“Yer a Wizard, Harry!”

In celebration of that famous declaration that took place on this very day 24 years ago, here’s to all those moments when being a wizard would have come in handy.

1. You could have really used a place to stay over the holidays that meant you didn’t have to go home to family drama.

2. If you were a wizard, you wouldn’t have to study for a driver license test because for some reason you can ride a broom or travel by Floo powder at any age… although the latter has proven to be too much for some young people to handle. Yes, I’m looking at you, Harry.

3. You wouldn’t spend half your life searching for lost objects because you could just use a Summoning Charm to recover whatever was misplaced.

4. Two words: No college. The magical world finds seven years of education perfectly adequate and doesn’t force young adults to go through an extra 4-8 years of stress to ensure they are hiring material.

5. If you became particularly gifted at Memory Charms you wouldn’t ever have any need for social anxiety. If you said or did something incredibly stupid you could always just wipe all the present company’s memories and start over with a second chance at a good impression.

6. That one semester of college where you decided to take 21 units, work two jobs, and have an internship… yep, a Time-Turner would have come in handy.

7. Lastly, just think of how much you could get away with if you owned an invisibility cloak or knew how to perform a Dissillusionment Charm.