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What I Learnt From Harry Potter Characters

Welcome Potterheads! (If you’re not a Potterhead please go watch/read the entire series. K thanks!)

So, a few days ago, I re-watched the entire Harry Potter series, (why? Because why not!) after a very long time. The last time I saw it was almost 3 years ago. (Completely unforgivable, I know!)

As I was watching, I was actually watching it, the characters, and the whole concept from a very different perspective. Everything about it, I was understanding it in a whole different way, so here are some things I learnt from some people.

Hagrid

Funny, warm, kind, supportive, a little dumb and super loving! I think every fan will agree with me when I say – Rubeus Hagrid is like that one uncle or that one cousin who’s your best friend. Watching Hagrid with the trio always made me want to reach out to my friends and spend time with them. The character really puts forward the message of loving everyone and everything, even if it’s a gigantic, hairy spider with hundreds of kids or a three headed dog!

“I am what I am, an’ I’m not ashamed. ‘Never be ashamed,’ my ol’ dad used ter say, ‘there’s some who’ll hold it against you, but they’re not worth botherin’ with.’ An’ he was right.”

– Rubeus Hagrid

Snape

Possibly the most misunderstood character in the entire Hogwarts history. Till the very end he maintained the character of being a cold hearted, evil, Death Eater who was out to get his hands on Potter. Only at the end did his tears really reveal the love he had and carried in his hearts for all those years, never letting it come out, but hurting alone on the inside.

Imagine being in his shoes, never being able to express yourself and who you really are, having to live with the sad memory of holding your love for the very last time but having them in your heart till the very end. Imagine knowing those deep secrets, yet not being able to do anything about it and living with the pressure that no one understood. </3

“Well, it may have escaped your notice, but life isn’t fair.”

-Severus Snape

Dumbledore

Probably one of the most controversial character who initially seemed to care a lot for Harry but at the end looked like the man who was just waiting for the right moment. (Still his death hurts) . He left forever teaching us to choose the path of right – no matter what , even if you have to die for it and at the same time, he taught me to be a leader.

“We must all face the choice between what is right, and what is easy.”

– Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

Harry Potter

Nerdy and awkward, yet so popular! (15 year old me relates!) When you take a look at his life, you really understand the importance of friends and loved ones. People who will sacrifice their life just to protect you, people who are willing to fall into dungeons and rescue you on flying cars, people who would literally become you and risk their life, just to save yours – such people are not easy to come by, and when you do come across them, keep them with you and cherish them. Not to mention the little bits of pep talks you can get from him every now and then.

“Working hard is important, but there’s something that matters even more: believing in Yourself.”

– Harry James Potter

Fred & George

The most fun loving, crazy troublemakers Hogwarts had the opportunity to have. Born on April fool’s day, it was clear from the start , they were going to be the official pranksters of the school. Although really well known for being pranksters and goofs , thier bravery isn’t really spoken about much. Can you imagine flying into Umbridge’s classroom on brooms and lighting off fireworks disrupting the OWLs ,not to mention scaring Umbridge herself with the biggest fireworks – that has to take a lot of bravery – especially after being punished by those awful quills of hers!

The crazy duo really teach you to keep your best smile on and your humour high, no matter what the situation. To live your life with no regrets, to always be cheerful and joyful – even in the most darkest times, be it injury or even death. (We’ll miss you Fredd

“Well, none of us really fancy it, mate. Imagine if something went wrong, and we ended up a scrawny specky git forever. “

– Fred & George Weasley

Luna

Weird and lost (and maybe a little bit looney), yet she was such a joy to look at. In a strange way, I felt myself relating more to her now as an awkward introvert. It’s not easy for me to make friends, but when I do, I will do anything for them, be it learning spells behind the cruel headmistress back or standing up against the Dark Lord himself. She really gives out the message that it’s okay being the ‘weirdo’, you’re still cool, especially if you can help find a horcrux!

“My mum always said things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end. If not always in the way we expect”.

– Luna Elizabeth Lovegood

Dobby

Tiny, timid, scared, would be the 3 words I would use to describe this marvellous house-elf. The love and protectiveness this sweet one has for Harry is simply adorable. Sure, he’s got Harry in a few difficult situations, but all the while hoping to keep him away from danger. Not to mention, he was there, exactly whenever and wherever Harry needed him.

Although seeing this little fella pass away broke many people’s hearts, he did teach us, that sometimes we need to take some risks and break some rules (and even defy our master’s) just to protect those who mean a lot to us, even if,in that moment our actions might seem unreasonable.

“Such a beautiful place this is, to be with friends, Dobby feels joy for being with his friends, Harry Potter.”

– Dobby

Hermoine

Smart, kind, talented, cheeky and definitely a goddess, this little girl knew what she was stepping into, even before she knew what she was actually stepping into. Although born to muggles, she was better than even the pure bloods, which goes to show; it doesn’t matter where you’re born or to whom you’re born. Your real power and talent comes from yourself.

Being ambitious, kind and the bestest friend to Ron and Harry were clearly some traits highlighted, but something else that I learnt was ; people might not always accept you, and may even call you horrible things, but at the end if you keep your head held high and be proud of who you truly are, you might just be able to punch those same people in the face (literally &/or figuratively).

“Books! And cleverness! There are more important things! — Friendship! And Bravery!”

– Hermoine Jean Granger

Sirius

First portrayed as the bad man and then revealing himself as the actual good guy, only to be killed, Black really brings the point home that sometimes, things are not how they really seem, sometimes, there’s more to the story. Also, never let go of hope, sure, you might have to spend 12 years in the most horrifying, dangerous prison ever, but eventually a time will come when you will be able to show yourself truly, if not to everyone, then atleast to those who mean everything to you. So if you’re going through difficult times, hang in there, eventually a time will come when you too will be able to fly off into the moonlight on a Hippogriff.

“We’ve all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on—that’s who we really are.”

– Sirius Black

Draco

Dark, mysterious, trouble-maker, bad boy, bully, I could go on and on about this fella but no words are enough to explain my love for this Slytherin king. Tough as a rock from the outside, perfectly mean to any and all muggles, but on the inside, the most sweetest kid with the weakest heart.

Although a little bit of a drama queen (okay ,maybe a little too much of a drama queen!) , he really makes you realise that what you see from the outside, isn’t necessarily what’s happening inside as well. So the next time someone is rude to you for no reason there might actually be a reason, maybe you just don’t understand them.

Draco as a character also makes you realise that sometimes you need to ask for help, or just accept help when someone offers it – even though you might feel like you’re completely fine on your own and have everything under control, actually having someone by your side can be a huge help.

“It comes and it goes. Still, I consider myself lucky. If it wasn’t for Madame Pomfrey, another minute or two and I could have lost my arm. Couldn’t possibly do any homework for weeks.”

– Draco Lucius Malfoy

Ron

Clumsy yet the cutest of the Weasley family, a character who surely stole everyone’s hearts right from platform 9¾. A clear indication that honest, real, unconditional love for our friends is so important. Someone who stayed by Harry’s side through everything, good and bad (although sometimes he can be a little annoying). Be it a broken wand or a broken arm, he knew to put his friends before himself. Want another reason to love Ron? – You can stuff your face around him, no judgements whatsoever, he might even join you XD, also, he has the most hilarious comebacks to some pretty unusual situations!. (How can you still not love him?!)

“Why spiders? Why couldn’t it be ‘follow the butterflies’?”

– Ronald Bilius Weasley

Neville

The shy little sweetheart who always only wished good for everyone. (Much like human version of Dobby, if you ask me) Mostly pushed off to the side, only to shine at the end when he wielded the sword of the true Gryffindor. Neville makes you feel like you belong, it doesn’t matter if you’re friends with the popular kids or not, it doesn’t matter if you’re part of the fancy sports teams or not, it doesn’t matter who you are, you will always belong – as long as you have goodness in your heart. If you’re good at heart you can fight the biggest snakes out there, just believe in yourself.

“I’ll join you when hell freezes over!”

– Neville Longbottom

Voldemort

The Dark Lord himself. Powerful but vain (in my opinion). Although not the most loved character of the series, Tom faced a lot of hardships in his childhood and many people can see themselves in him. The feeling that you don’t belong has hurt one too many people (although not all of them turned out this evil ). Something which Voldemort’s story does tell is this – even if you feel like you don’t belong and people around you make you feel terrible about who you truly are, there will come a time when you will find your place in the world, be it between muggles, pure-bloods or even half-bloods.

“There is no good and evil. There is only power. And those too weak to seek it.”

– Tom Marvolo Riddle

LEARNING TO SILENCE THE INNER CRITIC

(W/ many other smart people)

Have you ever heard loud, harsh, cruel, negative and really hurtful criticizing words?

I feel like we’ve all heard those at some point of our life, either from outside or from inside. Now, we may not be able to do much about the negativity that comes from outside but we can change the negativity from inside.

So I did a lot of research, which consisted of reading, writing and watching a lot of Ted talks and I’ve found the top 3 ways to of silencing the inner critic and being a better you.

1) THE ONE RULE PRINCIPLE ( by Bhavna Nagar )

This principle simply states, ‘ If I don’t like it from the outside (words or tone of voice), then I can’t use it on the inside.’

This principle, according to me, is the most simplest and maybe the most sensible way of dealing with that nagging voice from the inside.

Bhavna compares this inner critic to a 2 year old, someone who just says whatever they want, and the only way to control this 2 year old voice, is by being a parent to it. Being stern, yet loving. Slowly with a lot of practice, learning and caring we’ll be able to parent this inner 2 year old.

2) C. A. S. T. ( by Melissa Ambrosini )

“.. to help cast aside our inner critic so our true self can shine.”

The way to do this is by following these 4 simple steps.

Step 1: Create a character for this inner critic.

Give it a face, a shape, a body and a name. It can be anything you like. This is really important. It will create a boundary between the inner critic and your true self. It’s important to know that those are 2 completely different things.

Step 2: Awareness

Be aware and know which of these 2, your true self or the inner critic, is doing the talking. Again, remember that they are 2 completely different things.

Step 3: Shut the door.

… on this inner critic. Every time these criticizing thoughts come knocking on your mental door, you tell them, “No thanks, bye!” and close that door on their face. Shut off the negative thoughts just like you would shut off a nosey neighbor when you’re on a bad mood. (Trust me, you don’t have any need for either of them!)

Step 4: Truth

When you do all the above steps, you will finally find out the truth, the truth of who you really are and what you are really worth.

3) 3 WAYS TO TAME YOUR SELF CRITIC ( by Ronnie Grandell )

1) Try to understand the critic’s intent.

The critic inside you is like an angry sports coach. They want you to succeed and be the best version, but they have really poor execution style.

So, the best way to do learn the really intention of this critic is by looking behind the angry, rude, mean, hurtful things that your inner critic says, find the real reason for these words.

Is this inner voice trying to push you into being a better version of yourself? Or is it trying to keep you away from a hurtful situation? Or is it saying all of this just to hurt you? Try to figure it out!

2) Take a step back and personalize the critic.

Just like before, give this inner critic a personality. Give it a name, a face, a way of walking, an accent, anything and everything you want. (Your imagination is the only limit.)

Create distance between this personality and your true self because they are completely different.

Now everytime this unhappy, mean, rude personality decides to pay a visit to your mind, push it away. Again, nosey neighbor. No thanks! (You don’t need that in your life, take it from me)

3) Create a compassionate personality.

Create a nicer version of the angry sports coach in your head. Again, give them personality, face, body, voice, everything.l

Let them be this compassionate, kind, nice, loving and supportive person that will step in to life you up and help you access your inner courage, your inner self and your inner commitment to the things that matter to you.

Now, doing all this research and learning has taught me so many things that I want to summarize with these 5 points:

1) Before taking validation from outside, we need to stop hurting ourselves from the inside. We need to be kind to ourselves before expecting someone else to be kind to us or being kind to someone else.

2) We need to think of this inner critic only as a part of us, not all of us. We need to distance ourselves from this part of us.

3) We need to learn to turn this inner critic into a life coach that will give us that little extra push to reach our goals.

4) We should accept our failures and make amends and try to make things right. But at the same time, we need to question this inner critic from time to time, we need to step back and understand what this inner critic is doing to our mind.

5) Listening to the inner critic will not always make us a better version of us. Sometimes (aka most of the time) it will just make us feel even more down which will just affect our productivity.

[ BTW…. If you want to know some tips to being productive, here it is …. #ShamelessPlug 😉 ]

Fun Fact (because why not)

According to many scientists and researchers, the inner critic is an essential characteristic for many psychological disorders including anxiety, depression and eating disorders. So it’s really really important for us to tackle this inner critic and turn it towards our own benefit.

Bonus Tip

All these tips, tricks and hacks are not instantaneous. You cannot just wish for it and then wait for it to come true, you need to work towards it. Each day take baby steps to silence that inner critic. It won’t be an easy ride, there will be times that you will fail, you will fall down and you will hurt yourself, but you have to get back up. And whenever you have thoughts like “why even try?” or “what’s the point of all this?”, read this article again, and know that the reason why you’re doing this, is not for anyone else, it’s for you. Why? Because you deserve happiness, and nothing should come in the way of that, not even your inner critic. ♥️

TOP TIPS TO BE PRODUCTIVE

We’re all humans and we all have dreams and goals, some big and some small, but the only way to reach these goals is by working towards these goals. But if you’re a procrastinator like me being productive and getting things done might be difficult. So here are some tips that might just help you be a better version of yourself.

TOP TIPS

1) Know your daily goals

This is the first and most basic step to being productive. This is important because not knowing the goals for the day makes us random and it takes much more time to get things done.
The best way to do this is by a to-do list. Write it down, either on a paper, or an app on your phone or even on your calendar, just note it down somewhere so your brain doesn’t need to remember all these tasks, it can just focus on the work at hand.

Pro tip – Instead of deciding all the things and tasks in the morning and wasting precious time, write it all down the night before, that way you can wake up ready to hustle.

2) Map your day

Map out the things you have to do, don’t just write down random words or vague sentences. Write down the actual steps and plan of action that are clear. This way you will have the exact steps lined up for you and you can do your work with lesser things going wrong.

3) Prioritise

Know the most important and crucial tasks of your day and start working on those.
When making a to-do list try to break up the task into smaller mini-tasks and get to work on the first one in the sequence.
Finishing the first task will encourage and motivate you to work on the remaining mini-tasks and it will be easier to finish the task.

4) Goals and times

We only have 24 hours in a day, so we need to put every minute to work.
After organizing all the tasks, assign due dates and timers as much as possible and try to get things done within the alloted times.
Develop the habit of working fast while doing the best that you can. (It’s not easy but practice makes perfect… or atleast the thing closest to perfect)
Also, try to get onto a task and finish it as soon as possible instead of pushing it away for some other time.

5) Track yourself

Keep an eye on your to-do list and your timing. Review these often.
Keep track of your to-do list to make sure that you’re not overworking and doing work that is not necessarily important.
Keeping track of your timing ensures that you don’t spend too much time on a particular task and that you distribute and use your time effectively.

TOP MISTAKES

1) Time crunch

Not giving enough time to complete a task is a mistake all of us have done at some point. It’s important to not take too much time to do a task but at the same time it’s important to allow yourself enough time to complete the task successfully.

2) Assumptions

… specifically assumptions that everything will go right. Always assume that there will be hurdles along the way and allot sufficient time to deal with these problems.

3) Not enough vision

Not having the proper vision and goal will just increase the number of hurdles that come in your path. Make sure that before you begin anything ( a project, a task, an activity etc) you have a clear vision and you know the path to that vision.

4) Stress

Constantly stressing out can put your mental and physical health at risk. It will also effect your productivity. Identify the stress causing factors in your life, develop ways to de-stress and if possible, avoid these stress causing media.

5) Depending on yourself

Don’t get me wrong, being independent is a great thing and often times it seems like the best course of action. But in most cases, doing everything by yourself can lead to eventual burnout.
We’re all humans and we all have only a specific amount of energy in a day, it is impossible to expect ourselves to do everything on our own.
Get help, it may be in the form of an app or a device that helps you organize your day and other small things like that or maybe even hiring people to help you out in your work.

EXTRA TIPS (because why not)

• Remove distractions – delete apps, place your phone out of reach and turn off notifications.
• Focus on one thing at a time.
• Keep your home and workspace clean and organized to avoid chaos.
• Get the proper amount of sleep.
• Exercise regularly.
• Eat healthy.
• Take breaks in between work.

If you want anymore tips on how to work efficiently then check out my other blog post here:-

https://anublogsofficial.art.blog/2021/05/23/how-to-work-efficiently/


(Shameless plug 😉 )