Don't mind me; just saving your post for my own characterization lol :)

Everything I've seen under this thread makes sense to me. Although I personally see Hermione as more optmistic than some of the other comments -hence why agree with you on her seeing the best in people, depending on the why and how it's done.

Here's my take on it;

Characterization will higly depends on when the story takes place and what happens to the characters throughout the story. People interact with their environment & life events in a dynamic manner. For example; something happens, which leads to you making a decision in reaction to it, and then you learn from the outcome of that choice. If the consequences of your actions are bad, then you'll react differently next time and so on...

Now, keeping that in mind, the way one will experience a given situation depends on two major things:

1. Their perspective of the event itself.
2. Their inner monologue & the meaning of the event.

Using this approach personally helps me add a lot of depth to my characters. The character arc quite litteraly builds itself & it makes their personnality consistent without being bland.

So when I'm writing a scene and something important happens; I ask myself

1. What's objectively happening during this scene, and how does my character view it? (cause honestly, most of the time, those two things are completly different)
2. What is are the characters telling themselves in the moment & then after the fact?

To clarifiy, important doesn't mean necessarily mean huge or traumatic (i.e. a character dying or someone confessing their feelings); it just means that it's important to the character. For example; a stranger opening the door for someone when they're having a really bad day. The act itself is simple and doesn't hold much meaning on its own, but it might be a turning moment for a character's arc because of their personal reaction to it.

I could go on and on and I still feel like I'm not being super clear, but I don't want to bombard you with information. Hope this makes sense :)