Friendship means NO

I vividly remember reading the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It wasn't like anything else I had read before and I spent the next year reading, and then re-reading the first three books. (This was before Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was released.) I was one of those kids that didn't really like reading, but now it's hard for me to remember a time before words and worlds other than my own. J. K. Rowling was key player in changing my childhood self from finding reading tedious and a chore, to making books a second home.

There is a lot that I remember and would love to talk about from the Sorcerer's Stone--and subsequently the entire series--but I want to focus on a very specific character, Neville Longbottom. Long before finding out Neville's almost-destiny with Voldermort, Neville reminded me very much of a boy that I had gone to school with in third grade, named John. Both John and Neville were a bit clumsy, had unfortunate last names, and were made fun of. I didn't know John very well or for very long, his family moved away and I never saw him again, but I think I was primed to like Neville not only because of Rowling's masterful writing but because I had identified him with the recollection of my old school mate.

There are a lot of great moments in Sorcerer's Stone, and it would be easier to say the "whole book" instead of picking just one favorite scene. But, if pressed, I always chose when Neville stays up to stop Harry, Ron, and Hermione from leaving the Gryffindor dormitory. The poor boy ends up petrified on the common room floor for the rest of the night, but he did the one thing that many of us cannot do: He stuck up to the coolest kids in school for what he believed was right, all on his own.

Look at wittle Matt!

I was so thrilled to see that Dumbledore saw the courage in Neville and used his actions for the last winning points of the House Cup. I remember reading those lines and grinning like an idiot.

"It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends," --Albus Dumbledore, film adaptation

I was strongly reminded of our friend Neville in the most recent episode of Supernatural (9.22 Stairway to Heaven). Being the episode before a supposedly fan-spasming season finale, there was very little that didn't happen, but my favorite part was this:

Misha is mesmerizing

Castiel is a character that has grown from a bumbling toddler with a machine gun to a semifunctional human being (also with a machine gun, but he's more careful now) in the course of the Supernatural series. It was a beautiful moment for me to see him finally stand up to his idol and best friend, Dean Winchester, with a blatant "NO."

*befuddlement*

 As we know from the season 9 arc, telling Dean 'no' at this point is just a tad bit dangerous. But that's what makes Castiel a great friend--that he's willing to set his friend straight when he's wrong. It's not easy to see our heroes make mistakes, and they often need a friend willing to tell them the reality of a situation. As Dumbledore said, it's even harder to be the one that stands up to our own friends, and we must take courage from the best examples. After all, Neville turned out to be quiet the hero in his own right. :)

Fighting Voldermort in a cardigan. Level: BAMF

*Neville gif from glooriavictis.tumblr.com/
Cas and Dean gifs from http://callsigntheslayer.tumblr.com/
Neville image from aintitcool.com