We'll get to catch up with Emma Watson and her Harry Potter castmates at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day, which is when HBO Max's reunion special Return to Hogwarts drops. To whet your appetite, we're taking the opportunity to celebrate Watson's impact not just as an actress, but also as an activist and campaigner. Here are 10 things we really admire about her.

1. She’s voiced her support for trans rights.

In 2018, Watson posted a photo on Instagram in which she is wearing a T-shirt with the slogan "trans rights are human rights." She copied in the U.K.'s leading LGBT charity Stonewall, gender diversity charity Gendered Intelligence, and Mermaids, a charity that supports trans, non-binary, and gender-diverse young people.

2. She stood up for herself when people tried to slut-shame her.

In 2017, Watson was accused – reductively and unfairly – of undermining her feminist beliefs by posing for a Vanity Fair photo with her breasts partially visible. She responded by telling Reuters: "Feminism is about giving women choice. Feminism is not a stick with which to beat other women with. It’s about freedom. It’s about liberation. It’s about equality. I really don’t know what my tits have to do with it. It’s very confusing. I’m confused. Most people are confused."

The result? Watson 1, Twitter trolls O. 

3. She appeared in one of the best teen movies of the past decade.

A year after the final Harry Potter film, Watson starred in 2012's The Perks of Being a Wallflower, director Stephen Chbosky's touching and relatable adaptation of his own coming-of-age novel. As the free-spirited high school senior Sam Button, Watson showed she could shine in a role that's really quite different from Hermione Granger.

4. In 2016, she launched an online feminist book club: Our Shared Shelf.

Watson stepped back from Our Shared Shelf in 2020, but still makes book recommendations on Instagram. In the past, she's also spread the joy of reading by hiding books on the London Underground and the NYC Subway.

5. She's a longtime supporter of sustainable and eco-friendly fashion.

And now, she's in a position to bring about meaningful change. In June 2020, as the BBC reported, Watson joined the board of luxury fashion company Kering – the owners of Gucci – as the chair of its sustainability committee. 

6. She was appointed a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador in July 2014. 

"Women’s rights are something so inextricably linked with who I am, so deeply personal and rooted in my life that I can’t imagine an opportunity more exciting," Watson says on the UN Women website. "I still have so much to learn, but as I progress I hope to bring more of my individual knowledge, experience, and awareness to this role.”

7. She showed a very different side in Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring.

In this cult 2013 crime movie, Watson plays a member of a fame-obsessed high school clique that starts stealing from celebrities like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. It’s another bold role that showed Watson really wasn’t afraid to break out of her comfort zone.

8. She's gained the courage to say no to selfie requests.

"For me, it's the difference between being able to have a life and not. If someone takes a photograph of me and posts it, within two seconds they’ve created a marker of exactly where I am within 10 meters. They can see what I’m wearing and who I’m with. I just can’t give that tracking data," Watson told Vanity Fair.

Watson also said that sometimes she offers fans an autograph or chat about Harry Potter instead of a selfie. “I have to carefully pick and choose my moment to interact,” she added. “When am I a celebrity sighting versus when am I going to make someone’s freakin’ week? Children I don’t say no to, for example.”

9. She’s also a climate change advocate.

In November, Watson hosted a panel event attended by Greta Thunberg and Malala Yousafzai at the COP26 Climate Conference in Glasgow. She also turned “book fairy” again by hiding books on environmental issues around the city.

10. And finally, she played the amazing Hermione Granger for a full decade.

Watson's place in movie history (and the hearts of a generation) is assured thanks to her smart, charming, and inspiring performance as Hermione in all eight Harry Potter movies. It's going to be a real pleasure seeing her reunite with her cast mates on this weekend’s reunion special.

Have we missed out something you admire about Emma Watson?