As Dumbledore would say, ‘We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.’

Beware! Spoilers for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

The Harry Potter series is all about friendship – after all, where would Harry be without Ron and Hermione? (Probably still trying to solve Snape’s potion riddle protecting the Philosopher’s Stone in book one, that’s where.) But the famous trio aren’t the only friendship that we wanted in on when reading the books.

Here are the most enviable friendships in Harry Potter.

James Potter, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin

Moony Padfoot Prongs and Wormtail at Hogwarts by the lake

If there’s one thing fans of the series always wanted to read more about, it’s Moony, Padfoot and Prongs (come on, no one wants Wormtail) having some banter around Hogwarts in their halcyon days of youth.

James, Sirius and Remus were the Fred and George of their day – sneaking out when they were supposed to be in bed, stealing midnight snacks from the kitchens and creating incredibly complex magical artefacts just for fun. (Can you imagine the complicated spell work the Marauder’s Map required? That’s a lot of effort to insult Snape in the future.)

But their friendship isn’t just based on fun. Once the friends discover that Remus is a werewolf, they don’t reject him – like Remus always feared they would. In fact they take it upon themselves to turn into unregistered Animagi so that they can keep Remus company as animals while he deals with his ‘furry little problem’. That’s true friendship.

‘You think I’m a fool?’ demanded Harry.
‘No, I think you’re like James,’ said Lupin, ‘who would have regarded it as the height of dishonour to mistrust his friends.’
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows


Fred and George Weasley... and Lee Jordan

Fred and George inside Weasley Wizard Wheezes.

While having one best friend is pretty great, having two is even better. Fred and George have their finishing-each-other's-sentences brotherly bond, but while at Hogwarts they had an honorary member of their uncontrollable, trickster team: Lee Jordan. Given the closeness between Fred and George, it would have taken a pretty magnetic personality to become a part of their circle – and Lee Jordan had magnetism in spades.

Whether rushing off to see Lee’s alleged giant tarantula on the Hogwarts Express, or sneaking around because he thinks he’s discovered a new secret passageway out of the school, Fred and George – while still a troublesome twosome – always had room for one more in the friendship.

Harry watched Fred, George and Lee Jordan juggling empty Butterbeer bottles for a moment.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix


Albus Severus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy

Albus and Scorpius Broadway Cursed Child

One of our absolute favourite friendships in the wizarding world is also one of its newest additions. Was there anyone who wasn’t completely charmed by the open, touching friendship between Albus and Scorpius in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child? Albus boarded the Hogwarts Express for the first time with a worried, ‘So we need to choose now who to be friends with for life?’, and we’re so glad he was won over by Scorpius singing about sweets.

One of the things we adore most about this duo is that they don’t play it cool. They are best friends, and they don’t mind telling each other that. Scorpius tells Albus, ‘All I ever wanted to do was go to Hogwarts and have a mate to get up to mayhem with. Just like Harry Potter. And I got his son. How crazily fortunate is that... you're my best friend, Albus. And this is mayhem to the nth degree.’

And what about that moment when Albus tells Scorpius, ‘Because I don't think Voldemort is capable of having a kind son – and you're kind, Scorpius. To the depths of your belly, to the tips of your fingers.’

We’re not crying. You’re crying.

Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall

Dumbledore and McGonagall leave baby Harry at Privet Drive

Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall have already known each other for years by the time we meet them dropping baby Harry off at number four, Privet Drive. For many years she was his Deputy Headmistress at Hogwarts – but their relationship was much more than that of mere colleagues who happened to get along.

When Cornelius Fudge tried to arrest Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, McGonagall is prepared to fight the Aurors that he has brought with him. And then in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), McGonagall is the first to raise her wand to the sky after Dumbledore’s death – to honour his memory, and to drive away the Dark Mark that hangs ominously in the sky.

Albus Dumbledore discovered Minerva in tears in her classroom late that evening, and she confessed the whole story to him. Albus Dumbledore offered both comfort and wisdom, and told Minerva some of his own family history, previously unknown to her. The confidences exchanged that night between two intensely private and reserved characters were to form the basis of a lasting mutual esteem and friendship.
'Professor McGonagall' by J.K. Rowling - Pottermore


Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom

WB-F8-deathly-hallows-neville-and-luna

Luna and Neville have a truly sweet friendship – it’s Luna who helps the stricken Neville find his seat at Dumbledore’s funeral in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – but we don’t envy these two just for their friendship with each other. We love the extended circle, a family of sorts, that Harry starts to form around himself. A circle of people who will help him fight Voldemort, yes; but more importantly, of people who will care for him and support him no matter what.

It all started with Dumbledore’s Army. For characters like Luna and Neville especially – who were considered a little bit out-of-place by many of their peers – the DA gave them a place in the world. It taught them to fight, but also gave them something to fight for. It gave them a place. Luna tells Harry in Half-Blood Prince, ‘I enjoyed the meetings, too. It was like having friends.’

Luna had decorated her bedroom ceiling with five beautifully painted faces: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville. They were not moving as the portraits at Hogwarts moved, but there was a certain magic about them all the same: Harry thought they breathed. What appeared to be fine golden chains wove around the pictures, linking them together, but after examining them for a minute or so, Harry realised that the chains were actually one word, repeated a thousand times in golden ink: friends... friends... friends...
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows


Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger

And of course, there’s these three. Yes, the friendship between Harry, Ron and Hermione is at the core of the series. From the moment when Harry sits down next to Ron on the Hogwarts Express in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – and is overjoyed to share his pasties, cakes and candies because he’d never had anyone to share with before – it was clear that Harry and Ron were going to be BFFs.

Becoming friends with Hermione took a little bit longer, but their three-way friendship was just as strong. After all, there are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other – and knocking out a 12-foot mountain troll is one of them.

But the mere fact that they were still there on either side of him, speaking bracing words of comfort, not shrinking from him as though he were contaminated or dangerous, was worth more than he could ever tell them.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince


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