I've never understood this. The truth would have been an acceptable and better answer. She was in the bathroom and didn't know about the troll, Harry and Ron went to warn her, and the troll cornered them. I don't think she'd lose any points or get in trouble for that answer. And it still makes Ron and Harry look good.
shareIt's called "not grassing up your potential mates", Wilson.
But she WOULDN'T be doing that if she told the truth. Harry and Ron didn't do anything wrong. Saying that she was in the bathroom and didn't know about the troll and they went to warn her wouldn't be ratting them out. It's a better explanation than the lie she gave.
shareNever understood this either.
shareThey should have told one of the professors where she was instead of going after her themselves. They were supposed to return to their dorm. Also, Ron was the reason she was in there crying in the first place. So she tried to take the blame to get them off the hook.
shareShe didn't have to say it was Ron's fault, just that she was in there. And there was no time to get a professor, they all went to the dungeons. There wasn't any around.
shareYou're right, but I guess in that moment she panicked and went with what she thought would do her friends the most good.
shareYes, of course, they had to take matters into their own hands instead of going for the teachers. That was the problem, forgot about that. It's no wonder that Minerva asks them, in the 6th movie, why whenever there is trouble, the three of them are always involved.
shareLol that was a great scene, especially Ron's response:
"Believe me, Professor, I’ve been asking myself the same question."
Again, every teacher was far away. Most were in the dungeons looking for the troll. There was no time to run to get a teacher.
Plus that's basically the same thing they did in her lie. In her lie, they didn't get a teacher either.
Maybe, this time around they had to act. But for the most part they meddle with things that are not their business.
shareYou don't understand, Ron and Harry DID do something wrong. They were supposed to go back to their dorm and let the teachers fight the troll, the teachers are all extremely powerful and skilled wizards and are more than a match for it. But if two twelve-year-olds who can barely charm feathers into the air try to fight something so far beyond their abilities, they're risking their own lives, the lives of anyone nearby, and the school's reputation. What they should have done is run to a teacher and say that Hermione was in the danger zone.
Hermione's covering for them was cool and clever. She knew that the boys would lose a hell of a lot of house points and get clipped round the ear for being a couple of damn fools if they told the truth, but she'd get off much easier because she'd never done anything wrong up until that point. For a twelve-year-old to think all that out just after having a crying fit and being attacked by a troll is pretty impressive.
But in her lie about what happened, they didn't get a teacher either. So how is that any different? How is saying, "I went looking for the troll, and they came and saved me" any better than, "I was in the bathroom and didn't know, and they came to warn me". In both cases, they didn't get a teacher. And yet again, there were no teachers around. They were all in the dungeons. Running to find teachers would have led to Hermionie's death.
Plus they didn't go seeking to fight the troll, they went to warn her, but when they saw the troll attacking her, they instinctively tried to help her.
They wouldn't have lost any points if she told the truth. That's idiotic. They did nothing wrong.