#I actually feel for Tom during Chamber of Secrets

[teddyniffler]

Every day I am reminded that Tom Riddle helped Ginny write that love poem to Harry.

Tom, bored of Ginny already and holding in his laughter: You could always compare his eyes to toads, they are green.

Ginny: His eyes are as green as ... a fresh pickled toad!

Tom, now crying with laughter: It's beautiful, Ginny.

Ginny: His Hair is as dark as a Blackboard. I wish he was mine...

(Tom: Kill me now)

Tom, oozing with hatred at Harry: How about 'He's really divine', as he must have god-like powers to stop You Know Who after all...

(Tom: I must know how he lived... how did he survive? I must meet this boy)

Tom, now seething in sarcasm: How about ending it with, something like, 'Hero who conquered the Dark Lord' that's a good ending.

(Tom: I wonder if anybody picks up on the Dark Lord part. I would love to get the girl's family framed for being my supporters...)

Tom, rolling his eyes: Okay Ginny, show me the finished poem please.

Ginny: His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad. His hair is as dark as a blackboard.I wish he was mine, he's really divine. The hero who conquered the Dark Lord. 🥰💝🥰

Tom, trying to rip out his own pages: Ginny, it's the best thing I've ever heard. He will just love it.

[saintsenara]

Spill the Stan is a death eater tea

thank you very much for the ask, anon!

i've been committed to believing ever since half-blood prince came out that stan shunpike is a genuine death eater - and not as crack, but as an example of how the series' politics flattening into a straightforward good-versus-evil narrative as the books reach their conclusion is at the detriment of what war, radicalisation, and resistance actually looks like.

stan's arrest in half-blood prince is unquestioningly presented in the text as nothing more than government corruption. there is never any suggestion that his charges are legitimate - arthur weasley tells us that he was imprisoned to let scrimgeour save face; harry then says this to scrimegour's face, and scrimgeour doesn't refute it.

but - more interestingly - nor is there any suggestion that stan's charges - illegitimate or not - might be plausible.

stan is arrested - to quote hermione - after he's "overheard talking about the death eaters' secret plans in a pub". all three members of the trio immediately decide that anything he's claimed to have said can be totally dismissed as just someone who is demonstrably grandiose and attention-seeking chatting shit.

and sure, stan clearly does love a nonsensical boast. i'm certainly not saying that i think that him - for example - claiming to be voldemort's right-hand man [and therefore in charge of some intricate, high-level, thrilling, and dangerous mission] would be anything close to the truth.

but i think it's really striking that none of the trio ever considers that stan might not only have been overheard talking about the death eaters' plans in a way which implied insider knowledge of voldemort's actions, but in a way which expressed ideological support for them.

that is to say, the trio don't learn of his arrest and assume that he's one of voldemort's ordinary foot soldiers making himself look more important than he is by pretending that he's a marked death eater in the dark lord's inner circle... they assume that any pro-voldemort sentiment he may have expressed isn't something he genuinely believes.

[which is then built upon in deathly hallows, when stan's appearance among voldemort's forces during the seven potters chase is dismissed by harry - without any real pushback - as being the result of him being under the imperius curse.]

the doylist text undoubtedly intends harry's interpretation of things to be understood as correct. throughout the series, harry is shown to be someone with incredibly good intuition when it comes to working out people's motivations and loyalties. his immediate dislike of characters such as draco malfoy, gilderoy lockhart, and dolores umbridge is entirely justified. his immediate trust in characters such as sirius is the same.

his only misjudgments relate to characters who are crucial to the narrative outside of his personal feelings towards them - harry's wrong to trust the teenage tom riddle in chamber of secrets, he’s wrong to trust the fake “moody” in goblet of fire, he’s wrong to trust “bathilda bagshot” in deathly hallows, and he is, of course, wrong about both snape and dumbledore.

since stan isn't important to the narrative outside of harry's own views, then, the reader is clearly intended to think that harry's assessment is right - which [given that arthur and harry's conversation about stan's illegitimate imprisonment comes the day before scrimgeour arrives at the burrow, tells him umbridge still works for the ministry, and tries to get him to be a poster-boy for the government] primes the reader to regard scrimgeour as an antagonist, his ministry as corrupt, and the state as fundamentally useless to the anti-voldemort cause.

[and - of course - it also makes the reader think of sirius, similarly falsely imprisoned by a ministry which was more concerned with looking effective than it was with justice.]

however...

throughout the series, the positive character trait which is harry's good intuition has a flip-side which is less so - that the judgements he reaches on people are self-serving. harry tends to regard people as good [and right] if they're nice to him personally and bad [and wrong] if they're cruel to him - and to be very, very unwilling to deviate from this black-and-white assessment of people unless he's forced into nuance by something he's unable to ignore.

the most obvious example of this in canon is the fact that harry is totally unwilling to criticise sirius' treatment of kreacher - because sirius is kind to him and harry loves him, and kreacher is unkind to him and harry loathes him - until the revelations about kreacher's involvement in retrieving the locket [and a series of stone-cold banger quotes from hermione] compel him to acknowledge that sirius could be a good man and simultaneously deserving of criticism for the absolute contempt he showed towards his slave.

[and harry will continue on this journey of learning to see people in shades of grey throughout deathly hallows - the conclusion of which depends on him being able to acknowledge both dumbledore and snape as flawed, contradictory people, neither wholly good nor wholly bad.]

harry's conviction that stan's arrest is illegitimate is rooted in this tendency towards making definitive, self-interested judgements without considering factors other than his own personal feelings on the matter. harry thinks that stan is ridiculous and irritating, and he also clearly thinks that he isn't very clever or sophisticated and that his lies are so over-the-top that they can always be spotted - and that this [plus the fact that stan is perfectly kind to him on the occasions they meet in canon] therefore means that he's fundamentally harmless, and anyone assuming that he would be capable of something dark is misguided at best.

but stan is also a young, working-class man [something the text communicates via how it writes him speaking with an accent], who's stuck in what is undoubtedly a low-paying, dead-end job, and who presumably lacks any connections who might help him advance beyond the limits his class-status sets for him.

[not least because - given how the text presents him as speaking and behaving - there's no way he went to hogwarts...]

for someone whose operation seems to have so much to do with the upper echelons of wizarding society - and whose posher supporters clearly believe, at least until deathly hallows, that his ultimate goal is pureblood oligarchy - it's really striking in canon that voldemort's support among the non-elite of wizarding britain seems to be considerable. the snatchers who capture the trio - for example - are all written with regional accents and/or speaking non-standard dialects of british english, which is the series' standard way of communicating to the reader that they're supposed to be understood as working class.

[and that their class-status is supposed to be understood as indicating that they lack a certain amount of sophistication and intelligence... how kind of you, joanne...]

the most plausible explanation - based on what we see in the text - for why and how snape was radicalised into becoming a death eater is to assume that voldemort offered him a way to transcend the limitations placed upon him by his blood-status, class-background, and financial situation in a society which is obsessed with blood, lineage, and correct adherence to elite social convention. and, connected to this, there are hints in canon - especially in deathly hallows - that voldemort and his regime are happy to be understood as populist.

[the "mudbloods steal magic" line put about by the muggleborn registration commission is clearly accompanied by "mudbloods steal your jobs and resources", for example - since "runcorn" - really harry in disguise - is congratulated for ousting the muggleborn dirk cresswell from his post so that a non-muggleborn man who thinks he deserves the position can feel "confident" that he'll get the job...]

due to the doylist text's massively unradical worldview, the thing the good guys are defending from voldemort is the status quo. the order of the phoenix's aim is not only to preserve the state and its institutions broadly unchanged, but to preserve the social structures of the wizarding world broadly unchanged as well [blood-supremacy is out post-voldemort, but the class-system clearly isn't] - and the text thinks that all will be well after the war not because the system is going to be radically torn down and made anew, but because the people in charge of it are good.

[the watsonian explanation for this is that the good guys are - with the exception of mundungus "working-class-and-therefore-feckless" fletcher - all from middle-class-or-above class-backgrounds and all beneficiaries of an elite education and the social cachet this confers, and that a certain lack of understanding of how the state is experienced by people who don't have this status often follows on from this.]

but i think it's interesting - and, tbh, important - to interrogate this more than canon does, and to recognise that there is a lot about the status quo the order is seeking to defend which places someone like stan not just on an uneven playing field, but buried underneath the pitch, with only his over-active imagination for company and no way of getting out.

and one way of doing this is to imagine that the death eaters - like many terrorist groups throughout history - recognise [while the order do not] that stan is someone stuck, greedily dreaming of power and success the status quo can't offer him, and decide to come along with a spade and dig him up...

[duc-kie]

Hi! I wanted to ask you if you have any hp or dsmp hcs? Ive been craving them for a while 😋

Stay hidrated and dont overwork yourself!

hii! tysm for the request! I’m not sure if this is what you wanted but here are some random hp nsfw hcs. there’s not a lot of people included but I really hope you enjoy anyway. if you wanted something/someone else im so sorry. love you stay safe!! <33

(includes tom riddle, mattheo riddle, draco malfoy, cedric diggory and harry potter)

———————————————————————

tom riddle

- he’s a VERY rough dom. no matter what mood he’s in you better listen to him and do what he tells you to or you’re in for a wild night.

- tom just gives off big dick energy and you can’t change my mind.

- he’s probably very experienced too. he’s not familiar with long term relationships (relationships in general) but definitely has a high body count.

-his aftercare wouldn’t be the best but he tries. he makes sure you know he loves you even tho he can’t actually say it.

- he has the most wild kinks ever. definitely has a thing for knives, bondage, spanking, spitting, slapping, BDSM etc. he would for sure carve his initials into your thigh.

- he’d love to receive head and face fuck you but I feel like he wouldn’t go down on you very often.

- he’s horny all the time. he’d fuck you anywhere and anytime he wants to.

- he would 100% tease you until you’re crying and begging for him to fuck you. likes to overstimulate you as well. he loves to see you squirm and whine under him.

- there’s not a single position you two haven’t tried yet. he loves to experiment, seeing which position makes you scream the most.

- his favourite places to fuck would be the chamber of secrets (idk I just feel like it makes sense lmao), his bedroom or at the astronomy tower at night.

- he would NOT go sub for anyone. no questions asked. he also wouldn’t do anything you’re not comfortable with.

mattheo riddle

- he’s a rough and a soft dom, depends on his mood. though he wouldn’t tolerate you disobeying him either way.

- his dick size is definitely above average.

- he is experienced and had quite a few relationships before you.

- I feel like he’s really good at aftercare. he’d make sure you’re okay, clean you up and cuddle with you. he’d even watch a movie or take a bath with you. baths with him>>>>

- he has a bunch of kinks and I feel like they’re the same as tom’s, maybe not as extreme (depends on his mood).

- he’s AMAZING at giving head. he’d go down on you pretty often just to see you squirm under his tongue. I feel like he’d eat you out for his own pleasure. he just loves the way you taste and how you try to squeeze your thighs together when he’s overstimulating you but you can’t bc he’s pinning them down. he wouldn’t refuse to receive head either. he loves how your mouth feels around him.

- he is the literal definition of a horny teenager. his hands are on your body 24/7.

- he’d tease you all the time, especially in class. he loves seeing you beg for him at the end of the day. it gets him impossibly hard seeing what a mess he can make out of you without even properly touching you.

- likes trying new positions and experimenting during sex.

- I know for a fact his favourite place to fuck would be the bathroom; in the shower or on the counter.

- wouldn’t go sub or do anything you’re not comfortable with.

draco malfoy

- he’s a soft dom unless you’re being extra bratty. loves to praise you but wouldn’t mind degrading the shit out of you either.

- his dick size is average but he knows how to use it for sure.

- very experienced. he probably casually dated a few girls before.

- he’s pretty good at aftercare, always making sure you know he loves you. he might be a bitch in the movie but he’s so sweet once you get to know him. would cuddle you until you fall asleep.

- pretty kinky. not as extreme as tom and mattheo though. for sure has a breeding kink.

- he’s so fucking good at giving head idc what anyone says. loves to receive head as well. he just can’t get enough of seeing you on your knees with your mouth around his dick. there’s definitely some oral action EVERY time you have sex.

- same as mattheo. he’s horny all the time.

- likes to tease sometimes but mostly doesn’t do it. he wants to give you pleasure and if you’re a brat he prefers overstimulation rather than teasing.

- experiments a lot at the start of your relationship. he just wants to find out and learn what gives you the most pleasure.

- I feel like he’d love to fuck you in a semi public place, where he knows no one is actually gonna see you but you still need to keep quiet. I also have a feeling he’d fuck you everywhere in the malfoy manner, like literally EVERYWHERE.

- wouldn’t do anything you’re not comfortable with.

cedric diggory

- soft dom. that’s all I have to say here.

- slightly above average sized dick.

- very experienced. had a few long term relationships before so he knows what he’s doing.

- aftercare king. he’d be so sweet and caring. he’d always clean you up, make sure you’re okay. he’d wrap you in blankets and make you hot cocoa, take a bath with you or do literally whatever you want. if you’re too tired he’d just cuddle you to sleep.

- he’s pretty vanilla but does have a big thing for praise and public sex. it just gets him so hard knowing you could get caught any second.

- I feel like he prefers to give head rather than receive but he of course wouldn’t exactly say no to receiving. he’s a pleasure dom so he’d do anything to make you feel good, so he does add oral into your usual sex life but not too much.

- he rarely gets horny during the day when you’re in class. he usually gets horny at night or in the evening and sometimes in the morning.

- he doesn’t usually tease you, maybe a little if he’s in a bitchy mood.

- does experiment a little just so he knows what makes you feel the most pleasure.

- hallway sex at night >>>>

- also wouldn’t do anything you’re not comfortable with.

harry potter

- I wouldn’t consider him a dom bc I feel like he’s pretty vanilla and doesn’t do sub/dom unless it’s a special occasion. in that case he’s a soft dom.

- average sized dick.

- he’s had sex before so he’s not a virgin but he’s not very experienced. he’d love to learn with you though.

- he’s pretty basic in aftercare. I feel like he gets pretty tired after sex so he’d be too tired to do anything other than cuddle but sometimes he does do other things with you; like watching a movie together or taking a shower/bath (I don’t really have any other ideas for aftercare so I’m just using movies and baths everywhere lmao)

- as I said he’s pretty vanilla. a praise or a breeding kink. does like to blindfold you sometimes; he likes that you trust him enough for him to do so.

- pretty good at giving head. he wouldn’t go down on you that often, he prefers fucking you. does like to receive head but not that much either.

- definitely gets horny a lot throughout the day.

- doesn’t tease you at all. maybe from time to time but VERY rarely.

- experiments at the start or the relationship until he finds a position that both of you like the most.

- he likes to fuck you in his bedroom the most. maybe shower sex from time to time.

- wouldn’t do BDSM or something like that because he doesn’t want to hurt you unless you really want to. also wouldn’t do anything you’re not comfortable with.

[hollowed-theory-hall]

If the saga were rewritten again only this time from the perspective of another character in each book who would the characters be?

My choices:

Philosopher's Stone: Hermione and Ron

Chamber of Secrets: Ginny

Prisoner of Azkaban: Lupin or Sirius

Goblet of Fire: Cedric, Barto Crouch Junior or Ron (when he was angry with Harry)

Order of the Phoenix: Neville, Luna and Dumbledore

Half-Blood Prince: Snape and Draco

Deathly Hallows: Snape, Voldemort and Neville

Hmm, interesting idea. Honestly, I never really considered rewriting it because if I wrote it, it won't be Harry Potter. But I really love multiple POVs, and it's a fun thought.

The main concern would be how to not reveal the mystery too quickly in some of them. And I think sticking to a limited number of POVs and being very careful with them is the way to go here.

For Philosopher’s Stone, Ron and Hermione are solid choices. I agree with you there. Like, I imagine a chapter from Hermione's POV that she's crying in the bathroom and it ends with a cliffhanger of a troll barging in, then the next chapter is either Harry or Ron. I think it could be fun.

For Chamber of Secrets, Ginny is the obvious choice. The main risk is that if Ginny is a POV, it'll be really hard to keep the readers guessing about who the heir of Slytherin is. Even if the readers know she has the diary early on, it's enough to undercut the mystery. Maybe she could have a few chapters in the end to cover her side of what happened. I imagine towards the end, after Hermione gets petrefied, we start getting Ginny's POV that goes back in time a bit, shows her losing time, and writing to Tom. The reader would feel the dread build up slowly and then, bam, she's writing her own death message on the wall while crying, and then we cut to Harry's POV. I think maybe for the second POV, we could get away with a Tom POV? But like, not one that makes it obvious he's writing to Ginny. Like, the POV would cover Tom's diary experiences before coming into Ginny's hands in a way that'll leave the reader uncertain who he is and how he connects to everything. Bonus points if the reader gets attached to Tom and then recognizes him when Harry gets his hands on the diary. The reader would then be shocked and heartbroken when Tom is revealed to be Voldemort.

For Prisoner of Azkaban, I think Lupin would be a fun one. More stories of the marauders, his guilt and wondering if he should tell Dumbledore Sirius is an animagus or not. Like Ginny, Sirius reveals the mystery too fast if he's a POV. I would actually want to hear from Hermione in this book. The time turner is a mystery, but it's not the main one, and I feel it can be used for fun shenanigans from her POV. Also, we could discover Lupin is a werewolf throughout the book with her.

For Goblet of Fire, so with Barty Crouch Jr we have the same problem as with Ginny and Sirius. The readers get answers too fast. So, I feel like Ron and Cedric are really solid options for this book, I agree with you there. And maybe once Barty is revealed we can have like 1 chapter from his POV to sum the situation up instead of listening to the varitesorum interrogation, or during the interrogation we have this chapter and get his thoughts too. I just don't think his is a POV that'll work if we want to keep the reveal at the end. But I love Barty, so I can give him one chapter at the end.

For Order of the Phoenix, I want Sirius' POV a lot. This is the book that should make the reader connect with him the most so his death hurts the most. So, I want his POV, well see a bit from the Order without revealing all of Dumbledore's cards. The second POV, I think either Neville or Luna are a good choice, but I'm leaning towards Luna here and Neville in DH.

For Half-Blood Prince, Snape is a very fun POV here, and so is Draco. Draco’s POV in this book would be fascinating. The thing is, both of them would reveal everything too fast. So, I'm thinking some chapters from Snape's POV that are carefully selected to not reveal too much, but show a little of what's going on with the Death Eaters and Draco's book long breakdown, without revealing he's on Dumbledore's side. It's the book named after him, so I feel he should get a POV there. The second extra POV, I think, could be someone like Pansy or Blaise Zabini, maybe? Like, a Slytherin student we don't really know that'll shed light on what's going down in their house in the wake of Voldemort’s return. But they'll still not really know what's up beyound, Draco has a mission, and we're growing a little concerned.

For Deathly Hollows, I definitely agree on Neville being a POV. It'll be great to see what's going on with the DA at the school through his eyes. As for Voldemort and Snape; Snape, I feel, would be too revealing, and Voldemort would be a fascinating POV, but I think it wouldn't really fit what the book is going for. I think Draco could be a better POV here to show the Death Eater side of things, without undercutting any tension. He'd just up the tension, becouse he'd have a shitty time. Also, Draco POV adds another mystery to the book: "where is the Dark Lord disappearing to?" It'll kind of mirror Harry wondering the same thing about Dumbledore in OotP and HBP and could be really interesting.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Hi! I was wondering if you had any thoughts on what Tom Riddle’s animagus form would be, if he bothered to learn the transformation. I think it’s weird that according to canon he never did? I can’t imagine he’d see or learn about this difficult form of advanced magic, with a million different uses depending on the animal and go, ‘nah I’m good.’ And then just never try??? Especially with somewhere private like the chamber of secrets to practice?

I can't believe I haven't answered this.

This feels like an ask I surely must have gotten before and yet it appears to not be there. I am shook.

Well, let's answer your second question first.

Why Didn't He Become an Animagus/Animagus is a Useless Ability

First, why do other characters we see in the series become animagi? The Marauders do it initially to stay with Remus during the full moon. Later, Peter and Sirius at least take advantage of it to hide from the authorities. Rita Skeeter either did it for funsies and in the aftermath found out it could really help her career, or else was banking on her form being something relatively easy to overlook. Wouldn't have served Rita well if she'd been a horse trying to hide in a pub behind the counter. McGonagall uses it to be a spy for the Order but we don't know why she did it whenever she did it.

Second, what can one do exactly?

Alright, you become an animal. You now have no thumbs and likely cannot open a door. You can't hold your wand. Legally, you have to register with the ministry so basically... you're a cool party trick. Whoop de fucking doo, you can turn into a goat after months of preparation.

The only legitimate use for it is disguising yourself from those who would search for you, espionage, or else if you happen to have a werewolf friend who happens to be going to a school before Wolfsbane happened to be invented.

And all of that's if you get lucky with your form. You have no control over what it will be, which makes it a bit of a gamble to spend all this time learning it when you may not even be able to use it.

What if you're a dolphin? Now you can't transform in anything but the right temperature salt water.

What I'm saying is that while it's a neat party trick, it's not actually in any way useful.

Back to Tom

Could be he is an animagus but he got an entirely useless form like a dolphin. Wasted months learning how to do it and he's a fucking dolphin.

"Well, that was a great waste of my time," he announces.

That said, all of the above could be why Tom would never pursue it. He has no guarantees what he will become is in any way useful, he also needs a certain amount of ah prestige associated with his animal or else risk being a laughing stock, and he doesn't go out and spy himself.

It's a lot of work for not much use, and I can see him easily going "eh" and devoting himself to what he considers more important.

BUT WHAT WOULD HIS FORM BE?!

My personal thoughts?

A cat.

Cats are intelligent, curious, bizarre, killing machines who end up in both the oddest situations and deciding to do things just to see what shit they can fuck up.

A vase is on a counter? That vase is going to the floor.

There's a box that looks too small to escape from. THE CAT'S GOING IN!

A cat doesn't like you for no particular reason? Yeah, get used to that.

I can't not imagine Tom sitting on a counter, pushing off all the vases, just because you said "no".

[lostmyremembrall]

Hello can I request 👑

my name is Athanasia riddle (Tom daughter), Slytherin and Marauders era

I love to reading, dancing and learning about historical events, learning different languages, cooking and playing the piano or violin

(Hop I did this right 😃✋️)

👑𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐇𝐨𝐠𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬

𝓐𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓪𝓼𝓲𝓪 𝓡𝓲𝓭𝓭𝓵𝓮

𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝐽𝑜𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 1𝐾 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡!

A/N: So sorry it got so long. I felt that having Tom Riddle as a father would lead to quite a pressure, and things just kept expanding on that. I ended up focusing on the aspect of being the daughter of Tom Riddle (and not much about things you enjoy doing). And I hope it will live up to what you expected/wanted! Sorry if I took an entirely different direction

𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝

Tom Riddle is extremely proud and protective of his daughter, Athanasia.

He knows that Athanasia is born superior and gifted, considering his blood runs through yours.

From when you were small, he was adamant about giving you every education and opportunity possible that wasn't available to him in his youth.

A lot of that involved pureblood's education, ranging from: piano, violin, singing, basic styles of dances including waltz, languages, geography, and history.

A lot of these, he took the responsibility of education onto himself, like history, languages, and geography.

However, he felt that he was too late to become adept in skills like music and dance. So he hired many great tutors that would come to your house to teach you.

"The education befitting of the Heir of Slytherin," he would always say, nodding contently at how well you were taking on this role of a perfect heiress.

You also grew up with transparency about your heritage, the Chamber of Secrets, the history of the Gaunt family (not much mention of the Riddle family, other than that they were prosperous, renowned landowners, possibly a branch family of one of the muggle gentry), and your ability to speak parseltongue.

Needless to say, you grew up with a lot of pressure to live up to your father's expectations and academic achievements.

𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐬

And you met those expectations.

You were gifted in both theory and practice of magic with a special knack for duelling.

You achieved Exceeds Expectations in all of your OWLs and NEWTs, taking all of the electives.

You were the first to receive Slughorn's invitation to the Slug Club. Slughorn clearly cherishes you as well, but sometimes you feel that he only speaks to you about your father - how he's doing, how fond he is of your father, how fortunate you're to have received many of his gifts, etc.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐬

One of the first few things you did after arriving at Hogwarts was to visit the famed Chamber of Secrets that your father had talked so much about.

But, it wasn't as grand as how your father described it.

Rat bones. Dusty air much in need of circulation. Humidity in the air that had caused overgrown moss and fungi.

You met the basilisk as well, but you felt that the pet snake back home was cuter.

The basilisk conveyed how lonely it got, how much they missed your father.

In the end, you didn't do much with the Chamber of Secrets other than coming to chat with the basilisk every few days.

You explained to the basilisk that Tom Riddle had actually graduated years ago, and that nearly two decades had passed since then. And that you were his daughter who was now attending Hogwarts.

When asked about whether Tom Riddle missed the basilisk, you evaded the question by explaining that he was busy, but that he still talked about the Chamber of Secrets.

Incidentally, the basilisk ended up becoming one of your closest friends, unafraid to talk ill about your father. You spent hours on its back, petting its scales, confiding in your stress, relationships, and strenuous relationship with your father.

Typically, during your visit, the basilisk would opt to wear an eye mask to prevent any 'accidents'.

Sometimes, you would read or play violin for the basilisk. Though, when it comes to violin, you can't stay there for long because of the high humidity.

𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬

The other Slytherins immediately recognised your status with the last name Riddle. And you had no problem making friends.

You were a born leader, and with others' familial relation to your father, you naturally became a leader of sorts to Severus Snape, Lucius Malfoy, the Black sisters, Regulus Black, and the rest of the Slytherins.

Although you were popular and envied by many, you felt that there was always a distance between you and your Slytherin friends. Like they were almost afraid of offending you.

You had no doubt this was due to your father's influence over their family's position.

Sometimes, you would look at the group of friends of Potter, Lupin, Evans, Sirius Black, and Pettigrew. And you couldn't help but feel a tinge of envy at how close they were.

𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬

You were renowned for your beauty. Just like your father, you were described as fine and delicate, with a pair of captivating eyes that nobody can look away from.

You got asked out quite often by half-blood and muggleborn students who did not care much for traditions. But, when it comes to pureblooded students, the offer for a date came in the form of a marriage proposal from their parents, explaining how advantageous it would be to every party involved.

Tom Riddle was far too protective of you, however. In most cases, he dismissed many of your suitors as inadequate.

In a rare case of approving a date with Lucius Malfoy, apparently, he'd threatened Lucius that he would break all of his fingers one by one, if Lucius were to lay a finger on you. Lucius was far too preoccupied with his fear of your father to focus on the date.

Regulus Black was recommended to you by your father. But, he'd also threatened poor Regulus that he would be carving out his heart with a muggle knife if he were to break your heart, causing a slow, painful death.

Regulus was far too nervous to even make eye contact with you during your date at the Three Broomsticks.

You talked with the basilisk a few times about this, crying and cursing your father.

In the end, you wrote to your father that you didn't romantically see Regulus, just to save his soul from the wrath of your father.

𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞

With your talents, beauty, and connection, you could literally choose any occupation.

In your childhood, you would have immediately answered that your dream job was to help your father.

But, over the years, your overbearing father had become a pressure for you, to a point that you felt like none of the decisions was yours to make.

You were lonely even when you were always surrounded by people. And you were certain it was your father to blame.

Fresh out of Hogwarts, the world has yet to see what destiny Athanasia Riddle will choose, whether it be her father's right-hand woman, a wife to another pureblood family, or something entirely different.

[walker-extended-universe]

WIndy Predictions

My Walker: Independence submission for Walkerverse Hiatus Creations Week 5- B Season Promo

Alright folks we’ve got two trailers and two episode descriptions to work with so let’s get cracking!

First, let’s look at what he have so far:

Trailer 1

Trailer 2

1x08- "The Death of Mary Collins"

WILD PLANS – Abby (Kat McNamara) finds her secret identity in jeopardy when an estranged family member arrives in town and demands Tom’s (Greg Hovanessian) help finding Liam Collins’ missing wife. A restless Hoyt (Matt Barr) reconnects with his outlaw roots, Kai (Lawrence Kao) contemplates his future as his past begins to catch up with him, and Calian (Justin Johnson Cortez) receives a dire warning from a mysterious woman that may drive him back to Independence.

1x09- Strange Bedfellows

THE MONSTROUS AND THE BEAUTIFUL – Abby (Katherine McNamara) starts to question everything she thought to be true, much to the dismay of her friends. Kai (Lawrence Kao) thinks he’s seen a ghost when an unexpected person from his past appears in Independence, which makes Kate (Katie Findlay) suspicious. Gus (Philemon Chambers), Hoyt (Matt Barr) and Kate work together to help Kai, resulting in Gus making a move no one saw coming.

--------

We have a lot of information on our hands but there’s still a lot of room to speculate. Here are my thoughts and predictions for the next half of the season:

We know for a fact that Abigail's sister will show up looking for her and that this will cause some issues regarding Abby’s undercover status within town. What we don’t know is who the Mary Collins in the title is referring to. It’s possible that Mary Collins is actually Abigail’s legal name and ‘killing’ her will secure Abby’s safety. Or Mary Collins could be entirely fictional. I’m leaning towards the former on this one.

We also know that something from Kai’s past will come up to cause trouble. This was foreshadowed with Amos Acorn’s threats during 1x04 but it looks like things will get more serious when the show returns. Kai’s feeling threatened enough to admit his troubles to Hoyt; it must be serious. I imagine the Tongs he slighted back in San Francisco have tracked him down at last. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

There’s also a clip of Kai kissing someone. I do hope that it’s Kate but we know his heart belonged to another once before. Perhaps she has returned? 1x09 is going to be Kai-centric episode from the looks of things so we’re going to be getting a lot of answers on that. I also wonder what the move no one saw coming from Gus will entail?

Based on the short shot from the trailer, we know that Hagan will be making another appearance. I hope it’s to make things up with Kate and possibly help against the Davidsons.

There was no shot of her in the trailer but Teresa’s actress posted some BTS photos of a return trip to set a while back so we know we’ll be seeing her again. I imagine the Davidsons have more dastardly plans. I imagine this is related the railroad stop coming to town. I wonder how Tom will be involved in all that. Will we get to see the Town Council in action? I also hope we’ll get to see more of the Davidson family.

Calian will also be seeing some trouble for his tribe, something serious enough to send him running back to town. I wonder if it has anything to do with the Buffalo Soldiers? Or perhaps there’s another tribe causing trouble? Maybe we’ll be seeing some period-typical Native American warring? Either way, I’m happy to see him rejoining the Independence crew, even if the circumstances aren’t the best.

Aside from meeting with Hagan, Kate is now taking on Abigail’s fight against the Davidsons alone now that she’s left the Pinkerton Agency. Pinkerton won’t be out of the picture entirely so I imagine we’ll be seeing her butt heads with Ethan again and possibly other Pinkerton agents.

And then there’s the relationship between Abigail and Tom, growing ever more gray by the day. I think we’re going to see them get closer over the course of the rest of the season. I believe Abigail is going to find out that Tom didn’t kill her husband after all and perhaps we’ll even get to see Tom make a turn toward defecting (and becoming the first Mr. Walker *crosses fingers*).

Aside from helping Kai, Hoyt has a new lifestyle to get used to. Without Francis or Luis, the Reyes ranch needs a new leader. Hoyt seems willing to take up the task but is he capable of it or will he keep getting pulled away by the needs of his friends? Will he be able to be present for Lucia like she needs right now? 1x08 has him reconnecting with his “outlaw roots”; will he be called away by former gang members or will he slip into underhanded tactics while trying to manage the ranch?

I can’t wait to see what happens next (and how many of my predictions come true!)

[phoenixes-and-wizards]

little things i never want to forget about the hargreeves:

all of them used to defy their father, sneak out to griddy’s, and in five’s own words “eat donuts until we puked. simpler times, eh?”

luther wrote poetry while he was on the moon, especially about comets

tom hopper and the UA crew have said that the scratches all over luther’s body were made by him. he couldn’t stand the loneliness, especially during that first year, and would often resort to harming himself as a way to vent his frustration

it’s also pretty likely that he's had body dysmorphia at one point or another

he also has a habit of stress eating

diego almost became a detective, but he dropped out because he wasn't good at following orders. he even went to police academy!!!

diego has the cross stitch grace made specifically for him on the wall of his basement apartment, and in a frame no less

he’s also a big-ass momma’s boy

and he’s the only one grace calls “silly” as a term of endearment

and he has a fear of needles due to getting that tattoo when they were kids (y’all know which one i’m talking about)

plus his stutter only comes out when he's under extreme emotional stress

and a close rewatch of 1X03 shows that his bedroom had an overflowing abundance of books so what if him and ben used to bond over that😭

allison speaks seven languages

she told her daughter about her siblings, and claire obviously knew them well enough that she was calling them "uncle” and “aunty,” and that last one is especially heartwarming because this was around the time that vanya’s book had just come out, and yet, allison--who has the option of never telling claire about her--still does, and even explains why she wasn’t allowed to go on missions

klaus was smoking blunts at fourteen

klaus was clutching dave’s dogtags right before five teleported all of them to the past

and i’ve noticed that he has a habit of doing that in general in season 2, especially when he’s feeling kind-of low, but sometimes it’s also an unconscious habit and that’s cute, too

klaus would write the things the dead would say to him, all over his bedroom wall

klaus has a habit of going barefoot whenever he’s at home

five was the only person vanya felt comfortable enough with to present new violin pieces to

five outright says that everything he’s done so far was to get back to his family and keep them safe

@me-evil-never​ wrote in the tags: “five has watched his family die/be dead like 3 times if i’m counting correctly (YES YOU ARE AND IT’S A PAINFUL FACT WE MUST ALL LIVE WITH), plus all he has ever done in his life since age 13 was to get back to them so he could spend time safely with them” and YES I AGREE why would you hide such an excellent point in the tags because, sometimes, even i forget that it’s only been two weeks for him, and they’re probably the roughest he’s had since being stuck in the apocalypse as an actual child, and idk about you guys, but i just really want to give five a big hug because lord knows he deserves needs it

allison used to paint klaus' nails during meals

and was apparently a daddy’s girl, though how one could become a “daddy’s girl” if the father in question was reginald hargreeves is beyond my capacity to understand

ben was reading chekhov as early as 14

ben was a bookworm, both in life and death

vanya had the smallest room

vanya openly called ben the kindest of their siblings in her book, and said that when he died, none of them had any more reason to stay

before he left, diego gave reggie a piece of his mind

all of them know how to dance

they all know how to speak and read greek (ancient fucking greek, as one of you oh-so-eloquently put it)

vanya knows how to speak russian and god knows how many other languages

(by this point i'm really convinced they're all multilingual and there just hasn't been an opportunity for them to utilize that yet)

she also has a mr. snuggles teddy bear

according to klaus, vanya used to cry when the others would step on ants as kids

klaus is pansexual

he also dated twins once (though i’m not sure if he dated one then the other or both at the exact same time)

and has mild claustrophobia from being locked up in mausoleums all the time as a child

diego swore a pinky promise with lila and called it “the pinkiest promise” he’d ever make, and even though he’s a hard-ass who won’t hesitate to cut anybody in half, he’s still at his gentlest when he’s around her and he doesn’t even try to hide it

off her meds, vanya got first chair and a solo on her first try (as a violinist in a professional orchestra, lemme tell you that this is no easy feat to do)

she also seemed to have an affinity for bach (again--not easy!!)

even though he was barely starting puberty, ben was smart enough to reprogram allison's teddy bear to say "luther smells dad's underwear."

upon possessing klaus for a few minutes in season 2, ben could be seen clutching various flowers and smelling them repeatedly

klaus can actually levitate in the comics

according to @valkerymillenia, ghost!ben once saved klaus' life in the comics after he overdosed on heroin yet again

both klaus and diego repeatedly tried to open the lock to vanya's old anechoic chamber and were absolutely furious when luther wouldn't let them

diego called elliott "one of ours" despite knowing him for all of a week and a half

he also calls herb “herbie,” calmed him down after accidentally drawing a weapon on him, and created a secret handshake with him, all within two hours tops of meeting him

if one really thinks about it, diego is actually good with people? and that makes sense because he left the academy as early as seventeen, and he would’ve had to talk to a lot of people just to make ends meet that first year alone, and even though reggie tried to squash that part of him down, he’s still a good person at heart, you go prince of pointy things, make us all proud

[findingjoynweirdstuff]

Dream SMP Recap (February 7/2021) - End of Week

I hope you all are caught up on your Tom Gravy hotdog-eating Olympics lore.

Also, the server’s first attempt at a prison break...? I guess??

---

VOD LINKS:

HBomb94

Foolish Gamers

Tubbo

Ranboo

Nihachu

GeorgeNotFound

Captain Puffy

---

- HBomb explores the SMP mainland and looks at the L’manburg Crater, wondering if he should build a house there. He runs a poll and it’s 50/50.

- H runs back through the Nether. Sam asked him if he wanted to visit Dream at some point and H said yes.

- He discusses the possibilities of future catmaid bits. Would Sam let him be a prison maid?

- Foolish asks H for 16452 sandstone. Unfortunately, HBomb doesn’t have it.

- H gets filled in on all the SMP lore and figures out the ultimate truth:

Sapnap wrote the books in the Inbetween.

Sapnap can time travel.

Sapnap is the answer.

- H speaks with Foolish, and H mentions the gold bar labelled “HBomb’s maid service” that he got from Fundy...

- Foolish says he does need some sandstone...

- Dream logs on the server. He dies in lava and leaves.

- H tells Foolish the story of how he killed Technoblade 27 times, and asks if he knows about the obstacle course.

- H and Foolish meet near the Community House and Foolish is...surprised...by HBomb’s skin.

- Foolish brings HBomb to the Temple of Undying.

- Then they go to Snowchester. 

- Later, Foolish continues work on the Temple.

- Tubbo speaks with Scott Smajor.

- Ranboo goes mining while Tubbo makes a sandwich.

- Niki shows off her secret city. It’s been coming along well!

- Tubbo is just trying to get Ranboo DMCA’d at this point.

- Niki starts working on building the secret city some more.

- Niki’s character still deals with night terrors and isn’t sure what to feel about Wilbur. She sleeps in her own chamber and writes in a diary about what she’s going through.

- George has woken up!

- He comes onto the SMP after speedrunning and wonders what to do. He needs new supplies, because he has absolutely nothing now.

- He asks if Sapnap has his stuff, but Sapnap says no. He gave it all to Karl. George calls Karl. Karl can’t give his stuff back at the moment.

- Dream and Quackity fill him in on how Tom Brady got a home run and won a gold medal in the Olympics World Cup.

It begins.

-

--- THE FOOTBALL LORE ---

-

Gronk, Greg, and Tony Romo all pulled their weight as well. One got bronze in the Grand Prix. They also talk about how Tom Gravy’s been doing. There’s also Tony Gravy, who is Tom Gravy’s brother, but they mean to talk about Tony Romo and how many laps he finished.

The football stans took over the trending tab with their profile pics.

- Bad joins the call and they start filling him in on the Olympics. Bad mentions the Superb Owl.

- Tony Romo is the 11th time gold medalist of the Grand Prix who is going to retire soon to become an announcer for the Bikini Bottom competition. 

- Tom Gravy never dies. Well, he said that he might in a couple years, but by then he’ll have won several more medals. His goal is to eat 10,000 hot dogs by 2022. He burns off calories by running around the Grand Prix track. Tony Romo gives him all the advice.

- They have different maps for Tony Romo and Tom Gravy, one of which is in Russia. Change of scenery.

- Tony O’Brown got one of the goals and that was it, but the real dagger was by Patrick, who threw an interception. 

Tony Romo ran a red light in Alaska, having won the Grand Prix with 21 laps, and got a mugshot for it, but got a medal for Sexiest Mugshot so it wasn’t too bad. His goal is 22.

- They also have a pizza restaurant called Tom and Tony.

- Wait, Patrick got the mugshot gold medal for running the intersection. Tony Romo went to Russia.

- Gronk faked his retirement, then lied and showed up at the Olympics, won anyway and got a gold medal. He was pretending to train but he never actually trained. He took different videos with different shirts to pretend that he was training on different days.

- Gronk wanted it to be surprising when he won. Him and Tom Gravy were very good friends. They met before the first Olympics while training together.

- George asks if there’s a Wiki to learn all this lore from. Dream says there is, but it’s on the Dark Web.

- Though Patrick had the sexiest mugshot, there were plenty of others that weren’t so sexy.

- Tom Gravy is now trending.

- George has just been mining throughout all of this.

- Karl joins the conversation. Tony Romo retired because of the money but also because he had a kid, according to Quackity. 

- Taylor Swift named something after the number of hotdogs Tom Gravy had to eat daily last year, which was 22. They call him “The American Patriot” for all the hotdogs he eats, but this year he was more of a Pirate. 

- During the Olympics recess, Tom Gravy was sponsored by Hard Mikes. 

- Greg is in his flop area at the moment. He was a Patrick fan, actually, but then the whole incident happened with the intersection.

- Out of the last 20 Olympics, Tom Gravy’s won 7 and been to 10. This is the Hotdog-Eating Olympics, though, not the world Olympics. The Hotdog-Eating Olympics happens at the rate that the Grand Prix happens divided by 2.

- There was a cheating scandal where he was accused of inflating his stomach. “Inflate-Gate.” 

- Tom Gravy ate 200 hotdogs in 12 seconds, which is called a “Scarf Ace” in the contest.

-

--- THE FOOTBALL LORE IS OVER ---

-

- Foolish gives George Netherite.

- Ponk attempts to kill George. George escapes to the Holy Land.

- Bad points out that because the enforcer of the Holy Land’s neutrality rules is in the prison, they’re free to kill Ponk. Dream says no, they’ll get punished if they do. He also asks why there’s a turtle in the Holy Land, and asks to delete it.

Callahan, Bad and Foolish all come join them in Church Prime.

- Ponk steals Oogway and a fistfight breaks out. Captain Puffy arrives.

- George tricks Puffy into killing him in Church Prime. Dream says that George’s stream was conveniently blacked out for some reason. They start talking about pictures.

- Callahan kills George in the Holy Land. Dream says it was blacked out again.

- Ponk kills George in the Holy Land. Dream saw that one and Ponk falls out of the world.

- Dream finally reveals the truth behind the old Bedwars clip after several months of mystery.

(It was porn)

- One thing leads to another, Dream drops some glass water bottles and sings “Mad World” in the background after being rejected by George for Valentine’s Day.

- They start leaking Rat pics.

- George is preoccupied and doesn’t notice as Ponk boxes him in with obsidian. Puffy arrives to help him out.

- Foolish shows George his summer house and gives him supplies.

- Quackity tries to insist that he’s not a competitive hotdog eater, but everyone already knows the truth.

- Karl comes online and gives George the Netherite.

- The chaos continues as they pass it back and forth. Callahan joins in.

- George goes to the prison and tries to break in. GEORGE LORE STREAM?? NOT CLICKBAIT??

- He finds a very secret and important area. 

- (It’s a lightswitch)

- George starts breaking a blackstone block in the wall to rescue Dream. 

- Dream tells George to keep trying to break him out, saying it’s been long enough. Karl says that, in his very canonical opinion, it has not, in fact, been long enough yet. 

- Dream warns George that he actually has to hurry, in case Awesam logs on.

- George sits there mining for a good few minutes. One block between Dream and freedom! Callahan comes to watch.

- He finally breaks the block!

...

...

- Aaaand behind it is obsidian. 

- George immediately ends stream.

---

Later, Awesam places the single block back...

...And threatens to take all of George’s canon lives if he ever messes with the prison again.

---

Upcoming Events:

- Many, many visits with Dream

- Many meetings with Technoblade, with Puffy’s specifically happening very soon

- Prison guard introduction stream this week

---

END OF WEEK RECAP:

2/1: Ponk’s dream, Ranboo speaks with Awesam

2/2: Ponk reads Jack’s Journal, Tommy takes a piece of the Crimson, Awesam and Fran

2/3: Puffy attempts to destroy the Crimson, Tales From the SMP: “The Masquerade”

2/4: Nothing much happens

2/5: Jack Manifold becomes the main character

2/6: Puffy searches for parrots

2/7: The 5-Hour Tom Gravy Stream

[theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin]

You wrote your opinions on the Order of the Phoenix, what about the Death Eaters? That's another way of saying Lucius, Bellatrix, and anybody else. I honestly feel that we're running out of HP characters for you to write your opinion and reasoning about, so yeah~

We honestly are. When people start asking me questions about Harry’s nameless and faceless classmates I feel like we’re scraping the bottom of my barrel of Harry Potter opinions.

Though, that said, this is still a very large ask if you want me to analyze very Death Eater ever or even the Death Eaters as a whole (which is worthy of its own post).

So, we’ll compromise, and I’ll just look at the two you name dropped.

Lucius Malfoy

To me, Lucius is by far one of the more intelligent Death Eaters. He’s the guy who makes them almost look classy. I say almost, because Lucius is still a racist domestic terrorist and as the series goes on Tom gleefully drags him into being less classy by the minute (his house becomes a POW camp and housing for the dregs of society, Lucius just sobs, trying to be thankful he’s somehow still alive).

Lucius is rich, sophisticated, and is probably the most politically powerful man in the country. He has a beautiful wife he has... a son (sorry Draco, but you do not live up to your father) the guy has it all.

Which makes it very surprising that he got dragged into this mess. But you see, Lucius is paying for that tragedy we call youth.

Also, as a caveat, I’m about to headcanon hard and will not bother to get into the details of why I think x, y, or z in this post.

Ten years prior to the start of canon, Lucius is a very young man, probably very charismatic, certainly believes he’s intelligent and probably gets decent grades, but nonetheless the kind of stupid you see in men ages 15-25.

He’s likely chafing under his aging father’s strict guidance, knows he’s not going to be Lord Malfoy for years yet, wants to get out there, prove himself, and make a difference for his country. More importantly for Lucius, there’s this hip, exciting, new thing that all his cousins and friends are getting into called “The Death Eaters” (yes, I don’t believe the Knights of Walpurgis/Death Eaters 1.0 ever happened, I think it’s ridiculous that fandom and JKR does, I could go into why but not in this post). 

The Death Eaters are led by the single handedly most beautiful, charismatic, man in Britain. (Yes, I headcanon Tom’s still blindingly attractive at this stage, because it makes much more sense to me but we’re not getting into that here.) A mysterious man by the name of Voldemort, Salazar Slytherin’s long lost heir, who has come to resurrect the wizarding world’s true heritage and purge the land of the muggle stain. (Yes, I do believe that no one, not even Lucius who is later given the diary, knew who Tom really was. I believe Regulus’ had only the vaguest idea, informed mostly by Tom’s use of Kreacher to place the locket.) This is the most exciting thing to have ever happened, the rallies probably consist of rich kids drunk out of their minds and maybe even high on a little wizard cocaine, and Lucius is down for it precisely because his father says “Lucius, this is stupid, please don’t embarrass the family.” WELL LUCIUS IS GOING TO EMBARRASS THE FAMILY, DAD! WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?!

And for a while, it looks like Lucius made the right choice. Things are happening, they’re actually going out and killing the mudbloods! Unlike Regulus, Lucius never has that “wait a minute” moment as he realizes that Voldemort’s actually far more efficiently eliminating pureblood families and sowing dissention in what was once a unanimous force among the Wizengamot (the other pureblood lords aren’t necessarily pro muggleborn, per se, but they get a bit queasy at the thought of blowing them up or Merlin forbid actually blowing up their own public venues wizards use). 

And then October 31st, 1981 happens, and it all comes crashing down. Lucius has to desperately lie his ass off, having only the flimsiest lie to rely on, has to hand out a shit ton of bribes, and manages to squeeze his way out of being imprisoned in Azkaban. 

I’m sure Abraxas looked at his son, with his tattoo on his arm that makes him another man’s slave, at the utter destruction of the Black family, and just shook his head going, “Clean up your mess, Dumbass Son”

And Lucius does to the best of his ability. While some will always suspect him of being a Death Eater, while some know it, he’s able to climb very high in influence in their ridiculously tiny community. Granted, I do think he messed up, and could never for example run for minister given everything (if Crouch can’t rerun then Lucius certainly can’t). He also shows us that in some ways he is not above the law, he’s very afraid his house will be searched without warrant in The Chamber of Secrets, and this is in part why he dumps Tom Riddle’s diary off onto Ginny.

However, he wields total control of the Prophet, has a seat on the Wizengamot, has the ear of the current Minister, is on the Hogwarts’ Board of Governors, and has his hands in pretty much every pie he can.

I imagine during this period Lucius grows up. He brushes the indiscretions of his youth under the carpet, gleefully leaving it all behind him, and the only real friend he maintains contact with from that period is Severus, the least zealot like of all of them. (Crabbe and Goyle Sr aren’t friends, they’re minions). 

Don’t get me wrong, he’s still a racist slime bag, and I don’t think he really regrets the domestic terrorism. He just regrets nearly getting caught and putting his entire family’s security on the line. He witnessed first hand what happened to the Blacks.

And then the worst thing happens: Tom Riddle rises from the dead. He rises, impossibly, from the dead when Lucius has his own hand caught in the cookie jar.

Lucius has been living a life of luxury and influence while his great master, the man he had pledged everything to, was dead. Worse, Lucius took what was described as a treasured item to be protected at all costs, and not only threw it away but sent it to Hogwarts where it caused massive havoc and was ultimately destroyed. 

And Lucius, I imagine, no longer wants to serve a master.

But he has no choice. And so begins Lucius’ descent into misery and hell as he’s given an increasing set of impossible, horrific, tasks in punishment that involve him watching as his wife and son are put through hell.

I believe Tom holds a special place in his cold, black, passive aggressive heart for Lucius Malfoy.

First, Tom makes Lucius’ house his headquarters. Oh, Lucius, you have a very nice, very large, estate? Why don’t you host your beloved, mad, cousin, her equally mad husband and brother-in-law? Oh, Bellatrix threatened to cut off your ear? Well, she’s just so passionate! 

Second, Lucius is told to go get the prophecy. Well, this is easier said than done. He nearly succeeds but then it all turns into the world’s largest clusterfuck that ends in two notable things. First, the prophecy is lost forever, shattered. Second, the government admits that Voldemort is truly resurrected. Both of these things are very bad in Tom’s book. And the blame can easily be put on Lucius’ head.

In response to this, Draco is now given an impossible task that Draco is too stupid to realize is designed to cause him (and his family) as much misery as possible. Draco is to assassinate Dumbledore. 

Likely, Tom was already informed by Snape that Dumbledore was dying. The blackened hand was too obvious a tell coming from too obvious a source for the pair to have hid it. I think trying to hide such information would have immediately blown Snape’s cover. So, Tom knows the man is dying, and doesn’t see fit to tell Draco this.

Instead, he tells Draco, “Kill Dumbledore as soon as possible or I deliver you to Fenrir Grayback.” Draco, however, is young and stupid, so he honestly thinks he is doing this to restore the family honor, earn glory for himself and for the cause, and is expected to do this entirely by himself. As a result, when Narcissa begs Snape to aid Draco, Draco blows them both off and only accepts help from Bellatrix because HE CAN DO THIS ON HIS OWN! DRACO IS A MAN.

This, of course, doesn’t work out either. Draco doesn’t deliver the killing blow, Snape does, but Tom decides to give him a pass.

Instead he moves on to his next plan which is making the Malfoy manor his torture chamber and POW camp. Even Draco, at this point, realizes this all kind of sucks. 

And then Voldemort finally dies a second time, and I’m sure Lucius just stares numbly at his malformed corpse, wondering if it will really take this time.

So that’s Lucius for you, paying always for his mistakes, and pretending he’s just as much of a nutcase as Bellatrix to fit in.

Bellatrix LeStrange

God, compared to the novel that is Lucius’ ridiculous life, I really don’t have much to say about her because I feel like there’s not much too her.

Bellatrix reminds me a lot of the Manson family, she gives off those same vibes. Point being, I think even before Azkaban (while Azkaban certainly didn’t help), she was insane and a little too worshipful of Voldemort.

I guess I can start there, I don’t think Bellamort is a thing, at all. 

Tom may have, probably did, have sex with her before he died but afterwards? In that body? Forget about it.

That said, I’m sure Bellatrix both wanted to have sex and is convinced she did have sex to produce whatever the hell Delphi even is. It just wasn’t with Tom, and probably was Rodolphous with a Halloween mask on his face as they got a little too into role play.

And there we go, I suppose, I can’t take Bellatrix seriously. You often see her portrayed as sexy femme fatale Death Eater, the most competent of all of them, if a bit of a sadist.

Oh she might be a very good duelist but she’s... Bellatrix.

She prances around in corsets, shrieking madly, and just what part of that is supposed to be femme fatale? I literally cannot take her seriously on any level. When I even try to write her seriously, in very serious stories, I end up with lines like the following:

"My lord, if there's anything you need… Anything from me, specifically, as a woman…" 

- Bright Eyes

That was my best attempt. That was the best I could come up with. It’s still something that belongs in a comedy.

So, I don’t think Tom really corrupted her. I think without Voldemort she still probably would have been blowing up Diagon Alley, just in a much less organized manner.

Even in canon she does ridiculous things. For example, Bellatrix, frankly, could have easily avoided prison.

For weeks after the dark lord fell neither she, her husband, Barty, nor her brother-in-law were arrested. Bellatrix in grief and utter disbelief that the dark lord could ever do something so mortal as die, said “remember that other house our lord mentioned, THEY MIGHT HAVE INFORMATION, LET’S GO MURDER THE LONGBOTTOMS!” They torture and kidnap Frank, demanding he tell them where their master is, THEY KNOW HE KNOWS. He doesn’t know. They go too far and torture the man into being a vegetable. “Shit, GET THE WIFE!” They go get the wife, do the same thing, with the same results.

They now have no information on the dark lord, two well regarded aurors tortured into brain damage, and are quickly caught and brought before the court with absolutely no “I was imperiused” excuse they can give out. 

How am I supposed to take her in any way seriously?

I mean, to end your life killed in a duel with Molly Weasley. That just says it all.

[whorecruxriddles]

would you do your own A-Z nsfw alphabet for tom?

funny you should ask, i was just thinking about this

(nsfw below the line, obviously tee hee)

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

Okay look, Tom does aftercare but it’s subtle. He doesn’t outright ask if you feel alright after, he watches you very carefully, observing how you move and speak to make sure that he didn’t accidentally push you over the edge. He’s not a cuddly person but if you happen to rest your head on his chest, he’ll put an arm around your shoulder, maybe rub the smallest of circles in your back once you’re asleep.

If you spend the night and feel super sore in the morning, he’ll use his status as Head Boy to pull a few strings and get you excused from class. If you have somewhere you need to be, he’ll help you get dressed. If you take a shower right after, he’ll join you and wash your hair for you.

You know, simple things so no one catches him simping.

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Tom loves your lips. He likes to watch them tremble and quiver as he makes a mess out of you. He loves the shape they make when you call out his name. He likes how soft they feel against his own because he’s the only one who gets to kiss you.

As for himself, Tom supposes that he likes his hands. He likes how they look wrapped around your neck and the power rush it gives him to be able to squeeze around your throat. It always makes you look so small underneath him.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

Inside you, it makes him feel like he’s marking you as his or something. That being said, seeing it spread across your face also makes him smile.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

He’s pretty straight forward with you about what he wants to do in bed but he does have a fantasy about bending you over and fucking you in front of his followers. It would be the ultimate power move but he never actually suggests it because he knows you probably wouldn’t go for it and he doesn’t really like the idea of his lessers seeing you naked, no, that’s just for him and him alone. So, I guess you could say that he’s a secret voyeur.

(and he turns into a cuddler when he’s asleep)

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

Oh, Tom fucks. He knows what he wants to do and how to do it, no need to worry about that.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

Probably having you bent over something or on his lap while he’s sitting up. Against the wall would also probably make his top ten. But having you underneath him is always a classic.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

Tom is...sadistic. He likes to tease you, poke fun at how desperate you are, but he can also be very serious, especially if he’s jealous.

“Does Dolohov get to fuck you? Does he get to make you feel this good?”

“N-no, my lord! Only y-you do!”

“Mmh, that’s what I thought.”

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

I mean, Tom lived in the 40s so I doubt that anyone was clean shaven back then. He’s not too picky or worried about it, but I could see him keeping himself neatly trimmed.

Once he becomes Voldy, he just straight up doesn’t have any, lol.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

He’s not romantic but he lets you know that you’re the center of all his attention in the moment. He’s focused on you and only you.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

Doesn’t do it often, doesn’t really see the point if he has you. Will indulge if you’re not up to a session or are otherwise unavailable.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

Choking, of course, is one of his sadist go-tos. He doesn’t really do the whole ‘daddy’ thing but call him ‘sir’ or ‘lord’ and you’re in for a treat.

Tom will degrade and praise you at the same time. One minute he’s calling you a filthy little whore and the next, he’s telling you how good you’re being for him. He’s also the type to spit in your mouth.

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

Tom doesn’t really have a favorite spot to fuck you but he’s got some designated places for it. His bed naturally, the Room of Requirement is quite nice for it, the Chamber of Secrets if he’s feeling particularly powerful. One time you did it in the Forbidden Forest and it was surprisingly romantic. If someone pisses him off, he won’t hesitate to fuck you in their bed or their office (you can only hope that that phoenix doesn’t snitch to Dumbledore about what you did on his desk).

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

Anger is one of his biggest motivators. Envy, pride and sheer boredom as well. If you’re in the mood, it’s not hard to get him in the mood. If he feels like he’s letting in too much emotion, he’ll probably end up fucking you to distract himself from it but sometimes that doesn’t really help because the way you look drifting off to sleep in his arms is so...

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

Tom’s not really the type to have boundaries but he doesn’t like to beg and he won’t do anything you don’t want to. He won’t have sex with you if you’re too drunk to understand what you want, he much prefers it when you’re genuinely able to want him.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

He likes receiving much more than giving (another reason why he loves your lips). There’s something about having you on your knees in front of him, looking up with an adoring expression that just drives him wild. He’ll let you do most of the work, but you can bet that he’ll have a hand in your hair the whole time.

While he doesn’t like to give you oral, he does enjoy fingering you.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

Tom can go either way here, it depends on his mood. He likes to be rough, he’s not at all a very soft fellow, but sometimes he likes to hold you out for as long as possible or simply just be able to appreciate your lovely body.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

He’s not opposed to them at all but they’re not his favorite. He likes to plan things out ahead of time and take his time, but he won’t say no to a spontaneous blowjob in a supply closest or to fingering you before transfigurations.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

Tom tends to be a creature of habit but he most definitely has an adventurous side to him. He’s willing to experiment, especially if it means experimenting with spells.  

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

He can go for several rounds, until he feels that he’s gotten everything he can out of it.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

Not toys, necessarily, but his wand or better yet, your wand. If he’s got you tied up or immobile, he likes to drag it over your body or hold it to your throat to remind you whose in charge.

When will we finally get that book of sex spells

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

Tom likes to tease quite a bit. He’ll let you squirm and beg for your release, he’ll make you earn it.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

He’s not loud but god damn, does he make a lot of noise. Lots of grunting and growling in a low tone. Tom is, without a doubt, the king of dirty talk and has a way of making insults sound endearing. He likes to sound like he’s in control, even when he’s not.

You, on the other hand, he loves to hear you to come unfurled for him. He’ll make fun of your high pitched squeals and cries, but don’t be fooled, he lives to hear them.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

“I hate you, Riddle.”

“I find that hard to believe considering how much you’re whining right now.”

“Shut up and fuck me.”

“Not if you don’t show some respect.”

“Please shut up and fuck me, sir.”

“If you insist, darling.”

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

I feel like you have to have the biggest set of balls to do half of the shit that Tom does

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

Very high, he’s a very horny bastard (unless he’s already busy with something).

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

Tom doesn’t fall asleep right after. He waits until you’ve already drifted off and then lets himself have a few moments to admire you and think about how glad he is that you’re his. Just a few moments though, least he end up going soft.

[arrthurpendragon]

ICYMI!  4/10/21

if

Chronicles of Narnia

Close Your Eyes by: @misshiraeth98​

Emily Rose always dreamed with her eyes closed. Her heart reaching into the depths of her conscious to bring about a bearable present. When she is mysteriously transported to a world where her dreams are now reality she begins to think she has gone mad! Little did she know this world, Narnia, would lead her to experiences and relationships that would last lifetimes. Emily thought fairy tales only existed in her books but a lion tells her the truth. A happy ending is only the beginning. CH 5 WATTPAD

Harry Potter

Blood and Bone by: @booty-boggins

After the opening of the Chamber of Secrets leads to the death of a Hogwarts student, Tom Riddle returns for his sixth year intent to keep any suspicion away from his involvement. But fellow Slytherin Maeve Rosier knows Riddle is hiding something. The problem is, Maeve has secrets of her own - dangerous secrets that the future Dark Lord wants for himself... (SLOW Riddle/OC) CH 4 FFN

Decadence by: @john-silver

Phoenix Black is torn between a bright future and a Death Eater husband, and what her heart desires—her older brother's best friend, Remus Lupin. With both of her brothers in peril, Phoenix's role in the First Wizarding War is set in stone, as the Black family hurtles headlong toward tragedies they will never recover from. Remus/OC. CH. 15 FFN

Everybody Wants to Rule the World by: @john-silver

An intelligent witch of old English magical blood and French nobility, Jolie Selwyn becomes the object of Tom Riddle's obsession, and what starts as a game becomes something much more deadly. Caught up in a terrifying world she can't escape, Jolie questions where her choices have gotten her. Tom Riddle/OC.CH 3 FFN

Marvel

Come Wind Come Weather by: @whindsor

It was supposed to be a fairytale romance, a soldier and an army nurse. They were supposed to last out the war, then go home and have it all. But Hydra took away everything except for the bond between them. And while this is a love story, it is also a story about pain, and loss, and the ghosts left behind. Peace follows war, just as Summer follows Winter. Bucky/OC. CH. 62 FFN + AO3

If I Stay by: @jewelswrites-ish

Rented out to HYDRA, Maize was given the position to oversee and handle the Winter Soldier during all his missions in an attempt to ensure completion. With her inhuman ability to manipulate metal, she serves her job well until she realizes there is a way to mess with HYDRAs asset and destroy Global-1 - a secret united governmental organization tasked with finding and retrieving enhanced humans for experimentations and their own agendas. CH 2 WATTPAD

Signs of Life by: @misshiraeth98

"Did you mean what you just said?" "I always mean what I say. I may not always mean to say it out loud, but I always mean it." Amelia Nilson was trained to hack the world, but she was not prepared for the virus that would enter her heart. CH. 6 WATTPAD

Unvaliant by: @john-silver

Dulcinea Rook had been doing really well lying low, actually, until an old associate drags her into a mess she wants no part in. A woman not used to trusting anyone, suddenly Dulcinea is stuck with a traumatised super-soldier, a guy with cool metal wings, an ex-SHIELD agent and a disgraced baron. What could possibly go wrong? Bucky Barnes/OC. (TFATWS) CH 1 FFN

Merlin

The Prayer by: @ocfairygodmother

Nerissa finds herself on the adventure of a lifetime when she accompanies her brother to Camelot, in hopes of a better future than as some simple farmer's wife. There she finds out that sometimes, dreams really do come true - even in the most unlikely of ways. • Arthur x OC • CH 8 FFN + WATTPAD  // CH. 9 FFN + WATTPAD

Once Upon a Time

your love (is a turning page) by: @ohhitherekatie​ +  @if-you-onlyknew​

Jefferson wakes up with a year of his life missing after Pan's curse. The town is oblivious and he is alone yet again. When he meets the town's patisserie chef and part time ballet teacher; Delilah Mason -- he feels a connection to the woman. Not to mention the ring she wears on her index finger -- a ring he stole decades earlier. How does she have his ring? Who is this woman and why has no one in town noticed that they've been cursed yet again? CH 20 AO3

Power Rangers

Aegis by: @fandompariah​

A new threat bearing a familiar name is gathering its' forces. Tommy led a force of over 100 rangers in a desperate attempt to buy time. 20 years later a new generation of Power Rangers are being assembled to defend the galaxy. This is an OC centric story, though several canon characters will appear and have prominent roles. CH 79 FFN + AO3

RWBY

MARZ Rising by: @fandompariah

It's been thirty years since Ruby Rose saved Remnant from Salem and almost a decade since it was saved again. Salem is gone yet the Creatures of Grimm remain and now a new generation of Hunters are ready to begin their story... By enrolling at the Breaktide Academy of Menagerie where they'll be trained by legends including Team CFVY and Ruby Rose herself. Part 5 of the Spiral-Verse CH 5 FFN + AO3

Star Wars

Force of Nature by: @thecaillic​

Sith Acolyte Darth Viveza is sent on a mission to spy on the Queen of Naboo and keep an eye on two enemy Jedi. Her instructions were clear. Do so and nothing more. She has a hard time doing this, due to the younger of the two Jedi.

All she had to do was wait. Then she would get her chance. Killing a Jedi would take her one step closer to becoming strong enough to defeat her master. Right?  CH. 4 AO3

[saintsenara]

I don't know if you are still doing the ship game. What do you think about Drarry? I apologise if you have already answered it- I tried to see if someone else has asked but I may have missed your response. It's a very popular ship and there are lots of well written fics by incredibly talented authors that I have enjoyed. But when I take that aside and look at the pairing just on its own, I struggle to articulate my thoughts on what I actually think about the pairing.

thank you for the ask @sarafina-sincerity!

i do read drarry, but i think it’s probably fair to say that i don’t read drarry because i expect it to make sense.

i like it fluffy and stupid, to be enjoyed after a hard day at work when i want something which is crammed full of fuck-buddies-to-oh-wait-this-is-serious tropes which doesn’t require too much effort to engage with.

and so the fics i tend to read aren’t drarry which really grapples with exactly how difficult it can be to make harry and draco work as a stable couple while still feeling true to their canon characters.

[they’re not fics which dive into how they would be as an unstable couple either, which is - frankly - because i prefer to see harry in toxic messes with other people.]

i like a bit of of out-of-character nonsense - i love to tune into a fic in which draco is assertive and witty and sophisticated [even though in the books he’s an insecure little bitch whose jokes always flop], or harry's passive, preternaturally adoring, and speaks like a therapist [even though in the books he’s a reckless feral cat with the emotional awareness of cardboard], or ron and hermione come around to it really quickly. i think they’re fun!

but arguing that drarry could make sense as a happy relationship when the characters are as they are in canon is difficult. indeed, i think that it’s even more difficult than making many of the completely implausible-sounding harry-centric pairings work [and, indeed, draco-centric pairings, taco nation rise up]. and i think it’s worth dissecting why.

the first reason is that, much as umbridge is often the villain that readers have the most visceral reaction to [and much as the thing about snape which seems to most upset readers is when he’s a bad teacher], the fact that draco is just some guy at school actually makes the pairing harder. unlike something like snarry, in which a semi-mystical connection between the two is set up by the narrative, or tomarry, in which an overtly mystical connection is, drarry is just two lads who don’t really get on.

indeed, despite a tendency to explain their vibe in the books as sexual tension, harry gives no indication of particularly caring either way about draco while they’re at school. he thinks he’s annoying, pretentious, rude, and cowardly, but - outside of half-blood prince - he's not ever actually shown to escalate those feelings into being particularly obsessed with him. harry doesn’t watch draco constantly, or follow him around, or devote a huge amount of time to thinking about him when they’re not together of his own accord - and when he does do any of these things, it’s usually because draco has provoked him into it by seeking him out and/or being explicitly bigoted.

even in half-blood prince, harry’s obsession with draco is external to the man himself - it’s rooted in his attempts to block out his grief over sirius, his anger at the death eaters who killed his godfather [lucius malfoy among them], his suspicion of snape, and the things he's learning about tom riddle.

draco, though, is obsessed with him. harry spends seven years living rent free in his head; he tracks his movements, he can barely make it through the day without seeking him out to try and get some attention from him, and he clearly talks about him all the time [he needs no prompting from "crabbe" and "goyle" to bring him up during the polyjuice scene in chamber of secrets, for example].

he also obviously has some level of respect for harry - he acknowledges, even if it’s through complaining to his father, that he’s a good quidditch player, for instance - and, by the end of the series, he clearly does regard harry as brave. whereas, when it comes to more positive emotions, harry pities draco, but he never seems to like or admire him.

as a result, i always prefer drarry in which draco is the more feral one, but the default dynamic seems to have harry chasing him, rather than the other way round. i would also like to see more authors work with how likely draco would be to put up for long with having such an obvious interest in a man who is only ever likely to be ambivalent towards him in return

[and also a man who is quite likely to expect to become his partner’s priority, rather than the other way round. one issue with a lot of harry’s relationships, whether his canonical one with ginny or a fanon alternative, is that the role he occupies in the story means that he tends to relate to people he knows not as equals but either as people he needs to protect or people he needs to protect others from. in a relationship with draco, he is likely to pivot from the latter to the former, and i can’t imagine that draco - who thinks of himself as a protector as well, especially in his relationship with his mother - is going to particularly enjoy this. this is why i like middle-aged, have had decades to calm down, widowed or divorced drarry - it feels like it has more chance of being equal than the school-age or immediately post-war stuff.]

harry’s indifference-bordering-on-dislike towards draco does stand in contrast to how he thinks about other male characters that he’s frequently paired with. to return to snarry and tomarry - harry is shown to admire snape at numerous points prior to the end of half-blood prince, his interest in the prince’s textbook reveals that he and snape have a shared intellectual compatibility, and - above all - harry understands and empathises with snape’s background and experiences. similarly, harry is shown to admire voldemort at numerous points, the narrative sets them up as being very similar, and - above all - harry understands and empathises with voldemort’s background and experiences.

[harry is also obviously physically attracted to tom riddle, while draco isn't - although this is, of course, not an insurmountable issue - obviously his type. the men harry finds attractive in canon are all tall, thin, and dark-haired, and draco is always described by the narrative in terms which suggest that harry thinks he’s ugly. the same is true for lucius malfoy.]

i think that one explanation for the above is that a lack of shared background is one of the major stumbling blocks to drarry which doesn’t exist in the other two pairings.

i love an auror partners trope-fic as much as any other girl, but - in reality - draco never needs to work and never gives the impression of being career-minded or finding career ambition valuable. harry is certainly rich enough not to need to work - and the fact that he has a pureblood name and resembles his pureblood father gives him an amount of class protection in the wizarding world which means that drarry is nowhere near as socially unequal as something like dramione - but he evidently finds the idea of working valuable, not least because he wants to achieve recognition for something other than being the boy-who-lived.

but draco - who likes being thought special on the basis of unearned things like his family name - would struggle to understand this. and, in return, harry would struggle to understand how draco’s adult life - something i suspect he would see as one of tedious luxury - is driven by a sense of conformist duty to his family and his peers. after all, harry believes in the value of found family and earned loyalty, and loathes any expectation that he should be deferential to people just because of who they are.

of course, i don’t think this would prevent them being together. it would just cause a tension which would either see everything crash and burn [hot] or which would require growth from both characters which takes a certain lightness of touch to pull off. there are lots of drarry authors who do one or both of these in their works, of course. but those authors are very rarely trying to portray harry and draco as [to begin with, at least] a good or healthy couple…

but with this said, i also think that some common criticisms of drarry wouldn’t actually be a big deal to either harry or draco.

the most significant of these is the fact that harry is morally righteous - yes - but that this manifests itself in an expectation of loyalty from other people, but not an expectation of purity.

in post-war drarry, i think it’s entirely reasonable to say that harry’s belief that the malfoys turned against voldemort because of loyalty to each other [something he finds valuable, and clearly considers to be the appropriate way for a family unit to behave - look at what he thinks of percy weasley, for example], as well as lucius malfoy’s extra-canonical willingness to help harry and the ministry by informing on all his former associates [which, according to jkr, results in him being spared azkaban and harry thinking that’s fine] enables him to let go of draco’s past, and to have a relationship without the weight of that history hanging over them. i don’t think he ever becomes fond of lucius - although i think he is likely to feel slightly more warmth towards narcissa - but i also don’t think he would expect draco to estrange himself from his family or completely change as a person in order to consider him worthy of his affection.

[this is, for what it’s worth, something which makes dramione an impossibility for me - even if draco is capable of redemption (which, like everyone, he is), i don’t think she’s ever forgiving him or considering him changed enough to be worthy of her, and i don’t think she should have to.]

draco may not, however, consider this acceptance to be as much of a gift as harry might - above all because i believe sincerely that harry would never feel bad about the sectumsempra incident. draco is clearly someone who holds grudges, and i think that this would always be in quite profound tension with harry’s remarkable [but also entirely self-interested] ability to decide he’s going to let things go.

i also think that harry is going to be able to handle draco’s more negative characteristics better than he’s sometimes given credit for, since all of them - especially his tendency towards jealousy, self-aggrandisement, and moping - are things he shares with ron. and, like ron, i think draco is going to be surprisingly good at dealing with harry’s impulsivity, his tendency to brood, and tendency to form knee-jerk judgements. these seemingly opposing personality traits are actually quite nicely balanced.

and, of course, the big one: love is strange and unpredictable; forgiveness can be easy just as often as it can be difficult; everyone is capable of redemption; people can choose to be together despite significant odds against them; choice is much more interesting than fate; and fluffy drarry is unbelievably entertaining.

my final statement, though? people are sleeping on dron. ron and draco have all the right ingredients - above all, the fact that they’re narrative mirrors - which makes things like snack bang. the potential for drama and intrigue and destabilising love is right there. harry simply cannot compete.

[mediocre--writing]

Hey! I'd like to request a Harry x Gryffindor!reader where y/n is a member of the Golden trio (well now quartet) and is basically about her friendship with them and how her and harry eventually fall in love and end up together, like is a slow burn (it can be either a oneshot or headcanons, it's your choice) thank you! 💕

Harry Potter x Gryffindor!Muggleborn!Reader

Summary: You and Harry have been friends since first year, so how will you tell him that you have deeper feelings for him than just friendship?

Word Count: 6665

Warnings: mentions of scars, umbridge (which is a warning for obvious reasons), hints of depression, doing badly in school

Ok I know that this was supposed to be a small headcannon, but I kinda went overboard so now this is 6k... oops!

so you both met on the train to hogwarts in first year

you physically ran into harry when you were trying to find a spot to sit before the train started moving

you kinda squashed him because, let’s admit it, harry was probably abnormally skinny for an eleven year old and could be pinned down by an aggravated squirrel

but it caused the two of you to have an inside joke and become friends, even before you got to hogwarts

you also became friends with ron weasley on the train ride

he was also a scrawny little twerp, and you felt like a mother looking after two idiotic children

there was also hermione granger, who immediately rubbed you the wrong way

she was bossy and seemed to be a know it all

at the sorting ceremony, harry, ron, and hermione had all gone before you

so you were kinda just chilling in the group of kids that you didn’t talk to on the train, secretly sending all your hopes into getting into gryffindor

thank godric that you did

you all sat together and ate

you also met ron’s brothers: fred, george, and percy, and apparently he had two more, bill and charlie, and a younger sister, ginny

wow his mother made a bold choice

but they were all kind

though fred and george seemed a bit too mischievous for their own good

and percy was kinda snarky

but everyone has their own flaws, and you should look past them

and you and hermione were roommates

(oh my god they were roommates)

so you tried to deal with hermione’s nagging and obsession with success

it’s firmly believed by all the girls in that dorm that if she wasn’t in gryffindor, she probably would have been in slytherin because she was so ambitious 

but school was fun

you all had classes together

because you’re first years and didn’t have electives yet

hermione, of course, was amazing at just about everything

ron and harry were decent at most things, of course they had to learn but they caught on quick

the only class you liked was the flying lessons, but it only happened once  every week

and astronomy

you just liked going out at night and staring at the stars

but who wouldn’t

so hermione tried to help you in class, but she talked far too fast and already knew everything

she was smart, but she wasn’t a good teacher

so you went to harry, because he was doing good in classes and wasn’t psycho-smart

he actually helped a ton more

you were actually passing your classes now

the both of you bonded over quidditch, as he became seeker and you longed to be a chaser for gryffindor

so you went to all his games and cheered him on

(you also tried out in second year and made it, to the shock of most people)

through your first year, things were relatively normal, right up until you discovered the locked room that housed a large, three headed dog

then harry decided it would be a grand idea for you all to go into a trap door underneath the dog

but of course you followed

as you entered, you got past the dog with relative ease, then hermione helped you all out of the devil’s snare

then you got on the broom and caught the key needed to get through the next door

then ron aided in beating the killer chess board

hermione had to carry him back to the main hallway, and up to madam pince

but you went with harry to find the sorcerer's stone

and when you walked into the room, you stopped at the top of the stairs, seeing quirrel

after a few moments of talking, when the fighting broke out, you were hit with a jinx that sent you flying across the room

which knocked you out

so when you woke up in the hospital wing with a few bruises

ron to your left, still asleep

harry to your right, also asleep

you could say that you were a bit confused at the goings-on of the night before

hermione showed up only a few moments later and explained everything from what she knew

when you all left after first year, it’s safe to say a tear may or may not have fallen at the idea of not seeing your friends for a whole three months

but that summer, you were invited to the burrow at the end of summer

and you went

after begging your parents for the entire month prior

but you got there

and you went along with, ron, fred, and george in their dad’s car to go rescue harry

and you almost fell out of the car while trying to pull him inside, away from his porky looking uncle

but you guys were fine

and when you got back to the house

mrs. weasley chewed you all out

except harry

but she gave you quite the talking to because you’d been there for the past few weeks and she was comfortable treating you like her own

which included a good scolding

but it was all ok

because you were all back together

at least you and the boys

but you would see hermione very soon

when you went to diagon alley

but there was a small hiccup in the day

when you ran into the malfoys

literally

you slammed into draco’s back

very hard

and he fell over

and you fell on top of him

and his dad saw it all

and screamed at you in front of everyone in the bookshop

“you filthy, vile, little mudblood!”

he had his wand pulled in your face and everything

draco was smirking behind him

it was humiliating

but

the weasleys had your back

the twins came to help you stand up and were glaring at the malfoys

arthur began yelling at lucius

though you were embarrassed, you felt loved all the same

all the girls were obsessing over some gildy-guy

you didn’t find him all that appealing

he seemed too full of himself

but hogwarts was going good that year

besides the little thing with you, ron, and harry stealing a flying car and crashing it into the whomping willow

though it did give you all a bit of street cred given that...

ya know, three 12 year olds stole a flying car and drove it to hogwarts

as mentioned before, you made it onto the gryffindor quidditch team as chaser

you were also benched for half a game for trying to knock malfoy off his broom when he called hermione and you mudbloods while trying to smack talk harry

which didn’t make sense because the slytherins cheat every game and you try to assault one kid and suddenly you're benched

though malfoy doesn’t really say much to your group when your around now

you also got closer to the twins, helping them with pranks and diversions

after the malfoy/bookstore incident, they felt more protective of you

you became like an older sister to ginny

and she always felt like she could open up to you

but she had a weird little book she wouldn’t let you see

as she got worse through the year, you told hermione

but she suggested that you shouldn’t tell her brothers

because maybe she didn’t want anyone knowing

when it was revealed that harry was a parseltongue, you most definitely yelled at people who badmouthed him

you also punched one kid, but you didn’t get a detention for it because the kid was too scared to tell anyone

you and harry were even closer than before

between quidditch and you staying close to him everywhere because you were scared of being petrified

and when hermione got petrified you broke down in the middle of the common room

harry hugged you, a little awkwardly, but he was trying

then ginny got taken down to the chamber

and you felt more numb than anything

so when you, ron, and harry ventured down to the chamber of secrets to find ginny

with lockhart

who wasn’t much help

ever

but ron and lockhart were stuck behind fallen rocks so you and harry went on

and you found ginny

and young voldemort

...or his ghost

either way

it was voldemort

and though you would never tell another soul, he was a lot more handsome when he had his face in tact and looked, well, human

but besides that, he was trying to kill you, harry, and ginny, so his appeal was pushed to the side when you considered that little factor

but as the basilisk chased harry around the chamber, tom riddle had you in a headlock

you were on your knees

and he was basically just forcing you to watch harry be chased by a killer snake

ginny was still passed out after harry defeated the basilisk with the sword of gryffindor, brought by the phoenix, fawkes

you still couldn’t catch your breath after tom riddle had let you go, given that he had been choking you slowly

you hugged harry and were gripping onto the backs of his robes as tight as possible, still feeling light headed and grateful that you actually survived

but you helped harry carry ginny out as quick as possible

ron and lockhart had cleared away most of the rubble, well mostly ron, lockhart was still crazy

when the end of the year came and hermione, among others, were no longer petrified, you enveloped her in the biggest hug imaginable

the train ride back was, once again, a bit sad, but you promised to come over to the burrow during the summer

you went to the leaky cauldron with hermione and her family, since yours didn’t exactly like that you were a witch

they loved you, but all this stuff was to dangerous for their taste

but you and hermione went to the leaky cauldron for a few nights

met the weasleys there for a day of shopping and such

also met harry there, since he was brought by the minister of magic for using magic underaged outside of school

which was kind of a stupid rule

but whatever

you got to spend more time with your friends

because the weasleys were in egypt visiting bill, ron’s older brother,

but you got your little (well, large, really) family back

you and harry talked about everything that the dursley’s had done to him, how he blew up his aunt, and how he was sick and tired of feeling alone during summers

you told him about how your parents were complaining about you leaving for most of the year and, all around, didn’t like magic, like his aunt and uncle

you also talked about how ron’s rat and hermione’s cat were going to kill each other, which meant that ron and hermione would end up killing each other

you never really realized how much you talked to harry until you didn’t get to everyday

on the train ride to hogwarts, you sat with the twins and their friend, lee jordan, and a few of the girls from the quidditch team that you’d known before

you were planning a big prank for the start of the year

harry, ron, and hermione, however, were stuck with an old, sleepy man in their compartment

harry was also moping because you were spending time with the twins

again

he missed you more than he thought he would and wanted to spend time with you, but he couldn’t just say that

they were your friends too

then the dementors came onto the train, which woke up the old man in their compartment and he was able to fend them off

and harry passed out

and then he woke up a few moments later

with chocolate being shoved in his face

(not a bad way to be woken up)

but the first thing he did was try and get up to look for you

which hermione offered to do so he could rest

in your compartment, you had fallen over, not passed out, but your knees had gone weak and you blacked out for a moment, still awake though

fred and george were on either side of you on the floor

they both had an arm over your shoulder, trying to warm you up

angelina johnson was giving you kind words

and then hermione walked in

your head shot up

“are you all alright?”

“harry passed out,”

there was a chuckle heard from outside the compartment

malfoy

“potter passed out? some brave gryffindor he is!”

everyone just kinda rolled their eyes and continued to ignore him

“is harry ok?”

“should be, there was a man in there, i assume he was a teacher or something, he had it handled”

“you’re sure he’s alright?”

“yes, he’s perfectly ok, y/n,”

hermione definitely knew about your crush on harry now

she had her suspicions before

but it was just obvious now

hermione left, probably going back to harry and ron

“you wanna go see him?” one of the twins asked from your right in a concerned but also suggestive voice

you shook your head

“i’ll see him at dinner, fred,”

both the twins gasped, along with the others in the compartment

“you can tell us apart?” george asked

yes, that’s right, you had learned the difference between the twins and could tell them apart, something their best friend, lee, couldn’t even do

you were quite proud of yourself

“of course, what do you take me for? your mother?” you chuckled

both the twins knew, at that moment, they’d hit the jackpot

they knew you had a great sense for attention to detail in pranks, but this just showed how much you knew

“how do you know which is which?”

“fred has more freckles, george slouches more when he walks, fred also has a little scar right at the top of his hairline that you can just barely see, but it’s usually how i can tell. also you have sides when you go places together, george is left and fred is right, though i’m sure you’ll change it up from now on to trip me up,”

“ahhh, little y/n, you are a good best friend,” -fred

“lee, take notes,” -george

“fuck all of  you,” -lee

the rest of the ride was not as eventful after that, though the twins were still trying to make you slip up

they left to put their uniforms and asked you to guess who was who, you were correct, they were crybabies about it

when hermione went back to harry, he was a little sad to hear that fred and george were comforting you so closely

lupin kinda smirked because it reminded him of how james would get mad when lily was with other boys

then he wasn’t smirking because he was all sad

when the train got back to hogwarts, you met up with ron and hermione and harry

they told you all about cool professor lupin

third year was great

professor lupin was your favorite professor, which was a similar theme around school

you pranked more people with fred and george

you played quidditch, getting better at your skills when practicing with angelina and katie

lupin grew to love your little quartet

because you were like his friends

hermione reminded him of himself because of her good morals and need to excel in classes, even though she still had her own dark side

ron was like peter, one of the funniest, kindest friends he’d ever seen, while also being underspoken, letting his friends speak first in most situations

james and harry were practically the same person, with their entire personas mirroring the others, though harry was much more modest than james had ever been, but also seemed to have his mischievous side much more hidden than his father, who would boast about his accomplishments and pranks

you reminded him of sirius, with how you always found a way to make others laugh, and your chameleon-like personality that could fit in with multiple groups, you never seemed to be alone, along with the way that you could never seem to wear your uniform correctly: always choosing a t-shirt instead of the button down or regular trainers over the uncomfortable uniform shoes

he made sure to pay extra attention to harry and his friends through the year

you became more popular as you hug out with fred and george more

hermione and ron seemed to bicker more and more like an old married couple

harry was stressing over sirius black constantly, especially after finding out that he was his godfather

you and harry went to see lupin together to discuss what he knew of sirius black, along with just getting your minds cleared

he accepted you both into his office and you all chatted for hours

he also offered to teach you how to cast a patronus, like he had been doing with harry

you gleefully accepted

harry had been at his wits end with malfoy at this point, sick of the taunts and jokes tossed his way

so you and fred and george pranked him

turned his hair red and glittery

only lasted until you washed it out but it was very funny to see him freak out

as patronus practice went on with harry and lupin, you got closer and closer to casting a full patronus, only after your second lesson

during the third time you went, your patronus was cast fully, a mighty lioness that roared loudly as you, harry, and lupin laughed in pure delight at the sight of the mighty beast

you told fred and george what your patronus was and they were jealous, because you got the house mascot and they couldn’t even produce the charm

when the day came that you, harry, ron, and hermione all went down to hagrid’s for buckbeaks’ execution

then scabbers was pulled away by a large black dog

and you all went into the whomping willow

and found sirius black

who was being quite dramatic for a wanted killer

or maybe that was just how killers were

just murdering people but with ✨pizzazz✨

but when lupin turned up, and explained the situation, then ron’s rat turns into peter pettigrew, who was supposed to be dead, then snape showed up

god this was a really long night

once you had everything taken care of (ron was going to be taken to the hospital wing for his leg injury, peter pettigrew was in restraints, it was acknowledged that sirius was framed, and everyone knew lupin was a werewolf) you walked back up to the opening of the whomping willow

then the moon came out

lupin began transforming, everyone backed away slightly, but you were stunned to your spot

sirius and snape were protecting harry ron and hermione

but you were just standing there, watching

peter got away by transforming into a rat, again

lupin was now in full wolf form though, so that was the bigger problem

sirius approached him slowly before lupin turned around quickly, scratching your arm and hand as he ran off, sirius chasing after him in his dog form

but you were scratched by a werewolf

and it hurt

snape had to be a crutch for ron because his leg was messed up

and you were wobbling as you walked from the pain

but you both made it to the hospital wing

pomfrey attended to you first, and she explained, while she worked, that since it was only a scratch, you shouldn’t suffer any detrimental side effects aside from the scarring, which would never go away

it wasn’t too bad after she gave you a few medicines

you worried about hermione and harry, and while ron was being tended to, you glanced out of the windows looking for a peak at your friends

they ended up coming up to the hospital wing after seeing the dementors try to kill sirius, but then they disappeared again, leaving you and ron confused when, just seconds later, they walked through the doors into the hospital wing

but they told you that they saved sirius and buckbeak

school was pretty calm after that

you and harry went to see lupin when you heard that he was quitting

he explained that word got out about him being a werewolf

by snape

the bitch

and that he hurt a student

but he wasn’t aware of that part

until he saw your arm wrapped up

and asked what happened

and he looked like he was going to cry

but you assured him that it didn’t hurt

of course it hurt but you weren’t going to tell him that

for some reason you felt bad that he hurt you

because he was kind and gentle and didn’t deserve the prejudice he got

the scar was healing, but it was from your elbow to the back of your hand, and it was about an inch wide, so there wasn’t much hope of you covering it up or saying it was no big deal

lupin was worried though

how were you going to explain this to your parents?

they were muggles, wouldn’t they pull you out of school?

apparently not, because when, that summer, you were invited to the quidditch world cup with the weasleys and hermione and harry, they let you go

which was very out of character but you didn’t really mind

the quidditch cup was… interesting

you and hermione were pretty spooked afterwards because of the death eater symbol that hung over the crowd

along with the fact that you were muggleborn

but the beginning of the school year was sure to take your mind off of it

the triwizard tournament seemed interesting enough for the older teens to compete in

you couldn’t play quidditch but this was fine

it was a relaxing year to just chill

right?

wrong!

because you got two months of relative peace until harry’s name was pulled out of the cup and most of the school turned on him

you were still staying close to harry because you trusted him

and you knew that ron wasn’t so much mad at his friend as much as he was a mix of jealous and worried for harry’s safety

you also helped harry train for the first task once you found out what it was

fuckin dragons

you brought him out to the quidditch pitch a few days a week and made him run drills so that he’d be quicker on his feet

ya know

running from a dragon

and you made sure that he knew basic spells

you made hermione research dragons and common ways to get past them

after a little conversation with moody, you also practiced the summoning charm so he could get his broom

you still made sure he was doing running drills because he could always fall

but you included some flying practice

“i don’t care if you're the youngest seeker in a century, harry, this is a dragon!!!! it breathes fire!!!”

because you were helping harry so much

you kinda began slipping in class

just a little

ok maybe a lot

but you were also practicing spells with harry so you were learning like 6/7th year charms

though your teachers didn’t see it that way

sadly

so you had to ditch harry a few times due to detentions

mostly with mcgonnangal because she pitied you and how you were worried about your friend dying, which you prioritized over lessons

though snape was getting fed up with you

he was yelling at you more

but you were used to it at this point

the day of the first task you had been with harry in the tent for as long as you could stay there, worried for his safety

to be honest he was getting more nervous because of you

he wanted you to calm down

and you wanted him to live

so it was quite the stressful situation

especially when, while you were sitting on one of the hospital beds moved down there (for precaution) you rested your head on his shoulder and he wrapped an arm around your shoulder and rita skeeter snapped a quick picture

but she got told off by krum

which was kinda refreshing

he was quiet, but he would stand up for what was right

you liked that about him

it reminded you of harry

harry did really well in the task, getting really high marks for his agility and skill on a broom

you gleamed with pride

a few days later, at breakfast, ron had a parcel delivered to him

dress robes

that were beyond hideous

then you heard all about the yule ball

where you had to dress up and converse with the other schools and such

it didn’t sound all that appealing to you

you loved hanging out with friends and such

but you weren’t exactly thrilled with the idea of dressing up for hours on christmas, the day of relaxation

and becuase you didn’t really think that you were gonna go, you gave ron the money your parents sent you for a dress so he could buy new, nice dress robes

he thanked you a million times

you were also helping harry with the egg

let's say that cedric found out about the egg and told harry a bit sooner

so you were trying to get him to swim in the black lake

he wasn’t pleased

but he needed to be quick in the water

he was mad at you for pushing him in one day

but he got over it

hermione was losing her mind because you and harry were basically flirting 

constantly

and touching one another with looks of affection

but harry wouldn’t man up and ask you out

and you didn’t believe he would actually like you

hermione about slapped you when you said that

you also told her that you didn’t really want to go because of the elegant air that wasn’t your style

so she made it her personal mission to get you and harry together

she wasn’t subtle

was she ever?

but nothing happene

one day at breakfast, while the boys were complaining about not having dates

fred, who was sitting next to you, asks angelina to the dance to show ron and harry that it was that easy

ron made some snarky comment about how hermione and you wouldn’t have dates

and hermione was mildly offended by ron and stormed off

but you knew he was right

nobody had even asked you

you thought about asking harry

multiple times

but you just knew he wouldn’t want to go with you

especially when he had practically every girl in hogwarts to choose from

so that night, in the common room, you asked george if he had a date

he didn’t

so you went as friends

because you thought of the twins as family

and didn’t like them that way

but you knew that they were a good option, and with george you would be able to joke all night and have a good time

you bought a cheap-ish, but nice, dress from money you’d already had in your trunk

harry was pissed

he knew you liked one of the twins

and he was mad at himself more than anything

but he went with one of the patil twins, ron taking the other

but when you came downstairs to george, looking more gorgeous than ever

with the help of hermione

you wore a dress with short sleeves, which made you slightly insecure because you still had the scar from professor lupin that was a few shades off from your normal skin tone

but hermione, fred, george, and angelina assured you that you were still beautiful

he couldn't take his eyes off you

“potter seems to be staring at you,” george teased

you rolled your eyes and didn’t bother to look back because you didn’t want to be disappointed

the ball was fun

you caught up with the twins since you hadn’t spent much time with them since you were helping harry

the next weeks you were still training with harry

he was still reluctant about getting in the black lake

but he lived

and when, the night before the task, you and hermione disappeared when he had a question, he felt more helpless than ever

he felt even more helpless when, during the task, he could make out your figure at the bottom of the lake, in between hermione and a little blonde girl

after he helped you and the little blonde girl, who turned out to be fleur’s little sister, you and harry were huddled together…. 

“warming up”

he got high marks again for rescuing both you and gabrielle, even though he took a long time to finish

he was tied for first place

you jumped up and hugged him so tight he could barely breathe

you loosened your grip and stared him in the eyes

your faces were so close together you could feel the other’s breath

then ron came up and grabbed harry

#fuckyouron

it was awkward between you and harry for about a day and a half until you were in the common room together and were joking like old times

after that, you waited until the month before the final task, when you found out it was a maze with creatures and spells

you made harry start running again

he said he was going to curse you

you laughed

but when the task came up, you felt a little weird about everything

things just seemed off

and when harry reappeared with a dead cedric and the triwizard cup and there was a deafning silence between everyone

cedric's father was screaming

you were trying to shove your way down the stands to harry

because he looked numb yet also going through so many emotions

when you finally got to harry he was pulled away by dumbledore, who told you to go back to your friends

you wanted to hit him

but you talked to harry the next day

well, you didn’t talk much

he collapsed, crying the tears he was holding in since the end of the third task

you held him, letting him sob

you started whispering kind words to him when his sobbing became slower and his breathing was more regular

“i’m--”

“you don’t need to be, you shouldn’t be sorry, it’s nothing you did, i promise,”

over the summer, not very much happened

until, while you were at the weasleys, harry was attacked by dementors and was being put on trial for using magic outside of school

he came to sirius’ parents old house before his trial, then, after he was free to go back to school, spent the rest of the summer with you, ron, and hermione

you spent a good bit of time over the summer working on prank products with the twins

you got a lot of progress made on the extendable ears and a few of the skiving snackboxes products were almost perfect

while on your way back to school, while ron and hermione were at the prefects carriage, you caught up with harry and what you had been doing over the summer, talking about whatever you didn’t say while at grimmauld place

they talk about how harry is sick of the pity stares he's getting, and that’s just from getting on the train and sitting down

you talk about your adventures with the twins over the summer, how they tried to do side-by-side apparition with you and you puked

the rest of the train ride was mediocre at best, but the real fun started at the end of the first dinner

namely, a woman called delores umbridge, who was the defense teacher

nobody found her likeable, especially after she interrupted dumbledore

nobody interrupts dumbledore

but you wanted to give her a chance

that chance didn’t get you too far

you and the twins were planning to prank her by day 3

she yelled at harry and gave him a torture quill for his punishmet

nasty bitch

but by the end of the fourth day at school, her cat portraits had been let out around the school, milling around in other paintings and it took her a few days to finally put them all back

the best pranks are ones that linger, driving the person mad

she didn't know it was you three, of course she didn’t, she had only been there four days

but she started to catch on when you and the twins were seen whispering in the great hall, writing on a piece of paper that was shoved under a desk and whispering stopped as she walked by

she knew for a fact that it was you three when you had all used the same annoying phrase in class, multiple times, just to drive her mad

your first detention this year, though it was with fred and george, went unknown by your friends

you didn’t want them to worry, since you couldn’t get your hand to stop bleeding when you would stretch or scratch the healing skin, but you had no intentions of stopping your pursuit of pranking

it wasn’t until dumbledore’s army was having their first practice that harry noticed the scabbed writing on your hand, which was written over your werewolf-scratch scar from third year

‘i must respect my superiors’

he got kinda really mad at you when you’d told him that it was from the last 7 detentions with umbridge, though he didn’t know you even had one

quidditch practice was awkward, harry wouldn’t talk to you, unless it was to critique your playing, and the twins weren’t really there to mediate, since they had to practice too

though the awkwardness didn’t last for too long

umbridge had kicked you, harry, fred, and george off the team indefinitely

dumbledore’s army meetings were the only thing to look forward to

though, when you were working on patronus charms, yours was no longer the mighty lion, but a doe that pranced around with grace

hermione pointed out that harry’s was a stag, and yours was a doe, and then she wiggled her eyebrows

you were #confused

you continued getting detentions with umbridge, for speaking out in class or not doing the work

you finally understand a class but it's everything you already knew from first year… but easier

so you just don’t do it

grades can’t get worse

fred and george leave, so you don’t have many people to talk to, besides hermione

harry’s still a bit aggravated with you

but you're starting to get mad at him as well, he keeps talking to cho

and the worst part is that you completely understood

she was pretty and nice and going through something only harry understood at the moment

you talked to hermione about it

she said to confess your feelings

and you were

really you were

until harry came back and told you the good news

he kissed cho

congrats to you

you just avoided him

until he claimed that sirius black was being tortured by voldemort and you, along with select dumbledore’s army members, had to go save him

you were intercepted by the umbridge prats

you punched draco malfoy so hard his nose bled all over his face and robes

which felt like a win, even though you were still caught and brought to her office in a headlock by malfoy

though you all escaped and went off to the ministry of magic, where sirius was

except he wasn’t

but you know who was?

death eaters

totally not the same thing

but you all made it to this room with a huge archway, where you were then put back in a headlock, by a malfoy…. again

you were sick of this family

the order members showed up soon, however, and sirius was actually here this time

and he was standing next to you in front of the arch, fighting

until he was hit by a curse by bellatrix, which caused him to collapse into the veil

you heard harry scream, and he started to sprint towards the veil, but you collided with his body, pushing him away and wrapping your arms around him

you didn’t know what the veil thing was but you didn't think that it was something you came back from

harry was trying to get out of your arms to the veil

he was stronger than he looked, and you ended up pushing him to the floor so he would stop trying to run

the whole battle was a mess, harry had gotten possessed by voldemort, which entailed a lot of screaming and a creepy deep voice coming from harry

as you were all brought back to hogwarts, you were dragging harry’s body over yours, and he was heavier than he looked

but you knew he was tired and out of it, so you bared with it

that summer was the longest of all

harry and you didn’t talk much

neither would make the first move to send a letter

everyone knew voldemort was back

and harry was transported to the burrow by dumbledore

and even though you had been at the burrow most of the summer, including when harry was there the next morning

he still wouldn’t even look at you

you really didn’t know what you did

he was the one who flirted and kissed cho

sure you didn’t tell him about detentions and were kind of the reason that he didn’t chase after sirius to his death

but that didn’t seem like something he should be mad about

not for this long

fred and george opened their shop

and you were proud of them

so so proud because you helped with half the products there

but you couldn’t use the extent of your happiness because harry still wasn’t talking to you

and you felt like death

all the time

that year went relatively quick

you were studying a lot more, mostly to ignore harry, but also because you didn’t have fred and george to occupy your time and had nothing else to do

by the time christmas came around, you hadn’t talked to harry much

maybe a few times in classes that you were in together

but you weren’t in any newt classes with them

oh well i guess

you didn’t make other friends either

you just kinda closed off

didn’t sleep much because you kept thinking about harry

thinking about kissing him

thinking about holding his hand

about joking with him like you used to

about how he must be feeling about everything going on

about how you can’t lose him now

he can’t die because of some no-nose-supremacist

and you looked exactly how you felt, you were sluggish and lethargic, it took you awhile to react when people spoke to you, and your usual charisma wasn’t as prominent

during christmas, fred and george noticed your lack of energy

they tried to cheer you up but you just wanted harry to talk to you

so they did what they did best

smacked some sense into harry

literally

hit him in the head and told him to talk to you

you both sat on the couch awkwardly, neither feeling the air of comfort that you used to have

it took about five minutes of silence before george opened the door and screamed at you both

not any words, just screamed

then shut the door

neither of you could hold in the snorts of laughter from the unsolicited screaming

you turned to face one another at last

“so….”

“so…”

“i’m sorry i ignored you”

“me too, i was worried about you and i felt like i couldn’t talk to you but i should have just written you a letter or something because i miss you so much, you don’t even know. after the twins left hogwarts, i always felt lonely and i wasn’t speaking to you for whatever reason and i’ve been doing really dreadful in class so i've been studying but i never retain anything or understand anything and--”

harry grabbed your hands and moved closer to you

“i think i’m in love with you”

“you’re kidding?”

“....

..

no????”

“i think i love you too?”

“yeah, i have been for a while, then we fought, and i didn’t know how to talk to you anymore--”

beforehe could have another word, you crashed your lips to his

it was amazing

you’ve been waiting for this for literal years

the past few months were torture

but everything was alright

things were getting worse out there, with voldemort rising to power, but you could die happy because of this moment

because harry wasn’t just someone who was in love with you, he was your best friend in the world and the only person who made you feel comfortable in any situation

and he loved you back

[antihero-writings]

The Boy with the Unspeakable Name (Ch11)

Fandom: Harry Potter (and the Chamber or Secrets)

Fic Summary: Tom Riddle may have won his battle with Harry in the Chamber of Secrets, but there were a few unforeseen consequences; loss of Tom’s memory being the most obnoxious of them. Is it possible to stop Tom’s past from becoming his future? Or is the young Tom Riddle doomed to repeat his mistakes?

Notes: Alright everyone I'M BACK ...And I'm so so SO sorry that I took so long to update. Over the past few months I took my first real break from posting fanfiction overall in a long time.

Before I posted this chapter, I actually ended up heavily editing some of the previous chapters, which I'd like to inform those who read the originals about first. (Currently only the Ao3 version, and the reblog version of this fic with the picture on top are up-to-date.)

* I made Tom overall more polite. I was of the belief that his politeness was not an innate trait, and without memory, he would be a bit more unpleasant, and then we could see him grow with time. I do still believe it's not an innate personality trait, but a couple things made me realize he really should act differently in my fic. * I made Snape treat Tom better in the interrogation chapter. Both at the beginning and end. I liked the ending with the Levicorpus spell, and I do kinda miss it, especially because it informed Harry's reactions, but I think it was just too mean, especially because of something I'm going for later. * I added a conversation with the other boy in the hospital wing. (By the way, if you go back to read that and can think of more things they should talk about, don't hesitate to let me know!)

...I think those are all the big things! Feel free to offer feedback on the changes if you read them!

I'm so sorry to everyone who was hoping for faster updates. I truly do appreciate your comments and support deeply, and hope that you will continue to read and still enjoy it. I would still love to hear what you think!! <3 <3

Chapter 11: The House of Books

“The summer? With you? And Harry Potter?”

Tom had been examining the objects Snape had brought him—objects which had apparently once belonged to him—and blinked, raising his head to look at him.

“Believe me, I am not thrilled about it either.”

“No, it’s not that—well, it is—it’s just…” He paused, running his fingers along the clothes laid out on the bed before him, then squinted up at Snape. “I’m trying to discern why this is a good idea.”

Snape looked away, seemingly wondering that himself.

“I think, with time, you’ll find that our headmaster has a very unique sense of what is good for others. He believes uncomfortable situations often serve for people’s betterment.” He looked off to the side and muttered, “Whether or not they agree.”

“What sort of ‘betterment’ does this serve?”

“I suppose he would like the three of us to…”—He exhaled—“get along.”

Tom raised an eyebrow a second time, as if to say Us? Really?

“Futile though it may be,” Snape added.

Tom bit his lip, internally assessing the situation as he also returned to assessing the objects.

It wasn’t ideal—that didn’t need stating. Tom had a difficult time fathoming why Dumbledore—who seemed to bear him no ill-will—would want him to live with one person who had a rather insurmountable grudge against him, and another who didn’t seem to like him much better. He wanted them to ‘get along?’ `Surely that couldn’t be it. There had to be more to it.

Was Dumbledore really so naive as to think they’d grow closer instead of hate each other more? Not that he quite understood why they hated each other in the first place.

“Is there a reason I can’t stay here over the summer? I wouldn’t mind.”

Clearly Snape would have preferred that as well.

“You no doubt heard at the Feast that there has been some question as to whether Hogwarts is entirely safe. The Board of Governors likely wouldn’t approve of a student staying over the summer until they are able to deny these suspicions. Also, the headmaster wants you to learn magic over the summer, and due to few teachers possessing a proclivity to stay at Hogwarts during this time, we must make other arrangements.”

Tom’s breath bated at the reveal that he’d be learning magic, his mind beginning to buzz. He tried not to let his excitement leak into his voice:

“You’ll be teaching me magic?”

“Do keep up.”

“So…” He sat back. “What’s Harry going to do?”

“Mister Potter will be…taking up space as usual, I presume.”

Tom stifled a laugh; he hadn’t been expecting such a response from a professor.

“You don’t like Harry, do you?”

“I’m not…particularly fond of him.”

“Is it too forward of me to say it doesn’t appear you’re particularly fond of me either?”

“I pains me to say you’ll have adequate time to learn there aren’t a great many things I feel an extensive amount of fondness for.”

Tom could already see it now.

“Consider it a trial period, of sorts.” Snape swept around the room as he altered the direction of conversation. “If you are able to succeed over the summer, you may continue your schooling at Hogwarts when the next year begins. How much you learn, and how quickly, will determine the year in which you are placed. That is, if you’re placed in any year at all.” He looked down his hooked nose at him like that was both the most likely option, and the most preferable.

Tom could tell hidden behind his words was the idea that this ‘trial period’ was about more than just how adept he was at magic. He’d didn’t need telling that he’d have to be careful in more ways than magical.

“Do you have any other business to attend to before we leave?”

“Wait, we’re leaving now?”

“I don’t come to the hospital wing for pleasant chats if that’s what you’re asking.”

Tom bit his lip. In all honesty he would have liked to stay and explore the school more, but he could tell Snape wasn’t the kind of person one could negotiate such things with.

He turned back to the items that were supposed to be his.

“Is this really all I have?” He asked softly.

Sure all the essentials were there: clothes, books, toiletries and the like, but nothing more personal. No pictures for his nightstand, or even a keepsake to remind him of home, of family. Nothing that could tell him a little more about himself.

Snape paused a moment before he replied: “All of which I’m aware.”

Tom didn’t say anything. Merely put everything back in the trunk and followed Snape to the door.

“Don’t you have anything to bring home with you?” Tom asked.

“Don’t you think a skilled wizard such as myself would have methods of sending it to its proper location?”

They spent the walk across the grounds in silence, which could probably be considered steely, though Tom didn’t mind. The grounds around Hogwarts, and what little he saw of the castle, were altogether beautiful, and empty conversation would only have dulled his enjoyment. He turned around, walking backwards, a smile creeping upon his face upon at the sight of the castle in its full glory. He came to find this wasn’t a school, this was a palace, a haven.

A—

The word home rose to the surface of his chest.

It occurred to him this was the first time he’d smiled since he lost his memory. Really and truly smiled.

The feeling wasn’t half bad.

Snape raised an eyebrow. “You like it?”

Tom cleared his throat. “It’s nice I guess.” But he couldn’t stuff the smile down, couldn’t quite figure out what this feeling was.

He must be a student, surely. Otherwise, why would he feel such fondness for the place?

He didn’t think Snape would reply, and was surprised to hear, barely audible, “I always thought as much.”

They arrived at a wrought iron gate with winged boars on either side—(really living up to the name, Tom supposed. All they needed was a decent amount of warts on them). Once they had passed through it, Snape stopped abruptly and held out his arm. It seemed he was expecting Tom to take it.

Tom wasn’t quite sure why he ought to do this, (and was rather offput by the thought of touching this man). Still, he did as he was told and—

He felt like he was being pigeonholed through a pipe. When the journey ended he was in an entirely new location, and wasn’t entirely sure he wouldn’t feel sick.

"Apparating for the first time can often make one feel unwell,” Snape informed the doubled-over Tom in a way that didn’t signify he really cared.

As Tom regained his bearings, he thought for a moment, in the same way he quite liked the walk along the grounds, he probably would have rather enjoyed traveling across the countryside. It struck him, that, while this sort of travel certainly got the job done, if wizards had a type of travel more like flying; allowing one to see the view, but also get where they needed to go quickly, he would like to learn it.

The new location, however, was far drearier and less pleasing to the eyes. Rather than an enchanting (and probably enchanted) forest, bordering sunny grounds, and a castle whose majesty was unmatched (at least in his current memory), this was a grimy, cobbled street, like a dull pencil: grey, disappointing, and without its sharpness.

He was almost certain the place was non-magical in nature. He couldn’t believe anyone magical would allow their cities to collect this much grime and…boringness. Identical brick townhouses lined those streets, their chimneys spewing smoke into the air, causing a low cloud of what could be either smog or fog to hang over the place, making the air warmer and more humid than necessary. Snape’s house was the last in the row, (at least, he assumed it was Snape’s as it was the one they were heading towards), and across from it he could see a black river winding through the mist.

Snape flicked his wand, unlocking what was presumably his front door.

Often houses have a certain, indefinable smell to them, but when Tom stepped inside this one, he found it wasn’t so indefinable: parchment, and old shoes, and maybe a little bit of neglect.

He could have fooled himself into thinking he’d walked into a bookstore. The walls were lined with books, the sofa and armchair in the corner creating a false sense of coziness—(‘false’ because nothing about this man said ‘cozy’). It had the air of being one of those spaces that is cluttered, but to call it anything but ‘neat’ would be an insult. Like a library of a devout scholar: cluttered with knowledge, yet, despite the fact that the shelves are puking pages, it all seems somehow perfectly in place.

“Make yourself comfortable,” Snape said in a tone that told him he didn’t want him to be comfortable at all. “Take care not to touch anything that isn’t yours.”

Tom’s eyes lidded. “So…don’t touch anything at all?”

“You’re catching on.” Snape smirked.

Tom rolled his eyes, not entirely sure Snape was joking.

“I’ll show you to your room.”

The words ‘your room’ were clipped, like the thought that it would belong to him for even a summer was repulsive. Though Tom could tell that before they arrived.

He opened a small door in the wall, which Tom would have thought another room, or perhaps a closet, but turned out to be a set of stairs.

After journeying up them, a hallway whose wood was in dire need of staining, dusty portraits whose stern eyes followed him as he walked by, and a decorative table with an empty vase upon it, greeted him.

The advertised room was small, and a bit stuffy, and a few of the floorboards creaked, but something told him he’d slept in worse conditions before.

Though it was a small house, they were able to keep to themselves. Snape was busy resettling into his house, and disinclined to give him a tour, and Tom, not having much to get settled in the first place, spent the time exploring his new surroundings.

He wandered around the library that was the downstairs, and the dingy hallways that were the upstairs. He took care not to enter what he assumed to be Snape’s room, as well as a few other locked rooms. He didn’t want to get on his bad side…if he even had a good side.

He quickly found he didn’t mind being around books. He had affinity for them, especially when their contents had to do with magic.

“Are these all about magic?” He asked Snape when he passed by.

“Some of them. It may surprise you to find most of them aren’t.”

“May I read them?” He asked, remembering Snape’s warning not to touch anything, as well as the fact that this was a ‘trial period.’

“If you cannot find ways to entertain yourself.”

“I’m sure I can. But you seem like the kind of man who appreciates silence.” He put his hands behind his back and smiled too pleasantly.

Snape pursed his lip.

They spent their time regarding each other as wolves encroaching on each others territories: they weren’t happy to be sharing the same space, but they couldn’t do anything but growl low until one of them made a move.

Later, when Snape made dinner, the action drew his attention from his book. Tom watched with fascination as Snape waved his wand with ease, and the ingredients floated and melded together of their own accord, like Snape��s wand knew what to say to them.

“Will I be able to do that?”

“A whole world of magic and you want to be able to make dinner?”

“Well—” Annoyance flared in Tom. “Of course I’d prefer to know much more exciting, dangerous things…but yes”

“Children are not allowed to use magic outside of school until they come of age…but, yes.”

The word ‘children’ in that condescending tone didn’t make him feel less annoyed.

“How come I’m able to do it, then? You’re able to teach me during the summer.”

“Dumbledore has his ways.”

Tom could tell he wouldn’t get any more information than that.

While they ate, Tom chanced a few more questions, and was surprised to find that it tasted quite good, and he thought he remembered someone once telling him good food does wonders for the soul.

He was glad to find that, despite Snape’s obvious distaste for him, and seemingly all things his age, he was cordial enough, and he certainly didn’t mind keeping to himself.

Tom was just thinking about asking when he’d start learning magic that evening, when a stack of books almost as tall as him landed on the table.

Flicking his eyes across the titles, he saw that each and every one of them something to do with magic.

“I expect you to have these read before before Potter arrives. Only then will I start teaching you magic.”

Tom leaned to the side to look at Snape and tried not to smirk.

“You sure this is everything? It doesn’t seem like quite enough.”

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

You mentioned Tom’s “mental breakdown” during the Chamber of Secrets fiasco 1.0 - can you explain?

So, a relevant post. A different relevant post. And a third relevant post.

Now, with that out of the way, let's begin.

Tom and the Last Name Riddle

Fandom, aside from me, generally accepts that Tom Riddle went into Hogwarts knowing or at least suspecting he was a pureblood and that, more importantly, his Slytherin peers knew he was the Heir of Slytherin.

Dumbledore implies this in that he tells Harry that Tom Riddle was universally admired, had goons among his Slytherin peers, and was clearly the ring leader of these Slytherins who in time would become Death Eaters 1.0.

I don't believe any of this.

Tom Riddle enters Hogwarts with the last name Riddle and no idea of his history beyond being born on the floor of an orphanage: his mother dying in childbirth.

Dumbledore knows that at least one of Tom's parents is a pureblood, related to the Gaunts due to that being the only surviving family with traces back to Slytherin, but he doesn't inform Tom of this.

Tom can, and probably does, try to insist that he might be a halfblood to his Slytherin peers. But he's a dirt poor muggleborn with a poor accent and the last name Riddle. He doesn't look like any of the old wizard families (remember he looks like his father) and even if he was a halfblood he must be a bastard.

Point being, I doubt his peers were very impressed.

I think what happened was a young Tom beat them into submission when they tried to haze him, probably terrifying the shit out of them, and ultimately as Tom calmed down and Hogwarts kept going they tolerated him.

He's useful to have around, but the moment Hogwarts ended, they dropped him like it was hot. And, Tom going through Hogwarts, knows that this is exactly what's going to happen.

Tom thus goes through Hogwarts thinking he's a muggleborn, being muggleborn in every way that matters, and resenting everyone around him because of it.

The Blitz

Adding onto this, WWII is ongoing, London is being bombed extensively while Tom is in school. Muggle children are evacuated from London and as summer approaches Tom is unsure if a) the bombs will stop, b) he has anywhere to go back to.

He begs to be allowed to stay over the summer and is summarily denied.

Whatever faith Tom Riddle has in the Wizarding World shatters, and I don't think he ever recovers it.

The Chamber of Secrets

At some point, Tom through some reference or another, finds out what his talent really means. He realizes that Dumbledore had lied to him, or, at the very least, kept vital information from Tom.

Given the timeline of events, I'm going to imagine this is sometime after third year. And remember, this isn't exactly relevant information that comes up all the time.

Harry only hears about this in his second year because of the Chamber of Secrets fiasco and Voldemort himself being a parseltongue. I imagine it's at best a throaway line in a few books unless you're specifically looking for information on the Founders, and even then that it's a genetic trait is probably passed over much of the time.

It would not surprise me if Tom didn't stumble on this information for quite some time.

Well after he's been boiling in rage for a while.

Tom has a family, he has a lineage, he has blood that in many ways is purer than anyone's in this school. And Dumbledore deigned not to tell him, when he knew exactly what Tom would be entering into.

Tom at first has visions of glory.

This is great, he can tell everyone! He doesn't have to be Tom Riddle anymore, he's a Slytherin, and no one will disrespect him ever again. So many doors will open.

And then he realizes, it changes nothing.

Tom Riddle is still poor, his last name is still Riddle, he still lives in a muggle orphanage. For all Malfoy's talk, it's not blood he respects, it's money.

And if Tom wants to be Voldemort then Tom Riddle cannot be a parseltongue.

Something in Tom breaks.

He desperately starts searching for the Chamber of Secrets, probably happens upon it by happenstance, and has the same realization there.

He has found this great, wonderful thing, he is important and destined for greatness. And yet, he is not, because he is only Tom Riddle and inside these walls will only ever be Tom Riddle.

He snaps.

The Mental Breakdown

I always view the Chamber of Secrets fiasco as, well, a mental breakdown. Not much planning involved, no actual end goal, just a Tom Riddle who's having the world's largest identity crisis, who has been sent back to his possible death multiple times, and who now realizes he'll never escape his origins deciding something must be done.

"Something" is releasing the basilisk, murdering all the roosters, and painting the walls in blood.

He watches the students run around in terror, feeling very important, very much like the Heir of Slytherin. LOOK, TOM IS IMPORTANT TOO!

And then someone dies and reality crashes back down.

They'll close the school, Tom will be sent home to the war, and nothing has changed. He's the same as he ever was, still Tom Riddle, and with the looming possibility of Hogwarts closing... he feels so small.

Tom desperately uses Hagrid as a scapegoat, closes the chamber, and never reopens it.

Then of course, life continues to be terrible as he finds out the truth about his family and exits Hogwarts only able to get a job at Borgin and Burkes.

But such is life for Tom: Despair.