Before the chapter
He may be the titular hero of the stories, but we all know that Harry Potter couldn’t have made it through all the trials and tribulations of the wizarding world without his two best friends by his side. With their distinct personalities and strengths, Harry, Ron and Hermione were each brilliant characters in their own right… but together? Their friendship created its own kind of magic.
However, they weren’t instantly a solid team. Yes, Harry and Ron became friends from the minute they met but it wasn’t the same for Hermione. For quite a while she was an outsider. In fact, Harry and Ron were often at odds with the cleverest witch of her age – it all felt rather hostile. While Harry’s magical adventure had begun, he still hadn’t completely found his people.
All of this meant that when we were considering which chapter best illustrated when we fell in love with this little group, we couldn’t help but to be drawn to the moment everything changed for these three. The moment that, in our eyes, they became the golden trio.
Hallowe’en
At the start of this chapter from the very first book, you would never believe that Harry, Ron and Hermione would ever get along. In the first few pages they bickered about everything from Quidditch being a reward for bad behaviour, to the pronunciation of Wingardium Leviosa and Ron even managed to make Hermione cry:
However, by the end of these pages everything had changed. It was this chapter that proved to be a turning point in their relationship… and it was all thanks to this particular moment:
The action-packed sequence full of bogies, Ron finally getting the Levitation Charm right and three Hogwarts students taking down a fully grown mountain troll was the first time that we saw these characters work together to overcome a (literally) ginormous challenge.
This was the moment that they became the golden trio. The moment their lifelong bond of friendship sparked into existence. This was the moment they became an unbreakable team.
Why it matters
The trio arguably had bigger moments over the course of the series – such as saving the wizarding world from the tyranny of Voldemort. Honestly? There were so many moments we could have chosen – in Philosopher’s Stone alone! However, it was reading about how the most important friendship of the series came together that truly struck a chord with us.
You see, it is friendship, combined with love, that makes up one of the key themes of the Harry Potter stories. Without either, how can good prevail in a world where darkness looms? This chapter zeroed in on that. You need to remember that these weren’t grown adults tackling a dangerous creature – these were children. They had to work together and trust one another to overcome this challenge, they certainly couldn’t have done it alone.
It was also the chapter that showed each of them stepping up in their own way thanks to the support of the others. It was Harry that bravely said they needed to go after Hermione. It was Ron who mastered the spell that had previously eluded him in a time of crisis. It was the moment Hermione chose to break the rules and covered for her new friends. From prickly beginnings to a unified end, it was this chapter that showed just how multifaceted these characters were, and how they encouraged each other to grow.
Finally, it also highlighted the importance of second chances and not judging a book by its cover. If Harry or Ron had refused to see Hermione as anything other than an annoying know-it-all or she had refused to budge on her view of the pair being exasperating troublemakers – who knows what that could have meant for their future? Without these three becoming friends, we’re not convinced that Voldemort could have been defeated at all.
After all, in the wise words of Albus Dumbledore:
That’s certainly the case when it comes to our golden trio. This was the chapter that changed everything and the chapter that proved that they’re always better when they’re together.
