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after studying the book for the past hour, I realized WHY Hermione chose Sussex over safety. She had nothing, no one, and everything about her belonged to someone else. The one thing that DID belong to her and her alone was Draco, so I understand https://twitter.com/highreeve_/status/1355630715807924228
+completely WHY her actions were so careless. Love was something she had once had an abundance of, she loved Harry & Ron (therefore she had to love the Order) so she gave her life to them. But all love ever taught her was how to serve, how to help, how to fix & heal (HEALer)
She felt in her heart that her love with Draco required her to do the same thing she had done for every other person in her life, which was self sacrifice. The consequences didn’t matter to her because she had been conditioned to choose everyone else over herself.
That being said, (this is just a thesis, a theory, really) I do not think her love for Draco was very much different than her love for anyone else, aside from the fact that it was reciprocated. She gave everything for everyone, and the only person who gave everything in return
+ was Mr. High Reeve himself. Had it been Harry or Ron, I think she would have done the same thing.
Example: She KNEW the mission to save Ron was a trap: (flashback 27) yet she went anyways, because it was to save Ron & because Harry would have gone without her
Example: She KNEW the mission to save Ron was a trap: (flashback 27) yet she went anyways, because it was to save Ron & because Harry would have gone without her
In Flashback 26, she wants proof that it’s a trap so she can “dissuade Harry.” Never once does she mention dissuading HERSELF from going along on the mission. This is NOT the first time she acts in complete stupidity out of pure selfless love.
There are always consequences, every time. She nearly died. But she regrets nothing. Then she says “I chose to reduce my casualty value” to give Harry less weaknesses. So despite the fact that she just risked her life, she doesn’t expect anyone to care.
This, and what I presume to be the historical repetition of this, is what taught Hermione that love is obligatory, thus leading her to act so recklessly later. All she had ever done was give & serve. That, to her, was love. Not sex at the Savoy and dancing in the cabin: sacrifice
That is why I think the “You are not replaceable” conversation is so important. Draco says something she has likely NEVER heard. He wants to keep her safe. He does not WANT her to act like she did for Harry, he wants her to choose herself for him.
But Hermione probably only saw this as more reason to sacrifice herself for him in the future, because she genuinely cannot grasp the concept of love without conditions. The more he does for her the more she feels she needs to do for him. Again, obligatory love.
I am in a love hate relationship with her character. She is so selfless that it causes her to act selfishly. However, Draco is the exact same way, therefore it is hard to dislike her entirely. Draco and Hermione would do anything for each other. Love = service. Giving everything
We talk about parallels in the plot a lot, but there are so many parallels in the characters themselves. The two are both broken, and their lives are built entirely around their loyalty to others, and the choices they make in the name of love.
When Hermione says Draco could become a healer (and someone else says it again later on) I think it’s a hint that Draco and Hermione’s roles could be entirely reversed based on WHO and WHAT they chose to be loyal to as children. Hermione chose Harry, Draco chose his family.
The scene at Sussex shows that Hermione is just as lethal and ruthless as the High Reeve and this once again leads me to believe if she had been in Draco’s shoes, she would have become the exact same type of killer.
Draco’s runes were unhesitating, cunning, unfailing, ruthless, unyielding, driven to succeed. That literally describes Hermione. They are nearly identical to each other in morality and core values. They love the same. This is why their relationship is so intoxicating
The difference, in my opinion, between the two hopelessly flawed characters, is that Draco is calculated. Draco has learned through the torture of his mother that he cannot afford to love recklessly. That is a lesson Hermione never learned.
Hermione’s decision to blow up Sussex was a choice made in less than an hour, and it was a choice that resulted in nearly three (?) years of pain and suffering. It was a choice made with love, yes, but it was the wrong choice for both her and Draco.
Multiple times he tried to tell her that SHE was all that mattered, that she was not expendable, that if she died there would be hell to pay, but in the end she gave him the exact opposite of what he asked for.
Sussex was a choice made for Hermione, NOT Draco. Draco was willing to sacrifice himself for her, and because she could not accept an identical reciprocation of her own undying love and loyalty, she chose to ignore the inevitable consequences and endanger herself AGAIN.
The line between Sussex being a selfish act and a selfless one is the way it was executed. There was little planning, with maximum casualties. It was also in direct defiance of everything Draco had asked for, therefore despite her intention to save him, she actually damned him.
But with EVERYTHING I have said, I understand the choice she made. She had spent a lifetime being selfless, and for once, she chose to be selfish. She decided that the prisoner’s lives as well as her own were worth less than the safety of the man she loved.
She would rather watch the world burn than lose him. And due to this, I cannot consider Sussex a selfless heroic moment. It was iconic and so beautiful, and the chapter was literally a work of art, but the bombing of Sussex set the tone for the entirety of the ‘present’ chapters.
She had one chance at peace, at freedom, and she KNEW that was what Draco wanted with his whole heart, and she threw it away because she wanted to feel like his savior.
But she didn’t ACTUALLY save him, and I think deep down she knew she wouldn’t.
But she didn’t ACTUALLY save him, and I think deep down she knew she wouldn’t.
There is no way the brightest witch of her age thought that an action so reckless would create a happy ending. I think when Draco said “we were never going to last,” it drove Hermione over the edge of clarity. I think what she wanted was to prove him wrong.
I have now made this thread as long as twitter will allow me to, so I will conclude with this:
Manacled is a work of art, and Manacled Hermione is one of the most complex characters I’ve ever read. I love her. She is a beautifully written character, but she is not a heroine.
Manacled is a work of art, and Manacled Hermione is one of the most complex characters I’ve ever read. I love her. She is a beautifully written character, but she is not a heroine.
