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P L A Y E R I N F O R M A T I O N
Your Name: Melissa
OOC Journal:![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
awarewolf
Under 18? If yes, what is your age?: No
Email + IM: loupgarude @ gmail + lycantropes
Characters Played at Ataraxion: Hook, Fitz
C H A R A C T E R I N F O R M A T I O N
Name: Hermione Granger
Canon: Harry Potter (novels)
Original or Alternate Universe: Original
Canon Point: Mid-"Deathly Hallows", after the trio's capture by Death Eaters and following Hermione's torture by Bellatrix Lestrange.
Number: RNG!
Setting: The world of Harry Potter runs parallel to our own, containing all of our modern history and politics — and beyond that, the wizarding world. Wizarding culture flourishes in secrecy; it has its own government, its own financial system, its own schools, and of course its own vast history. A core part of this history is the tenuous relationship between those with magic and those without, and how exactly to navigate the non-magical (or Muggle) world without upsetting the balance. Political upheaval is common in the wizarding world and often trickles over into the non-magical, and for the past generation, it's been defined by the actions of Tom Riddle (or Lord Voldemort), a purist intent on wizard supremacy.
The main setting is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which is broken up into four houses defined by a person's key traits: Gryffindor (Hermione's house), Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Potions classes and time travel (within reason) are all standard fare in Hermione's world, although her non-magical background does give her an advantage — unlike those born into magical families, she's not completely oblivious when it comes to Muggle technology and culture.
History:
Born on 19 September 1979 to married, Muggle dentists, Hermione spent the first eleven years of her life unaware of the magical world. When she was informed of her witch status and invited to attend Hogwarts, her parents adapted well to the idea, and they've since delved into the wizarding world in order to support their daughter. Hermione crossed paths with her fellow students Harry Potter and Ron Weasley on the train to attend their first year at Hogwarts, and following a series of complicated (and often unfortunate) events, the three would become fast friends.
Initially, Hermione proves too studious and aloof to mesh well with the two boys. When the two of them rescue her from a troll that's gotten loose in the school, however, she lies in order to keep them out of detention. This earns their trust, and they ultimately come to respect her brilliant mind as it often gives them an advantage when it comes to causing trouble and solving the school's many mysteries. During her first year, Hermione begins to engage her intellect for the sake of risky, heroic acts, solving puzzles that lead to powerful magical items and defeating obstacles with precise spellcasting. It's thanks to her keen observational skills that the trio discovers the titular Philosopher's Stone of the first book, allowing Harry to steal it out from under our villain, Lord Voldemort's, non-existent nose.
During the summer between first and second year, Hermione wrote several letters to her new friends; she, Harry and Ron already shared a very close bond, and she was obviously intent on maintaining it. Her letters were intercepted by a house elf named Dobby who wanted Harry to believe his friends had forgotten him so he'd be disinclined to return to Hogwarts, but she rightly assumes fishy business rather than thinking she's being snubbed. Her second year at Hogwarts is largely dominated by a new awareness of wizard prejudice against Muggles (non-wizarding folk) — and, by stark contrast, a somewhat childish crush on new professor (and wizard celebrity) Gilderoy Lockhart.
She's embarrassed when Professor Lockhart is revealed to be a fraud, but ultimately she has far more important things to deal with. On Hallowe'en, the caretaker's cat is discovered in one of the corridors, petrified. Above the cat's body is a message that says "the Chamber of Secrets has been re-opened". Hermione immediately devotes herself to learning everything she can about the ominous Chamber, only to find every book on the topic has already been removed from the library. She eventually asks the history professor for insight, and he explains that the founder of Slytherin, Salazar Slytherin, was said to have created a secret chamber containing a horrible monster that targeted Muggle-borns. Salazar believed that the purity of wizard bloodlines should be maintained and that Muggle-borns, like Hermione, should not be allowed into Hogwarts; he was overruled, and so the Chamber was his way of getting even.
Hermione was waylaid from further adventures by an unfortunate potions accident, and after her recovery she was bedridden a second time, petrified by the monster hiding in the school's walls. Before she was petrified, however, she figured out the monster's secret — it was a Basilisk, and it was travelling through the school via pipes in the walls. This information helped them to locate the Chamber and destroy an old diary belonging to Lord Voldemort, and an important tool in his attempted return to power.
Hermione's third year at Hogwarts begins with her adoption of a grumpy orange cat named Crookshanks. Not just any cat, he's part Kneazle — meaning he's weirdly intelligent, fiercely loyal to certain individuals, and fiercely distrustful of others. Mostly, he's grumpy. Upon her arrival at Hogwarts, her desire to take far more classes than humanly possible was resolved by Professor McGonagall, who gave Hermione a Time-Turner so that she could essentially attend two classes at once; attend one, turn back time, and then attend a second.
She fell out with both Harry and Ron at various points during the year. In Harry's case, it was because she found Harry's receiving a very expensive broomstick as an anonymous gift suspicious, and reported it to McGonagall. In Ron's case, it was due to his rat, Scabbers, going missing; he assumed Crookshanks had eaten the rodent. In order to get through these rough patches she focused on the plight of one of Hagrid's magical creatures, a hippogriff named Buckbeak, who had been put on trial after (justifiably) attacking another student named Draco Malfoy. She also found distraction in her Defense Against the Dark Arts course, stating that their current teacher, Professor Remus Lupin, was one of the best she'd ever had.
Things got complicated when Hermione realised Lupin was a werewolf, in part due to Professor Snape's manipulations. She didn't expose him outright, likely because of her respect for him as a teacher and due to her firm dislike of prejudice within the wizarding community. Things get even more complicated when the trio winds up getting dragged into the prior generation's drama at the Shrieking Shack, a dilapidated cabin outside of Hogsmeade. There, they discover that Sirius Black, a known dangerous fugitive, is alive; that Scabbers is also alive, and is actually a man named Peter Pettrigrew; and that Remus Lupin is, indeed, a werewolf. It's revealed that the three adults had been close friends with Harry's parents, but Peter had fallen to Voldemort's influence and betrayed James and Lily Potter. Sirius discovered this betrayal and attacked Peter, and when Peter went into hiding as Scabbers, Sirius was blamed for both Peter's death and for turning the Potters over to Lord Voldemort.
Following this series of revelations, the trio are confronted with Lupin's transformation into a werewolf. Snape appears from nowhere and protects them, but in the process of fleeing, they're intercepted by a group of Dementors — terrifying, soul-sucking guards from the wizard prison. Hermione is unable to defend herself against the powerful creatures and passes out, as does Sirius. Harry's attempt to protect the three of them fails, but they're saved at the last moment by a mysterious figure.
The year wraps up with a quick rewind, literally. Following a super vague hint dropped by the head of the school, Dumbledore, Hermione uses her Time-Turner to travel to earlier that same evening. While in the past, she and Harry manage to rescue Buckbeak from execution, as well as Sirius, and Harry himself turns out to be the mysterious savior in the encounter with the Dementors. Although the Time-Turner was used for good, Hermione decides that it's far too dangerous and complex a tool to be responsible for and returns it to Professor McGonagall.
During her fourth year, Hermione's big project is the liberation of the house-elves, a race of magical creatures that have been diminished to a life defined by servitude to wizards. She founds the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare (S.P.E.W.) and speaks passionately on behalf of elfish rights, much to the annoyance of the majority of her fellow students (and, in many cases, the house-elves themselves). When Harry's name is inexplicably drawn from the Goblet of Fire, thus making him a candidate for glory in the Triwizard Tournament, he's met with attacks and accusations of cheating on all fronts. Hermione, however, never doubts his word, believing that there's some other explanation for the odd turn of events.
She's also dragged into relationship drama, thanks to the romantic attentions of one of the visiting Triwizard competitors, Viktor Krum. She attends a ball as his date and becomes the topic of many school and wizard-world rumors regarding Harry, all of which culminate in inspiring Ron's jealousy. She and Ron have a few rows throughout the year, but they of course manage to overcome them in the face of more serious problems. Hermione also manages to put a cunning and manipulative reporter out of business by discovering that she's an unregistered Animagus (capable of taking an animal form), a skill that the reporter often used to spy on wizards for her stories. The reporter, Rita Skeeter, is temporarily blackmailed into silence by Hermione.
During Hermione's fifth year, things start to get really real. During the Triwizard cup the previous year, a student named Cedric Diggory had been killed by Lord Voldemort. The Ministry of Magic refused to buy Harry's story, however, claiming that both he and anyone who supported him were mad. This skepticism remains alive and well at Hogwarts, but Hermione and Ron have Harry's back and insist that they believe him. She's also busy with her newly-earned position as Gryffindor prefect, and with her continued devotion to the cause of house elf freedom. Despite everything that's going on, she still makes time to knit the elves socks (which they don't appreciate, but she means well, anyway).
Hermione quickly realises that Ministry politics have infected Hogwarts, and that they've begun placing professors at the school in order to monitor and control the pulse of the student population. Their primary plant, Dolores Umbridge, is made the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher despite her lack of qualifications. She refuses to teach the students useful skills, asserting that they have no need for practical defense. Refusing to leave her fellow students without a means to defend themselves, Hermione founds Dumbledore's Army along with Harry and Ron. The purpose is to create a secret, safe space in which students can learn and practice defensive spells. With the aid of Dumbledore's Army, Hermione and many other students add a good number of incredibly useful spells to their skillsets.
She fights tirelessly to protect her fellow students and to bring awareness to the wizarding community, arranging for Harry to give an interview in The Quibbler that counteracts the slander being built against him. Harry is later led to the Ministry of Magic by a vision that tells him his godfather, Sirius Black, is in danger. Hermione suspects it's a trap, but she of course accompanies Harry to the Ministry anyway. Once there, her suspicions are proven correct. She and a team of her fellow classmates, all members of Dumbledore's Army, are then ambushed by Death Eaters (Voldemort's followers). The students manage to make it out alive, but Sirius Black is lost in the ensuing battle.
Sixth year brings about a lot of Ron drama. Basically, Hermione realises she likes Ron; Ron remains oblivious, and dates someone else. Or maybe he isn't oblivious, but he's feeling petty and is a bit of a jerk about it. Either way, Hermione spends a large portion of the year distracted by her interest in Ron and what she perceives to be low marks in some of her courses. Despite everything, she of course continues to excel in her coursework, mastering complex and dangerous spells such as Apparition. She also masters non-verbal magic, which is (predictably) the ability to cast spells without speaking the incantations aloud. By the end of the year, both Hermione and Ron get over their jealousy and reconcile their close friendship, though neither of them take the risk of asking for something more.
Relationship drama aside, the usual magical trouble is brewing at Hogwarts. She's kept apprised of Voldemort's tactics via Harry, who reports back to her and Ron on his meetings with Dumbledore regarding Voldemort's Horcruxes (soul pieces, basically). Although she's remained faithful to Harry through thick and thin, she finally finds herself skeptical when he starts accusing Draco Malfoy of being up to some truly evil business. This isn't based on her doubting Harry's word in general, but on his longstanding antagonistic relationship with Draco, as well as the belief that Draco is all bark and no bite and can't possibly have the talent to cause real trouble. She's proven wrong when Draco creates an opening for Death Eaters to enter Hogwarts and attack Dumbledore. Dumbledore is killed in the aftermath of their arrival.
Following Dumbledore's death, Harry decides to drop out of Hogwarts and find the remaining Horcruxes so that he can defeat Voldemort once and for all. Still reeling from the loss of their headmaster and with their faith in Harry's mission renewed, both Hermione and Ron vow to follow him. Before exiting the school, Hermione takes Dumbledore's research on the Horcruxes from his office. She also visits her parents in order to remove their memories of her entirely and give them new identities, hoping that in doing so she'll keep them safe from death or worse at the hands of her and Harry's enemies.
She then embarks on a long quest to seek out the Horcruxes with Harry and Ron. Hermione joins the Order of the Phoenix so that she can better protect Harry, and participates in battles against Death Eaters with the other members of the Order. The trio enjoys the small distractions of gifts handed down from Dumbledore and a wedding at the Weasley's, but the wedding is interrupted by news that the Ministry of Magic has been taken by the Death Eaters. More encounters with Death Eaters follow, but the trio manages to outfight and outsmart them before fleeing. They also manage to sneak into the fully corrupted Ministry and steal one of the horcruxes, Tom Riddle's mother's locket.
Despite successfully stealing the locket, the trio struggles in the wake of its negative magical energy. It drives them to arguments and unhappiness, and eventually Ron abandons them, accusing Harry of misleading them and accusing Hermione of choosing Harry over him. She's badly hurt by Ron's decision to leave them, and struggles to stay focused in the face of her grief. With Harry's support, however, she continues on, and manages to save Harry's life when the pair are attacked by Nagini, Voldemort's giant snake. After their narrow escape from the attack, they're reunited with Ron in the Forest of Dean. Ron saves Harry's life and destroys the locket Horcrux, then Hermione has it out with him for ditching them. Although clearly still upset, she does eventually let go of her anger and the trio begins to work together in earnest.
Later, Harry makes a mistake that allows a group of Death Eaters to track the trio down and capture them. They're brought back to Malfoy Manor and handed over to Bellatrix Lestrange, one of Voldemort's more enthusiastic and less stable followers, who immediately panicks at the realisation that the trio has been gaining ground. She separates Hermione from the others and begins to ruthlessly torture her by using the Cruciatus Curse, one of three Unforgivable Curses. The spell doesn't cause physical harm, but it does cause intense pain to the victim. Hermione resists the torture and lies to protect their mission, but she eventually passes out from the pain.
This is the point at which Hermione will arrive on the Tranquility, prior to the final battles of the war and the resolution of Voldemort's fate.
Personality:
Hermione's cleverness is her most obvious trait, though it's actually far from her strongest (more on that soon!). The books are littered with comments from fellow peers and wizards on her knack for magic, and many seem to agree that she's the "brightest witch of her age". Indeed, Hermione takes to nearly every subject with speed and skill, devoting herself to her studies and, often, to the efforts of encouraging similar enthusiasm in her peers. She's one of the first to master complex talents such as Apparition and non-verbal magic, and she's also very good at observation and piecing together clues. She's the only student to realise that Remus Lupin is a werewolf, she's the one who realises where the Philosopher's Stone is hidden, and she's also able to navigate the infinitely complicated rules of time travel without causing serious damage to the timeline.
It's clear that Hermione has always excelled, even prior to her introduction to the wizarding world; as soon as she's told she's a witch, it's simply in her nature to excel at that, too. She embraces wizarding culture with the utmost respect and absolutely no skepticism. Despite being as new to it as Harry is, she seems to be an expert from day one and takes the things he seems very surprised by — ghosts, for one — well in stride. This is no doubt because she's done plenty of revision prior to showing up at Hogwarts, and has already been thoroughly introduced to wizard culture by way of textbooks and histories.
Hermione's personality is an interesting mixture of kindness, logic and determination, all of which combine to make her a fierce and loyal ally. When Harry and Ron save Hermione from a rampaging troll during her first year, for example, Hermione's quick decision to lie and cover for Harry and Ron's actions is the first of many examples of the way she balances her respect for rules with her respect for others. While she understands where the rules come from and knows they serve an important purpose, she also knows they're subjective, and she trusts that she's logical enough to determine when the greater good takes priority.
This is seen again when she mistakenly assumes Professor Snape is jinxing Harry's broom during a Quidditch match and sets his robes on fire to distract him. Setting a professor's robes on fire isn't exactly Teacher's Pet material, even if it is the least popular professor, but she does it without hesitation in order to protect Harry. When her friend Hagrid discovers a dragon egg, she helps raise it in secret and then smuggles it out of Hogwarts and into the care of a trusted dragon trainer. This is one of the first signs of her deep interest in magical races and species and confronting the prejudices against them; it's basically like taking care of a pitbull puppy in a state that's outlawed pitbulls. It makes perfect sense to her, and she doesn't hesitate to protect the innocent creature and deliver it to someone who knows how to care for it properly.
Her later obsession with saving the house-elves is an exaggeration of this interest, and her commitment to the cause is deeply rooted in her desire to see them released from servitude. It's also an example of her tendency to throw herself into work (or a cause) when her personal life isn't going the way she'd like. Whenever she has a falling out with Ron or Harry, Hermione buries her head in her books. It's easier for her to throw her energies into her studies or into caring about others than it is for her to confront her own feelings, and in a lot of ways Hermione can be a very stoic individual — fretting about cruelty towards others is a valid use of her time, but fretting about her own well-being isn't.
This makes her both incredibly reserved and, conversely, incredibly warm. She tends to be open in her affections towards her friends and open in her sympathy towards others, and this usually goes a great way in counteracting the aloof presence her bookish nature sometimes warrants. When it comes to far deeper emotions, however, she does struggle to express herself. She fails to express her feelings for Ron clearly until well after she's realised them herself, and as a result they leak out in the form of a confusing mix of jealousy, worry and anger. Despite her inability to express her feelings, she has zero problem stating her opinions. This makes her both a fierce advocate for causes she believes in and, at times, slightly tactless. Her love of logic also means she has little patience for things that are exceedingly abstract — her dislike of Divination is a prime example of this, though it was likely expounded by her professor's declaration that she was terrible at it.
In some ways, Hermione is set apart from her friends by her "Mudblood" status. The child of two non-magical parents, Hermione deals with discrimination fairly regularly within the wizarding community, even though it isn't something that's officially endorsed by the Ministry or the school. Students like Draco Malfoy and his pureblood ilk fling insults her way, and she's no doubt read a great deal about the wizarding world's complex history with non-magical folk. Although the sane wizarding world condemns such prejudice, it remains a troubling and persistent presence. Hermione copes with an awareness of this prejudice largely in silence, and it isn't until it's brought to the forefront by violent attacks or discussions of oppression that she speaks out on it. The depth of her awareness is pointed out much later in the books, when she equates the status of Muggle-born wizards to the status of goblins and elves, both of which are considered less-than-human.
In addition to her tendency to keep her problems under lock and key, Hermione has a tendency to take on too much responsibility. Her use of the time-turner to take an insane number of classes at once is a prime example, and even she ends up frazzled by the attempt. The downside of her intelligence is that she can come across as a complete know-it-all when she isn't careful to watch her tone, and at times she's outright stubborn and bossy. And, last but not least, she can be extremely argumentative. Her love of logic very occasionally causes her to miss the big picture. This doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's usually accompanied by an abrasive attitude. This stubbornness does come with some obvious perks; in the case of her Muggle-born status, it means she's extremely brave and confident in the face of bullying and prejudice, easily dismissing it as illogical bigotry. She's insanely brave, which shows through in both huge and small ways; she's quick to leap into the fray to defend others, and she's one of the first to follow Harry's lead in using Voldemort's true name, thus dispelling the power it holds over the wizarding community.
At the end of the day, Hermione is a shockingly well-adjusted young witch. It's shown that her parents were endlessly loving and supportive of their daughter, and she obviously takes great strength from her upbringing. It's possible that her desire to do well at Hogwarts is in part fueled by the desire to disprove the notion of Muggle-born inadequacy, but that's probably just icing on the cake of her natural inclination towards perfectionism. On the surface, Hermione trusts herself and her abilities, so much so that she doesn't hesitate to take on very heavy responsibilities throughout her Hogwarts career (using the time-turner is one example, but engaging in movements like Dumbledore's Army drive the point home). There are limits to her confidence, however, as seen by the fact that her greatest fear is a failing grade — she has very high expectations for herself and can drive herself to stress in trying to reach them.
Her determination is her true strength, and it's what sees her through in both her academic efforts and her extra-curricular adventures. It's the reason she's such a steadfast friend to Harry and Ron, and it's what makes her such a valuable fighter in the war against Voldemort.
Abilities, Weaknesses and Power Limitations: Hermione is a witch, meaning she can cast all sorts of spells and has an expansive knowledge of magical history, creatures and potions. She excels in pretty much all aspects of magic (minus Divination, which she's crap at). She's also recently mastered the skill of non-verbal magic, meaning she can cast spells without speaking the incantations. There are a hideous number of spells, most of which are listed here.
That said, she's obviously at the whims of the ship. I'll follow castmates' leads in terms of what's possible on the ship and what isn't, although it's rare that her spell use will go beyond the harmless (fixing a pair of glasses) or the basic defensive spells that she'd use in combat. Anything potentially game-breaky would be discussed with mods before use.
Inventory:
Age: 18, a few months from turning 19.
S A M P L E S
Log Sample:
This isn't Hermione's first experience with fiction climbing off of pages and insinuating itself, very firmly, into her life. Being informed that she was a witch opened up an entirely new reality, and objectively speaking, arriving on the Tranquility had done the same. But where her invitation to Hogwarts had meant magic and charming shoppes and professors who could turn into cats, waking up on the ship meant cold walls and bloody noses and several very good examples of why time-travel was so strictly regulated: Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, hardly a few years her seniors.
It takes time for her to trust herself to speak to them, at all. She follows up polite introductions and startling revelations with subtle avoidance, belligerently steering any interaction that comes up towards discussion of the ship's mysteries. Incredibly relevant and worthwhile and yet exceedingly impersonal, in some ways; or in the important ways, at least. She thinks Sirius knows what happens, based on what she's gleaned from his sarcastic remarks, but that doesn't mean she wants to carry the weight of confronting it one-on-one.
But as the old saying goes, it takes one to know one. Hermione avoids Remus and Sirius and Harry avoids her, if in slightly different ways. He's a little bit hesitant and halting and quiet, which isn't overly strange, but it's as if he's always on the verge of saying something — waiting to be pushed gently over the edge, waiting for a prompt. Waiting for her to ask what happens next.
She doesn't want to know. She wants to know more than anything. It depends on the time of day, honestly. It depends on whatever micro-expression she's decided she's read on Harry's face that minute, whether she thinks it means it's okay or he's just pretending it is, that there's a weight on his shoulders he's as desperate to both share and avoid sharing as she is with Sirius. But he can't avoid her in the same way she does the others, because she doesn't let him. And, of course, because she seriously doubts he wants to.
You don't meddle with timelines, and knowing your own future is the definition of meddling. In the face of doubt, Hermione leans towards rules that she's not sure remotely apply when they're all stranded here. She's not sure Harry agrees with the choice, but he's respecting it — for now. It's easier to focus on what they both know, even if those things aren't themselves easy. They both know Malfoy Manor; they both know Bellatrix Lestrange, and they both know that they miss Ron, desperately. None of these things are happy, but at least they're things they can carry together.
Comms Sample:
Linked with permission! Test drive thread one and two.
Your Name: Melissa
OOC Journal:
awarewolfUnder 18? If yes, what is your age?: No
Email + IM: loupgarude @ gmail + lycantropes
Characters Played at Ataraxion: Hook, Fitz
C H A R A C T E R I N F O R M A T I O N
Name: Hermione Granger
Canon: Harry Potter (novels)
Original or Alternate Universe: Original
Canon Point: Mid-"Deathly Hallows", after the trio's capture by Death Eaters and following Hermione's torture by Bellatrix Lestrange.
Number: RNG!
Setting: The world of Harry Potter runs parallel to our own, containing all of our modern history and politics — and beyond that, the wizarding world. Wizarding culture flourishes in secrecy; it has its own government, its own financial system, its own schools, and of course its own vast history. A core part of this history is the tenuous relationship between those with magic and those without, and how exactly to navigate the non-magical (or Muggle) world without upsetting the balance. Political upheaval is common in the wizarding world and often trickles over into the non-magical, and for the past generation, it's been defined by the actions of Tom Riddle (or Lord Voldemort), a purist intent on wizard supremacy.
The main setting is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which is broken up into four houses defined by a person's key traits: Gryffindor (Hermione's house), Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Potions classes and time travel (within reason) are all standard fare in Hermione's world, although her non-magical background does give her an advantage — unlike those born into magical families, she's not completely oblivious when it comes to Muggle technology and culture.
History:
Born on 19 September 1979 to married, Muggle dentists, Hermione spent the first eleven years of her life unaware of the magical world. When she was informed of her witch status and invited to attend Hogwarts, her parents adapted well to the idea, and they've since delved into the wizarding world in order to support their daughter. Hermione crossed paths with her fellow students Harry Potter and Ron Weasley on the train to attend their first year at Hogwarts, and following a series of complicated (and often unfortunate) events, the three would become fast friends.
Initially, Hermione proves too studious and aloof to mesh well with the two boys. When the two of them rescue her from a troll that's gotten loose in the school, however, she lies in order to keep them out of detention. This earns their trust, and they ultimately come to respect her brilliant mind as it often gives them an advantage when it comes to causing trouble and solving the school's many mysteries. During her first year, Hermione begins to engage her intellect for the sake of risky, heroic acts, solving puzzles that lead to powerful magical items and defeating obstacles with precise spellcasting. It's thanks to her keen observational skills that the trio discovers the titular Philosopher's Stone of the first book, allowing Harry to steal it out from under our villain, Lord Voldemort's, non-existent nose.
During the summer between first and second year, Hermione wrote several letters to her new friends; she, Harry and Ron already shared a very close bond, and she was obviously intent on maintaining it. Her letters were intercepted by a house elf named Dobby who wanted Harry to believe his friends had forgotten him so he'd be disinclined to return to Hogwarts, but she rightly assumes fishy business rather than thinking she's being snubbed. Her second year at Hogwarts is largely dominated by a new awareness of wizard prejudice against Muggles (non-wizarding folk) — and, by stark contrast, a somewhat childish crush on new professor (and wizard celebrity) Gilderoy Lockhart.
She's embarrassed when Professor Lockhart is revealed to be a fraud, but ultimately she has far more important things to deal with. On Hallowe'en, the caretaker's cat is discovered in one of the corridors, petrified. Above the cat's body is a message that says "the Chamber of Secrets has been re-opened". Hermione immediately devotes herself to learning everything she can about the ominous Chamber, only to find every book on the topic has already been removed from the library. She eventually asks the history professor for insight, and he explains that the founder of Slytherin, Salazar Slytherin, was said to have created a secret chamber containing a horrible monster that targeted Muggle-borns. Salazar believed that the purity of wizard bloodlines should be maintained and that Muggle-borns, like Hermione, should not be allowed into Hogwarts; he was overruled, and so the Chamber was his way of getting even.
Hermione was waylaid from further adventures by an unfortunate potions accident, and after her recovery she was bedridden a second time, petrified by the monster hiding in the school's walls. Before she was petrified, however, she figured out the monster's secret — it was a Basilisk, and it was travelling through the school via pipes in the walls. This information helped them to locate the Chamber and destroy an old diary belonging to Lord Voldemort, and an important tool in his attempted return to power.
Hermione's third year at Hogwarts begins with her adoption of a grumpy orange cat named Crookshanks. Not just any cat, he's part Kneazle — meaning he's weirdly intelligent, fiercely loyal to certain individuals, and fiercely distrustful of others. Mostly, he's grumpy. Upon her arrival at Hogwarts, her desire to take far more classes than humanly possible was resolved by Professor McGonagall, who gave Hermione a Time-Turner so that she could essentially attend two classes at once; attend one, turn back time, and then attend a second.
She fell out with both Harry and Ron at various points during the year. In Harry's case, it was because she found Harry's receiving a very expensive broomstick as an anonymous gift suspicious, and reported it to McGonagall. In Ron's case, it was due to his rat, Scabbers, going missing; he assumed Crookshanks had eaten the rodent. In order to get through these rough patches she focused on the plight of one of Hagrid's magical creatures, a hippogriff named Buckbeak, who had been put on trial after (justifiably) attacking another student named Draco Malfoy. She also found distraction in her Defense Against the Dark Arts course, stating that their current teacher, Professor Remus Lupin, was one of the best she'd ever had.
Things got complicated when Hermione realised Lupin was a werewolf, in part due to Professor Snape's manipulations. She didn't expose him outright, likely because of her respect for him as a teacher and due to her firm dislike of prejudice within the wizarding community. Things get even more complicated when the trio winds up getting dragged into the prior generation's drama at the Shrieking Shack, a dilapidated cabin outside of Hogsmeade. There, they discover that Sirius Black, a known dangerous fugitive, is alive; that Scabbers is also alive, and is actually a man named Peter Pettrigrew; and that Remus Lupin is, indeed, a werewolf. It's revealed that the three adults had been close friends with Harry's parents, but Peter had fallen to Voldemort's influence and betrayed James and Lily Potter. Sirius discovered this betrayal and attacked Peter, and when Peter went into hiding as Scabbers, Sirius was blamed for both Peter's death and for turning the Potters over to Lord Voldemort.
Following this series of revelations, the trio are confronted with Lupin's transformation into a werewolf. Snape appears from nowhere and protects them, but in the process of fleeing, they're intercepted by a group of Dementors — terrifying, soul-sucking guards from the wizard prison. Hermione is unable to defend herself against the powerful creatures and passes out, as does Sirius. Harry's attempt to protect the three of them fails, but they're saved at the last moment by a mysterious figure.
The year wraps up with a quick rewind, literally. Following a super vague hint dropped by the head of the school, Dumbledore, Hermione uses her Time-Turner to travel to earlier that same evening. While in the past, she and Harry manage to rescue Buckbeak from execution, as well as Sirius, and Harry himself turns out to be the mysterious savior in the encounter with the Dementors. Although the Time-Turner was used for good, Hermione decides that it's far too dangerous and complex a tool to be responsible for and returns it to Professor McGonagall.
During her fourth year, Hermione's big project is the liberation of the house-elves, a race of magical creatures that have been diminished to a life defined by servitude to wizards. She founds the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare (S.P.E.W.) and speaks passionately on behalf of elfish rights, much to the annoyance of the majority of her fellow students (and, in many cases, the house-elves themselves). When Harry's name is inexplicably drawn from the Goblet of Fire, thus making him a candidate for glory in the Triwizard Tournament, he's met with attacks and accusations of cheating on all fronts. Hermione, however, never doubts his word, believing that there's some other explanation for the odd turn of events.
She's also dragged into relationship drama, thanks to the romantic attentions of one of the visiting Triwizard competitors, Viktor Krum. She attends a ball as his date and becomes the topic of many school and wizard-world rumors regarding Harry, all of which culminate in inspiring Ron's jealousy. She and Ron have a few rows throughout the year, but they of course manage to overcome them in the face of more serious problems. Hermione also manages to put a cunning and manipulative reporter out of business by discovering that she's an unregistered Animagus (capable of taking an animal form), a skill that the reporter often used to spy on wizards for her stories. The reporter, Rita Skeeter, is temporarily blackmailed into silence by Hermione.
During Hermione's fifth year, things start to get really real. During the Triwizard cup the previous year, a student named Cedric Diggory had been killed by Lord Voldemort. The Ministry of Magic refused to buy Harry's story, however, claiming that both he and anyone who supported him were mad. This skepticism remains alive and well at Hogwarts, but Hermione and Ron have Harry's back and insist that they believe him. She's also busy with her newly-earned position as Gryffindor prefect, and with her continued devotion to the cause of house elf freedom. Despite everything that's going on, she still makes time to knit the elves socks (which they don't appreciate, but she means well, anyway).
Hermione quickly realises that Ministry politics have infected Hogwarts, and that they've begun placing professors at the school in order to monitor and control the pulse of the student population. Their primary plant, Dolores Umbridge, is made the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher despite her lack of qualifications. She refuses to teach the students useful skills, asserting that they have no need for practical defense. Refusing to leave her fellow students without a means to defend themselves, Hermione founds Dumbledore's Army along with Harry and Ron. The purpose is to create a secret, safe space in which students can learn and practice defensive spells. With the aid of Dumbledore's Army, Hermione and many other students add a good number of incredibly useful spells to their skillsets.
She fights tirelessly to protect her fellow students and to bring awareness to the wizarding community, arranging for Harry to give an interview in The Quibbler that counteracts the slander being built against him. Harry is later led to the Ministry of Magic by a vision that tells him his godfather, Sirius Black, is in danger. Hermione suspects it's a trap, but she of course accompanies Harry to the Ministry anyway. Once there, her suspicions are proven correct. She and a team of her fellow classmates, all members of Dumbledore's Army, are then ambushed by Death Eaters (Voldemort's followers). The students manage to make it out alive, but Sirius Black is lost in the ensuing battle.
Sixth year brings about a lot of Ron drama. Basically, Hermione realises she likes Ron; Ron remains oblivious, and dates someone else. Or maybe he isn't oblivious, but he's feeling petty and is a bit of a jerk about it. Either way, Hermione spends a large portion of the year distracted by her interest in Ron and what she perceives to be low marks in some of her courses. Despite everything, she of course continues to excel in her coursework, mastering complex and dangerous spells such as Apparition. She also masters non-verbal magic, which is (predictably) the ability to cast spells without speaking the incantations aloud. By the end of the year, both Hermione and Ron get over their jealousy and reconcile their close friendship, though neither of them take the risk of asking for something more.
Relationship drama aside, the usual magical trouble is brewing at Hogwarts. She's kept apprised of Voldemort's tactics via Harry, who reports back to her and Ron on his meetings with Dumbledore regarding Voldemort's Horcruxes (soul pieces, basically). Although she's remained faithful to Harry through thick and thin, she finally finds herself skeptical when he starts accusing Draco Malfoy of being up to some truly evil business. This isn't based on her doubting Harry's word in general, but on his longstanding antagonistic relationship with Draco, as well as the belief that Draco is all bark and no bite and can't possibly have the talent to cause real trouble. She's proven wrong when Draco creates an opening for Death Eaters to enter Hogwarts and attack Dumbledore. Dumbledore is killed in the aftermath of their arrival.
Following Dumbledore's death, Harry decides to drop out of Hogwarts and find the remaining Horcruxes so that he can defeat Voldemort once and for all. Still reeling from the loss of their headmaster and with their faith in Harry's mission renewed, both Hermione and Ron vow to follow him. Before exiting the school, Hermione takes Dumbledore's research on the Horcruxes from his office. She also visits her parents in order to remove their memories of her entirely and give them new identities, hoping that in doing so she'll keep them safe from death or worse at the hands of her and Harry's enemies.
She then embarks on a long quest to seek out the Horcruxes with Harry and Ron. Hermione joins the Order of the Phoenix so that she can better protect Harry, and participates in battles against Death Eaters with the other members of the Order. The trio enjoys the small distractions of gifts handed down from Dumbledore and a wedding at the Weasley's, but the wedding is interrupted by news that the Ministry of Magic has been taken by the Death Eaters. More encounters with Death Eaters follow, but the trio manages to outfight and outsmart them before fleeing. They also manage to sneak into the fully corrupted Ministry and steal one of the horcruxes, Tom Riddle's mother's locket.
Despite successfully stealing the locket, the trio struggles in the wake of its negative magical energy. It drives them to arguments and unhappiness, and eventually Ron abandons them, accusing Harry of misleading them and accusing Hermione of choosing Harry over him. She's badly hurt by Ron's decision to leave them, and struggles to stay focused in the face of her grief. With Harry's support, however, she continues on, and manages to save Harry's life when the pair are attacked by Nagini, Voldemort's giant snake. After their narrow escape from the attack, they're reunited with Ron in the Forest of Dean. Ron saves Harry's life and destroys the locket Horcrux, then Hermione has it out with him for ditching them. Although clearly still upset, she does eventually let go of her anger and the trio begins to work together in earnest.
Later, Harry makes a mistake that allows a group of Death Eaters to track the trio down and capture them. They're brought back to Malfoy Manor and handed over to Bellatrix Lestrange, one of Voldemort's more enthusiastic and less stable followers, who immediately panicks at the realisation that the trio has been gaining ground. She separates Hermione from the others and begins to ruthlessly torture her by using the Cruciatus Curse, one of three Unforgivable Curses. The spell doesn't cause physical harm, but it does cause intense pain to the victim. Hermione resists the torture and lies to protect their mission, but she eventually passes out from the pain.
This is the point at which Hermione will arrive on the Tranquility, prior to the final battles of the war and the resolution of Voldemort's fate.
Personality:
Hermione's cleverness is her most obvious trait, though it's actually far from her strongest (more on that soon!). The books are littered with comments from fellow peers and wizards on her knack for magic, and many seem to agree that she's the "brightest witch of her age". Indeed, Hermione takes to nearly every subject with speed and skill, devoting herself to her studies and, often, to the efforts of encouraging similar enthusiasm in her peers. She's one of the first to master complex talents such as Apparition and non-verbal magic, and she's also very good at observation and piecing together clues. She's the only student to realise that Remus Lupin is a werewolf, she's the one who realises where the Philosopher's Stone is hidden, and she's also able to navigate the infinitely complicated rules of time travel without causing serious damage to the timeline.
It's clear that Hermione has always excelled, even prior to her introduction to the wizarding world; as soon as she's told she's a witch, it's simply in her nature to excel at that, too. She embraces wizarding culture with the utmost respect and absolutely no skepticism. Despite being as new to it as Harry is, she seems to be an expert from day one and takes the things he seems very surprised by — ghosts, for one — well in stride. This is no doubt because she's done plenty of revision prior to showing up at Hogwarts, and has already been thoroughly introduced to wizard culture by way of textbooks and histories.
Hermione's personality is an interesting mixture of kindness, logic and determination, all of which combine to make her a fierce and loyal ally. When Harry and Ron save Hermione from a rampaging troll during her first year, for example, Hermione's quick decision to lie and cover for Harry and Ron's actions is the first of many examples of the way she balances her respect for rules with her respect for others. While she understands where the rules come from and knows they serve an important purpose, she also knows they're subjective, and she trusts that she's logical enough to determine when the greater good takes priority.
This is seen again when she mistakenly assumes Professor Snape is jinxing Harry's broom during a Quidditch match and sets his robes on fire to distract him. Setting a professor's robes on fire isn't exactly Teacher's Pet material, even if it is the least popular professor, but she does it without hesitation in order to protect Harry. When her friend Hagrid discovers a dragon egg, she helps raise it in secret and then smuggles it out of Hogwarts and into the care of a trusted dragon trainer. This is one of the first signs of her deep interest in magical races and species and confronting the prejudices against them; it's basically like taking care of a pitbull puppy in a state that's outlawed pitbulls. It makes perfect sense to her, and she doesn't hesitate to protect the innocent creature and deliver it to someone who knows how to care for it properly.
Her later obsession with saving the house-elves is an exaggeration of this interest, and her commitment to the cause is deeply rooted in her desire to see them released from servitude. It's also an example of her tendency to throw herself into work (or a cause) when her personal life isn't going the way she'd like. Whenever she has a falling out with Ron or Harry, Hermione buries her head in her books. It's easier for her to throw her energies into her studies or into caring about others than it is for her to confront her own feelings, and in a lot of ways Hermione can be a very stoic individual — fretting about cruelty towards others is a valid use of her time, but fretting about her own well-being isn't.
This makes her both incredibly reserved and, conversely, incredibly warm. She tends to be open in her affections towards her friends and open in her sympathy towards others, and this usually goes a great way in counteracting the aloof presence her bookish nature sometimes warrants. When it comes to far deeper emotions, however, she does struggle to express herself. She fails to express her feelings for Ron clearly until well after she's realised them herself, and as a result they leak out in the form of a confusing mix of jealousy, worry and anger. Despite her inability to express her feelings, she has zero problem stating her opinions. This makes her both a fierce advocate for causes she believes in and, at times, slightly tactless. Her love of logic also means she has little patience for things that are exceedingly abstract — her dislike of Divination is a prime example of this, though it was likely expounded by her professor's declaration that she was terrible at it.
In some ways, Hermione is set apart from her friends by her "Mudblood" status. The child of two non-magical parents, Hermione deals with discrimination fairly regularly within the wizarding community, even though it isn't something that's officially endorsed by the Ministry or the school. Students like Draco Malfoy and his pureblood ilk fling insults her way, and she's no doubt read a great deal about the wizarding world's complex history with non-magical folk. Although the sane wizarding world condemns such prejudice, it remains a troubling and persistent presence. Hermione copes with an awareness of this prejudice largely in silence, and it isn't until it's brought to the forefront by violent attacks or discussions of oppression that she speaks out on it. The depth of her awareness is pointed out much later in the books, when she equates the status of Muggle-born wizards to the status of goblins and elves, both of which are considered less-than-human.
In addition to her tendency to keep her problems under lock and key, Hermione has a tendency to take on too much responsibility. Her use of the time-turner to take an insane number of classes at once is a prime example, and even she ends up frazzled by the attempt. The downside of her intelligence is that she can come across as a complete know-it-all when she isn't careful to watch her tone, and at times she's outright stubborn and bossy. And, last but not least, she can be extremely argumentative. Her love of logic very occasionally causes her to miss the big picture. This doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's usually accompanied by an abrasive attitude. This stubbornness does come with some obvious perks; in the case of her Muggle-born status, it means she's extremely brave and confident in the face of bullying and prejudice, easily dismissing it as illogical bigotry. She's insanely brave, which shows through in both huge and small ways; she's quick to leap into the fray to defend others, and she's one of the first to follow Harry's lead in using Voldemort's true name, thus dispelling the power it holds over the wizarding community.
At the end of the day, Hermione is a shockingly well-adjusted young witch. It's shown that her parents were endlessly loving and supportive of their daughter, and she obviously takes great strength from her upbringing. It's possible that her desire to do well at Hogwarts is in part fueled by the desire to disprove the notion of Muggle-born inadequacy, but that's probably just icing on the cake of her natural inclination towards perfectionism. On the surface, Hermione trusts herself and her abilities, so much so that she doesn't hesitate to take on very heavy responsibilities throughout her Hogwarts career (using the time-turner is one example, but engaging in movements like Dumbledore's Army drive the point home). There are limits to her confidence, however, as seen by the fact that her greatest fear is a failing grade — she has very high expectations for herself and can drive herself to stress in trying to reach them.
Her determination is her true strength, and it's what sees her through in both her academic efforts and her extra-curricular adventures. It's the reason she's such a steadfast friend to Harry and Ron, and it's what makes her such a valuable fighter in the war against Voldemort.
Abilities, Weaknesses and Power Limitations: Hermione is a witch, meaning she can cast all sorts of spells and has an expansive knowledge of magical history, creatures and potions. She excels in pretty much all aspects of magic (minus Divination, which she's crap at). She's also recently mastered the skill of non-verbal magic, meaning she can cast spells without speaking the incantations. There are a hideous number of spells, most of which are listed here.
That said, she's obviously at the whims of the ship. I'll follow castmates' leads in terms of what's possible on the ship and what isn't, although it's rare that her spell use will go beyond the harmless (fixing a pair of glasses) or the basic defensive spells that she'd use in combat. Anything potentially game-breaky would be discussed with mods before use.
Inventory:
01 wood wand (10.75 inches, vine, dragon heartstring core)Appearance: Hermione is average height, slim build, with brown eyes and frizzy, thick brown hair. She tends to favor casual dress and rarely puts much time or effort into her appearance, opting for a natural look. I'll be using her film actress as a PB, aka the lovely Emma Watson:
01 wood wand (12.75 inches, walnut wood, dragon heartstring core; previously Bellatrix Lestrange's)
03 outfits
01 revealer (renders invisible ink visible)
01 time-turner (can be used to travel in time short distances; probably disabled on the ship)
01 charmed handbag (can hold basically anything)
01 book, "Hogwarts: A History"
01 book, "The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore"
Age: 18, a few months from turning 19.
S A M P L E S
Log Sample:
This isn't Hermione's first experience with fiction climbing off of pages and insinuating itself, very firmly, into her life. Being informed that she was a witch opened up an entirely new reality, and objectively speaking, arriving on the Tranquility had done the same. But where her invitation to Hogwarts had meant magic and charming shoppes and professors who could turn into cats, waking up on the ship meant cold walls and bloody noses and several very good examples of why time-travel was so strictly regulated: Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, hardly a few years her seniors.
It takes time for her to trust herself to speak to them, at all. She follows up polite introductions and startling revelations with subtle avoidance, belligerently steering any interaction that comes up towards discussion of the ship's mysteries. Incredibly relevant and worthwhile and yet exceedingly impersonal, in some ways; or in the important ways, at least. She thinks Sirius knows what happens, based on what she's gleaned from his sarcastic remarks, but that doesn't mean she wants to carry the weight of confronting it one-on-one.
But as the old saying goes, it takes one to know one. Hermione avoids Remus and Sirius and Harry avoids her, if in slightly different ways. He's a little bit hesitant and halting and quiet, which isn't overly strange, but it's as if he's always on the verge of saying something — waiting to be pushed gently over the edge, waiting for a prompt. Waiting for her to ask what happens next.
She doesn't want to know. She wants to know more than anything. It depends on the time of day, honestly. It depends on whatever micro-expression she's decided she's read on Harry's face that minute, whether she thinks it means it's okay or he's just pretending it is, that there's a weight on his shoulders he's as desperate to both share and avoid sharing as she is with Sirius. But he can't avoid her in the same way she does the others, because she doesn't let him. And, of course, because she seriously doubts he wants to.
You don't meddle with timelines, and knowing your own future is the definition of meddling. In the face of doubt, Hermione leans towards rules that she's not sure remotely apply when they're all stranded here. She's not sure Harry agrees with the choice, but he's respecting it — for now. It's easier to focus on what they both know, even if those things aren't themselves easy. They both know Malfoy Manor; they both know Bellatrix Lestrange, and they both know that they miss Ron, desperately. None of these things are happy, but at least they're things they can carry together.
Comms Sample:
Linked with permission! Test drive thread one and two.