Choices

That's right, another Harry Potter post. I just love it so much! Today, I finished Harry Potter 2 and again found a quote between Dumbledore and Harry that I love. This time, it has to do with our choices.

New students at Hogwarts get sorted into one of four houses, each with their own unique characteristics and skills. When Harry was sorted in book 1, he heard the Sorting Hat tell him he would do well in Slytherin, but Harry had heard that most of the wizards who come out of Slytherin house go bad, including Voldemort. So he thought hard, "Not Slytherin!" and the hat put him in Gryffindor.

For the next 2 years, this bothered Harry. He often wondered if he was meant to be in Slytherin and would become a bad wizard too. Then in the Chamber of Secrets, he came face to face with a 16-year-old memory of Voldemort who told him they have many things in common including the ability to speak to snakes which is a rare trait that the founder of Slytherin house possessed. This bothers Harry even more.

Later, Harry talked to Dumbledore about it and following is their conversation;

(I know it's kinda long, but to get the full affect, all of it was necessary.)

"'Professor,' he started again after a moment. 'The Sorting Hat told me I'd--I'd have done well in Slytherin. Everyone thought I was Slytherin's heir for a while...because I can speak Parseltongue...'

'You can speak Parseltongue, Harry,' said Dumbledore calmly, 'because Lord Voldemort-who is the last remaining ancestor of Salazar Slytherin--can speak Parseltongue. Unless I'm much mistaken, he transferred some of his own powers to you the night he gave you that scar. Not something he intended to do, I'm sure...'

'Voldemort put a bit of himself in me?' Harry said, thunderstruck.

'It certainly seems so.'

'So I should be in Slytherin,' Harry said, looking desperately into Dumbledore's face. 'The Sorting Hat could see Slytherin's power in me, and it--'

'Put you in Gryffindor,' said Dumbledore calmly. 'Listen to me, Harry. You happen to have many qualities Salazar Slytherin prized in his hand-picked students. His own very rare gift, Parseltongue--resourcefulness--determination--a certain disregard for rules,' he added, his mustache quivering again. 'Yet the Sorting Hat placed you in Gryffindor. You know why that was. Think.'

'It only put me in Gryffindor,' said Harry in a defeated voice, 'because I asked not to go in Slytherin...'

'Exactly,' said Dumbledore, beaming once more. 'Which makes you very different from Tom Riddle. It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities," Harry sat motionless in his chair, stunned."

The part I have highlighted is the point I'm trying to make. Harry is in Gryffindor because he chose it, regardless of the traits or abilities or even circumstances he had. So it is in our lives. We sometimes think we have to be a certain way or become a certain person because that's the life we have been dealt. It couldn't be more wrong. Yes, there are things in life that limit us, but it doesn't mean we have to succumb to them. We have the choice in our lives to become who we want to be. We can choose who we follow and what life we want to live.