"Only love can conquer hate."

Every time I hear that phrase, I think of Harry Potter. More specifically, I think of that final  battle and the fight between Bellatrix Lestrange and Molly Weasley. You see, the whole theme of all the books from the very beginning was Love vs Hate. Lilly’s love for Harry protected him from Voldemort. Harry’s love for his friends and found family protected them from Death Eaters.

In that final battle, one of the most riveting fights was between Bellatrix and Molly. Bellatrix, in her hatred, targeted Molly’s only daughter Ginny. Molly’s love for her daughter compelled her to fight and ultimately kill Bellatrix. Before rushing in to save Ginny, Molly famously screamed out, "NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!"

There are three things Molly did there that I want to touch on. First, She got angry. Then she used what some would consider foul language, and lastly she fought back. Not only did she fight back, she fought to the death. She did all of this because she loved her daughter so much and she wanted to protect her.

Loving something or someone doesn’t mean you have to be passive and let things happen to you. Yes love can conquer hate, but what you have to realize is that love can come and be shown in many different forms. When you love something and want to protect it, you can do what Molly did and get angry and use “foul” language and fight back.

You can’t tell someone “only love can conquer hate” as a way to get them to sit on the sidelines. That’s not how this works. Molly didn’t sit on the sidelines when Bellatrix was going after Ginny. She didn’t attempt to hug it out. She simply fought back. That’s the exact same thing marginalized people are doing right now. They’re protecting their loved ones by fighting back.

We fought back during the Civil Rights Movement and we’re fighting back right now. It’s coming in a different form, but it’s there. We’re fighting so hard because we’re trying to protect the ones that we love. All of this, all of the protests, are being done out of love. It may not be coming in a form you find “respectable”, but it’s love none the less.

So the next time you hear “only love can conquer hate” think of Molly and her righteous anger. Think of Molly fighting to the death to protect the one she loved. Think of that and then go out and fight to protect that which you love.

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Originally published at theangryfangirl.com.