the breaking of her beloved rules:
    You also see very nicely here the solely practical concerns of Harry -- how are they going to get the ingredients, how does his Quidditch team function -- juxtaposed with the moral concerns of Hermione and how her inconsistency is an involuntarily weak spot, because she blows up when called out on her hypocrisy or even just perceives to be called out, as in the first passage, where that wasn't Harry's intention at all.

    (It's also fun the see the progression, because by HBP Harry knows this. He doesn't care, at all -- as I said, practical concerns, team works better without McLaggen -- but he deliberately pokes Hermione to get a rise out of her.)

    Really, aside from the fact that I can't stand her, Hermione is a great character to work with, and very useful if you want to reflect and refract behaviour of other characters through a different lense; she will always have an opinion.
     
  17. Skeletaure

    Skeletaure Magical Core Enthusiast ~ Prestige ~ DLP Supporter

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    This.

    My personal favourite use for early books Hermione is as a contrast. By the later books, she has quite thoroughly integrated into wizarding culture (by GoF she considers technology a "replacement for magic", for example), but at a younger age she can be used to demonstrate the difference between Muggleish ways of thinking and properly wizarding ones. When it comes to magic, this takes the form of her trying to make sense of magic in terms of scientific, mechanistic ideas. When it comes to society, this takes the form of her drawing false analogies between Muggle and wizarding worlds - considering wizarding-goblin relations an analogy of racial problems in the Muggle world, for example, when in fact there is no Muggle analogy for interactions with a different species.

    The shallow way to do this is to bash: to have Hermione be completely wrong but set in her ways, and just have other characters continually show her up. The more sophisticated use is to have Hermione grow as a character past these naive views, but to retain some essence of them.

    I also use her as a contrast between competent but normal wizards and those with true talent, showing how high intelligence, rote memorisation, and reading ahead are insufficient to reach the top level of power, as she lacks that truly magical mindset which carries with it the spark of magical genius, a form of intuition which cannot be taught.
     
    Last edited: Jun 14, 2018
  18. Mal'sSerenity

    Mal'sSerenity Second Year

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    Sigh.
    You know I actually really like Hermione as a character, but thanks to people like this I have come to actively avoid fics with her name in the tag. Which is rather sad because she can be really interesting in stories that do her character right (coughForgingtheSwordcough).
     
  19. Andrela

    Andrela Plot Bunny DLP Supporter

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    The idea of Hermione being killed by the Troll sounds pretty good, to be honest.

    I'd be curious to see how later events play out.
     
  20. Horton

    Horton Second Year

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    What’s the origin story for that trope has anyone found it?
     
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