To many people, books are more than just books. They can truly change their lives. Characters are created to be relatable to real people and help people deal with real problems.

Hermione Granger was no exception. She empowered people when they were reading the Harry Potter series because she was a powerful female character and made them feel like they are special and can do anything.

Hermione Granger was the top student in her grade, despite being bullied by other students for not having magical parents. The Harry Potter series wouldn’t have been the same without her constant insights and authoritative actions. She is very unique and according to many people, was empowering because she was a strong and essential female character.

“She was a hero. She got them [Her, Harry, and Ron] out of all their problems and solved everything. She was the real hero,” Ms. Coughlin said. She remembered reading the Harry Potter series and being inspired by how much she anchored the characters and the book.

Hermione wasn’t described as being beautiful until the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix, and her intelligence never hindered even after that adjective had been used to describe her.

Hermione knew how to fight back. She didn’t let people get in the way of her success. She would never hesitate to retort a mean comment. When comments got really out of hand in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Hermione punched Draco, her enemy, after he had been consistently bullying her and her friends.

While Hermione and her friends were on trips, Hermione would always help out in ways no one else could. Their journeys would have failed had Hermione not been prepared. “Part of the reason she was so ready to help in any situation was that she was prepared due to all of her reading. That really inspired me because I’m always reading,” sophomore Becca Feldman, a Harry Potter fan, explained.

She was on every mission Harry and Ron were on and was more than a side character. “She showed me that pretty girls can be smart. You don’t have to have the glasses and the braces to be smart. And that not all attractive girls are dumb,” sophomore Hannah Coleman commented.

In 1997, when Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was published, there weren’t many female characters that had a major role. But Hermione Granger was one of the few who did.