#Dragon talks positive Hermione discourse

[divagonzo]

why do you hate Hermione so much everything i read from you is so rude about her what gives

Well ‘ello to you too Nonnie.

So do I hate Hermione? Heavens no. As weird as it sounds, I treat the character like one of my nearest and dearest - gonna call them out when they act wrong and expect them to do the same for me when I fuck up. I was doing this when I was that age, being an arrogant arse (and somewhat one still to this day.) (There are reasons why I go by Dragon and it’s not always my award-winning wisdom.)

Does it come across as brusque and rude? Sure. I’ve never been accused of sugar coating anything, unfortunately. Another of my bad traits, I reckon.

But after this, I’ll delve into this bit for you, nonnie.

(and I’m repeating myself by going into this again but since I can’t scare up the previous discourse for Hermione positive narrative from me…)

Positive Hermione discourse….

For me, personally, I think her world turns right side up the moment Ron walks back into the tent, having saved Harry, destroyed the locket, and keeping the sword of Gryffindor.

While she was rightfully beastly over what had happened (not understanding maybe how deep that abyss went for Ron in those moments he was being pushed away) she shouldn’t have hit him - but her anger otherwise was justified. And like Ron (which seem to be two sides of the same complimentary coin) she needed time and distance to eventually quell her anger.

I’ve been Ron at that moment with someone I deeply love, having hurt them. The palatable fear over losing them for your stupid shit is very scary. I had to do what Ron did - giving them space and time. Unlike a story which can be remedied in 100 pages, mine took years.

But unlike when Ron and Hermione were even a year younger, Ron has grown to where he respects her space and will take what he can get, having betrayed her and Harry. Harry pushed him away but he was the one who got shirty and walked off, to disastrous consequences.

So they are off hunting clues again, with Ron helping out immensely. The debacle at Xeno Lovegood’s house and then being caught out by the snatchers showed everyone how the others are important to each other. There was no perceived weak link anymore. Everyone knew their value. All three were vital and necessary to the others.

So when Ron’s being beaten to a pulp and Harry’s gotten a stinger to the face to try and hide his identity, the only one left standing whole is Hermione. And she’s terrified.

I can’t blame her in the least.

Viv and I disagree on this point, but I personally think that this was a geometric growth moment for Hermione. Ron’s offered himself up to Bellatrix, knowing what is coming (or so he thinks) but instead she picks Hermione. (Once again reinforcing the theme that villains pick out the one most dangerous to them.)

You can’t sway me from thinking that Hermione and that iditic and iconic memory of hers didn’t flashback for a moment to Ron’s courage to come back to them, willing to face her wrath for walking out. I can’t be dissuaded that she had that thought in her head that “Ron came back. Ron faced down acromantulas for me. I can do this, too.”

Hermione knows that what is coming is gonna suck dragon’s talons. And it’s going to hurt, especially since she got yanked by her hair when separated from the guys. I can tell you that hurts horribly. She’s using every bit of Gryffindor courage to keep her wits for what is going to happen. She was going to protect her friends if it was the last thing she would ever do.

Now that’s love, everyone. That’s a fireworks explosion demonstration right there where even oblivious people can recognize it. That’s a demonstration that a Dragon respects writ large.

For me, this is her defining moment - facing down a worst case scenario and facing it with courage. It’s facing possible death and not cowering from it but buying them time and praying that they can find a way out, with or without her.

I honestly don’t think she expected to survive it.

She had a good 30 seconds to consider what was going to happen. Anticipation was probably at the forefront of her thinking because she knew what Lestrange was capable of achieving.

The guys are downstairs and Ron’s frantic. He doesn’t know what is happening except that Hermione is screaming bloody murder. And since it’s off-screen (gives stink eyes to Uncle Steve and Uncle David) the reader’s imagination is used to consider how bad it really is. All the reader - and the guys - can hear is her screaming.

She’s there for minutes - more than five, less than 20 total. It’s fast and dirty and roughshod - unlike what the Longbottoms went through, potentially. But she’s being tormented for information - a Shrodinger’s moment in betraying how important the vault actually is.

But Hermione’s holding up and holding her own, lying while in unspeakable pain.

While I hate to broach such a thing, there’s a huge reason why the Geneva Convention has enacted rules and laws of warfare, including torture. There are reasons why prisoners of war, fighting under flag and uniform, are protected. Why?

Because under pain, a prisoner will say anything to make the pain cease. And with anything like such, it’s not a question of breaking but of when.

But Hermione? She’s keeping her wits under torture. She’s able to withstand such pain to keep Bellatrix from going after the others. (Yes, I know it’s the Author but I also think that some of it was scrubbed by the editors because you can’t go too dark on it, at least not that way.)

Cut to Dobby’s rescue and the guys escaping courtesy of Wormtail and they finally get to see - Griphook lying for them, Hermione barely stirring.

Like many a hero in books I grew up on (and media, too) Hermione gave them the one thing they needed: time. So many of the fallen heroes I’ve loved in stories are the ones who face down their demise with courage, standing in the breach to give the survivors a better chance.

While the book makes light of it and the movie, even more, something like that isn’t shaken off like you caught a volleyball to the face. (That stings, lemme tell you, double if you wear glasses.) Going through something so traumatic changes a person.

I liken what she went through as a baptism by fire - where it burned away all of the bollocks and bullshit, all of the petty games and bad communications, and made all of them realize how important each one of them is to the others.

This doesn’t mean that Hermione now has empathy and support for Ron the way he needs immediately. I personally think that the communication lines are completely open at this point and all of the words said that don’t quite mean what they say boil away to where what they do say to one another is what they mean. Nothing is hidden, everything on the table for the other to see - complete vulnerability.

While I do wish some problematic things were handled differently (*and I can’t advocate abuse for anyone*) My critical analysis of the character shows geometric growth after that situation in MM - and beyond. I do wish there had been more shown but more couldn’t have been shoehorned in into the last 1/3 of the book. There was too much else that had to happen in the narrative to give Hermione any more arc than she had.

But damn this is why I love fic that explores it afterward, warts and all.

So nonnie, I love Hermione, even if I am critical on some things. I don’t give a pass but I do understand the whys and hows of it. If I were a written character, I’d hope someone would say how fucked up I was at times in my life and also see how much growth happened between 15 and 40-something.

I try to live my life as a lesson on how to not fuck up - and how to survive it and grow from it when I do.