Hello Whaleshares!!!

I have decided to start my series of geeky life lessons with courage.

Who better to illustrate this concept than…

Neville Longbottom from the Harry Potter books?

Thanks for not simply guffawing, slamming your laptop shut and screaming “It’s freaking Harry Potter and he picked Neville freaking Longbottom as his example of courage”?! Thank you even more for not immediately voting me down and flaming me in the comments.

At first, it may seem odd that I would choose Neville Longbottom as the epitome of courage, especially when there are heroes like Harry Potter, Luke Skywalker, Frodo Baggins, Princess Leia, Batman, Mulan, Marlin or The Brave Little Toaster to serve as the model of valor. Rest assured, my kids learned courage from those characters as well, but my absolute favorite is Neville.

Neville is probably the worst wizard in Hogwarts. He’s barely a step above a muggle (or a squib… I’ll have to ask my wife she’s more of an expert on Harry Potter than me). He struggles to cast spells and he even needed a rememberall to help him get by. He’s not the strongest. He’s not the smartest. He’s not remotely good at quidditch. He probably can’t blog. He’s not the best at anything. And that is why he is the perfect illustration of courage.

Because you know who else isn’t awesome at everything? My kids, your kids, and even you and me. I love my kids with all of my heart, but that doesn’t mean I have to be unrealistic about their abilities. My kids are great at some things and struggle at others but I love my kids for who they are, not for what they can or cannot do.

How much courage does it take for Steph Curry to shoot a 3? How brave do you have to be to take the ACT when you have a 160 IQ? How much fortitude does it take to stand up for what is right when you are the most popular kid in school? How much fearlessness does it take to ask Donna to dance when you are the best dancer at West Beverly High School? How valiant do you have to be to face “he who shall not be named” when you know you are the chosen one and you have the Elder wand up your sleeve?

Obviously it takes some courage (maybe even a lot)… but nowhere near as much as it takes to limp forward while battered and bleeding, to form the only barrier between everything you love and the invincible monster who will destroy it all, stare into the face of pure evil and exclaim, “They didn’t die in vain. But you will!”

My kids can relate to that… because I made sure they didn’t miss it. I replayed that scene over and over. If it were a VHS tape, I would have worn it out (kind of like I did when I was 13 with a certain pool scene in Fast Times at Ridgemont High).

There are several other examples of Neville’s courage throughout the series. He stands up to his friends (thus leading to Dumbledore fixing the scoring for the house cup. Shenanigans!). He stands up for his parents. He takes a punishment rather than practice curses on the innocent first years. He even defeats Nagini. But his defiance of Voldemort, when all others had started to lose hope, is the pinnacle of Neville Longbottom’s bravery.

*The scene below is one of the few examples of something I liked better in the movie than in the book. Perhaps the screenwriter included this to make up for how they “yada, yada, yadaed” over so much of Neville’s importance in the first movie? In case you wanted to see the actual scene it’s at the 1:41 min mark of chapter 24 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.

Neville isn’t the most talented wizard. He’s not the physically strongest. He’s not the best with a sword. Yet when facing the ultimate challenge, he stood his ground and did not wilt. That is all I want my kids to do when they face a challenge: stand their ground and never wilt.

Images 1, 2, 3, 4

I just joined this week and wanted to test out the posting features. While I am at it, I wanted to verify that I am indeed the real @hanshotfirst from steemit. I left a comment on the original post verifying that I am re-posting this piece here.