Mealtimes at Hogwarts

There’s nothing like a big, hearty, delicious, seasonal meal to make you feel all warm and fuzzy, and there wasn’t much Hogwarts did better than big, hearty, delicious, sea-sonal meals. From Christmas feasts to end-of-term celebrations, Halloween extravagan-zas to Yule Ball excesses, there’s something about those magically appearing plates of yorkshire pudding and treacle tart and mint humbugs that’s as comforting as it is deli-cious.

Neville’s love of Herbology

With his humble nature and loveable quirks (extreme forgetfulness, awkward shyness, perseverance, bravery), Neville Longbottom is up there as one of the most wholesome characters in the wizarding world. But his dedication to the Herbology cause has to be one of the most endearing things about Neville. Who else – apart from, possibly, Profes-sor Sprout – would express such enthusiasm for the grotesque, Stinksap-producing Mimbulus mimbletonia plant, or be cheered up by a book about Magical Mediterranean Water-Plants? And Neville’s enthusiasm for magical plants was more than a loveable quirk – finding out he’d gone on to become a Professor of Herbology himself was a real heartwarming moment.

Family time with the Weasleys

From the moment Harry spotted the Weasleys on platform nine and three-quarters, he was drawn to their loud, slightly chaotic family dynamic. His first visit to The Burrow did not disappoint on that score. The Weasley’s magically-enhanced, lop-sided home was full of noise, people and enchanted objects that combined to make Harry feel more wel-come than he’d ever felt before. But of course, it was more than the house. Whether he was camping at the Quidditch World Cup, spending summer holidays at The Burrow, or joining them on their trips to Diagon Alley, the Weasleys provided Harry with something he couldn’t remember having before: a family. All together now – awwww.

Luna’s general perspective on life

Surely another contender for Most Wholesome Character is everyone’s favourite Ravenclaw, Luna Lovegood. Her idiosyncratic ways and seemingly eternal inner-calm might have given Luna an aura of “distinct dottiness,” but these qualities also gave her a uniquely brilliant outlook. Despite believing some pretty unbelievable things, she had a knack for disarming honesty. Truly un-self-conscious and with an innate serenity, she was unashamedly herself, and always a true friend. Her words to Harry after the death of Sirius was one of the only things to give him real comfort:

"You heard them, just behind the veil, didn’t you?...In that room with the archway. They were just lurking out of sight, that’s all. You heard them.”

Dobby’s funeral

OK, hear us out: it was tragic, sure, but Dobby’s funeral was a wonderful tribute to per-haps the most wholesome character of all. He may have shown his allegiance to Harry in strange ways at times – attempting to stop him returning to Hogwarts, nearly killing him with a rogue Bludger – but Dobby was a constant, if unpredictable, support, and his fu-neral shows just how much his loyalty and bravery meant to those around him. Harry dug his grave by hand, Ron peeled off his own shoes and socks to put on Dobby’s feet, Her-mione struggled outside to pay her respects, Luna delivered a trademark simple, honest speech. The respect and love they showed for Dobby reflects how pure he truly was. Sob.

Hagrid’s attitude to magical creatures

A giant three-headed-dog. An enormous, carnivorous spider. A baby Norwegian Ridge-back. Only Hagrid could have as much love for these frightening creatures as he did – and only Hagrid could assign a snarling magical book called The Monster Book of Mon-sters for his Care of Magical Creatures class. His enthusiasm for even the most mon-strous-seeming creatures certainly got Hagrid in to trouble (and in to Azkaban), but it was also kind of sweet to witness this half-giant with the giant heart as he fretted about dogs and Hippogriffs and dragons. We’re not so sure about Aragog, though.

Scorpius and his sweet collection

Sharing sweets onboard the Hogwarts Express bought Harry and Ron together, so when Scorpius Malfoy boarded the train in Cursed Child armed with handfuls of treats at the suggestion of his mum, Astoria, he was following a somewhat established tradition. And it worked. The sweets helped Scorpius get the attention of Albus Potter and another life-long friendship was born, cemented by Fizzing Whizzbees and Pepper Imps. Bless you, Astoria.