fuckrowling

[fuckrowling]

one of the v. important things the movies missed about ron is just like, how down to fight he was at all times. like not even duel just he was always ready to physically beat the shit out of people who insulted his family or friends and WOULD if no one stopped him.

there are so many points in the books where its just casually dropped in ‘and so Harry and/or Hermione had to physically restrain Ron’ usually from Malfoy but if Harry or Hermione weren’t paying attention it became ‘and so Ron punched Malfoy in the face’. 

Like, Ron cursing Malfoy for calling Hermione Mudblood wasnt just a one off thing like every time he did that in the future when Ron was there it was like ‘ron had to be stopped from ending Malfoy’s life’ just thrown in there. Same for any other severe insults.

My absolute favorite instance of this is in the first book when they’re just watching a Quidditch game and Malfoy just starts bothering Ron and Hermione during it and is finally like ‘man its pretty funny how the Gryffindor quidditch team is recruited based on pity like y’know Potter has no parents, Weasley’s brothers have no money they should include Longbottom for having no brains” and Ron just flings himself at Malfoy and starts punching him and rolling around under the bleachers and Neville is like “uh shit i guess i better fight CRABBE AND GOYLE BOTH AT ONCE so they don’t go after him” (very underrated moment of courage from Neville he knew he had no chance but he just went for it honestly almost more impressive than confronting Voldemort in book 7)

and they’re just fighting for like twenty minutes and Hermione doesn’t even notice because she was so focused on tuning Malfoy out and watching the game and when its over she looks around like “where’d ron go” and then later its mentioned “Harry sees Ron and his face is covered in blood and he’s like “GOOD JOB WINNING THE GAME HARRY I GAVE MALFOY A BLACK EYE SO WE BOTH DID GREAT THINGS TONIGHT oh btw i have detention for a week and neville’s unconcious but they say he’ll be fine”.

Ron is ride or die and will fight u for $0 y’all 

[fuckrowling]

can i ask for advice i really want to start writing fics(never done this) but i don't know what to do or how to start it? also in hp universe, how do you bring in the wizarding lore or remember all the the details like the spells what they do, the locations and a bunch of stuff

In terms of the lore, you don't want the fanwiki, you want Reddit. Sorry fanwiki, but you are often wrong, misleading, or difficult to search. Or, bring in info from the video games without making that clear. Keeping all the spells straight is a big one, so he's an alphabetical list of every spell Harry ever casts, and what it does:

And here is a list of every spell Hermione eve casts:

Thank you very much, reddit user HHrPie.

Also, I would be lost with out my trusty master pdf.

Download that. It's searchable, and Control + F (on a PC) and Command + F (on a Mac) is your friend.

In terms of what to write... I'd say focus on one or two characters to start. You'll get the most bang for buck by figuring out the different ways they speak, and making sure they speak differently.

Write a missing scene, or a existing scene going a different way. My first HP fanfics were alternate epilogues, and the best one was an outsider perspective on Harry bringing 11 year old Teddy to Platform 9 3/4. You probably have an idea, or scene, or image in your head. Start there.

Also, I have always enjoyed fandom spaces. Lots of people enjoy beta-ing fics, or just generally showing off their lore knowledge (and by people, I do mean myself.) If you have a specific question, just throw it out there as an ask like you're doing, to a blog that tends to write about that sort of stuff.

[fuckrowling]

What do you think of Bellatrix? Would you have liked to explore more dynamics about her?

I *love* unpacking sibling dynamics and toxic relationships, so of course I find Bellatrix fascinating. (Also "Bellatrix Lestrange" might be my favorite name in a series full of very good names. 10/10.)

To me, what's key about Bellatrix is that she's the oldest of the three Black sisters. She could have been written as the indulged, attention-seeking bratty baby... but that would be a less interesting character.

Growing up, I think Narcissa was probably the quiet, passive child. That's her strategy when Voldemort shows up and she's once again living with a powerful, unstable authority figure. (I mean we have no info about what Cygnus Black was like, but he's Walburga Black's younger brother, and I imagine they probably enforced each other's extremism and intensity after their brother got blasted off the tapestry.) Narcissa's strategy is fade to the background, don't react, don't let them see what you're thinking, let them ignore you.

(I also think it's very believable that she went subtly went low contact with the Blacks after she married Lucius. The Malfoys have *always* been much more squeamish about violence, and much more politically moderate. I think Narcissa likes that.)

Andromeda you can take in a couple of different directions, but she was probably the problem child/scapegoat. And if she wasn't before she married Ted, she DEFINITELY was after. She also looks so much like Bellatrix that Harry does a double take, which I think... would have really bugged Bellatrix growing up, and informed their dynamic. Bellatrix sees herself as SO exceptional that she wouldn't want to be compared to anyone... but if she were, then it would be important that any casual comparisons come out in HER favor. (Which can't have been fun for Andromeda.) It's interesting that Voldemort underlines the connection between the two sisters as a way to get under Bellatrix's skin, and it works *really* well. She's got a competitive streak.

Because Bellatrix would have 100% grown up the *Golden Child.* Powerful, driven, beautiful in a striking way. The Daddy's Girl energy is off the charts (and she was probably Aunt Walburga's favorite too.) Bellatrix is described as acting like a queen, which is exactly how she sees herself. She grew up in an echo chamber not only telling her that people like her were special and better... but that she was the most Special one within the Special group.

So she meets Lord Voldemort. He's beautiful, driven, brilliant, power levels off the charts. He's Grindelwald born again (but straight) (probably.) He's not just the Dark Lord, he's a King. He wants to rule the world as an immortal god-king. He tells Bellatrix that this is going to happen, and she believes him.

And like - of course she's into that. But also, seeing yourself as a temporarily embarrassed Immortal Goddess Empress requires such a specific self-concept. You are going to need a delusionally high opinion of yourself... but also enough talent/power/beauty/external validation to carry that idea into adulthood.

(also Rodolphus... he doesn't count. Good Marriage was just another box to check as a young woman so Bellatrix could remain Perfect. The rules are different if you're a Immortal Goddess Empress anyway. Any consort she had would be so far below her own power level, or the power level of her King, that he literally would not matter. But she's not going to have a *kid* with Rodolphus. She's Voldemort's favorite, Rodolphus is not good enough. You sire PRINCES with the KING.)

Voldemort of course would know all this. And we see him have so much fun finding ways to creatively torture Lucius. He's a sadist in general sure, but there's something specifically about bringing pureblood royalty low that he gets REALLY into. He *likes* bringing up the werewolf nephew-in-law and and watching Bellatrix scramble desperately for ground, crying, while the rest of the Death Eaters point and laugh. Until he tells them to cut it out, because he's the only one with enough power to do that.

And then Bellatrix goes back to her room and probably constructs a whole narrative about how that was actually Voldemort protecting her, because she's the most Special, and it's all in good fun really. Because the alternative is having to admit that she's not extraordinary, she's just a punching bag (like Lucius Malfoy.) This is where a lot of her anger and instability come from. Every time she's in a situation where someone else is doing something *more* or *better* ... she lashes out.

In the main timeline of the books this mainly shows up in her dynamic with Narcissa. Bellatrix tries to give orders in Malfoy Manor (I am sure it really annoys her that Voldemort is using her sisters house as his HQ. That isn't how it's supposed to go.) Narcissa is sacrificing Draco for the Dark Lord? Well, Bellatrix would have five sons (hypothetically) and sacrifice them all (happily.) She tries to shift the blame for Department of Mysteries thing 100% onto Lucius, and gets really defensive when Snape implies that he has more emotional intimacy with Voldemort than she does.

But she's still really, really useful, and Voldemort knows this. She is talented, and powerful, and his best enforcer. So he would have so much fun dangling that carrot just out of reach, forever. The prophecy makes such a big deal about Voldemort marking Harry "as his equal," because that's just not a thing he does. BELLATRIX certainly isn't his equal.

(dumbledore though... we can maybe revisit.)

[fuckrowling]

i read your horcrux post, its fascinating and very well done! im just stuck on one thing: while i agree that tom definitely has a good share of self-hatred, enough to cause himself pain and endure an agonising process to become immortal, doesnt the whole idea of "killing yourself" for the ritual seem very risky? like what if you actually die lmao then the whole thing was all for naught. i mean i can also see him being confident and arrogant enough to believe he COULD do it without mistakes, but still. seems like a big risk considering his whole shtick is avoiding death as far as possible. anyway thank you for all your metas they are very enjoyable to read and think about!!!

Thank you so much! 💕 I'm glad you liked my Horcrux theory, it's one of the earliest ones I made here and I'm still pretty proud of it.

As for the risk — yeah, it is incredibly risky, that's kind of the point. This is a ritual we know Tom was crazy to attempt multiple times, a ritual in-universe that even just doing it once is considered insanely risky and potentially damaging, not to mention multiple times:

‘Of the Horcrux, wickedest of magical inventions, we shall not speak nor give direction. ...’I mean, why mention it then?” she said impatiently, slamming the old book shut;

(HBP)

That was what you told me he said. ‘Further than anybody,’ And I thought I knew what that meant, though the Death Eaters did not. He was referring to his Horcruxes, Horcruxes in the plural, Harry, which I do not believe any other wizard has ever had. 

(HBP) - only part of the quote since the rest of Dumbles' analysis of Voldemort's character in the above section is questionable.

JKR stated in an interview there is a final horrible step that must be taken to make a Horcrux, something beyond just murder. Cannibalism, physical self-mutilation, or masturbating over the corpse (Yes, I have read this theory somewhere) don't make sense because then Harry couldn't become a Horcrux. It doesn't really leave us with many possibilities.

Additionally, Voldemort talks of how only he was skilled and brave enough to attempt it more than once, to go "further than anyone" ever had:

I, who have gone further than anybody along the path that leads to immortality. You know my goal — to conquer death. And now, I was tested, and it appeared that one or more of my experiments had worked . . . for I had not been killed, though the curse should have done it.

(GoF)

If there was no risk, more people would make Horcruxes and more people would make multiple Horcruxes. Voldemort himself calls it an "experiment". He wasn't sure it would work at any point but the risk was worth it for him.

when he asks Slughorn what would happen if you made multiple Horcruxes he already made two Horcruxes. He experimented with Horcrux when he had little to no information on them. He experimented magically on himself. Multiple times. (He also mentioned "experiments" in plural so I wonder if he had another method besides Horcruxes that he attempted...). This is not a person who cares about "risk" like a normal person. Riping your soul apart to make a Horcrux, even without my theory, is in itself, a huge risk — and he does so consciously 6 times!

Dumbledore, Slughorn, and Voldemort all talk of Horcruxes like an unknown magic, barely attempted by anyone throughout history. Even Magick Moste Evile doesn't give more than a mention to the concept of Horcruxes because no one actually makes them. (It's the spider georg meme: "average dark wizard makes 1 horcrux in their lifetime factoid actualy just statistical error. average dark wizard makes 0 horcruxes. Horcrux Tom, who lives as a wraith in albenia & made 7 horcruxes, is an outlier adn should not have been counted").

If you need to temporarily kill yourself to become immortal it would explain why not more people have tried it. I mean, Grindelwald wanted to be the Master of Death, so why not make a Horcrux, I'm sure he was familiar with the ritual?

Becouse the risk was too great for him to take.

I talked about this a bit here and @iamnmbr3 has this post about this, but Tom, for all that he is the heir of Slytherin, acts a lot like a Gryffindor. He is prideful, sure, but he is so incredibly brave. Experimenting on himself with a super dangerous ritual 7 times is incredibly in character for him. Yes, he's arrogant, he's sure he'd succeed, but unlike Grindelwald or (younger) Dumbledore, he is willing to take the ultimate risk for the sake of his immortality.

It also makes sense symbolically. Like, to become immortal you have to risk your life — to live forever you must be ready to go through death. It makes sense in a symbolic sort of way. It just feels right.

[fuckrowling]

-Draco Malfoy, Sept 1, 1991-

Here's my newest hot take: it makes no sense for the Weasleys to be poor.

Like, I get why, narratively, the Weasleys are poor : poor=virtuous in jkr's mind and the Weasleys represent the perfect family so they need the be the bestest most virtuous of them all, especially since they are set up to be in direct contrast to the rich, morally bankrupt Malfoys.

That is all well and good, I understand the use of poverty as a narrative choice, but at the same time I also have a problem with is how jkr chose to depict said poverty in her worldbuilding; even as a single income household with too many kids (as per D Malfoy), it makes no sense for the Weasleys to have no money.

Arthur, the sole earner in the family, is portrayed as a government insider: he heads his own department, seems essential to the working of the ministry and is overall well connected.

(from GoF, this is a bureucratic brag if i've ever seen one)

Arthur appears to be on a first name basis with a huge variety of ministry employees

Some of which are his fellow department heads

which definitely puts him on the same level as a Diggory or a Crouch, and none of these people are implied to be poor or even remotely struggling, so why is he?

Arthur is shown in the books to have more powers than one might expect from his job title alone:

He is somehow able to write and/or enact laws (something he shouldn't be able to do since he's neither an elected official nor part of a legislative body)

(from CoS)

Arthur has the power to restrict trade (again, something way above his paygrade)

(from GoF, Arthur's power is apparently equal to the wizard foreign minister's)

Arthur can easily get huge favors form fellow ministry personnel

(from Gof, those world cup seats are Malfoy and Fudge level and it doesn't seem like Arthur did anything special to get them)

We can also see how incongruously important Arthur Weasley is to the inner workings of the ministry by his responsibilities:

when things go tits up at the world cup, Arthur behaves very much like someone much higher up the chain of command.

(from GoF)

All of this is over a newspaper article that didn't even quote him by name. What can the biting teacup guy do during a pr crisis, exactly?

Arthur's (civilian) presence is for some reason necessary during night raids, even though he is not a law enforcement agent

(from CoS)

Arthur (a civilian) is somehow the only person who can calm Alastor Moody (an accomplished auror) down

(from GoF)

I find myself to be very confused by the picture painted by these excerpts. jkr clearly wanted to have it both ways: she needed Arthur to be ministry insider so that he'd be able to funnel all sorts of information to Harry (and into the story) but she also wanted the Weasleys to be underdogs or, as Harry calls them,

but the two things just don't mix because Arthur, as described in the books, does not read like an underdog, he reads like a vital part of the system.

tl;dr: Arthur is a Big Deal and his family shouldn't be poor, even if they do have too many children

[fuckrowling]

Always imagined the Weasleys as in debt. Not Arthur’s fault, but his father’s, probably. Poverty can’t be an old thing about them, both Molly and Arthur have very “rich people” habits, and they are in fact still on the sacred 28 list, which I’m sorry, like it should mean something even if JKR retconned it later as some sort of unofficial thing.

So my headcanon is this: the Weasleys were your regular pure blood family, aristocrats essentially. Maybe not as rich as Malfoys or Potters, but still very well-to-do, and then lost it all very recently. That’s why we are presented with the world where there are supposed to be many many weasleys, but in fact there are only Arthur’s branch. His brother Billius was a raging alcoholic, too. The twins said he died from delirium from drinking basically.

So here goes: the sacred 28 form the wizard House of Lords, that’s why Arthur is able to push for some laws (and I think that given that the laws thing and the sacred 28/blood purity are explored in the same book, that’s probably what she intended), because he has the seat in the wizarding House of Lords. He and Lucius knew each other well and were friendly/grew up around each other before the Weasleys went bankrupt and Arthur chose to side with Dumbledore in the war. That’s why Lucius is going around talking to his son about Arthur, while sounding very bitter. Explains the strange money flow and all of the connections and favors, too.

What a fantastic theory. I absolutely love this. You can absolutely make the case that the Weasleys and/or Prewetts were aristocratic families who fell from grace *recently.*

Like we have:

~ Molly's squib second cousin the accountant who they "never talk about." Yeah I BET. It sounds like this cousin just left the wizard world completely. Are you even allowed to do that?

~ Uncle Bilius, Ron's namesake. The alcoholic who officially died after seeing a grim... but it's kinda vauge if grim even exist, so we're going to chalk that one up under "died under mysterious circumstances."

~ Aunt Muriel, who has money... but she's not helping out Molly and Arthur, even though she's "fond of Bill" so does she really? She's the one with the goblin-made moonstone tiara, which kinda sounds like (the last?) family heirloom.

~ Molly's brothers Fabian and Gideon who died unexpectedly young, and without heirs. Does this mean that the Prewett money went to another family/branch of the family? Was Molly out of the running because she technically wasn't a Prewett at the time, and the money follows the name? Also, she'd already had most of her large family before they died, so maybe she was counting on an income that dried up.

(do they have death duties / inheritance tax in the wizarding world? they MIGHT.)

Any one of the above relatives might have absolutely cost the family a LOT of money, and left Arthur and Molly playing catch-up.

[fuckrowling]

Evidence that Harry James Potter is not unobservant like many people like to claim

stuckwith-harry:

eaglesforthecup:

Realized Hermione would not know about the troll because she was in the bathroom in PS

Keen enough eye to spot the winged key

Noticed Dobby’s eyes in the bush in CoS

Recognized that Lockhart was a fraud right off the bat at age 12 (Ron did too but Hermione, Miss Brightest Witch of Her Age, was distracted by the pretty and lots of other adults were fooled too)

Deduced that the girl who died in Tom Riddle’s memory was Myrtle

Recognized how tense/anxious Ginny looked and realized she knew something about the Chamber

Noticed the paper in Hermione’s hand when she was petrified

Recognized how weird it was that Fudge was being lenient on blowing up Aunt Marge and later connected it with them worrying about him and Sirius in PoA

Realized (before Hermione) that Dumbledore wanted them to save Buckbeak as well during their time turner shenanigans

Deduced that every champion besides Cedric would know about the dragons in GoF

Noticed Ron’s jealousy of Krum

Caught a reflection of light on the glass case of the Sword of Gryffindor and found the Pensieve

Connected the dots and realized the Pensieve showed memories because of his experience with Tom Riddle’s diary

Noticed that Dumbledore had been avoiding him in OotP

Picked up on Draco’s “dogging around” comment

Noticed that Daily Prophet article about Sturgis Podmore breaking into a secret in the Ministry and recalls that Podmore hadn’t shown up for guard duty

Recognized the difference between his actual dreams and the ‘visions’ which helped save Arthur Weasley’s life

Heard Kingsley whisper, felt something shoot past him, saw the blank expression in Marietta’s eyes and put two and two together, something Umbridge, Fudge and Dawlish couldn’t perceive

Noticed Draco giving his mother the slip in HBP

Deduced that Draco had become a Death Eater

Recognized that the ring on Dumbledore’s desk (and remembered Dumbledore was wearing this ring when they retrieved Slughorn) was the ring Marvolo showed Ogden

Realized that Tonks’ brief was probably heartbreak and figured out she was in love (even though he didn’t have enough context to realize it was Remus and not Sirius)

Noticed when Ginny didn’t seem enthusiastic about meeting up with Dean (this is very common when you have a crush, but still)

Noted how weird Slughorn’s tampered memory is with the dense fog

Noticed that Malfoy kept disappearing from the Marauder’s Map and eventually realized he was using the Room of Requirement

Put two and two together about Ron and the love potion

Caught Voldemort’s eyes flashing scarlet in Hokey’s memory

Deduced that Malfoy’s plan was coming into fruition based on the whooping and gave Hermione and Ron a warning plan before he and Dumbledore left

Noticed the blue eye in the mirror shard in DH

Realized Regulus was RAB

Perceptive enough to realize Ron had to be the one to destroy the locket

Also perceptive enough to realize he had to open it with Parseltongue

Recognized that his Invisibility Cloak matched the description of the cloak in the Deathly Hallows story

Noticed things about Luna’s room that made him realize Luna hadn’t been in her home in weeks, catching Xenophilius Lovegood’s lie

Connected the dots of The Grey Lady’s story from the “Albania” clue and realized Voldemort had found the diadem and had hidden it at Hogwarts when he tried to get the DADA job

Remembered he had seen the diadem in the Room of Requirement before

Realized that Draco had become the true master of the Elder Wand, not Snape, the night Dumbledore had died

Realized that this made him the true master of the Elder Wand after his skirmish with Draco at Malfoy Manor

There are probably other things I didn’t catch, but there you have it. Harry James Potter is a rather perceptive boy with a keen eye and a good mind for deductive reasoning

also, (because that appears to be the #1 example of harry oblivious potter)

WAS PERFECTLY AWARE RON AND HERMIONE WERE CRUSHING ON EACH OTHER.

[fuckrowling]

I don't remember if Harry is a Morning person or not, I feel like he is pretty grumpy

Well, I ended up writing about Harry's sleep habits in general since it was interesting to me, so you're getting a little more than you bargained for here.

Harry is often mentioned waking up early. He is probably used to it from the Dursleys and whenever he's excited or anxious even more so:

Harry woke at five o’clock the next morning and was too excited and nervous to go back to sleep. He got up and pulled on his jeans because he didn’t want to walk into the station in his wizard’s robes — he’d change on the train. 

(PS, Ch6)

Harry woke early on Saturday morning and lay for a while thinking about the coming Quidditch match. He was nervous, mainly at the thought of what Wood would say if Gryffindor lost, but also at the idea of facing a team mounted on the fastest racing brooms gold could buy. 

(CoS, Ch10)

Harry woke early next morning, wrapped in a sleeping bag on the drawing room floor. A chink of sky was visible between the heavy curtains: It was the cool, clear blue of watered ink, somewhere between night and dawn, and everything was quiet except for Ron and Hermione’s slow, deep breathing. Harry glanced over at the dark shapes they made on the floor beside him.

(DH, Ch10)

When he's nervous or anxious he also struggles to fall asleep to begin with, and doesn't sleep a lot at all:

Harry went to bed with his head buzzing with the same question. Neville was snoring loudly, but Harry couldn’t sleep. He tried to empty his mind — he needed to sleep, he had to, he had his first Quidditch match in a few hours — but the expression on Snape’s face when Harry had seen his leg wasn’t easy to forget.

(PS, Ch11)

A hundred and fifty points lost. That put Gryffindor in last place. In one night, they’d ruined any chance Gryffindor had had for the House Cup. Harry felt as though the bottom had dropped out of his stomach. How could they ever make up for this? Harry didn’t sleep all night.

(PS, Ch15)

“Harry, you — you look terrible.” Harry hadn’t gotten to sleep until daybreak. 

(PoA, Ch11)

He thought of the letter he had written to Sirius before leaving Privet Drive. Would Sirius have gotten it yet? When would he reply? Harry lay looking up at the canvas, but no flying fantasies came to him now to ease him to sleep, and it was a long time after Charlie’s snores filled the tent that Harry finally dozed off.

(GoF, Ch9)

Feeling disappointed, Harry threw the book back into his trunk, turned off the lamp, and rolled over, thinking of werewolves and Snape, Stan Shunpike and the Half-Blood Prince, and finally falling into an uneasy sleep full of creeping shadows and the cries of bitten children. ...

(HBP, Ch16)

Harry did not sleep well that night. He lay awake for what felt like hours, wondering how Malfoy was using the Room of Requirement and what he, Harry, would see when he went in there the following day

(HBP, Ch21)

And he seems to get up and get ready immediately when he gets up, he doesn't dwindle in bed and struggles to wake up:

Harry woke on the last day of the holidays, thinking that he would at least meet Ron and Hermione tomorrow, on the Hogwarts Express. He got up, dressed, went for a last look at the Firebolt, and was just wondering where he’d have lunch, when someone yelled his name and he turned.

(PoA, Ch4)

Even when he is startled awake by something happening:

Harry woke as suddenly as though he’d been hit in the face. Disoriented in the total darkness, he fumbled with his hangings — he could hear movements around him, and Seamus Finnigan’s voice from the other side of the room: “What’s going on?”

(PoA, Ch13)

Early next morning, Harry woke with a plan fully formed in his mind, as though his sleeping brain had been working on it all night. He got up, dressed in the pale dawn light, left the dormitory without waking Ron, and went back down to the deserted common room.

(GoF, Ch15)

And he doesn't really sleep in late (unless he didn't sleep at all the night before, which happens a few times). At least not that I could find. The only time he seems to be sleepy and wants to stay in bed lazily I could find is when he is given a dreamless sleep potion:

Harry took the goblet and drank a few mouthfuls. He felt himself becoming drowsy at once. Everything around him became hazy; the lamps around the hospital wing seemed to be winking at him in a friendly way through the screen around his bed; his body felt as though it was sinking deeper into the warmth of the feather matress. Before he could finish the potion, before he could say another word, his exhaustion had carried him off to sleep. Harry woke up, so warm, so very sleepy, that he didn’t open his eyes, wanting to drop off again. The room was still dimly lit; he was sure it was still nighttime and had a feeling that he couldn’t have been asleep very long.

(GoF, Ch36)

It also seems that once he's awake (even if very early) Harry struggles falling back asleep:

Harry fumbled for his alarm clock and looked at it. It was half past four. Cursing Peeves, he rolled over and tried to get back to sleep, but it was very difficult, now that he was awake, to ignore the sounds of the thunder rumbling overhead, the pounding of the wind against the castle walls, and the distant creaking of the trees in the Forbidden Forest. In a few hours he would be out on the Quidditch field, battling through that gale. Finally, he gave up any thought of more sleep, got up, dressed, picked up his Nimbus Two Thousand, and walked quietly out of the dormitory.

(PoA, Ch9)

And all of this makes sense. Trauma and PTSD can affect sleep very negatively. Since OotP, Harry has many uneasy, nightmare-filled nights:

Harry had a troubled night’s sleep. 

(OotP, Ch10)

In the meantime, he had nothing to look forward to but another restless, disturbed night, because even when he escaped nightmares about Cedric he had unsettling dreams about long dark corridors, all finishing in dead ends and locked doors, which he supposed had something to do with the trapped feeling he had when he was awake. 

(OotP, Ch1)

After two nights of little sleep, Harry’s senses seemed more alert than usual.

(DH, Ch19)

Actually, the nightmares and restless nights are there prior to OotP too, this kid is so traumatized:

Harry wished he could forget what he’d seen in the mirror as easily, but he couldn’t. He started having nightmares. Over and over again he dreamed about his parents disappearing in a flash of green light, while a high voice cackled with laughter.

(PS, Ch13)

As I mentioned, Harry doesn't sleep well when he's anxious, stressed, or excited, and for this kid, it's basically always. So, I think Harry tends to wake up on the earlier side of things and is capable of functioning decently (if angrier) on little to no sleep.

Since I was looking for info on Harry's sleep, apparently, depending on the position he falls asleep in, he snores, loudly:

Harry Potter was snoring loudly. He had been sitting in a chair beside his bedroom window for the best part of four hours, staring out at the darkening street, and had finally fallen asleep with one side of his face pressed against the cold windowpane, his glasses askew and his mouth wide open.

(HBP, Ch3)

(As a general note, Ron and Neville snore too)

[fuckrowling]

Hot take: Seamus never thought Harry was lying in fifth year

This is my most controversial opinion but I think canon backs me up!!!!!!! If you actually go through the scene, there's not all that much to back up that Seamus genuinely thinks Harry is insane, but there IS an awful lot to back up that Seamus is saying stupid things because he's getting upset and defensive.

Starting at the very beginning... Dean is the one who starts this fight, for apparently no reason? Not sure what his problem is tbh x

Obviously you can just read this entire next bit as just Seamus being thick but to me, his body language (yellow) and speech patterns (pink) indicate hesitation that is usually super out of character for Seamus... almost like he's not confident in his stance.

Seamus gives Harry the opportunity to explain himself and it obviously makes sense why Harry doesn't, but that's more to do with Harry trying to process seeing someone die rather than Seamus saying anything that's explicitly provoking/doubting Harry.

Throughout the scene Seamus stays on the defence; he's not accusing Harry of anything yet, whilst Harry (again, understandably for what he's been through) is using fighting language and actions - I didn't bother highlighting because the entire thing would be highlighted.

When Ron asks what's going on, Seamus' accusation isn't (yet) that Harry is a nutjob who's pushing his Voldemort conspiracy theories. He's still on the defence and the accusation that he is making is objectively true... we've just read half a page of Harry having a go at Seamus' mother. Again the body language is super tense and explosive. Harry stays aggressive and it's only after all this that Seamus calls Harry mad, but he's doing so in agreement with Harry. The only time in the entire book where he calls Harry crazy is when Harry continually insists that Seamus thinks he's crazy.

Seamus spends the rest of the book basically just avoiding Harry but notably when he apologises to Harry (in the loosest sense of the word) he never actually says that he didn't believe Harry before, just that he DOES believe Harry after the release of the Quibbler article, and has sent it to his mam to convince her to believe Harry too. Obviously Seamus is a very proud character (evident even in just this scene 😂) so it's perfectly likely that he just doesn't want to admit that he was wrong. But I don't think a reading where he always believed Harry (and was just holding a grudge) is unreasonable either, and this is definitely how I read it.

!!! Extra Context !!! Again, obviously, this wasn't the most tactful thing for Seamus to do. Maybe he shouldn't have backed his mother so hard. But from the fourth book onwards, it's a really difficult time for everybody, not just Harry. In regards to Seamus specifically, there's a lot of things that I think are important to bear in mind. He's one of only a handful of Irish students at Hogwarts during a time where hibernophobia was really bad in GB and there was a civil war going on in the north, so I think it's only natural that he retreats back to his family for support and safety. Also, as far as I've gathered, rural Ireland is quite a tight-knit, community oriented society. I think the mindset of deferring to your parents and representing your community before your own views, however toxic, makes perfect sense in this context although obviously Harry - not to pull the orphan card here - wouldn't understand it.

It's not even like Seamus seems to agree with his mother most of the time 😂 Obviously it's clear that he doesn't want OTHER people having a go at her, but we can go back to the first extract where Dean literally says that Seamus has had a crappy summer - he's clearly not been gleefully plotting to throw this all in Harry's face. In year six, as well, Seamus has a very public argument with his mother about being allowed to stay at Hogwarts for Dumbledore's funeral (they come to a compromise, which I read as their relationship healing...)

Conclusion: Seamus doesn't think Harry's a nutjob, he just thinks he's a dick and can hold a grudge like a motherfucker.

[fuckrowling]

Reminder that when Harry James Potter was given more accurate instructions and a competent potions professor he made a perfect batch of an extremely complicated potion on the first try

Which makes sense since his mother was great at potions and the Potters were literally potioneers

But hey Snape did all he could and had to keep up appearances right?

[fuckrowling]

upon reflection nearly headless nick and harry were bros honestly like not only did harry skip a delicious feast to attend nick’s deathday party but also when sirius died the first person harry really spoke to about it was nick to ask him about the possibility of sirius becoming a ghost? and like harry always makes a point of speaking to nick at every welcoming feast and in turn nick always looks out for harry when he’s up to shenanigans and gets really offended anytime anyone tries to question that he’s harry potter’s primary ghost friend and ally. a truly iconic friendship

[fuckrowling]

do you think that some of Harry's actions could be more than simply abuse? like i often take note of his small social groups/dislike of social situations, inability to regulate/understand emotion, lack of filter, hyperfixation on things, etc. and interpret him as an autistic character. i think there's also mirrors between magic itself and neurodivergence (just in the same way magic is often a metaphor for queerness within media), as something that someone is born with and has to hide from the wider world, historically regarded as "freakish", and the statistics that show that neurodivergent kids are more likely to be abused.

it could just be me projecting (as im autistic myself), but i'm curious if you've got any thoughts on this?

Honestly, I personally headcanon Harry as ADHD (because I have ADHD and am familiar with it), so I really get it.

How he interacts with people, his being so smart, but very unfocused in classes, his tendency to fail himself by overthinking things (when it comes to spell casting), and his issues with emotional regulation and occasionally understanding others (He's very compassionate, but he isn't the best at actually knowing to how to approach people. Like, not understanding why Cho was crying after Cedric died or just throwing Ron's blanket over Hermione in Deathly Hallows after Ron left because he didn’t know how to comfort her. Or in OotP when he saw Lavender and Praviti giggling about him, and he was sure it was about what the Prophet wrote and not that he got hot over the summer. He can be super awkward like that) can all be very easily read as Harry having some kind of neurodivergence.

I think that's a super valid reading of his character regardless of the type of neurodivergent you think he is. I mean, it's the 90s and the Wizarding World, so it's not like he'd ever get a diagnosis. Neither he nor anyone else is going to consider it, I mean, as bad as the muggle world at the time is about neurodivergence, the Wizarding World is probably worse.

Now, I'm not sure about magic in the Wizarding World being easily read as an allegory to autism (or anything similar). Like, you can read it however you want, but I don't personally see this treatment of magic as a whole.

I actually think the 'Harry is neurodivergent headcanon' extends to how he interacts with magic in an intuitive way that goes against how the textbooks teach but is easier for him. Like, I truly believe that one of the reasons he doesn't bother studying much is because how magic is thought about by most people is not how Harry understands it, and if someone only bothered to explain things to him in his own terms instead of the textbook terms he'd be the second coming of Merlin.

But Harry himself being neurodivergent is something I am 100% behind.

[fuckrowling]

Since you head cannon Harry as having adhd do you think either of his parents could have had it as well

Yes, James:

“Where ’d you get that?” “Nicked it,” said James casually. He started playing with the Snitch, allowing it to fly as much as a foot away and seizing it again; his reflexes were excellent. Wormtail watched him in awe. [...] James was still playing with the Snitch, letting it zoom farther and farther away, almost escaping but always grabbed at the last second. Wormtail was watching him with his mouth open. Every time James made a particularly difficult catch, Wormtail gasped and applauded. After five minutes of this, Harry wondered why James didn’t tell Wormtail to get a grip on himself, but James seemed to be enjoying the attention. 

This is some type of fidgeting if I've ever seen one. (James is throwing the snitch for himself, Peter's reactions are just a bonus)

I mean, James is constantly moving or doing something, whether it be playing with the snitch, running a hand through his own hair, or doodling things on the margin of his parchment. He also tends to be quite restless from what we see of him. So I feel like, if either of them has ADHD, it's James.

That being said, I don't think he has a severe case of it. I don't think Harry's case is particularly severe either. I think Harry has mild ADHD that seems worse because of PTSD symptoms that get mixed up in there, so it's not like a clear-cut diagnosis just a fun headcanon.

[fuckrowling]

casual reminder that sirius black’s last words to his godson were “harry, take the prophecy, grab neville and run!”.

it’s not mistaking harry for james, as the movies showed. and the last words he ever uttered were a taunt, daring bellatrix to do better.

in the heat of the battle, sirius ensured harry and neville were well out of the line of fire before jumping into the fray himself—he died knowing he’s kept harry safe until the very end as best as he could.

[fuckrowling]

why dudley redemption it makes a lot of sense to me in the second book we know he cares enough to remember what Harry's birthday is. yes he uses this as a chance to mock him but he knows it regardless. He also changes drastically after the dementors my favorite theory is because it shows him himself the raw and ugly selfish person he is and that is terrible enough to cause change

(Referring to this post)

Yeah, Dudley's redemption makes sense because he was a child, and he learned, and he improved. And yes, him remembering Harry's birthday is a sign of care, roundabout as it is.

What I find fun about Dudley's redemption is how terrified of magic he is. Like, his parents teach him to be scared of magic and hate it. And, I mean, he was harmed by magic multiple times:

But he had finally gone too far. Hagrid seized his umbrella and whirled it over his head, “NEVER — ” he thundered, “— INSULT — ALBUS — DUMBLEDORE He brought the umbrella swishing down through the air to point at Dudley — there was a flash of violet light, a sound like a firecracker, a sharp squeal, and the next second, Dudley was dancing on the spot with his hands clasped over his fat bottom, howling in pain. When he turned his back on them, Harry saw a curly pig’s tail poking through a hole in his trousers.

(PS)

Harry wheeled around. Dudley was no longer standing behind his parents. He was kneeling beside the coffee table, and he was gagging and sputtering on a foot-long, purple, slimy thing that was protruding from his mouth. One bewildered second later, Harry realized that the foot-long thing was Dudley’s tongue — and that a brightly colored toffee wrapper lay on the floor before him. Aunt Petunia hurled herself onto the ground beside Dudley, seized the end of his swollen tongue, and attempted to wrench it out of his mouth; unsurprisingly, Dudley yelled and sputtered worse than ever, trying to fight her off. Uncle Vernon was bellowing and waving his arms around, and Mr. Weasley had to shout to make himself heard.

(GoF)

He could not believe what had just happened. Dementors here, in Little Whinging . . . Dudley lay curled up on the ground, whimpering and shaking.

(OotP)

And yet, he's never really scared of Harry and actually grows to have respect for Harry after he saves him from the dementors. I just really like that for all his fear of magic. He doesn't fear Harry. Not really.

And, we see his position on Harry change, he has his own subtle little arc of realising his parents are full of shit:

“Er — no, they don’t,” said Harry. “They think I’m a waste of space, actually, but I’m used to — ” “I don’t think you’re a waste of space.” If Harry had not seen Dudley’s lips move, he might not have believed it. As it was, he stared at Dudley for several seconds before accepting that it must have been his cousin who had spoken; for one thing, Dudley had turned red. Harry was embarrassed and astonished himself.

(DH)

And when Dumbledore calls Vernon and Petunia out in HBP (quite late, on his part), Harry assumes Dudley is stupid:

Dudley was frowning slightly, as though he was still trying to work out when he had ever been mistreated. Uncle Vernon looked as though he had something stuck in his throat; Aunt Petunia, however, was oddly flushed.

(HBP)

But I think Dudley was actually considering Dumbledore's words here and taking them to heart. I think he frowned because he was actually thinking about it. Becouse he got what Dumbledore meant.

I can't really get behind that theory for what Dudley saw, personally. I don't think that's the case since it's not the sort of thing we know other characters (Harry) see. Dementors make you relive your worst memories (his parents' death and later the graveyard, in Harry's case), not the thing you need to see for your character development.

I don't know what Dudley saw, but I'm sure he saw a specific moment, a memory that was his worst moment. The moment he, himself suffered the most. I consider the situation with the tongue-swelling toffee or any of the other times Dudley suffered at the hands of magic to be likely candidates. So, no, I don't think Dudley improved because of what the dementors showed him. I think his character development happened because Harry bothered to save him. Harry acted in a way that contradicted everything Dudley's parents said about him and his magic. Harry used his magic to save Dudley. And I think that was the fact that really set Dudley on his small arc.

That moment proved to Dudley that Harry was an inherently good person and that magic could be used to save lives (his life). It basically gave Dudley undeniable proof his parents lied to him.

I mean, Dudley makes it clear Harry's actions of saving his life were a big deal for him:

“Well . . . er . . . thanks, Dudley.” Again, Dudley appeared to grapple with thoughts too unwieldy for expression before mumbling, “You saved my life.”

(DH)

So I belive that was the source of his arc.

And I think it's interesting. Like, I won't say Dudley is a character I particularly like, but I understand him, and I think he has a small redemption. Like, I can't see post-books Harry being super close to Dudley, but I like to think they chose to meet up again and try to have some familial connection. Not anything super close, but, it would be something, yk?

I also think an adult Dudley would not be very close to his parents. Like, he'd see them for holidays and stuff, but these meetings would always be tense, especially when he brings up the question of why Harry isn't there as he did in DH:

“Why isn’t he coming with us?” Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia froze where they stood, staring at Dudley as though he had just expressed a desire to become a ballerina. “What?” said Uncle Vernon loudly. “Why isn’t he coming too?” asked Dudley [...] They heard the front door open, but Dudley did not move and after a few faltering steps Aunt Petunia stopped too. “What now?” barked Uncle Vernon, reappearing in the doorway. It seems that Dudley was struggling with concepts too difficult to put into words. After several moments of apparently painful internal struggle he said, “But where’s he going to go?” Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon looked at each other. It was clear that Dudley was frightening them. Hestia Jones broke the silence.

(DH)

It makes sense to me, at least that Dudley's relationship with his parents would go more strained and that he'll try to keep in touch with Harry. That he'd feel like he needs to and eventually they'll get along well enough. Again, I don't think Harry and Dudley would ever be super close, but it would be something.

[fuckrowling]

boys in bedrooms 

[fuckrowling]

I’m here to give you a doodle of Ron and Rose escorting a spider out of her room. How’s your day going?