Blog Post #2

Hermione Granger plays many roles in the Harry Potter series, often times surprising the other characters and the reader. She is usually described as an adamant follower of rules who is fussy and critical. Some truth does lie in these character traits, but Hermione is not given enough credit for other aspects of her personality. If the series was absent of Hermione, it would have a much colder tone and many of the characters would fail almost all of their endeavors. It could be argued that without Hermione, Harry would not have survived his first year at Hogwarts, and Hermione’s willingness to tirelessly volunteer her time and sacrifice some of her deep rooted beliefs adds tremendously to the overall empathetic tone of the series.

From the moment Hermione Granger makes her entrance in The Sorcerer’s Stone, her intelligence and bossy manner is obvious. It is clear that her mission is to receive top marks and if anyone crosses her that does not express the same life goal, she will do her very best to correct them. What is not evident upon meeting Hermione is that she possesses a great deal of empathy and kindness that will almost always surpass her rigid appearance.

As the series progresses and the plot becomes more complicated, Hermione gradually becomes used to the secrecy that defines her friendship with Harry and Ron as well as the constant rule-breaking she has fallen into. Once Hermione realizes that those in authority do not always have the best interests for the Wizarding community, she has no problem defending herself and begins working against the Ministry. Her passion for house-elf rights demonstrates the devotion she will show to something that she believes strongly about. She has absolutely no support for her cause, but she continues to attempt to defend house-elves, even though they reject her kindness. Many times she does not view a situation the same way Harry does, but her empathy toward him always wins her over. When Harry swears that Sirius is being held by Voldemort in the Hall of Prophecy, she accurately suggests that Voldemort could have caught on to the fact that he and Harry’s minds are connected and could be fooling Harry into coming to the Hall of Prophecy. Although she still rightly suspects that Voldemort could be tricking Harry, she goes with him to the Ministry to support him. She knows she could not change his mind, so she goes to support him even though she doubts him. This act displays the strength of her friendship with Harry as well as empathy because she understands what Sirius represents in Harry’s life.

Her greatest action of empathy so far is her immediate decision to help Harry find the remaining Horcruxes rather than finish school. She is given the option to remain safe (well…) at Hogwarts, but she forfeits the completion of her magical education to help defeat Lord Voldemort. Ron should definitely be pleased that she finally “[sorted] out her priorities.”