When I was 8 years old, I first discovered the world of Harry Potter. My mom had always been a strong advocate of reading a book before watching the movie, so 2001 was the year I began reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. That first book drew me deeply into the magical world of Harry Potter, and from then on I was hooked. I went to every summer movie premiere with my swim team, and every December premiere with my school friends. I knew the spells, imitated the actor’s voices, jumped up and down every time I received another book in the mail, memorized the movie scenes. I found the Harry Potter series compelling for a number of reasons. First, I was in love with Cedric Diggory, the ill-fated heartthrob of Hogwarts. I cried so much after reading his death that my mom warned other mothers about the fourth book. Secondly, I thought the idea of a magical world hidden just beneath the more mundane Muggle world incredibly exciting. (I was extremely disappointed when my ticket into the magic, a letter of acceptance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, never arrived…). However what most fascinated me about J.K. Rowling’s creation, and what has continued to stand out to me as one of the most significant parts of the series, is the way the author and the movies portrayed good and evil. When we are young, it’s commonplace to see the world as good vs. evil, black vs. white. Many novels and movies reinforce this simplistic worldview. This is why Harry Potter is so very important: the Harry Potter series shows that humans have good inside them and evil inside them, but what is important is that you have the choice to decide which one you will be. Snape, objectively, was not a good character. He was a person who had both evil and good inside him, but his love for Lily and loyalty towards her caused him to do some good. He helped Harry and fought for Dumbledore because Harry was Lily’s son and because Dumbledore promised to protect Lily and later Harry. To the end, Snape was grey, and Alan Rickman portrayed this beautifully. Rickman, with guidance from Rowling herself, established Snape from the beginning not as an evil man, but rather as one troubled by the darkness inside him and consumed with the goodness he sought in the form of Lily. What Rickman so brilliantly revealed, movie by movie, was this struggle that Snape faced in dealing with the grey that was inside him. This inner dilemma that Rickman brought out in the character of Snape, that good and evil are everywhere and that we have the ability to choose what we want to be, is the most important lesson I learned from Harry Potter. Alan Rickman, thank you for helping to teach me what it means to be the grey, and to strive for the good. Thank you for eight movies that shaped me as a young adult and that shared the journey of growing up with me. You created many characters that will never be forgotten, and left a legacy that has touched children and adults around the world. As he himself said, “[a] film, a piece of theater, a piece of music, or a book can make a difference. It can change the world.” Thank you, Alan Rickman, for changing mine.