"It's leviOsa, not levioSA!"
- Hermione Granger (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone)

One of my favourite fictional characters is Hermione Granger. 

Growing up, the Harry Potter books and movies were a huge part of my life.
When I was 15, I even woke up at 3 am in the morning, and took the first train with my friends to go to the premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 in central London.

As a young girl, Hermione Granger was the most relatable character in the series and someone who I aspired to be for multiple reasons:

She's incredibly smart and loves to read
I'd always felt a strong connection to her character because, like Hermione, I love reading books and was always in the library. And even though she's so smart, watching Hermione face difficult situations and learn to tackle new challenges independently gave me the motivation and courage to overcome my own troubles. 

She's dependable, loyal, and would do anything to help her friends 

"Books! And cleverness! There are more important things! — Friendship! And Bravery!"
- Hermione Granger (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone)

Although she wasn't surrounded by a large group of friends, Hermione was loyal to her closest friends, Harry and Ron, and went to extreme lengths to keep them safe. Even if it meant breaking a few school rules. 

She's not afraid to stand up for herself and her beliefs

"Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself."
- Hermione Granger (Harry Potter and the Chamber or Secrets)

Something I really admired about Hermione was her confidence. She wasn't afraid of showing her intelligence in class or telling someone to change things when they were wrong. Despite coming from a different family background to her peers and being bullied for it, she was never afraid of her bullies and would always stand up for herself. One of the most refreshing scenes in the movie was when she punched her bully, Draco Malfoy, after he constantly mocked her. 

** Note, I don't endorse violence! Please tell a teacher or parent if you're a victim of bullying! **



Looking back, I'm glad the Harry Potter series was such a big part of my childhood and teenage years. Even though they live in a fictional wizarding world (shhh, don't tell the muggles it's real!), there are many life lessons to be learnt from the movies and books, but that's a whole column post on its own to be discussed next time!

What about you? What's your favourite character in a movie or book? We can talk more about it in one of our conversation classes - I offer classes for students of all ages! I also offer Harry Potter-themed science lessons for children.