7 Things I Learned From Harry Potter

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Growing up, I was never much of a reader. If a book were to interest me, it would have to be very, well, interesting. I was very much into the mystery and detective genre such as Nancy Drew. But then as I grew older, I picked up my first Harry Potter book and immediately fell in love with the story. So why did I like it? There were so many elements and parts of it that just made my imagination grow wild. The books allowed me to escape my mundane life and enter a world where magic exists. I looked forward the new book every two years, and now that it is over, there are a number of things I learned from reading Harry Potter.

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1. The "loser" can be the hero, too.

Snape is a truly a Slytherin for deceiving Lord Voldemort, but he proved to have the heart of a Gryffindor by being so brave throughout the entire time. Everyone hated him at first because he was so weird and moody. No one really saw it coming that his role in saving Harry's life was so big. I trusted him from the very beginning. 

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2. Friends will never leave you

One of the most constant themes in the Harry Potter series is the that of friendship. Harry, Ron, and Hermione taught everyone that true friends will always be there for you. That you are never alone no matter how dark everything seems to be. 

3. A guy and a girl can be friends without any feelings getting in the way

I'll be honest, I wanted Harry and Hermione to end up together, but that wasn't J.K. Rowling's plan for them. Them ending up together will just tell everybody that if a girl has a guy best friend, she must end up with him. Or at least show that she has feelings for him, or the other way around. Though this dance scene was not in the book, I'm glad to see it in the movie. It portrayed Harry and Hermione's perfect guy-girl friendship.

4. Choices count

If Harry had chosen to be in Slytherin on his first day then he would have ended up there. He chose to be in Gryffindor because that was where he felt he was meant to be, and it really was. This taught me that everyone is in charge of their own destiny. It is the choices we make today that will affect and give us the future we deserve. Look at Tom Riddle, for example. He could have easily chosen to let it go and live out his life in peace., but he didn't. And that was his downfall. 

5. Our Mums love us

Need I say more? XD

6. We need to believe in ourselves

Yes, that sounds quite cheesy, but it is true. Just look at Neville Longbottom. He started out as someone who had low esteem and he would constantly doubt himself. His was probably one of the best character developments in the book. He really matured throughout the series and even ended up destroying a horcrux. 

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7. What you do now is important

If only Tom Riddle grew up with a nice family, he never would have become Lord Voldemort. His mother conceived him while his father was under a love potion which was already very wrong on so many levels. By the time the enchantment was over, his father left his pregnant mother who died shortly after child birth. Tom then grew up in a muggle orphanage where never felt what it was like to be loved by a family. That caused him to be very resentful of muggles. This was all a domino effect of bad luck towards Tom Riddle. One small change in the past could change the future.