Hermione had an excellent memory, something Harry, Ron, and Neville had all benefited from a great deal. Whenever they asked her questions, Hermione could give them an answer faster than anyone else, without even opening a book.
Sometimes, though, having a good memory was not necessarily an advantage.
Right now, for instance, a single sentence from Hermione had left Ron speechless.
But as Ron had said, as a child from a Muggle family, Hermione found it hard to understand just how deeply the taboos taught to children from Wizard families by their parents were ingrained in them.
So, his embarrassment turning to anger, Ron said:
"Hermione, that's because you're ignorant. You always think everything is exactly the way you understand it. Just like Trelawney said, you don't have the aptitude to see into the future, and that upset you, so you deny everything she says.
"You-you have no idea how many generations of experience and lessons lie behind the traditions of the Wizarding World. You just refuse to admit there's something you're no good at!"
Clearly, Ron's words had hit a sore spot.
Hermione, who had always been a top student and received praise from almost every professor, was indeed rather unhappy about what had happened in Divination.
When Ron pointed it out, her embarrassment turned to anger too. Slamming the thick textbook in her hands onto the table, Hermione shouted at Ron:
"Even Professor McGonagall said Divination isn't a rigorous subject at all. Hmph, if you ask me, compared with my Arithmancy, Divination is a load of rubbish. If I have to see those nonsensical predictions of death in a pile of tea leaves, I might just stop taking it."
With that, ignoring Harry and Neville as they opened their mouths to try to smooth things over, Hermione stuffed