Theory - was Hermione adopted?

[kaedequinn]

Ok, this is a long shot, but we know that Hermione is muggle born. She's also an only child. Neither of these are particularly unique, but I feel a witch as clever as Hermione would want to research her family tree, to discover who the last witch/wizard was. We don't know very much about Hermione's family, other than her parents are dentists. I myself have tried finding out who in her family was magical and got no where! If Hermione was adopted then it could explain why she never mentions researching her family tree. Of course, she may have done this and we didn't know about it, but I feel that she probably would have told Harry about it had she done so.

 

Let's look at how adoptions work in the UK. Adoptions are usually "closed" - this means that the birth family do not know anything about the adoptive family. They do not know where the child lives, which school they go to, or even what their surname is. They might be told the first names of the adoptive parents, but this isn't always the case. Also, most adopted children have something called "Letterbox contact". This is basically where they and the birth family can send a letter, usually once a year, through the social services. It usually just talks about some of the things that the child has been doing, it might mention their school report, or if the child is very young it could include a drawing they have done. It rarely includes photographs, although the arrangement is different for each child, and it is optional, so the birth family and adoptive families do not have to do it. In the time Harry Potter is set, children did not have to be told they were adopted until they were 18 - nowadays children are told as they are growing up. It do think that if Hermione was adopted then she would know about it - she is very close to her parents and they may have told her as a child or when she got her Hogwarts letter and asked who in the family tree was magical!

 

If Hermione was adopted, there could be several reasons. Maybe her birth parents are dead. Maybe they couldn't take care of her. Or maybe, they were magical parents and gave her up in order to protect her - she was born in 1979, and the First Wizarding War ended in 1981.

 

Let's start with the theory that one or both of her birth parents were magical. They probably could have placed her with non magical friends during the end of that war, to keep her safe. If the parents then died in that war, she would have been adopted (it's VERY rare that a child that young wouldn't be adopted!) either by the friends, or by strangers. I don't think it's possible that the Granger's would have been the friends she could have been left with, as she said she was surprised to get her letter, which makes me believe they didn't know she was a witch. Also, most children are moved out of the area they were in when they are adopted, so that could have given her greater protection during the end of the First Wizarding War.

 

Now let's look at the theory that her birth parents were not magical. This works well with not knowing that she was a witch - she would still be muggle born as well. She might not know who her birth parents are, and therefore can't research her family tree. I do think it's possible she was originally born into a non magical family - for the purpose of the story, having at least one muggle born with or wizard as a main character shows that not only can they achieve great things in the Wizarding World, but that they are equals to both full and half blood witches and wizards.

 

I mentioned at the start she is an only child. Whilst this isn't strange - a LOT of people are only children! - the adoption process is long and can be difficult, so it makes sense that if Hermione was adopted that she'd be an only child, as her parents may not have wanted to go through the process again. Also, most of the main characters have at least one sibling or live with another child (Dudley is of course Harry's cousin, but they are brought up together) so it does make sense that JK Rowling would want a main character with no siblings, so talking about their families doesn't get too complicated.

 

Of course she might not even have been adopted, and her parents are her biological parents. But I feel if this was the case that she would have made some attempt to trace her family tree. Not only that, but if you look at the scene of her wiping her parent's memories in Deathly Hallows (movie) there are NO pictures of her as a young baby. There's a couple of her on the mantlepiece as a toddler, but none as a baby. Had she been adopted as a toddler this would make prefect sense! 

 

This is just a theory I have, and I don't think we'll ever know, but I'd love to hear other thoughts on this. I've often wondered why we dont know much about Hermione's family. Even Voldemort knew about who his family was and he was growing up in an orphanage! And Lily Potter was muggle born, but we can trace her family tree, so why we can't we trace Hermione's?

Edited March 6, 2019 by kaedequinn

[Dumbledore]

Who is that hiding under the invisibility cloak? Harry... Is that you? No?
Well, you must be a Muggle... And, you've found our magical community!

In that case, I think you should join us.
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[moonlightwishes]

Who is that hiding under the invisibility cloak? Harry... Is that you? No?
Well, you must be a Muggle... And, you've found our magical community!

In that case, I think you should join us.
Enrol | Sign in

Once signed in you’ll be ‘sorted’ into your Hogwarts house; where you can start creating your own personalised ‘topics’ straight away, or you can also join existing conversations with fellow fans by replying to ‘threads’ and discussions that pique your interest.