There are a slew of great Harry Potter characters - we have the silently brave like Neville, the hero like Harry, the lovable goof like Ron, the brilliant female role model/heroine Hermione, the bad boy Draco, even Voldemort is a complex villain!

So why Fred Weasley?

I first picked up a Harry Potter book when I was five years old. I basically learned to read off of Harry Potter. Ever since, I’ve been the brightest reader in my area. But it wasn’t always that way.

Harry Potter was something restricted coming from a paranoid Christian family so, reading it, gave me a high. And when Fred Weasley popped up, I smiled.  Ever since, I have smiled more for him that any other character - fictional or real life. He would be there for me through heartbreak, loss, love, and everything until the very end.

In seventh grade, we were to pick a character that we most related to. I picked Fred Weasley. I didn’t know his life was to be cut short. Does that make him any less of a hero? No. He died fighting. He died loving his family and fighting for a purpose bigger than himself. He is part of the reason we won.

Fred brought a smile to my face when no one else could. I always knew I could look to him as a source of inspiration.

So why Fred Weasley? Why not?