1. Trust Your Teachers

It’s easy to dislike your teachers, they tell you what to do and criticize your work. Most of them have your back and they want you to succeed, even if it doesn’t seem that way. Snape spent seven strong years hating Harry, but he always had his best intentions at heart.

2. Break The Rules

Harry never got anything done by following the rules, and I definitely haven’t either. As long as you don’t hurt anybody along the way, sometimes you have to put on an invisibility cloak and wander where you shouldn’t be.

3. There Is Always Hope

Open the curtains, turn on a light, or smile, because life is way too dark to waste away without hope. Even in the direst circumstances, the characters of Harry Potter never lost their sense of a better tomorrow in the face of Voldemort’s reign.

4. Courage Comes In Many Forms

You don’t have to slay basilisks, ride dragons, or infiltrate the government to be brave. Courage comes in many forms, like telling the truth or standing up to friends, and it’s these small things that can often have the most impact. Neville, anyone?

5. There’s Good And Bad In Everyone

People aren’t perfect, Draco’s certainly made some mistakes. We’re complex. The sooner people come to learn this, the sooner they can forgive and forget. Not only that, but when we accept the darkness inside of ourselves, we can edge closer to the light.

6. Our Choices Define Us

“It is our choices that tell us who we really are, far more than our abilities.” – Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

People say a lot, but it doesn’t matter where you come from or what situation you’re in, the choices you make define you. Harry’s constantly making choices that are in the best interest of those he cares about, even if it doesn’t always work out.

7. Fear Is Okay

It is part of what makes us who we are. If we didn’t have fear, then we couldn’t stand up to the things that ail us and grow from it. Even Dumbledore feared things, but he didn’t let them control his ability to protect others.

8. We All Have Scars

Scars get a bad rap, but they’re pretty cool. We might not all have lightning bolts on our forehead, but we all have scars and with them come stories that form who we are. In some cases, they can even help you navigate the London Underground.

9. Reading Can Save The Day

Harry and Ron wouldn’t have gotten anywhere without Hermione. She taught a generation of readers, including me, that it’s not only cool to be smart, but it can save the day.

10. Death Is Inevitable

Voldemort’s fear of death is something that lives inside all of us. We share it for others, and for ourselves. When we come to accept it, however, we can start to enjoy the time given to us.

11. Love Wins

It’s the cliché you were expecting. If Voldemort is any example, a life without love isn’t one worth living. It’s the most powerful human emotion, and some forget it all too easily.