Becoming Ronald Weasley: Wizard’s Chess Master #MNBHP

That’s chess!” snapped Ron. “You’ve got to make some sacrifices! I’ll make my move and she’ll take me—that leaves you free to checkmate the king, Harry!”

“But—”

“Do you want to stop Snape or not?”

“Ron—”

“Look, if you don’t hurry up, he’ll already have the Stone!”

There was no alternative.

“Ready?” Ron called, his face pale but determined. “Here I go—now, don’t hang around once you’ve won.”

SS/PS

 

What we admire about Harry so much is his “saving people thing,” his selfless nature. Ron is often derided for not being as brave or self-sacrificing as his friend, but in their first year, he proved he, too, was a hero.

Harry and Hermione try to talk Ron out of sacrificing himself, but he is set. Chess is won by making necessary sacrifices. Ron accepts the task of being the necessary sacrifice on the life-size chessboard—a task Harry will later have to accept when he walks into the forest to allow Voldemort to use the Killing Curse on him and thereby eliminate the second-to-last Horcrux.

Most of us will never face a life-or-death situation—though some do—but we all may have to “take one for the team” eventually, be willing to be the necessary sacrifice. We give up our vacation time to help a friend move. We babysit our younger siblings so that our parents can have a date night. We give someone who is hungry our lunch so that they can have a meal, even though we’ll have to go without.

“Taking one for the team” requires seeing the world from an aerial view—from the vantage point of a chess master. We recognize which pieces need to be sacrificed for the game to be won. We see the world outside of ourselves and recognize that our individual desires are not always paramount.

 CHALLENGE:

Be a Wizard’s Chess master like Ron. Have desires but take a moment to look at your world from an aerial view. Do your desires need to be met right this moment? Is there something more important going on? Do you need to be the necessary sacrifice? If not, are you willing to be when the time comes?

Share with us a necessary sacrifice someone has made for you using #MNBHP.

Next Week: “Becoming Lord Voldemort: Master of Quirrell”