Nobody's Hero
A quill, carefully dipped in ink, is put to the paper, letters unfurling onto the page. Words tumble out, passionate explanations written by the boy everyone hailed as a hero. Everyone but himself, that is. I am nobody's hero, he scrawls instead.
A pause, and silent contemplation. Yes, it was true. Truer than what the praises and awards showered upon him meant. And so he writes, I'm not a hero. Simple as that.
To the wizarding world in its entirety,
You say I'm the hero because I defeated Voldemort.
There are so many things wrong with that single sentence that I can't even begin.
Where to start? First of all, I didn't defeat Voldemort alone. I shouldn't take credit for an action that wasn't entirely my own. Without Ron and Hermione, without Neville, without the guidance of Dumbledore, without the help of so many people who crossed paths in my life, none of that would've been possible. Without Griphook, Helena Ravenclaw, Kreacher, or Snape, Voldemort would've still been undefeatable. Without my parents, Mad-Eyed Moody, Hagrid, Dobby, all of the Weasleys-Ginny, Fred, George, Mrs. and Mr. Weasley, Bill, and Fleur, perhaps even Malfoy, I would've died many times over by now. And my friends-they were the best that anyone could ask for. They stood by me even if it looked like I had abandoned them. They believed me when no one else would. And-forgive me if this overly sentimental and sappy-they gave me a reason to come back.
They were the ones who really defeated Voldemort-they were the ones doing most of the work.
I'll concede that yes, I did find and destroy some of the Horcruxes-an important part of Voldemort's fall-but it was Hermione, Ron, and Dumbledore behind that too. Hermione, for sticking by me and being the genius she always is. Without her, I highly doubt we would've survived what that journey had thrown at us, with all the spells needed for survival and planning where to go next, not to mention all the crazy risks we took. Ron, for not abandoning me even though I had no plan, for destroying that locket despite what it showed him, and for that stroke of genius with the basilisk fangs. Without him, those Horcruxes we had collected never would've been destroyed, and everything would've been for nothing. And Dumbledore, of course, despite the infuriatingly vague clues he left behind-he started it all. He destroyed one Horcrux and set about finding and destroying another, even when the first one had cost him his hand and eventually his life. He left behind what he knew would eventually help us, and in the end, they did. I won't forget the others as well-Griphook for sneaking us into Gringotts, Kreacher for helping us track down the locket, Helena Ravenclaw for helping me locate the diadem, Snape for giving me the information I needed about the last Horcrux, and, of course, Neville for killing the snake. The defeat of Voldemort never would've been possible if not for them.
And I wouldn't have been alive if Snape hadn't given the idea of using Polyjuice Potion to confuse Voldemort, if Mad-Eyed Moody, Hagrid, and the Weasley family hadn't chosen to put their lives at risk for my protection, if all my friends had not believed me when I appeared after months of disappearing into nowhere. I wouldn't have even lived to learn magic if my parents hadn't sacrificed themselves that day in Godric's Hollow. I have all of them to thank that I'm still living, that I was still living when I killed Voldemort.
Still you say that I'm a hero. You say that since I played a role in Voldemort's fall, since I was the one who killed him in the end and saved the wizarding world, I am a hero.
I'm not. I'm nobody's hero.
A hero saves the world from the terror, travels to lands far and wide to accomplish the goal, because he or she can. Because it is within their power to do so. A hero steps up when no one will, volunteers to do something people can only dream of achieving. Sometimes they do it alone, sometimes with a faithful crew of friends by their side. And when the terror is rid and the goal is accomplished, they are recognized and revered for it.
I'm not a hero. Simple as that. Because a hero isn't forced to play the role they play. They shouldn't be pressured to do what they do because of some prophecy, or because they have no other choice when all the people look to them and say, 'Everything's going to be alright, because we have him.' At least, not in my definition of a hero.
Hermione's a hero. Ron's a hero. Neville's a hero. Snape is a hero(though he would've likely hexed me for saying so). Luna, Ginny, Fred, George, Dean, Seamus, Hannah, Lavender, Katie, Susan, Terry, Cho, Michael, Colin, Dennis, Justin, Anthony, Angelina, Lee, Ernie, Padma, Parvati, Alicia, all the members of the DA are heroes. Professor Mcgonagall, Shacklebolt-all of the leaders and participants in the Battle of Hogwarts are heroes. Dumbledore, Mad-Eyed Moody, Aberforth, Dedalus, Hestia, Lupin, Tonks, Hagrid, Sirius, Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Fleur, Fred, and George-all of the Order-are heroes. They all chose to help, to fight against Voldemort even though they had no obligation to, save their own hopes for a better future. They all are heroes in their own right. Not me.
Thank them for saving us from Voldemort, recognize them for the help they gave.
But not me. I'm just a person who was pushed into a role I was barely ready for, someone who was pressured by a prophecy to act the way they did.
And so I would have to change that first sentence drastically to make it true. 'All the people who chose to help, to protect, to fight against Voldemort are the heroes, because they were the ones who truly defeated him.'
Signed,
Harry Potter
So this is just a little something that I wrote. I haven't been on much lately, mostly because I have this towering pile of books to read before school starts and snatches away all my free time. I also want to clarify, when Harry thanks Ron for not abandoning him, it means that Ron came back in the end despite all the troubles their invisibility and protective spells gave him, and that he helped them for most parts of the journey(especially the significant parts). Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed reading this! Please tell me what you think I could improve on in a review! :)