Nominate your hero and they may win a postcard from MinaLima

There’s a lot of talk about bravery in the Harry Potter books. Harry is uncomfortable being singled out to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts to the members of Dumbledore’s Army because it thinks his classmates misunderstand his supposed bravery. He protests that he was doing what he had to do in the moment, terrified, seconds away from death. There is a saying: Courage isn’t the absence of fear; it’s being afraid and doing it anyway. That makes sense. If you aren’t afraid to do something, then it doesn’t really take courage to do it. Throughout the Harry Potter series, we see many characters doing things that terrify them because they are necessary to help others. Ron braves the spiders because it’s necessary to find clues to save his classmates from a mysterious killer. Hermione, Luna, Ginny, Neville, Fred & George, Remus, Tonks, Mad-Eye, Mrs. Weasley… everyone up to and including Colin Creevey rises to the occasion and acts bravely when there is a crisis and they are called upon to save both themselves and the whole magical and Muggle worlds from Voldemort and the Death Eaters.

During the current global pandemic, we are seeing essential workers exhibit incredible courage just by going to work every day. These heroes include healthcare workers who are literally risking their lives to treat people with COVID-19. This list also includes anyone whose essential work, whether in a grocery store or pharmacy, a factory manufacturing PPE, exposes them to risk of infection and the mental toll of dealing with casualties of the pandemic, and anyone working as a cleaner or delivery driver, and many more.

MinaLima would like to help honour these heroes by sending them a personalised postcard, signed by Miraphora and Eduardo. 30 heroes will be chosen at random each month. You can nominate a hero in your life by filling out a form here.