#But Krum/Hermione is inoffensive

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

Given your history with the forbidden ship, what are your thoughts on krumione?

It took me a second to decipher the reference. Anon, you can say the name. Hayley isn’t a dirty word 🤣 just a questionable ship. Which is more or less the case for my man Victor Krum. The fandom is somewhat divided here. There are those who praise him as an underrated gentleman, and those who shame him as a creep who targets underage girls. 

Honestly, both sides are exaggerating. 

Krum wasn’t some unsung hero. He was a lonely, awkward guy with fame, but no friends. He was repeatedly described as being surly. He had feelings for Hermione, indicating that he appreciated her intelligence (and probably how different she was from his typical fan-girls) but so what? Just because Hermione didn’t get a lot of attention from boys, it doesn’t make Krum noble for having noticed her. 

Krum is a guy who was, I think, deeply affected by attending a school like Durmstrang. It didn’t turn him into a dark wizard or a bigot (likely because of the personal losses his family suffered at the hands of the Grindelwald regime) but it does seem to have affected his social skills in a negative capacity, and becoming a celebrity certainly didn’t help. Nor did becoming a Quidditch player. I’ve talked about this before but Quidditch players tend to be obsessive and throw everything else away, including basic morality, just so they can win. The Wronski Feint may be cool when you’re a kid reading the book for the first time, but in adulthood, it really hits me just how screwed up that actually was. He basically tried to kill the other Seeker. It’s not his fault that such a move is considered acceptable, but he didn’t have to use it. 

In general, I think fame hampered Krum’s ability to make friends, and rendered him unable to trust that people weren’t just trying to cozy up to him because he was famous. Unfortunately, this includes people like Ron, he’s a perfect example. Krum was a socially awkward, grumpy young man who probably did want to make friends and find love, but he had no clue how to do this, especially not in a school full of strangers in another country. (It’s no wonder he invited Hermione to come visit him.) Hell, we don’t know why he made the journey to Hogwarts in the first place. Was it his decision? Did he even want to enter the Triwizard Tournament? Or was he pressured into it by Karkaroff? 

I should elaborate on my feelings a bit more. I am by no means condemning Viktor Krum, because he may be strange and socially awkward, but that’s not a crime. Questionable Seeker plays notwithstanding, Krum doesn’t really do anything wrong during the story. It’s not his fault, for instance, that Karkaroff shamelessly favorited him, or that Crouch Jr used him as a puppet. If anything, his aggressive reaction to a perceived Grindelwald supporter is a mark in his favor. Krum is the sort of guy who has punched Nazis and gladly would again. Can’t really fault him for that. 

But what about the erumpent in the room, what about his interest in Hermione? 

Well, like I said, I don’t believe he ever does anything out of line. Is it creepy? I think that depends on the context. Is the age gap a little suspect? I mean, yeah, it is. But it’s hardly impossible for a guy Krum’s age to date a girl Hermione’s age without being a predator. To pretend otherwise is silly. That leaves the question - is Krum written to be a predator? The answer is no. I hardly think asking a girl to attend a chaperoned dance is predatory behavior. It’s implied that they dated a while afterward, that Hermione (probably) kissed him. But hey, if they hit it off at The Yule Ball, why can’t they see where that goes? Hermione being Krum’s Hostage in the Second Task is…weird, I’ll admit. Particularly since the judges were willing and able to procure family members from outside the country. But then again, is it not equally weird for Cedric’s Hostage to be Cho? They hadn’t been dating that long. Frankly, I think this just proves how lonely Krum is. 

I’ve seen posts that say he “isolated” and “threatened” Harry when he saw him as a romantic rival. Which seems like a major reach. All he did was ask for an explanation. There was no indication that he meant harm. And when Harry clarified, Krum changed his tune and acted more friendly. Again, he and Hermione were basically dating at this point. It’s not unreasonable for Krum to be angry if he thought Hermione was cheating on him. Overall, he should have confronted her instead of Harry, but that’s a different issue. My point being, it was not predatory behavior. No more than his being irritated that Hermione wasn't paying attention to him after the Second Task. He was already insecure about Harry, and he was the one who had "saved" Hermione, of course he wanted to be the center of attention in that moment.

Was it creepy for Krum to invite Hermione to visit him in Bulgaria? I’ve seen that sentiment expressed, that he was trying to “isolate her” (there’s that word again) in a country where he would be the only person she knew, and that this was a red flag. I’d just call it an inevitable reality. One can assume Krum would want to introduce her to his family and such. But until then, yeah, she wouldn’t know anyone else from there. So? Furthermore, there’s no indication that her parents weren’t invited too. Either way, Hermione would need their consent and there’s no doubt Krum knew she would. Like, we have no evidence that he was trying to do this behind their backs. In general, Harry himself regularly stayed with the Weasleys during school breaks, for weeks at a time. This could simply be a traditional aspect of wizarding culture. Something that happens all the time. Not some grand evil plan. In any case, Hermione rejected the offer to visit Bulgaria (or her parents said no, we can’t be sure) and I think we can safely assume that Krum took this with grace, as he and Hermione remain pen pals after the fact and are on good terms.

I’ve made this point before when defending Hayley, but I dislike how people express distaste for Krumione by describing it as an “adult man” pursuing a “15 year old girl.” Because referring to Krum as such in this context and ignoring that he’s only 18 himself just obscures the situation. It makes it sound a lot worse than it actually is, and it almost seems like people are doing this on purpose. Krum may be an adult in this case and Hermione may be a child, but that doesn't mean they're all that far apart. Again, Cedric and Cho also get together after the Yule Ball, and by Wizard standards, Cedric was an adult too. We're still dealing with a romance between two teenagers. Yes, an 18 year old is more mature than a 15 year old. But 18 year olds are still pretty damn stupid. I know. I’ve been there. 

But what about the time that Krum, as a 21 year old man, was eyeing up Ginny, a 16 year old girl? That alone kills any defense he might have, right? It creates a pattern and removes the benefit of the doubt from the equation…right? Well, it would, except that Krum doesn’t actually know her age, how could he isn’t actually interested in Ginny. He doesn’t check her out until after Harry describes Ron and Hermione as a couple. Up until that point, he had eyes only for her. It seems like pretty clear subtext. Krum just wants to find a pretty girl to dance with and make Hermione jealous. Which is immature. But again, acting immature is not the same thing as acting predatory. He backs off when Harry tells him that Ginny has a boyfriend, I think we can assume he would likewise have backed off if Harry had told him "She's 16, dude."

Altogether, Hermione was Krum’s first love. He seems to have idealized their relationship and never really gotten over her. While this probably isn’t the healthiest situation for him, I still wouldn’t call him a creep. Krum respects Hermione’s boundaries and her autonomy. he is never shown pushing her into anything she doesn’t want, and Hermione doesn’t appear to be the least bit negatively affected by his residual feelings for her. She just carries on with her life. She shoots him down, and while he doesn’t exactly move on, he also doesn’t make it her problem. The worst you can say about Krum is that he's maybe a little pathetic. But I don't see any red flags here, at least not of that sort.