The August contest #2 by sduttaskitchen|The character I would love to play!
| INTRODUCTION |
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The moment I spotted this contest I was jerked all the way back to the living room evenings: dish of rice and stew balanced on one knee, the other already twitching for the Potter marathon to boot. Truth is, even after so many re-runs the movies still feel brand new. The opening notes of Hedwig’s Theme hit, and I’m twelve all over again, convinced that letters addressed to me are winging their way straight to the kitchen window. A grown woman now, but that old Ascendio kind of excitement hasn’t budged the way my mum used to joke my height had.
Sitting inside this memory, the prompt pops up to pick the part I’d want to slip into. Cue the neon ‘finally’ sign ringing overhead. Perfect moment to surface a thought that’s nagged happily under the skin years: if I could jinx myself into Hogwarts for real, who’s the wand I’d pick up? No contest the answer flares straight to the front.
Which character would you love to play from the Harry Potter story? Rationale!
If a Hogwarts portkey suddenly unzipped under my feet, I wouldn’t even pause to peer left and right. Hermione Granger would be my galaxy of choice. Yes, I know. Folks are primed to suggest Harry, right? The flying boy everyone’s bookmarks are dog-eared over. Still, for me, the Gryffindor I’ve geeked over the longest is the one whose hand is forever shooting up, ready to work the brain and the charms. She’s my wild onscreen every girl dream, and fetching her robes, messy hair and all, sounds like the kind of wand motion I’d nail first try.
Why Hermione? The answer is simple, actually. She radiates raw intelligence, unyielding bravery and a fierce, cut-to-the-chase loyalty that could put anybody’s to shame.
Even without a wand-waving pedigree, she dazzles every day with grit I simply respect rather than envy. I catch my own face in her reflection; every blurred speck of stardust is hard-won in the sphere I hail from. Always an extra exam chapter, another hour after the bell, another pile of notes torn apart—she pulls the exact same weight I bore once upon a time.
I admire her unyielding tongue. Words that the courtyard braced itself to swallow, she shoved back with impeccable precision. From the second she took the train she refused to be reduced to background music in a packed car of heroes. Teachers, trolls, time-turners—she called the shots, always, almost. Alone she'd stay; tuck her behind the back page, and the tale sputters into dust. Her presence is the oxygen dragging smiles onto unfriendly years.
And then the library. A stampede for the last chair, the last slice of solitude, and there she is, always a chapter past the edge of the clock with hopeful pages bent. That's the heart of the tale where I find myself. I, too, lugged gear, lugged chapters, lugged headspace to worlds most thought blank. Space where you bloom quieter, firm and flawless, unchanged by the thunder around and always ready—waiting—just with the words that wrap words.
I pair her wand with my solitude, and the paycheck is the same— magic, sanity, another start.
If you have an opportunity to recreate the film, which things would you like to change? Why?
If I were meant to rebuild the series from the ground up, a few elements deserve to be rewritten in my vision. I adore the world the final cut crafted, yet my passion begs for deeper shading of certain corners.
For one, the ensemble deserves breathing space. Weary of see-nearly-the-whole-cast-but-never-quite-feel-‘em, I’d centre the orbs around Longbottom and Lovegood well past the joke table. Neville’s unnoticed wand burns and Luna’s tenderness would receive close-ups, not merely sprinklings, showing them breathe and blossom—no fan-default ether in my edit. That depth would lend the house more than colour, levelling the narrative into a portrait of friendship, not footnotes.
Then there’s pacing with the broken bonds. Fred’s final breath should not race by like a casting checkmark; I’d pull the scenery taut, the camera drifting on the legacy of a laughing Weasley trapped—foot on wand, heart on mist, life on the other side. That second, silent yet laden, would carry we spectators with it, letting hurt expand until healing breath can feel it turning into memory. The grief deserves mourning as a rhythm, not a hit-and-run.
I want the Hogwarts movies to slow down the frantic pace and linger a little longer on ordinary life before sorcery steals everyone’s breath again. Show me what the great hall looks like on a Thursday morning when there’s no dangerous prophecy to discuss.
I want to see the second years fighting over the last chocolate croissant and a flock of enchanted pastries circling the ceiling like a distraction only the house-elves can try to catch. How do the firsties learn to steer the enchanted teacups when no one’s counting points and the professors are quietly grading stacks of essays like ordinary teachers? Let Ginny toss a quaffle through a window to the courtyard while Neville lets his toad hop over a low wall. I want to hear recap chatter about last night’s wizarding quiz television and see a round of exploding snap on a patch of grass while a bewitched bird dictates the latest gossip onto a floating parchment. Those little snapshots—the rhythm of laughter, the tang of pumpkin juice, the muffled footfalls of house-elves scrubing a forgotten stain—are the quiet pulses I wish the camera would linger on before the next mystery drops. That’s the everyday spell I need to feel Hogwarts breathing, not only the flick of a wand fighting shadow.
I want scenes where Harry stands on his own a little more firmly, not always depending on others. Sure, everyone calls him the Chosen One, but half the time someone else swoops in to bail him out. I want to keep that label, but I’ll sprinkle in moments where Harry trusts his own instincts rather than deferring to a Dumbledore chuckle or a three-step plan that only Hermione has the brainpower to conjure. It’ll give the boy with the lightning scar a pulse that belongs to him, not just to the prophecies hanging overhead.
Apart from your choice of character, which other character do you love in the creation of Harry Potter? Justify the reason!
Beyond Hermione, though, I’ve got a second preference. Snape is the easy pick—he’s complicated enough to befuddle anyone. As a kid in the cinema, I loathed him. He sneered, he sighed, he threw potions at everyone, and Harry more than anyone had a permanent target tattooed on his forehead. The sneer, the greasy hair—I labeled it villain all on my own. Years later, the films loop on a quiet rainy afternoon and I finally hear the undertones I missed. A childhood ringing success is swapped for adult echoes of bleak loss. Snape’s bitterness is a held breath, not a war cry.
It’s unsurface proudly, it is releasing the spider when you want to burn the roof, and I admire him for just standing on a battlefield of his own making and refusing to surrender.
The depth of Snape’s quiet love for Lily Potter always moves me. He let his own happiness crumble to guard Harry, the boy born of the woman he admired but could never claim. Few could read the layers of sacrifice he inscribed onto every memory, and that sense of incomprehension lodged itself in my own chest.
Snape reveals that the true face of valour is sometimes as pale and stern as winter slate, that the hearts we mistake for stone for the walls they need to hold can still ache in silence while they wage wars invisible to those who judge by appearances.
I admire his sheer, quiet courage to tread that perilous tightrope between life and betrayal. By day he wore the scornful mask of the Death Eater, by night he slipped messages to the only person who might understand each coded note. To hold both identities in the marrow of his bones for decades—the devoted double-agent breathing hope into the night while the Dark Mark throbbed in memory—seems a greater peril than any spell. He carried the secret the way a soldier might carry mortar for a wall they build to hold medieval raiders at bay.
even when both sides felt hate towards him. That was a whole different level of strength.
| My takeaways from Harry Potter |
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As I answered this contest, I began to wonder why these characters affected me like they did. Harry Potter is not just a story about wands and spells for me. It has life lessons which are hidden in fantasy.
I learnt from Hermione, that intelligence and hard work can make you rise even if others are looking down on you. I learnt from Snape that love and loyalty can prompt you to sacrifice yourself when only you know it is taking place and nobody is applauding you. I learnt from Harry that courage is not the absence of fear, but that one still does it for the sake of others even when feeling fear.
Even Dobby the house elf provides lessons of freedom and kindness. Every character, regardless of how small, brings something and this is the reason the Harry Potter world still has a seat in my heart.
| Conclusion |
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So if I had the chance to be in the Harry Potter world, the character I would proudly play is Hermione Granger. She represents the side of me that doesn't give up, love knowledge, stand by friends, and do not fear to be different.
If I can recreate the film, I would add more shine to side characters, make endings more emotional, and show more of the daily life for Hogwarts. And apart from Hermione, Snape would always have a special place in my heart because he reminds me that not all heroes usually smile.
This contest made me reflect not just about Harry Potter but also about myself. Maybe it's why the story would forever remain magical, because it mirrors parts of our real life inside fantasy.
I invite @mr-peng @promisezella @imohmitch to participate in this contest.