Huge Shoutout to Justin Finch-Fletchley

owlpostagain:

On the surface, there’s nothing remarkable about Justin’s introduction to the trio.

CS:

“Justin Finch-Fletchley,” he said brightly, shaking Harry by the hand.

 "Know who you are, of course, the famous Harry Potter… And you’re Hermione Granger — always top in everything" (Hermione beamed as she had her hand shaken too) “— and Ron Weasley. Wasn’t that your flying car?”  

Ron didn’t smile. The Howler was obviously still on his mind.  

“That Lockhart’s something, isn’t he?” said Justin happily as they began filling their plant pots with dragon dung compost. 

He walks up and introduces himself to each member of the the trio, and he has a little conversation starter for each of them. Then he moves onto a conversation about Lockhart, something all three members of the trio can weigh in on. It’s a perfectly polite and ordinary introduction.

But when I look back through the books, it’s hard to find a single other character that introduces themselves to the trio by introducing themselves to all three members of the trio.

Over and over, we see Ron and/or Hermione being ignored in favor of their famous
friend. Fudge introduces Harry to his companions without a
word to Ron and Hermione. Malfoy spares one scathing remark for Ron then
tells Harry that he’ll help him avoid the “wrong sort” of families.
Nearly Headless Nick is repeatedly annoyed with Ron for cutting into his
conversation with Harry. Amos Diggory is introduced to the entire
Weasley family and launches into a speech about his son beat Harry at
Quidditch. Slughorn can’t even remember Ron’s name. Even Hermione ignores Ron after Harry tells her his name on the Hogwarts Express. Ron and/or Hermione are overlooked so frequently that that reader ceases to notice.

So a huge huge shoutout to Justin Finch-Fletchley for being one of the characters (possibly the only
character) to introduce himself to Harry, Ron, and Hermione by introducing himself to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. 

Bless your little well-bred heart, Justin
Finch-Fletchley. You’re lovely.