The Wizarding World has expanded to include prequel movies, with Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore becoming the latest addition. However, the original Harry Potter characters remain most popular, with Hermione Granger considered a fan favorite. While she was a hero overall, Hermione could become the stuff of nightmares when she broke the rules.
Hermione was known for her fiery temper as well, which made her go to lengths comparable to antagonists like Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, and even Lord Voldemort. Whether it was attacking someone with dangerous magical birds or placing someone’s life in peril by setting them on fire, Hermione has certainly acted as a villain on occasion. It’s interesting to see how that comes across when she’s viewed from a different point of view.
When Hermione Commissioned Harry And Ron To Assault Crabbe And Goyle
Fans were encouraged to see Harry and Ron knock out Crabbe and Goyle to assume their forms through the Polyjuice Potion. It was Hermione’s plan to have the Slytherin boys accosted, as she believed this was her friends’ way of getting close to Malfoy and getting him to admit to being the Heir of Slytherin.
Looking at things objectively, however, Hermione basically had Harry and Ron assault their classmates. Moreover, the pair slipped sedatives to Crabbe and Goyle, which sounds villainous if fans aren’t aware that these characters are supposed to be the protagonists. Hermione even instructed Harry and Ron to hide the boys’ bodies with no care about what happened to them afterward.
When Hermione Had No Remorse Over Marietta's Curse
One of the unpopular opinions about Hermione in Harry Potter is that she tends to take extreme measures without stopping to think about the consequences. Hermione cursed the parchment containing the names of Dumbledore’s Army members so that anyone who snitched on them would be cursed with pustules on their face.
While the treacherous Marietta got her comeuppance for selling the group out, she probably didn’t deserve to be scarred for life. Hermione showed no remorse for leaving Marietta’s face with the word “SNEAK” in boils and never reversed the curse. Such a move was similar to Voldemort’s curses to protect his Horcruxes, although to a lesser extent.
When Hermione Gloated About One-Upping Harry In Potions
While there were very few examples of Hermione being a bad friend in Harry Potter, she was less-than-enthusiastic about Harry’s spectacular Potions performance by use of the Half-Blood Prince’s book. When creating a potion that didn’t conform to normal procedures, Hermione became extra smug and flaunted her superior skills at Harry.
She was ultimately outraged when the Half-Blood Prince’s suggestion to use a bezoar trumped the potion she concocted and nearly sold Harry out to Slughorn out of resentment for being one-upped. The attitude she carried was akin to Draco Malfoy’s, with Harry feeling negativity from Hermione coming his way.
When Hermione Teamed Up With Molly And Ginny To Be Horrible To Fleur
Hermione acted very much as Pansy Parkinson did toward her when in the company of Fleur Delacour. The latter was very blunt but never mean at the Weasley women or Hermione, yet the latter three were quite the opposite and started to call Fleur “Phlegm,” among other putdowns.
Hermione, Molly, and Ginny didn’t give Fleur any company at The Burrow and took to being amongst each other. They even guilted Harry and Ron to avoid talking to Fleur or to be nice to her. This sort of catty behavior was out of character for Hermione, as she resembled the Slytherin students that had made fun of her for her blood status.
When Hermione Set Snape On Fire Because She Suspected Him
Among the things about the Golden Trio in Harry Potter that hasn’t aged well is how they were quick to jump to conclusions. The three decided that Snape was in cahoots with Voldemort and Hermione decided to fight fire with fire in a literal sense. Believing that Snape was cursing Harry’s broom - when he was actually uttering the counter-curse to save him - Hermione set Snape’s robes on fire to stop him.
Since they were magical flames, there was a chance that Snape could have been gravely injured. It pretty much meant that she had no problems with using the same tactics as the villains, although it turned out Snape was never evil.
When Hermione Attempted To Have The Centaurs Attack Umbridge
Many believe that Hermione is the best wizard in Harry Potter for the many times she’s solved problems to foil the villains. However, she had a similar lack of ethics in extreme cases, such as when she devised a plan to fool Dolores Umbridge to accompany herself and Harry to the Forbidden Forest.
Hermione intended for the Centaurs to attack Umbridge, knowing full well that they intended to kill adult witches and wizards. Hermione had noble intentions to save Harry from the Cruciatus Curse, but she was also willing to cause a likely painful demise to another human being. Umbridge was ultimately rescued only because of Albus Dumbledore’s powers of persuasion, with Hermione having no care about what happened to her.
When Hermione Attacked Ron For Being With Lavender Instead Of Her
Ron acted like a total jerk to Hermione when he learned about her kiss with Viktor Krum and retaliated by beginning a romance with Lavender Brown. Hermione’s sadness was valid, but she took it to dangerous levels when she conjured birds that attacked Ron.
The attack was so severe that Ron was left with cuts and bruises, which makes it the equivalent of an assault. Resorting to violence was uncalled for and there’s no doubt that any person apart from a main character like Hermione would have instantly been seen as a villain for such behavior. Hermione certainly carried an antagonistic force during this moment.
When Hermione Used McLaggen To Antagonize Ron
Hermione again behaved similarly to the likes of Pansy Parkinson to get back at Ron when she chose Cormac McLaggen as her date to Slughorn’s Christmas party. She made sure to announce it within earshot of Ron, throwing in a veiled insult by implying that McLaggen was a good Quidditch player while Ron was not.
McLaggen appeared to be interested in Hermione for real, so her manipulation of him for her benefit wasn’t exactly something to expect from a protagonist. Moreover, Hermione pit Ron and McLaggen against each other to stir up needless drama.
When Hermione Held Rita Skeeter As Her Prisoner
Rita Skeeter may have antagonized Harry and his friends through her libelous writing, but she never tried to harm them. Hermione, on the other hand, trapped Rita in a jar while the latter was in Animagus form and didn’t let Rita out for an entire week. In fact, Hermione had no plans of releasing Rita until the latter agreed to bend to her blackmail of taking a year-long sabbatical.
She kept Rita as her hostage and retained control since Hermione promised she would send Rita to Azkaban for being an unregistered Animagus if she didn’t follow through with her demands. It was a bit too extreme even for the reckless standards of the Harry Potter heroes, with Hermione leaving across like a real threat here.