Emma Watson in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix © 2007 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Harry Potter Publishing Rights © J.K.R. Harry Potter characters, names and related indicia are trademarks of and © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Like her other Harry Potter costars, Emma Watson has practically grown up on screen along with her character, Hermione Granger. Through thick and thin, the feisty, intelligent, aspiring witch always has Harry's back and has helped to save the day on more than one occasion. Watson spoke with Premiere on the set of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix about getting back in on the action as Hermione, Potter politics, and when Ron and Hermione will finally make it official.

PREMIERE: So where do we find Hermione in Order of the Phoenix?
EMMA WATSON: I see Hermione again taking on a very mothering role toward Harry and with everything that's happening to Harry, he tends to isolate himself. But Hermione really wants to pull him away from that. He also keeps realizing as more awful things keep happening to him that it's a big and a scary thing to love because it means you've got more to lose, and he's tempted a lot of the time to say, "I'm going to go it alone." And Hermione is just there, always reminding him "No, you don't have to stand on your own, we want to be there for you." He can be a leader. She is the making-it-happen girl.

It's hard not to see some political analogies in this movie. So what's your take on it?
There are so many analogies you can find with it. I definitely think this is a much more politically-based film, and another reason why I think David Yates was such a good choice is because just if you look at his previous work — he's made like The Girl in the Cafe and Sex Traffic — it's all got a political theme to it. When David was directing us, he was using analogies while we were filming, and the story line is, basically, the ministry is too scared to face what's really going on. They're just doing anything to [not have to] face the truth, which is pathetic because if they can't even admit to what's going on, how on earth are they going to be able to fight against it and battle against Voldemort? So that's a bit worrying. It's just interesting, I think, because the kids have never really — their world is Hogwarts, and they're starting to see that it can become corrupt and that you can't always trust authority. You have to think for yourself.

The term "half-blood" is a term of abuse in the world of Harry Potter, and you can feel that Nazi undertone — it feels like that's what J.K. Rowling was trying to say with this.
She was. As there is a form of racism in our world, there is also racism in theirs: it's people who come from pure-blood families. Hermione is obviously someone who has been the victim of that.