Coming of Age--Hermione

As I began reading the series (when I was about seven or eight years old) I immediately related to Hermione. I was a fairly nerdy kid, I immensely enjoyed reading and I was naturally good at school. I was an extremely quiet girl, however, and I think I loved her Hermione because she was outspoken from the very beginning. She was never afraid to speak her mind, and she was never ashamed of how much she loved studying or her respect for any and all rules. However, as Hermione grew up she began to actually enjoy breaking the rules, and I grew with her. Hermione’s admonishment of Ron and Harry never completely ceases, but it gradually decreases as she matures.

Rowling’s coming of age theme is significant throughout the Harry Potter Series; her characters are incredibly consistent with themselves, but yet she is able to mature them into an individual that is fitting (but also surprising) to his/her innate character. If we look at The Sorcerer’s Stone, we remember that Hermione did help break onto the third floor with Fluffy’s obstacle. Hermione begins to realize that “books! And cleverness…” are not as significant as she thought, “There are more important things—friendship and bravery,” she confesses to Harry. This is just the first glimpse of the intelligent woman that Hermione continually grows into throughout the series.

Hermione always seems to be harping on Ron and Harry for not being as informed as she; “When will you read Hogwarts, A History? You can’t disapparate inside the grounds of Hogwarts,” Hermione whines to the boys continually through The Goblet of Fire. In The Deathly Hallows Hermione takes several books with them as the trio hunts down horcruxes, but we see a major difference in Hermione in this book: she cries a lot. It seems that Rowling uses this age (seventeen) to show the sensitivity that Hermione has developed due to hormonal changes. Another difference is the much more openness of Ron and Hermione’s romantic relationship (which had been building up throughout the series).

We drastically see a change from a girl who is confined by rules, to a woman who is led by her own moral conscience. Hermione’s entire being is no longer reliant on books and rules, and she develops a much more tender side of her personality. Rowling is in particular attempting to show her audience the true development of a young girl into a teenager—but almost woman. This changed my on interpretation of the series because I began to see how coming of age in the wizarding world is about the same as coming of age in the muggle world (my world). My ability to identify with Hermione no matter what age she was did not change because we grew together.