In celebration of the film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them hitting cinemas, let’s look back at the original movies and remember all the great life lessons we learned from Harry, Ron and Hermione.
1. Friends are everything
The series taught us the importance of friendship. Without Ron and Hermione, Harry wouldn’t have made it through the challenges he faced. They were especially helpful in finding the Horcruxes and figuring out those Triwizard Tournament clues. Harry had many friends – Luna, Neville, Ginny, and pretty much anyone smart enough to realize how cool Harry was. When Ron and Hermione weren’t fighting with each other (or building the sexual tension because they were so clearly in love) those two were the best friends Harry could ever have.
2. Never take your life too seriously
Despite the times in his life where it seemed that everything was falling apart, Harry still looked on the bright side. He treasured the small moments in his life, and this is an important life lesson to take from him. Even if you’re overwhelmed with school assignments, or you’re swamped at work, remember that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. If Harry wasn’t a positive person, the stress and pressure of needing kill Voldemort would have made him crazy. He kept it together and in the end everything turned out wonderfully.
3. Be a badass bitch like Hermione
Hermione is the perfect example of how you can be book smart and still kick some serious butt. There is no doubt that at some point in every girl’s life, they wanted to be like Hermione, because, let’s face it, who wouldn’t? She’s beautiful, smart and can stand up for herself and her friends. She’s loyal and she tells us that we shouldn’t be scared to stand up for what we believe in. We love her for it.
4. Everyone needs a friend like Hagrid
Hagrid demonstrates how to be sweet, loving and loyal. He assumed a father role for Harry before Harry met Sirius, and then continued to look out for his favourite student constantly. He is goofy and no doubt brings laughter and light into the series.
5. Gingers are cool
Every time Harry visited the Weasleys, we all wanted to go with him. The homey, accepting atmosphere made us feel as if we were part of the family too, and Ron, Ginny and the twins all had different and hilarious personalities. The Harry Potter series made us realize how much we really wanted to be sitting at that table during Christmas dinner, despite how uncool Malfoy made it seem. We would be uncool forever if it meant being with the Weasleys.
6. We want an owl
Ever since Harry received Hedwig in the first film, having an owl as a pet has been our number one goal. Seriously though, how cute is she? So loyal, even until the end. We’d get a cute snowy owl, and name it something even cuter like Twinkles, or Buttercup. Our lives would be made.
7. We could re-watch/re-read the series hundreds of times
Despite having read and watched the series about a million times already (seriously, who has time for a life when there’s Harry Potter?) we could definitely watch it a million times more. That’s the brilliant thing about the Harry Potter series. Every time you watch it or read it, it just gets better. You see or read something you’d missed before, and it brings joy to your life to find that extra bit of gold. Because let’s be honest, we all want to be at Hogwarts with Harry, Ron and Hermione, and it’s our biggest regret that we aren’t.