Happy Birthday to the Brightest Witch of her Age, Hermione Granger!

BBC

Today is a very special day indeed for wizards and witches around the world. Today, we celebrate the birthday of the Brightest Witch of her Age, Hermione Granger. As one of the two best friends of Harry Potter, she became well known throughout the series as knowing when to keep the boys in check. But she was also willing to go outside the line for anyone if they got hurt on her watch.

The character is also the epitome of “what’s more important is on the inside”. In the books, her looks are the least interesting part about her. What’s more important is how she was able to do magic before stepping foot in Hogwarts (fixing Harry’s glasses), as well as knowing the answers to any question thrown her way.

Hermione also continued to help Harry on his adventures and missions to stop Voldemort, including getting caught in the crosshairs in the second book, getting paralyzed by the basilisk. Still, she was never weary to not do everything she could to help her friends.

That came to a climax during the seventh book, when she went with Ron and Harry to try to stop Voldemort. After forgoing her last year of school, she embarked on the journey with the two to help stop Voldemort by finding the Horcruxes. However, she eventually did go back, and became the Minister of Magic.

BBC

Hermione Granger After the books

Because Hermione was such an inspiration for her smarts, not her looks, many people have realized that not much about her physical features were in the books. This lead to a new age of Hermiones, played by minority actors.

The ability for the character to be played by POC actresses has brought a new light to the character. It’s almost a message within itself — anyone can be Hermione if they truly believe they can.

In The Cursed Child in London, she’s played by Noma Dumezweni, a Swaziland actress. She’ll be reprising the role on Broadway. Noma won an Olivier award for her portrayal of the actress.