Chess was the only thing Hermione ever lost at, something Harry and Ron thought was very good for her.

In the end, it mattered not that you could not close your mind. It was your heart that saved you.

Severus, please fetch me the strongest truth potion you posess, then go down to the kitchen and bring up the house elf called Winky. Minerva, kindly go down to Hagrids house where you will find a large black dog sitting in the pumpkin patch. Take the dog up to my office, tell him I will be with him shortly, then come back here.

Things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end, if not always in the way we expect.

P.S. I enjoy acid pops.

The Ministry places a rather higher value on my life than yours, I’m afraid.

The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more than any qualification I ever earned.