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Hermione Granger

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Hermione Jean Granger is a fictional character in the Harry Potter book series written by J. K. Rowling. Hermione is a Gryffindor student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and is Harry Potter's and Ron Weasley's best friend. She shows considerable academic prowess when compared to her close friends and classmates.

Rowling modelled Hermione Granger after several autobiographical experiences, calling her a "know-it-all" with a mortal fear of failure based on her own early years.[1] Hermione is portrayed by Emma Watson in the Harry Potter film series.

Character development

According to author J. K. Rowling, the character of Hermione Granger carries several autobiographical influences. Rowling recalled being called a "little know-it-all" herself when she was a girl,[1] and thus Hermione was made a bossy straight-A student. Moreover, Rowling stated that like her, Hermione however has "there is a lot of insecurity and a great fear of failure" beneath her "swottiness", again paralleling Rowling's own character.[1] In the books, Rowling furthermore established that Hermione's boggart (i.e. the image of her greatest fear) is the image of her favourite professor, telling her that she has failed all her exams.[1]

Concerning Hermione's name, Rowling said she obtained the name "Hermione" from William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale,[2] claiming that she wanted it to be unusual since if fewer girls shared her name, fewer girls would get teased for it.[2] Rowling added that, in the early stages of writing the book, Hermione was called "Hermione Puckle", but said the name Puckle "did not suit her at all", and so the "less frivolous" surname Granger made it into the published Harry Potter books.[1]

Rowling states that Hermione's birthday is September 19.[1] It has been made clear by Rowling in both real life and the books that Hermione is the eldest of the three main characters.[3] Book 2 is set in 1992-1993,[4] when Harry has just turned 12, confirming his year of birth as 1980. Hermione, therefore, was born in 1979. The birth year has been subject to debate by North America in particular, where a child's current grade is based on their year of birth. In the UK, however, it is based on your age as of September 1st of that year; therefore, her birth year of 1979 is in concordance with the British education system.

Appearances

First three books

Hermione Granger first appears in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the first of the seven Harry Potter novels. Following the line of thought when she invented Hermione, Rowling establishes her as an average-looking girl with a bossy attitude,[5] In early chapters, she constantly annoys her colleagues by knowing everything better, to the point that her future best friends, Harry and Ron initially consider her arrogant and anal retentive.[6] They heartily dislike her until Harry and Ron save Hermione from a troll and Hermione is so thankful that she gives up her antipathy against them.[7] Rowling later stated that she had an argument with her editor about the troll fight scene. Whilst accepting most of the editing proposals, Rowling refused to take out this passage when it was requested because she felt "Hermione […] is so very annoying in the early part of 'Philosopher's Stone' that I really felt it needed something [sic] (literally) huge to bring her together with Harry and Ron."[1] In the books' climax, Hermione's knack for logic enables the trio to solve a puzzle essential to retrieve the eponymous "Philosopher's Stone".

In the second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Rowling established that Hermione has a crush on the handsome new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Gilderoy Lockhart.[8] Again written as a straight-A student, Hermione later becomes vital for the plot when she identifies the creature hidden inside the eponymous Chamber of Secrets to be a basilisk. As a testament to her previously established know-it-all nature, she is disappointed to learn that all exams have been cancelled at the end of the book.[9]

In the following book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Hermione gets a pet cat-kneazle mix named Crookshanks, which makes a habit out of chasing Ron's pet rat Scabbers.[10] In addition, she is secretly given a Time-Turner by Professor Minerva McGonagall, a device which enables her to go back in time, to fit in her numerous subjects. Both plot points become essential at the end, when it is revealed that Scabbers is indeed the disguised evil wizard Peter Pettigrew, the murderer of Harry Potter's father,[11] and the Time-Turner enables Harry, Ron and Hermione to save the innocent lives of Harry's godfather Sirius Black and hippogriff Buckbeak.[11] Furthermore, Rowling established that Hermione's boggart (i.e. the image of her greatest fear) is an image of her mentor Professor McGonagall telling her she has failed all her exams.[1]

Fourth to sixth books

In the fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Rowling let Hermione romance Bulgarian Quidditch prodigy Viktor Krum, much to the dismay of her colleague Ron Weasley.[12] The author also used Krum as a plot device to correctly pronounce Hermione's name, namely "Her - my - o - nee".[1] In the book, Rowling established also that Hermione is anti-racist, in this case strongly campaigning against the exploitation of house elves, forming a the organisation she calls the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare (SPEW). Later that year, she is also vital in stopping fraudulent tabloid reporter Rita Skeeter.[13]

In the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Hermione is made a prefect and befriends new character Luna Lovegood even though Rowling stated that dreamy, air-headed Luna is the "anti-Hermione".[14] At the end of the book, Hermione is involved in the battle in the Department of Mysteries, in which she is seriously injured, but at the end, she makes a full recovery.[15]

In the sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Rowling wrote that for her extraordinary magical talent, Hermione is invited by new Professor Slughorn to join his elitarian Slug Club.[16] She develops feelings for her long-time colleague Ron Weasley, but when he romances their colleague Lavender Brown instead, she retaliates by going out with egomaniacal Cormac McLaggen.[17] At the book's end, after Albus Dumbledore's death, Ron and Hermione have broken up with their partners and are friends again, and both vow to stay by their best friend Harry's side regardless of what happens.[18]

Final book

Throughout the whole last Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Hermione is a valuable help in Harry Potter's quest to destroy the evil Lord Voldemort. Hermione and Ron share their first kiss and participate in the Battle of Hogwarts which ultimately defeats Lord Voldemort and his totalitarian police state.[19] In a webchat hosted by her UK publisher, Bloomsbury, J. K. Rowling confirmed that after the last battle, Hermione was able to find her parents, and bring them home shortly after the fall of Voldemort.[20]

In the epilogue Nineteen Years Later, Hermione has married Ron Weasley and they have two children: Rose, who is starting her first year at Hogwarts, and a younger son Hugo.[21] On her website, Rowling established furthermore that Hermione is "pretty high up" in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and has ensured the eradication of oppressive, pro pure-blood laws, although she began her post-Hogwarts career by working in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, where she is instrumental in greatly improving life for house-elves and their ilk and has "revamped" the Ministry.[20] Her position is ironic, since she earlier states to Scrimgeour that she was not looking for a career in Magical Law, instead intending to "do some good in the world".

Movie appearances

In the Harry Potter film series, Hermione is played by British actress Emma Watson in all five movies screened between 2001 and 2007. Watson is supportive of her alter ego, calling Hermione "charismatic" and "a fantastic role to play" prior to the third film (2003)[22] In 2007, prior to the fifth film, Watson stated: "There are too many stupid girls in the media. Hermione’s not scared to be clever. I think sometimes really smart girls dumb themselves down a bit, and that’s bad. When I was 9 or 10, I would get really upset when they tried to make me look geeky, but now I absolutely love it. I find it's so much pressure to be beautiful. Hermione doesn’t care what she looks like. She's a complete tomboy.”[23]

Additionally, Chamber of Secrets film screenwriter Steve Kloves added Hermione is his favourite Harry Potter character, because "[t]here's something about her [Hermione's] fierce intellect coupled with a complete lack of understanding of how she affects people sometimes that I just find charming and irresistible to write."[24]

Personality

Author J. K. Rowling has described Hermione as a "very logical, upright and good" character.[25] But beneath her bossy, seemingly inscrutable surface, Rowling has stated that Hermione is at heart "deeply insecure" and sometimes feels "utterly inadequate […and t]o compensate, she tries to be the best at everything at school, projecting a false confidence that can irritate people."[26] Following this line of thought, Rowling established in the third book that Hermione's boggart (i.e. the image of her greatest fear) is an image of her mentor Professor McGonagall telling her she has failed all her exams.[1]

As an explanation for Hermione's character, Rowling stated that "Hermione is a bit like me [Rowling] when I was younger. I did not set out to make Hermione like me but she is a bit like me. She is an exaggeration of how I was when I was younger."[25]

Family

In the books, Rowling established that Hermione is daughter of two dentists, who are "a bit bemused by their odd daughter" according to the author, "but quite proud of her all the same".[27] When asked in the same interview if Hermione was an only child, Rowling replied, "I always planned that Hermione would have a younger sister but she's never made an appearance and somehow it feels like it might be too late now."[27] In final book, she married Ron Weasley and had two children, Hugo and Rose.

Abilities

Hermione Granger is a Muggle-born witch. In the entire series, she is written by author Rowling as the most intelligent pupil of her class. Hermione's Patronus (i.e. a powerful defensive spell, fed by one's happiest thoughts and manifesting as an animal which fits the person) is an otter, Rowling's favorite animal.[28] Furthermore, Rowling revealed on her website that Hermione's wand is made of vine wood with a dragon heartstring core. Her wand's wood, vine, is the wood ascribed to Hermione's fictional birth month (September) in the Celtic calendar.[29]

Finally, Rowling has said that next to Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Hermione is the perfect expository character: because of her cleverness, she states, Hermione can always be used as a plot dump to explain the Harry Potter world.[24]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "J. K. Rowling Offical Site – Section Extra Stuff – Hermione Granger". Retrieved 2007-08-14.
  2. ^ a b Transcript of National Press Club author's luncheon, NPR Radio, October 20, 1999 Accio-quote.org Retrieved on 23 April 2007
  3. ^ "J.K.Rowling Official Site - F.A.Q."
  4. ^ In Chapter 8 of Book 2, Nearly Headless Nick celebrates his 500th "deathday". Written on his deathday cake is "Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, died 31st October, 1492". Therefore, the current date must have been October 31st, 1992. This was eventually confirmed in January 2006, when Rowling designed a family tree for the Black family, with Draco shown as being born in 1980. (The Noble and Ancient House of Black, Accessed August 15th 2007)
  5. ^ Template:HP1, chapter 6: "[Hermione] had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth."
  6. ^ Template:HP1, chapters 6-9.
  7. ^ Template:HP1, chapter 9.
  8. ^ Template:HP2, chapter 6.
  9. ^ Template:HP2, chapter 18.
  10. ^ Template:HP3, chapters 12 and 13.
  11. ^ a b Template:HP3, chapters 16-22.
  12. ^ Template:HP4, chapter 23.
  13. ^ Template:HP4, chapter 37.
  14. ^ Fry, Stephen, interviewer: J.K. Rowling at the Royal Albert Hall, 26 June 2003 accio-quote.org, retrieved August 14, 2007
  15. ^ Template:HP5, chapters 31-38.
  16. ^ Template:HP6, chapter 11.
  17. ^ Template:HP6, chapter 14.
  18. ^ Template:HP6, chapter 30.
  19. ^ Template:HP7, chapter 26-36.
  20. ^ a b "Online Chat Transcript". Bloomsbury. 2007-07-31. Retrieved 2007-08-14. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ^ Template:HP7, chapter 37.
  22. ^ "Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson". BBC. Retrieved 2007-08-03. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help)
  23. ^ Listfield, Emily (2007-07-08). "We're all so grown up!". Parade. Retrieved 2007-08-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  24. ^ a b Chamber of Secrets DVD: Interview with Steve Kloves and J.K. Rowling, February 2003 accio-quote.org.
  25. ^ a b [http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2004/0804-ebf.htm J K Rowling at the Edinburgh Book Festival, Sunday, August 15, 2004.] Accio-quote.org Retrieved on 23 April 2007.
  26. ^ Harry Potter and Me (BBC Christmas Special), BBC, December 28, 2001 accio-quote.org., retrieved August 14, 2007
  27. ^ a b JK Rowling's World Book Day Chat, March 4, 2004 Accio-quote.org Retrieved on 23 April 2007
  28. ^ America Online chat transcript, AOL.com, 19 October 2000 accio-quote.org., retrieved August 14, 2007
  29. ^ Section: Extra Stuff WANDS jkrowling.com. Retrieved on 02 July 2007.

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