Behind the Lines
Part
six: Heroes
I'm not a hero. Heroes are people like Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter, not me. I'm not strong, I'm not brave, I'm not pretty, and I'm not a hero.
I'm just the little girl with the bad acne who gets mediocre grades and gets laughed at by the heroes who are so much more than she could ever be. But I take it all, and though I've tried a few drastic measures (thank God Madam Pomfrey managed to fix my nose back on after that curse), I'd like to think that I'm a better person for what I've been through.
It's a bit depressing, really. I grew up reading stories of magic, like Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia and other fantasy tales, and when I got my letter, I was so happy. I'd live a life like the ones I used to read about, I'd have magic and cast spells, and maybe I'd be able to save a world from an evil tyrant.
But not for me. I brush with heroes every now and then, every time I see Harry Potter or the headmaster, but I'm not one of them. I couldn't even pass my Potions OWL. I imagine that if Aragorn had taken Snape's class, he would have passed it. Aragorn isn't afraid of anything.
I could live with the "not being a hero" thing, if at least I had friends and at least one admirer. But I guess the wizarding world is just like back home in some ways. No one saw me there, either.
But I take it all, and I keep a bright smile on my face, and hope that someday, when all hope is lost, Harry or Ron or someone will call out to me for help and I'll be able to stand up save the day like Superman. Well, Superwoman. Or Wonderwoman. I always liked Wonderwoman. With that lasso of truth and all that power, no one could ever put her down.
But Wonderwoman is a hero, and Eloise Midgen is a little witch with acne and bad grades.
Of course, even with bad grades, I could have been a hero. Look at Neville Longbottom! He makes terrible grades in everything but Herbology, and he's a friend of Harry Potter and he had a date to the Yule Ball and he's helped fight in the war.
It isn't fair that some people should get all the glory and some people should get all the fame and some people should have all the power. But that's life, isn't it? That's heroism.
But wouldn't it be great if I could be a hero like they are? If I could save the day or destroy You-Know-Who in some crazy coincidence, like in those stories where the last person you would have ever expected to save the world is the one who does it?
If I could be a hero. Wouldn't that be great?