After the abrupt passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia there was quite a bit of a stir over who current president Barack Obama would select as his nominee to fill Scalia’s role on the Supreme Court. In fact, there was plenty of talk of Republicans doing their best to block any sort of decision while Obama was still in office, in order to delay it for the next sitting president. Of course, things have changed in the interim, with Donald Trump looking to be the Republican nominee and the party scrambling to ensure that Trump doesn’t actually end up the most powerful man in the free world.

Obama’s decision landed on Merrick Garland, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. What has Garland been up to while waiting for the Senate to vote on his nomination? According to BuzzFeed he’s been speaking to high school graduates using Harry Potter quotes. That’s not a joke. Today at Niles West High he delivered the graduation speech to his alma mater where he spoke about public service and claimed that there were routes outside of law. When he elaborated he quoted Hermione Granger as an inspiration.

“In fact, the Minister of Magic once did. ‘Are you planning to follow a career in Magical Law, Ms. Granger?’ he asked. ‘No, I’m not,’ retorted Hermione. ‘I’m hoping to do some good in the world.’”

“Now that doesn’t mean that you and your friends have to vanquish Lord Voldemort. Not everyone has the very particular set of skills required to accomplish that task.

But as Professor Dumbledore once told Harry Potter: It is our choices that show what we truly are, more than our abilities.

So make the choice do to some good in the world.”

Now, look, we can’t decide if someone will be a great Supreme Court Justice just from the pop culture that they reference, but if Merrick Garland is turning to the Harry Potter series for ways to inspire young people, he at least understands how to adjust to his audience. That at least gives hope to how he’d be able to handle more sensitive, modern issues such as ones involving privacy, technology and the rights of people that have been previously ignored.

(Via BuzzFeed)