Hermione Granger

Hermione Granger is definitely the most important female character in the Harry Potter series. She is crucial in the victory against Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Hermione comes from a muggle family, and her parents are both dentists in the muggle world. She becomes friends with Ron and Harry after they all encounter a mountain troll together and defeat it. Hermione shows an early aptitude for magic as she helps them open a lock using the charm “Alohomora” and later casts a charm with erupting flames on Severus Snape when they suspect he is responsible for tampering with Harry’s broomstick during the Quidditch match. She goes on to progress as one of the most ingenious witches to ever live and also becomes the Minister of Magic at a very early age.

Hermione Granger Profile

Biography

• Full Name: Hermione Jean Granger
• Date and Place of Birth: 19 September 1979, England, Great Britain
• Parents: Mr and Mrs Granger 
• Nationality: English
• Status of Blood: Muggle-born
• Spouse: Ron Weasley

Hermione Granger: The Timeline 

Hermione Granger: The Brightest Witch of Her Era 

Hermione Granger has been constantly called the brightest witch of her era, and probably also in the entirety of the wizarding world. Her intelligence and problem-solving skills play a crucial role in all of the Harry Potter series and are mostly the reason the trio easily manages to make it out of their adventures safe and sound. Hermione proves her prowess as an exceptional witch right from the beginning of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone when she uses the Levitation charm Wingardium Leviosa to great effect in Professor Flitwick’s Charms class. In the same book, she also uses her logical reasoning skills to accurately measure the potions in Snape’s challenge set up for the Philosopher’s Stone, thereby helping Harry finally defeat Voldemort.

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Hermione’s role is crucial in determining that the beast in the chamber is a Basilisk. Despite being petrified, she manages to convey that the Basilisk is traveling into the castle from the chamber by means of pipes. Furthermore, only Hermione could have brewed a potion as complicated as the Polyjuice Potion over the span of months and successfully used it to find out about the Heir of Slytherin from Malfoy.

In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Hermione is the first person other than Severus Snape to figure out that Professor Lupin is a werewolf. Also, it is Hermione’s Time Turner and her constant ideas that eventually save both Sirius and Buckbeak from being wrongfully executed. In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Hermione helps Harry throughout the three tasks in the Triwizard Tournament. 

In the last three books, Hermione is one of the most important strategists who helps the trio and even the Order of the Phoenix with their plans and ideas. 

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Hermione is the one who persuades Harry to start Dumbledore’s Army as the Ministry takes over the syllabus at Hogwarts. It is Hermione’s sudden brainwave that helps some of Dumbledore’s Army members escape Dolores Umbridge and her Inquisitorial Squad. She also fights exceptionally well in the Battle at the Department of Mysteries. In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Hermione duels several Death Eaters with great finesse at the Battle of the Astronomy Tower.

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Hermione is at the forefront of most of the important plans, including the Infiltration of the Ministry to take back one of the Horcruxes from Umbridge, the plot to enter the vault at Gringotts to steal another Horcrux and several others including the Battle of Hogwarts. 

Hogwarts: First Three Years 

Hermione Granger is first seen in the books when she knocks on Ron and Harry’s compartment door in the Hogwarts Express. She helps Neville Longbottom to search for his toad Trevor. Eventually, once the first years reach Hogwarts, Harry, Ron, and Hermione are all placed in the same house – Gryffindor. However, Hermione later claims that the Sorting Hat strongly considered putting her in Ravenclaw but decided to put her in Gryffindor instead. Therefore, they constantly meet each other during classes. Hermione, much to Ron’s contempt, corrects his spell in Charms class.

Ron eventually makes fun of her on their way back from class, causing her to stay in the girls’ bathroom and cry when a mountain troll comes to the Hogwarts Castle. Harry and Ron help her and eventually save her by fighting the troll. This is when the trio becomes best friends. They help Rubeus Hagrid, the gamekeeper at Hogwarts, to send his pet dragon Norbert to Romania. They discuss who is trying to steal the Philosopher’s Stone (or Sorcerer’s Stone) and are eventually successful in together foiling Professor Quirrell, who is possessed by Voldemort, from stealing the stone. Hermione also renders emotional support to Harry when he has to complete the final challenge by assuring him that he is a great wizard.

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry and Ron meet Hermione at Diagon Alley, where she has come to collect books and supplies. The monster that resides in the chamber starts killing Muggle-born students, and Draco Malfoy also calls Hermione a Mudblood, causing Ron to get enraged and fight Malfoy. Hermione is constantly trying to figure out what the beast in the Chamber of Secrets is, and one day, sadly, Hermione too is petrified. Harry and Ron eventually find a piece of paper that was ripped off a library book that contains information on the Basilisk and also the word “pipes” scribbled in Hermione’s handwriting. This helps them eventually find the chamber and kill the Basilisk.

In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Hermione gets a cat named Crookshanks, instead of an owl which is a common choice, as her pet. She also ends up being the only student in her year to enroll in all the electives available for third years at Hogwarts. She also seems to follow all the lessons with great interest despite the piling homework. This leads to her constantly feeling the pressure of academics throughout the year, although the stress slightly reduces after she walks out of Sybill Trelawney’s Divination class. However, to Ron’s surprise, Hermione magically appears behind them in several of the classes that are at the same time as some of her other classes. The mystery of her constant presence is finally revealed when she is said to be given a Time Turner at the beginning of the year by Professor McGonagall. This Time Turner is used by Hermione and Harry to go back in time and save Buckbeak and Sirius Black from getting executed. 

Hogwarts: Next Four Years and Beyond

In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, we are introduced to several new characters who are acquainted with the trio through the Quidditch World Cup and the Triwizard Tournament. One of them is the Bulgarian seeker Viktor Krum who visits Hogwarts representing Durmstrang Institute. He is then chosen as the champion for the Triwizard Tournament from Durmstrang. He asks Hermione to go with him to the Yule Ball, to which she agrees. This makes Ron very jealous. Their friendship is almost at stake, but they eventually make peace. Hermione also starts an Elf Rights movement called S.P.E.W Hermione is also targeted by the Daily Prophet reporter Rita Skeeter who goes on to spread lies about Hermione, causing even Mrs Weasley to be rude to Hermione. However, Mrs Weasley realizes her mistake, and Hermione finds out how Rita Skeeter has been managing to get sensitive information from people. She threatens to expose Rita Skeeter as an Animagus if she doesn’t stop publishing lies about people.

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Hermione becomes a prefect along with Ron for Gryffindor. She acknowledges the lack of proper Defence Against the Dark Arts training due to interference by the Ministry after Harry claimed that Voldemort has returned. Hermione, along with Ron persuades and convinces Harry to start teaching defensive spells and other advanced magic to students who are willing to learn them. This is what leads to the creation of Dumbledore’s Army. They decide to hold their meetings in the Room of Requirement. Eventually, they are caught by Dolores Umbridge and the Inquisitorial Squad, but Albus Dumbledore defends them and claims falsely that he instructed them to build this group.

Finally, Harry tries to contact the Order of Phoenix from Umbridge’s office, and they are all caught. Hermione comes up with a clever plan to get them out of there and takes Umbridge to the Forbidden Forest in the pretense of showing her a weapon, only to unleash Grawp, Hagrid’s giant half-brother, on her. Eventually, some centaurs appear and are abused verbally by Umbridge, which enrages them. They take her away with them. Ginny Weasley curses Malfoy with the Bat-Bogey Hex, and Ron Weasley, Luna Lovegood, and Neville Longbottom escape as well. They together head to the Department of Mysteries, where the battle against the Death Eaters occurs. Also, Hermione gets an interview of Harry done by Rita Skeeter published in the Quibbler, thereby making the wizarding world finally come to terms with Harry’s claim that Voldemort has returned.

In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Hermione is invited to the Slug Club just like Harry, but Ron is not. This brings a slight disagreement and hurt feelings between Hermione and Ron. After Ron starts dating Lavender Brown, Hermione is a bit sad but still continues to be friends with Harry. She suggests to Harry that it is not a good idea to continue using the textbook that he found said to belong to the Half-Blood Prince and constantly researches who it might be. In the meantime, several attempts are made to kill Albus Dumbledore. During the second attempt, Ron accidentally drinks the oak-matured mead laced with poison that was actually meant for Dumbledore. He is saved when Harry uses his intelligence and places a Bezoar in his mouth. Ron is then rushed to the Hospital Wing. This is where Ron mutters Hermione’s name softly despite being unconscious, which eventually leads to Ron and Hermione getting together. Eventually, some Death Eaters enter Hogwarts and kill Dumbledore. Hermione valiantly battles several Death Eaters. Eventually, it is revealed that Professor Snape was, in fact, the Half-Blood Prince. It is also revealed that it is Snape who killed Albus Dumbledore.

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Hermione carries a small purse that is magically enlarged inside to carry a lot of books, several clothes for Hermione, Ron, and Harry, and several other essentials. They journey together through several places on a quest in search of Horcruxes created by Lord Voldemort. Eventually, they infiltrate the Ministry of Magic after they are told by Mundungus Fletcher that the Slytherin Locket that is a Horcrux is with Dolores Umbridge. On their way to Twelve Grimmauld Place, when escaping from the Ministry, Ron gets splinched during disapparition and they eventually end up in a forest. They regroup and head through the countryside of Britain. Eventually, a tussle breaks out between the three, and Ron abandons Hermione and Harry. They eventually decide to go seeking the Deathly Hallows and visit Harry’s parent’s graves in Godric’s Hollow, where they were killed on the Hallowe’en of 1981.

Ron then comes back around Christmas, and they are all caught by some snatchers and taken to Malfoy Manor. There, Bellatrix Lestrange tortures Hermione to reveal information about the Sword of Gryffindor in their possession. Eventually, Dobby saves them all and takes them away. The trio then goes to Gringotts Bank in disguise. Hermione takes the Polyjuice Potion to transform into Bellatrix Lestrange. They eventually get a Horcrux from there and escape on top of a dragon, according to Hermione’s sudden plan. When they reach Hogwarts, the Battle of Hogwarts breaks out, and several lives are lost, but in the end, Harry, Hermione, and Ron, with the help of the others, manage to vanquish the Dark Lord once and for all.

Hermione eventually passed out of Hogwarts and got a job in the Ministry of Magic. She married Ronald Weasley, with whom she had two children – Rose Granger-Weasley and Hugo Granger-Weasley. She initially worked in the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures but then started working in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, went on to become the Deputy Head of the department, and then finally became the Minister of Magic in 2019, as is shown in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Her Family

Hermione was born into a muggle family. Both her parents were dentists. They visit Diagon Alley with her in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Mr Weasley is very kind to them, and being the enthusiast of Muggles that he is, he engages them in constant conversation, asking them about their life. She was the only daughter of the pair of them. It is believed that Hermione had a decent and happy childhood and that she loved her parents a lot. A little bit of this is revealed in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and the eponymous movie adaptation of this book.

Hermione sets up camp in the Forest of Dean during their search for Horcruxes and claims that she used to visit this forest with her parents. In the movie adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Hermione removes all evidence of her existence in her house, including her childhood photographs, before leaving on the mission to hunt for Horcruxes. She also obliviates her parents so as to not cause them pain lest she never returns. After the Battle of Hogwarts, she is said to have eventually returned home and granted back her parents’ memories of her.

Her Intelligence

Hermione’s intelligence was quite legendary in all of Hogwarts. She seemed to grasp a lot of knowledge at a very early age and continued to read very advanced books, and showed interest in a wide variety of magical disciplines. Hermione spent most of her time reading in the library and expanding her knowledge. This helped the trio in most of their pursuits as Hermione came up with very ingenious and well-researched solutions to most of their problems. While these books are named after Harry Potter, and rightly so, for he is probably the bravest character in the entire series, it wouldn’t be far-fetched at all to see Hermione as the major protagonist of this series. 

She used her intelligence in some of the key moments in the series to very great effect. It was her who perfected Ron’s incantation of the Levitation Charm that finally saved them from the mountain troll. It was her timely research, despite being petrified, that gave away the Basilisk as the beast in the Chamber of Secrets and that it is traveling through pipes. Her ingenious use of the Time-Turner and the later advances in the time jump saved both the lives of Sirius Black and Buckbeak. Her foresight into the lack of proper Defense Against the Dark Arts classes due to Ministry interference led to the establishment of Dumbledore’s Army, which trained many students and helped them for the rest of their lives. The Horcruxes and the Deathly Hallows could never have been found if it weren’t for her constant attempts to locate them.

Hermione on Screen: Emma Watson

Auditions were held for the very sought-after role of Hermione Granger in the movie adaptations of the Harry Potter Series. Eventually, the role was bagged by British child actress Emma Watson. She proved to be a very good fit to play the character of Hermione Granger right from the first movie Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. She, along with Daniel Radcliffe as Harry and Rupert Grint as Ron, went on to play the role of the trio for all eight movies. J. K. Rowling claimed that she thought Emma Watson was very much like how she imagined Hermione Granger’s character was like.

Even the fans of the movies and the books seemed to really like Emma Watson’s portrayal of Hermione right from the first movie. Several positive reviews of the movies made special mentions of how well Emma Watson has brought the character of Hermione to life. Furthermore, despite considering leaving the franchise and not returning for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Watson reconsidered this decision and finally returned to complete the movie and the two others that followed it. Interestingly, Watson has claimed that the character of Hermione has been a significant influence on her, and like Hermione, Emma Watson, too, has been a very active Human Rights representative and an activist for several causes.

Empathy

Hermione is probably one of the most empathetic characters in the series. While not clearly discussed anywhere in the books specifically, Hermione’s empathy is obvious from the very beginning of the series. Her first appearance in the book series is when she is trying to help Neville find his toad, Trevor. She continues to be a very empathetic person, as is illustrated by her hiding the fact that Remus Lupin is a werewolf despite knowing it quite early. Hermione also starts an entire organization called S.P.E.W. after she sees the ill-treatment of the house-elf Winky by her master Barty Crouch during the Quidditch World Cup. She continues to fight for elf rights throughout the book series. Hermione also explains to Harry and Ron how difficult it must be for Cho Chang to try to be with Harry, especially after the death of Cedric Diggory. Ron is surprised by her ability to grasp these subtleties. 

Sorting Hat’s Opinion

The Sorting Hat placed Hermione in Gryffindor after taking some time to decide where she should be sorted. However, it is later revealed that the hat did ask Hermione if she wanted to go to Ravenclaw, but Hermione preferred Gryffindor, and therefore, the hat sorted her into Gryffindor. Although Hermione is probably the brightest witch of her age, and Ravenclaw would have been an obvious choice for her talent and skills, the Sorting Hat decided to value Hermione’s opinion over its own as to what would be a good house to put Hermione in. This turned out quite well in the end as, if it weren’t for Hermione, Harry and Ron would probably have a very difficult time figuring out most of the details that were needed in their adventures.

Being Petrified

Hermione was one of the many Muggle-born students studying at Hogwarts when the Chamber of Secrets was opened the second time, and sadly, the Basilisk tried to kill her too. However, being the genius that she is, she managed to carry a mirror with her once she figured out that the Basilisk was the beast in the Chamber of Secrets and that its very eyes, when seen directly, can cause death to the person seeing them. Hermione was petrified by the Basilisk, and a Quidditch match was canceled.

Harry and Ron were very sad about it and visited her in the hospital wing daily despite her being unresponsive. Eventually, one day after they had a dangerous adventure in the Forbidden Forest with Aragog and his relatives, they came back to visit Hermione and found a piece of paper in her hand, which was ripped off a library book about magical beasts. It was a page containing details of the Basilisk. She had also scribbled the word “pipes” into the sheet of paper which made it very easy for Harry and Ron to track down how the Basilisk moved inside the castle. Hermione was finally brought back into consciousness along with the others who had been petrified by using potions made out of mandrakes grown at Hogwarts.

Two Of Three Unforgivable Curses

An interesting event where Hermione got really emotional is when Mad-Eye Moody started his Defence Against the Dark Arts classes by demonstrating the Unforgivable Curses in front of the students. He used a spider to demonstrate the Imperius Curse and the Cruciatus Curse, at which point Neville seemed to look really agitated. Hermione realized that this was bothering Neville a lot and told Moody to stop. Moody stopped before demonstrating the final curse and eventually showed the killing curse as well. Eventually, it is found out that the reason that Neville was so agitated by Moody’s display of the Cruciatus Curse is that Neville’s parents were tortured by Barty Crouch Jr., Bellatrix Lestrange, and two other Death Eaters with the Cruciatus Curse. It is also found out that the Moody that demonstrated these curses is Barty Crouch Jr. in disguise, using the Polyjuice Potion to take Moody’s place. 

Hate Mail

In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Rita Skeeter starts publishing falsified stories about Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. She published an article in Witch Weekly called “Harry Potter’s Secret Heartache” which painted a very negative picture of Hermione, making it look like she was emotionally manipulating Harry. While Harry and Hermione have always been friends, this article was deliberately written to make Hermione look like a “bad person.” Eventually, a lot of hate mail started being sent to Hermione.

Several readers of Witch Weekly took offense after reading the article and started sending hate mail to Hermione. Letters included angry rants that claimed Hermione should leave Harry alone and that he has been through a lot and doesn’t need more pain from her. Other letters included Howlers and a package containing Bubotuber pus. Hermione was disheartened by these responses and ended up feeling very sad. Even Mrs Weasley came under the influence of this article and behaved a bit coldly towards Hermione until Harry pointed out that she was being silly.

Time Turner

One of the most advanced magical devices introduced in the Harry Potter series is the Time Turner. It is used by Hermione to take all of her classes in the third year, even though some of them are scheduled at the same time. She used it to go back in time and attend the classes she couldn’t take because she was busy with another class. She is entrusted with the Time Turner by Professor McGonagall, but since Dumbledore is aware of this, he suggests Hermione use the Time Turner to save Sirius’s life and also hints at the possibility of saving Buckbeak’s life. Hermione and Harry then go back in time and first prevent Buckbeak from getting executed by freeing him. Then, they go on to save Sirius from being given the Dementor’s Kiss and then make sure that he escapes with Buckbeak, away from Hogwarts. 

The Time Turner also is a major plot point in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. An illegal Time Turner is confiscated from the Death Eater Theodore Nott. Amos Diggory, the father of Cedric Diggory, then confronts Harry and asks him to go back in time and bring back Cedric alive. Harry’s son Albus, along with Malfoy’s son Scorpius go back in time with Delphi, who is later revealed to be Voldemort’s daughter, after they together steal the Time Turner from the Minister of Magic Hermione’s office. 

Hermione’s Cat, Crookshanks

At the beginning of her third year at Hogwarts, Ron, Harry, and Hermione go to a pet shop called Magical Menagerie to get some rat tonic for Ron’s pet rat Scabbers. There, a ginger furry cat jumps at Scabbers, thereby scaring him. Ron is furious at the cat, and he runs outside the shop to comfort Scabbers. Eventually, Hermione comes outside the shop with the cat in her hands. She names the cat Crookshanks. The cat continues to chase after Scabbers, and Hermione and Ron have constant tussles because of this. However, in the end, it is revealed that the reason Crookshanks was trying to attack Scabbers constantly was that he sensed that Scabbers was, in fact, Peter Pettigrew in his Animagus form. Crookshanks also helped Sirius Black constantly because he knew in his gut that Scabbers was somehow a bad rat.

Hermione really loved Crookshanks a lot, and Crookshanks was a very clever cat. He also saved Hermione and Harry from being mortally wounded by the blows of the Whomping Willow. Crookshanks had learned from Sirius Black (Padfoot) to press the right knot at the base of the Whomping Willow. Crookshanks also gained the love of Ron after he learned that it was his mistake to be angry at Crookshanks for chasing Scabbers. Ron asked for Crookshank’s approval when he got his new pet owl Pigwidgeon.

Hermione After Hogwarts

Hermione Granger was a star at Hogwarts. She was definitely the highest scoring student in all the exams, as was illustrated by her extraordinary performance. She had gotten eleven OWLs, out of which ten were Outstanding grades, and one was Exceeds Expectations. After being a crucial member of the Order of the Phoenix, hunting Horcruxes with the help of Harry and Ron, and defeating Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters, Hermione decided to go back to Hogwarts to complete her seventh year. After finishing her seventh year with outstanding grades, she joined the Ministry of Magic and became an employee in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. She worked there for a while and later became the Deputy Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, where she assisted the Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt in reforming the laws that were clearly in favor of pureblooded wizards and witches.

Hermione, Harry, and Ron were very important in establishing the new order after the death of Voldemort. They appeared on their own Chocolate Frogs. Hermione eventually married Ron, and they had two children – Rose Granger-Weasley and Hugo Granger-Weasley. Since Harry married Ginny Weasley, the trio were all related to each other by family.

Hermione went on to translate the Tales of Beedle the Bard from Ancient Runes to English, and it was published around 2008. She did it with the copy she inherited from Albus Dumbledore when he died in 1997. 

Hermione was sworn in as the Minister of Magic after her role as Deputy Head of Magical Law Enforcement. Ron went on to lead a quieter life by managing the Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes with his brother George.

In Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, we see Hermione as the Minister, and she plays an important role in the capture of Theodore Nott and confiscating his illegal Time Turner. However, Albus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy, and Delphini steal the Time Turner from Hermione’s office and go back in time to save Cedric. In each of their time traveling pursuits, we come across alternate realities in which we encounter different versions of Hermione. 

In one of them, Hermione is a professor at Hogwarts and Ron is married to Padma Patil. In another version, Hermione is a fierce warrior and one of the only remaining rebels in the fight against the Augurey, who rule the world after Harry Potter’s death. 

Finally, the Minister of Magic, Hermione, along with Harry, Ginny, Draco, and Ron, catch Delphini, the daughter of Voldemort, and prevent her from causing any harm to the actual timeline.

Hermione and Prodigies

Hermione Granger is what many people in the muggle world call a prodigy. A prodigy is a child who is exceptionally good at something or extremely intelligent for their age. In the muggle world, there have been a lot of child prodigies who have done exceptional things and displayed their talents in a broad spectrum of disciplines. Some of the prodigies happen to have an exceptional IQ and tend to be geniuses in their respective fields. Examples of prodigies in the real world include Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Judit Polgár, Kim Ung Yong, and Terence Tao. Hermione, like these prodigies in the real world, seemed to have a great grasp on her field of interest – Magic.

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