Hermione Granger's Advice to Hogwarts Graduates

Hermione Granger’s Advice to Hogwarts Graduates

Read "Hogwarts – a History".

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, "Hogwarts – a History" would be it. I know that this is the day most of you leave Hogwarts, but believe me, the long-term benefits of "Hogwarts – a History" have been proven beyond any doubt, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own – admittedly brilliant – experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 40 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. Who cares what your hair looks like from the back?!

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying free an enslaved race by wearing a button with a bad slogan. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday when they suddenly start banning books..

Do one thing every day that scares you. Start with a troll and work up from there.

Read.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts… Ronald.

Floss. My parents are both dentists, so trust me on this one.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. I will always be top of our year and the best you can hope for is to come in second. Deal with it.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. The former are mostly well-deserved and the later are mostly motivated by jealousy.

Keep your old love letters. Someday, you may want to brag to your children that you once dated a legendary Quidditch star.

Stretch. It’s good for your circulation, which in turn is good for mental clarity.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. Wizards and witches live a surprisingly long time, so try doing a little of everything!

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when you can no longer squat down to get at the books on the bottom shelf.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Either way, don’t give up your career.

Enjoy your mind. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance. It will shock the hell out of the people who assumed you wouldn’t know how!

Read the directions. Read the textbooks. Read the newspaper. Read for relaxation. Some of you may begin to see a pattern here.

Do not read beauty magazines – at least not until you have run out of all other reading matter.

Get to know your parents. If you are from a Muggle family this is especially important. More and more, your world will take you away from theirs. Be nice to your siblings. They could get written out of the Canon later.

Understand that friends come and go, but books are forever. With a rare, precious few, you should hold on through thick and thin. This goes for friends and books both. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who put up with you when you were young.

Live in New York City once; they have an excellent library. Live in Northern California once; they have some really fine museums. Travel. But in case you have to wait for your Portkey, take a book.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Boys will always be stupid. Politicians will lie. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, boys had brains, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders. Remember that just because a teacher is unpleasant doesn’t mean he wants to see you dead.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. What do you think you have a brain for? That goes for you too, Lavender and Parvati.

Don't mess too much with your hair or you’ll be late to class. But go all out for the Yule Ball.

Be careful whose advice you buy; best to play it safe and stick with mine.

And trust me on "Hogwarts – a History".