hermione

Hermione is a Gryffindor student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and is one of the best friends of Harry Potter and Ron and Ginny Weasley. She plays an important role in many aspects of Harry's life, serving as a maternal influence on both Harry and Ron. With her birthdate in September of 1979, Hermione is the oldest of her classmates, as most of the rest were born in ca. 1980. Hogwarts only accepts first year students who have already turned eleven years old at the start of the school term on September 1, so Hermione was too young to join the previous class. She shows considerably advanced maturity, when compared to her close friends and classmates, in both her attitude and her course work. However, she lacks maturity in other areas: she consistently responds negatively to Ron's baiting of her, generally cannot stand back and allow him to make a fool of himself, and has a tendency to bicker (generally flouncing off to bed if she is thwarted).

Hermione has brown eyes and, when she first appears, "bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth". Many at the school have ridiculed her for her looks, including, on one occasion, Professor Snape. Hermione is very studious, and can be bossy and fussy; she is one of the most intelligent students in her year and one of the best in the entire school. She is often teased for this reason. Harry and Ron depend on her for academic help, and her knowledge and common sense generally prove valuable in overcoming the trio's challenges.

Hermione is brave and loyal, has a fierce political conscience, but sometimes has problems keeping her head when faced with crises: one might note her problems in facing the Devils Snare in the first book (when told to light a fire, she memorably responds “There’s no wood!”, even though she had conjured magical flames earlier in the year), the unlikely lie she tells Professor Umbridge to save Harry in OotP (she claims that there is a weapon in the forest, created upon Dumbledore’s orders), and her failure to adequately subdue a Death Eater in the Department of Mysteries (she silences rather than stuns him, leaving him conscious, suggesting that in the heat of the moment, she forgot about non-verbal spell casting, despite evidence in the same book that James Potter knew of that in his Fifth Year at Hogwarts). Indeed, Hermione's intellect is strongest when it comes to memory and objective analysis, and is less impressive when it comes to thinking on her feet. Though generally compassionate, she can at times be naïve and even insensitive when dealing with people; for example, her ham-handed attempt to comfort Lavender Brown over the death of her rabbit. Screenwriter Steve Kloves has said that Hermione often shows "a complete lack of understanding of how she affects other people." [1] According to Rowling, Hermione is deeply insecure and feels utterly inadequate underneath. She makes up for this by trying to be the best at everything at school and projects a false confidence that is, at times, "very irritating to people." [2]

Rowling has admitted that Hermione is in many ways based upon herself. [3] Hermione's Patronus is an otter, which is Rowling's favourite animal. Hermione's middle name, Jane, (never mentioned in the books, only on Rowling's official site) is a feminine form of "John", as is "Joanne", Rowling's first name.

Background

Hermione is Muggle-born, that is, the child of two non-magical parents. Her parents, both dentists, are (according to Rowling) "a bit bemused by their odd daughter, but quite proud of her all the same". Rowling has noted she initially considered giving Hermione a younger, Muggle sister, but now says it is "too late". Therefore, it is considered canon that Hermione is an only child.

When Hermione first appears in the series, she already seems to know a great deal about magic, Hogwarts, and the wizarding world. How she first realised her magical abilities and first encountered other wizards has not been revealed beyond an off-hand remark Hermione makes about being "ever so surprised" when the Ministry of Magic determined her magical status and invited her to enroll at Hogwarts.

For years it was widely assumed that she was born in September 1980, the same year as Ron and Harry. However, Rowling pointed out that to attend Hogwarts, one must be eleven years old, and Hermione was born in 1979. Therefore Hermione is nearly twelve when she begins school in September of 1991.

Rowling has revealed on her website that Hermione's wand is made of vine wood with a dragon heartstring core. Each of the trio's wands have one of Mr Ollivander's three preferred cores, with Harry having phoenix feather and Ron having unicorn hair. Her wand's wood, vine, is the wood ascribed to her birth month in the Celtic calendar.

Hermione's name is pronounced "her-MY-oh-nee" (IPA: /hə(ɹ).maɪ.ə.niː/), as readers find out in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. This was the most frequently asked question J.K. Rowling received, so in this book she cunningly had Hermione teach Viktor Krum how to pronounce her name properly (without much success). Rowling said she obtained it from William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, claiming that she wanted it to be unusual since if fewer girls shared her name, fewer girls would get teased for it. "Hermione", appropriately, is derived from "Hermes", the Greek god of invention, inspiration, eloquence and quick thinking. It is also the name of the legendary Helen of Troy's daughter in Greek mythology. Hermione's surname "Granger" may be derived from that of Joseph Louis Lagrange, one of the greatest mathematicians of the 18th century. Her surname was originally going to be "Puckle" but it was quickly changed by Rowling because it didn't suit her. "Puckle" is a term for a goblin or elf. [4]

It should also be noted that the name "Hermione" also appears in Sir Walter Scott's Novel "Anne of Geierstein" In this 19th century ghost novel, she is a mysterious aristocrat who is linked to a strange opal that she wears. Later she dies by some unusual circumstances as a result of this opal brooch.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Hermione first appears in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. For the first part of the book, she is portrayed as being an over-the-top "know-it-all" and "goody two-shoes". Harry and Ron do not like her initially, as they consider her to be endlessly annoying, interfering and overbearing.

When Ron makes a hurtful remark about Hermione, she retreats to a girls' bathroom to cry. Meanwhile, Professor Quirrell lets a mountain troll into the school, which finds its way into the same bathroom. Hermione is rescued by Harry and Ron. When they are discovered by Professors McGonagall, Snape and Quirrell, Hermione quickly lies about why she was in the bathroom, claiming she had gone looking for the troll, thinking she could defeat it herself. She thereby rescues Harry and Ron from punishment and endears herself.

Though Hermione's attitude about rules and schoolwork remain largely intact, she softens up a little bit after becoming friends with Harry and Ron. With them, she helps solve the mystery surrounding the Philosopher's Stone. She also shows her willingness to break the rules (and a streak of ruthlessness) when she casts a Body-Bind Curse (a highly advanced spell) on Neville Longbottom, who attempts to stop the trio from leaving the common room after hours, ready to fight them.

Her intelligence again comes in handy when she defeats the Devil's Snare (although that incident shows her difficulties in thinking on her feet: it is Harry and Ron who tell her how to defeat the Snare), and her deep belief in the power of logic is emphasised when she and Harry find themselves in a room where they must correctly identify two potions from a range of bottles that will enable them to pass out of the room. Hermione then tells Harry that he is a great wizard as he has the qualities of friendship and bravery which are more important than "books and cleverness".

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

In her second year^[HP2] Hermione has a crush on the handsome new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Gilderoy Lockhart.

Hermione brews Polyjuice Potion so that Harry and Ron can discover if Draco Malfoy is the Heir of Slytherin.

Hermione correctly identifies the creature hidden inside the Chamber of Secrets to be a basilisk, and how it is moving around the school, though she is petrified before being able to divulge the information to Harry and Ron. She and the other victims are revived after Harry kills the basilisk.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

In the next year ^[HP3], Hermione takes so many classes she has to use a Time-Turner, a device which enables her to go back in time, to fit in all her subjects, but this eventually proves to be too much for her.

Hermione is estranged from her friends in part of this book: first, she distances herself from them with all the extra work she has to do. Later, she is (rightly) suspicious about Harry's Christmas gift, a Firebolt broom, and reports it to Professor McGonagall, who confiscates it; and again when Ron accuses her new cat, Crookshanks, of killing his pet rat, Scabbers. Ron and Harry give her the cold shoulder after this, but their argument is solved when they finally realise she is trying to help them. During this time, she is the only one who volunteers to help Hagrid prepare for the court case against his hippogriff, Buckbeak, which is amazing, considering she is already taking so many subjects. During the preparation for the trial, she breaks down on Ron, hugging him unexpectedly, to which he responds by awkwardly patting her on the head. Hermione and Ron make up and he pledges to take over the trial.

Hermione's Time-Turner comes in useful at the end of the book when she and Harry travel back in time to rescue Sirius Black and Hagrid's hippogriff, Buckbeak. During the end-of-the-year exams, Hermione's Boggart manifests itself as Professor McGonagall, informing her that she had failed all her classes – causing her to run away screaming. Although that is amusing, it shows Hermione's great fear of failure. At the end of the book, she drops the class of Muggle Studies – Ron had always said was a waste of time, given that Hermione is of Muggle origin, but Hermione had taken it anyway because she thought it would be fascinating to study her own culture, as it were, through the point of view of another culture – enabling her to have a normal schedule again. She also drops the class of Divination since she considers the Professor, Sybill Trelawney to be a fraud. This also shows her logical side dominates in her thinking.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

In the summer following her third year at Hogwarts, Hermione attends the Quidditch World Cup with Harry, Ron and Ron's family, sans Mrs. Weasley. It is here for the first time that she becomes familiar with Viktor Krum, the famous Bulgarian Seeker, himself still a student. Hermione initially sees him as being a gloomy, off-putting fellow, unaware that she will encounter him again at Hogwarts, where he takes to visiting the Hogwarts library frequently just to watch her before approaching her. After getting to know him better, Hermione sees later on that Krum is in fact a genuinely kind-hearted person.

In her fourth year^[HP4], Hermione's attention is drawn to what she views as the poor quality of life for house-elves. She therefore starts the organisation she calls the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, but which becomes known by its unfortunate acronym, S.P.E.W. (though it is nicknamed ‘The House-Elf Liberation Front’ by Ron Weasley). Although Hermione zealously works for her cause, few others display any interest. Harry and Ron officially join her organisation, though they do so only with the hope she will stop badgering them, and they contribute little. She does, however, trick them both into following her to the kitchens to persuade the elves to accept wages after she discovers that Dobby the house-elf has been hired by Professor Dumbledore.

Hermione helps Harry practise the Summoning Charm which allows him to successfully complete the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament.

Hermione attends the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum, making Ron jealous. She has had school nurse Madame Pomfrey shrink her teeth to a "normal size" by magic after being hit by an errant hex earlier in the year, and when she applies Sleekeazy's Hair Potion and does her hair up in a chignon, even Harry and Ron, among others, notice her sudden beauty. Hermione is the "hostage" that Krum has to save in the Tournament's Second Task. After the task, Krum asks Hermione to visit him in the summer. Ron's jealousy of Viktor Krum appears countered by Hermione's dislike of Fleur Delacour, for whom Ron has a soft spot; Hermione becomes visibly angry when Fleur does so much as smile at Ron.

Rita Skeeter, a tabloid reporter, fabricates a love triangle between Harry, Hermione, and Krum. Hermione's relationship with Mrs Weasley is temporarily turned cold by this incident. Krum questions Harry over his relationship with Hermione, and Harry denies any romance.

After much work, she determines Rita is an illegal Animagus who can change into a beetle and manages to catch her in this form by trapping her in a jar. She blackmails Rita with this information to make Rita stop writing for The Daily Prophet.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

In the beginning of the fifth book^[HP5], Hermione is staying at Grimmauld Place, the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, with the Weasleys. When she and Ron are reunited with Harry, who is moody and temperamental after being confined to the Dursleys nearly all summer, he loses his temper, which causes Hermione to get rather tearful. Hermione tries to tutor Harry on how to interact with girls when Harry tries his hand at a relationship with his long time crush Cho Chang - which ultimately falls apart due to Harry's inability to handle Cho's grief over Cedric Diggory's death and Cho's misplaced jealousy towards Hermione.

Hermione becomes a prefect for Gryffindor. Hermione also continues S.P.E.W., attempting to befriend Kreacher, the surly and malicious old house-elf who lives in Grimmauld Place, despite the elf's obvious hatred of her by calling her a "Mudblood". She devotes her time and energy making clothes for the house-elves and putting them in strategic locations, in the hopes of freeing the elves. The house-elves refuse to clean Gryffindor Tower because of this, and the task is left to Dobby.

Also, in Order of the Phoenix, Luna Lovegood is introduced. She is Hermione's complete opposite. She's "the anti-Hermione," Rowling says, "Hermione’s so logical and inflexible in so many ways and Luna is likely to believe ten impossible things before breakfast." Still, though the two girls do not share the same belief system, they become friends and comrades-in-arms when Luna is one of the few to support Harry by joining Dumbledore's Army (the D.A.) and aiding them during the climax of the book.

Hermione's capture and subsequent blackmail of Rita Skeeter proves useful when she persuades Harry to give an interview stating the return of Lord Voldemort. Hermione also comes up with the idea of Dumbledore's Army. While Hermione is trying to convince Harry to start the D.A., she finally says the name, "Voldemort", which is an admirable first for her. During the D.A., Hermione conjures a corporeal Patronus in the shape of an otter (Rowling's favourite animal). She also protects the D.A. from total betrayal (by Marietta Edgecombe, a member) by hexing its sign-up sheet; as a result of this, Marietta is (apparently) permanently disfigured by a cluster of pustules on her face spelling 'Sneak': since this is still the case at the beginning of the Sixth Year, it is clear that Hermione has not as yet repealed her hex, and that presumably nobody else can. If this is the case, it stands as a testament to Hermione's great magical prowess, but raises the question of why she has not undone the hex (it is perhaps telling that she herself was horrified by the prospect of having one eye perpetually bruised by a joke boxer's glove belonging to the Weasley twins in Half-Blood Prince).

Hagrid introduces Hermione and Harry to his giant half-brother, Grawp, and since Hagrid is being targeted by Umbridge because of his loyalty to Dumbledore, he asks them to take care of Grawp if Umbridge somehow succeeds in getting rid of Hagrid himself. Hermione is initially very upset and angry with Hagrid over his request, feeling that Grawp is too much for the three of them to handle, but Grawp proves unexpectedly useful later on when Hermione and Harry lead Umbridge into the Forbidden Forest. After Umbridge is carried away by the Centaurs, the Centaurs turn their attention to Hermione and Harry and prepare to kill them, until Grawp comes stomping into the situation looking for Hagrid, and his unexpected arrival allows Harry enough time to escape with Hermione, who is so overcome with fear by the situation that she breaks down shaking in tears.

She is involved in the battle in the Department of Mysteries, in which she is massively injured by a curse from the Death Eater Antonin Dolohov, but after taking ten types of potions a day, she makes a full recovery.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

The sixth book^[HP6] marks a notable change in Hermione's character. As has become customary, Hermione stays at the Burrow for much of the summer holidays, where she receives her brilliant O.W.L. results of nine "Outstandings" and one "Exceeds Expectations" in Defence Against the Dark Arts (and is disappointed by this!). During her stay with the Weasleys, Hermione once again encounters Fleur Delacour, who is now engaged to Bill Weasley. Her dislike for Fleur, which initially manifested itself in the fourth book, deepens with more frequent exposure to her. Now she is not alone in her dislike, as it is apparent that both Mrs. Weasley and Ginny feel the same way, although the three dislike Fleur for different reasons (Mrs. Weasley feels that Fleur and Bill are rushing into their marriage, Ginny dislikes Fleur because she views her as spoiled and narcissistic; while Hermione initially disliked her for those reasons, and still does, Hermione now primarily dislikes Fleur because Ron has an obvious crush on her).

Hermione continues her passion for her schoolwork in the sixth year, and is even invited by Professor Slughorn to join his Slug Club due to her extraordinary talent at school. Even though Harry describes Hermione to Slughorn in an earlier encounter as "the best in our year", she is bested by Harry in Potions (for the first time in that subject) due to the fact that he has access to the Half-Blood Prince's old textbook. Throughout the book, she becomes increasingly bitter at Harry's newfound success at Potions, especially since she comes to believe that the Half-Blood Prince is a suspicious character (in which she is eventually proved correct), and she considers Harry dishonest for using the book. Despite this, she still becomes a favourite of Slughorn's, and she is still the best in the year. When Harry hides the Prince’s book to prevent its confiscation by Snape, Harry's performance in Potions noticeably declines, demonstrating that Hermione is better at following the standard instructions than Harry.

For the second time in their lives, Ron and Hermione have a serious falling out, which lasts for four chapters of the book. Although it looked like their relationship had been progressing to the point that they could have started dating, with Hermione inviting Ron to be her date for Slughorn's Christmas party (albeit rather aggressively when he was mocking her for being a favourite of Slughorn and because he thinks she would prefer to be with Cormac MacLaggan), all goes amiss when Ron, during an argument with Ginny, learns that Hermione had kissed Viktor Krum. This causes him to become jealous and touchy, and angry at Hermione, who is upset and confused but oblivious of the reasons for his sudden bitterness.

It also leads Ron to perform poorly on the Quidditch practice fields. After rejecting Ron's offer to resign from the team, Harry tries to ameliorate the situation by pretending to spike Ron's drink with Felix Felicis, which allows Ron to overcome his usual lack of self-esteem and perform well, thus raising Harry's hope that Ron and Hermione will forget their dispute in the midst of a Gryffindor victory. Instead, Hermione accuses Harry of cheating, and when Harry reveals that he didn't actually spike the drink, Ron rejects Hermione for having no faith in his abilities (even though Ron thought Harry had spiked the juice, too) and he begins dating classmate Lavender Brown instead, which deeply saddens her and many other fans.

Following a failed attempt to make Ron jealous, a heartbroken Hermione decides to spend Christmas with her parents instead of with the Weasleys. During this time, it becomes clear that Hermione and Luna, while still complete opposites in many ways, have come to a kind of mutual acceptance of each other, as Luna at one point comforts Hermione after Ron had been rude to her.

After the holidays, Hermione continues to ignore Ron, only speaking to him when insulting him, but when he is poisoned, she is desperately fearful for his life, and afterwards quietly reconciles with him. Lavender then becomes jealously paranoid that Hermione is trying to steal Ron away from her. Lavender eventually breaks up with Ron when she sees him and Hermione walking down the stairs alone (they are actually accompanied by Harry, but he is covered by his Invisibility Cloak) from the boys' dormitory a few weeks later. Both Ron and Hermione are shown to have a spring in their step after this turn of events.

Near the end of the book, at Harry's request, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna (the only members of Dumbledore's Army who responded) are sent to patrol Hogwarts – specifically, to monitor Snape and Malfoy. Their efforts half-succeed in that they are able to alert the members of the Order (who are also on patrol) about the Death Eaters lurking in the castle, but they still fail to prevent Dumbledore's defeat. They themselves just barely survive fighting the Death Eaters, thanks to the Felix Felicis that Harry had given them.

At the end of the book, Ron is seen comforting Hermione when she is crying uncontrollably at Dumbledore's funeral. When Harry announces his intentions to seek and destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes, Hermione and Ron display their personal loyalty and tell Harry that they will stick with him wherever he goes, even if it means leaving their beloved Hogwarts.

Harry Potter: Year Seven

Main article: Harry Potter book seven

Based on her remarks at the end of Book 6, Hermione is planning to assist Harry in his search for the remaining Horcruxes and Voldemort. Nothing else has been confirmed by Rowling.

Possessions

• A cat called Crookshanks.
• Several different books involving different variations of magic.

References

• Note 1: "JKRowling.com Archives: Birthdays" from MuggleNet
• Note 2: "When Hermione arrived at Hogwarts, was she nearly eleven or nearly twelve?" from the J.K.Rowling Official Site
• Note 3: "Rumours: Crookshanks is an Animagus" from the J.K.Rowling Official Site
• ^[HP1] Rowling, J.K. (1997). Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. UK ISBN 0747532699/US ISBN 0590353403.
• ^[HP2] Rowling, J.K. (1998). Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. UK ISBN 0747538492/US ISBN 0439064864.
• ^[HP3] Rowling, J.K. (1999). Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. UK ISBN 0747542155/US ISBN 0439136350.
• ^[HP4] Rowling, J.K. (2000). Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. UK ISBN 074754624X/US ISBN 0439139597.
• ^[HP5] Rowling, J.K. (2003). Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. UK ISBN 0747551006/US ISBN 043935806X.
• ^[HP6] Rowling, J.K. (2005). Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. UK ISBN 0747581088/US ISBN 0439784549.
• ^[HPF] Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J.K. Rowling (2001; Newt Scamander), ISBN 0613325419

See also

• Ron Weasley
• Harry Potter

External links

• Extra information about Hermione from J.K. Rowling's official website
• Harry Potter Lexicon entry on Hermione