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Hello!

I need some help with Hermione's physical attributes for a drabble I'm writing. I know that she used to have over-sized teeth, brown bushy hair, and brown eyes, but I don't remember reading anything about her figure in the books. Is she skinny? Fat? Short? Tall?

I've always imagined her in my mind as a slight, small person, but I just realized that I didn't have any confirmation from the books. Is there a passage or a sentence somewhere that confirms here smallness? If not, how do you visualize her?

Thanks in advance.

Like you said, except for the teeth, the hair and the eyes, I don't think we really know much about her physique. I've imagined her to have an average height and a small figure. I don't care whether she has curves or not.

Just my suggestion though.. please don't make her out to be stunningly beautiful with every guy in school drooling after her. That just doesn't make Hermione. In think she may have a subtle beauty hidden underneath her books.

Heh, I know. I wouldn't, though there was a time a long time ago when I only read fanfiction with exactly the Hermione that you described, the "beauty" with the suddenly straight hair.

Yeah, I've decided that I was just particularly dense when I was younger. I have no idea how I could have thought like that now, Hermione with the bushy hair and the big teeth is the way Harry would want her, and it's just who she is.

My younger sister is a Heron - she's actually the one who started bugging me about her views about how Hermione is actually fat in the books since JKR doesn't mention any thing about it and how Ginny's the thin, perfect match for Harry and so on and so forth. So I was looking for some confirmation, just to be sure.

Heh. I don't know. Hermione may not be a beauty outwardly, but she is so definitely not fat. In my mind, at least.

There are only two physical detailed descriptions of Hermione, one when we first meet her and the other, at the Yule Ball. We also get descriptions of her hair as bushy, but also in HBP, as a "long mane of brown hair." It seems like her hair is her defining feature.

The only visual cues we have are the illustrations in the books and of course, Emma Watson's portrayal. I suppose it's up the individual writer how to envision her beyond this info.

What everyone has said is true; however, we always have the book covers to look forward to. On the covers, and some of the illustrations, she is portrayed as an average weight, a bit shorter than Harry (and he's short, I think), and bushy, "fluffy" hair. Imagine that, Hermione with fluffy hair. Hehe.

Usually, that's how I protray her. But, occasionally, I'll change it, if necessary.

Any help? I doubt it.

Regarding Harry’s height; he’s always been small and skinny, but Hermione describes him as growing a foot over the summer in HBP during her “fanciable” speech.

While I’m sure she was exaggerating for effect, it’s possible he did have a growth spurt that made him more “fanciable.” During their hug in the hospital wing, Harry looks over her shoulder to see Bill, so we know that Hermione is a bit shorter than him.

Since we know that Dan is on the short side (5’6 or so) I wonder if they will keep that line in HBP, unless he really does go thru a growth spurt!

On the subject of her teeth: remember when she let Madam Pomfrey keep shrinking them after Malfoy hit her with that curse in fourth year? I'm not sure if it was fourth year, but I definitely know that happened so her teeth shouldn't be overly large anymore. Just a reminder.

I think Hermione is most likely average height (so she was just a bit smaller than Harry until his growth spurt..) And a curvy "girly" body.

Why do I say this. Harry calls her "pretty" in GOF, so that typically implies she has a nice figure. But Harry is also attracted to the athletic girls, and He hasn't shown an obvious physical attraction for Hermione.

Well, when Hermione and Ginny are described side by side in GOF, Ginny is "small and redhaired" and Hermione just has "bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth", both of which are gone on Yule Ball night. This tells me that in comparison, Hermione is not "small". She's about Harry's height that same summer (when compared to Pettigrew), so I'd say she's a few inches shorter than Harry is, now that he's had his major growth spurt.

As for the fat/thin question, Harry has never, ever hinted at it and neither has any other character. Some girls are described as "plump" or "heavyset", but Hermione is not one of them. On the other hand, she's not athletic at all (you can't spend the whole day at the library and expect to be toned) , so she could be one of those lucky people with a great metabolism (despite the bad non-exercise habits). If she were on the plump side, I'm sure people like Malfoy or Pansy would comment on it.

I guess I've always picture Hermione much like how Emma Watson physically portrays her, although slightly more bookish than she is in the movies. She is a muggleborn witch and while she doesn't play Quidditch she is active, and I imagine her being reasonably slim and moderately tall for a girl/woman. Something like 5'5-5'7 and probably 120-130 lbs...not stick thin but not heavy in the least.

I could see her playing a sport if Hogwarts offered one besides Quidditch. Remember it is commonly held in canon that she doesn't like heights so Quidditch is out. But with as competitive and driven as she is...she has the temperament for other more ground friendly sports.

Her teeth and hair...well the teeth are shrunk, and frankly I've always thought her hair was one of her best physical traits. The Yule Ball shows it can be tamed, but Hermione's hair matches her personality...she is untameable in the best way possible.

I think she is a pretty girl, but not drop dead gorgeous...much like Emma is. Hermione is pretty enough and has a nice enough personality to attract Krum...so I like to think she is pretty and witty.

Here's what I gathered from Wikipedia, under the zodiac sign Virgo, which is Hermione's astrological sign:

Physically, individuals born under the sign of Virgo supposedly tend to have a graceful figure, a roundish head, full and delicately-shaped lips, perfect teeth, a clear complexion, large and clear eyes, small, symmetrical, and refined features, a high forehead, a thin nose, coarsely-textured hair, and thin eyebrows. They are thought to usually be of slightly above average height.

That might help a bit in the speculation, or at least in the imagination.

Exactly! I think she is the type of girl who is in fact quite pretty but doesn't care that much about how she looks so she doesn't go to the trouble of using whatever beauty products like most girls do.

I find that assumption in women in general quite strange, that "she wouldn't care."

The only folks I know who sincerely don't care about how they fix up are the uber gorgeous girls, because they don't have to do much to look good. I think every normal girl, no matter how intelligent, intellectual, or tough (women who are cops, or firefighters, or are in the army, for example) still care much about the way they look. They might find it silly to pretty up when fighting fires or firing machine guns, but when they go on a night out with their pals, they pretty up, or clean up, just like any normal woman.

This is very confusing to me, that people seem to find it "uncharacteristic" for Hermione to care about the way she looks. What's wrong with that? Hermione was never described as sloppy, or unwashed, or wearing mismatched clothing. She's neat, in spite of her bushy hair, and she wears appropriate clothing, and her clothes don't appear to have creases. She cleans up, and I don't find anything wrong with this. I like reading that she cares about her looks. I don't mind reading about her liking nice shoes, or picking out nice clothes when shopping.

MANY super intelligent women I know look PERFECT with their clothes, hair, and make-up. Many of them wear glasses, but fashionable ones. What is this mass belief that Hermione looks like a plain wallflower?

I think appearance does matter to Hermione...but I don't think she would go out of her way to flaunt her femininity.

Hermione wants to be appreciated for who she sees herself as...I think she still sees herself largely as the frizzy haired bookworm we met in PS. So if she is appreciated for her intellect it flatters her much more than someone who appreciates her looks.

Look at HBP when she finds out Harry told Slughorn she was best in their year...

I stand by that she is a pretty girl...but one that isn't bound and determined to be known as a pretty girl...if you follow me. Instead she wants to be known as "Brightest Witch of her age" because that means more to her.

Anyone else with a thought?

Everyone cares about how they look. What you said about Hermione being neat, clean and tidy is correct. What I meant to say was that she wouldn't go out of her way to make sure she looks extra good like I assume Lavender and Parvati would do. For instance, she would take care of her personal hygiene and make herself well-dressed and presentable but she wouldn't wake up two hours early to wear make-up or Sleekeazy or lipstick or whatever it is.


And I do not believe Hermione is a plain wallflower. She just doesn't flaunt her beauty...


That's exactly how I feel about Hermione's character. Every girl likes it when people say she is pretty but in Hermione's case, she likes it more when people appreciate her intellect.

I caught something in GoF that is somewhat relevant to this discussion. Hermione makes a reference to having had braces for a while when Ron notices her teeth have been straightened (p 405, U.S. paperback). However, the braces may have come off by now (having never worn them myself I'm not up on how long people typically wear them).

Two years. I've still have them on. (- 3-)"

Ok have you seen those pictures by Stefynik? Thats kinda how I picture Hermione in my mind. With the "bushy" hair and her figure. We dont know too much about how she looks. I do think that she has perfectly straight teeth now however. I always imagined her to have soft features, beautiful lips, and expressive brown eyes. I imagine her to be pretty in her own beautiful bookish way. She definatly doesnt flaunt her beauty, but she knows how to maintain herself properly.

The fact Hermione does not play quidditch does not of itself imply she is unfit and not athletic. Nor does the fact ginny is a quidditch player make her athletic. Quidditch is just about the worst sport that could be imagined for developing athletic prowess and maintaining physical fitness. I always imagine that Hermione, being the sensible logical person she is, would take the old public school maxim " a healthy mind in a healthy body" to heart and take steps to keep herself in condition.

Well, how can I begin? First, I'l try to put my own experience as writer and someoe graduated in Literatures. There's an interest difference about male author writing and female author writing. Male author tends to be more objective in his discriptions: if a girl is pretty, his generally says she is pretty and discribes her like that. Female author is more subjective (not all): she describes a girl appearence and let readers imagine. JK made a very interisting discription for Hermione. She told that she has bushy hair and big two big teeth. She never said that the girl is ugly. People in book see her by her hair and teeth. One day, an accident during potion class changes one thing. Hermione goes to hospital wings to correct the growing teeth. After this her teeth became at normal size, but people, acosttumed with it, don't repair ('til Ron does it and Harry imediately afterwards, but only the two of them note). We read people saying that she is ugly but who sai it? Pansy Parkinson. Draco Malfoy and Rita Skeeter. People that hate Hermione. They probably noted that she doesn't have much self steem because of her hair and teeth and try to attack her in some kind of weakness (mere provocation doesn't seem to have any result. She generally ignores it). Another example that we shouldn't trust in other opinions is what Harry thinks about Pansy. She calls her "pug face". Well, he hates her as much she hates Hermione. In my opinion, pug face probably means that the girl has big cheeks. She is Draco's girlfriend. I don't think he will be seem beside an ugly girl. And it's impossible do not have pretty girls at their house. Maybe Pansy is a little unconfortable with her cheeks and tries to compensate it making fun of Hermione's beauty weakness. So there's the Yule Ball. Hermione uses something in her hair and put it in a some kind os a knot. Of course she substituted her school robes to a beautiful dress. And so everybody there. If I'm not mistaken, she was the star of the ball. What make the diference? Let me tell you what I think. For the first time everyone coul see Hermione real face. Not the hair, not the teeth. The face. She was produced for the ball, yes and so everyone. Why the surprise? The surprise was that everybody were seeing her as she really was. For the first time. And JK gave an good idea of what kind of beautiness HErmione have. Harry's partner, Pavarti, is, with her twin sister, the prettiest girl of their year. Everyone remember how was her reaction? I don't have here the right term but I think it was disdain. Why disdain? Wasn't she the most beautiful girl of her year? What's the problem? In my opinion she thinks Hermione can be a rival in beautiness. And If Hermione cam be pretty that way, why nobody saw it before? I think (that's my female opinion) that's because she must have delicata faces. Small eyes, small nouse, thin lips. These characteristics can disappear behind a bushy hair and big teeth.

Completing what I was saying because I was in a hurry and I could only post this. JK showed Hermione's personality a lot before gave us an (subjective one, I may say) idea about Hermione's appearence. So we don't see her as some pretty face and that's all. We see a very strong girl. In my opinion she is average size (I think almost everybory agree with it) and yes, she's thin. Why I can say that. She is dentists' daughter. She doesn't have the habit of eating sugar. She studies a lot and people expends a lots of energy studing. She doesn't each too much. Maybe more than an adult because she's growing up and teens eats a lot, but she certainly eats a lot less than the boys. She walks great distances carrying lots of books (and sometimes she doesn't walk, she runs). What that means? More expense of energy. For carrying so many books, I think she can be a little strong (Harry can say that) physically. She is not athletic but she certainly has good physical condition.
So What I can say about her physical appearence? She can be between 5'5" - 5'7" tall (I don't know exactly what it could meas in meters but for what I have read I can have an idea), 100 - 110 pounds (the same I said before, but I know that one kilo means two pounds), very delicate features hidden in a bushy hair, what means that she can be very pretty but it doesn't appear at first because it's not her main characteristcs.

In my mind Hermione is maybe 5'4 to 5'6, short enough that she could wear heels and look at people directly in the eye without being tall
Hermione in my mind has excellent posture and i'm going to claim that lugging all those books around and climbing the stairs of hogwarts, as well as supposedly not indulging in a lot of sweets due to dentist parents, gives her a rather cute figure- or at least a well defined, rather trim waist and good legs
I don't see her as the type of girl that guys notice at first because it's not that she doesn't care- she never dresses sloppily or anything but she certainly doesn't dress to impress for no good reason and when she does then elegant and sophisticated are probably the best words to describe her
oval face, high cheek bones, thick eye lashes, average neck, rounded shoulders but excellent posture, carries herself with confidence- probably mostly faked confidence but confidence nontheless

I've always imagined that Hermione has the kind of beauty that is only seen by someone who is looking for it.

She wouldn't be the kind of girl that random men would crane their necks to look at when she walks past. She wouldn't even be the kind of girl a man would notice on a busy street, or busy school for that matter.

I've always thought she would be just another face in the crowd, until you talked to her.

I imagine that she is the kind of girl that you would be speaking to in a perfectly ordinary conversation and in the middle of that, when she smiles at a joke or gets really interested in the topic and her eyes would light up, that it would just occur to you that she is actually very pretty.

The type of girl that a man in love could easily describe as beautiful even if, on first meeting her, he didn't think she was much to look at.

Like Lizzy in Pride and Prejudice who captivated Mr Darcy with her pert opinions and fine eyes.

I think her eyes are beautiful especially when she's talking about something she's really interested in. I think she probably does have a good figure but, although she dresses neatly, she does not dress to show it off. I think she does have a pretty face but her hair prevents people from really noticing any of that. Even her hair, I think, would have a kind of wild beauty to it ... once you got used to it.

I love everyone's description about Hermione!

I agree that Hermione would always be slim/fit, I just don't see Hermione allowing herself to become unhealthy, that's the right word Hermione would always be healthy. And she would always dress nicely and when I mean nicely I mean neatly and so she looks nice not showing off anything but nicely, I imagine her wearing pretty colours for some reason and really comfortable in jeans AND a skirt *thinks* hehe, I don't imagine her in a suit either! There's this part of Hermione that I think if brought is totally real and wild just like her hair. I agree I always highlight her eyes I think that's her most beautiful feature - I never know why and I adore her hair! It's got a - like it was said - a wild beauty to it! I cheered when in the HBP trailer her hair is perfectly HERMIONE crazy and wild and just perfect!