Over
the years, as I’ve revisited the Harry
Potter series in the form of both book and film, a certain fact continues
to be further cemented: I love Hermione
Granger. All things considered, she
might be my favorite nerdy teenage witch (sorry, Willow!) Some basic spoilers.
One
thing that I like about Hermione is that she isn’t framed as girls typically
are in stories for this age range. Since
she’s a supporting character, she isn’t the Ordinary Girl who turns boys’ heads
every time she moves, which she can’t figure out because she’s so
Ordinary. Neither is she The Girl in the
boy book, the beautiful object of his affection who basically exists for him to
moon over. She’s a bit of the Female
Friend who, to the surprise of both young person’s involved, winds up being The
One, but because her destined love interest is Ron rather than Harry, the trope
isn’t hammered home as vehemently. Instead,
she originally comes in as a bit of an unwelcome guest. Even though her natural smarts, workhorse
dedication to learning, and well-practiced magical aptitude are obvious assets,
Harry and Ron aren’t eager to hang out with her. They find her annoying – a bossy, know-it-all
goody-too-shoes. (Interesting how
Hermione is essentially dismissed because they don’t like that she’s outspoken,
opinionated, and confident about her intelligence. Ingrained gender expectations, much?)
But of
course, Hermione is mad smart. And hard-working. And a skilled witch. And curious.
And determined. In other words,
she’s who I’d want on my side if I was trying to combat the baddest wizard who
ever lived and I was pretty set on only enlisting fellow children to help. Hermione’s spell-casting ability is
especially vital in early books/films, since the time she spends on her studies
definitely pays off and the boys aren’t yet up to her level. Beyond that, her book knowledge comes in
handy time and again, and her practicality can be a lifesaver.
Oh
yeah, and because both of her parents are Muggles, there are a number of kids –
and even teachers – at the school who think she doesn’t belong there. Malfoy hurls blatant slurs in her direction,
and matters get more dangerous for Hermione as the series continues, because
putting Muggle-borns “in their place” is a major goal of Voldemort and his
Death Eaters. Rather than let ignorant
bigots make her feel small, Hermione holds her head up high and keeps
working. (I suppose it makes a
difference that, as a Muggle-born,
she wasn’t raised in the wizarding world, and so, the first time she’s called a
mudblood, she doesn’t even know what it means.
Still, from age 11 on, Hogwarts is her home nine months of the year, and
it’s not cool to discover that a bunch of people in your new community hate you
because of your parentage.) Kudos to
Hermione for not giving the haters any satisfaction!
As a
matter of fact, Hermione takes time to look out for a class of people even more
marginalized than Muggle-borns: the
house-elves. It’s kind of a weird
subplot in the books, because everyone acts like her campaign to free the
house-elves ranges from annoying to embarrassing, when the house-elves are actual slaves. I get that it’s been
a part of wizarding culture for a long time, and a lot of the kids from wizard
families probably grew up with this instilled understanding of a house-elf’s “position,”
but still. There’s nobody else who’s not
down with slavery? The wizarding world
is messed up. Anyway, it means Hermione
is a brave, smart, resilient, powerful, Muggle-born witch abolitionist, and that’s awesome.
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