The Savage Hermione Moments That Make Harry Potter Fans Love Her More

Hermione may not seem like much of a rule breaker at first — memorably, in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, she tells Harry and Ron that being expelled would be worse than being killed — but clearly, her friends serve as bad influences. After her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Hermione becomes much more rebellious, and as this Reddit thread points out, she gets downright vicious at times.

In the fourth book and film, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, when Harry ends up unexpectedly competing in the Triwizard Tournament, he finds himself the subject of nasty gossip reporter Rita Skeeter (Miranda Richardson), who isn't exactly concerned with telling the truth most of the time. After Rita publishes cruel articles about Harry, Hermione herself, and their good friend Rubeus Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane), and Hermione takes matters into her own hands.

As it turns out, Rita Skeeter is an Animagus — a wizard who can turn into an animal at will — but isn't registered with the Ministry of Magic, making her skill illegal. Once Hermione realizes that Skeeter spends her time buzzing around as a beetle, looking for new gossip, she captures Rita in bug form, forces her into an unbreakable glass bottle, and keeps her captive for nearly a year. However, Hermione isn't quite done with Rita yet; in Harry's fifth year, detailed in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Hermione gets Rita to write a free piece about Voldemort's return in the maligned publication The Quibbler, trying to contest the lies spread by mainstream paper The Daily Prophet denying the Dark Lord's resurgence. Breaking a few school rules is one thing, but blackmail and kidnapping are another matter entirely.