I Let Fictional Characters Describe My Personality

Describing who I am might be the most difficult task to complete, so I let these popular imaginary characters do the job.

Hermione Granger

There are only two options: if you’re not a wizard, you’re a muggle — which isn’t something to be sad about because there is one particular muggle that we can be proud of and that is Hermione Granger. Am I saying that I’m as brilliant as her, the know-everything type of person just like her? If you know me in person, you can decide if it’s a yes or a no, but that’s clearly not what I’m trying to say. Hermione is portrayed as a bright student and her biggest pet peeve is failure — and death-eaters. Failure is pretty much the main reason why she likes reading and studying. If you ask anyone in Hogwarts where to find her, the answer is simply the library, among all of those books nobody else is reading! If a dementor lives to suck a living being’s happiness, Hermione Granger lives to absorb a book’s knowledge. Long story short, I find comfort and consolation in that too — a solace hidden among the pages, a relief.

Precisely, a relief from a chaotic childhood. If I have to paint a picture of my childhood, it was scattered like puzzle pieces jumbled in a plastic bag. I wanted to escape from all the bullies and naughty kids who called themselves my ‘classmates’. They crushed my confidence and squashed my self-esteem. I was a mashed potato spilled onto the muddy ground. I didn’t want to exist in THAT world. That was when I found out about the movie, the school of magic, Harry Potter and the wizarding world. I felt like I had found a new different realm that was far more interesting. It was, technically, out of this world! So I got in The Hogwarts Express and there I met Hermione Granger. I found those traits in her that I also had (and still have) in me — the love for reading books and studying.

My driving force to have done those activities was my thought about the bullies I met at school. I thought if they didn’t like me for who I was then I would be the student whom they looked for because they couldn’t get an A and they needed some help. Hermione looked so cool for studying hard and I would be as cool as her!. On another note, I also claimed that I got into Gryffindor but my Potter test said I was a Hufflepuff (a bit sad, not going to lie). Now, let’s get off the train at King’s Cross Station in London, take a taxi to Heathrow Airport because I want to know how it feels to get stuck in London’s traffic and get on the plane that’ll take me to Portland, Oregon, where To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before was filmed because I want to talk about Lara Jean Covey.

Lara Jean Covey

When something — good or bad — happens, we often say, “Everything happens for a reason.” In Lara Jean’s world, everything happens because of those letters — and actually, her sister’s mischievous behavior counts too. You may be wondering if I also write silly, love letters that I keep to myself. I will be brutally honest and say YES! The difference is I have burned all of the letters already. Why did I burn it? You ask. The recipient was making me mad and I let the blazing fire represent my anger, devouring those stupid letters and turning them into ashes that no one would ever discover. Not only did I write letters for others but I also wrote letters for my future self — an old habit of mine. I wrote a long letter in 2015 that I always open every year. It’s fascinating how the questions I compiled for my future self stay the same but each year the answers are different. One of the questions is, “Is grandma or grandpa still with you?.” In 2019, I answered no because grandma T passed away. In 2021, I answered no (again) because grandpa J passed away. Life goes on but what’s written is forever.

Lara Jean’s life goes on; she grows up and becomes a high school student. Just like my letters that got burned and turned into dust, the feelings she pours into some of her letters have changed over the years too — except that one letter for Peter Kavinsky. So, does Lara Jean like to write letters? Yes. Do I like to write letters? Yes! Do Lara Jean and I understand that people change and what we thought a long time ago might change too? Of course, we do. Now, before my mind moves back to Peter Kavinsky and I get too cheesy and start talking about the lovey-dovey, why don’t we get on the time machine and travel back to 1887 where Dr. John Watson was first introduced in The Study of Scarlet.

Dr. John Watson

While you are busy choosing who the better detective is — Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot?!, Dr. John Watson is busy documenting the entire debate. He doesn’t want to miss any details — maybe a sprinkle of drama here and there will make it spicy for the future generation that might read it, he thought — actually, that is how I thought he would react. He has been accompanying his best-private detective-friend to many criminal cases, from an easy-solvable case to a life-threatening and possibly traumatizing one and he is in charge of recording and publishing the records. Then, what does he have to do with your personality?! Now, your question is getting impatient and I’m a bit scared. The answer is nothing but the fact that I record events and publish them in the form of writing.

There’s a story of a neighbor of mine about a strange man who lived in the neighborhood I grew up in. To this day, I believe he used to like teasing young girls and I swear I didn’t leave any detail when I wrote the entire situation. Everything that happens around me is turned into writing and if it’s not posted online, it’s still in my journal. That’s it? Yes. I’m afraid I’m no match for Dr. Watson’s great patient and excellent observing skills. I have, so far, turned my own experiences into written stories which means I don’t change the perspective. Meanwhile, Dr. Watson has a great role in all of Holmes’ stories — he adds human interest and makes Holmes more human.

I would say, as human as waking up in the middle of the night and gives Dr. Watson a nudge,

“Watson,” he says, “look up in the sky and tell me what you see.”

“I see millions of stars, Holmes,” says Watson.

“And what do you conclude from that, Watson?”

Watson thinks for a moment. “Well,” he says, “astronomically — ¹”

Before he can finish his observation of the night sky without realizing that something has disappeared in front of him, I interrupt and say, “Astronomically, we need to hit the bed and get some sleep, Dr. Watson!”

This is part of the #WritingChallenge I’m doing with some friends on Twitter. Our first topic is to describe our personality but I can understand if you’re still confused with mine. I don’t know how to describe it either, but one of my dearest companions just told me that I’m easily annoyed — what fictional character would that be?

Footnote:

[1]: Thomas Cathcart, Daniel Klein. https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/394234-holmes-and-watson-are-on-a-camping-trip-in-the