Harmione: Soulmates
Hello, it's Lia and before you start reading this essay, I'd like to make a few disclaimers. This essay is about why Harry and Hermione are soulmates. It is NOT about why Harry/Hermione is better than Harry/Ginny or why Hermione is better for Harry than Ginny, or why Harry and Ginny aren't soulmates. I tried to keep this essay oriented fully on H/Hr. The only times Ginny/Hinny is mentioned are when the character/ship is directly involved in the scene and I have to analyze it. Hinny is brought up only once when it has nothing to do with the scene, the rest is only when it's directly related. I hate comparing non-toxic ships or having to say one is better than the other which is why that's avoided in this essay.
This essay includes 0 bashing. You won't be able to find any type of hate towards any ship or character. Ron/Ginny/Romione/Hinny are all treated with nothing but respect and love.
And lastly, I didn't write this essay to compare Harry/Ginny moments to Harry/Hermione moments and decide who the real soulmates are. I wrote it only to prove Harry and Hermione are soulmates so the essay is completely one sided. But I would actually love to read a Hinny/Romione "soulmates" essay written in a similar format.
Since Ginny and Hinny are mentioned in this essay multiple times, I feel the need to say this again: don't twist my words here and claim I hate or dislike Ginny/Hinny. Comparing ships was avoided as much as I could, the only times they were even mildly compared, I tried clearing everything up so there would be no claiming that I hate one ship or think one is better than the other. My favorite ship is obviously Harmione but my second favorite is Hinny, third - Romione. Ginny and Hermione are my favorite characters with Ron taking second place. And remember than when I say that Harmione is my favorite, I'm in no way trying to claim that it's also the best of them all. I don't think any ship is objectively the best.
I also apologize for any grammar or punctuation mistakes. This essay includes 30k+ words, so it's quite long. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them. Now let's start the essay:
I often come across debates on who was Harry’s real soulmate. To solve this problem, we’ll have to take a closer look into canon and the definition of “soulmates.”
Before we start, I’ll have to bring up the problem surrounding the H/G ship and JKR’s statements about it. Hinny shippers (I’m one of them) love to use JKR’s words as proof that Harry and Ginny are real soulmates. JKR has confirmed multiple times that Harry and Ginny are, indeed, “real soulmates.” Here’s one of the quotes:
Harry and Ginny are real soul mates. They're both very strong and very passionate. That's their connection, and they're remarkable together.
I, even though Hinny is my second favorite ship, have to disagree. There is no hate to H/G ship intended as I adore the pairing myself, but if we really dig deep, canon seems to suggest that Harry and Hermione were real soulmates. Before you judge me and say that JKR created these characters and she knows them best, please hear me out. Do me a favor and read this essay because the books provide us evidence to support my words - being that Harry and Hermione were soulmates - rather than JK Rowling’s words which are quoted above.
To understand who was Harry’s soulmate, we first need to understand the meaning behind the term “soulmate.” Here’s Google’s definition:
a person ideally suited to another as a close friend or romantic partner.
So this definition already tells us that Harry and Hermione don’t even need to be involved romantically to be soulmates which is a good thing and gives proof that Harry and Hermione could have been soulmates in canon even if they weren’t in love.
But I think we’ll need to define the term “soulmates” in further detail so we can use it and the exact words/phrases to prove that Harry and Hermione were more likely to be soulmates than any other couple in the series. Here’s a quote:
The term “soulmate” implies a special affinity, understanding, or powerful bond that exists between one person and another. The ineffable experience of being known by and knowing another lends itself to the mythical image of soulmates as two wandering souls finally reuniting.
quote from here.
The term “soulmate” by definition is someone to whom you have a natural and deep affinity, bonded in commonality and compatible in most ways. This definition leaves room for the possibility that there can be any number of good matches. For the majority, however, the term “soulmate” still holds the fairytale promise - one person in the world you were always meant to be with. It carries with it the belief in a divine destiny and the idea that fate carves the way for the two to be together.
Twin flames, twin souls and divine complements are metaphysical terms more reflective of the divine nature of the relationship. Of the three, divine complement better expresses the spiritual connection and complementary character of the relationship, two opposites who as a pair reflect a balanced union.
quote from here.
Just the definition of soulmates itself clearly puts Hermione in the first place of Harry’s possible soulmates. But before we get into this I’d like to note that, according to the article, there can “be any number of good matches [soulmates].” That means that you can believe that both Ginny and Hermione were Harry’s soulmates. You can still think his only real soulmate is Ginny or anyone else, or you can believe that Ginny, Hermione and Ron (or whoever) could be Harry’s soulmates. My point is that you can believe that there was more than one soulmate for Harry. Now about the article’s definition of “soulmates” and why it’s already suggesting that Harry’s soulmate is in fact Hermione. Let’s see:
1. Natural, Deep and Special Affinity/Understanding
The first person who comes to my mind after reading these is Hermione. I know that Harry and Ginny have multiple scenes where they show understanding but I (personally) think Hermione understands Harry better than anyone else.
I know there’s this scene that supports H/G the most:
And he knew that at that moment, they understood each other perfectly, and when he told her what he was going to do now, she would not say 'be careful' or 'don't do it', but she would accept his decision because she would not have expected anything less of him.
And I believe Harry. But have you seen the kind of understanding Hermione has for Harry? It isn’t told to us directly, but instead shown through actions.
But before I show these scenes I think we'll need to acknowledge the fact that Harry and Hermione are best friends. They've known each other for years, have gone through all sorts of things together and have seen each other at their best and worst. Ginny hasn't known Harry for nearly as long nor as well as Hermione, so it's expected and not surprising at all that Hermione knows and understands Harry better.
Secondly, we also have to consider that Hermione has incredible emotional intelligence. She understands emotions better than anyone else. That really helps when it comes to reading Harry. I can't say anything about Ginny's emotional intelligence so I'll just leave at that. Hermione has known Harry for longer and she has great emotional intelligence so it wouldn't be surprising to discover that she understands him better than anyone else. Now that we've established that, let's take a look at canon scenes proving my point:
"What's happened?” he asked Ron and Hermione, who were sitting in two of the best chairs by the fireside and completing some star charts for Astronomy.
“First Hogsmeade weekend,” said Ron, pointing at a notice that had appeared on the battered old bulletin board. “End of October. Halloween.”
“Excellent,” said Fred, who had followed Harry through the portrait hole. “I need to visit Zonko’s. I’m nearly out of Stink Pellets.”
Harry threw himself into a chair beside Ron, his high spirits ebbing away. Hermione seemed to read his mind.
“Harry, I’m sure you’ll be able to go next time,” she said. “They’re bound to catch Black soon. He’s been sighted once already.”
Hermione seemed to read his mind. Already showing us just how well Hermione understands Harry. You need serious understanding to effortlessly read someone's mind. She also comforts him. This is a strong H/Hr scene for sure.
Here’s more of Hermione knowing exactly how Harry feels:
“HARRY! Ron, he's here, Harry’s here! We didn't hear you arrive! Oh, how are you? Are you all right? Have you been furious with us? I bet you have, I know our letters were useless – but we couldn't tell you anything, Dumbledore made us swear we wouldn't, oh, we've got so much to tell you, and you've got things to tell us -the Dementors! When we heard - and that Ministry hearing - it's just outrageous, I've looked it all up, they can't expel you, they just can't, there's provision in the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery for the use of magic in life-threatening situations –“
Hermione surely understands him perfectly. She knows Harry's mad at them and also knows the reason. She feels bad for him and later empathizes with him when he starts taking his anger out on her and Ron. More:
“They've run plenty of horrible stories about Harry this year without my help,” said Rita, shooting a sideways look at him over the top of her glass and adding in a rough whisper, “How has that made you feel, Harry? Betrayed? Distraught? Misunderstood?”
“He feels angry, of course,” said Hermione in a hard, clear voice. “Because he’s told the Minister of Magic the truth and the Minister’s too much of an idiot to believe him.”
This one isn’t so much, I’m sure everyone who was close to Harry knew how he felt but it’s still a scene demonstrating that Hermione always knows how Harry feels.
Here is a moment showing just how well Hermione knows and understands Harry:
Harry laughed. Even Hermione grinned a little, though her smile faded as she looked up at the castle.
“I can’t bear the idea that we might never come back,” she said softly. “How can Hogwarts close?”
“Maybe it won’t,” said Ron. “We’re not in any more danger here than we are at home, are we? Everywhere’s the same now. I’d even say Hogwarts is safer, there are more wizards inside to defend the place. What d’you reckon, Harry?”
“I’m not coming back even if it does reopen,” said Harry.
Ron gaped at him, but Hermione said sadly, “I knew you were going to say that. But then what will you do?”
Harry announces to his friends that he isn't returning to Hogwarts next year and Hermione surprisingly tells him that she knew he was going to say that.
In my opinion, this mirrors the H/G breakup scene where Ginny understands all of Harry's intentions very well and had already known that, sooner or later, this moment would come.
Something similar happens in this scene. Harry says something important and Hermione knew he would say it. She isn't surprised, only sad because she knows everything is going to change. On the other hand, Ron (who people always assume to be Harry's closer and preferred friend) is shocked to hear this. It's clear that Hermione understands Harry best. She always, always knows what's going on in Harry's world, she understands his inner struggles and desires.
Here we have more:
“No!” he said loudly, his voice ringing through the kitchen. “No way!”
“I told them you’d take it like this,” said Hermione with a hint of complacency
Hermione clearly knows Harry perfectly. She knew he was too selfless to agree to the "seven Potters" plan. Hermione understands him and his priorities (meaning: his friends' safety) so well.
Here’s another moment:
“And she’s still alive,” said Harry, “and she lives in Godric’s Hollow, Ron’s Auntie Muriel was talking about her at the wedding. She knew Dumbledore’s family too. Be pretty interesting to talk to, wouldn’t she?”
There was a little too much understanding in the smile Hermione gave him for Harry’s liking. He took back the letter and the photograph and tucked them inside the pouch around his neck, so as not to have to look at her and give himself away.
“I understand why you’d love to talk to her about your mum and dad, and Dumbledore too,” said Hermione. “But that wouldn’t really help us in our search for the Horcruxes, would it?” Harry did not answer, and she rushed on, “Harry, I know you really want to go to Godric’s Hollow, but I’m scared, I’m scared at how easily those Death Eaters found us yesterday. It just makes me feel more than ever that we ought to avoid the place where your parents are buried, I’m sure they’d be expecting you to visit it.”
This is yet another moment where Hermione is basically reading Harry’s mind, another demonstration of what perfect understanding looks like. Hermione knows why Harry wants to go to Godric's Hollow, she knows how he is feeling and she's fully understanding and empathetic. She understood Harry's real intentions of going to Godric's Hollow so quickly it was as if she took a look inside his soul. She can practically read Harry anytime. And another interesting thing about this scene is that Harry also understands Hermione’s smile and what it means. He could tell that Hermione understood what he really felt. And another note here, Harry seems hesitant to look at her, knowing it would give him away. He knows that Hermione can read him just by looking at him, but apparently she doesn't even need to do that. This scene is wonderful.
These are only a few scenes showing how well Hermione understands Harry, not all. The last (&best) scene I'm including that shows their bond and understanding is this one:
Around six o'clock in the evening the doorbell rang and Mrs Black started creaming again. Assuming that Mundungus or some other Order member had come to call, Harry merely settled himself more comfortably against the wall of Buckbeak's room where he was hiding, trying to ignore how hungry he felt as he fed dead rats to the Hippogriff. It came as a slight shock when somebody hammered hard on the door a few minutes later.
“I know you’re in there,” said Hermione’s voice. “Will you please come out? I want to talk to you.”
“What are you doing here?” Harry asked her, pulling open the door, as Buckbeak resumed his scratching at the straw-strewn floor for any fragments of rat he might have dropped. “I thought you were skiing with your mum and dad.”
“Well, to tell the truth, skiing’s not really my thing,” said Hermione. “So I’ve come for Christmas.” There was snow in her hair and her face was pink with cold. “But don’t tell Ron that, I told him it’s really good because he kept laughing so much. Anyway, Mum and Dad are a bit disappointed, but I’ve told them that everyone who’s serious about the exams is staying at Hogwarts to study. They want me to do well, they’ll understand. Anyway,” she said briskly, “let’s go to your bedroom, Ron’s mum’s lit a fire in there and she’s sent up sandwiches.”
Harry followed her back to the second floor. When he entered the bedroom he was rather surprised to see both Ron and Ginny waiting for them, sitting on Ron’s bed.
“I came on the Knight Bus,” said Hermione airily, pulling off her jacket before Harry had time to speak. “Dumbledore told me what had happened first thing yesterday morning, but I had to wait for term to end officially before setting off. Umbridge is already livid that you lot disappeared right under her nose, even though Dumbledore told her Mr. Weasley was in St. Mungo’s, and he’d given you all permission to visit. So . . .”
She sat down next to Ginny, and the two girls and Ron looked up at Harry.
“How’re you feeling?” asked Hermione.
“Fine,” said Harry stiffly.
“Oh, don’t lie, Harry,” she said impatiently. “Ron and Ginny say you’ve been hiding from everyone since you got back from St. Mungo’s.”
“They do, do they?” said Harry, glaring at Ron and Ginny. Ron looked down at his feet but Ginny seemed quite unabashed.
“Well, you have!” she said. “And you won’t look at any of us!”
“It’s you lot who won’t look at me!” said Harry angrily.
“Maybe you’re taking it in turns to look and keep missing each other,” suggested Hermione, the corners of her mouth twitching.
“Very funny,” snapped Harry, turning away.
“Oh, stop feeling all misunderstood,” said Hermione sharply. “Look, the others have told me what you overheard last night on the Extendable Ears —”
“Yeah?” growled Harry, his hands deep in his pockets as he watched the snow now falling thickly outside. “All been talking about me, have you? Well, I’m getting used to it . . .”
“We wanted to talk to you, Harry,” said Ginny, “but as you’ve been hiding ever since we got back —”
“I didn’t want anyone to talk to me,” said Harry, who was feeling more and more nettled.
“Well, that was a bit stupid of you,” said Ginny angrily, “seeing as you don’t know anyone but me who’s been possessed by You-Know-Who, and I can tell you how it feels.”
Harry remained quite still as the impact of these words hit him. Then he turned on the spot to face her.
“I forgot,” he said.
“Lucky you,” said Ginny coolly.
“I’m sorry,” Harry said, and he meant it. “So . . . so do you think I’m being possessed, then?”
“Well, can you remember everything you’ve been doing?” Ginny asked. “Are there big blank periods where you don’t know what you’ve been up to?”
Harry racked his brains.
“No,” he said.
“Then You-Know-Who hasn’t ever possessed you,” said Ginny simply. “When he did it to me, I couldn’t remember what I’d been doing for hours at a time. I’d find myself somewhere and not know how I got there.”
One of my favorite H/Hr scenes ever. Many people think that this is a H/G moment because Ginny actually calls Harry out for ignoring them for so long and reminds him that she has had Voldemort in her mind too. But they’re forgetting that it was actually Hermione who managed to bring Harry out. She was the one he instantly obeyed. He wouldn’t listen to anyone, wouldn’t talk to anyone and wouldn’t face anyone. He directly told Ginny he didn’t want to talk to her or anyone else. But the moment Hermione showed up he followed her and talked to her. It was Hermione who saved him from his depression. She is presented as his saving grace, his light pulling him out of darkness and self-hatred. She is literally saving his soul.
Ginny isn’t as significant as Hermione here. If anything, I think this is a weak H/G moment (don’t get me wrong, I love love love the ship but not this moment. I'm not a basher, I'm doing a simple analysis). People preach about Ginny calling Harry out and not letting him do whatever he wants to (like locking himself up in his room) but Ginny does let Harry lock himself away from everyone until Hermione arrives and does the job because she's the only one who understands him and handles him and his emotions that well. Nobody else can handle Harry like this, nobody, only Hermione. Not only that, Ginny doesn’t really “understand” Harry here. She literally calls him “stupid” and loses her temper with him. And Harry says he has forgotten that Ginny has been possessed by Voldemort before? How? How can you forget such an important thing about Ginny and you and yet remember the spell Hermione used in 3rd year to keep water away from your glasses during Quidditch? Seriously? And after the tiniest bit of discussion, Ginny just replies simply by saying that he wasn’t actually possessed by Voldemort. So that chance of a “special understanding” between H/G is partially (but not completely) ruined. JK Rowling could’ve made this an amazing Hinny moment. There was so much wasted potential of great H/G bonding moments. They never even discussed this “connection” about Voldemort being in their heads further. It’s weird and it’s disappointing to H/G fans. I'm disappointed too. And instead of showing Harry and Ginny’s bond, this moment just shows Harry and Hermione’s bond. They have a special connection, a deep understanding. They can bring out the best in each other, they can get each other to open up, they can understand each other so well that they know exactly how the other is feeling and can call her/him out for it if necessary. They understand each other perfectly.
(Side note here, apparently this scene was in the original script for OotP but it was later cut out. You'd think it was such a great missed opportunity but, in my opinion, it would've been a total twist to canon because in that script Ginny was the one responsible for getting through Harry and making him talk again. Hermione isn't even present in the scene, neither is Ron but he isn't as important as Hermione in this particular scene. Replacing Hermione with Ginny would've been an insult, a total disgrace to Harry and Hermione's connection. I would've loved to see this scene in its full glory in the movies, but definitely not twisted like this. But, admittedly, it would've been better than nothing. At least more people would've understood Harry and Ginny's deep bond that they had in the books, even if it wouldn't've been 100% accurate. Oh well. What's done is done.)
(Another note: I don't hate this book scene as a Harry/Ginny scene at all. I still like that they have some kind of a connection, even if it's not perfectly matching, as Harry wasn't actually possessed, they still both had Voldemort in their heads so we have to give them points for that. I also like how Ginny won't let Harry be rude to her, she does get angry which is just her nature but she knows her worth and knows what Harry did was wrong and she absolutely makes sure Harry understands that. I don't like this scene as much as most H/G fans do, but I definitely can't say it was disgraceful or unacceptable.)
Anyways, we’ve had about enough of Hermione understanding Harry, here’s a bit of Harry understanding Hermione:
Harry knew that Hermione had meant well, but that didn't stop him from being angry with her. He had been the owner of the best broom in the world for a few short hours, and now, because of her interference, he didn't know whether he would ever see it again.
Just a reminder that it was Ron who lashed out at Hermione during the firebolt incident while Harry remained quiet (NOT Ron bashing, just canon facts). The first reaction we get from Harry is this. Already proving that he understood Hermione’s intentions perfectly.
Here’s another scene:
"Ron, your dad works for the Ministry, you can't go saying things like that to his boss!" said Hermione, but she too looked very upset. "As long as Hagrid keeps his head this time, and argues his case properly, they can't possibly execute Buckbeak...."
But Harry could tell Hermione didn't really believe what she was saying. All around them, people were talking excitedly as they ate their lunch, happily anticipating the end of exams after that afternoon, but Harry, Ron, and Hermione, lost in worry about Hagrid and Buckbeak, didn't join in.
Not exactly understanding but Harry knows Hermione so well that he can tell what she’s thinking and doubting!
Take a look at another moment that proves this:
She looked too fierce to argue with at that moment, so Harry dropped the subject of Ron and recounted all that he had overheard between Malfoy and Snape. When he had finished, Hermione sat in thought for a moment and then said, “Don’t you think — ?”
“— he was pretending to offer help so that he could trick Malfoy into telling him what he’s doing?”
“Well, yes,” said Hermione.
“Ron’s dad and Lupin think so,” Harry said grudgingly. “But this definitely proves Malfoy’s planning something, you can’t deny that.”
This moment is golden. Harry knows exactly how Hermione thinks and what she would say.
Before you say that Arthur Weasley and Remus Lupin also thought this so Harry must have concluded that Hermione would also agree, take a look at this:
Harry said nothing. It had already occurred to him that this would be the most likely objection to his new evidence; he could hear Hermione now: Obviously, Harry, he was pretending to offer help so he could trick Malfoy into telling him what he’s doing....
This was before he talked to Lupin and Arthur so it’s obvious Harry understood Hermione and knew exactly what she’d think about anything even before hearing others’ thoughts that could influence his ideas on Hermione’s way of thinking. As we saw in the scene above this one, Harry knows her so well that he can even finish her sentence!
I'll deal with more canon moments later, the last thing I'm going to write here for now is something very important that many people seem to forget. This could belong in the "understanding" section (here) or in the "bond" section (right after this) so take it whichever way you want to, it shows both their bond and understanding.
Harry and Hermione have an extremely deep bond & understanding. This isn't really surprising.
Romione shippers (I also ship this, I'm a total multishipper) love pointing out that Ron and Hermione have gone through everything together. They've seen each other at their best and at their worst. And they're not wrong. Ron and Hermione have fought so many battles together and survived the war together. They stuck with Harry until the end and experienced everything with him.
Hinny shippers love pointing out that Harry and Ginny have had a similar traumatic experience with Voldemort being in their minds and this bonds them together and creates a special understanding between them. And I guess I agree because, even though Harry wasn't really possessed like Ginny, it would still be something important to both of them and something special that they'd share.
But you know what I love pointing out? Harry and Hermione have both.
Harry and Hermione experienced everything together, even when Ron wasn't there. They've cried together, they've fought together, they've found comfort in each other, they've held onto each other and they've always been there for each other. They have truly seen each other's best and worst and yet never abandoned each other. Their friendship was pure. No doubts there.
But Harry and Hermione have also had separate but similar experiences. They're both from muggle worlds. This is such an interesting thing they have in common. Both grew up without knowing about magic, both lived "normal" lives as "normal" people. They both know the muggle world and muggle things and this is something I expect they'd talk a lot about together. But this isn't all. They were also bullied in school and had no friends before Hogwarts. Harry was bullied by Dudley and his friend group who made his life as a muggle living hell. They didn't let anyone befriend Harry and threatened them. 10 years of bullying (at home + school) had a strong effect on him which I'm sure he would need more than 7 years to recover from. Interestingly, Hermione never had any friends before Hogwarts either. She seemed very bossy and annoying to everyone and she was also insecure about her large teeth (and maybe her bushy hair but we don't know that). She was probably bullied because of her looks and interfering nature. Harry and Hermione both grew up alone, without any friends and even though Hermione, unlike Harry, had a loving family she'd still have to deal with the effects of constantly being put down by other kids as a child. These are things they would both need recovering from and who would be better to talk to about it than each other? They could both talk about their experiences and deepen their bond and they could talk about muggle things which played a big role in their lives. Their similar backgrounds are part of the reason why Harry and Hermione understand each other so perfectly.
I won’t add anything else here because we will discuss their understanding and “sixth sense” a bit later. For now we will have to be satisfied with the evidence I presented. Even with the little bit of canon moments and discussion I presented, I think it’s clear they understand each other very well.
2. Powerful Bond
Harry and Hermione have the most powerful bond in the series and I don’t think I even need to show canon scenes to prove this but I will anyways, just to be clear. These are just a few of the strongest scenes to convince you that they have the strongest bond, not even nearly all. I recommend reading the essays I linked below too.
1. Hugs and Physical Contact
Harry and Hermione are very comfortable with having physical contact. They hold onto each other for strength and display their deep affection for each other by hugging or kissing each other’s cheeks. The things H/Hr are most well known for in the fandom are their hugs. Yes, they’ve hugged multiple times in the books. But this essay won’t be a deep analysis of their hugs, their hugs will be discussed in detail in an upcoming essay by me. But here’s what I will be discussing - an article that tells us that hugs strengthen the bond between people:
We love to feel loved, and we love to feel good. Hugs satisfy both needs. When you touch someone affectionately, sit or stand close to them, gaze into their eyes, or wrap them in a big bear hug, our body responds on all levels: emotionally, cognitively, and physiologically.
Oxytocin — the human love drug — is also released when we hug. This hormone reduces blood pressure and stress hormones. According to Medical News Today, oxytocin…“contributes to relaxation, trust, and psychological stability.” Over time, it makes us feel bonded with another person. Oxytocin provides feelings of pleasure, contentment, happiness, and even euphoria. These feels feel great — and they’re good for you.
quote from here.
Because Harry and Hermione have hugged the most times in canon (1 in PS/SS; 1 in OotP; 1 in HBP; 2 in DH) they have the strongest bond. It's worth noting that apparently hugs make people feel happy and pleased which is something that Harry really needs and Hermione is that person who can generously give him hugs and cuddles every single day.
It’s not only about hugs though, nobody has ever established as much physical contact with Harry as Hermione has (essay about H/Hr&phyiscal contact). They constantly hug, hold hands (for several reasons including: apparation, protection or just because they want to, like in DH), Hermione has even kissed his cheek (analysis). Physical contact greatly strengthens the bond between two people, as it’s said in the article linked above. Harry and Hermione have been sharing hugs since their first year and Hermione was the first person to show Harry physical affection (essay), creating a powerful bond between them which only evolved as they showed more and more affection towards each other so it’s obvious that their bond is the strongest, most emotional and powerful.
2. The Godric’s Hollow Scene
I would like to write about all of Harry and Hermione’s shared experiences but I don’t have enough space. So I’ll only discuss the Godric’s Hollow scene - the most emotional and powerful bonding moment for H/Hr. Here is another interesting essay about how Harry and Hermione always share the most important and emotional moments together. Since shared experiences form strong bonds between two people, the essay will help you understand their “powerful bond,” please read the whole thing, it’s important to understand and acknowledge this.
This scene is my favorite and it’s simply too beautiful not to include:
Harry read the words slowly, as though he would have only one chance to take in their meaning, and he read the last of them aloud.
“‘The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death’ . . .” A horrible thought came to him, and with it a kind of panic. “Isn’t that a Death Eater idea? Why is that there?”
“It doesn’t mean defeating death in the way the Death Eaters mean it, Harry,” said Hermione, her voice gentle. “It means . . . you know . . . living beyond death. Living after death.”
But they were not living, thought Harry: They were gone. The empty words could not disguise the fact that his parents’ moldering remains lay beneath snow and stone, indifferent, unknowing. And tears came before he could stop them, boiling hot then instantly freezing on his face, and what was the point in wiping them off or pretending? He let them fall, his lips pressed hard together, looking down at the thick snow hiding from his eyes the place where the last of Lily and James lay, bones now, surely, or dust, not knowing or caring that their living son stood so near, his heart still beating, alive because of their sacrifice and close to wishing, at this moment, that he was sleeping under the snow with them.
Hermione had taken his hand again and was gripping it tightly. He could not look at her, but returned the pressure, now taking deep, sharp gulps of the night air, trying to steady himself, trying to regain control. He should have brought something to give them, and he had not thought of it, and every plant in the graveyard was leafless and frozen. But Hermione raised her wand, moved it in a circle through the air, and a wreath of Christmas roses blossomed before them. Harry caught it and laid it on his parents’ grave.
As soon as he stood up he wanted to leave: He did not think he could stand another moment there. He put his arm around Hermione’s shoulders, and she put hers around his waist, and they turned in silence and walked away through the snow, past Dumbledore’s mother and sister, back toward the dark church and the out-of-sight kissing gate.
There are so many wonderful things about this romantic scene. This is the most well-written and beautiful scene ever and people have analyzed it in full detail (here and here). I’ll just point out a few things.
Firstly, I should note that this is the first time Harry is visiting his parents’ grave. And the only person accompanying him to one of the most important moments of his life is none other than Hermione Granger.
There is so much going on in this scene. I love how Hermione’s voice is gentle. I love it when she is being soft and gentle with Harry. It’s too sweet. Small details like these make scenes so much better.
Next thing I’m noting - this is the first time that Harry has cried freely in front of anyone. He constantly tries to stop himself from crying or tries to hide the tears when he can’t control them. Not this time. It’s a critical turning point for Harry and Hermione and their relationship. Their bond that has been established after years of going through so much together has now strengthened even more. Harry now feels comfortable expressing his emotions. He now feels free to cry and feels safe. People always insist that Harry needs to be with someone less emotional like Ginny and Hermione is too emotional for him but, in my opinion, Harry needs someone who is emotional so he can learn that feeling emotional is okay and he can accept his feelings. In this scene, Harry starts crying freely and accepts the fact that it's okay to cry. It's okay to feel sad. He's not weak for feeling emotions, he shouldn't be ashamed to cry. Harry learns this in Hermione's presence, she is there and he feels comfortable displaying his emotions in front of her. Here he accepts his emotions. That's growth. And that's why Hermione is perfect for him. She could help him grow. She would teach him that it's okay to feel sad, it's okay to feel angry, it's okay to feel all kinds of different emotions and that he should accept them and learn how to deal with them and express them. Nobody else could teach him this. Only Hermione could be the one helping him deal with this huge issue he has because of his upbringing (Harry can't deal with Cho being emotional and even warns her not to cry but he has a soft spot for Hermione because she's so important to him and he constantly goes after her to comfort her, we will deal with this later). It reminds me of the "what is right and what is easy" quote. It's easy for Harry to get with someone less emotional and never have to deal with her emotions because she won't cry, she won't (or will rarely) express those emotions, she can tough it out. But it's hard to get with Hermione because Harry would have to deal with her emotions and not only comfort her but also learn that his feelings are valid too. And this will definitely be hard, but that is why it's right. It's the only way he can grow. (This is not to say that Harry and Ginny would spend a lifetime hiding their emotions from each other. No, I'm definitely not implying this. I think that because they have such a deep understanding they'd be able to tell how the other is feeling and they would learn eventually but I just think that Hermione would be a much better candidate to help Harry accept and express his emotions. Canon gives me enough evidence to believe this. At Dumbledore's funeral Harry started crying when he couldn't control his tears so he immediately turned away from Ginny to hide them, but a few months later at his parents' grave in Godric's Hollow when Hermione was next to him Harry didn't hide his tears when he started crying, he expressed his sadness. That's the difference that makes me believe Hermione is a better fit in this aspect.)
Back to the scene analysis, here comes one of my favorite moments of all time. Harry looks at his parents’ grave and wishes he was dead and laying in the ground with them. It’s so emotional and sad but beautifully written. But what’s even more emotional is that Hermione takes his hand and grips it tightly, distracting him from his dark thoughts and, yet again, taking the role of his light, saving him from his own thoughts and dark desires. This scene never fails to make me feel emotional. The way Hermione grabs his hand and holds onto it tightly and the fact that Harry “returns the pressure” and calms down is simply beautiful (and this isn’t the only time Hermione has brought Harry peace and comfort). The way this scene is written is remarkable.
Harry wishes that he had brought some flowers to lay on his parents’ grave and Hermione seems to read his mind again because she understands his inner world like no one else and conjures some Christmas roses with her wand. Another beautiful moment showing their natural and deep understanding.
And lastly, the tight embrace. Harry and Hermione put their arms around each other in a very romantic (definitely not sibling-like) way and walk out. But what I’d like to point out is that Harry initiates physical contact here. He’s the first one to “put his arms around Hermione’s shoulders” and only then does she “put hers around his waist.” Harry rarely initiates physical contact. Ever. I can’t remember if he has initiated a hug or kiss or any kind of embrace with anyone other than Ginny up until this point (I’m not counting the times Harry has grabbed Hermione’s hands or protected her, I’m talking about deeply emotional embraces).
What happens after this scene is important too. They go and meet “Bathilda Bagshot” and discover it was Nagini all along, they nearly get killed and barely escape. Everything that happens in the tent during Ron’s absence is important. Harry and Hermione share so much together. After everything that happens, they’re still together, they’re each other’s only hope, the only thing they have left. They go through the hardest time of their lives together, they find comfort in each other and they depend on each other. This shared experience tied them together.
Harry and Hermione’s bond is remarkable.
3. Trust
Trust is an important part of any kind of relationship. You can’t form a close bond if you don’t have trust. Luckily for us, Harry and Hermione blindly trust each other.
I’m going to quote u/HopefulHarmonian from Reddit here since he (forgive me if I used the wrong pronoun) has explained it better in a comment under a reddit post. Here’s what he said about H/Hr’s trust:
If we want to see what trusting someone else looks like, we have a pair of characters who could teach an entire class in trust[...]:
Harry didn’t have a clue what was going on. Dumbledore had turned on his heel and looked back as he reached the door.
“I am going to lock you in. It is —” he consulted his watch, “five minutes to midnight. Miss Granger, three turns should do it. Good luck.”
“Good luck?” Harry repeated as the door closed behind Dumbledore. “Three turns? What’s he talking about? What are we supposed to do?”
But Hermione was fumbling with the neck of her robes, pulling from beneath them a very long, very fine gold chain.
“Harry, come here,” she said urgently. “Quick!”
Harry moved toward her, completely bewildered. She was holding the chain out. He saw a tiny, sparkling hourglass hanging from it.
“Here —”
She had thrown the chain around his neck too.
“Ready?” she said breathlessly.
“What are we doing?” Harry said, completely lost.
Hermione turned the hourglass over three times.
Harry has absolutely no idea what is going on here, as the text explicitly tells us. But Hermione says to come over and let him wrap a chain around him, and he doesn't hesitate at all. At all.
Here he still asks some questions. By the time we get to the last book, he doesn't even need to know:
“All right,” breathed Hermione, as the broken printing press blocking the top of the stairs began to tremble; Xenophilius was feet away from them. She was still white with dust. “Do you trust me, Harry?”
Harry nodded.
“Okay then,” Hermione whispered, “give me the Invisibility Cloak. Ron, you’re going to put it on.”
“Me? But Harry —”
“Please, Ron! Harry, hold on tight to my hand, Ron, grab my shoulder.”
Harry held out his left hand. Ron vanished beneath the Cloak. The printing press blocking the stairs was vibrating: Xenophilius was trying to shift it using a Hover Charm. Harry did not know what Hermione was waiting for. “Hold tight,” she whispered.
“Hold tight . . . any second . . .”
Hermione is about to execute an incredible escape, apparating them away in midair while also planning for the fact that Harry will be visible, but Ron will not. It's a priority that makes sense, even if Ron isn't quick enough (or trusting enough) to grasp it here.
Does Harry trust her? Without question.
The kind of absolute trust here is on display even in the first book. Hermione literally tells Harry which thing to drink in order to walk through fire, and he does so, without question. (Think about that for a moment, both how confident Hermione is during that potions riddle scene even at that young age and how Harry accepts her advice immediately.) Hermione is the girl who stayed up almost all night with him until he was ready to face a dragon in GoF. [...] Hermione was the only one who stayed with Harry even as things got desperate in the last book, the person who apparated Harry away in midair even once before to save him (Godric's Hollow).
No wonder Harry trusts her. [...]
I'm not going to say Harry and Hermione's friendship is perfect, because it's not. Harry does seem to have trust issues, probably an artifact of his upbringing as well as some general teenage boy shenanigans. So there are times he avoids telling Hermione the truth (or the whole truth), particularly when he thinks she wouldn't approve or would worry about him. That's something he would have to work on in any relationship. [...]
When it comes down to moments like I quoted above, the kind of trust Harry and Hermione share is rather incredible, isn't it? Imagine having a life partner where you could build a relationship when already having that level of absolute trust.
- HopefulHarmonian
The [...]s refer to parts of the comment that I cut out because they were opinions on Ron, R/Hr’s trust and other things which I didn’t want to include because I didn’t want this essay to bring more unnecessary (for this essay) discussion. I want this discussion to be oriented fully on Harry’s relationship with Hermione, who we may consider his soulmate.
4. Closest Friends
Something I’d like to write about here is the fact that people think that Harry and Hermione weren’t really close friends. I don’t get where they’re coming from. I saw an Instagram post comparing Harry and Ron based on how close they were to Hermione and it was extremely biased and incomplete. Some parts weren’t even true. I might make a debunking of that post one day (absolutely no hate to the creator of the post, I actually follow her and enjoy some of her content). Here I’ll just write a few reasons why Harry and Hermione are actually very close and the rest will be a topic for another essay (on why Harry and Hermione are indeed very close and Ron isn’t the “heart of the trio”).
1. Harry and Hermione tell each other little details about themselves
Everybody got up late on Boxing Day. The Gryffindor common room was much quieter than it had been lately, many yawns punctuating the lazy conversations. Hermione’s hair was bushy again; she confessed to Harry that she had used liberal amounts of Sleekeazy’s Hair Potion on it for the ball, “but it’s way too much bother to do every day,” she said matter-of-factly, scratching a purring Crookshanks behind the ears.
Hermione told Harry (and Harry only) that she used hair potion to make her hair shiny. It’s a small detail that you don’t tell everyone.
“How are you getting through all this stuff?” Harry asked her.
“Oh, well — you know — working hard,” said Hermione. Close-up, Harry saw that she looked almost as tired as Lupin.
“Why don’t you just drop a couple of subjects?” Harry asked, watching her lifting books as she searched for her rune dictionary.
“I couldn’t do that!” said Hermione, looking scandalized.
“Arithmancy looks terrible,” said Harry, picking up a very complicated looking number chart.
“Oh no, it’s wonderful!” said Hermione earnestly. “It’s my favorite subject! It’s —”
Hermione tells Harry that Arithmancy is her favorite subject! Now this isn’t anything special, it’s not a small detail, it’s a normal part of a normal conversation when the topic comes up. But it’s still something worth mentioning, in my opinion, especially because Harry actually remembered this and got her a Numerology book for Christmas in OotP! (Arithmancy is a form of Numerology.)
Here’s more:
“What are you doing here?” Harry asked her, pulling open the door as Buckbeak resumed his scratching at the straw-strewn floor for any fragments of rat he may have dropped. “I thought you were skiing with your mum and dad?”
“Well, to tell the truth, skiing’s not really my thing,” said Hermione. “So I’ve come for Christmas.” There was snow in her hair and her face was pink with cold. “But don’t tell Ron that, I told him it’s really good because he kept laughing so much. Anyway, Mum and Dad are a bit disappointed, but I’ve told them that everyone who’s serious about the exams is staying at Hogwarts to study. They want me to do well, they’ll understand. Anyway,” she said briskly, “let’s go to your bedroom, Ron’s mum’s lit a fire in there and she’s sent up sandwiches.”
Hermione reveals everything to Harry while she doesn’t to Ron (even if it’s just to keep him entertained).
Note that Harry notices the littlest things about her like her pink cheeks and the snow in her hair.
I can’t recall any moments of Harry sharing little details about himself to Hermione right now but Harry surely confides in her a lot. He told her about his date with Cho, he opened up to her about how he felt about Dumbledore (in the tent), he talked to her about his patronus and how he originally thought it was his dad producing it... There are many more moments like these that prove Harry and Hermione are very close to each other.
2. They’re truly comfortable around each other
She looked as though she might have a seizure; Hermione, who had hastily packed her things, grabbed Harry by the arm and frog-marched him away.
“She’ll ban you from the library if you’re not careful. Why did you have to bring that stupid book?”
“It’s not my fault she’s barking mad, Hermione. Or d’you think she overheard you being rude about Filch? I’ve always thought there might be something going on between them. . . .”
“Oh, ha ha . . .”
Enjoying the fact that they could speak normally again, they made their way along the deserted, lamp-lit corridors back to the common room, arguing about whether or not Filch and Madam Pince were secretly in love with each other.
This is definitely one of Harry and Hermione’s best moments together. They are clearly having a lot of fun. They’re joking around and Harry is being his inner self, his true self.
Another thing I find interesting is the use of the word “normal” here. People claim that this is one of the only moments Harry was having fun with Hermione and the other times - he hated hanging out with her. But it’s not true. Some people need to understand that the books aren’t going to be filled with Harry and Hermione joking around together - that’s not the main focus. We barely even got any content when Harry and Ginny were dating, just a few moments or conversations here and there and Harry’s descriptions of how amazing it was. That’s all, really. So of course we’re not going to focus so much on Harry and Hermione’s friendship either. Despite that, we have multiple scenes when they’re enjoying spending time together and we have this interesting use of the word “normal” in this scene. Why do I find it interesting? Because it’s obvious proof that Harry and Hermione love hanging out and joking around together. Making stupid jokes and laughing about it is “normal” for them, joking around together meant they were speaking normally again, and that’s exactly how Harry puts it. They have obviously spent lots of time laughing and having fun together like this, so much, in fact, that Harry considers this “normal” for them. I can’t believe some twist this and claim H/Hr hated spending time together.
Here’s another moment:
[...]
Harry gaped at her. “I forgot! But this proves Malfoy’s a Death Eater, how else could he be in contact with Greyback and telling him what to do?”
“It is pretty suspicious,” breathed Hermione. “Unless . . .”
“Oh, come on,” said Harry in exasperation, “you can’t get round this one!”
“Well . . . there is the possibility it was an empty threat.”
“You’re unbelievable, you are,” said Harry, shaking his head. “We’ll see who’s right. . . . You’ll be eating your words, Hermione, just like the Ministry. Oh yeah, I had a row with Rufus Scrimgeour as well. . . .”
And the rest of the evening passed amicably with both of them abusing the Minister of Magic, for Hermione, like Ron, thought that after all the Ministry had put Harry through the previous year, they had a great deal of nerve asking him for help now.
I decided not to include this whole scene because it would’ve been too long and this isn’t the main focus of the essay. Harry and Hermione are having a conversation, talking about all sorts of things, discussing everything and even joking around about the Minister. Just the whole tone of this conversation indicates that Harry and Hermione are very comfortable with each other and can actually have lots of fun together. I also like the way they're talking, it's quite funny but sweet. The tone of this discussion is very light.
Here is a moment showing that they can share comfortable silences too:
“Okay, okay, I’ll write to him,” said Harry, throwing his last piece of toast into the lake. They both stood and watched it floating there for a moment, before a large tentacle rose out of the water and scooped it beneath the surface. Then they returned to the castle.
They don’t feel awkward around each other. They can stand/sit in silence and simply enjoy each other’s company, they can discuss any mystery, they can open up to each other and they can joke around when they want to.
3. They have a fun dynamic and freely express opinions
On the Saturday before the first task, all students in the third year and above were permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade. Hermione told Harry that it would do him good to get away from the castle for a bit, and Harry didn't need much persuasion.
"What about Ron, though?" he said. "Don't you want to go with him?" "Oh. . . well.. ." Hermione went slightly pink. "I thought we might meet up with him in the Three Broomsticks. . . ." "No," said Harry flatly. "Oh Harry, this is so stupid -" "I'll come, but I'm not meeting Ron, and I'm wearing my Invisibility Cloak." "Oh all right then. . ." Hermione snapped, "but I hate talking to you in that cloak, I never know if I'm looking at you or not." So Harry put on his Invisibility Cloak in the dormitory, went back downstairs, and together he and Hermione set off for Hogsmeade. Harry felt wonderfully free under the cloak; he watched other students walking past them as they entered the village, most of them sporting Support Cedric Diggory! badges, but no horrible remarks came his way for a change, and nobody was quoting that stupid article. "People keep looking at me now," said Hermione grumpily as they came out of Honeydukes Sweetshop later, eating large cream-filled chocolates. "They think I'm talking to myself." "Don't move your lips so much then." "Come on, please just take off your cloak for a bit, no one's going to bother you here."
Scenes like this are so fun to read! Harry and Hermione always talk like this. They’re not fighting or disrespecting each other while arguing, but they’re not ignoring each other either. They’re almost having fun. They do have opposing opinions sometimes and they’re not afraid to express it (contrary to popular belief aka rumors spread by anti-harmiones who tend to ignore moments like these while simultaneously saying that we read selectively). They work well together and come up with compromises easily. Despite what many people think, Harry and Hermione don’t ignore each other when they think the other is wrong. No, they argue back and continue discussing until they’ve found a compromise.
And this scene shows that Harry and Hermione don’t take these small arguments seriously. They’re not fighting, just talking and arguing while making an effort to make a compromise without disrespecting each other. It’s almost like a joke, the tone of this whole conversation is so light and the way Harry is listening and responding to Hermione complaining about the smallest things is ridiculously hilarious. Their interactions aren’t filled with endless insults and negative tension. Harry and Hermione are two “normal” teenagers in this scene. This kind of moments and positive interactions are very enjoyable and prove that Harry and Hermione are really close friends.
5. Bonded for Life
Here’s one of every H/Hr shipper’s favorite scenes:
“Do you, William Arthur, take Fleur Isabelle . . . ?”
In the front row, Mrs. Weasley and Madame Delacour were both sobbing quietly into scraps of lace. Trumpetlike sounds from the back of the marquee told everyone that Hagrid had taken out one of his own tablecloth-sized handkerchiefs. Hermione turned and beamed at Harry; her eyes too were full of tears.
“. . . then I declare you bonded for life.”
Here they’re literally “bonded for life”. JK Rowling made it quite clear.
It’s Bill and Fleur’s wedding and the final words are about to be said. They’re about to get married, bonded for life. This is the kind of moment you’d like to share with the one you love the most. And Hermione turns around, and not just looks, specifically turns around to face Harry, and beams at him with eyes “full of tears” as the final words are being said. Instead of Hermione looking at Ron and Harry looking at Ginny (who was mentioned right before this moment), Hermione turns to face Harry. They’re bonded for life. Harry shares the deepest bond not with Ginny, not with Ron, not with anyone but Hermione. Their bond is clearly the most powerful.
Please remember that there are many more moments I could include to prove my points but they would take up too much space so I’d rather save them for a different essay where I’ll write about these things deeper in detail.
Harry and Hermione are truly bonded in ways that not many can brag abut. They always trust each other, they go through everything together, they experience their lowest points together, they find comfort in each other, they tell each other everything about themselves, they have fun together, they argue and put effort to find a compromise, they’re comfortable around each other, they constantly show physical affection to each other and they’re bonded for life in a symbolic mystical connection. Harry and Hermione have a bond that’s unmatched.
If you decide to read every essay I linked here, it will become even more obvious that Harry and Hermione take the first place for the strongest bond.
3. Commonality and Compatibility
This is an interesting category for sure. Many people think that Harry and Hermione were absolutely incompatible because: Harry doesn’t find Hermione attractive, he requires someone with a sense of humor and that surely isn’t Hermione and that she keeps nagging Harry which annoys him, etcetera, etcetera...
But I think that they’re compatible and would make great romantic partners.
I’ll start by explaining why I think they’re compatible while simultaneously debunking the antis’ arguments:
1. Hermione’s Attractiveness to Harry
I haven’t written my own essay about this yet but some others have. There’s a whole three part essay written by u/HopefulHarmonian on Harry’s attraction to Hermione, here: part one, part two, part three. It’s probably one of the best Harmione essays ever written so you should definitely read it!
But I will write a little bit about Hermione’s beauty in Harry’s eye, shown through poetic words and romantic images (if my mini argument won’t convince you, the essay linked above will).
One last thing to mention, Harry himself clearly told Hermione in an almost reflexive way that he doesn't find her ugly. I won't discuss this scene but it happens in OotP and Harry makes it clear to us that he doesn't think Hermione is ugly. Harry himself debunks the haters' points! Now let's get started.
As a Hinny shipper, my favorite part of Harry and Ginny’s relationship is the way it’s described. Harry uses all kinds of poetic words to describe her and her beauty to him is mainly made clear by the beautiful metaphors and adjectives Harry uses for her. Every Hinny shipper knows about phrases like “glowing like the setting sun,” "a pair of bright brown eyes," “blushed to the roots of her flaming hair,” “a long mane of red hair appeared” and many many more. That’s mainly because Harry and Ginny don’t have nearly as many scenes as Harry and Hermione so every little breadcrumb is noticed and highly appreciated. But with Harmione, people spend most of their time looking at the bigger moments and overlooking the little breadcrumbs which Hinny shippers would easily notice if they were used for Ginny. Because of that, little to no Harmione shippers are aware of poetic descriptions used for Hermione by Harry. If Harry’s poetic descriptions of Ginny indicate that he finds her attractive, then Harry definitely finds Hermione attractive too. Let’s take a look:
“Yes, he did,” said Hermione, the pink patches on her cheeks glowing more brightly. “So what?”
When I read this description I can’t help but think: Wow! This is beautiful!
Harry is being extremely poetic here. Usually when he describes girls blushing, he doesn’t go into such details. He simply says they “blushed” or “turned red,” went red.” With Ginny and Hermione, however, we get extremely flattering and over romanticized descriptions.
First of all, she’s glowing. The only other person who glows while blushing is Ginny. This is an extremely flattering word to use to describe someone doing something as simple as blushing, in my opinion. And in two other occasions (PoA and OotP which will be mentioned later), Hermione doesn’t even need to blush to glow. Her expression is more than enough to make her glow in Harry’s eyes.
Now the “pink patches.” This metaphor is created for Hermione and Hermione only. Hermione has had “pink” patches on her cheeks twice (CoS and GoF) and “red patches” once in HBP. Nobody gets such a poetic metaphor for pink cheeks. Only Hermione.
This phrase is just one of my favorites. "The pink patches on her cheeks glowing more brightly.” Who wouldn’t want to be seen that way?
“And just look at these books!” said Hermione excitedly, running a finger along the spines of the large leather-bound tomes. “A Compendium of Common Curses and Their Counter-Actions . . . The Dark Arts Outsmarted . . . Self-Defensive Spellwork . . . wow . . .” She looked around at Harry, her face glowing, and he saw that the presence of hundreds of books had finally convinced Hermione that what they were doing was right. “Harry, this is wonderful, there’s everything we need here!”
Hermione is excited and just her excitement and happiness is enough to make Harry view her as “glowing.” He loves seeing her smile, doesn’t he?
Noting this just for fun, the only other girl whose “glowing look” was directed to a boy was Cho who was looking at her boyfriend, Cedric, in GoF. And here Hermione is looking at Harry the same way Cho was looking at her boyfriend. Interesting (this is just a fun parallel, don’t take it too seriously).
But Hermione had a steely glint in her eye not unlike the one Professor McGonagall sometimes had.
This description is beautiful. It’s clear that Harry views her determination (which is very much like Professor McGonagall’s as Harry noted) as a positive trait. The “steely glint in her eye” may have been compared to McGonagall’s but we’ve never gotten a description so beautiful when it comes to Minerva. Our boy Harry gets extra poetic around Hermione.
They heard the scrape of the lock and Hermione emerged, shiny-faced and looking anxious.
Even when Hermione is “looking anxious,” Harry still sees her in a poetic way. We don’t see people described as “shiny-faced” often, especially in Harry’s point of view, do we?
“Well, if you two are going to chicken out, fine,” she said. There were bright pink patches on her cheeks and her eyes were brighter than usual. “I don’t want to break rules, you know. I think threatening Muggle-borns is far worse than brewing up a difficult potion. But if you don’t want to find out if it’s Malfoy, I’ll go straight to Madam Pince now and hand the book back in —”
Here’s the “bright pink patches” metaphor again but this time her eyes are "bright” too. Harry paid enough attention to realize that her eye were “brighter than usual” too. I know it’s not the most poetic description you could think of but I really like the adjectives used here and we clearly see how much attention Harry pays to Hermione. It’s still a beautiful phrase overall in my opinion.
The door banged open. Hermione came tearing into the room, her cheeks flushed and her hair flying. There was an envelope in her hand.
We don’t get a poetic description of Hermione’s cheeks here but Harry still noticed that they were pink and noted it.
What interests me here though is the hair part. Her hair is flying. This is a part of proof that Harry likes her hair. In this moment Hermione’s hair is definitely presented in a flattering way. Flying hair is a very popular way to showcase attractive girls. You see women with their hair flying in commercials to make it stand out. Google “flying hair”/“hair flying” and see the first photos that pop up. Hermione’s hair must have looked eye-catching enough to Harry to draw his attention to it and describe it in such a positive way. The overall image here is very romantic - a girl with pink or “flushed” cheeks and her hair flying behind her. Can’t really imagine it in a negative way, right?
Harry looked up and saw Hermione Granger standing at the top of the white flight of steps to Gringotts. She ran down to meet them, her bushy brown hair flying behind her.
I'm using this description as a continuation of my last point. This little moment is beautiful. Imagine a girl running down from the top of a white staircase running to meet you as her brown hair is flying behind her. It's romantic imagery, simple as that.
He pulled Luna after him into the crowd; he had indeed just seen a long mane of brown hair disappear between what looked like two members of the Weird Sisters.
“Hermione! Hermione!”
“A long mane of brown hair.” Wow.
Think about this scene for a moment. Harry saw Hermione walking away and walking between two singers. Yet the first thing he sees is her “long mane of brown hair.” Her hair is extremely eye-catching, again.
The most important part to note is the word “mane.” According to Google, this means “a person’s long flowing hair.” It’s definitely one of the most beautiful and flattering words you can use to describe a woman’s hair. This word was also used for Ginny and Fleur’s hair (for men the word was used symbolically to compare Moody’s and Scrimgeour’s hair to a lion’s mane), once for each. Hermione’s hair, on the other hand, is described with it twice.
Harry turned away from Ron, who did not look like he would be surfacing soon, just as the portrait hole was closing. With a sinking feeling, he thought he saw a mane of bushy brown hair whipping out of sight.
Hermione’s hair may be bushy, but Harry clearly likes it and thinks it’s worthy of using the word “mane” to describe it.
I also like the other words too. Hermione’s mane of hair is “whipping out of sight.” It sounds poetic to me. And I’ll say this again - Harry always notices her hair first. It clearly catches his eye.
Onlookers all over the room were laughing. Hermione drew herself up to her full height; her eyes were narrowed and her bushy hair seemed to crackle with electricity.
I honestly adore this description so much, it’s so poetic and shows that Harry pays lots of attention to Hermione, especially her hair. How striking does one’s hair have to be to be described as “crackling with electricity?”
“Right!” said Hermione, red patches blazing in her cheeks as she pulled a very old piece of newsprint out of her pocket and slammed it down on the table in front of Harry. “Look at that! Look at the picture!”
This one is one of my favorite descriptions of Hermione ever. She has her “signature” description of colored “patches” on her cheeks. But this time, it’s even better. The bright “red patches” are now “blazing” in Hermione’s cheeks. I think we all know about Ginny’s “signature” “blazing look.” Now this word has been used for Hermione too. This is truly a poetic way to describe someone who’s just blushing. Nobody (aside from Ginny) compares to Hermione when it comes to poetic descriptions (especially for blushing). I’d be very flattered if I found out someone was describing me with these beautiful words.
Now I know that this section is about Hermione's attractiveness to Harry but I'm just going to include this famous moment from HBP just in case someone thinks that Hermione doesn't find Harry attractive:
“We’ll go down after Quidditch,” Harry assured her. He too was missing Hagrid, although like Ron he thought that they were better off without Grawp in their lives. “But trials might take all morning, the number of people who have applied.” He felt slightly nervous at confronting the first hurdle of his Captaincy. “I dunno why the team’s this popular all of a sudden.”
“Oh, come on, Harry,” said Hermione, suddenly impatient. “It’s not Quidditch that’s popular, it’s you! You’ve never been more interesting, and frankly, you’ve never been more fanciable.”
Ron gagged on a large piece of kipper. Hermione spared him one look of disdain before turning back to Harry.
“Everyone knows you’ve been telling the truth now, don’t they? The whole Wizarding world has had to admit that you were right about Voldemort being back and that you really have fought him twice in the last two years and escaped both times. And now they’re calling you ‘the Chosen One’ — well, come on, can’t you see why people are fascinated by you?”
Harry was finding the Great Hall very hot all of a sudden, even though the ceiling still looked cold and rainy.
“And you’ve been through all that persecution from the Ministry when they were trying to make out you were unstable and a liar. You can still see the marks on the back of your hand where that evil woman made you write with your own blood, but you stuck to your story anyway. . . .”
“You can still see where those brains got hold of me in the Ministry, look,” said Ron, shaking back his sleeves.
“And it doesn’t hurt that you’ve grown about a foot over the summer either,” Hermione finished, ignoring Ron.
I've written a full analysis on this scene in another essay about H/Hr's chemistry but I'll go over it a bit here.
Hermione has an entire monologue prepared to describe Harry and how interesting and attractive he is. And she directly calls him "fanciable." That word is used to imply that Hermione is calling Harry attractive.
Harry feels that the Great Hall is growing very hot which is clearly an indication that there was lots of chemistry and romantic tension between them at that moment, but that's not the main point.
The main point is that Hermione finds Harry attractive, so attractive, in fact, that she can't stop talking about it and starts a whole speech on why Harry is so interesting and fanciable. Even Ron is clearly jealous of them.
What's the conclusion? Harry and Hermione find each other attractive. Harry thinks she's beautiful enough to describe her with some of the most poetic words in the books and Hermione thinks he's handsome enough to tell a whole speech on why he's so fanciable.
2. Joking Around Together
I’ve already shown multiple scenes where Harry and Hermione are having fun together but I’ll add a few more just to show you that they are their true selves when they’re around each other:
"Blimey, this is heavy," said Lee Jordan, picking up the golden egg, which Harry had left on a table, and weighing it in his hands. "Open it, Harry, go on! Let's just see what's inside it!"
"He's supposed to work out the clue on his own," Hermione said swiftly. "It's in the tournament rules. . . ." "I was supposed to work out how to get past the dragon on my own too," Harry muttered, so only Hermione could hear him, and she grinned rather guiltily.
Sharing secret jokes together? Absolutely. I love their friendship so much. Harry makes a joke and whispers it to Hermione so only she can hear him, then Hermione starts grinning about it. This scene is proof that they can have fun together and Hermione does have a sense of humor.
As one, the Weasley boys and Harry stuffed their fingers into their ears, but Hermione, who hadn't bothered, was soon tugging on Harry's arm. He turned to look at her, and she pulled his fingers impatiently out of his ears.
"Look at the referee!" she said, giggling. Harry looked down at the field. Hassan Mostafa had landed right in front of the dancing veela, and was acting very oddly indeed. He was flexing his muscles and smoothing his mustache excitedly.
This scene is interesting. Hermione is comfortable with tugging on Harry’s arm and pulling his fingers out of his ears! Harry doesn’t mind. Both of them are comfortable in this scene. Another thing I love about this moment is that Hermione is actually giggling and choosing to share this moment with Harry. Harry could’ve seen Hermione point this out to Ron or Ginny and followed their gaze to find this funny scenario but instead Hermione points it out to Harry in particular to make sure that Harry doesn’t miss it. She clearly loves having fun with him and laughing with him. Their dynamic is adorable to me.
She did not speak, but continued to pore over the strange mark. Harry tried again.
“Hermione?”
“Hmm?”
“I’ve been thinking. I — I want to go to Godric’s Hollow.”
She looked up at him, but her eyes were unfocused, and he was sure she was still thinking about the mysterious mark on the book.
“Yes,” she said. “Yes, I’ve been wondering that too. I really think we’ll have to.”
“Did you hear me right?” he asked.
“Of course I did. You want to go to Godric’s Hollow. I agree, I think we should. I mean, I can’t think of anywhere else it could be either. It’ll be dangerous, but the more I think about it, the more likely it seems it’s there.”
“Er — what’s there?” asked Harry.
At that, she looked just as bewildered as he felt. “Well, the sword, Harry! Dumbledore must have known you’d want to go back there, and I mean, Godric’s Hollow is Godric Gryffindor’s birthplace —”
“Really? Gryffindor came from Godric’s Hollow?”
“Harry, did you ever even open A History of Magic?”
“Erm,” he said, smiling for what felt like the first time in months: The muscles in his face felt oddly stiff. “I might’ve opened it, you know, when I bought it . . . just the once. . . .”
This scene, despite the obviously serious topic, is hilarious to me. I can almost hear the tone in Harry’s voice when he’s saying these things. The joke at the end always makes me smile. Things are returning back to normal, Harry’s smiling again. That’s what “normal” is for these two: discussing things, making jokes and enjoying each other’s company.
Yes, sometimes Harry’s sarcastic dark humor is not funny to Hermione and it concerns her but mostly they’re just two best friends who deeply care about each other and have lots of fun together.
3. Hermione’s Positive Influence
We all know how many times Hermione has saved Harry’s life but that’s not what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about Hermione’s so called “nagging” and why it’s actually good for Harry and how her voice influences Harry for the better.
“It sounds brilliant,” said Harry, his heart racing. “It sounds perfect, Dobby. When can you show me where it is?”
“Anytime, Harry Potter, sir,” said Dobby, looking delighted at Harry’s enthusiasm. “We could go now, if you like!”
For a moment Harry was tempted to go now; he was halfway out of his seat, intending to hurry upstairs for his Invisibility Cloak when, not for the first time, a voice very much like Hermione’s whispered in his ear: reckless. It was, after all, very late, and he was exhausted.
“Not tonight, Dobby,” said Harry reluctantly, sinking back into his chair. “This is really important. . . . I don’t want to blow it, it’ll need proper planning. . . . Listen, can you just tell me exactly where this Room of Requirement is and how to get in there?”
Harry was going to sneak out of the common room to go with Dobby so he could see the RoR, but then Harry heard Hermione’s voice, basically telling him that going would’ve been “reckless” which stopped him from doing such thing. If it weren’t for Hermione’s constant nagging and warnings, Harry wouldn’t have heard the voice of guidance and could’ve possibly gotten himself into trouble.
“You are trying to block your mind, aren’t you?” said Hermione, looking beadily at Harry. “You are keeping going with your Occlumency?”
“Of course I am,” said Harry, trying to sound as though this question was insulting, but not quite meeting her eye. The truth was that he was so intensely curious about what was hidden in that room full of dusty orbs that he was quite keen for the dreams to continue.
The problem was that with just under a month to go until the exams and every free moment devoted to studying, his mind seemed saturated with information when he went to bed so that he found it very difficult to get to sleep at all. When he did, his overwrought brain presented him most nights with stupid dreams about the exams. He also suspected that part of his mind — the part that often spoke in Hermione’s voice — now felt guilty on the occasions it strayed down that corridor ending in the black door, and sought to wake him before he could reach journey’s end.
First thing to note here is this line: “he also suspected that the part of his mind - the part that often spoke in Hermione’s voice.” So the scene I analyzed above wasn’t the only time something similar happened. We all know Harry thinks about doing reckless things often and now he has Hermione’s voice in his mind which is often stopping him from doing such things. That is positive influence. Hermione is clearly helping him improve. That’s a huge part of what you should be looking for in a romantic partner - someone who helps you grow.
The next thing to note here is that Harry is actually lying to Hermione in this scene but he feels guilty about it, he’s not meeting her eye and the part of his mind that speaks in Hermione’s voice feels guilty about it. Harry isn’t listening to his voice of reason here, he’s ignoring Hermione’s voice in his mind which is trying to tell him to learn Occlumency and try to lock Voldemort out of his mind and we all know what ignoring that voice leads to at the end of the book. If only Harry had listened to Hermione’s voice this one time. He would’ve spent countless years with his dear Godfather.
Every other time Harry listened to this voice - which was quite often according to Harry himself - he saved himself from getting in trouble. So even though Hermione might need to tone down her nagging a bit in order to have a nice and healthy romantic relationship with Harry, she still shouldn’t completely stop doing it and shouldn’t just let him do what he wants. It’s the best for him. Her care for him and her warnings are clearly influential in a good way. And she is the only one who can counter Harry’s stubbornness and get him to do what he’s been avoiding to (I’m referring to the Christmas scene in OotP which I analyzed early in the essay).
4. Commonality
I’m going to discuss commonality here before summing up the whole section of “why Harry and Hermione are soulmates - just by the definition” and move on to “why Harry and Hermione are soulmates - according to articles.”
First, I’ll have to define commonality according to Google in case some people mix it up:
The state of sharing features or attributes.
By the third definition of soulmates I presented earlier, soulmates are “bonded in commonality” so when we’re talking about soulmates, we’re talking about commonality too, which is the state of sharing attributes, traits, similarities and not interests or hobbies. So by saying that because Hermione wasn’t interested in Quidditch she can’t possibly be a good match for Harry you’re missing the point and you’re wrong. Hobbies and interests aren’t relevant when talking about soulmates. It’s the traits and attributes in common.
Now that we have gotten that out of the way, how exactly are Harry and Hermione “bonded in commonality?” Or, in other words, what traits and attributes do they have in common?
1. Bravery
I think it’s obvious that they share all traits of Gryffindor since they’re both in the same house. But I’ll explain it anyway.
Harry is brave for going to protect the Philosopher’s Stone, for going after Ginny to save her, for battling the Basilisk, for facing a large group of Acromantulas, for facing hundreds of Dementors, for helping his innocent but wanted godfather, for breaking the law of time travel to save both Sirius and Buckbeak, for not backing out from the Triwizard Tournament, for battling a Hungarian Horntail, for battling Grindylows, for saving both Gabrielle Delacour and Ron Weasley, for getting through the labyrinth, for standing up to Voldemort, for sticking to his story when everyone called him crazy, for leading an illegal group to teach self defense, for breaking into the ministry to save Sirius, for facing Grawp, for going with Dumbledore to get the locket horcrux, for battling Death Eaters multiple times, for breaking into the ministry again to get the locket horcrux, for breaking into Gringotts to get the cup horcrux, for battling Nagini, for going into Hogsmeade and Hogwarts and fighting Death Eaters, for facing Voldemort multiple times in his life, Harry is brave for sacrificing his own life for the sake of others. Harry Potter is brave.
Hermione is brave for accompanying Harry to protect the Philosopher’s Stone, setting Snape on fire to save Harry, for staying in Hogwarts when the Basilisk was attacking muggleborns, for stealing the ingredients of the Polyjuice Potion from Snape, for breaking the law of time travel to save Sirius and Buckbeak, for sticking by Harry when everyone was against him (multiple times), for starting an illegal group to teach self defense, for facing Grawp, for accompanying Harry to break into the Ministry and fight alongside him against Death Eaters, for fighting for Hogwarts when death eaters attacked during Dumbledore’s absence, for accompanying Harry to his mission to find and destroy the horcruxes, for breaking into the Ministry again to get the locket horcrux, for breaking into Gringotts to get the cup horcrux, for battling Nagini, for going into Hogsmeade and Hogwarts and fighting Death Eaters, for destroying Hufflepuff’s cup horcrux.
Bravery is an important trait and both Harry and Hermione have demonstrated what truly brave acts look like.
2. Selflessness
I won’t get as much into detail on the rest of Harry and Hermione’s personality traits as I did with bravery, I think a bit of explanation will still be enough.
Harry is the most selfless person in the whole series. He fought against Voldemort his entire life, risked his life multiple times for the sake of the Wizarding World and his loved ones and ultimately went up to Voldemort to sacrifice himself to end the war.
Hermione dedicated her entire life to helping Harry and even modified her parents’ memories to let them live happily while she went off putting herself in constant danger and saving the Wizarding World with Harry.
3. Loyalty
Harry Potter is an extremely loyal person. He is loyal to his friends, he defended Hermione against Draco, Kreacher, even Ron, his best friend, and Cho, his girlfriend, on multiple occasions. Harry is loyal to the entire Order of the Phoenix, especially Dumbledore, because he kept their conversations and plans secret from Scrimgeour, the Minister of Magic, when he was basically being interrogated by him. Harry is also loyal to his morals, he believed in justice and always wanted to do the right thing so he didn’t let Draco Malfoy die in the RoR in DH, even when Draco was trying to capture him and take him to Voldemort.
Hermione Granger is also loyal, she devoted her life to Harry and saving the world, she never abandoned him and stuck by his side when everyone had left him. She was there for Harry, even when Ron wasn’t (no hate to Ron at all, I don’t question his loyalty to Harry). Hermione, too, is loyal to her morals. She believed in equality and fought against prejudice, she wanted to free the elves and believed in it until the end, even when everyone was against it.
4. Justness
Fighting against prejudices is an important theme of the books. Harry and Hermione are, naturally, very just and fight for justice at any cost. This seems to be their life goal too!
Harry loves justice, he will do anything to make things fair. The whole war against Voldemort is fought to bring peace and justice to the Wizarding World. But Harry also fights for justice in the Triwizard Tournament when he tells Cedric about the dragons because everyone else, including Harry himself, knew about it and it would be unfair if Cedric was the only one who didn’t.
Hermione is an activist, she fights against prejudice more than anyone in the series. She is fighting for the freedom and welfare of house elves and she is defending the rights of muggleborn witches and wizards. Having to fight against injustice and prejudice is a huge part of her story.
5. Determination
Harry and Hermione both fight until they achieve their goal, but they’re not cunning, they’re determined. It was their determination that saved the world.
Harry was determined to figure out what was hidden in the little package that Hagrid took from Gringotts vault 713, he was determined to learn the Patronus charm, to learn the summoning charm, to prove that he was telling the truth - that Voldemort had returned, determined to save Sirius, to continue Dumbledore’s mission, to win the war.
Hermione was determined to study everything she could, to help Harry all throughout the years, to figure out who was threatening muggleborns, to take every subject at Hogwarts, to teach Harry everything he needed to get through the Triwizard Tournament, to free the house elves, to properly learn self defense, to beat Harry in potions, to defeat Voldemort at all costs.
They were determined to save the Wizarding World - and they did.
Harry and Hermione have a lot more personality traits in common which I didn’t include but I think the point is clear. They may not have all the same interests, but they are completely and absolutely supportive of each other's hobbies: Hermione always attends Harry's Quidditch matches and cheers for him, even helps the team often (like with the spell on his glasses, with lending Harry Quidditch Through The Ages or with colorful banners), and Harry always feels proud of Hermione, he once thought they were lucky that she paid attention in Herbology, he once felt proud of her jinxing skills and he constantly compliments her on her intelligence (which will be discussed a bit later). Having hobbies in common doesn't add to the credibility of their relationship, having all of the same interests isn't necessary. They have many of their most important and most valued traits in common, which bonds them together.
Something else I wanted to point out (just for fun) is that they both have messy hair! Technically it’s a feature they share. :)
5. Balanced Union
We have finally reached the last (and arguably most important) part of “why Harry and Hermione are soulmates - just by the definition,” it’s sort of a summary but also includes the main reason they’re compatible. This quote from the definition of soulmates is what this part is based on:
[..] divine complement better expresses the spiritual connection and complementary character of the relationship, two opposites who as a pair reflect a balanced union.
Now you might be thinking: But Harry and Hermione aren’t opposites, are they?
Yes and no. They’re not opposites in the way of “he’s heartless, she’s kind,” “she’s loyal, he’s a traitor,” or “he’s honest, she’s a liar.” That’s the reason I hate the “opposites attract” trope, most people think it’s about a “bad boy” and a kindhearted shy girl.
It’s supposed to be different. The “opposites attract” trope should be a couple of two people whose best traits and qualities complement each other, two people who help each other grow, who “as a pair reflect a balanced union.” It’s about their traits creating perfect balance, the two people together working in harmony. It’s about Yin and Yang.
Do Harry and Hermione fall under this category? Absolutely.
Harry is short tempered and hot headed. He rarely thinks before doing something if he gets too carried away with any emotion, whether it’s panic, anger or excitement.
Hermione on the other hand is extremely patient and calm. She does often panic under pressure but she improves over time and manages to think of brilliant plans in a matter of seconds.
“Okay,” she said, looking frightened yet determined, “I’ve just got to say this . . .”
“What?”
“You . . . This isn’t a criticism, Harry! But you do . . . sort of . . . I mean — don’t you think you’ve got a bit of a — a — saving-people-thing?” she said.
He glared at her. “And what’s that supposed to mean, a ‘saving-people-thing’?”
“Well . . . you . . .” She looked more apprehensive than ever. “I mean . . . last year, for instance . . . in the lake . . . during the Tournament . . . you shouldn’t have . . . I mean, you didn’t need to save that little Delacour girl. . . . You got a bit . . . carried away . . .”
A wave of hot, prickly anger swept Harry’s body — how could she remind him of that blunder now?
“. . . I mean, it was really great of you and everything,” said Hermione quickly, looking positively petrified at the look on Harry’s face. “Everyone thought it was a wonderful thing to do —”
“That’s funny,” said Harry in a trembling voice, “because I definitely remember Ron saying I’d wasted time acting the hero. . . . Is that what you think this is? You reckon I want to act the hero again?”
“No, no, no!” said Hermione, looking aghast. “That’s not what I mean at all!”
“Well, spit out what you’ve got to say, because we’re wasting time here!” Harry shouted.
“I’m trying to say — Voldemort knows you, Harry! He took Ginny down into the Chamber of Secrets to lure you there, it’s the kind of thing he does, he knows you’re the — the sort of person who’d go to Sirius’s aid! What if he’s just trying to get you into the Department of Myst — ?”
[...]
“Hi,” said Ginny uncertainly. “We recognized Harry’s voice — what are you yelling about?”
“Never you mind,” said Harry roughly.
Ginny raised her eyebrows.
“There’s no need to take that tone with me,” she said coolly. “I was only wondering whether I could help.”
“Well, you can’t,” said Harry shortly.
“You’re being rather rude, you know,” said Luna serenely.
Harry swore and turned away. The very last thing he wanted now was a conversation with Luna Lovegood.
“Wait,” said Hermione suddenly. “Wait . . . Harry, they can help.” Harry and Ron looked at her. “Listen,” she said urgently, “Harry, we need to establish whether Sirius really has left headquarters —”
“I’ve told you, I saw —”
“Harry, I’m begging you, please!” said Hermione desperately. “Please let’s just check that Sirius isn’t at home before we go charging off to London — if we find out he’s not there then I swear I won’t try and stop you, I’ll come, I’ll d-do whatever it takes to try and save him —”
“Sirius is being tortured NOW!” shouted Harry. “We haven’t got time to waste —”
“But if this is a trick of V-Voldemort’s — Harry, we’ve got to check, we’ve got to —”
“How?” Harry demanded. “How’re we going to check?”
“We’ll have to use Umbridge’s fire and see if we can contact him,” said Hermione, who looked positively terrified at the thought. “We’ll draw Umbridge away again, but we’ll need lookouts, and that’s where we can use Ginny and Luna.”
Though clearly struggling to understand what was going on, Ginny said immediately, “Yeah, we’ll do it,” and Luna said, “When you say ‘Sirius,’ are you talking about Stubby Boardman?”
[...]
“I mean, you can — can check whether Sirius is at home or not while I keep watch, I don’t think you should be in there alone, Lee’s already proved the window’s a weak spot, sending those nifflers through it.”
Even through his anger and impatience Harry recognized Hermione’s offer to accompany him into Umbridge’s office as a sign of solidarity and loyalty.
“I . . . okay, thanks,” he muttered.
“Right, well, even if we do all of that, I don’t think we’re going to be able to bank on more than five minutes,” said Hermione, looking relieved that Harry seemed to have accepted the plan, “not with Filch and the wretched Inquisitorial Squad floating around.”
Despite Harry’s anger here, I love this scene. It’s the perfect scene to prove my point. Harry was going crazy worrying about Sirius and trying to convince Ron and Hermione to come, but Hermione didn’t believe him. Harry started yelling and raging, especially when Hermione took the wrong path of convincing Harry and made a not-so-nice comment about him having a hero complex. But she started explaining everything and elaborating further so her points were more clear. Harry didn’t listen to anyone, he didn’t even find Ginny and Luna worthy of bothering to explain anything to them, he responded “shortly” to Ginny and completely ignored Luna. But Hermione calmed down the extremely hot headed Harry and managed to get him to listen and even convinced him. And after that, not only did he recognize Hermione's loyalty and solidarity, Harry actually thanked her. See, this is what I’m talking about, they work together and find a compromise, they balance each other out. The same thing doesn’t happen with Ginny. In this scene, she simply can’t say anything because she doesn’t even know what’s going on but still agrees to the plan anyways. Something about that doesn’t sit right with me, but I’ll just let that pass. But imagine if she knew what was happening and took Hermione’s side (because she was actually making sense), I’m not so sure this argument would have ended well. Ginny is short tempered just like Harry (we see this as early as the Christmas scene in OotP when she angrily calls Harry “stupid” for not talking to her, and he wasn't even yelling at her in that scene. By the way, I’m not hating on her, it’s a normal human flaw, besides, she and Hermione are my favorite characters), it wouldn’t have taken long until she started yelling too, but not only because of her short temper, also because she is a queen who knows her worth and wouldn't let anyone yell at her and mistreat her. But because of this, we should probably be glad Harry didn't start yelling at Ginny, or things would've taken a bad turn. Hermione, on the other hand, is patient and takes time to explain everything to Harry. Her patience would balance Harry’s hotheadedness in any situation, just like it did here. Harry and Hermione always work out a compromise. And that’s a balanced relationship for me.
(Again I need to clarify, I don't think that Harry and Ginny were absolutely incompatible or terrible together or whatever. At all. I just think Hermione would be able to balance him out better in this aspect, which makes her a great fit in this aspect. Again, I'm not hating or bashing Hinny, a ship I love. I'm putting out my views and analysis. I hope that's okay with you.)
Here is an amazing essay about H/Hr’s balancing acts, effort and compromise which explains the points about balance and compromise very well and in further detail, please take your time to read.
Another conclusion we can come to from this scene is that Hermione handles Harry well emotionally. She is basically scared to say something that could enrage him, she is afraid of losing him. Hermione knows that this is a trap and she is absolutely terrified at the idea of Harry going there and dying. In this scene she could've been risking her friendship with Harry and she really feared losing her friend, and yet she was still so determined to say what she had to say because, at the end of the day, his life was much more precious and important. Harry could've completely ignored and stopped talking to her because of that fight and that's what Hermione was afraid of, but she still said what had to be said and managed to get Harry to listen and even convinced him to go check if Sirius was really home. She was the only person willing to stand up to him and bring him to his senses. Hermione was the only one. And she always, always managed to convince him and handle his emotions like no one else could.
I've already mentioned this above but I thought I'd elaborate on it - Hermione can handle Harry's emotions perfectly, she can calm him down and bring him peace. We see this in multiple scenes in canon like the Godric's Hollow scene which was discussed above. Harry starts openly crying for the first time and thinking about his dead parents. Hermione takes his hand and grips it very tightly as Harry starts taking deep breaths and calming himself, "regaining control." But there's more:
“Don’t sit there grinning like you know better than I do, I was there, wasn’t I?” he said heatedly. “I know what went on, all right? And I didn’t get through any of that because I was brilliant at Defense Against the Dark Arts, I got through it all because — because help came at the right time, or because I guessed right — but I just blundered through it all, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing — STOP LAUGHING!”
The bowl of murtlap essence fell to the floor and smashed. He became aware that he was on his feet, though he couldn’t remember standing up. Crookshanks streaked away under a sofa; Ron and Hermione’s smiles had vanished.
[Harry's speech]
“We weren’t saying anything like that, mate,” said Ron, looking aghast. “We weren’t having a go at Diggory, we didn’t — you’ve got the wrong end of the —”
He looked helplessly at Hermione, whose face was stricken.
“Harry,” she said timidly, “don’t you see? This . . . this is exactly why we need you. . . . We need to know what it’s r-really like . . . facing him . . . facing V-Voldemort.”
It was the first time she had ever said Voldemort’s name, and it was this, more than anything else, that calmed Harry. Still breathing hard, he sank back into his chair, becoming aware as he did so that his hand was throbbing horribly again. He wished he had not smashed the bowl of murtlap essence.
“Well . . . think about it,” said Hermione quietly. “Please?”
Harry could not think of anything to say. He was feeling ashamed of his outburst already. He nodded, hardly aware of what he was agreeing to.
Harry had a huge outburst, standing up from his chair, yelling at Ron and Hermione so much that he smashed a bowl of murtlap essence (something Hermione made for Harry to make his scarred hand feel better). And yet Hermione manages to say the perfect thing to calm Harry down. She says Voldemort's name for the first time and Harry explicitly tells us how much this helped him. He calmed down and found peace, and even started feeling ashamed of his actions. Hermione handled Harry amazingly here and even he himself admitted it.
“Seamus reckons Harry’s lying about You-Know-Who,” said Ron succinctly, when Harry did not respond.
Hermione, whom Harry had expected to react angrily on his behalf, sighed.
“Yes, Lavender thinks so too,” she said gloomily.
“Been having a nice little chat with her about whether or not I’m a lying, attention-seeking prat, have you?” Harry said loudly.
“No,” said Hermione calmly, “I told her to keep her big fat mouth shut about you, actually. And it would be quite nice if you stopped jumping down Ron’s and my throats, Harry, because if you haven’t noticed, we’re on your side.”
There was a short pause.
“Sorry,” said Harry in a low voice.
“That’s quite all right,” said Hermione with dignity. Then she shook her head. [...]
Harry accused Hermione of gossiping about him with Lavender and he was quite loud and rude about it. But Hermione didn't take any of it and replied very calmly that she put Lavender in her place and by this she put Harry in his place. She handled him so well that not only did Harry calm down but he was also left so shocked that he was speechless for a moment. Harry even quietly apologized to Hermione. That girl really has what it takes to handle Harry and his angry outbursts.
“BUT WHY SHOULD I KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON? WHY SHOULD ANYONE BOTHER TO TELL ME WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING?”
“Harry, we wanted to tell you, we really did —” Hermione began.
“CAN’T’VE WANTED TO THAT MUCH, CAN YOU, OR YOU’D HAVE SENT ME AN OWL, BUT DUMBLEDORE MADE YOU SWEAR —”
“Well, he did —”
“FOUR WEEKS I’VE BEEN STUCK IN PRIVET DRIVE, NICKING PAPERS OUT OF BINS TO TRY AND FIND OUT WHAT’S BEEN GOING ON —”
“We wanted to —”
“I SUPPOSE YOU’VE BEEN HAVING A REAL LAUGH, HAVEN’T YOU, ALL HOLED UP HERE TOGETHER —”
“No, honest —”
“Harry, we’re really sorry!” said Hermione desperately, her eyes now sparkling with tears. “You’re absolutely right, Harry — I’d be furious if it was me!”
Harry glared at her, still breathing deeply, then turned away from them again, pacing up and down. Hedwig hooted glumly from the top of the wardrobe. There was a long pause, broken only by the mournful creak of the floorboards below Harry’s feet.
“What is this place anyway?” he shot at Ron and Hermione.
This is a scene I mentioned early in the essay but didn't discuss. Harry is yelling at Hermione and Ron here, not listening to either of them, cutting them off, getting angrier and angrier... He even seemed jealous that they were spending time "holed up" together. Nothing worked until Hermione apologized to him and sympathized with him which was the only thing that made him calm down. Ron was present in this scene. trying to calm Harry down but only Hermione managed to do it.
“What d’you mean, you’re not sure they believed Dumbledore?” Harry asked Hermione when they reached the first-floor landing.
“Look, you don’t understand what it was like after it happened,” said Hermione quietly. “You arrived back in the middle of the lawn clutching Cedric’s dead body. . . . None of us saw what happened in the maze. . . . We just had Dumbledore’s word for it that You-Know-Who had come back and killed Cedric and fought you.”
“Which is the truth!” said Harry loudly.
“I know it is, Harry, so will you please stop biting my head off?” said Hermione wearily. “It’s just that before the truth could sink in, everyone went home for the summer, where they spent two months reading about how you’re a nutcase and Dumbledore’s going senile!”
I love this scene a lot. Hermione has the patience to explain everything to Harry, but he can't stop himself from getting angry and lashing out but, as usual, Hermione doesn't back down and stands up to him, telling him to "stop biting her head off."
Something I'd like to note is that Hermione is quite literally the only person who will stand up to Harry and say what has to be said even when she's afraid of his outbursts like everyone else. I can recall times when Ron was scared of Harry getting angry so he waited until he was sure Harry wouldn't lash out to say what he wanted to say. But Hermione, no matter how angry Harry is or how afraid she is, will never stay quiet and let him boss her around and do whatever he wants. They will always argue like equals, especially after the major argument about Sirius at the end of OotP, when Hermione did not back down and argued with him until he was convinced. In that argument Harry and Hermione were the two important figures discussing and arguing while Ron and especially Ginny and Luna almost waited to take orders. Harry and Hermione were the only equals in this argument, no matter how many people bring up the fact that she was scared (while she wasn't actually scared of standing up to him, she has stood up to him multiple times before without any fear, like the moments I mentioned above, in this scene she was simply scared of failing to convince him and losing him), nobody else was brave like her and nobody else could handle Harry and his emotions as well as she could.
(Note that when I'm talking about handling emotions, I'm excluding those who have never had to deal with Harry yelling at them and that includes Ginny. We can't say anything about Ginny handling him emotionally. We have no information on this, if I'm not mistaken. Harry never yelled at her and that's mostly because most of his outbursts happened in OotP when he didn't even find her worthy of explaining anything to her. That changes in HBP when he starts admiring Ginny but when we get there, Harry doesn't lash out because of his PTSD anymore. If there is any evidence that I'm not aware of of Ginny being able to calm him down while he's yelling at her, I'll be more than happy to accept it!)
Another thing about Harry and Hermione completing each other: one of my favorite things about them is that they are an unstoppable team together. He’s the force, the strength, the power and she’s the brains, the intelligence, the brilliance. Together they’re complete - they have full power, everything they need, the wonderful plans which Harry always compliments Hermione about and the great strength and bravery which always amazes Hermione. Plus they’re very close friends and often have fun together (with or without Ron).
In these ways, they balance each other out and complete each other. Harry and Hermione are literally Yin and Yang. They need each other to function, without one, the other has nothing. They depend on each other, they always work together and share both happy and stressful moments together. They influence each other in a positive way and help each other grow, they’re wonderful partners as warriors and as friends/a couple.
Let's see more about Hermione’s positive influence on Harry:
Harry laughed again, though he was not sure whether or not George was joking. He imagined trying to conceal from Hermione that he had received T's in all his OWLs and immediately resolved to work harder from now on.
Harry doesn’t want to disappoint Hermione and wants her to be proud of him and this motivates him to study harder. We can easily conclude that Hermione, or in this case Harry’s value of Hermione’s opinion of him, helps Harry grow. Growth is an important part of a relationship. Partners should be helping each other change for the better, both sides should be gaining something by being in a relationship. Hermione has a positive influence on Harry, we’ve already established that. She helps him grow. Now how does Harry influence Hermione? What would he offer her? (just a quick disclaimer that I’m not saying love is conditional at all, I’m only saying that partners always have something they see in each other and a reason they would be complete as a couple)
Harry manages to bring out the best in Hermione, she has lots of fun with him (and loves laughing with him) like in the scenes I inserted earlier. She also gets someone who deeply cares about her and appreciates her. Harry nearly went crazy when Hermione got hit by a strange curse by a Death Eater at the Department of Mysteries. He worried a lot about Hermione in CoS, he refused to go home when he found out that muggleborns were getting killed because he was worried about Hermione. Harry was so worried about Hermione after she got petrified by the Basilisk that he couldn’t concentrate on what anyone was saying - he was too distracted by thinking about Hermione laying in the hospital wing. Harry was always the one to tell Hermione to go to the hospital wing whenever something happened to her, like in CoS when Hermione got turned into a cat or in GoF when Harry suggested going to the hospital wing after she got hurt by the bobotuber pus from hate mail. Harry has always been physically protective of Hermione, he’s grabbed her hand, pulled her out of harm’s way and has shielded her behind a tree as she clung to him. Harry often noticed Hermione’s absence like in PS/SS when he remembered her even before they were friends, or in PoA when Hermione wasn’t attending the celebration party for the Quidditch win when Ron and Hermione had a fallout. Harry has gone after her multiple times when Ron upset her and he has defended her against multiple people who were insulting her or were judging her in any way (Cho, Ron, Kreacher, Draco, Phineas Nigellus... Harry told Slughorn, who found the fact that muggleborns were often intelligent strange but fascinating, Hermione was the best in their year).
Now I’d like you to take a look at multiple (but definitely not all) times Harry has complimented her and appreciated her:
“Thanks a million, Hermione,” said Harry weakly, passing over his essay and sinking back into his armchair, rubbing his eyes.
Harry's thanking Hermione for correcting his essay. It’s really nice to prove that Harry does appreciate her and thank her for helping him so often. There are probably dozens of scenes of Harry thanking Hermione but I think it would be boring to read Harry saying "thanks" to her over and over again so let's get to compliments:
“You’re a genius,” Ron repeated, looking awed.
“Yeah, you are, Hermione,” agreed Harry fervently. “I don’t know what we’d do without you.”
She beamed, but became solemn at once.
Harry agrees with Ron very enthusiastically and elaborates on his compliment and tells Hermione he doesn’t know what he’d do without her.
“How are you?” Harry asked Hermione. “You were amazing — coming up with that story when she was hurting you like that —”
Hermione gave a weak smile as Ron gave her a one-armed squeeze.
Harry is worried about Hermione after she was tortured at the Malfoy Manor (he asks about Hermione before this moment too) but he’s also amazed by Hermione and can’t think of words that are good enough to describe her act of bravery and intelligence. He compliments her so much that she even gives him a “weak smile.”
“Wait!” said Hermione sharply, as Luna made to close the door of the brain room behind them. “Flagrate!”
She drew with her wand in midair and a fiery X appeared on the door. No sooner had the door clicked shut behind them than there was a great rumbling, and once again the wall began to revolve very fast, but now there was a great red-gold blur in amongst the faint blue, and when all became still again, the fiery cross still burned, showing the door they had already tried.
“Good thinking,” said Harry. “Okay, let’s try this one —”
If it wasn't obvious enough, Harry adores Hermione's intelligence and clearly feels lucky to have her. He compliments her on her good thinking and carries on. He spares a compliment for Hermione, even in the worst situation.
She took a deep, calming breath, then pointed her wand at Dolohov’s forehead and said, “Obliviate.”
At once, Dolohov’s eyes became unfocused and dreamy.
“Brilliant!” said Harry, clapping her on the back. “Take care of the other one and the waitress while Ron and I clear up.”
Classic Harry, clapping girls on the back. But at least he was genuinely trying to compliment her and show his appreciation. He called her "brilliant," after all! Harry really does look up to her intelligence.
Now here are moments of Harry internally adoring Hermione:
Hermione had come in for her fair share of unpleasantness too, but she hadn’t yet started yelling at innocent bystanders; in fact, Harry was full of admiration for the way she was handling the situation.
Our boy spends so much time thinking about Hermione and admiring her that he has to take note of it!
“Haven't we got a counter-jinx for this?” Fudge asked Umbridge impatiently, gesturing at Marietta's face. “So she can speak freely?” “I have not yet managed to find one,” Umbridge admitted grudgingly, and Harry felt a surge of pride in Hermione's jinxing ability. “But it doesn't matter if she won't speak, I can take up the story from here. “You will remember, Minister, that I sent you a report back in October that Potter had met a number of fellow students in the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade –“
Harry acknowledges Hermione's skills and abilities and he's proud of them. He is in awe of her!
Hermione, however, did not ask Harry and Ron to help her pursue vengeance against Rita Skeeter, for which they were both grateful, because their workload was mounting ever higher in the days before the Easter holidays. Harry frankly marveled at the fact that Hermione could research magical methods of eavesdropping as well as everything else they had to do.
Harry spends a great deal of time “marveling” about Hermione and her skills. He loves her so deeply (not necessarily romantically) and he doesn’t yet realize it.
This one is a rather interesting moment:
“Harry?”
Hermione looked frightened that he might curse her with her own wand. Her face streaked with tears, she crouched down beside him, two cups of tea trembling in her hands and something bulky under her arm.
“Thanks,” he said, taking one of the cups.
“Do you mind if I talk to you?”
“No,” he said because he did not want to hurt her feelings.
“Harry, you wanted to know who that man in the picture was. Well . . . I’ve got the book.”
[...]
“You’re still really angry at me, aren’t you?” said Hermione; he looked up to see fresh tears leaking out of her eyes, and knew that his anger must have shown in his face.
“No,” he said quietly. “No, Hermione, I know it was an accident. You were trying to get us out of there alive, and you were incredible. I’d be dead if you hadn’t been there to help me.”
He tried to return her watery smile, then turned his attention to the book. [...]
Hermione is scared to talk to Harry but that doesn’t stop her from approaching him. She isn’t staying away from him. People claim that Hermione was afraid of Harry (seriously, how desperate do you have to be to come up with such arguments?) but she is the one going up to Harry and engaging him in a conversation. There was nothing forcing her to talk to him, it's not like Harry was yelling at her and she just had to listen to it while being frightened to death. If she was so scared of him, as many people claim, why was she the one to approach him? Wouldn't she rather have stayed as far away from him as possible? I think she just felt guilty and scared that Harry would've also blamed her for what happened to his wand. It's a strange moment but it's a fact that no matter what, Hermione will always be there for Harry and will also always stand up to him. Anyway, she sits down next to him and Harry thanks her for the tea she brought. Even though he wants some time alone and doesn’t feel like talking to her, he still talks to Hermione anyway because he cares about her and doesn’t want to hurt her feelings.
Later Hermione starts crying thinking that Harry is mad at her for breaking his wand, judging from the angry look on his face, but instead not only does Harry deny this and tell her he isn’t mad at her, he also compliments her by calling her “incredible” and comforts her, he makes her smile.
Since we’re on the topic on comforting, I’d like to address the tent argument. Please, read this essay by u/HopefulHarmonian for the full debunking of the “Harry and Hermione didn’t talk for weeks in the tent” argument and to understand why Harry couldn’t comfort her.
As you saw in the scene above, Harry can now comfort Hermione verbally (unlike the previous year when “he had no idea what to say to her”). Can Harry comfort Hermione physically?
The answer is not “no”, as many people would expect, but the answer is “most likely”. Why? Let’s see:
“Yeah,” said Harry. “Like Barty Crouch, turned into a bone and buried in Hagrid’s front garden. They probably transfigured Moody and stuffed him —”
“Don’t!” squealed Hermione. Startled, Harry looked over just in time to see her burst into tears over her copy of Spellman’s Syllabary.
“Oh no,” said Harry, struggling to get up from the old camp bed. “Hermione, I wasn’t trying to upset —”
But with a great creaking of rusty bedsprings, Ron bounded off the bed and got there first. One arm around Hermione, he fished in his jeans pocket and withdrew a revolting-looking handkerchief that he had used to clean out the oven earlier. Hastily pulling out his wand, he pointed it at the rag and said, “Tergeo.”
I love this moment a lot. Harry says something that upsets Hermione which “startles” him and worries him. Then something interesting happens. Harry actually tries to comfort Hermione but “struggles to get up” and doesn’t get there in time, Ron “gets there first.” This is such an interesting choice of words because it indicates that if Ron hadn’t gotten there first, Harry would’ve been the one putting “one arm around Hermione.”
After Ron’s accusations of H/Hr in the tent, they distance themselves from each other physically. Hermione is dropping Harry’s hand and turning away from him. That would make approaching her very awkward for Harry. But every time he still considered comforting Hermione, Ron’s face kept appearing and keeping Harry away from her. Ron had accused them of being together, so if Harry had actually put an around Hermione like Ron used to when he wanted to comfort her, it would’ve kind of been a “confirmation” of Ron’s accusation.
It’s fascinating that Harry was ready to comfort Hermione earlier in the book but what’s more fascinating is this moment in the Godric’s Hollow scene:
As soon as he stood up he wanted to leave: He did not think he could stand another moment there. He put his arm around Hermione’s shoulders, and she put hers around his waist, and they turned in silence and walked away through the snow, past Dumbledore’s mother and sister, back toward the dark church and the out-of-sight kissing gate.
After spending time alone in the tent staying away from each other physically, Harry decides to put everything (including Ron’s expression) aside and ends up putting his arm around Hermione! It’s an important moment for both of them. They’re finally restoring their physical closeness, breaking free from their guilt and distance.
After all of this, we can safely say that Harry could’ve comforted Hermione physically but we never got to see because of these obstacles (Ron getting to Hermione before Harry, Ron’s face which kept appearing to Harry). But even with all of that, we still saw Harry and Hermione finding comfort in each other in front of Harry’s parents’ grave.
Back to the topic of influence and balance. Here is an interesting scene about Harry’s care for Hermione and his possible influence on her:
“I got it back,” said Harry, grinning at her and holding up the Firebolt.
“See, Hermione? There wasn’t anything wrong with it!” said Ron.
“Well — there might have been!” said Hermione. “I mean, at least you know now that it’s safe!”
“Yeah, I suppose so,” said Harry. “I’d better put it upstairs —”
“I’ll take it!” said Ron eagerly. “I’ve got to give Scabbers his rat tonic.”
He took the Firebolt and, holding it as if it were made of glass, carried it away up the boys’staircase.
“Can I sit down, then?” Harry asked Hermione.
“I suppose so,” said Hermione, moving a great stack of parchment off a chair. Harry looked around at the cluttered table, at the long Arithmancy essay on which the ink was still glistening, at the even longer Muggle Studies essay (“Explain Why Muggles Need Electricity”), and at the rune translation Hermione was now poring over.
“How are you getting through all this stuff?” Harry asked her.
“Oh, well — you know — working hard,” said Hermione. Close-up, Harry saw that she looked almost as tired as Lupin.
“Why don’t you just drop a couple of subjects?” Harry asked, watching her lifting books as she searched for her rune dictionary.
“I couldn’t do that!” said Hermione, looking scandalized.
“Arithmancy looks terrible,” said Harry, picking up a very complicated-looking number chart.
“Oh no, it’s wonderful!” said Hermione earnestly. “It’s my favorite subject! It’s —”
Yes, I’m using this scene again.
In this scene, Ron is more worried about proving Hermione wrong and cares more about the Firebolt than Hermione. While Harry (who was the one to suggest making up with Hermione as he knew she had only meant well) sits down next to Hermione because he genuinely cares about her and is truly worried about her. He suggests she drops a few subjects and, who knows, maybe he could’ve convinced her but, sadly, Ron discovers that Scabbers is gone and interrupts their conversation.
(side note: I don’t blame Ron here for anything. He should’ve been more caring about his friendship with Hermione but we also have to consider how he felt at that moment. He had always been poor, he grew up with mediocre everything and now there is a firebolt - the best and most expensive broom in the world - right in front of his eyes! Of course he was more fascinated by the broom, he was just a 13 year old boy.)
Interestingly, at the end of the year, Hermione does end up quitting Muggle Studies which is mainly because she notices she can’t deal with all the stress and responsibility but maybe, just maybe, Harry’s words had some sort of impact on her. I don’t think this would be too unlikely, but I can’t claim it as canon.
Something that is canon though is that Harry worried about Hermione studying too much in PoA and asked her to take a break and have some food:
“What’s all that, Hermione?” Harry asked, pointing at not one but three bulging bags in the chair next to her.
“Well, I’m taking more new subjects than you, aren’t I?” said Hermione. “Those are my books for Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, Study of Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies —”
“What are you doing Muggle Studies for?” said Ron, rolling his eyes at Harry. “You’re Muggle-born! Your mum and dad are Muggles! You already know all about Muggles!”
“But it’ll be fascinating to study them from the Wizarding point of view,” said Hermione earnestly.
“Are you planning to eat or sleep at all this year, Hermione?” asked Harry, while Ron sniggered. Hermione ignored them.
In this case, Hermione wasn't overworking herself yet so Harry's statement was mostly a joke, but the first thing he thought when hearing that Hermione was taking many subjects was that she wouldn't get enough food and sleep, which is still meaningful if you ask me. But in this scene, Harry is genuinely worried about the fact that Hermione isn't eating:
Only one person wasn’t joining in the festivities. Hermione, incredibly, was sitting in a corner, attempting to read an enormous book entitled Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles. Harry broke away from the table where Fred and George had started juggling butterbeer bottles and went over to her.
“Did you even come to the match?” he asked her.
“Of course I did,” said Hermione in a strangely high-pitched voice, not looking up. “And I’m very glad we won, and I think you did really well, but I need to read this by Monday.”
“Come on, Hermione, come and have some food,” Harry said, looking over at Ron and wondering whether he was in a good enough mood to bury the hatchet.
“I can’t, Harry. I’ve still got four hundred and twenty-two pages to read!” said Hermione, now sounding slightly hysterical. “Anyway . . .” She glanced over at Ron too. “He doesn’t want me to join in.”
There was no arguing with this, as Ron chose that moment to say loudly, “If Scabbers hadn’t just been eaten, he could have had some of those Fudge Flies. He used to really like them —”
Hermione burst into tears. Before Harry could say or do anything, she tucked the enormous book under her arm, and, still sobbing, ran toward the staircase to the girls’ dormitories and out of sight.
“Can’t you give her a break?” Harry asked Ron quietly
Harry always remembered Hermione, he was the only one to notice she wasn't celebrating and approach her. He asked her to have some food but he failed to convince her because Ron interrupted them. This was also the first time that Harry stood up to Ron - and it was to defend Hermione. Although he failed to get her to eat and take care at that time, if they were to live together and get married one day, Harry would be a lot more confident convincing her to take care of herself. Here’s a nice scene from DH:
Harry picked up Hermione’s wand, which he had dropped in the snow, and sat back down in the entrance of the tent.
“Thanks for the tea. I’ll finish the watch. You get back in the warm.”
She hesitated, but recognized the dismissal. She picked up the book and then walked back past him into the tent, but as she did so, she brushed the top of his head lightly with her hand. He closed his eyes at her touch, and hated himself for wishing that what she said was true: that Dumbledore had really cared.
Harry asks Hermione to go into the tent while he finishes the watch. While leaving, Hermione brushes his head lightly with her hand to comfort him after their discussion with Dumbledore. She understands Harry's inner conflict and reaches out to him. But that's not the point of this scene. Harry asks Hermione to go back into the tent because he wants her to be warm. He cares about her. But this isn’t the only time Harry worried about her getting too cold:
Harry felt dazed. He stooped, picked up the Horcrux, and placed it around his own neck. He dragged blankets off Ron’s bunk and threw them over Hermione. Then he climbed onto his own bed and stared up at the dark canvas roof, listening to the pounding of the rain.
Harry “threw” some blankets over Hermione to make sure she’d get warm after she got wet and cold in the rain after chasing after Ron.
Here’s more of caring Harry:
There were purple shadows under her brown eyes and he noticed a small sponge in her hand: She had been wiping his face.
[...]
If he had only managed to kill the snake, it would have been worth it, all of it . . . Sick at heart, he sat up and threw back the covers.
“Harry, no, I’m sure you ought to rest!”
“You’re the one who needs sleep. No offense, but you look terrible. I’m fine. I’ll keep watch for a while. Where’s my wand?”
Harry noticed how tired Hermione was after taking care of him for hours and told her to get some sleep and that he could finish the watch, even though he (probably) felt terrible because he had been sweating and having horrible visions for hours.
I don’t think it’s necessary to write and analyze just how much Hermione cares about Harry. If you’ve read the series at least once, you’d know what I’m talking about: she always helps him in everything, she never abandons him, she worries about him a lot, gives him advice, never forgets about him, makes sure he is alright, always nags him because she’s so worried, worries nearly to death during every round of the Triwizard Tournament, always cheers for him at Quidditch matches, does everything in her power to make Harry feel better. No one can match her care for Harry, no one.
After all of this, I think it should be obvious that Harry and Hermione are compatible. They share many of their traits, they balance each other out, they complete each other, they influence each other and help each other grow, they care for each other and appreciate each other, they’re always there for each other.
I think that I’ve clarified everything. After reading the definition of soulmates, the very first person I think of as Harry’s soulmate is Hermione.
Harry’s true soulmate is the one who understands Harry perfectly, who reads his mind, who knows exactly how he’s feeling, who can bring out the best in him, who is the only person Harry would talk to or listen to, who can “save” Harry and be his light and savior, who has gone through everything with him, who relates to him, who has a similar background, who understands what it's like to grow up without friends, who was the first person to show him physical affection, who has given him countless hugs and kisses, who gains strength by holding onto him, who shares everything about herself with him, who has never abandoned him even in the worst moments, whom Harry can fully and completely trust, who always cares about him and worries abut him, who accompanies him alone at his most important journeys, who brings him peace, who calms him down, who helps him express his feelings, who’s comfortable around him, whom he is comfortable around, who jokes around with him, who shares lots of laughs with him, who loves having fun with him, who freely and lightly argues with him, who isn’t afraid of expressing her opinions and sharing them with him, who turns to look at him when the most important words of marriage are being said, who is symbolically and magically bonded with him for life, whom Harry finds beautiful and attractive, who is described by some of the most poetic words and phrases ever said by Harry, who influences him positively, who helps him grow, whose voice keeps guiding him to right decisions, who admires his courage and bravery, who deeply cares about him, who has many of her best traits in common with him, who is the one person he cares about the most and comforts even when he can’t comfort anyone else, who is the person he also finds comfort in, who balances him out, who gives him strength, the girl who completes him. And that girl is Hermione.
This part of my essay is finally over. Funnily enough, no arguments above were meant to be written down at all, I was originally going to leave it at:
Just the definition of soulmates itself clearly puts Hermione in the first place of Harry’s possible soulmates.
But then I thought I should’ve clarified my statement and written short arguments about my points and... Well, we all saw how that turned out.
Anyway, moving on to the part of the essay which was originally going to be all I was going to write in it:
Harry and Hermione’s Soulmate Bond
For this part of this essay I will mainly be using this article about soulmates. But sometimes I will be including quotes from another source.
The first section of this essay was about explaining H/Hr as soulmates according to the definition, but it was more about why they are “ideally suited.” It didn’t go so much in detail about that “sixth sense” and understanding I talked a little bit about. Here I will discuss the mystical connection of soulmates and how it proves Harry and Hermione weren’t only compatible as a couple but were also bonded as true soulmates.
Let’s start:
Your divine complement is your twin soul and twin flame whom since the beginning of creation has been linked to you through a mystery – a heart-spirit connection. He or she represents that one person to whom you are most connected soul-to-soul and spirit-to-spirit, and with whom you may have an opportunity to meet and bond with at the human dimension. Your divine complement holds inborn potentials that match and complement your own and carries the key to your spiritual evolution. They are your ultimate complementary match.
I think this paragraph sums up the things I wrote in my essay above perfectly. Hermione is the one person who is most connected to him “soul-to-soul” as we see in the Christmas scene in OotP. She’s the one who helps Harry to battle the darkness inside him and gets him to open up.
Harry and Hermione’s bond was definitely the most powerful one in the entire series, which I also discussed above. This was as clear as ever in the “bonded for life” scene in DH. They now literally have that special bond and connection and it’s directly in the text.
The part about matching and complementing traits is also the perfect way to summarize the argument I wrote about “balanced union.” Hermione has the brilliant logic, knowledge and intellect that completes Harry and helps him function while he has the strength and confidence. They’re complete together. They also help each other and balance each other with the opposite features - impatience and patience.
Hermione is also definitely the one that “carries the key to Harry’s spiritual evolution.” Her voice in Harry’s mind always helps him to make the right choices and she motivates Harry to study more. In other words, she helps him grow.
After all of the discussion in the first part of this essay, it should be obvious that Harry and Hermione are each others’ “ultimate complementary match.”
The romantic notion that soul mates are guaranteed a life of romantic bliss with extraordinary heights of sexual and spiritual ecstasy, and have so much in common that they will never fight, is a myth sending many to search endlessly for the perfect person. In truth, the passion sparks don’t necessarily fly in the beginning and the two are so opposite that getting along can be a challenge. Fate will present challenges that may be anything but happy experiences to test the commitment to love.
This argument works well for Harmione (although, admittedly, it works even better for Romione, but it still helps H/Hr’s case too). Harry and Hermione often had opposing opinions and sometimes they had arguments. Their relationship wasn’t perfect, which is why it’s complex and realistic. It also shows that soulmates can fight too. But the most important part is, they both made efforts to come up with a perfect compromise. Their relationship wouldn’t have lasted if they were careless about it, they had to put so much effort to maintain their friendship and, as the article states, fate presented them many challenges. Luckily, they cared about each other enough to overcome all of life’s obstacles.
The majority of twin souls, divine complements, have a destiny to at least meet in this life and most are meant to build their relationship into a lasting commitment. Their union is spirit-driven. Divine complements come together by “divine design” and at the perfect time often through serendipity to begin their journey. A co-created design, a destiny plan, was set in motion just before the incarnation, spelling out what the couple promised to achieve. Just because the relationship is “meant-to-be”, doesn’t guarantee the relationship will work.
This is clearly meant for couples but since Harry and Hermione never dated and fell in love with each other, we can’t apply it to them. But I think the first part of the article makes sense for platonic soulmates too. Harry and Hermione were destined to meet in their life, Hermione ended up saving his life multiple times which later led to Harry fulfilling the prophecy. Their friendship also lasted for years, they’re still bestie friends to this day. Their union is definitely special and “spiritual” too. They have a special connection and a deep understanding.
“True soulmates” are more likely to be opposites who complement each other nicely. Your twin possesses a unique intelligence with qualities that summon up your more hidden potentials pointing you to a reflection of wholeness, the balance of masculine and feminine traits. These complementary qualities can also be blended together to form a balanced and successful partnership. It is often true that soulmates won’t see eye to eye on everything, because they grew up with different sets of values. Valuing each other will prove more important than valuing and liking the same things.
We have gotten to one of my favorite parts of this article. I didn’t even need to highlight anything here. Just read the paragraph and tell me you didn’t think of Harmione (or maybe Romione, both are very similar and great ships).
As I’ve already explained, Harry and Hermione are kind of opposites who complement each other nicely, Harry has the strength and power, he’s also athletic, and Hermione has the intelligence, she’s the mastermind, the brilliant one, she’s also a bookworm. Not only that, but we see the contrast in their personality traits too, Harry is hotheaded and impatient, while Hermione is reasonable and patient. They create balance, completeness and harmony. After all, that is what that the ship is called.
The next sentence is absolutely accurate. Hermione has intelligence, she’s logical and has great memory. Her plans help (and impress) Harry a lot. She complements his great power and completes it.
Harry and Hermione are the best example of balanced and successful partners you can find from the series. They fought together, they stuck together, they helped each other. Hermione often found the clues, solved the mysteries and created the plans which Harry followed. I’ve already linked one essay analyzing Harry and Hermione becoming partners and working together (often without Ron) to defeat whatever obstacle comes up. But we don’t even need this, even the author (and Emma Watson) admits that Harry and Hermione were equals and partners:
Rowling: [...] But Hermione’s always there for Harry. I remember you sent me a note after you read Hallows and before you starting shooting, and said something about that, because it was Hermione’s journey as much as Harry’s at the end.
Watson: I completely agree and the fact that they were true equals and the fact that she really said goodbye to her family makes it her sacrifice too.
Quotes from here.
Of course, Harry and Hermione don’t agree on everything. For example, Hermione has methods of freeing the house elves that Harry doesn’t agree with. But Harry does learn to appreciate house elves more in DH and the scene where Harry becomes kind to Kreacher and the elf redeems himself is one of my favorites as it shows Harry’s growth and it pushes Harry and Hermione’s friendship even further.
“Valuing each other will prove more important than valuing the and liking the same things.”
This is such an important quote to keep in mind. Hermione doesn’t need to adore Quidditch and Harry doesn’t have to be buried in books. They value each other a lot and that’s what matters.
Now we’re moving on to the part of the article that inspired me to write this essay:
Soulmates share a highly developed sixth sense. It is often true that soulmates pick up on each other’s psychic cues, finish each other’s sentences and communicate telepathically. They are in sync a lot of the time. It is not uncommon for a soulmate to sense it when their soulmate is distressed, picking up on negative emotional currents even at a distance or to dream more detailed information about their emotional wellbeing. The spirit-driven synergy soulmates share creates a unified field of creativity producing signs and synchronicities that flood each other’s consciousness. This is why there are usually magical and meaningful signs that authenticate the soulmate connection when soulmates meet.
Sometimes I wonder if this paragraph was based on H/Hr’s relationship because it’s simply so accurate. It's also full of information so we'll have to break it down a bit.
1. Psychic Cues and Sensing Feelings
Hermione always notices when something is wrong with Harry, she never misses it and always starts worrying about it. She's often the only person who notices that Harry isn't feeling alright:
And as he thought this, the scar on his forehead burned so badly that he clapped his hand to it.
“What’s up?” said Hermione, looking alarmed.
“Scar,” Harry mumbled. “But it’s nothing. . . . It happens all the time now . . .”
None of the others had noticed a thing; all of them were now helping themselves to food while gloating over Harry’s narrow escape; Fred, George, and Ginny were still singing. Hermione looked rather anxious, but before she could say anything, Ron said happily, “I bet Dumbledore turns up this evening to celebrate with us, you know.”
When his scar hurts, Harry claps his hand to his forehead after having a conversation with Hermione. Hermione immediately notices and starts worrying about Harry, asking him what's wrong. Everyone is in the room, including Ron and Ginny, and yet, as the text explicitly tells us, none of them notice. Only Hermione. But this isn't the only time Hermione has sensed that something was wrong with Harry:
Harry felt shivery; his scar was still aching, he felt almost feverish. When he sat down opposite Ron and Hermione he caught sight of himself in the window opposite. He was very white, and his scar seemed to be showing up more clearly than usual.
“How did it go?” Hermione whispered, and then, looking concerned, “Are you all right, Harry?”
“Yeah . . . fine . . . I dunno,” said Harry impatiently, wincing as pain shot through his scar again. “Listen . . . I’ve just realized something . . .”
[...]
“I know they call the people who work in there ‘Unspeakables,’” said Ron, frowning. “Because no one really seems to know what they do in there. . . . Weird place to have a weapon . . .”
“It’s not weird at all, it makes perfect sense,” said Hermione. “It will be something top secret that the Ministry has been developing, I expect. . . . Harry, are you sure you’re all right?”
For Harry had just run both his hands hard over his forehead as though trying to iron it.
“Yeah . . . fine . . .” he said, lowering his hands, which were trembling. “I just feel a bit . . . I don’t like Occlumency much . . .”
“I expect anyone would feel shaky if they’d had their mind attacked over and over again,” said Hermione sympathetically. “Look, let’s get back to the common room, we’ll be a bit more comfortable there . . .”
This is such an interesting scene. Firstly, Harry enters the room looking paler. Ron doesn't notice that anything is wrong, but Hermione immediately senses that Harry isn't feeling well and concernedly asks him how he's feeling. Definitely "picking up on psychic cues."
Later in the scene Harry "runs both of his hands hard over his forehead" and Hermione quickly checks on him again as she noticed this wasn't his normal behavior. Harry pretends he's okay but Hermione sympathizes with him, comforts him and offers to go to the Gryffindor common room where they'd feel more comfortable.
I love how caring and understanding Hermione is but what intrigues me the most is the way Hermione always notices that Harry isn't feeling alright, it feels like some sort of a "sixth sense," as the article puts it. These aren't the only two times Hermione has instantly felt that Harry wasn't well, but I'm not going to include any more because I think my point here is clear - Hermione always picks up on even the smallest hints that something is wrong with Harry.
2. Finishing Sentences
There are multiple moments where Harry and Hermione finish each other's sentences, one of which I mentioned earlier above. Here are a few more to convince you that Harry and Hermione are experts at knowing each other's thoughts before they're said:
“I — Hermione, I’m sorry — I didn’t —”
“Didn’t realize that Ron and I know perfectly well what might happen if we come with you? Well, we do. Ron, show Harry what you’ve done.”
Hermione has just finished telling Harry that she's modified her parents memories and Harry is in shock. He tries telling Hermione that he didn't realize she and Ron were aware of the sacrifice they had to make to go with him but Hermione doesn't need him to tell her. She already knows what is going on inside his head.
The Gryffindor fourth years were looking forward to Moody’s first lesson so much that they arrived early on Thursday lunchtime and queued up outside his classroom before the bell had even rung. The only person missing was Hermione, who turned up just in time for the lesson.
“Been in the —”
“Library.” Harry finished her sentence for her. “C’mon, quick, or we won’t get decent seats.”
This isn't really a big deal, everyone knows Hermione spends much of her time in the library, but it's still nice to see that Harry knows Hermione well enough to finish her sentences. On an unrelated note, I think it's sweet that Harry waited for Hermione to go into the classroom. He never forgets about her.
3. Telepathic Communication
Harry and Hermione often communicate nonverbally. I will talk about this a bit more later but for now, let's discuss this little scene:
And then the tunnel began to rise; moments later it twisted, and Crookshanks had gone. Instead, Harry could see a patch of dim light through a small opening. He and Hermione paused, gasping for breath, edging forward. Both raised their wands to see what lay beyond. It was a room, a very disordered, dusty room. Paper was peeling from the walls; there were stains all over the floor; every piece of furniture was broken as though somebody had smashed it. The windows were all boarded up. Harry glanced at Hermione, who looked very frightened but nodded. Harry pulled himself out of the hole, staring around. The room was deserted, but a door to their right stood open, leading to a shadowy hallway. Hermione suddenly grabbed Harry's arm again. Her wide eyes were traveling around the boarded windows. "Harry," she whispered, "I think we're in the Shrieking Shack." Harry looked around. His eyes fell on a wooden chair near them. Large chunks had been torn out of it; one of the legs had been ripped off entirely. "Ghosts didn't do that," he said slowly. At that moment, there was a creak overhead. Something had moved upstairs. Both of them looked up at the ceiling. Hermione's grip on Harry's arm was so tight he was losing feeling in-his fingers. He raised his eyebrows at her; she nodded again and let go. Quietly as they could, they crept out into the hall and up the crumbling staircase. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust except the floor, where a wide shiny stripe had been made by something being dragged upstairs. They reached the dark landing. "Nox," they whispered together, and the lights at the end of their wands went out. Only one door was open. As they crept toward it, they heard movement from behind it; a low moan, and then a deep, loud purring. They exchanged a last look, a last nod. Wand held tightly before him, Harry kicked the door wide open.
This is definitely an interesting interaction between the two. There are so many things to point out here.
Firstly, look at how they're communicating. They only said a few words to each other but the rest of the time, they are simply looking at each other. It's crazy how much these two can communicate and understand just by sharing a few glances. They know what the other is thinking and they just need to look and nod to confirm. The exchange of looks and nods is important in this text and it's mentioned multiple times.
Next thing I'm noting, Hermione's behavior is adorable here. She keeps grabbing Harry's arm and holding onto him to gain strength. Their physical dependence on each other is obvious here. But that's not really related to telepathic communication.
Last note, they are moving together. They're not talking to each other, they're not discussing their moves, yet they both somehow already know where to go or what to do. Their movements are also synchronized: they pause at the same time, walk together, look around the same places at the same time and make the light in their wands disappear together at the same time.
This is seriously one of their strongest scenes together. Their connection and special ways of magical communication is remarkable. The nonverbal and telepathic communication, physical dependence on each other, synchronized movement, it's all clearly there. Their bond is unmatched.
4. Synchronized Movement
The article tells us that soulmates are often in sync. We know that Harry and Hermione communicate nonverbally and move together in sync, which was proved in the previous scene I discussed where there was an incredible amount of synchronized movement. But I found something that's even more fascinating. Let's take a look at this interesting little moment:
Harry and Hermione moved instinctively together, peering through the trees, as Ron came into sight, with Ginny, Neville, and Luna hurrying along behind him.
Here not only are Harry and Hermione moving together, synchronized, but apparently this is also an instinct for them! They hear some noise which later turns out to be Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna and their first instinct was to move together and "peer through the trees" at the same time. Being in sync is an instinct, and this is proof of their special connection.
5. Other
This mini section will be about my thoughts on the rest of the paragraph and how Harmione slightly relates to it and simply other Harmione moments that I associate with soulmate stuff.
The article dealt with magical sings during soulmates' first meetings. I don't think there was anything quite magical about Harry and Hermione's first meeting. JK Rowling didn't give us any magical signs when any of her future pairings met. I don't think she believed in the idea of "love at first sight." So no two people in the series have a magical meeting when they can feel some sort of a mystical connection between them (or whatever). But one thing that does interest me about H/Hr's first meeting is that Hermione didn't look at Harry's scar. Nearly everyone, including Ron, Ginny, Fred and George, wanted to see Harry's scar, but not Hermione. Harry usually gets uncomfortable when people want to look at his scar and he often notes it, but Hermione wasn't interested in that, she cared more about him as a person. She never gave a sign that she wanted to take a look at that famous lightning-shaped scar, no. She wanted to meet Harry, not the boy-who-lived. And that makes me feel warm.
The article also mentioned dreaming about each other's emotional wellbeing. Harry never dreamed about Hermione's wellbeing (at least I can't recall such moments) but she has appeared in his dreams before, most notably when she was giving him advice about Cho, telling him he should give her his most prized possession - his Firebolt. And that's one of the main roles she has in Harry's life - his guider. She helps him and gives him advice - and the same thing happens in his dreams.
There are scenes that indicate a kind of connection between Harry and Hermione that I wanted to include somewhere but I couldn't find the right place to so I'll just put them right here:
And pork chops appeared. Getting the idea, the rest of the table placed their orders with their plates too. Harry glanced up at Hermione to see how she felt about this new and more complicated method of dining — surely it meant plenty of extra work for the house-elves? — but for once, Hermione didn’t seem to be thinking about S.P.E.W. She was deep in talk with Viktor Krum and hardly seemed to notice what she was eating.
This is interesting. Harry notices a "new and more complicated method of dining" and, while his first thoughts could be how amazing or fancy this is, he thinks about Hermione first and what she would say about the topic. This is also the year Harry started thinking about her a lot, an example being that he thought of what her response would've been to his scar hurting. She is on Harry's mind quite often, don't you think? This scene further proves it:
He looked up into the handsome wizard’s face, but up close, Harry thought he looked rather weak and foolish. The witch was wearing a vapid smile like a beauty contestant, and from what Harry knew of goblins and centaurs, they were most unlikely to be caught staring this soppily at humans of any description. Only the house-elf’s attitude of creeping servility looked convincing. With a grin at the thought of what Hermione would say if she could see the statue of the elf, Harry turned his money bag upside down and emptied not just ten Galleons, but the whole contents into the pool at the statues’ feet.
Fascinating. Harry thinks about her so often that he immediately associates a house-elf he's just seen with Hermione. She is the girl he thinks about the most. Whenever something even remotely related to Hermione comes up he starts thinking about her. And note that he's smiling at his thoughts about her! Hermione is like a happy memory to him. Our boy is so deeply connected to her.
[...] The four House tables had been removed and replaced instead with many tables for one, all facing the staff-table end of the Hall where Professor McGonagall stood facing them. When they were all seated and quiet she said, “You may begin,” and turned over an enormous hourglass on the desk beside her, on which were also spare quills, ink bottles, and rolls of parchment.
Harry turned over his paper, his heart thumping hard. . . . Three rows to his right and four seats ahead, Hermione was already scribbling. . . . He lowered his eyes to the first question: a) Give the incantation, and b) describe the wand movement required to make objects fly. . . .
Harry had a fleeting memory of a club soaring high into the air and landing loudly on the thick skull of a troll. . . . Smiling slightly, he bent over the paper and began to write. . . .
This isn't exactly Harry thinking about Hermione but I thought it was worth mentioning. First, Harry immediately notices where Hermione is sitting and she isn't exactly sitting right in front of him either. He's so fast to notice it, and without any effort, it's almost like he senses where she's sitting! This scene is too interesting and makes me think a bit too deeply about it.
When Harry sees the question, he thinks of a memory from his first year, when he and Ron saved Hermione and defeated a troll. And thinking about this brings a small smile on his face.
If Harry's thoughts about Hermione aren't sweet, what are?
Something else that I need to write here - it's not just Harry who can't stop thinking about Hermione. Hermione also has him on her mind quite often. We don't know what Hermione thinks all the time but there are enough hints to come to this conclusion.
“Hermy-own-ninny talks about you very often,” said Krum, looking suspiciously at Harry.
We talk about things we are passionate about. Whether if we hate it completely or absolutely adore it. Whatever the emotion is, positive, negative or something else, we will talk about it often if we feel strong emotions toward it.
Viktor Krum says that Hermione talked a lot about Harry. Now I think we all know that Hermione doesn't hate Harry so we know that she talked about him positively. Poor Krum really liked her but she couldn't keep her mouth shut about Harry, we know how much she adores friendship and bravery and how proud she is of him. Hermione talked about him so lovingly that Krum had to have a confidential conversation with Harry about it. I think it's obvious how much Hermione thinks about Harry and can't stop talking passionately about him.
Here we have further proof that Hermione thought a lot about Harry:
He caught a brief glimpse of a gloomy high-ceilinged, twin-bedded room, then there was a loud twittering noise, followed by an even louder shriek, and his vision was completely obscured by a large quantity of very bushy hair — Hermione had thrown herself onto him in a hug that nearly knocked him flat, while Ron’s tiny owl, Pigwidgeon, zoomed excitedly round and round their heads.
“HARRY! Ron, he’s here, Harry’s here! We didn’t hear you arrive! Oh, how are you? Are you all right? Have you been furious with us? I bet you have, I know our letters were useless — but we couldn’t tell you anything, Dumbledore made us swear we wouldn’t, oh, we’ve got so much to tell you, and you’ve got to tell us — the dementors! When we heard — and that Ministry hearing — it’s just outrageous, I’ve looked it all up, they can’t expel you, they just can’t, there’s provision in the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Sorcery for the use of magic in life-threatening situations —
Wow! Hermione had a lot to say. Imagine how much she thought and worried about Harry, she even did research about underage sorcery just to make sure Harry would've been okay!
That's not all:
The door banged open. Hermione came tearing into the room, her cheeks flushed and her hair flying. There was an envelope in her hand.
“Did you — did you get — ?”
She spotted the badge in Harry’s hand and let out a shriek.
“I knew it!” she said excitedly, brandishing her letter. “Me too, Harry, me too!”
“No,” said Harry quickly, pushing the badge back into Ron’s hand. “It’s Ron, not me.”
“It — what?”
“Ron’s prefect, not me,” Harry said.
“Ron?” said Hermione, her jaw dropping. “But . . . are you sure? I mean —”
She turned red as Ron looked around at her with a defiant expression on his face.
u/HopefulHarmonian has done a great analysis on this scene but I'd just like you to pay attention to the fact that Hermione was so excited to find out that Harry was going to be a prefect with her that she shrieked out of happiness. And then she said that she knew Harry was going to be a prefect, proving that Hermione had thought about this. She probably also thought a lot about spending time with him and that was why got so excited to find out that her "dreams" were coming true. Then look at her disappointment. Her jaw dropped and she had to check again if Harry was sure he wasn't a prefect. She immediately blushed. I'd say I feel bad for Hermione - she thought so much about spending time with Harry and then her whole world crumbled - but Ron had it so much worse here.
Now that we have my random thoughts out of the way, I'll move on. But before I include the last paragraph from the article I've been using, I'll add a few interesting scenes from a different article about soulmates:
In a heightened way, soulmates experience communication at non-verbal as well as verbal levels. Nuances of communication occur through facial expression and body language, especially when you are tuned-into another person. At an unconscious level we communicate with others and certainly this is so with a soulmate. The sensation of resonating with another has been described as right brain dialogues between the relational unconscious of two people (Dorpat, 2001). Not all communication is verbal, and, in the context of attachment, right brain-to-right brain auditory prosodic communications--the patterns of tone in your voice--are a vehicle of implicit communication (Schore, 2012). The right hemisphere, as opposed to the more analytic left brain, processes the “music” behind our words, including variations in stress and pitch (Schore, 2012). You experience this when you are highly attuned to another person: when you sense a particular mood from a vocal tone, or “hear” another aspect of a conversation that is otherwise being conveyed in words. In intensely intimate relationships, such broader aspects of communication register both implicitly and explicitly. Although unconsciously we communicate with everyone, in certain relationships our relational unconscious is more tuned-in to the other.
Harry and Hermione definitely communicate verbally and nonverbally, through body language and other kinds of special connections. I've mentioned plenty of scenes in this essay already about Harry and Hermione understanding each other, communicating nonverbally, reading each other's facial expressions and body language, distinguishing the tone of each other's voices and etcetera. But I'll have to add even more to convince you. I could find hundreds of moments where Harry notices Hermione's facial expressions and body language but I'll mention only a few:
Malfoy looked rather as he had done the time Hermione had punched him in the face. Hermione turned to Harry with a radiant expression and whispered, “Did you really tell him I’m the best in the year? Oh, Harry!”
Harry is clearly taking notes of Hermione's expression her. He thinks she looks "radiant." This is just a strong scene to convince you of two things: Harry thinks Hermione is beautiful (I mean come on, he calls her "radiant!"); Harry pays a lot of attention to her face and her expressions. It's not exactly communication by facial expression but I thought it was interesting.
“Don't be silly, of course there is,” said Hermione, and Harry saw, with an ominous feeling, that her face was suddenly alight with the kind of fervor that SPEW usually inspired in her. “It's about preparing ourselves, like Harry said in Umbridge's first lesson, for what's waiting for us out there. It's about making sure we really can defend ourselves. If we don't learn anything for a whole year –“
This is one of my favorite moments from the books.
First of all, this whole scene is about Hermione convincing Harry to teach defense and form the DA which was the one thing that got him through the year. And Hermione says Voldemort's name for the first time and calms Harry down.
Secondly, this phrase is just beautiful. I don't know why but I find phrases like these extremely poetic. "Her face was suddenly alight with the kind of fervor that SPEW usually inspired in her."
Now onto the actual facial expression part. So Harry notices how passionate Hermione is about SPEW and notices her expression when she's talking about it. Not only that, later he spots a similarly bright expression on her face - he really had the energy to remember that old look and compare it with the new one - and he immediately points it out. Imagine how much attention he pays to her face to memorize her facial expressions plus describe them in such poetic ways!
I know this isn't communication through facial expression but I thought I'd mention it.
Harry glanced up at Hermione and saw that her mouth was fully open now. She was gazing at him with a mixture of alarm and pity.
Harry notices Hermione's facial expression and reads it incredibly well. He can tell her emotions, in great detail, mind you, just by looking at her face! I think this is a great moment to prove that Harry and Hermione share a different level of understanding.
Notice how Harry notices Hermione's mouth? Earlier in this scene, her mouth was "slightly open" and now it's "fully open." Harry pays lots of attention to her mouth and lips and not just in this scene. He often notices Hermione biting her lip or her lip trembling. Harry never misses these things.
At that moment, there was a creak overhead. Something had moved upstairs. Both of them looked up at the ceiling. Hermione's grip on Harry's arm was so tight he was losing feeling in-his fingers. He raised his eyebrows at her; she nodded again and let go.
Harry and Hermione are nonverbally communicating in this entire scene, I've already discussed it. But I'd like you to pay attention to that one sentence. Hermione keeps holding onto Harry for strength and when her grip gets too tight, Harry looks at her and raises his eyebrows and that simple and minor change in his expression is enough to immediately send a signal in Hermione's mind. She lets Harry go but not before she nods (this is body language) to let Harry know she understands. This is communication on a whole different level! I don't think anyone in the series has achieved something like this. This is one of the best examples to use for communication by facial expression and body language.
Harry moved his head over on the pillow. In the bed to his right lay Hermione. Moonlight was falling across her bed. Her eyes were open too. She looked petrified, and when she saw that Harry was awake, pressed a finger to her lips, then pointed to the hospital wing door. It was ajar, and the voices of Cornelius Fudge and Snape were coming through it from the corridor outside.
This is also an interesting scene. Harry, once again, looks at her face and reads it perfectly. Then Hermione puts a finger to her lips and then points it to the door. Harry understands what this means: he needs to be quiet because Cornelius Fudge and Snape are about to come in. This is nonverbal communication. Hermione could communicate with Harry just by a few simple gestures.
(Not to mention the extremely romanticized description of "moonlight falling across her bed" as if Hermione was bathing in moonlight.)
Hermione looked ready to fling her arms around him again, but Harry was glad she held herself in as his head was still very sore.
Harry can read Hermione so easily, even when his head is sore. He quickly noticed that Hermione was ready to hug him and throw her arms around him again. She must've shown it through her body language, which Harry has mastered understanding.
Now let's discuss how Harry notices every minor change in the tone of Hermione's voice and how he can tell what Hermione is thinking or feeling just by that. I'll use a few scenes I've already used but I don't think that using many moments will be necessary to prove the point since everyone who has read the books will know how detailed Harry's descriptions of Hermione's voice are: sometimes her voice is panicky, sometimes - squeaky, sometimes - anxious and etcetera. I'll point out a few moments:
“Of course I did,” said Hermione in a strangely high-pitched voice, not looking up. “And I’m very glad we won, and I think you did really well, but I need to read this by Monday.”
I'm sorry for reusing this scene from above, but I need it to point this out. As the article states, soulmates notice different tones pitches in each other's voices. Harry clearly notices Hermione's "strangely high-pitched voice" here. What's more, later in this scene this happens:
“I can’t, Harry. I’ve still got four hundred and twenty-two pages to read!” said Hermione, now sounding slightly hysterical. “Anyway . . .” She glanced over at Ron too. “He doesn’t want me to join in.”
Harry notices even the slightest change in Hermione's voice and describes it as "slightly hysterical." Not even a single nuance in Hermione's tone misses Harry's ears. He senses this hysterical "mood" and this is obviously not the first time. Harry can often tell when Hermione is grumpy, anxious, frightened and etcetera.
Now I'd like to focus on something rather different:
“I suppose so,” said Hermione, though she sounded unconvinced. “But I don’t think he can be possessing her the way he possessed Quirrell, I mean, he’s properly alive again now, isn’t he, he’s got his own body, he wouldn’t need to share someone else’s. He could have her under the Imperius Curse, I suppose . . .”
Harry can read Hermione's voice so well that he can tell if she is convinced or not. He can almost hear her thoughts through her voice which is saying otherwise! Hermione tells Harry she thinks it's possible but he can tell she doesn't really think that way and she's not exactly convinced. All by her voice! This isn't the first time something similar has happened either. I pointed out a scene during the beginning of the essay where Hermione is saying that if Hagrid argues his case properly, Buckbeak won't be executed. But Harry could tell she didn't believe what she was saying. Occurrences like these aren't rare for Harry and Hermione. Their bond and understanding is on a higher level than anyone else's.
Typically, those who describe interactions with a soulmate note communication based on eye contact. The eyes are used to express, receive, and share experience of every kind of affect, and many people fall in love with those into whose eyes they have permitted themselves to look and let themselves be seen (Tomkins, 1962/1991). Through eye contact people experience mutual awareness of mutual excitement, and, given that the eyes are critical in mutual affect awareness, “there is no greater intimacy than the interocular interaction” (Tomkins, 1962/1991; p. 385).
Interesting, very interesting. Harry and Hermione have established eye contact countless times in their lives. Harry is basically obsessed with her eyes, he describes them in multiple adjectives (shining, flashing, sparkling(when crying), bright, etc) and he notes her eye color twice in the series. But here we won't be discussing that, enough of Hermione's poetic descriptions have been discussed already. This time we will focus on eye contact:
Hermione was now teaching Krum to say her name properly; he kept calling her “Hermy-own.”
“Her-my-oh-nee,” she said slowly and clearly.
“Herm-own-ninny.”
“Close enough,” she said, catching Harry’s eye and grinning.
This is a fun scene. It's the Yule Ball and Harry can't stop thinking about and looking at Hermione. He gives us an incredibly detailed description of her look, keeps thinking what she would say about the dinner that the elves worked hard for, keeps eavesdropping on her conversations... Even Hermione notices this, but it looks like she's enjoying the attention. When their eyes meet, she grins, she clearly likes catching Harry's eye. It's also really sweet how they're secretly catching each other's eyes and grinning at each other, almost like sharing a few inside-jokes. They're communicating with eyes. And that's a soulmate thing.
"[...]Our only chance is to use decoys. Even You-Know-Who can’t split himself into seven.”
Harry caught Hermione’s eye and looked away at once.
Moody explains the "seven Potters" plan to Harry and mentions how "even You-Know-Who can't split himself into seven." This is not true because Voldemort can split his soul into seven pieces and make horcruxes but, obviously, only Harry, Ron and Hermione know this. Harry and Hermione notice this and look at each other, they catch each other's eye and communicate like that. It's like they instinctively looked at each other to share this feeling. Communication through eye contact is nothing new for those two.
Sniggering, Malfoy gave Harry a last malicious look and departed, Crabbe and Goyle lumbering in his wake. Hermione slammed the compartment door behind them and turned to look at Harry, who knew at once that she, like him, had registered what Malfoy had said and been just as unnerved by it.
“Chuck us another Frog,” said Ron, who had clearly noticed nothing.
This moment is very interesting. Malfoy makes a "dogging" joke referencing to Sirius who turns into a grim - a big black dog. Harry and Hermione immediately catch this and their first instinct is to look at each other to find out of they'd caught it too. They can't say anything to each other since Luna, Neville and Ginny are also in the compartment, but just looking at each other and making eye contact is enough for them to understand that they both have "registered what Malfoy has said." This scene is particularly interesting because it proves that it's always Harry and Hermione who get these things, they're on a different level while Ron doesn't notice anything. He doesn't catch the secret meaning behind Malfoy's words and doesn't join in to look at Harry and Hermione as a confirmation that they have all noticed this. It's always Harry and Hermione who understand these things and each other. Simply by eye contact.
“Could’ve been anything,” said Ron. “Maybe he got thirty O.W.L.s or saved a teacher from the giant squid. Maybe he murdered Myrtle; that would’ve done everyone a favor. . . .”
But Harry could tell from the arrested look on Hermione’s face that she was thinking what he was thinking.
“What?” said Ron, looking from one to the other.
Another similar scene. Although this one doesn't include eye contact specifically, which is what we're discussing at the moment, it's still worthy of noting. Harry had an idea and the moment he looked at Hermione, he instantly knew she was thinking the same thing. They had the same thoughts and they could also tell they had the same thoughts. Not only that, they're the only ones who had that idea and Ron is obviously confused here (JKR should've made Ron more useful and should've given him more moments of glory and opportunities to showcase his intelligence and I stand by that). It's clearly showcasing H/Hr's connection.
Now I'm going to be using scenes from the same chapter because they demonstrate what perfect communication by eye contact looks like:
“So is Severus Snape, though he does not know it,” said Griphook, and the two goblins roared with malicious laughter. Inside the tent Harry’s breathing was shallow with excitement: He and Hermione stared at each other, listening as hard as they could.
This is a wonderful moment. As the article stated, "through eye contact people experience mutual awareness of mutual excitement" and this is certainly so with Harry and Hermione. They're breathing really fast out of euphoria and they're staring at each other, maintaining eye contact, sharing their excitement with each other silently. This is a beautiful display of their connection.
Hermione whipped around to look at Harry. Neither of them dared say more in front of Phineas Nigellus, who had at last managed to locate the exit.
Yet again, communicating just by looking at each other. Hermione turns or, as Harry phrases it, "whips around" just to look at Harry and share her feelings with him by eye contact. And they both know they're thinking the same thing and they also know not to say anything in front of Phineas Nigellus. It's such a powerful ability to be able to look at someone and share everything you feel with them through eyes. Harry and Hermione have that kind of soulmate-type of bond that I'd love to have with my future significant other. Their relationship, their bond, their connection is what I aspire to have. Later in this scene:
“Harry!” Hermione cried.
“I know!” Harry shouted. Unable to contain himself, he punched the air; it was more than he had dared to hope for. He strode up and down the tent, feeling that he could have run a mile; he did not even feel hungry anymore. Hermione was squashing Phineas Nigellus’s portrait back into the beaded bag; when she had fastened the clasp she threw the bag aside and raised a shining face to Harry.
“The sword can destroy Horcruxes! Goblin-made blades imbibe only that which strengthen them — Harry, that sword’s impregnated with basilisk venom!”
“And Dumbledore didn’t give it to me because he still needed it, he wanted to use it on the locket —”
“— and he must have realized they wouldn’t let you have it if he put it in his will —”
“— so he made a copy —”
“— and put a fake in the glass case —”
“— and he left the real one — where?”
They gazed at each other; Harry felt that the answer was dangling invisibly in the air above them, tantalizingly close.
Wow. Their excitement is immeasurable here, they're so carried away and excited, Hermione looks at Harry with a shining face and they start discussing where the sword could be, literally finishing each other's sentences like never before and "gazing" at each other, feeling something "tantalizingly close." Their chemistry is insane and their bond, their understanding and connection is obviously visible here. This is most definitely one of their strongest moments. Harry and Hermione's bond throughout the series is so extraordinary and surreally fantastic that it becomes clear to me why they aren't real people. It's too beautiful and too deep to be real(sorry about that exaggeration, I couldn't help it).
Now I'm going to switch back to article I was using from the start and discuss the last paragraph:
Less than 30% of soulmates come together and commit to a long-term relationship. Therefore, there is every possibility that you can have a soulful and complementary relationship with someone else, fall in love, bond in friendship and be happy. In fact, you could be happier with someone else, a love-match who complements you in some of the same ways your soulmate does.
The article clearly states that not every soulmate ends up together, and not only that, not many of them even “come together” or start dating at all. Harry and Hermione fall under that category.
After everything I showed I think it's obvious that Harry and Hermione are soulmates. Harry and Hermione even fit JK Rowling's definition of soulmates, they're both strong and passionate. I think I don't need to explain the strong part, they fought a war and survived it, defeated the darkest wizard of all times and learned some of the most advanced magic. And they're both passionate, Hermione is passionate about learning and studying and defending the rights of muggleborns and house elves (also about Harry) and Harry is passionate about fighting for justice and protecting his loved ones.
I've summarized the first part of my essay already, and the second part was all about Harry and Hermione's special kind of sixth sense. They understand each other, have a unique connection, can communicate nonverbally, they can tell what the other is thinking, they can finish each other's sentences, they notice each other's wellbeing, they constantly think and talk about each other, they can tell what's going on in the other's mind just by the tone of their voice, body language, eye contact or facial expression, and they have a bond that only soulmates share.
I personally like to believe that Harry had two soulmates only: Hermione and Ginny. I know I said I disagreed with Rowling but that's because she was implying that Ginny was Harry's only and true soulmate. I do think that Ginny was Harry's soulmate but I also think that Hermione fits the bill too. But if I had to choose one purely true soulmate, it would be Hermione. This is just my opinion purely based on canon evidence though.
You don't have to believe that Hermione was Harry's romantic soulmate, you can think that she was his platonic soulmate. You can think she was his romantic soulmate along with Ginny and there's nothing stopping you from believing that - the articles state there could be more than one soulmate and that not all soulmates have to get together. Hermione got with Ron, not Harry, and Harry got with Ginny, not Hermione, and they both live fantastic lives. And that's not an obstacle for believing Harry and Hermione were still soulmates.
All of the evidence of Harry and Hermione being soulmates is there, and there is nothing stopping you from believing they really were soulmates. Will you believe that Harry and Hermione were soulmates (platonic or romantic) or will you refuse to accept the evidence? It's up to you, it's all your choice. :)
