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

Hermione Granger might be one of the most beloved film and literary characters of all time, but she's got a seriously dark side — and fans love it.

Played by Emma Watson in the Harry Potter film franchise and made famous in J.K. Rowling's original book series, Hermione, who quickly becomes part of the main Potter trio alongside Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint), is often referred to as the cleverest witch of her age. Armed with considerable intelligence and serious magical talent — despite the fact that pureblood wizards believe that, as a Muggleborn witch, she is inferior — Hermione proves indispensable in all of Harry's battles against the Dark Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), saving both Harry and Ron's lives time and time again with her quick thinking and lightning-fast spells.

However, as it turns out, what fans love most about Hermione is actually her vengeful, hardened side; Hermione will do anything to keep her friends and family safe, and though she crosses the line sometimes, it just makes her an even cooler character. Here are just a few of the savage Hermione Granger moments that make Harry Potter fans love her even 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.

Kidnapping and blackmail might seem extreme, but the truth is clear: Hermione used her shrewd logic and considerable magical skills to keep her friends safe from a vicious gossipmonger. Throughout the rest of the series, Hermione shows off some serious sass when needed, and though she typically follows the rules, she certainly bends and breaks them when necessary.

Between telling Ron that he has the "emotional range of a teaspoon" to whacking Harry on the head when he gets too big for his britches to punching Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) in the face outright (in Prisoner of Azkaban), Hermione's rebellious streak comes out every now and then, but ultimately, it's always to serve the greater good. Hermione certainly never uses her talent or brains for a selfish or evil purpose, making her the perfect companion for Harry, and despite her undeniably dark side, her most savage moments actually make fans adore this amazing character even more.

Hermione's darkest and cleverest moments, found throughout the Harry Potter films, are available to rent and buy on major streaming platforms now.