Context

This line pops up at the end of the first ever Harry Potter story. In this scene, Dumbledore has just announced that it looks like Slytherin has won the House Cup again. (Boo! Hiss!) Of course, he's also forgotten to award some extra points. Oh, that tricky old wizard.

Dumbledore gives Harry, Ron, and Hermione a whole mess of points, but Gryffindor is still shy of a victory. What gives, Albus?

It's Neville Longbottom to save the day! Dumbledore apparently knows that Neville tried to stop Harry, Ron, and Hermione from sneaking out of the Gryffindor dorms earlier to foil Voldemort's plot. Sure, Neville turned out to be wrong, but Dumbledore recognizes that it must have been tough to stand up and tell friends to back off.

Thus, Neville is awarded the points Gryffindor needs to win the house cup, the Great Hall explodes into cheers, and Draco Malfoy slinks off to write a strongly worded letter to his father. Next year, he'll be going to Pigfarts!

Where you've heard it

Standing up to your friends can be tough. Most people just go along to get along, but Dumbledore knows that's not always the best way to do it. You'll hear this one anytime a person needs that extra boost to go against the status quo.

Dumbledore's words here mean even more when we learn in the last book of the series that Dumbledore failed to stand up to one of his friends—the dark wizard, Grindelwald—until it was much too late.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

All right, we can all agree Dumbledore is just a little bit pretentious, right? So you might be, too, when you're quoting him. But only a little.