Did Hermione cheat?

Question

Ostensibly, cheating is a relatively significant infraction at Hogwarts, at the very least academically. In Philosopher's Stone it is revealed the quills and parchment used for exams are enchanted with anti-cheating spells. On a different note, while not involving academics, we learn in Goblet of Fire that surreptitious cheating during the Triwizard Tournament is considered par for the course.

Generally, Hermione is a prim character who appreciates rules and regulations, as well as extreme structure. She is portrayed as having a strong moral compass, as a person who would never voluntarily shirk the rules. So, did Hermione actually cheat in some of the following instances, where she helped Harry or Ron? For example:

Philosopher's Stone

The Quidditch Match

Reaching Snape, [Hermione] crouched down, pulled out her wand and whispered a few, well chosen words. Bright blue flames shot from her wand on to the hem of Snape’s robes.

It took perhaps thirty seconds for Snape to realise that he was on fire. A sudden yelp told her she had done her job. Scooping the fire off him into a little jar in her pocket [Hermione] scrambled back along the row – Snape would never know what had happened.

It was enough. Up in the air, Harry was suddenly able to clamber back on to his broom.

_{*Philosopher's Stone - Chapter eleven, Quidditch - page 140 - Bloomsbury}

Prisoner of Azkaban

The Quidditch Match

‘I’ve got no chance with these on,’ Harry said exasperatedly, waving his glasses.

At that very moment, Hermione appeared at his shoulder; she was holding her cloak over her head and was, inexplicably, beaming.

‘I’ve had an idea, Harry! Give me your glasses, quick!’ He handed them to her and, as the team watched in amazement, Hermione tapped them with her wand and said, ‘Impervius!’

‘There!’ she said, handing them back to Harry. ‘They’ll repel water!’

_{Prisoner of Azkaban - Chapter nine, A Grim Defeat pages 132-133 - Bloomsbury}

The Time-Turner

The events at the end of Prisoner of Azkaban not withstanding, was Hermione's use of the Time-Turner in general cheating?

OTHER

There are hundreds of examples in the Harry Potter books where Hermione helps Harry and/or Ron through surreptitious means -- does this mean she was cheating per se?

‘Are you feeling all right?’ Ron asked, staring at [Hermione] in disbelief.

‘Now you mention it,’ said Hermione happily, ‘d’you know ... I think I’m feeling a bit ... rebellious.’

_{Order of the Phoenix - Chapter 28, Snape's Worst Memory - Page 559 - Bloomsbury}

Q: Did Hermione ever outright cheat¹, or did she merely facilitate² the trio's many adventures?

¹_{If you'd like a dictionary definition of "cheating" for reference to this question, please take a look at the following: To practice fraud or deceit; to violate rules or regulations; to take an examination or test in a dishonest way, as by improper access to answers.}

²_{Facilitate: To make easier or less difficult; to help forward (an action, a process, etc.); to assist the progress of (a person).}

_{Source: Dictionary.com}

Answer 1

I'll go ahead and explain my reasoning behind each answer individually to the points you provided.

In Philosopher's Stone I would say this is a definite no. We see her trying to disrupt what she believes to be a curse, this curse would not only maim or seriously injure Harry it would in fact alter the outcome of the match unfairly. By disrupting the curse she is restoring the balance to the match at hand.

In Prisoner of Azkaban the answer is a little more ambiguous. You can argue that it is again restoring balance as unfairly Harry is the only one requiring glasses IIRC and so he has the biggest disadvantage from the rain. Restoring his vision puts him at an equal level to everyone else. Using magic to alter the outcome of Qudditch is cheating, so personally this would rest on your moral compass. I would deem it as not cheating as i personally feel it's akin to wearing gloves for better grip in the rain. Also as someone who plays sports that often take place in the rain (thanks England) I am sympathetic to the cause and would love this spell.

With The Time Turner I would only deem it cheating if it was used to do so, this would mean gaining an unfair advantage in terms of time for studying. As far as we know however she was only using it to attend classes and give herself a fair amount of time for all homework. We know Hermione though and she is likely to get her homework done at an acceptable pace with a good grade. I'm going to give this one a no we see her working a lot but it's normally on a variety of homeworks for equal if not less time than Ron and Harry.

Other Instances

There are a variety of instances where Hermione helps the boys with their homework allowing them to effectively copy and paste her work. This when it is not a means for studying and is a graded piece of work is most certainly cheating. At least allowing others to cheat.

She also repeatedly tries to help Harry with his many problems throughout the Tri-Wizard Tournament, she does fail in doing so but she still attempts it which is undoubtedly against the rules. This can however be deemed, like the others, as leveling the playing field. Everyone else is receiving help and she just wants it to be fair.

Answer 2

Hermione did break lots of school rules and also assisted people in breaking school rules.

She Lied

“Er — Professor Lockhart?” Hermione stammered. “I wanted to — to get this book out of the library. Just for background reading.” She held out the piece of paper, her hand shaking slightly. “But the thing is, it’s in the Restricted Section of the library, so I need a teacher to sign for it — I’m sure it would help me understand what you say in Gadding with Ghouls about slow-acting venoms.”

_{^{Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 10, The Rogue Bludger}}

She Stole

1. Potion Ingredients:

Through the confusion, Harry saw Hermione slip quietly into Snape’s office.

Harry saw Hermione slide back into the dungeon, the front of her robes bulging.

_{^{Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 11, The Dueling Club}}

2. Clothes:

“Good. And I sneaked these spare robes out of the laundry,” Hermione said, holding up a small sack. “You’ll need bigger sizes once you’re Crabbe and Goyle.”

_{^{Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 12, The Polyjuice Potion}}

She Cheated

None of the first five applicants saved more than two goals apiece. To Harry’s great disappointment, Cormac McLaggen saved four penalties out of five. On the last one, however, he shot off in completely the wrong direction; the crowd laughed and booed and McLaggen returned to the ground grinding his teeth.

“If you ask me,” said Harry quietly, “McLaggen looks like he was Confunded this morning. And he was standing right in front of where you were sitting.”

Hermione blushed.

_{^{Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 11, Hermione’s Helping Hand}}

She helped Neville against Snape's instruction (facilitate)

Please, sir,” said Hermione, “please, I could help Neville put it right —”

“I don’t remember asking you to show off, Miss Granger,” said Snape coldly, and Hermione went as pink as Neville. “Longbottom, at the end of this lesson we will feed a few drops of this potion to your toad and see what happens. Perhaps that will encourage you to do it properly.”

The Gryffindors burst into applause. Snape, looking sour, pulled a small bottle from the pocket of his robe, poured a few drops on top of Trevor, and he reappeared suddenly, fully grown.

“Five points from Gryffindor,” said Snape, which wiped the smiles from every face. “I told you not to help him, Miss Granger. Class dismissed.”

_{^{Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 7, The Boggart in the Wardrobe}}

She attacked a Teacher

“Expelliarmus!” he yelled — except that his wasn’t the only voice that shouted. There was a blast that made the door rattle on its hinges; Snape was lifted off his feet and slammed into the wall, then slid down it to the floor, a trickle of blood oozing from under his hair. He had been knocked out.

“We attacked a teacher... We attacked a teacher...” Hermione whimpered, staring at the lifeless Snape with frightened eyes. “Oh, we’re going to be in so much trouble —”

_{^{*Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 19, The Servant of Lord Voldemort}}

She drugged fellow students

“I’ve got it all worked out,” she went on smoothly, ignoring Harry’s and Ron’s stupefied faces. She held up two plump chocolate cakes. “I’ve filled these with a simple Sleeping Draught. All you have to do is make sure Crabbe and Goyle find them. You know how greedy they are, they’re bound to eat them. Once they’re asleep, pull out a few of their hairs and hide them in a broom closet.”

_{^{Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 12, The Polyjuice Potion}}

She convinced others to break rules

“What’s the matter?” said Harry.

“Can’t go in there,” said Ron gruffly. “That’s a girls’ toilet.”

“Oh, Ron, there won’t be anyone in there,” said Hermione standing up and coming over. “That’s Moaning Myrtle’s place. Come on, let’s have a look.”

_{^{Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 9, The Writing on the Wall}}

She assaulted a fellow student

Harry and Ron both made furious moves toward Malfoy, but Hermione got there first — SMACK!

She had slapped Malfoy across the face with all the strength she could muster. Malfoy staggered. Harry, Ron, Crabbe, and Goyle stood flabbergasted as Hermione raised her hand again.

“Don’t you dare call Hagrid pathetic, you foul — you evil —”

_{^{Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 15, The Quidditch Final}}

There should be more cases but I can't remember them. I will try to add more, if I can remember more.