Well, initially Hermione had trouble making any friends at all. I think that Hermione's personality just makes it difficult for her to relate to the other girls, and teenagers in general. Parvati and Lavender are much too superficial for her. Ginny is a good friend of hers, but they are different in the same ways that she and Ron are different. And Luna of course is a bit different from everyone.
Other girls annoy Hermione with their gossip and superficiality, and Hermione annoys other girls by being an uptight know-it-all who talks nonstop about schoolwork. Harry and Ron were annoyed by this as well, but they eventually saw beyond that and realized that Hermione can be a great friend. People just need time to get to know Hermione, and then they can see that there's more to her than brains.
Hermione's girl friends seem to consist mainly of Ginny and Luna.
The group of Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna seem to have a certain bond.

I sometimes wonder if Hermione would have more friends if she were in Ravenclaw. Perhaps her dedication to academics would be more appreciated there.

Well, you'd think so. After all, how is it different that Hermione fibs to protect Harry and Ron in the first book than what you see of the Ravenclaws?

But no. Gryffindor is for those who are brave. And that is a quality Hermione most definitely has. Besides, I think somewhere in the books, Hermione says she was given the choice of whether or not she wanted to be in Ravenclaw. Take a look at those known to be in that house. Luna seems to be considered quite 'off the planet', even in Ravenclaw. Moaning Myrtle didn't seem to make too many friends in Ravenclaw. Parvati has a twin sister, Padma, who is not only in Ravenclaw, but is even the Girls' Prefect of that house. Why, if they are twins, is Parvati considered less intellectual, or more brave than Padma?

I'm back!!! it has been a loooong time.
gah Joehobbit!!! you should be ashamed of yourself reading DH first!!! oh well, i read GoF and OotP simultaneously, i was readingGoF while listening to OotP on CD in the car with my Dad and Brother, when we weren't listening i was reading.
any way, i have no idea about you Dog, Cat and Rat question, i'll have to read PoA again.
does anyone here have the ultimate editions for SS/PS and CoS?
does anyone here listen to Mugglecast? best HP podcast EVER!

3) Why does Hermione have absolutely no girlfriends? I mean, we all know what she's like, but, despite her rigid adherence to rules (most of the time ), she's a great gal! It puzzled me and I found it odd that Rowling didn't allow her any good, close female friends

As many others have said, Hermione probably doesn't have a lot in common with the other girls in her "year". She's not all giggly and into clothes and boys so much and likes to follow the rules and all. And she does have two best friends in Harry and Ron, maybe she's the type of person who doesn't need piles of friends and doesn't feel the need to go seeking out new ones...oh, and she is pretty friendly with Ginny, I thought.

does anyone here have the ultimate editions for SS/PS and CoS?

Yes, I have the Ultimate COS edition. What is really good about it is having a version of COS with the 19 deleted scenes put back in. It makes the film so much better in my opinion. I can't get the PS/SS version yet.

Does anyone know when the POA Ultimate version is being released?

Thanks, wagga, for your response to my queries.

I still have issues with Black trying to actually strangle Harry, rather than somehow just impeding his violence ... which strangling would do, of course, but to the death.

As for Snape choosing Malfoy: I would think there would be more responsibly influential Slytherins than Draco to choose from. (Surely there have to be some half-decent sorts in that House? ) It seems forced to me that he was chosen.

In terms of Hermione lacking girlfriends, I would think that in a school that size there isn't someone else in her year, and even in Gryffindor, who wasn't silly, giggly, with fewer brains. Yes, Ginny and her are friendly, but not overly-close confidants, from what I've read ... at least before the DA in OotP. (Laura, I didn't think Hermione would be the type to have "piles of friends", but I kind of think it would round out the story more if she had even one other girl in her year with whom she could confide.)

Anyway, just surmising on what stood out to me as rather odd ...

ChristProclaimer, I really, really like Luna too! She's her own quirky person, and very appealing because she's quite 'out of the box'. She stands up when needs be, takes issues with things—albeit gently and kindly—and has a lot of quiet confidence.

Good thoughts on Hermione, Julianna. Yes, that group of six or so kids do develop a certain bond, especially, of course, because of the DA and then after their fight at the Ministry at the end of OotP.

Tirian12, I just had to find out what happened in DH, but after finishing HBP, I am definitely giving Deathly Hallows a re-read, and a more thorough one, at that, as the first time I simply flew through the pages ... nigh unto a skim and a blur.

I am halfway through Half Blood Prince after finishing a steady course of the first five. Great story and I do enjoy Rowling's imagination and marvelous sense of humour, but I have an ongoing concern, which I know has been expressed by others, and which I finally verbalized here.

@johobbit:

That is okay.

1. Sirius' behaviour in POA: According to the text I have, Ron warns Harry and Hermione they have gone into a trap, Sirius disarms them of their wands and Harry attacks Sirius anyway, punching him as much as he could. Harry had regarded anything Sirius had to say as a taunt, and cast a few of his own as well. In the scuffle, Sirius found Harry's throat and started to squeeze, but before he could do much damage, or restrain himself, Hermione took the opportunity to give Sirius Black a good kick, which tipped the scales back in Harry's favour. Ron had already told Sirius that he would have to kill all three of them, but Sirius had not yet revealed who he was really after. And remember how protective of Scabbers Ron was.

2. Hermione: Classical English girls' boarding school tales feature head girls etc as being popular, but not always as prim and proper as you would like it synonyms for Laura Norder. { Say law and order fast and you get Laura Norder. }

Such head girls/prefects etc always have nice families, good relations with staff, and almost automatically get to be prefects etc. They get good exam results with minimum study, which they seldom put to any good use, just like the heroine in Twilight. And then they generally marry the heroes of their particular story. Just like Pollyanna just has to marry Jimmy Bean and Heidi has to marry Peter, the Goat herd. Or even Anne Shirley has to marry Gilbert Blythe.

Hermione is different. From day one she has her sights set on .......not Harry, however the purists (ahem! Harmonian shippers ) think she ought to have done. Even Mrs Weasley got fooled by that one, however likely the 'rules' say it should be. If you haven't guessed who Hermione fancies by now, I think you need to go back to classical girls' boarding school tales where the girls' prefect has more than a liking for her boys' opposite number. . The trouble is with the 'other girls' is their competitiveness towards Hermione, shown convincingly at the GOF Yule Ball, by Cho Chang on her date with Harry, and in Lavender's behaviour with Ron. Didn't Trelawney warn Parvati or Lavender, I forget which, about a red-headed man?

3. Draco Malfoy as prefect: Now this is something which could have been seen coming from one's first reading of PS/SS. When we first meet him in Madam Malkin's shop, he doesn't know Harry from, well, Harry. Draco is a spoiled boy who is griping about not being allowed to take his prized broom to school. He thinks he is a cut above everyone else, and makes rude comments about Rubeus Hagrid who has just made Harry's life somewhat less burdensome. And then on the Hogwarts Express, in case you were in any doubt, Draco gets into a contretemps with Ron, one of a family Draco's family obviously despise, since they are neither wealthy, aristocratic, snobbish, nor even money-grubbing wheeler dealers, even though, they, too are possessors of full-blood wizarding heritage.

Of course Draco Malfoy is going to be Slytherin's prefect. This is the bloke whose two henchmen, Crabbe & Goyle, have henching down to a fine art. Theodore Nott, whom we meet somewhere along the line, has an elderly father, a Death Eater who gets imprisoned in Azkaban. According to JKR, Theodore is a bit of a loner, who doesn't need to bow and scrape to Draco, which you see in HBP. Maybe he might actually think joining the DE's a bit of a fools' game. Then there is Blaise Zabini, definitely not associated with DE's but with a mother with a 'history' and the right attitude to please Draco.

Now there is your full complement of five dormitory mates per house. Something like equivalent to Harry, Ron, Neville, Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas. And if that is not enough, consider this: In COS, Draco's father bought Nimbus 2001 broomsticks for each member of the Slytherin Quiddich team, so Draco gets to be its seeker. In POA, Lucius tried to get Rubeus Hagrid prosecuted for the behaviour of Buckbeak in a Care of Magical Creatures lesson, where if justice was done, Draco, himself, should have been held to account. Then, in GOF, Lucius Malfoy is the prized friend of the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, himself, no less. At the Quidditch World Cup where Lucius and DE friends decide to hold a demonstration of what utter jerks they are.

And people don't understand why Draco becomes prefect in Harry Potter and the Order and the Phoenix? When after Harry's trial it is Lucius who demonstrates to Arthur Weasley and Harry who has the most power and influence at the Ministry? I think Dumbledore at that point had no other option than to let Draco become prefect. And I'm sure that Snape had equally good reason to press Draco's being the boys' prefect. Other than a tendency to favour Draco, anyway.

Out of curiousity; I haven't seen any of the films yet, and I'm curious to know which you guys think are the best overall. I've heard a lot about PoA, so I'm thinking about getting a hold of that one. Possibly.

another late reply...but tut, tut, tut Joe Hobbit!!

anyway what are peoples thoughts about

I didn't become a fan of HP books series until I was in my first year of High School because I just didn't think I'd like them. I heard everyone talking about it so I decided to check it out for myself. I went out to buy the first book but could only find the second book so I bought it. My language arts teacher had the first book in her classroom so she let me read it during silent reading period in class. I become totally hooked on the series from the moment that I started reading it. My favorite books are Prisoner of Azkaban and Order of the Phoenix because those are two books where my top favorite three HP characters were introduced. My top 3 favorite HP characters are Sirius Black, Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin.

I only read the first two books in 8th grade. Though I love the movies a whole lot. I think I stopped reading them when I got into Narnia again.

i don't want to sound rude to anyone who did this, but people who only watch the movies or only read like two of the books and watch all the movies instead REALLY bug me i know it's childish and all, and i'm not trying to be rude, i'm the same way about Narnia. i'm a stickler for the books. ( no offense ment to anyone!)

Yes, you are right, but only to an extent, Tirian12. The books in many ways are indeed a lot better than the films. As in the Narnia series, to appreciate the proper story the book is the way to go. Films tend to leave a lot out, and sometimes include stuff that wasn't in the book.

But don't let it upset you, or feel disgruntled with people who prefer movies to books. The trouble is with the HP books is that only three of them are anything like the same size as Lewis' quite thin Narnia books, and unlike the Narnia stories they are not illustrated in the British editions.

The other four are rather long, and people sometimes have neither the time, the patience or the reading skills to read those books comfortably and enjoyably. And there is an age factor, too. Someone of your current age, Tirian12, might be able to read all seven books comfortably. But I have watched a primary school kid of about 8 or 9 wrestling with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, when something a bit closer to his age group, like the Narnia stories, would have been more desirable, if I could have intervened. Some children of that age can barely read. And don't forget that not all adults can read well and efficiently, either because English is not their first language, or because they had problems learning to read in the first place.

In other words, I wouldn't be too harsh on people's reading habits, even in a beloved series.

On the other hand, the HP audio books are great on a long journey. Unlike the Narnia radio plays, good as they are, the HP audios don't leave anything out.

that is a really good thought WW27 i see what you mean, i would only give the first 3 to my ten year old cousin

I've read all the books 4 times ... In my family I am known as the addict ...
Americangirlemmie