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Neville Longbottom

Oh my goodness Neville, while I connected with Hermione and Luna in love of books, wit, and oddities; my personal experiences always aligned more with Neville, which is why for the majority of the story I was disheartened to find him not having better luck. Regardless, Neville is the character that teaches us the most in the series showing us how words matter, you need to be your strongest supporter, you should do what’s right regardless of others, and how persistence can make all the difference.

“Stick and Stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”

False. The constant pressure and negativity from his grandmother, Snape and peers held Neville back. Confidence, kindness, respect for different people’s strengths can make all the difference for the individual and for the world. We know all the example I could go thru, but we see as Neville begins to ignore the taunts of others that he continues to improve.

“If You Judge a Fish by Its Ability to Climb a Tree, It Will Live Its Whole Life Believing that It is Stupid”

It took some time, but Neville eventually found himself. While he wasn’t good at potions and his fear of McGonagall held him back in Transfiguration, his love of Herbology eventually led him to a dream career as a Professor who will be the new generations Lupin I’m sure. While he felt down on himself, he didn’t feel bad about what or whom he liked and sought out relationships that he deemed worthy. This success also comes from his showing of persistence (slug club, defeating Voldemort), while not in a zealous way, he constantly tries to better himself and handles rejection well, he also doesn’t give up; even at the end of the first year when Harry, Ron and Hermione say they’re going out he doesn’t let them pass, but vows to stay there blocking them off.

While there is a lot we learn from Neville, what I love the most is how he’s a pure, true, good guy. He’s strong, the ultimate underdog and this is also one of the ways I find myself linked, he’s very moral—always trying to do the right and respectable thing. Even as “a nobody”, he would stand up for others and put others ahead of himself as he told Harry to let him be killed to make sure Voldemort and other’s didn’t get what they want, he also wouldn’t give in during the final battle and showed loyalty and trust in Harry beyond the end. Side point with this, his care with his mother and children who have parents are disabled or impaired, it was beautiful and to show how his grandmother was the opposite was very crucial, she might not have known who her son was, but she recognized this sweet boy and I love how he cherishes the wrappers she gives him.

Neville is the character I have the most “what/if” about

What/If he was in Hufflepuff (added points in letting us know a Hufflepuff so it doesn’t have the reputation it does); he also would have had a better connection with Professor Sprout (if that's possible)

What/If he had been closer to Harry, Ron and Hermione earlier on. I get that they were the core 3, but they didn’t even hang out with him as much as I feel they should have, and even when they did it became: Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville, Luna and Ginny.

Of course, the biggest, What/If is if Voldemort had chosen him instead of Harry, who would he have been? Harry would have been the same if he lived with his Aunt and Uncle, or just like James, if he ended up with Sirius (eck)

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When you can barely see but cannot sleep 

When everyone around you makes you feel insane

They’ll be there, they’ll call your name

All your friends and dreams will guide you home and to who you want to be

Ginny Molly Weasley

I don’t care for Ginny, I just don’t. I’ve tried to figure out why and in rereading the series I’ve tried to give her another short but she just comes across to me as blah and her relationship with Harry comes out of nowhere to me. Obviously, he couldn’t have fallen in love with her from first glance when they were children, but while Harry will say that he slowly became friends with her and then fell in love, I just don’t see it. Even in my re-read, I found that Harry found her annoying, she was Ron’s sister and then, bam, he was “thinking back to their years of friendship” when I just didn’t see any friendship. Yes, they all hung out, but in a group and it never seemed close. Ginny hanging out with her friend Hermione and her friends then them all hanging out together.

Regardless of my feelings, Ginny Weasley was revolutionary and a badass. She is repeatedly shown to be intelligent and creative, funny, extremely loyal and moral, and athletic. Following the possession of her by Tom Riddle Jr. she is still extremely brave, fighting against Voldemort whenever she can, fighting against those who try to oppress or harm others and standing up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. In addition, she showed how girls should be confident with boys. She didn’t submit to them and it was written that boys didn’t want to date her because she was pretty but because of her personality—even thou they sometimes tried to one-up her.

Along with her equality to the boys at school and her bravery, Ginny should be looked at as a role model in how she encourages and sticks by her friends. While Harry, Ron and Hermione are seen as the golden trio and had a lot to deal with, there seemed to be a silver trio between Ginny, Luna and Neville and Ginny, who was more popular then both of them, still hung out with them and encouraged Hermione to open her mind to how Luna was and thought and her individual brilliance and was always helping Neville to get him to see himself as they saw him. She didn’t care what others found interesting or popular, she knew they were good and interesting people and that was enough.

Best Jim and Dwight Moments

1. Season Five, Episode Sixteen: Lecture Circuit part 1

When Jim and Dwight explain to the camera crew (and us) what happened with the Party Planning Committee and Kelly's missed Birthday Celebration.

2. Season Eight, Episode Sixteen: After Hours After Dwight first works to seduce Nellie and then changes his mind, partially prompted by Jim, and Jim spends all night trying to get rid of Crazy Cathy, they end up eating dessert together and watching TV.

3. Season Four, Episode Four: Money First, Jim empathizes with Dwight about Angela by explaining that he really left Scranton because of Pam. How he couldn't eat, food didn't have taste and how he wouldn't wish that on anyone--including Dwight. Here, the heartbreaking and also crucial Jim/Dwight moment is that Dwight reached out to Jim after and was equally willing to be vulnerable. 

4. Multiple Episodes: whenever Jim realizes he knows more personal information about Dwight:

Dwight's Mother's name is Hedda (Season Eight, Episode Six: Doomsday)

Dwight's middle name is Kurt (Season Two, Episode Seven: The Injury)

Important comparison, Jim does not remember Andy's grandmother's name is Ruth,

5. Season Nine, Episode Thirteen: Junior Salesman Jim knew that Dwight designed a uniform for Dunder Mifflin

Bonus: It's four uniforms: Summer, Winter, Jungle and Formal

6. Season Three, Episode Twelve: Traveling Salesman After giving in his resignation to Dunder Mifflin for Angela, when he sees Jim outside in the parking lot, first they pause and then Dwight goes up and gives him and hug.

7. Season Seven, Episode Twenty-Four: Dwight K Shrute Acting Manager After Jim comments that it was the right call for Dwight to no longer be acting manager, but adds that while Dwight was Manager " In your one week, every single one of the orders went out on time, and I think that is shagadellic baby” which we know cheers Dwight up as he pauses and slightly nods.

8. Season Eight, Episode Eighteen: Last Day in Florida When Jim continues to physically block Dwight from going to the Board meeting about the Sabre retail stores so Dwight won't be fired. 

9. Season Five, Episode Seven: Customer Survey When Jim does make sure to emphasize with Dwight that he was "right" when it came to their customer service reviews, and that Dwight "Knew it the whole time, buddy"

10, Season Seven, Episode Eighteen: Todd Packer When Jim and Dwight team up to get rid of Packer.

PS--Yes, I see the majority of this list is Jim-action heavy. I wondered a bit about that and while Dwight didn't do much to 'mend' his relationship with Jim, he also didn't have to. While Jim mostly did things "in good fun" and continued to pull some pranks on Dwight, he was the one that had to do the more actionable changes for their relationship to thrive since he was the one who was childish in how he interacted with Dwight in the beginning.

Pete Miller

Pete’s Best Moment: (Season Nine, Episode Eight: The Target)

“Hey, hey, hey. It’s just a mistake, just a mistake. That’s what this tower is all about—mistakes. Okay, if you’re afraid of screwing up, the tower is not for you. Show of hands, who has never had a complaint? That’s right, nobody. See that? Nobody. Let’s get back to work, huh? Come on, you in?”

And then he fist bumps Kevin

Pete’s Worst Moment: Season Nine, Episode Twenty-One: Livin’ The Dream

When Pete doesn’t try in making Jim feel welcome in the annex, especially compared to Clark who he doesn’t like that much.

Pete’s Best Line: Season Nine, Episode Two: Roy’s Wedding

“No, Clark’s not my friend. He is the douche that sits next to me at the office. My friends are Scott, Glenn, and Rob. But, you don’t know them.”

Pete’s Most Memorable Moment: Season Nine, Episode Two: Roy’s Wedding

When he makes sure Erin doesn’t end up going to Clark’s apartment alone, as Clark was trying to hook up with Erin, but ends up being the one to take her out to dinner.

Teddy Lupin: New Generation

We know nothing about Teddy Lupin (except he’s a Metamorphmagus like his Mum and is a fan of PDA). But while we know very little, he is such an important character. Another child like Harry alone in the world because of a war (and a main reason why we got the Epilogue) he represents, and reminds us of, the continuous and generational effects war, violence and inaction have on individuals, families and society. But also, the impact that we can make when we make changes to those evils in the world. 

I originally chose February 19th as the day for this entry as with other entries whose birthdays aren’t available, as it is the birthday of the actor who portrayed (or in this case was cut from portraying them. So the timing for the rest of this piece, related to the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School) is somewhat a coincidence, as in the States we would always be coincidentally close to a school shooting. 

The students from Stoneman Douglas High School have had enough, and regardless of age are refusing to be bystanders or that these are things outside of their control. It reminds me of the old Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,        Courage to change the things I can,                                                            And wisdom to know the difference

now includes Angela Davis’ quote

to change the things I cannot accept

I didn’t expect Teddy’s post to be more than the first paragraph about how there are always unexpected tragedies of war, and how far those tragedies spread.But JK Rowling and Harry Potter taught us, reminded us that anyone can be a force for change, for a better world and with that, I am just simply loving this younger generation, I am in awe of their strength, courage and high moral standards 

Percy Weasley

I liked Percy, enough, in the beginning. Similar to Hermione he was ambitious, smart, and just wanted to do well. In a family of seven children it’s understandable when one is different from the rest, and as close to the middle of the pack, it’s understandable he’s even more out of the loop, and we don’t know what his relationship with Charlie or was, or with Ron or Ginny when they were younger.

But there are a lot of things not to like about Percy: he couldn’t relax, he thought too highly of himself, and tried to appear better than he was (the type of person who uses a more ‘sophisticated’ word, but it doesn’t come naturally from them or in the sentence). Being ambitious and following rules are good, but the expression “rules are meant to be broken” has a point. There are exceptions and you shouldn’t follow the rules blindly, another major issue with Percy, he was narrow-minded and couldn’t see the bigger picture. It’s interesting, as in some ways this might have been what impacted his future at the Ministry the most, a lack of spine and compassion, I don’t see how he could have moved up into the Ministry that had Kingsley and Hermione in tow.

The thing that sticks with me is that he seemed to only reconnect with his family in the last moments, thou that could make sense if he was trying to keep a separate watch on things from the inside or was in fear for his life. But, after the battle, he wasn’t that close with his family either (at least not Harry) and it seems their children weren’t close with each other, so I doubt they saw much of each other. This hold on pride is what I don’t like the most, 20 years later, he’s still holding on to shame about being wrong.

It’s not just today it’s through random occurrences everyday 

When you’re taking a walk around the neighbourhood, or see an old movie with a very different skyline. It’s not always prominent, but it’s always with us. 

8:46

9:03

9:37

9:59

10:03

10:28

Luna Lovegood

There are many, many, many reasons to love Luna Lovegood as well as lessons about how we should be:

she’s honest

she’s conscientious, and not the center of the universe

she’s confident in herself

she’s brave for herself and others

she’s supportive and understanding of her friends and others

she's not prejudiced and address’ it in others

this list can go on for pages and pages of a tumblr article. 

Along with all Luna (and Evanna Lynch) taught us, and was a role model for those who didn’t feel like they belonged or were considered less than, she taught us a lot with the unexpected relationships she had with two characters: Hermione and Harry

Hermione, seen as a brilliant, kind and caring Witch, was cruel to Luna at first as she was opposite, but not opposite, of Hermione. Luna showed us with her relationship with Hermione a few flaws of Hermione along with growth and with Luna, what it meant to be truly open and accepting. Both intelligent, heroic and compassionate, their core similarities ended there. While important, Hermione let the values of acceptance and appearance overshadow curiosity and open-mindedness; which are both very important and defining characteristics of any person. It is so, so, so important to not only be open-minded and interested in the world around you, people’s beliefs, but also people in general. Even the villains in Harry Potter weren’t all evil or heroes all good.

Harry, this is one of my biggest umphs, Luna was the best character we knew for Harry romantically, because of how natural they were together. Sure, like all relationships Luna had there was a bit of a warming up period, but once they met and interacted, she just got him. When he wanted to hide after the battle, she could recognize him even when disguised with Polyjoice Potion, how it felt to not know one’s parent(s), she just got him. It’s rare, and doesn’t have to be romantic, but is such a beautiful relationship and connection that some people have. That without words or