Let’s face it. Without Hermione Granger, Harry Potter would be a footnote in Voldemort: Rise to Power, and we muggles would be little more than subservient house elves to our magical overlords.
Hermione Granger, for anyone who’s been living on Mars for the past two decades, is one of the three central characters in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books. If you haven’t read them/seen the movies and plan to, stop reading now and instead check out this compilation of really cute baby sloth pictures instead.
Background
Hermione was only eleven years old when an owl arrived at her postbox bearing the Hogwarts acceptance letter. One can only imagine her muggle parents’ surprise upon learning their …show more content…
Interestingly, Rowling says she resisted her editor’s requests to remove the troll scene, stating “Hermione is so very arrogant and annoying in the early part of Philosopher’s Stone that I really felt it needed something (literally) huge to bring her together with Harry and Ron.”
Aside from the troll incident, Hermione never needed rescuing. Rowling was bemused that as the series unfolded people often said, “Don’t kill off Ron” but no one ever expressed such concerns about Hermione. The reason, Rowling speculates, is everyone knew Hermione could take care of herself. The only time she was ever truly helpless was after being Petrified by the Basilisk in Chamber of Secrets, and even then she held the climax-solving clue clutched in her hand. By Deathly Hallows, Hermione is pretty much rescuing Harry and/or Ron on every other page.
How Her Courage Affects …show more content…
And cleverness! There are more important things! — Friendship! And Bravery!”
I was all grown up by the time the first Harry Potter book came out, but I confess I’ve read all the books once twice okay, at least six times. I’ve also seen all the movies countless times. By the time the series was winding down, my son and I would have weekend movie marathons to prime ourselves before the next release.
Rowling’s portrayal of Hermione affects my own choices as a writer. Like Hermione, my protagonists tend to be brainy, although they tend to get themselves in way more trouble than Hermione ever did. But like Hermione, they don’t need a boy to rescue them. And Rowling’s refreshing portrayal of an enduring and platonic friendship was in my heart as I crafted my protagonist’s sidekick in The Kwan Factor.
Hermione and the witches of Hogwarts don’t live in a perfectly feminist world, but rather a world that very much reflects the world we live in today. They proudly and unapologetically seize their place in it. What can be more inspiring than that?
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If all of this talk of Hogwarts has you jonesing for Harry Potter movie binge, now’s the time—the entire series is currently available on