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I understand that Voldemort's snake is a powerful one, but why were Hermione and Ron so helpless in the climax of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2? Hermione was supposed to be the best student of her class and she also knows many spells but when in the climax the snake chases Ron and Hermione, they were about to surrender to the snake before Neville killed it with the sword.

Hermione knows many magic spells, so she can at least do something to save herself and Ron - or at least attempt to do so. Her character was so powerful throughout the movie, but the end felt somewhat odd. Is it because the makers wanted to highlight Neville as another emerging hero?

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    In the novel, she was disheartened by their seeming failure. Harry was (they thought) dead and she was well aware that Nagini was immune from magical attack.
    – user7812
    Commented Nov 15, 2015 at 14:28
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    Also, I might be wrong, but wasn't Hermione's wand left behind at the Malfoys? And she was carrying Bellatrix's wand, which barely worked for her?
    – Walt
    Commented Nov 15, 2015 at 15:45
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    Note to OP: don't use the words Hermione and climax in the same sentence.
    – Möoz
    Commented Aug 29, 2016 at 2:57

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There's a couple of things going on here that aren't immediately obvious

Their plan failed. Totally failed.

Knowing that Nagini is immune to the level of magic at their disposal, the aim was to kill her by distracting her and then stabbing her with the basilisk's fang. That plan failed utterly and they were forced to flee.

Because her wand was broken and her loaner was rubbish.

As far as why she didn't try more spells to try to defend them, the simple fact is that they were facing an enemy who wasn't even slowed down by being hit point-blank by Ron's spell. On top of that, Hermione is stuck with Bellatrix' wand which doesn't seem to work especially well for her.

A slightly earlier version of the film's shooting script strongly indicates that by now, the two of them have lost hope and are simply expecting to die.

Just then, Ron and Hermione burst INTO VIEW, followed by Nagini.

Nagini rises, ready to strike. Harry turns, wand in hand, but he’s too late.

Ron reaches out... and takes Hermione’s hand.

Luckily, Neville turns up in the nick of time and saves the day, completing his personal story arc from blithering buffoon to born-again hard.

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