do you think after Ron and Hermione got out of the trapdoor and raised the alarm and were being patched up in the hospital wing
do you think they were given the most royal proud mama smackdown by McGonagall like “ how DARE you infiltrate a death maze you are ELEVEN and miss granger how on earth did you solve my chessboard i”
and hermione interjected like “oh professor it wasn’t me. i’m useless at chess. it was ron.”
and McGonagall turned to look at Ron Weasley in total amazement at this 11 yr old kid who had been pretty ordinary in all her classes but had apparently beaten her in death chess and he just shrugged like “rookie mistakes, professor. you made some rookie mistakes.”
I love this so much..I just wanna know is it cannon that hermione sucks at chess?? Cause she’s bad at divination cause she’s too logical, but I can’t see why she would be bad at something like chess?
Chess is all about anticipating what your opponent is gonna do, adapt, and turn their move to your own benefit (sth you learn from having siblings). Yes, Hermione is very capable of beating people, but usually only when she dictates the rules or she knows exactly what to anticipate. She is bad at chess because she would believe that her way of playing (after undoubtedly studying various techniques) is the correct way and expect her opponent to play exactly like that, while Ron studies his opponent and adapts (sth that happen multiple times in the book, Hermione is intelligent but Ron is smart).
Chess is a great example of Hermiones Gryffindor flaw, when she does sth it’s because she believes that it is the right/correct thing to do (after reviewing facts) and she is bad at handling people who may come to other conclusions.
“Would anyone like me to help them interpret the shadowy portents within their Orb?” she murmured over the clinking of her bangles. “I don’t need help,“ Ron whispered. “It’s obvious what this means. There’s going to be loads of fog tonight.” Both Harry and Hermione burst out laughing.
Headcanonsandmore 