            All because she had become obsessed with a problem. Because she had been too nosy—too needy—for her own good. The papers may call her the "Brightest Witch of Her Age,’ but Hermione knew the truth. She knew that cleverness was just a mask to hide her parasitic need to be wanted, to be loved, to be  right. She had let the need consume her like a forest fire, and now there was no water left to quench it.