By the time of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Hermione has established herself as so capable of making good decisions that she is able to be granted a Time Turner – just to take extra classes! The extent of this reputation for being phenomenally responsible shows just how many careful choices she has made by the point, and how she has been able to prove herself to her teachers… and continues to do so when Sirius Black is at large.

Despite still being so young, this installment of the Harry Potter franchise proves how capable Hermione is, and how well she is able to deal with the burden of responsibility. From being able to keep her time-jumping activities a secret, to keeping some of Harry’s secrets, too (like his trips into Hogsmeade under the Invisibility Cloak), she shows how her decisions balance maturity and fun.

5 Punching Draco In The Face

Perhaps not the most mature choice, Hermione’s decision to react to Draco’s cruelty by just punching him in the face was a deeply satisfying one. And while violence may not be the best choice, it was certainly far better than if she had chosen to use her magic, as her abilities far outstrip his, and would no doubt have landed her a detention and lost Gryffindor points.

However, Draco would not be the kind of child to reveal that a muggle-born girl punched him… or that he ran away from her because of it, even if he would be willing to run to the teachers about anything and everything else! As such, Hermione’s choice meant she got the satisfaction of landing a well-deserved smack, without having to worry about the consequences. Was Hemione a generally violent person, things may have been different, but as a one-off, fans applauded her for this one.

4 Taking On So Many Classes That She Needed A Time Turner

This may seem like it was actually a bad decision, because it led to her being distracted, exhausted, and overwhelmed, her choice to take so many classes she needed magic just to attend them all saved multiple lives – and that’s no mean feat! If Hermione hadn’t had special dispensation for the Time Turner, Buckbeak would have been executed and Sirius given the Kiss, but she and her friends may well have died, too. It was Hermione and Harry’s time travel adventures that drew Lupin away from them when he was a werewolf, saving their lives, too – and had Harry been killed by Lupin, the entire wizarding world would have fallen to Voldemort. Hermione’s intelligence and love of learning (and homework) clearly saved the wizarding world in more ways than one!

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3 Not Exposing Lupin As A Werewolf

While the Hermione of the first book may not have been so understanding, Hermione at this point has learned when to run to teachers about what she knows, and when to stay silent, as shown when she figures out that Lupin is a werewolf, and chooses not to say anything.

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Had she told the rest of the students about his ‘furry little problem’, Lupin would likely have been forced out of the school, and if he was not around when Sirius kidnapped Ron to get to Peter Pettigrew, things likely would not have worked out quite so clearly, and Harry may never have learned the truth about his godfather. Of course, Lupin still had to leave, in the end, as his secret got out, but Hermione’s decision to keep it to herself built trust between them, and changed the course of Harry’s life.

2 Howling Like A Werewolf

After Lupin is turned, he is about to come after Harry and his friends when he hears another howl from deep in the forest, and rushes off in search of the creature who made it… which turns out to be future-Hermione, howling to lead Lupin away from her friends. This was a hugely dangerous decision, as she lured Lupin away from her past self, only to bring him straight toward her other self! However, it was a brave choice of Hermione’s that definitely paid off in the end. This decision saved the lives of her friends, and of course, she and Harry were able to escape him in the Forbidden Forest, as well. This decision likely also saved Lupin, who would not simply have resigned, but likely been imprisoned or even killed, had he been discovered to have murdered students.

1 Returning The Time Turner And Dropping Subjects

Hermione’s final good decision was also one of her most surprising – as she reveals that for her next school year, she would not be using the Time Turner again, but would actually be dropping some subjects to have a reasonable number! For someone who loves school as much as she does, this seems like a strange choice, but it shows that Hermione is finally learning how to balance her schoolwork and the rest of her life, and to discover that classwork isn’t everything. Her decision to cut back to preserve her health is a powerful one, and shows her truly starting to grow up.

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About The Author


Rose Graceling-Moore
(1516 Articles Published)

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Rose Graceling-Moore has been writing about film, TV and comics since 2013, when she began writing for a local print magazine in Vancouver, BC. Since then, Rose has written for Horror Honeys, Moviepilot and Quirkbooks as well as Screenrant, increasingly focusing on comic books and live-action comic adaptations, as well as diversity and representation on screen. Rose also co-hosted the DC Movies Podcast, and has guested on other nerd and entertainment podcasts over the past five years.

Rose’s love of comics began all the way back in the early ‘90s, when she discovered the X-Men while living in Africa (where there wasn’t a whole lot to do but read!), and since then has had an on-again, off-again love affair with not just Marvel, but DC and indie comics as well. You can follow her on Twitter: RoseMooreWrites for tweets about comics, movies, and more.

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