Books

How To Make Your Life More Like Hermione Granger's

by Julia Seales

Growing up, I thought I WAS Hermione Granger. I had brown hair AND was super-studious. So, yeah. We were practically twins. Honestly, though, one of the great things about Hermione Granger is that many young women can identify with her. After all, if you always had your nose in a book, you were the first person to raise your hand in class because you just HAD to answer every single question, and wanted Harry and Ron to just read Hogwarts, A History already so they could finally realize that you can’t Apparate on school grounds… you were probably similar to Hermione as well.

These days, I still identify closely with Hermione. But sadly, there’s a huge gap missing in what we know about her story. That doesn’t mean, however, that getting older means we’re all any less like Hermione Granger. She may have become a bit of a rule breaker in her final years at Hogwarts, but she still had a lot of consistent hobbies and personality traits.

Do you feel like you want to rediscover those specific traits that made you identify with the character in the first place? Or maybe you weren’t like Hermione growing up, and now you want to be? Thankfully, there are plenty of ways you can make your life a little more Hermione-ish, just short of donning robes and hopping on the Hogwarts Express yourself.

Read Informational Books

What's more Hermione than reading? If you're looking to be more like Granger, try reading some informational books. From biographies to how-tos, nonfiction is a great place to start, because Hermione loved learning new things from the pages of a fresh new book...

Spend Time In The Library

...or from the pages of a borrowed one. When was the last time you spent some time in the library? For Hermione, I'm guessing the answer would be, "I'm in the library right now." Take a walk among the stacks of books to get more into touch with your Hermione side.

Volunteer For A Charity... Or Start Your Own

One of Hermione's passions in the HP series was working for S.P.E.W., her society to promote equality for house elves. If you want to make your life a little more like hers, try volunteering for a Muggle organization, or take a page out of her book (see what I did there? Because she likes books?) and start your own.

Give Great Holiday Gifts

Hermione was kind of the Leslie Knope of gift-giving in the HP universe, apart from those homework planners she gave Harry and Ron (though, let's be honest, they really needed them). To make your life more like Granger's, spend some time finding the perfect gift for your loved ones, whether it's for the holidays or their birthday or just a random weekday.

Write Letters

Even if you can't send them by owl post, writing letters is sure to make you feel at least a little like you're in the HP universe. And Hermione was a great letter writer. She kept Harry updated every time he was stuck with the Dursleys, and since her handwriting was so small and cramped, you can bet those letters were pretty long. Live a Granger-style life by writing a letter to a long-distance friend — bonus points if you use a quill to write it.

Try Something New

Being friends with Harry and Ron meant that Hermione was usually thrown into some crazy situations, but she welcomed new experiences and tackled them head-on (usually with lots of information collected from all those books she read). If you want to make your life more like Hermione's, why not try some new things as well?

Dress Up In Something That Makes You Feel Awesome

Though Hermione was usually too busy reading to use Sleekeazy's Hair Potion every day, she did enjoy dressing up when she had the chance. Channel your inner HG by finding an outfit that makes you feel like a million bucks and donning it today.

Knit

Hermione knit a LOT of house elf clothes for S.P.E.W., so if you want your life to be more like hers... take up knitting.

Go On An Adventure

Though Hermione would've loved to spend all her time in the library, the truth is she spent most of it going on adventures with her BFFs. Nothing will make your life more magical than setting out with the Ron and Harry in your life and taking on a new experience together.

Images: Warner Bros (10)