Hermione Granger is the girl we all looked up to as Harry Potter nerds growing up. She’s the girl that could overcome anything that comes her way. She knew exactly what to do and how to do it. While she might have been a bit of a mess, with crazy hair and a bit of attitude when she was a kid, she’s used her education and smarts as a way to make a difference not only in the fantasy world but also here in our world. She proved so much to young girls that were fans of the books and films, and she continues to do so by using her platform to make a difference today, outside of her character in the films as Emma Watson.
This list will highlight some of the lesser-known facts about Hermione Granger and how they influenced the whole series in a way that’s remarkable and make her character one of the best out there. We’ll also be going over quotes and moments where she was able to outshine all else and come out on top because of her hard work. Overall, Hermione, even though she’s a fictional character, was a beacon of inspiration for many growing up and we hope to help that influence live on for generations to come.
25 A Yearly Celebration
Did you know that her exact age in the series is actually a bit of a mystery that wasn’t explicitly ever revealed to the reader or watcher? This is actually true, and it’s been something of a debate for some time between major fans of the series. But if you read the text carefully from the novels, you'll see her birthday, which is September 19th, 1979, which would make her only 11 years old when she started Hogwarts.
While age might just be a number that doesn’t really play a role, it does put things into perspective when you know the troubles they’ve gone through.
At only 11 years old, Hermione Jean Granger could overcome anything thrown her way. She’s clever and innovative, even at the beginning of the series when she was just 11 years old. Talk about an inspiring girl!
24 Those Who Raised Her
Her parents were known to be Muggles. This made her a very rare case where she was often bullied due to her being a witch in the school. But because she studied hard and she did have witch blood in her bloodline, she was able to go to Hogwarts and continue to study being a witch. But this often made things quite hard for her. She had an awful time standing her ground. She pushed forward and she did it, and proved everyone wrong and became one of the smartest witches at the school. Even though her parents were muggles, that can’t take away from the fact that she is a strong character and she shows all of those who are watching, that anything is possible if you work towards it. This is something we could all probably learn to apply to our own lives.
23 What's In A Name?
The name Hermione does actually have a meaning that comes from Greek mythology and culture. It’s a name that is based on the old name Hermes, who was known to basically be the communication between all the gods and goddesses. He was able to live in both the human and god worlds. This translates quite well with how Hermione’s character actually is the connection between muggles and wizards. She has strong connections to both and she believes that they should also treat each other fairly. Many times there are scenes in the films and mentions in the novels where many wizards and witches talk badly about muggles, often talking about them as if they’re lesser. This is a nod towards equality that we could probably take note of today in our own world, but it is an interesting connection nonetheless that many don’t pick up on.
22 What We All Get Wrong
Did you know that many muggles in the films and in real life actually don’t know how to pronounce Hermione’s name correctly? But we don’t blame you if you haven’t been saying it right. The correct way to actually say Hermione is Her-My-Oh-Nee! Many people say it wrong, when in reality it’s just one syllable that’s a bit odd. The universe behind this series is quite large, so don't fret if you can’t pronounce everything right away. There’s so much to learn and so many obscure names that are thrown into the story all the time. But now that you know how to say the name of the strong female role in the story, you should feel motivated to go out there and learn everything there is to know about the characters and names they’ve been given.
21 Getting That Education
Because of the war, she was excused from the school testing that normally took place. But she returned to the school later on to finish. That just speaks to how determined and purposeful she is with her choices, she always wants to push herself more than she even has to.
She was the only person out of her friend group to actually go back and take the NEWT exams when she didn’t have to!
That speaks volumes about her personality and how determined she is as an individual, something that often inspires many young girls who watch the movies or read the novels. Hermione constantly puts her best foot forward to make the best of what happens around her, even if something like a war puts a halt to her goals. Nothing can stop her from reaching her dreams, even if it means she has to wait a while!
20 The Things We Do For Love
This doesn’t come up much in the films, but Hermione’s parents are both muggles and to protect them Hermione changed their memories and sent them very far away to a different country to keep them safe when the Wizarding War was happening. But when the war was over, she went on a search to find them and give them all their memories back. As you can imagine, this was emotionally hard on Hermione and just goes to show how strong her character was. This actually makes it seem as if Hermione is the strongest character out of them all because she was able to do this without being selfish. She also did this because her parents actually saw the wizarding world and she wanted to keep them safe so they wouldn’t be hurt if someone had found them, because of what they knew and saw.
19 Her Spirit Animal
A Patronus is basically a spirit animal that not only says a ton about who you are as a person, but also protects you and comforts you when you need it the most. But in Hermione’s case, her Patronus is more of an ode to the writer Rowling, who created the series. The Patronus Rowling gave to Granger was an otter, not only because it fit her personality quite well, but also because it happens to be Rowling’s favorite animal! We can assume that this was also given to Granger because of how fun, smart, and tactical she is. She’s a kind person, so it actually does fit quite well with her character’s personality. Nonetheless, this Patronus was not something many people expected for her character, because many thought it would be something much more fierce. We believe that Rowling knows best!
18 She Mirrors Her Character
One thing that’s actually quite interesting with Emma Watson and Hermione Granger herself is that they’re actually very much alike. They mesh very well together and they actually act almost as if they’re the same person. Watson loves school, learning, and making a difference. She’s already made such a humanitarian difference in the world.
She’s very intelligent in real life and she always speaks up for what she believes in, just like her counterpart character Hermione Granger.
The way these two personalities are almost exactly the same might have to do with the fact that Watson has been playing this character in the films for basically a decade. That’s a long time to dedicate to a character! She constantly was around the fictional world growing up; this without a doubt must have had something to do with the way she is in real life.
17 When Things Get A Bit Hairy
When Hermione, Ron, and Harry tried to make a potion to become three members of Slytherin to get more information, only Ron and Harry actually got the potion to work. It doesn’t come across as obvious, but the reason why the potion didn’t work for Granger and it actually ended up making her sick was that the hair she used from the individual she was trying to turn into was actually a hair from their cat! This ended up sending her to the doctors in critical condition because it made her so sick. We bet that from then on she was always very careful when it came to potions and probably never attempted to try that particular potion again and we don’t blame her! She was actually trying to turn into Millicent Bulstrode, but it completely backfired. Better luck next time, Hermione!
16 Chosen Career
Hermione was known for how smart she was. She often was told that she could grow up to do anything she wanted. But instead of going the safe route, Hermione was known for working towards liberating all of the house elves like Dobby. She wanted to help them live their own lives. She ended up joining a counsel and also the Department For The Regulation and Control Of Magical Creatures, she then started to focus her career on law later on.
Hermione focused so much on her future and her career, she proves to be one of the strongest female role models in any fictional universe.
She took her career very seriously and it changed much within the fictional world of Wizards and Witches. This can easily be translated to her real-life goals, as Emma Watson has always pushed for positive change.
15 An Important Role
The marriages that took place in the films between Ron and Hermione, as well as Ginny and Potter, often are something that fans are very passionate about. Many people don’t realize that Granger is also the godmother of James Sirius Potter, the son of Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley! This is not only adorable, but it makes us curious as to why we can’t know more about what happens in the future! Granger would be such an amazing godmother that would push that child to be the best he can be. You know that James Sirius Potter will grow up to be a strong kid with morals and determination for a better future! It does make you wonder, though, what would have happened if Harry Potter and Hermione actually got together instead, because we’re sure we’re not the only ones who wanted that!
14 Finding Her Niche
When the sorting hat chooses which house the children will belong in and it came time for Hermione to be placed in a house, she almost wasn’t put in Gryffindor because she was so smart and clever like the Ravenclaw house. But after a moment of thinking everything through, Hermione was then chosen to be placed in the Gryffindor house.
What do you think would happen if she was never placed in the same house as her two best friends?
It really makes you wonder what would have happened to the story if Granger wasn’t put into the house she ended up being in! What would have happened to her friends? What house do you think would be her second house? We have to believe that she would have been in Ravenclaw if she was in a different house!
13 Petrified By The Basilisk
Hermione was actually almost taken out because of a magical encounter with an extremely dangerous basilisk! This occurred during her second year at the school. She saw a basilisk which has the power to turn you to stone or freeze you in place. But because she only looked into its eye through the reflection of a mirror, she could more easily recover after some healing time.
But if she happened to have actually looked it right in the eye without a mirror, she could have been taken out completely.
This could have ended very badly for Hermione. Instead, she showed everyone that she can overcome her fears and use them to push forward to be a stronger individual. Would you have made it past the basilisk?
12 Her Mystical Wand
One detail about Hermione that isn’t discussed much happens to be the wand that was chosen for her specifically. Typically the wands in the Potter universe are unique and made for the individual specifically. Each wand is attracted to a specific person and it can often reveal quite a bit about the owner of the wand, as well. If you aren’t matched with the right wand for you, you’ll often find that it won’t work properly. Hermione’s wand happened to be made out of vine wood and was 10 ¾ long, with a core of dragon heartstring. This is a very special wand that always worked quite well for Hermione. If she was put into a different house in the films and books, who knows what kind of wand she would have ended up with.
11 Her Struggle With Divination
Did you know that, even though Hermione was one of the best students in all of Hogwarts, there was one class that proved to be quite difficult for her, more so than all the rest? It happened to be Divination. Divination was a class that taught students how to tell the future by using various methods. Hermione could never seem to get the hang of this class, often leading to her storming out and saying that all it is is a bunch of guesswork and luck. They often used tea leaves and crystal balls, but none of the methods actually seemed to help Granger get the hang of the study. She ended up dropping the class and moving on to other things, concluding that she just didn’t have what it took to actually excel in this class and the study behind it.
10 Her Long Lost Sister
According to Rowling, Granger was supposed to actually have a little sister, but simply because of the time constraints placed on the project, she was left behind. If only she had more time when writing the books, maybe then Granger could've actually had a younger sister in the story. Even though this doesn’t mean she would have been a major part of the story in the film or books, it would have been interesting to see how the two interacted.
We'd like to see what possible role could have been placed on her younger sister.
While the world might not know what could have happened if Granger had a younger sister, we can hope that maybe there will be more stories in the future based on the siblings and children of those main characters we know and love!
9 The Secret Army
Hermione Granger actually happened to be one of the witches behind the secret army also known as Dumbledore’s Army. This club happened to be a place where the children could learn very useful spells that would help them defend themselves and fight. This was very important because many teachers wanted students to only learn the theory and history of spells, not how to actually use them in battle or to protect themselves. This was something many people didn’t agree with and many students came together to learn themselves. Hermione was one of the founders of this organization and helped teach many other talented students how to utilize all the spells needed to help the war and anything else thrown their way. It really makes you think what could have happened if this group of talent wasn’t formed.
8 Being Sent Howlers
Rita Skeeter wrote an article basically saying that Hermione broke the hearts of many boys because of her studies, including Harry Potter. This sent many people on a rampage, many sending Hermione hate mail that contained screaming howlers. These howlers often would scream insults at whoever the letter was directed to. She opened these hate mail letters in the main hall, causing many stares directed her way. Some haters even sent harmful substances that led to Granger needing medical attention as well. This is awful and it just goes to show how upset people can get when a girl or woman puts herself first for her education and responsibilities that she wants to focus on. Just because she didn't give some guys her attention, she was sent awful mail and insults, how dumb! Let’s hope they all learned their lesson when she became the best witch!
7 Her Funny Last Name
Rowling, the creator of the series, was actually thinking about making Hermione’s last name Puckle, instead of Granger. Honestly, we’re just so glad that didn’t happen. Hermione Granger fits her character so much better!
Puckle would have been such an odd fit for her last name.
This name probably would have made Hermione have a whole new kind of personality as well. She might not have been the know-it-all we all know and love. It could have made her a bit more like Ron Weasley, because that’s the same kind of name he happens to have, something a bit more humorous and funny, instead of normal and sophisticated. Let’s just all have a moment of silence and be thankful for the fact that she does have the last name Granger, instead of something silly that wouldn't even make sense with her character.
6 What She Dealt With
At one point when she was very young she was locked in a room with a boggart, which is a monster that turns into the individual’s worst nightmare. But when Hermione found herself in this trap, her nightmare happened to be getting news that she failed all of her classes. This boggart was a test for the dark arts exam she had to take, but without a doubt, it was something that greatly bothered her! While this might have been a nightmare we’ve all experienced at some point when in college, for Hermione, with how seriously she took her education, there’s no doubt that this test of willpower was probably devastating and horrific for her, especially because of how hard she pushes herself to do better. Even in the film, she ran out of the test screaming because of how horrible the vision was.