We’ve already gotten the scene where Harry decides he has something else to do besides killing dementors.
Harry has expressed that he’s sure Hermione could learn the True Patronus and wouldn’t be able to stop herself from destroying Azkaban. She already has the secret in a note from Harry. She’s been introduced to Fawkes. And she was led to her first bullies by flashes of gold and red.
He could have Harry taken to Azkaban, and Hermione break him out. That would be a bit too femi-cliched for my taste, but you never know.
Harry might be off somewhere, and Hermione will need to face the choice of going to Azkaban alone. She might face the choice believing that Harry is dead. EY has referred to Stephen Donaldson before. A “Lord Mhoram’s Victory” scenario could fit nicely. (Very moving scene from Donaldson, and perfectly in line with EY’s sense of life.) Along that line, maybe all the Dementors besiege Hogwarts (Harry and Dumbledore being elsewhere), slowly wearing down the defenses, and General Sunshine remembers the note from Harry, runs off to get it, and as she overcomes her fear of Dementors and resolves to fight them, she hears a great CAW! and is faced by a phoenix that transports her into the midst of the Dementors and she destroys them all.
I think the groundwork has been laid, and the plot turns aren’t so difficult. Hermione as taking McGonagal’s in mounting the defense of Hogwarts works for me.
Oh, good point, the author’s prepared for Hermione to take on Azkaban. The trick will be motive.
If Hermione harrows Azkaban for Harry’s sake, that’s Hermione the faithful NPC, not Hermione who has wishes and dreams of her own.
If Hermione harrows Azkaban because it’s the right thing to do, that will be pure awesome.
As you say, if Hermione believes Harry is dead, especially if she believes some other innocent is about to be sent to Azkaban, she could spring into action quite on her own.
I think you’ve convinced me 66% that Hermione, not Harry, takes on Azkaban.
What I don’t feel so confident of is that the author will manage to do this in a way that Hermione’s motive is “because it’s the right thing”. The gravitational pull of “Harry causes all interesting good things” is strong.
Avoiding the “Harry causes everything good” gravitational field isn’t an insoluble problem. But EY has a lot of other balls to juggle besides the harrowing of Azkaban.
″ You have courage enough for Gryffindor, said the calm voice of the
Sorting Hat in her memory, but you will do what is right in any House
I give you. You will learn, you will stand by your friends, in any House
you choose. So don’t be afraid, Hermione Granger, just decide where you
belong...”
“Why, no,” said Professor Quirrell. “I stopped trying to be a hero, and went off to do something else I found more pleasant.”
“But you don’t have to be a hero, Miss Granger,” said Professor Quirrell. “You can stop anytime you please.”
That idea… …had occurred to her before, several times over the last two days.
People become who they are meant to be, by doing what is right, Headmaster Dumbledore had told her.
Hermione Granger, I shall be less subtle than is usual for a mysterious old wizard, and tell you outright that you cannot imagine how badly things could go if the events surrounding Harry Potter turn to ill.
The most powerful wizard in the world had told her that, when he was talking about how important it was that she not stop being Harry’s friend.
Staying with Harry is not for Harry’s sake, it is the right thing to do. I think you’re over constraining the solution.
And I wouldn’t say that the harrowing of Azkaban is the point—it’s the destruction of the dementors. The continual torture provided by the dementors is what makes Azkaban an abomination.
Although wouldn’t it be strange to have someone else defeat Death besides Harry? He’s learned much more about death than he knew when he first cast the True Patronus, and he has the invisibility cloak.
A Hermione who risks all against Dementors “to help Harry” is not nearly as interesting to me as a Hermione who risks all against Dementors because they’re evil regardless of Harry.
We’ll all help our friends. Pick any evil person in history—they had friends. If they’re a political leader, they had lots of admirers.
The fic itself has Harry make the point that if you’re only interesting in helping an “us” and not a “them”, that’s a pretty weak sort of good that easily turns to evil.
I think in a fic so full of extraordinary characters, Hermione deserves to be extraordinary enough to do awesome things even for strangers, even when she doesn’t think her friends will benefit, because a world without dementors is just better.
I can well imagine Hermione getting a phoenix. Her potentially resulting self-sacrifice could well be a climactic point in the fic, in fact. Its effect on Harry would be interesting to see, too.
As a rule, “And what effect does this have on the protagonist?” is the most commonly answered question in narrative. That’s what being the protagonist means, really.
For the literary problems:
We’ve already gotten the scene where Harry decides he has something else to do besides killing dementors.
Harry has expressed that he’s sure Hermione could learn the True Patronus and wouldn’t be able to stop herself from destroying Azkaban. She already has the secret in a note from Harry. She’s been introduced to Fawkes. And she was led to her first bullies by flashes of gold and red.
He could have Harry taken to Azkaban, and Hermione break him out. That would be a bit too femi-cliched for my taste, but you never know.
Harry might be off somewhere, and Hermione will need to face the choice of going to Azkaban alone. She might face the choice believing that Harry is dead. EY has referred to Stephen Donaldson before. A “Lord Mhoram’s Victory” scenario could fit nicely. (Very moving scene from Donaldson, and perfectly in line with EY’s sense of life.) Along that line, maybe all the Dementors besiege Hogwarts (Harry and Dumbledore being elsewhere), slowly wearing down the defenses, and General Sunshine remembers the note from Harry, runs off to get it, and as she overcomes her fear of Dementors and resolves to fight them, she hears a great CAW! and is faced by a phoenix that transports her into the midst of the Dementors and she destroys them all.
I think the groundwork has been laid, and the plot turns aren’t so difficult. Hermione as taking McGonagal’s in mounting the defense of Hogwarts works for me.
Oh, good point, the author’s prepared for Hermione to take on Azkaban. The trick will be motive.
If Hermione harrows Azkaban for Harry’s sake, that’s Hermione the faithful NPC, not Hermione who has wishes and dreams of her own.
If Hermione harrows Azkaban because it’s the right thing to do, that will be pure awesome.
As you say, if Hermione believes Harry is dead, especially if she believes some other innocent is about to be sent to Azkaban, she could spring into action quite on her own.
I think you’ve convinced me 66% that Hermione, not Harry, takes on Azkaban.
What I don’t feel so confident of is that the author will manage to do this in a way that Hermione’s motive is “because it’s the right thing”. The gravitational pull of “Harry causes all interesting good things” is strong.
Avoiding the “Harry causes everything good” gravitational field isn’t an insoluble problem. But EY has a lot of other balls to juggle besides the harrowing of Azkaban.
Staying with Harry is not for Harry’s sake, it is the right thing to do. I think you’re over constraining the solution.
And I wouldn’t say that the harrowing of Azkaban is the point—it’s the destruction of the dementors. The continual torture provided by the dementors is what makes Azkaban an abomination.
Although wouldn’t it be strange to have someone else defeat Death besides Harry? He’s learned much more about death than he knew when he first cast the True Patronus, and he has the invisibility cloak.
A Hermione who risks all against Dementors “to help Harry” is not nearly as interesting to me as a Hermione who risks all against Dementors because they’re evil regardless of Harry.
We’ll all help our friends. Pick any evil person in history—they had friends. If they’re a political leader, they had lots of admirers.
The fic itself has Harry make the point that if you’re only interesting in helping an “us” and not a “them”, that’s a pretty weak sort of good that easily turns to evil.
I think in a fic so full of extraordinary characters, Hermione deserves to be extraordinary enough to do awesome things even for strangers, even when she doesn’t think her friends will benefit, because a world without dementors is just better.
I can well imagine Hermione getting a phoenix. Her potentially resulting self-sacrifice could well be a climactic point in the fic, in fact. Its effect on Harry would be interesting to see, too.
Just reading that makes me sad.
As a rule, “And what effect does this have on the protagonist?” is the most commonly answered question in narrative. That’s what being the protagonist means, really.