Harry Potter is a story that has impacted the lives of millions of people around the world. Each person has taken something different from the series of stories but for me, this is what I learned from the story of the Chosen One:

The importance of the spell Lumos.

Lumos is the spell in Harry Potter that produces light at the end of a wand. For me this has always represented the thought that I control what light I shed on the earth. It’s a reminder that each of us has the power to make the world a little brighter. After all it was Dumbledore who said, “happiness can be found in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”

It brings a lot of different people together.

From generation to generation, the story of Harry Potter has created a bond between many different types of people. It created a community that fanned together at each book release, created new fan fiction, and flocked to the movies for each midnight premiere.

Fan activism is strong in the Harry Potter Fandom.

One group that comes to mind is the Harry Potter Alliance is an organization that turns fans into heroes. They are changing the world by making activism accessible through the power of story. Since 2005, they have engaged millions of fans through our work for equality, human rights, and literacy. They have different chapters that volunteer their time and efforts to make the world a better place all because of the story of the chosen one.

Death is inevitable.

A big theme throughout the stories is death and more often then not it’s a sudden death. I learned that loss is going to happen at the most inopportune time but we learn to move on and grow from what those people have taught us.

Family comes in various forms.

Obviously there is the family you are born into but in Harry’s case that wasn’t the family he was meant to be with. He found a variety of family in people like Serious Black, to the Weasley’s in the burrow, and in people like his best friends. Sometimes you really can choose your family.

Courage can come from anyone.

If there is one thing I learned from Neville Longbottom other than the fact that you can grow up into a really attractive person its that, courage can come from anyone including the person that you least expected it to come from. Courage is a complex thing because taking a stand isn’t how we erase our fears but courage is when we face our fears.

Sometimes the bad guy isn’t that bad after all.

Our perceptions of people can be skewed based on their appearance and the biggest example of the bad guy not truly being a bad guy was Snape. I will be the first to admit he did some terrible things but in the end all he wanted to do was save Harry in memory of Lilly his one true love. Snape was a hero in many ways but it took the ultimate sacrifice of his own life for anyone to see it.

Fight for what you believe in.

Because that’s all that Harry did. He fought for his friends, he fought for his peers, and he fought for what was right.