Becoming Harry Potter: Sticking up for Neville #MNBHP

Give it here,” Harry called, “or I’ll knock you off that broom!”

“Oh, yeah? […] Catch it if you can, then!” he [Malfoy] shouted, and he threw the glass ball high into the air and streaked back toward the ground.

A foot from the ground he [Harry] caught it, just in time to pull his broom straight, and he toppled gently onto the grass with the Remembrall clutched safely in his fist.

SS/PS

Harry never misses an opportunity to stand up for someone who can’t stand up for themselves. He doesn’t let Malfoy, one of the biggest bullies at Hogwarts, intimidate him out of doing the right thing—defending the defenseless—even if it means he might find himself in a spot of trouble.

If we want to become Harry Potter, we have to stand up for others, not to the point of becoming bullies ourselves but to show the Nevilles that they do matter. That they don’t have to be picked on. That we are on their side even if they are a bit strange or uncool or whatever.

Bullies are not unique. They are everywhere. Many of us will be their victims. Harry certainly was, but if we stand up to someone else’s bullies, we won’t be alone to face our bullies. Think about it. There are usually only a handful of Malfoys in a school or work setting or wherever. Malfoys are territorial. If they’re not the biggest and baddest, they’ll find somewhere else to torment those they see as lesser than themselves. So if there are only a handful of Malfoys and an army of the rest of us, what power will they have if we stand up to them when they are picking on others? Maybe we’re not friends with the Neville they are tormenting, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t intercede on their behalf.

Anyone who has the power to do good for another and does not do it is just as bad as Malfoy.

CHALLENGE: Stop being a Malfoy. When you can do any good for another, especially standing up to a bully for them, do it. You don’t have to like the person you are standing up for, you don’t have to be their friend, you don’t have to know anything about them. What is important is that you see a wrong, and you do what good to can to stop it.

It was important, Dumbledore said, to fight, and fight again, and keep fighting, for only then could evil be kept at bay, though never quite eradicated…” –HBP

Fight evil by doing all the good you can do. Do you have a Neville? Will you stand up for the Nevilles? Are you a Neville in need of a Harry? Let us know using #MNBHP (MuggleNet Becoming Harry Potter).

Next Week: “Becoming Hermione Granger: Taking the Fall”