How did you meet your best friend?

[Gail Allen]

Harry, Ron and Hermione all met on their way to Hogwarts, not knowing that that would be the start to an incredible friendship that would last throughout their school years and beyond. It's hard to know when first meet people whether these will be our friends or not. Of course sometimes we know, like Harry meeting Draco and already knowing they would not be friends upon first meeting him. But his first encounter with Hermione did not exactly forecast a great friendship either, and yet one grew from that.

So what about you? How did you meet your best friends?

I met my best friends online actually. Several years ago on a forum discussing books we all loved and fanfiction pertaining to these books. A few years later we first met in real life and we are now best friends even though we live very far apart. True friendships know no borders.

[Shadow Gaunt]

Interesting enough, I met one of my best friends in a math club. I was taking a math club and since there were only 8 people, we all talked a bit about each other. I was sitting across from him and as he said that he was from my town I was extremely surprised and asked what grade he was in.

Turns out we were in the same grade and school, but our paths just never crossed.

After that day we became extremely close. Others sometimes joke that were attached at the hip. But we just hit it off right away and we both have similar interests. He introduced me to Dungeons and Dragons, later which I turned into a small larp. I introduced him to Rubik’s Cubes, and even though he doesn’t show much interest, one day he will. Definitely.

So I’d say that we are very very close and I’m saddened to think that in a few years we will likely never see each other again. But I know my memories will last.

(I’m no good at writing coherently it seems. I am quite sorry)

[Shiloh Adlar]

I didn't have any friends growing up except for a couple maybe at ballet. None of them fell into the best friend category. I guess you could say now that one of my best friends I did meet at the academy though because we dated for a while, and he is still one of my biggest supports. The other place I have met my best friends is right here on HOL. I have always said that HOL is like a second/third home to me simply because I have friends here and feel welcomed and happy. I have met a few of them in person which has been wonderful, and I hope to meet more in the future.

[Kaitlyn Nightingale]

I have quite a complicated history of best friends. When I was tiny, I liked playing by myself and didn't really get along with the kids in my village - not that there were many. In primary school, I thought that I had a best friend but when Ileft for a different school, it turned out that the friendship wasn't as special. We have barely talked since. I guess that we were just classmates by most kids' measures.
I am currently graduating from a grammar school where I met a girl you could say is my best friend. Together with another girl from a different school - my longest lasting close friend whom I met in my singing classes, we form this best-friend triangle. But if I'm honest, there's too much girl drama in this friendship. I'm not about that life, I always got on with guys very well because of this. So when I know the girls won't get offended, I can be honest and say that my best friend is a guy from Mexico I met on Facebook. We've known each other for 4 years and in October 2016, we spent a day together because he was studying in France and he was able to come visit me. He's now trying to find other opportunities to come back to Europe so we may finally hang out more! Sadly, we're both busy with our studies so we don't talk as much as we used to. But we're still close and I value his advice and opinions greatly. We promised to go to each other's weddings if nothing else. Friendship knows no distance!

[Prof. Scarlet Leslie-Lewis]

Thanks to former Slytherin DHoH Opal Curare, I first met my best friend in 2013. She invited me to join her SQL team, The Avengers, co-captained by... Cody Lewis! (Apparently, because I was in Ravenclaw at the time, Cody was skeptical about asking me to join their team.) After a successful SQL season, Cody and I continued to work together when we were both invited to become part of the Quidditch Board.

Then, my sister was put on a project where she had to commute to Texas every week. My mom wanted to go visit one of her friends there and kept trying to convince me to go with her. For months I said no, saying I would have nothing to do there. Finally, I realized that Cody lives in Texas. He agreed to meet up with me, so we first met in person in 2014.

Since then, we've met other HOL'ers, including Amy Lupin, Shiloh Adlar, Hope Stark, and Will Lestrange. We've gone on adventures, including driving halfway across the country from Texas to New Jersey. And now I get to hang out with my best friend every single day!

[Cody Lewis]

My story is slightly different from Scarlet's.

I was worried (not skeptical!) that she had heard about my tendency for troublemaking and wouldn't want to join a team with me on it. Our first interaction was when I sent her a message thanking her for giving me a chance. "Don't blow it," she said. Spoilers: I didn't.

When SQL ended, I signed up for a volleyball class. I'll have a reason to talk to Scarlet now, I thought to myself. Our conversations usually went something like, "ARE MY FOREARMS SUPPOSED TO HURT THIS BADLY?" "Yeah."

I think she became my best friend when she visited me. We were super awkward at first, but after hanging out for an entire weekend, it was like I had known her my entire life.

[Kaitlyn Nightingale]

↑↑↑↑↑ Stop cutting onions, people! ↑↑↑↑↑

[Prof. Will Lestrange]

I move around a lot (the 31 months in my current place is my longest in an address as an adult, breaking the old record of 25 from last decade) so I’ve internalized that all of my friendships will eventually become online friendships, even if that’s not how we met in the first place.

I have met Scarlet, Cody, Amy, and Opal (all current or former Slytherin professors) IRL in the 2016-7 timeframe... but I’d say my actual closest friends come from different sorting communities (where you post an application on a journal site and the members vote on which house you belonged in). Seeing an applicant who really impresses me with their Slytherin traits *always* makes me want to get to know them better - and in some cases it ended up leading into lifelong friendships (think 7-9 years and still counting, depending on the person!)

And yes, I’m sometimes the type of Slytherin that will list an online friend as a personal/professional reference, and vice versa, before we ever meet up in person...

[Prof. Alexander Brighton]

I met my friends mostly at school. I was in the same class as 3 of them. We all had things in common, that's how we became good friends. I actually met one of my friends under the school buses. My friends and I were hiding from the school bullies under the buses during lunch time. It kind of became our hangout spot and one day a kid asked if he could join us. My last friend I met right in my backyard. I was playing in my tree house when another kid came over and asked if he could play.

[Hayley Grace]

My best friend and I met during silent reading time in school.

We had desks facing each other and both happened to be swinging our legs at the same time. She kicked me under the table accidentally and I kicked her back thinking she had done it on purpose. This was largely out of character for each of us. Both us us kept kicking each other back and forth under the table until our teacher asked us if there was a problem to which we both said no.

We introduced ourselves to each other and have been inseparable ever since. It's been almost twenty years now that we have been friends.

[Amy Smith]

My best friend and I met on a lot of occasions and it was just normally hi and bye. However, we really started talking in 8th grade and she was the one who initiated a conversation. Funnily enough, I was very introverted and I suppose it's true that extroverts and introverts do become really good friends. We became really close time and our bond till date remains very strong.

[Emily Spencer]

I’ve known my best friend forever (Well, not technically, but you get the point). We grew up in the same Texas town, though we really didn’t hang out much as children. We talked casually, of course, but we weren’t besties. And then…high school happened. As corny as it sounds, it’s the typical high school friends-turned-to-boyfriends story. We both have the same quirky sense of humor, and still laugh about the ‘hearts, flowers and dissecting frogs moment’. Yes, we bonded over dissecting frogs. We are weird like that. Anyway, fast forward 15 or so years and we are married with a beautiful daughter. Life is grand.

[Mia Fountain]

My friend that I have been best friends for the longest time, I met through school and we became friends through our mutual friend. We have some similar interests including our love of dogs, books, and video games. Unfortunately, we haven't seen or talked to each other in quite some time, we drifted apart after high school, when we each pursued our own interests. I have the bad tendency of not talking to people when I am not around them. Most of my friends I have met through either karate or work, but when I am not at those places I tend to keep to myself and enjoy my solitude surrounded by my animals.

[Brooklynn Coleman]

My best friend and I have been friends since the 3rd grade and that was exactly 20 years ago. We are the total opposite which makes people wonder how we are even friends. I always calmed her down and she brought me out of my shell. We met on recess and I remember sitting by a tree reading a book. It was actually a Harry Potter book which is perfect for this post. She just came over and asked me what I was doing. I told her I was reading and she asked me why. I just shrugged my shoulders and she looked at me dead in the face and told me we are going to be friends. We have been together ever since.

[Adeline Morior]

We met when we were fifteen and we are still besties fifteen years later. We met on a scouts-like camp. It was my very first camp and she wouldn't have gone due to struggling with depression at the time. Her mother told her she absolutely needed to get out and forced her to go. We were divided into groups on the campsite and we both ended up in the same group tent. I only remember making some lame joke about something and she joined in. We hit it off immediately and found out we were in the same school, we just never met before. Besties ever since. We went on a lot of camps together after that and she overcame her struggles with depression. Although her mom forced her on the camp, she's very grateful that she did. We probably wouldn't have met otherwise and walked right past each other at school.

[Fae Lee]

my best friend and i actually hated each other for a few years over different opinions. we had a science class that we would argue in a lot and just didn't ever have an actual conversation outside of that. two years later we had a mutual friend who we both hung out with a lot. eventually we just started hanging out with each other more than the friend who introduced us and we've been friends for years and years. life would be so weird with out her now

[Noelle Scamander]

My best friend and I met in 4th grade when we were placed at the same grouping of desks. I proceeded to annoy the Slytherin into being my best friend and we went through the rest of grade school together. We had our back and fourths as people do, but we're 27 and roommates across the country from where we grew up.

[Hiya Debnath]

I met my best friend when I was very, very young, like about a few years old. I can't remember if I had started school, but even if I had, I would have just started school or something like that. His family had just moved into our neighboring house. I saw his father hanging clothes on the washing line and like the little curious kid that I was, I waved hello and smiled even though I didn't know his father. His father waved back at me with a broad smile, saying that he had a son my age. Being too young to understand that I couldn't go to his house uninvited, I said that I would like to meet his son and play with his son every Sunday. I do not remember his exact reaction but I remember asking myself why he wasn't pleased. After all, I was asking to play and that should please anybody. On Sunday, I went to their house and was introduced to the boy who was to be my best friend. We played for hours. Then it became the norm for me to go and play with him every Sunday. His parents grew very fond of me and my parents grew fond of the boy, and the boy and I became best friends. After six years of staying together, my family moved out and relocated to a different town. I was so sad that I had to leave my best friend behind. We exchanged letters and continued our correspondences but slowly drifted apart. Years later, when both of us had bloomed into young adults, we met again and instantly it felt like I was the same young girl except that we had different bodies. I felt younger in an instant and we spent an amusing amount of time talking to each other being ourselves like in childhood. The best part is that his parents still loved me the same. We reconnected, and to this day, he continues to be my best friend. In fact, the dish that I eat as a mandatory part of the menu on my birthday every year was initially a recipe by my best friend's mother that I couldn't forget after first eating it at their house. : D. Eating that dish is like a mandatory birthday ritual to me.

[Dibyarup James Potter]

My best friend, who is now my wife, was my batch mate in college. Both of us were taking UG Computer Science and Engineering, and within a week we became friends. Over a period of six months, we got to meet almost every day at the college, so that was one of the contributing factors to our relationship for sure. And she's still my best friend and partner in crime!