No longer the Ensign…
Dennis takes us through one of his more unusual beliefs.
Does a 16 year old girl own Harry Potter, Dungeons and Dragons, Star Wars or Star Trek? No? There you go then, you have your answer. Please don't sue me; I need to save up for my University fees.
My friend once came up with an interesting theory: we are all characters on an alien TV soap, and when we go to sleep, that's when they've turned the TV off. It sounded crazy enough that I believed it. The idea wasn't as well thought out as Star Wars, nor did it have as much scientific knowledge as Star Trek, and it wasn't even as cool as Dungeons and Dragons. It just sounded probable. Because I had always felt like a background character in someone else's life. I was always in Colin's shadow as a kid. He was an impossible standard to live up to. He was your Piccard; I was a lowly ensign. The background person.
When we got to Hogwarts I realised I was less than even that. Harry Potter was you Luke Skywalker, Dumbledore your Obi Wan Kenobi and Colin your Jedi. I was a Padawan.
But it took me 4 years to realise that life isn't a show. It was the Battle of Hogwarts; I was staring death in the face. This wasn't role play in the corner of the school playground with little figures – this was life.
I had to laugh at my comparisons to the muggle TV shows and games of my childhood. I knew real life wasn't like a TV show, where only the one you've never met before got killed. I watched Lavender go down, but there was nothing I could do. Bellatrix was crucioing Neville. These weren't the background characters, these were my friends.
Colin and I had snuck back in and we began duelling. Colin was hit with some spell and I saw his life slip away in an instant. This wasn't a game anymore. I refused to be a background character any longer. I was there to make a stand. And I'd kill any script writer that told me I had to stay back and let the hero take the glory. Because this was life, and no-one could tell me that we weren't there to do anything important. No mercy. These Death Eaters had at least 20 reasons surrounding me that I was going to hold them to, and there would be many more before the night was out. Oh so many more.
