slytherinstag

[slytherinstag]

Yes Harry is OOC in Cursed Child.

I see this discussion across multiple social media’s, debating whether Harry James potter was OOC in the cursed child. I believe he was and I’ll try to explain why I believe that.

He’s not the only character that was butcher almost all of the adult characters (Ron, Hermione, McGonagall, poor Cedric etc.) were. And I think I know why. To put it simply: ADULT BAD! ANGSTY TEENAGER GOOD! The original series kinda did the same thing. Most adults in Harry Potter were incompetent or just couldn’t help Harry because Harry was the chosen one. Quite literally no other wizard could defeat Voldemort except for him. And due to plot reasons if there was a capable adult then a lot of their adventures would be stopped which would make a pretty boring plot.

CC didn’t seem like it was written from a place of loving or even understanding the characters and yes I do is that JKR wasn’t the only writer. It’s why the best part of CC is Scorpius because he’s an original character we know nothing about.

Let’s start off strong with the most infamous quote from Cursed Child.

To be fair, this isn’t a horribly intentioned as both sides make it out to be. Albus says that Harry not having a father wasn’t unlucky, kinda insinuating he wished he also was fatherless but he clarified he just wished that Harry wasn’t his father. Harry ‘sees red’ and says he wishes there are times Albus wasnt his son. Then he immediately takes it back but Albus takes his word to heart.

And honestly, I know majority of the fandom despise Harry saying it think he’s evil but for one moment I’ll defend CC’s version of Harry. Even if he was a regular dad with absolutely no trauma, Albus hurt him. When you became an adult you don’t suddenly lose all your emotions. Yes, if your son says he wishes you weren’t his dad that could hurt. He’s still human.

But to be totally honest it was still a shitty thing to say and yes it was out of character for Harry to say that.

An argument for why Harry isn’t actually OOC in CC was that he has ‘anger issues’ and his trauma causes him to lashes. Trauma effects people in different ways and that’s not how Harry’s trauma manifests. People with trauma react in this different ways and this is simply not Harry. ‘But in OOTP-’ Not even in OOTP did Harry ever say anything remotely as hurtful to Ron or Hermione, even when he was isolated and ignored in an abusive home he never says that he hated them or denounced them as friends but instead ranted about how much he hated staying at the Dursleys and how they were wrong about leaving him alone.

There’s a reason why many people refer to OOTP Harry as ‘caps lock Harry’ and that’s because he’s not usually like that. Although ‘caps lock Harry’ is my favourite Harry, he’s the anomaly, mostly due to the events of the graveyard and the wizarding world believing he’s a liar and his constant nightmares of that said event, he was also being forced to carve ‘I must to not tell lies’ in his hand etc. etc. Due to this extremely stressful environment it caused Harry to be agitated and constantly on edge.

I hate that the fandom has turned Harry into this hothead which he isn’t. A lot of Harry snark is kept in his own head, most of the times when he’s annoyed with Ron and Hermione bickering he keeps it in his head. I literally can’t think of a single time Harry has ever denounced his loved ones even when it hurt He isn’t vindictive and easily forgave those he loved.

The problem I have with the quote is that Harry Potter would never say that to his child. ‘But he had trauma-’ NEVER. He knew first hand how words could sting you from the Dursleys and as I said, Harry wasn’t careless with his words. His greatest desire was to have a family and when he got that family he suddenly started to be cruel because his son was a little shit? Not my Harry.

Apart from the the infamous quote Harry to using his powers at the Ministry to bend rules- this is behavior worthy of Lucius Malfoy not Harry Potter. Using his power at the ministry to strong arm Hogwarts (REMEMBER HOW BAD IT WAS WHEN FUDGE DID THAT). Insults Minerva by claiming she "Doesn't understand how he feels since she doesn't have kids". This is just insulting to Harry’s character. If there’s one person Harry respects the most out of the entire franchise it’s McGonagall, that was unwavering throughout. He even TORTURED someone for disrespecting her and yet they wrote Harry himself disrespecting McGonagall??? If that’s not OOC, I don’t know what is.

Also the fact that Harry repeats what fudge (an incompetent adult) reinforces that adult characters were written as incompetent for the sake of plot so the teenagers could have an active role which sacrifices his entire character and destroys any likability he have.

He also HATED his fame, in all seven books yet suddenly in cursed child he doesn’t. And he would never, ever bully his kids, wife, and McGonagall with his fame and into his shadow. Why the hell did they write that he liked fame?

Also it’s implied that Harry is prejudiced against Slytherins??? Since when? Didn’t the epilogue in DH show that Harry didn’t care which house Albus was in as Severus Snape, the guy Albus Potter was named after, was the most bravest man he ever met. But suddenly he prejudiced and acting like a literal monster and isolating Albus and believing the crazy rumours about Scorpius. (You’ll never guess who else and crazy and horrid rumours throughout all their years at hogwarts.) Genuinely who is this man.

Oh and the fact that Harry's scar starts hurting again. Which is impossible, since he is not a horcrux anymore.

Now let’s speed run the rest of the adult characters that were also butchered by CC.

Hermione Granger: Choose which sentence describes Hermione best: a) someone who will become the worst teacher just because she didn’t marry Ron, b) someone who is so dumb that she doesn’t even recognize most basic polyjuice ingredient (something she brewed flawlessly at 12), c) someone who stayed single forever because some boy she had a crush on (at FOURTEEN!!!) didn’t act jealous towards her. If you chose none of the above, give yourself a pat on the back. For the sake of the new main character she was dumbed down so that Hermione Granger the smartest witch in the whole franchise could be outsmarted by 14 year olds.

Why is Hermione’s success based on if she could date Ron. Are they seriously trying to convince that Hermione would never achieve her dreams if Ron didn’t get with her. Hard disagree, if the writers ever even tried to write a teen girl they’d know what it’d be a big deal at the moment fur her but she’d get over. As I keep saying she’s only 14!!!

Cedric diggory: one of the most kindest characters. He never felt resentful towards Harry that he had to share being a Hogwarts Champion, defending Harry against those stupid ‘Potter stink’ badges.

So honourable, even though he got there first was willing to lose for honour. Are you expecting me to read this and believe that Cedric Diggory would be a death eater because he was humiliated once… This was probably the second worst mischaracterisations of CC. The most honoruable man in Harry potter becomes a death eater due the most stupidest reasons.

Saving the worst for last: Ron. Ron is not a background character; he is not there for the funny lines and being a cheap caricature of what Fred Wealsey was.

Would Ron “I Am A Chessmaster & A Under-utilised Strategical Thinker, a child solider and ex auror" Weasley barge into a room WITH A WAND POINTING IN THE WRONG WAY???

Would Ron “I Got Poisoned To Death Just Because Of Love Potion Consumption” Weasley gift HIS NEPHEW THE SAME DATE-RAPE DRUG as a joke to get some girls for fun???

Would Ron “I Overcame My Insecurities And Am A Good Man" Weasley get drunk with Neville Longbottom at the pub and be a superficial idiot finding Delphi Diggory a “cracking one" type of attractive in front of his own family??? Siriusly, whhaaaaa???

I dont know what’s worse, the movies which gave all the good Ron lines to Hermione and other characters, and made him a lazy pig or the play, with their obsession of Redeemed Draco and his adorkable son Scorpius by tearing down Ron and Rose Weasley??? You tell me.

(Don’t get me started on Panju Weasley, I think this franchise just doesn’t know how to name Asian characters.)

[slytherinstag]

Heyy… I’m frequently seeing your posts under the Harmione tag. Could you please not tag it Harmione. Idk if you’re new to tumblr but there’s an ‘anti Harmione’ tag as the Harmione tag is for shippers. Not Romione shippers and not people who don’t like Harmione.

(Side note: I see soooo many people bashing Harry. Infact the person you just rebloged has a shed Harry calling him a boring mc etc. they even hate Luna lol)

I don't think I have ever seen a harry bashing romione fanfic. Literally never in my life. In all fics he is either a supportive friend or he is not present much.

But in 80% Harmony fanfics(and I am being generous with that %) Ron is bashed.

If you want to stay away from good characters getting dragged down you can never associate with hhr shipper. They would much rather support Draco, a toxic Racist classist body shaming deatheater who tried to use crucio on harry and wished SA on Hermione than support Ron.

They disgust me so much. Also they give such classist vibe. If you are financially struggling you can be sure they will look down on you lol

[slytherinstag]

Yes Harry is OOC in Cursed Child.

I see this discussion across multiple social media’s, debating whether Harry James potter was OOC in the cursed child. I believe he was and I’ll try to explain why I believe that.

He’s not the only character that was butcher almost all of the adult characters (Ron, Hermione, McGonagall, poor Cedric etc.) were. And I think I know why. To put it simply: ADULT BAD! ANGSTY TEENAGER GOOD! The original series kinda did the same thing. Most adults in Harry Potter were incompetent or just couldn’t help Harry because Harry was the chosen one. Quite literally no other wizard could defeat Voldemort except for him. And due to plot reasons if there was a capable adult then a lot of their adventures would be stopped which would make a pretty boring plot.

CC didn’t seem like it was written from a place of loving or even understanding the characters and yes I do is that JKR wasn’t the only writer. It’s why the best part of CC is Scorpius because he’s an original character we know nothing about.

Let’s start off strong with the most infamous quote from Cursed Child.

To be fair, this isn’t a horribly intentioned as both sides make it out to be. Albus says that Harry not having a father wasn’t unlucky, kinda insinuating he wished he also was fatherless but he clarified he just wished that Harry wasn’t his father. Harry ‘sees red’ and says he wishes there are times Albus wasnt his son. Then he immediately takes it back but Albus takes his word to heart.

And honestly, I know majority of the fandom despise Harry saying it think he’s evil but for one moment I’ll defend CC’s version of Harry. Even if he was a regular dad with absolutely no trauma, Albus hurt him. When you became an adult you don’t suddenly lose all your emotions. Yes, if your son says he wishes you weren’t his dad that could hurt. He’s still human.

But to be totally honest it was still a shitty thing to say and yes it was out of character for Harry to say that.

An argument for why Harry isn’t actually OOC in CC was that he has ‘anger issues’ and his trauma causes him to lashes. Trauma effects people in different ways and that’s not how Harry’s trauma manifests. People with trauma react in this different ways and this is simply not Harry. ‘But in OOTP-’ Not even in OOTP did Harry ever say anything remotely as hurtful to Ron or Hermione, even when he was isolated and ignored in an abusive home he never says that he hated them or denounced them as friends but instead ranted about how much he hated staying at the Dursleys and how they were wrong about leaving him alone.

There’s a reason why many people refer to OOTP Harry as ‘caps lock Harry’ and that’s because he’s not usually like that. Although ‘caps lock Harry’ is my favourite Harry, he’s the anomaly, mostly due to the events of the graveyard and the wizarding world believing he’s a liar and his constant nightmares of that said event, he was also being forced to carve ‘I must to not tell lies’ in his hand etc. etc. Due to this extremely stressful environment it caused Harry to be agitated and constantly on edge.

I hate that the fandom has turned Harry into this hothead which he isn’t. A lot of Harry snark is kept in his own head, most of the times when he’s annoyed with Ron and Hermione bickering he keeps it in his head. I literally can’t think of a single time Harry has ever denounced his loved ones even when it hurt He isn’t vindictive and easily forgave those he loved.

The problem I have with the quote is that Harry Potter would never say that to his child. ‘But he had trauma-’ NEVER. He knew first hand how words could sting you from the Dursleys and as I said, Harry wasn’t careless with his words. His greatest desire was to have a family and when he got that family he suddenly started to be cruel because his son was a little shit? Not my Harry.

Apart from the the infamous quote Harry to using his powers at the Ministry to bend rules- this is behavior worthy of Lucius Malfoy not Harry Potter. Using his power at the ministry to strong arm Hogwarts (REMEMBER HOW BAD IT WAS WHEN FUDGE DID THAT). Insults Minerva by claiming she "Doesn't understand how he feels since she doesn't have kids". This is just insulting to Harry’s character. If there’s one person Harry respects the most out of the entire franchise it’s McGonagall, that was unwavering throughout. He even TORTURED someone for disrespecting her and yet they wrote Harry himself disrespecting McGonagall??? If that’s not OOC, I don’t know what is.

Also the fact that Harry repeats what fudge (an incompetent adult) reinforces that adult characters were written as incompetent for the sake of plot so the teenagers could have an active role which sacrifices his entire character and destroys any likability he have.

He also HATED his fame, in all seven books yet suddenly in cursed child he doesn’t. And he would never, ever bully his kids, wife, and McGonagall with his fame and into his shadow. Why the hell did they write that he liked fame?

Also it’s implied that Harry is prejudiced against Slytherins??? Since when? Didn’t the epilogue in DH show that Harry didn’t care which house Albus was in as Severus Snape, the guy Albus Potter was named after, was the most bravest man he ever met. But suddenly he prejudiced and acting like a literal monster and isolating Albus and believing the crazy rumours about Scorpius. (You’ll never guess who else and crazy and horrid rumours throughout all their years at hogwarts.) Genuinely who is this man.

Oh and the fact that Harry's scar starts hurting again. Which is impossible, since he is not a horcrux anymore.

Now let’s speed run the rest of the adult characters that were also butchered by CC.

Hermione Granger: Choose which sentence describes Hermione best: a) someone who will become the worst teacher just because she didn’t marry Ron, b) someone who is so dumb that she doesn’t even recognize most basic polyjuice ingredient (something she brewed flawlessly at 12), c) someone who stayed single forever because some boy she had a crush on (at FOURTEEN!!!) didn’t act jealous towards her. If you chose none of the above, give yourself a pat on the back. For the sake of the new main character she was dumbed down so that Hermione Granger the smartest witch in the whole franchise could be outsmarted by 14 year olds.

Why is Hermione’s success based on if she could date Ron. Are they seriously trying to convince that Hermione would never achieve her dreams if Ron didn’t get with her. Hard disagree, if the writers ever even tried to write a teen girl they’d know what it’d be a big deal at the moment fur her but she’d get over. As I keep saying she’s only 14!!!

Cedric diggory: one of the most kindest characters. He never felt resentful towards Harry that he had to share being a Hogwarts Champion, defending Harry against those stupid ‘Potter stink’ badges.

So honourable, even though he got there first was willing to lose for honour. Are you expecting me to read this and believe that Cedric Diggory would be a death eater because he was humiliated once… This was probably the second worst mischaracterisations of CC. The most honoruable man in Harry potter becomes a death eater due the most stupidest reasons.

Saving the worst for last: Ron. Ron is not a background character; he is not there for the funny lines and being a cheap caricature of what Fred Wealsey was.

Would Ron “I Am A Chessmaster & A Under-utilised Strategical Thinker, a child solider and ex auror" Weasley barge into a room WITH A WAND POINTING IN THE WRONG WAY???

Would Ron “I Got Poisoned To Death Just Because Of Love Potion Consumption” Weasley gift HIS NEPHEW THE SAME DATE-RAPE DRUG as a joke to get some girls for fun???

Would Ron “I Overcame My Insecurities And Am A Good Man" Weasley get drunk with Neville Longbottom at the pub and be a superficial idiot finding Delphi Diggory a “cracking one" type of attractive in front of his own family??? Siriusly, whhaaaaa???

I dont know what’s worse, the movies which gave all the good Ron lines to Hermione and other characters, and made him a lazy pig or the play, with their obsession of Redeemed Draco and his adorkable son Scorpius by tearing down Ron and Rose Weasley??? You tell me.

(Don’t get me started on Panju Weasley, I think this franchise just doesn’t know how to name Asian characters.)

[slytherinstag]

I haven’t finished it yet but this is such a good Drarry fic. The writing is amazing. It’s basically Harry who slips into depression after the war and the way his depression is written is so relatable.

[slytherinstag]

This is the motivation I needed to continue my fanfic

I'm writing my first fic, so are there any tips to write Harry so I don't Butcher his character, lol

Like, I can try and give advice, but writing is such a personal journey, and it can work very differently for every writer. Like, what works for me and helps me to stick to his character might not work for you.

What I can tell you is that the first HP fic I ever wrote had a Harry I will now consider OOC.

It's not the worst I've seen, but I know I'm better at it now than 4 years ago when I wrote that story because I know him better, and I became a better writer. But that first story has an OOC Harry, an OOC Voldemort, and, well, a lot of other characters are OOC there, too. I'm pretty sure Sirius is the only one I consider somewhat in-character in that story, lol.

I can explain what I do, which again might not work for you. The only way you'd know what does work for you is if you try different methods, experiment, and learn. Becouse if you know what you're doing and you're a good enough writer, there aren't a lot of rules you can't break or characterization you can't pull off. And to become a good writer there is no way other than writing. And reading. A lot.

You just gotta start writing and figure out what methods work for you to get the characters the way you envision them.

Also, please remember fanfic is supposed to be fun. I might be super picky about Harry's characterization, but I promise you there are a lot of readers who aren't and would be happy to read a good story even if Harry isn't characterized perfectly. As I said, I wrote some bad OOC fic in my life (40+ bad wips that would never see the light of day). These bad fics were necessary so I could get good. Becouse to get good, you need to start somewhere. So, as I said, write, don't be scared of making mistakes, figure out what works for you, and trial and error your way to victory.

That being said, this is my list of what I do to write any character consistently and in character, not just Harry, (and some writing advice in general, really):

1. Get the mannerism right

What I mean by that is that characters, like human beings, are capable of a lot under the right circumstances. When writing a fic a character isn't going to stay the same as in canon if their situation changes, so I find it more useful to think of how characters do/say things rather than what they do. Basically, any character can do anything and it would feel in character if the circumstances and how they go about it make sense.

For me, I know dialogue is one of my strengths as a writer, and I put effort into learning characters' dialects and speech patterns. Harry would use the word "bloke" and not "guy". He never uses "Bloody hell" or "Blimey". Harry's swears are often censored from the books, so I take it Harry says "fuck" or "sodding hell". When he thinks mid-sentence he says "er..." often. Harry, in general, doesn't speak as often as Ron or Hermione.

Ron, on the other hand, says "bloody hell" and "Blimey" often. He also says "mate" a lot. Hermione rarely shortens words. Often in the books, she would say "we are" rather than "we're" and is generally more formal in her speech. She also uses more words than both boys to get the same point across.

All these little patterns of speech add a lot to the characters feeling like themselves. The choice of words matters more than what they're actually saying, a lot of times. The what can be heavily influenced by the circumstances but the how should be familiar.

Let's take a reaction of surprise to the same good thing happening:

"Blimey, I can't believe it," said Ron, grinning from ear to ear.

"Oh, that's wonderful," Hermione said, smiling and turning to Ron and Harry, "You can see this too, right?"

"That's brilliant," said Harry, grinning at the sight of [thing].

So, these sorts of details just add a lot to characterization and I find that if you can pull the voice and mannerisms off, you can pull off almost any actions, and the character would feel in character as long as it's not outrageous.

2. "Character Bible"

I usually have a little "character bible" which is like 6-10 commandments of how the character needs to behave (key personality traits and behavior), and when I'm editing, I go back to it. What you choose to put in your "character bible" can change depending on what matters to you more as a writer. For Harry, my character bible is something like this:

Says more in his head than outside his head.

Snarks back when threatened, hot-headed when in emotional distress, doesn't say anything if it's a possibility (unless he likes who he's talking to).

Wit. Wit. Wit. (add witty remarks in narration or dialogue if the opportunity arises. Sarcastic humor is good for Harry's narration).

Very talented and smart, very low self-worth

Awkward, but no one but him knows this

"I won't!" (He does not do well with authority or direct orders. The quote is from GoF when he resists the imperious curse)

Trust issues galore (he doesn't really trust anybody besides Sirius. Only in HBP does he start to tell Ron and Hermione everything).

Selectively observant (Harry observes what he cares about. If he doesn't care, it might as well not have been there) and super judgmental in his narration.

Wants to be left alone and be content and safe.

3. Edit.

I'm sorry to say it, but reading through your own writing again and again and fixing it up every time helps so much. After I finish writing a chapter I take a break to go to bed and then come back the next day and reread the chapter with new eyes and correct everything that seems out of character, any phrasing that feels awkward, spelling and grammar errors if I notice them. But this first go-through immediately after is mostly for characterization, voice, and plot.

In general, during a first draft, your goal is to get it written, making it good is what editing is for. That's why my mantra during the process of writing the first draft is: "I'll fix it in post".

4. Let the character take the wheel

This is more specific to my own writing method, but, you know how there are method actors? So I'm a method writer. Sorta, I'm half-joking.

What I mean by this, is that I get to know a character by writing them (a lot) and then I don't really need to think about it. Like, I just write what feels right to the character. Like, whenever I'm unsure about a scene, I'd go: "Harry take the wheel" and just type what the character thinks, in my mind. It's kind of hard to explain, but it's sort of discovery writing in small limited doses, essentially. I sort of let the character take over for the scene. Like I'm not writing the story, just typing it. Kinda like demonic possession, just, not.

I know it's not really the characters and that I'm writing it, I just find this process hard to explain. When you write a character a lot and often, you can become capable of writing them naturally. Almost like breathing. Like writing your own narration, except, it isn't. But it takes effort to get to this point.

Again, this won't necessarily work for everyone, but it's what I found works for me.

5. Unsure? Open the books

The books exist and if you're unsure how Harry would react to something, just, check. I have an ebook version of GoF open when I'm writing my fic, which takes place in GoF. So, if I'm unsure how Harry would phrase something or react to something, I just check.

6. Get a Beta Reader

My best advice though, is to find a fandom friend to beta read for you, someone you trust to tell you if you're writing OOC and help you fix it (preferably they would also be a writer). Becouse sometimes you don't see it yourself after you just wrote it. My beta for my fic also helped me write my novel, and she knows me as a writer, I know her as a writer, and she knows what sort of things she needs to pay attention to in my writing and vice versa.

That first OOC fic I mentioned? I let her read it, and she told me that the pacing is crap and Harry is acting off (in nicer words, she was very polite about it, but that's what she meant). And that sort of feedback is invaluable for improving and I'm incredibly grateful to her.

Sometimes, you need to hear the truth, even when it's unpleasant, that's how growth happens.

(Now she practically never comments on characterization or pacing, improvement!)

7. Perfect is the enemy of good

I don't think my characterization of Harry is perfect. I don't think my writing is perfect. Whenever I go back to edit, I always find more stuff to fix. But there is a point where you gotta stop fixing it and just post it. Because you'll never know how it will go if you don't do it.

At some point, after all the editing, you just need to declare your work is "good enough" (having a beta really helps in telling when "good enough" is, especially at first, since most writers tend to be hyper-critical of their own work). You'll always reread your work and think "oh, I could've wrote this line better" or "oh, that sounds wrong" even after you post it (but so could the best authors to ever live, I'm sure. It's just how it is).

So, It won't be perfect, nothing ever will. But it can still be great and amazing and make someone's day, even if it isn't "perfect".

So, don't be scared to make mistakes or butch it up on your first attempt, you're human, you're learning, and you can improve. But that can only happen if you start writing because nothing teaches better than hands-on experience.

[slytherinstag]

How it feels like Defending Harry against marauder’s fan who hate him because they think he’s boring, cursed child fans who hate because (even though he was ooc) they think he’s abusive. And golden trio fans who say he’s selfish. (He died for the wizarding world at 17.) And who knows what else. Some of y’all have the worst takes…