#I'm just goffing around

[yuukirita]

kof kof- More human au- I'm totally not writing it- kof kof

... Guess that's an AU to add to the board... :C why am I like this? Who am I kidding, I love being like this. C:

[tealeavesandthorns]

//Okay I think the answer to my angsting over my wishlist/wanted/ideas thing is to have a wishlist tag maybe.

I'm always too nervous to ask people about stuff and I'm too nervous to post shippy stuff in case people think I'm trying to push something on them. I over explain myself and then it gets long and rambly and people stop paying attention anyway. So maybe just a tag and then I can ramble in the tags of the post about cute ideas and stuff.

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Sirius Black was the best adult in Harry's life and I'm forever salty that we didn't get to see more of him

So, I love Sirius Black. He's a complex and interesting character that I love dearly. He's handsome, smart, brave, not as reckless as some fanon make him out to be, and above all else, he tried his best to be a good godfather to Harry.

I truly believe Sirius could've been an amazing father figure (more than he already was) to Harry if given the proper chance. And he's a much better parent to Harry than Arthur and Molly Weasley.

Here are some quotes along with my ramblings to prove it.

So, what I'm going to cover here are some quotes from Sirius and Harry that show their dynamic and how much Sirius cared and tried to be there for Harry. Also, I think Molyl and Hermione are wrong about Sirius seeing Harry as a James replacement.

“He came back to the country just because my scar twinged. He’ll probably come bursting right into the castle if I tell him someone’s entered me in the Triwizard Tournament —”

(GoF, page 290)

Harry wrote to Sirius at the beginning of GoF about his dream with Voldemort and his scar's reaction to it. Sirius left everything immediately to return to Britain — a place where he is hunted down and is a wanted man. All because he wants to be close to Harry, so he can spring up to protect him if the need arises.

Harry is correct in his assessment here.

“Poor old Snuffles,” said Ron, breathing deeply. “He must really like you, Harry. . . . Imagine having to live off rats.”

(GoF, page 534)

Ron is absolutely right. Sirius loves Harry more than pretty much anything. He would and does go incredibly far for Harry. I don't think Molly and Hermione are right about how Sirius sees Harry as James. He just doesn't.

He doesn't treat Harry as an equal to him, but as someone he needs to protect. Someone he is responsible to protect.

He stays around Hogwarts, eating rats in GoF so he can better protect Harry. He wouldn't have done the same with James because he treated James as an equal, not as someone he needed to protect.

“It’s not my fault you haven’t been told what the Order’s doing,” said Sirius calmly. “That’s your parents’ decision. Harry, on the other hand —” “It’s not down to you to decide what’s good for Harry!” said Mrs. Weasley sharply. Her normally kindly face looked dangerous. “You haven’t forgotten what Dumbledore said, I suppose?” “Which bit?” Sirius asked politely, but with an air as though readying himself for a fight. “The bit about not telling Harry more than he needs to know,” said Mrs. Weasley, placing a heavy emphasis on the last three words. Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George’s heads turned from Sirius to Mrs. Weasley as though following a tennis rally. Ginny was kneeling amid a pile of abandoned butterbeer corks, watching the conversation with her mouth slightly open. Lupin’s eyes were fixed on Sirius. “I don’t intend to tell him more than he needs to know, Molly,” said Sirius. “But as he was the one who saw Voldemort come back” (again, there was a collective shudder around the table at the name), “he has more right than most to —” “He’s not a member of the Order of the Phoenix!” said Mrs. Weasley. “He’s only fifteen and —” “— and he’s dealt with as much as most in the Order,” said Sirius, “and more than some —” “No one’s denying what he’s done!” said Mrs. Weasley, her voice rising, her fists trembling on the arms of her chair. “But he’s still —” “He’s not a child!” said Sirius impatiently. “He’s not an adult either!” said Mrs. Weasley, the color rising in her cheeks. “He’s not James, Sirius!” “I’m perfectly clear who he is, thanks, Molly,” said Sirius coldly. “I’m not sure you are!” said Mrs. Weasley. “Sometimes, the way you talk about him, it’s as though you think you’ve got your best friend back!” “What’s wrong with that?” said Harry. “What’s wrong, Harry, is that you are not your father, however much you might look like him!” said Mrs. Weasley, her eyes still boring into Sirius. “You are still at school and adults responsible for you should not forget it!” “Meaning I’m an irresponsible godfather?” demanded Sirius, his voice rising. “Meaning you’ve been known to act rashly, Sirius, which is why Dumbledore keeps reminding you to stay at home and —” “We’ll leave my instructions from Dumbledore out of this, if you please!” said Sirius loudly.

(OotP, page 88-89)

This above quote is a long one, but I love it. I mean, this shows a big contrast between Sirius' approach to parenting and Molly's. Sirius, while not seeing Harry as his equal, does see Harry as a capable wizard who deserves to know the full picture. Sirius knows Harry would be in more danger when ignorant and wants him as safe as possible. He thinks Harry deserves to know things that pertain to him, and I have to agree with him here. Keeping Harry in the dark is what eventually cost Sirius his life.

Molly, on the other hand, is intent on keeping Harry, Hermione, and her kids ignorant. She has the same intention as Sirius: to keep them safe. But she tries to keep them safe emotionally, even when this ignorance can and does place them in physical harm's way.

And Sirius is right. Harry is capable. And a 15-year-old shouldn't be treated the same as an 11-year-old child. And let's be real, Harry was never a regular child with how he grew up, and I think Sirius sees his maturity and treats him accordingly. Sirius actually gave Harry advice to not approach danger in GOF and Harry listened to him because Sirius treated him with respect, which works best with Harry who never really had parental figures.

“I don’t know,” said Sirius slowly, “I just don’t know . . . Karkaroff doesn’t strike me as the type who’d go back to Voldemort unless he knew Voldemort was powerful enough to protect him. But whoever put your name in that goblet did it for a reason, and I can’t help thinking the tournament would be a very good way to attack you and make it look like an accident.”

(GoF, page 334)

This is an expert from the Fireplace conversation Haryr had with Sirius before the first task. Sirius shares his theories with Harry because he needs him to know who to watch out for. Because everything he does is to keep Harry safe. And this is the same approach Sirius wishes he could take with Harry in OOTP. Because he knows it works. Keeping Harry informed means that if he does put himself in danger, at least he would inform Sirius about it; Which would allow Sirius to protect him.

I'm not copying all of them, but Sirius' letters to Harry throughout GOF are so caring and sweet. Harry deserved to have more of his godfather in his life:

Nice try, Harry. I'm back in the country and well hidden. I want you to keep me posted on everything that's going on at Hogwarts. Don't use Hedwig, keep changing owls, and don't worry about me, just watch out for yourself. Don't forget what I said about your scar. Sirius

(Gof, page 240)

This treatment encourages Harry to actually share everything with him and ask him for advice. Something he doesn't do with Dumbledore ever. (Harry actually doesn't like or trust Dumbledore all that much until book 6, it's usually Hermione who trusts Dumbledore fully)

“Sirius — how’re you doing?” ... “Never mind me, how are you?” said Sirius seriously.

(GoF, page 331)

Sirius again, shows his responsibility towards Harry's well-being over his own (both here and in the above letter).

Sirius is the only adult who actually talks to Harry about the Dursleys with sympathy:

“But if they do expel me,” said Harry, quietly, “can I come back here and live with you?” Sirius smiled sadly. “We’ll see.” “I’d feel a lot better about the hearing if I knew I didn’t have to go back to the Dursleys,” Harry pressed him. “They must be bad if you prefer this place,” said Sirius gloomily.

(OotP, page 116)

We know Sirius would love nothing more than for Harry to stay with him. He's lonely and bored at Grimmauld and would love to have Harry there. But at the same time, he doesn't want Harry expelled from Hogwarts and is trying not to be hopeful for it.

Sirius understands the Dursleys are awful, he just know the full scope, but it's more of a reaction than we get from most adults in this series. To me, it looks like Sirius is annoyed by how limited he is in helping Harry. He can't really do much about the Dursleys or their status as Harry's guardians.

“So you want me to say I’m not going to take part in the defense group?” he muttered finally. “Me? Certainly not!” said Sirius, looking surprised. “I think it’s an excellent idea!” “You do?” said Harry, his heart lifting. “Of course I do!” said Sirius. “D’you think your father and I would’ve lain down and taken orders from an old hag like Umbridge?” “But — last term all you did was tell me to be careful and not take risks —” “Last year all the evidence was that someone inside Hogwarts was trying to kill you, Harry!” said Sirius impatiently. “This year we know that there’s someone outside Hogwarts who’d like to kill us all, so I think learning to defend yourselves properly is a very good idea!” “And if we do get expelled?” Hermione asked, a quizzical look on her face. “Hermione, this whole thing was your idea!” said Harry, staring at her. “I know it was. . . . I just wondered what Sirius thought,” she said, shrugging. “Well, better expelled and able to defend yourselves than sitting safely in school without a clue,” said Sirius.

(OotP, page 371)

I love this scene as well. Sirius cares for Harry's safety first and foremost. Harry being safe is his top priority at every given point. And he's reasonable and logical and treats Harry like someone to protect, not like a friend.

Like, Harry when he has a problem and needs advice throughout books 4 and 5, he calls Sirius. He's Harry's go-to parental figure for advice, and Sirius takes his rule seriously. He gives the advice he honestly thinks is best and ensures Harry's safety and continued survival to the best of his ability.

“It matters because we don’t want to draw attention to the fact that Harry is having visions of things that are happening hundreds of miles away!” said Sirius angrily. “Have you any idea what the Ministry would make of that information?” Fred and George looked as though they could not care less what the Ministry made of anything. Ron was still white-faced and silent. Ginny said, “Somebody else could have told us. . . . We could have heard it somewhere other than Harry. . . .”

(OotP, pages 476-477)

Again, Harry's safety is Sirius' first priority above everyone else. Harry's happiness and privacy also take precedence over most other things. He doesn't want Harry under even more scrutiny from the ministry and the Wizarding World and protecting him from that is just as important to him.

To me, it feels like people who say he treats Harry like a James replacement didn't read the books....

“It must have been the aftermath of the vision, that’s all,” said Sirius. “You were still thinking of the dream or whatever it was and —” “It wasn’t that,” said Harry, shaking his head. “It was like something rose up inside me, like there’s a snake inside me —” “You need to sleep,” said Sirius firmly. “You’re going to have breakfast and then go upstairs to bed, and then you can go and see Arthur after lunch with the others. You’re in shock, Harry; you’re blaming yourself for something you only witnessed, and it’s lucky you did witness it or Arthur might have died. Just stop worrying. . . .” He clapped Harry on the shoulder and left the pantry, leaving Harry standing alone in the dark.

(OotP, pages 480-481)

And I love this too. How he tries to comfort Harry and make everything easier for him. When the rest of the Order were gossiping about how dangerous his connection to Voldemort is, Sirius is honestly trying to get Harry to worry about it less.

He might be lying here, but he is right about sending Harry to sleep after a sleepless night like they had. And he is right about Harry being in shock and needing the rest. I just, really like how much Sirius cares. Harry just doesn't have other adults in his life who care for him like Sirius does.

But some part of him realized, even as he fought to break free from Lupin, that Sirius had never kept him waiting before. . . . Sirius had risked everything, always, to see Harry, to help him. . . . If Sirius was not reappearing out of that archway when Harry was yelling for him as though his life depended on it, the only possible explanation was that he could not come back. . . . That he really was . . .

(OotP, page 808)

This. Scene. Just kills me.

Like, Harry understands how much Sirius cares about him, and how Sirius always puts him first. He knows the only way Sirius won't drop everything to come and when Harry calls for him is if he can't.

Because Sirius escaped Azkaban when he realized Harry might be in danger from Peter, not for his own safety, but for Harry’s. Sirius dropped everything and moved to live in a cave and eat rats when Harry's scar hurt. He stuck around Hogwarts and Hogsmead during the Triwizard Tournament, when it was crawling with ministry officials because Harry might need him. He was willing to do so much for Harry. And Harry knew this.

I think, given time, they could've had an amazing dynamic, and I wish we had more of Sirius and his care for Harry. That we saw more of his approach to parenting Harry.

[rosamariaa]

my top 5 favorite book wolfstar moments

this is all for funsies. I'm going to be very honest here: I don't really think wolfstar is implied in the books, but I feel like if I put my shipper googles I CAN prove that those two were, at least, a bit weird about each other!

1. Remus "ideals" going askrew for Sirius:

We have two moments in the books where we see Remus being pretty ruthless when it came to the war, he thinks that if there's a way to put a enemy down then you should do it:

prisioner of azkaban, chapter eighteen:

"You should have realized," said Lupin quietly, "if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Good-bye, Peter."

deathly hollows, chapter 5:

Lupin looked aghast. “Harry, the time for Disarming is past! These people are trying to capture and kill you! At least Stun if you aren’t prepared to kill!”

However, when he was talking to Harry about Sirius reciving the dementor's kiss this is what Mr. Lupin has to offer:

prisioner of azkaban, chapter twelve:

[...] Lupin drank a little more butterbeer, then said, "It's the fate that awaits Sirius Black. It was in the Daily Prophet this morning. The Ministry have given the dementors permission to perform it if they find him." [...] "He deserves it," [harry] said suddenly. "You think so?" said Lupin lightly. "Do you really think anyone deserves that?"

This makes me actually go bonkers like... When he found out it was Peter all along he was full on ready to kill him but when he belived it was Sirius doing the same damn thing then suddenly no one deserves it... christ we see you remus lupin, we see you...

2. Moving in thogeter

I don't even have anything to say for this one just.. *gestures vaguely*

Order of the phoenix, chapter 6:

[...] and Lupin, who was staying in the house with Sirius but who left it for long periods to do mysterious work for the Order [...]

It's so funny cos like... he didn't need to do that... no one else is staying there even though it's the order's HQ.

And we know that as poor as Remus is he does have a house (Sirius stays there for a bit at the end of GOF) so he just... moves in... just because. yea.

a little extra scene that it's kinda funny, imagine finding out your teacher and godfather are dating by calling said godfather and said teacher picks up... lol :

Harry opened his eyes to find that he was looking up out of the kitchen fireplace at the long, wooden table, where a man sat poring over a piece of parchment. “Sirius?” The man jumped and looked around. It was not Sirius, but Lupin. “Harry!” he said, looking thoroughly shocked. “What are you — what’s happened, is everything all right?”

3. Remus is Sirius' good boy

Okay I will try not to ramble about this one but... I can't help it. He quite literally calls Remus a good boy you can not make this shit up.

Order of the phoenix, chapter 9:

Sirius, who was right beside Harry, let out his usual barklike laugh. “No one would have made me a prefect, I spent too much time in detention with James. Lupin was the good boy, he got the badge.”

I think what drives me insane about this one is that even though Remus had the same sense of humor as the other boys (although his was quieter and dry), they were a bit different. Sirius himself says that Remus would make them feel ashamed of themselves sometimes and, of course it depends on how you view Sirius, but to me I feel like he is a person that doesn't really put up with things just to please someone and so I feel like if it were a random person he would just go like "Well if you don't like what we do fuck off I guess" but since it was Remus he doesn't get annoyed at all and it makes it seem like he has a soft spot for Remus:

Order of the phoenix, chapter 29:

“Of course he was a bit of an idiot!” said Sirius bracingly. “We were all idiots! Well — not Moony so much,” he said fairly, looking at Lupin, but Lupin shook his head.

likeee that's his boy!!

4. Giving harry a joint present

You see, this one is very funny to me bc I was watching Sex and the city a few weeks ago and there's a scene where Carrie takes Mr. Big as her plus one to a wedding and of course she asks him to put his name on the present and he just. refuses. He has several commitment issues and even tho they were together for months at that point he thought a joint present "was too much".

And naturally my first thought was "oh wow that's so crazy bc in the children's book series 'Harry Potter', harry's godfather and teacher gave him a joint present without second thought". After moving in together. yea.

Order of the phoenix, chapter 23:

Sirius and Lupin had given Harry a set of excellent books entitled Practical Defensive Magic and Its Use Against the Dark Arts, [...]

how does that makes you feel mr.big

5. Intimacy

Last but not least (literally I think this is my favorite?) three moments that I think it shows us just how close those two are. Not even romantically, but in friendship too.

Order of the Phoenix, chapter 14:

[...] said Sirius with a wry smile. “I know she’s a nasty piece of work, though — you should hear Remus talk about her.”

We know Remus is a Nice Guy. He does everything he can to maintain at least a civil relationship with the people around him (save moments of distrees and his little cynical comments in poa, of course). And so the fact that he has a little "can I be mean?" moment with Sirius is just so funny... I just know Sirius supports all Remus' moments of haterism <3

Order of the phoenix, chapter 5:

“Molly, you’re not the only person at this table who cares about Harry,” said Lupin sharply. “Sirius, sit down.” Mrs. Weasley’s lower lip was trembling. Sirius sank slowly back into his chair, his face white

Order of the phoenix, chapter 29:

“I’m coming up there to have a word with Snape!” said Sirius force-fully and he actually made to stand up, but Lupin wrenched him backdown again.

I know people always talks about those 2 moments with the sense of like... oh wow remus asks and Sirius obeys thats hot and I AGREE it's the same thing I said before: If it was anyone else I think he would go "fuck off no" but since it's Remus he just do it unquestioned.

but ALSO. I feel like it does show how close they are... Close enough to push someone backwards etc those two lived together for more than a decade... they are Close and are used to each other and I think that's beautiful :')

[trippingontheescalator]

Curious about the direction the HP fandom has gone

Okay, so as an old HP fan from way back when the books were first coming out, and then getting hit with the nostalgia and decided to return after years and years of not interacting with the fandom at all, the changes are truly mindboggling and I'd love to get to the bottom of some things.

Like, the disappearance of Blaise Zabini. Blaise was a fan favorite way back when we only knew his name but now I barely hear a whisper of his name. Now, the obvious answer is racism, which I think is the #1 reason why Blaise-pairings have dropped of significantly. Back then we all thought Blaise was a hot Italian girl, and then we found out he's a black man and suddenly people stop writing about him? Hm, yeah, seems the obvious answer (especially considering the popularity of other characters who are just a name on a page *cough*regulusblack*cough*).

Or the rise in Snape-hate. Like, Snape used to be the fan favorite. Everyone loved Snape. The meaner he was, the more we liked him. Being mean to children was a plus, not a negative lol. And this was back when we all thought he was a pureblood who came from a wealthy family like the Malfoys. Now by the time the 7th book came out I had pretty much moved on and so I didn't really see the fallout of readers discovering his actual background, so I don't know if his drop in popularity is classism and learning that he isn't a palette-swapped Lucius Malfoy or not, but honestly I would figure his impoverished background would be a plus in these times. Like Snape is obviously one of JKR's least favorite characters, and considering how she-who-must-not-be-named has destroyed her reputation with her increasing radicalization you'd figure the poor, abused, author-hating character would become more beloved instead of the rich, white, heteronormative bullies who barely even show up in the books. Like with our increasing knowledge of social injustice, I just don't understand why the fandom would want to latch onto the Marauders? And I just can't believe Snape's handful of snippets with Lily is the cause of his downfall (like what's there is barely enough to fill up a few pages, and there are certainly more toxic relationships in the series that are still beloved), or the fact that he was a Death Eater or that he inadvertently caused the deaths of the Potters (we already knew that in GoF and HPB respectively and he was still beloved, and this was when we assumed he didn't give a shit about the Potters or if they died when he went snitching). Draco is still popular. DRACO who doesn't give two shits about slinging around the word "mudblood," as opposed to Snape who actually changed for the better.

Am I just too old to understand? Is this like 90s fashion coming back in style (no, I won't do it again, I don't care if it's cringy I'm sticking with my millennial styles, I did the platforms and the slip dresses and the cargo pants in high school and I'm not putting myself through that again lol you gen z's can pry my comfortable mom jeans from my cold, dead fingers, I don't care if it makes me look old, that's the point, I AM old). Like, in addition to 90s fashion, has the 90s obsession with luxury athletic fashion like Lacoste come back in style? All those fashion ads of rich white people on yachts with popped collar polos? Are people starting to obsess over the Marauders because nouveau riche conspicuous consumption is coming back in style? It can't all just be young kids who have only read AtYD and have never actually opened one of the books, can it?

There also seems to be a trend of treating characters as if they're real people. I mean, we've always done it (Snape Wives, I'm looking at you), but now it almost feels as if the crimes characters commit are treated as if they're real crimes and that liking them is somehow a moral failing on the reader's fault. If you were to say "I don't like Snape, his douchy actions anger me, I'd rather skip all the parts he shows up in" I'd say, cool, I get that. That's normal. But "Snape is an abuser, a racist, and an incel and if you like him you're probably those things too" is fucking weird. Like, Harry and Hermione are not real children. Snape is not a real person. The things that happen in this book have as much influence on the real world as me imagining ninjas breaking into my workplace on a slow day. And that "media does not exist in a vacuum" pisses me off because it's blatantly misused. The pieces of media that have had serious consequences? Jaws, The Birth of a Nation. One resulted in the culling of sharks, the other helped restart the KKK. Do you know what those two pieces of media have in common? They're not about fucking wizards and magic schools. They instead paint a target on real groups. After twenty years nobody has ever tried to hurt a marginalized group of people because of a harry potter book (except for JKR herself).

Anyway, these are just some random thoughts, feel free to chime in with your own.

[four2andnew]

Canon Couples and the Random Heights I Assigned Them

Just because I recently re-read this post and it's on my mind. Here's what I think these canon couples' final heights came to be and some justifications behind my thought process, as well as some headcanons. Let's start with my OTP -

Harry (6'1") and Ginny (5'0")

I'm kinda obsessed with the idea that 17yo Harry being the same height as his 21yo deceased father would grow just a couple more inches

Ginny being 5ft fits with her being the noticeably "smallest one" in the DoM during OOTP and with Harry being able to easily look over her head during the infamous First Kiss scene in HBP, putting her head at chest height of Harry (as of HBP)

Ginny is the only one who knows about Harry's petty satisfaction when he ran into Draco Malfoy some years after the war and realized he had continued to grow and Malfoy hadn't

James (5'11") and Lily (5'8")

Because they're both tall enough to be considered "tall", but not the kind of tall that is shocking

Lily being 5'8" makes her tall enough to have to look down at 14yo Harry in the graveyard scene of GOF

Ron (6'5") and Hermione (5'8")

In order for Fred and George to be "shorter and stockier" than 14yo Ron, but still slightly over 6ft so as to shrink to 5'11" in DH, I have to assume Ron's final height came to be one that most people would put in the "Holy shit you're tall" category

I know I'm going to get shouted at for Hermione's height, because she's never described as particularly tall in the books HOWEVER she's never described as particularly short either, just shorter than Harry

This 9 inch height difference give Ron & Hermione the perfect height difference for Ron to comfortably rest his chin on her head without having to hunch over awkwardly like Harry does with Ginny, so I'm sticking to it

Arthur (5'11") and Molly (4'11")

I know the movies made Arthur short and round, but he was described as thin in the books and all the Weasley boys wind up being pretty tall, so they had to get that from somewhere.

Molly is consistently described as short and dumpy throughout the series, and while Ginny is often compared to Molly physically, I just like the idea that Ginny managed to grow that extra inch that Molly never did.

Draco (6'0") and Astoria (5'11")

we know in DH Draco was slightly taller than Harry at the Malfoy Manor scene (p.457, U.S. edition of DH), so if we assume the like linked post above that Harry was 5'11" during DH, then I'd put Draco at 6 foot.

we literally know nothing about Astoria (CC doesn't count), but I picked 5'11" because it is the curse of all tall women to wind up with men roughly the same height

Lucius (5'10") and Narcissa (5'10")

we know Harry and Narcissa are the same height in HBP, so I put her at 5'10"

correct me if I'm wrong, but Lucius is never described as particularly tall, while Narcissa is. And of course, tall for a woman is average for a man. I put Lucius to be around around the same height as Narcissa because I just don't see Lucius' personality allowing him to be with a woman taller than himself.

also, see the curse of tall women above

[severus-snaps]

a ramble and some open questions for fandom elders (and others) about whether Snape was only made more sympathetic on account of Alan Rickman's popularity/casting, and similar things

so I stopped engaging with a tiktok creator for a while who I'd previously found very interesting because nearly every time they brought up Snape, they'd throw in some casual "if Harry was a girl, Snape would be really creepy/predatory about it" or some other weird Snape take not rooted in anything (to my mind). Like, it was weird to me because they bring in book quotes or pottermore/interview snippets to other analyses of other characters and ideas, but never Snape - for Snape, it was always just about vibes and feelings. For Snape, the fact we never hear that he killed someone or the fact we never heard that he stalked Lily is, in fact, strong evidence that he did do those things - or certainly thought about it - and certainly enough to be considered predatory and likely to dose Lily (and later a hypothetical Harriet) with a love potion or keep them in his basement, or something.

I disputed that idea in the comments one time, and some Snape supporting comments outside of mine got removed and users blocked, meanwhile my comments were (I think deliberately) misinterpreted. I stopped using tiktok entirely for a while, and never went back to see if the comments got deleted or whatever. Tiktok never gave me any further notifications about it upon re-downloading, so I guess they were removed? Idk. I have no desire to check.

but all of that is background really; she's lately posted some videos (I still find the rest of her content interesting, but apparently snape content is a no-go lool) saying that Snape's whole characterisation is different after the 'three year summer' - that is, that JKR saw how popular Snape was in the films, that she had to find a way to keep Alan Rickman on board when he wanted to leave, and that when she took her break between writing GoF and OotP I think, Snape sort of morphed into a new character and she had to attempt to redeem him (which, in her eyes, he's not redeemed even at the end which is like. ok). She implied that there's no evidence of James' bullying prior to OotP, no evidence of Snape ever having had a relationship (much less a friendship) with Lily, and that all of that was tossed into the later books retroactively to 'redeem' his character. (Obviously, I have Thoughts on that, which I'll come back to).

Of course, with the sort of... bad vibes she's built up around pro-Snape comments on her videos, all of the comments were in agreement with her. I'm also new to HP/Snape in terms of actively engaging with the fandom online, as it somehow passed me by at the time. But now I have Thoughts

So with all of that in mind, and just because I want to hear other people's thoughts but TikTok comments are a nightmare on their own with the character limit, inability to read them properly/in order, and general vibe of TikTok comments (even without the creator deleting/getting antsy about pro-Snape ideas), if anyone wants to discuss this lot, I am keen to hear people's thoughts:

Was Snape always a popular book character, or did that change/skyrocket with Alan Rickman? (For my part, I don't remember hating Snape when I read the books the first time around - in fact, I hardly remember registering him at all - but I do remember hating Umbridge).

How true is it that Snape was made 'more sympathetic' following the films? To me, it doesn't make sense; the first big, weighty suggestion of the marauders bullying Snape was in PoA, which was released mid-1999; the first evidence that Snape was spying was in GoF, in mid-2000. The first film didn't even come out (Alan Rickman's charisma included) until 2001. Weirdly, the PoA stuff the user is convinced just says that Snape was jealous of James (probably true, not denying it) but in the exact same book Remus/Sirius all but admitted to Sirius trying to kill Snape, which seems like a massive overreaction to Snape being an annoying little hater of a teen that she never comments on because, I guess, Snape deserved it?

Also, does it matter if he was made 'more sympathetic'? ootp was published in 2003, and in early 2002 Alan considered leaving. sure, JK might have added/exaggerated SWM to make him more sympathetic, but the reasons for adding in scenes don't change the fact that that's now part of the fabric of the character - a character who, by this point, had already been revealed in PoA to be the subject of a near-murder plot at the hands of the Marauders and was Very Not Okay about it; the marauders had already been described as troublemakers; Snape was already shown to be wary of Lupin for reasons that weren't solely about him being a werewolf, but about the Prank/Trick/Willow incident. An incident, much like SWM, that occurred because Sirius thought it would be "amusing" to put Snape in a horrible position. if JKR wanted to, she could've made Sirius the ringleader in SWM - but for Snape, I think she just wanted to solidify why a grown man hates a child who looks exactly like his father, which was also referenced in the early books and strongly prefaced by the events of PoA in the Shack (I don't think she had it 'all planned out' from day dot, however, but went with the vibes and fleshed out the details later). Obviously, to this creator, Lupin's idea that Snape was solely a little bitch because he hated that James was better at Quidditch is to be taken at face value, despite the fact the conversation then moves on to Snape's near-death following Sirius 'trick'ing Snape into the willow

Same as above but with his characterisation; she acknowledges that the later books are darker and have a more adult tone, but somehow it's still suspicious that Snape's sympathetic backstory was never once alluded to in earlier books (which, again, I think it's fair to say it was alluded to, but in sufficiently lacking detail so that JK could deal with it when she got there). Also with PoA and GoF especially, there are hints of Snape going from his more 'silly evil teacher' which he kind of was in books 1 and 2, heading towards the more realistic, but still delightfully bitter and flawed, adult character as the books aged up. I haven't read the books in a while I'll admit, but from the Snape passages I have read, I never noticed a sufficient difference pre or post three-year-summer that didn't match the wider tone of the books changing also.

Unlike the tiktok creator, I also think that Snape's reaction to Harry in general is almost entirely to do with James, rather than Lily's so-called rejection, and so there's no evidence that Snape would be weird to a 'Harriet' that resembled his mother, or weird to Lily if he saw her again; I think with his characterisation it's more likely that Harriet would've been treated like Hermione, Ron, or Tonks - being largely ignored with the occasional insult and told off for causing trouble - aka, how Snape would treat most people. Outside of the one isolated 'mudblood' incident, Snape was a bit of a doormat when it came to Lily (bless his heart). He followed her from the train carriage without comment, backtracked when she appeared angry in the post-prank conversation, even the "I won't let you" seemed more "I won't let you turn him into some kind of hero" or even, at a stretch, an "I won't let you be with him" out of Lily's own safety or something than "I won't let you leave me", to me - because he did just let her leave him in school? James and Snape continued hexing one another in 7th year, but there's no suggestion that Snape ever tried to be weird to Lily.

To my mind, there's no suggestion that Snape stalked Lily, no suggestion that he asked Voldemort to capture her - just to spare her. And then Snape went to Dumbledore anyway, probably immediately based on how harried he is on the windy hilltop scene, because he knew Voldemort wouldn't spare her, and even if he did, Snape would probably have to keep up the ruse of 'desiring' Lily, and do the sorts of thing Snaters suggest he wanted to do, just to keep her alive. But with Dumbledore involved, Snape wouldn't ever have the chance to imprison/love potion her - and that wasn't what he wanted. He just wanted her alive so he wouldn't have played a part in her death. I also doubt that Snape had much time to think when Voldemort revealed who he was choosing to kill; it's not as though Voldemort makes decisions by committee. He'd have revealed his plans and Snape would make a quick, panic-stricken decision to tell Voldemort that he desired Lily (which he may have done, to an extent; he'd need to draw on something to back up his request when Voldemort undoubtedly looked into his mind to see why Snape wanted to spare his Priority #1 victim). And like I say, he then set up a meeting with Dumbledore, probably immediately/as soon as he could, sensing that that wouldn't work (was he not convincing enough? Did he just know Voldemort too well? I have so many questions about how that conversation went down, and subsequent conversations about Lily which presumably occurred after V's resurrection).

anyway, no conclusion, only thoughts too rambly for tiktok comments

[emeritusemeritus]

Just wanna bewitch you in the moonlight. Pt 3.

[Fred Weasley x Reader x George Weasley]

Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Title: Just wanna bewitch you in the moonlight.

Pairing: Fred Weasley x Reader x George Weasley

Timeline: Predominately set between GOF and OOTP (some canon has been altered to fit the story)

Summary: Both twins like Gryffindor!reader. Reader likes both twins. How will she decide who to chose in the end? Amortentia might be able to help, or not.

Warnings: Smut, mentions of sex, established relationships, threesomes, friends to lovers, all the good stuff. NO Twincest. Mentions of illness, Brief mentions of vomiting. Tiny bit of angst, possessiveness, talk of kids.

A bit more Georgie smut for you (sorry Fred)🌹

George walked back into the room after quite a while and smiled seeing you and Fred cuddled up in bed. Fred's arm never left your waist as he read some of his quidditch annual to you, pointing out various players and teams he was fond of. You didn't have much interest in quidditch, other than supporting your secret boyfriends on the field, but Fred's voice had always been soothing to you and you relished in an uncommon peaceful moment with him.

"Where have you been?" You asked, catching sight of George standing by the door. He smiled and walked towards you, sitting on the edge of the bed as his hand rested on your leg, stroking gently.

"Just had a few things to sort angel, don't worry," he says vaguely. "Mum said teas nearly ready."

"Godric I'm starving," Fred says, suddenly overwhelmed with hunger at the mention of food, a good sign that his appetite was improving.

Tea was had, a lovely roast chicken dinner with homemade pumpkin spiced tarts for dessert. Fred managed to scare everyone he came into contact with on the way down to the kitchen on account of his still pale and sallow complexion, a fact he was most pleased about. When tea was finished, you offered to help with the pots but Molly insisted she didn't need help and so George whisked you away quickly. Fred gave a little salute with his hands as he disappeared into their bedroom on the second floor but George lead you further up the staircase, much to your surprise, only stopping once you reached the fourth floor.

You creeped up the staircase that lead past Molly and Arthur's room towards the little walkway up to Ron's attic bedroom but instead of ascending the stairs, George lead you out into a little cubby hole you'd never noticed before. He pulled open the hatch and urged you to climb through, realising within moments that you have walked out into the little balcony over the bathroom.

You couldn't believe your eyes at you looked at the sight around you. Everything added up in your head as realised what exactly George had been doing whilst he'd been gone as you looked around at the beautiful sight before you.

The balcony had been adorned with magically imposed twinkling lights that looked like fireflies wrapped around the wooden beams and lit tea candles off the side . There were an obscene number of blankets and throw cushions arranged on the wooden floor, all different textures and patterns which blended together beautifully to create the most comfy looking spot you could imagine. There were two goblets placed to the side filled with dark liquid and an old telescope next to a star map placed beside them.

You turned round to George as soon as you sensed him behind you, gazing at him with a look of sheer amazement at what he had done. All he had to do was give you his trademark shy but wicked smile and you were gone, reaching up to kiss him with sheer adoration. He chuckled against your lips, wrapping one arm around your waist whilst the other held onto the wooden rail as he kissed you back passionately.

"You did all this for me?" You asked, looking up into his beautiful eyes. He nodded and smiled, though he was a little bashful.

"George it's wonderful, thank you," you gushed, reaching up on your tip toes to place another kiss to his lips, already feeling as if you couldn't get enough of him.

"And the pièce de résistance," he says with a smirk, crouching down to pull back one of the blankets on the edge, showing a plate of pumpkin spice tarts he had clearly smuggled from the kitchen when Molly wasn't looking. You laughed as he wiggled his eyebrows and took a seat on the floor amongst the pile of fabric, crouching and then extending his long legs to drape across the balcony. He held out his hand for you and you placed your hand in his, moving to sit beside him. He immediately leant back on the cushions and pulled you down with him, your head resting on his chest as you both looked out at the night sky.

You let out a gasp at seeing the vibrancy of the stars in the sky, the lack of light pollution in the open countryside did wonders for the stars to sparkle in their full glory. You'd never seen so many stars at once like this, it was utterly breathtaking.

George entwined his hand with yours and stroked your hand with his thumb, fingers playing with your own as you felt him relax behind you, pressing a kiss to the top of your head.

You don't know how long you both sat there, flicking between gazing peacefully at the night sky, chatting quietly between yourselves, eating the delicious stolen pumpkin tarts, taking turns looking through the telescope at the different constellations you could see, trying to match them to the diagrams on the star map.

After a while, you started to get chilly even with the array of blankets on you, your shoulders exposed in your short T-shirt, having not expected to be sat outside for too long. You didn't want the night to end and so you tried to hold off your shivering and blanket heaping as long as you could, trying to be subtle as to not concern George but it was pointless, he noticed everything.

"Are you cold angel?" He asked quietly, a gentle murmur beside your ear. You simply nodded, trying to slink down further into the blankets until he moved you forward off his body just enough to remove the thick sweater he'd been wearing. It was navy with a large, gold, emblazoned 'G' on the front and his long sleeved T-shirt below was an off burgundy colour which suited him so much. He immediately began to stretch the jumper around you, telling you to raise your arms as he slipped the sweater over your head.

"Twice in one day you steal my clothes," he smirks as he looks at you wearing his sweater, liking it a little too much. The initial on the front only heightened these feelings, knowing that even just temporarily, you were his and his alone, at least in this moment.

"If it means you stripping down, I'd take your clothes all the time," you flirted. He immediately leaned down, twisting a little awkwardly as he gave you a bruising kiss. You turned in his lap, only breaking the kiss momentarily as you moved to lie in your stomach, over George's body as you deepened the kiss, feeling as if you couldn't get enough of him.

His hands began to wander, as did yours, feeling the soft but toned plains of his body, the soft material of his T-shirt and the roughness of his corduroy trousers. Your hand reached down his body towards the edge of his trousers as you felt the obvious sign of arousal you were hoping for. He moaned a little into the kiss as he felt you cup his rigid length through his trousers, running your fingers over it deliciously to tease him.

"Angel," he warned against your lips and you had to hide your smirk as you began to undo the buttons to his trousers, needing to feel him immediately. You tore off his trousers, kicking them to the side and immediately climbed into his lap. You were eternally grateful to yourself that you'd chosen to wear a skirt at tea, feeling too restricted in your jeans and you were immediately rewarded for your decision as your clothed sex came into contact with his.

You gasped into his mouth as your hot and wet core slid deliciously over his, the material of yours and George's underwear only adding to the teasing aspect, feeling so close and get so far apart. You didn't doubt that George would be able to feel your arousal through your panties, you'd been wet for him for hours. You rode him lazily, rubbing your clothes cores together to create the most pleasurable friction you could. George was gasping and grunting with each undulation of your hips, his grip on your buttocks getting tighter and tighter as his kisses became feverish and frantic.

His hands left your butt for a split second as he reached under your skirt and ripped the side of your panties open, the lace side parts slicing in two from his brutish move. The one remaining, intact side of your panties did nothing to shield you anymore, falling limply down to your knees where they bent over George's legs, the chilly air hitting your hot pussy deliciously as you were immediately exposed. George managed to lift his hips just enough to pull his boxers down and you couldn't help but let out a moan at the feeling of his dick springing up out of his underwear and tapping your thigh, the rigidity and weight of it making you gush.

George's hands returned to your now naked bum underneath your skirt as he fondles, pinches and lightly spanks your naked skin, making gasps fall from your lips without thought. He suddenly places his hands on each cheek and spreads them apart, completely exposing you to the cold air around you, your clit throbbing at the sensation.

You couldn't wait any longer and dropped your hips down to meet his, the instant gratification overwhelming you as you began to ride your wet pussy across his hardness, your clit dragging deliciously over the ridges of his thick cock.

George's head slams back as he fights to hold back a deep and loud groan as the sensation.

It wouldn't take much to get you off, already so worked up from having him so close to you all night, his romantic gestures and sweetness making you want to show him your appreciation. You wanted to cum around his cock, suddenly feeling a little too empty at the very thought of his beautifully filling cock and so you reached down with your right hand, placed your left on his shoulder and grabbed hold of his cock and lined him up with your aching pussy.

You rocked your hips as he eased inside of you, moans and curses falling from each of your lips as the sensation.

His cock truly was perfect, perfect length and thickness for you with the most delicious, subtle upward curve that seemed to always hit the right spot within you. Both of your men were similar lengths, with Fred maybe having half an inch on his twin but George was just a fraction thicker than Fred and right now it was really working for you.

George's hands were everywhere, as if he didn't know where to touch you next, his mouth wide open and his eyes flicking everywhere they could see. His left hand suddenly crept up underneath the sweater you had borrowed, under the T-shirt and grabbed your naked breast, his long and deft fingers toying with your pebbled nipple. His right hand stayed firmly lodged on your right bum cheek, pressing gently as he guided your rhythm.

"Fuck angel, just like that," he moaned as you slightly increased your rhythm, bouncing up and down on his cock as your clit rubbed perfectly against his happy trail.

You were in heaven, you were sure of it. The beautiful stars, a sweet date planned by your boyfriend, said boyfriend's cock stretching you out and hitting every single erotic spot inside of you with each thrust, it could hardly be real.

"Georgie, George, I'm," you began to chant, trying your hardest to stay quiet, the conscious part at the back of your mind warning you to keep it down when your body wanted to scream. George nodded, as if he was agreeing with his internal monologue and immediately slipped the hand that was caressing your breast down to your clit. It only took two circles of your clit by his expert hands before you were cresting on your climax. You could feel your pussy tighten around his cock, twitching with desperation to fall over the edge and George rewarded you with instant groans and moans that he could no longer keep in.

You grabbed hold of his shoulders hard as you rode him, your orgasm suddenly overwhelming you enough to stop the thrusting as you let the tingling, hot sensation wash over your body. George has seemingly already anticipated this adn had began thrusting up into you as he neared his edge, his thrusts getting harder and sloppier as the desperate need to cum overwhelmed him. You had to lean forward and bite down on the juncture between his neck and shoulders to silence the scream that threatened to spill out and wreck the peaceful atmosphere surrounding the burrow.

George began muttering absolute nonsense, though you made out a few curses, groans and 'Angels' as his own climax overtook him, never stopping his hard thrusting as he dragged your hips up and down on his cock, using you for his own pleasure as he spilled himself deep inside you.

Once the orgasmic fog had cleared from your minds, you turned to each other with sappy, loving smiles on your faces, chuckling a little at the desperation you'd just encountered and shared a lovingly sensual kiss. His tongue licked along yours, never claiming dominance as Fred would but just caressing. You sucked on the lip of his tongue and immediately felt his softening cock twitch inside you, earning a loud groan from George.

You pecked his nose, watching a bashful smile wash over his gorgeous face and you began to climb off of him, feeling his cum begin to drip out of you in a slow trickle.

"I don't know how you do it angel," George says in wonder. You look back to him and see his lazing back on the pillows, arms behind his head and eyes closed with a wide, content smile on his face. He was still wearing his T-shirt but his spent cock was proudly still on display with no shame.

"Me? That was all your Georgie," you chuckled, leaning your head back against his chest and you repositioned yourself to how you were sat before, looking out at the stars. He removed one of his hands from behind his head and entwined your hands again, bringing your joined hands up to his lips to kiss your knuckles.

It was peaceful again.

George eventually got recovered, slipping his boxers and sweats up over his hips as you continued to stargaze, his hand never really leaving yours. The lights had slowly began to turn off in the burrow as each member turned in for the night so you were left with just your twinkling lights and the last weak dregs of candlelight that remained.

"So if you don't do music, what would you want to do when you leave hogwarts?" He asks, breaking the comfortable silence as he mentions your conversation earlier in the car in the car. You considered the question for a moment, not really knowing what to say. You knew George and Fred's dream of opening their own shop, growing their business that they operated via owl post and at school, but you didn't really know where you fit into that dream, assuming you did. You still had a choice to make between them both, which you'd been omitting from your mind constantly, hating the overhanging unease you felt at the entire concept.

"I can't say I've thought about it much," you replied honestly, "I like potions, I mean I'm fairly good at it, I suppose something to do with that but it's kind of a limited career. I just don't have the burning urge to go out and break curses or be an auror or anything like that, nor do I want to be a trophy wife stuck at home with a bunch of children."

"Good thing you weren't placed into Slytherin then," George jokes, knowing that half of the Slytherin female population were raised to be married off to another pureblood family to essentially breed and maintain status. You snorted in acknowledgement, considering the ridiculous idea for a moment before falling silent again, suddenly feeling the weight of a building existential crisis as your thoughts spiralled.

"Do you want kids?" He asks after a moment.

"Yeah definitely, maybe just one or two though not a whole pack of Weasleys," you joked, before realising the implication of what you just said. "I mean, not like your kids or Fred's or anything I just meant because you have like a hundred siblings."

Your face must have turned beet red as words tumbled out of your mouth to recover from your misstep but the damage had already been done.

Surprisingly, George didn't laugh like you thought he would or made a sarcastic quip like his brother, he remained ominously quiet. Worried that you'd ruined the moment, or worse your relationship, you turned to face George and instead of seeing discomfort or anger, he had a small smile tugging at his lips.

"I don't know, I can think of worse things than seeing you knocked up with my kid," he says, looking down at you. You smile and nudge him with your arm, a little bashful from his words.

"Do you, want kids I mean?" You ask, trying to deflect, earning a definitive nod from him.

"Yeah, one or two, knowing my luck I'd get twins," he chuckled, staring up at the skies.

"Your mum would love that, finally a-bit of payback for the mischief you and Fred have caused," you joked, glad that there was no lingering awkwardness between you. He laughed and pulled you tighter into his body, agreeing with you.

"What about your plans? Still dreaming of the shop?" You asked, already knowing the answer but wanting to let him have his moment to talk about his passion.

"Yeah definitely, you know Harry gave us his tri-wizard winnings to set us up, so we've just got to get through this last year of school and start scouting for storefronts," George smiles. You smile along with him, nodding your head as you him adoringly.

"You know, I'm so proud of both of you, it's amazing to see how far you've come already," you say, stroking your thumb along his hand, "defying convention and other's opinions, being unashamedly yourselves and knowing what you want, it's kind of inspiring actually."

George blushes under your praise and gives you a warm smile at your words though you can see he doesn't fully believe it.

"I'm serious!" You smile, dripping his hand as you turn to sit and face him, "you're 17 and you have it all figured out, I'm literally not even close to figuring out what I want to do! You've already created so many wonderful things, started a business and have your next move all planned out, honestly I'm so amazed by you both."

"You know, we'll always need a helping hand at the shop, you could always take some time out after you finish school and come work with us," George says.

"You planning on keeping me that long?" You joke, though your fears had slipped through. You were uncomfortable at the thought of your future with the boys because at this point you couldn't see how you could chose just one of them. They'd be leaving and you'd have one more year of school left to finish, would either of them even still want you then?

"I'm planning on keeping you forever, if you chose me," George replies quietly, almost like he didn't mean to say it out loud. "But that's not important, right now, in this moment, I have you and you have me."

"George Fabian Weasley, how romantic of you," you said, trying to lighten the rather intense conversation. He immediately burst into a wide smile and pulled you in for one last cuddle, kissing the top of your head.

"Want to head back in?" He asks.

"Five more minutes," you mumble, cuddling into him further. He chuckles but says nothing, happy to be holding you for just a little while longer.

[toorumlk]

Harry/Ginny

AH HINNY!

oh man, i oscillate between really liking hinny one day and feeling completely indifferent towards them the next.

hinny might be the relationship i like the most for harry, and it's all because because of the family aspect. through marriage w ginny, harry officially became a weasley family member. and, of course he always was one, but he actually is a weasley on paper and i think having that in writing would mean a lot to harry. and my golden trio heart can't not mention that by hinny being married - ron and hermione are literally harry's brother and sister (in-law) now and !!!!! that just makes my heart melt (i know those two were always harry's family but bc of the aforementioned reason, etc. you get it)

so right off the bat, when i try to organize my more positive thoughts on hinny, i'm mostly focused on how the relationship best serves harry, and only harry. and this is where my frustrations with the ship begins: it's so hard to think the other way around because ginny's narrative purpose is just to be harry's ideal love interest, instead of being a fully fleshed character. i really love ginny with all her spunk and feistiness, but she's so underutilized. she had a cute crush on him in the start of the series which was adorable, but her character was inarguably just "ron's younger sister". and after she gets possessed by volde/gets saved from the CoS by harry, she still continues to have a puppy-love crush on harry until OoTP!!! GAAHHHH!!! Apparently joanne said hinny were always meant to be soulmates and i think if these two had a consistent "invisible string" motif throughout the series, it would've been so good (and almost as good as romione's slow burn). So...

here's how i'd fix hinny (lmao):

i wouldve made the ginny a much more prominent character in PoA and beyond.

we get to see hinny actually have heart-to-hearts about the incidents of CoS - for ginny to play such an IMPORTANT role in the titular plotline of the second book, then to just have her blend into the background afterwards just boggles my mind - that was the perfect oppurtunity to make ginny an invaluable character in the cast. she has this huge experience in common with harry - being personally victimized by voldemort - that harry doesn't have w ron or hermione at that point and it would've been so nice to see harry find an equal, a confidant in ginny from then on - like, dont let the readers forget that harry and ginny have this huge thing in common, have it be with us in the back of our heads the whole time!

start the hinny romance subplot fr fr in GoF

the potential of ginny being a maybe date for harry to the yule ball, harry feeling jealousy towards neville for getting to dance and spend time w ginny and harry being like "wait a minute! i'm supposed to crush on cho! im jealous of neville??" that wouldve been FUN - again, they couldve been a less insane version of romione hello

having the hinny subplot unravel in tandem with harry's crush and relationship with Cho in ootp

in ootp, you can argue that the story attempts to make a foil between cho and ginny's characters but if that were the case, it could've done a way better job of it

with harry's relationship w cho - harry likes her bc she's cool and pretty but she wants to connect with him through their connection via cedric and his death, which is off the bat a hugely touchy/traumatic topic for both of them and cho couldn't possibly fathom what it's like to be in the presence of voldemort/tom but guess which other character does ehehe...

now we're at hbp and this is where the good stuff starts bc if i'd had it my way, we'd have gotten their friendship in poa and two books of solid romantic build-up up until now

i honestly had a such a fun time with hinny in hbp, ginny in her OWL year being so cool and harry's hugeass crush on her- harry being a hormonal teenager was hilarious to read like its implied that harry is having increasingly inappropriate thoughts about her throughout the novel and theyre just intercut with "BUT RON-" that's some good shit

my one gripe w hbp's hinny is that i wish we actually got to see their dates sneaking around hogwarts, finding the perfect hideaways for makeout sessions, etc etc i know hp wasn't a romance fantasy by any means but imagine how swoony it wouldve been if we got to actually see these sunset dates instead of just being told about them - it wouldve been cathartic to actually see harry actually live the life of a normal teen boy before everything fell apart lol

if we got all these invisible string moments between them throughout the series, harry thinking about ginny and how good it felt to kiss her lips before he walks to his death in DH would've felt so much more earned

from a storytelling perspective, the case with hinny begs the question of if you can have a love interest for the jesus figure of your narrative? can you make a believable, grounded and balanced love story for the chosen one? i honestly think so but then you'd have to put equal amounts of effort and work into creating two nuanced characters and unfortunately we don't see that effort be put in ginny's character and that's why harry's endgame falls short for so many people. earlier, i said that this is the ship i like most for harry, but honestly that isn't saying a lot - i think with an almost saint-like character like harry, its hard to imagine a satisfying love and partnership for this kid. i like tomarry as a ship for when im feeling a bit insane but other than that, my main harry ship is him with a lifetime of peace and healing.

i also want to argue that hinny was never meant to be a primary romance in this story - the main romance/love story in the series is ron and hermione's and i think joanne's romance prowess all went into romione and i'm so thankful for that because i think it makes for better story (also i'm totally biased)

i also cant not mention the freudianess of it all with hinny, right? like god freud would Love hinny bc what do you mean they look identical to jily, what is going on here. that and the fact they had their first kid at 22/23 years old like my god, WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING you should be at the club!!!!! i do dig the failmarriage vibes they were serving in TCC, also.

[keepmycandleburning]

It's my 25th birthday today... so I'm thinking about Voldemort.

December 31st birthday makes him a Capricorn sun. Capricorns are said to be fundamentally ambitious and hardworking, and natural leaders who are responsible, pragmatic, and independent, and can be perfectionists.

Dec 31, 1926 means the moon was either in Scorpio (4:50pm or earlier) or Sagittarius (4:51pm or after). The moon sign refers to the inner emotional self. Scorpio is associated with intense passion, devotion, and loyalty to one's work and loved ones, though can also be overly private, and aggressive at times. Sagittarius is associated with being fundamentally independent and freedom-seeking, sometimes overly so, and loves adventure and exploration. As the moon sign, think of these traits applying to or relating to the emotions and inner world.

Mrs. Cole says it was already night was Merope arrived to the orphanage and then it was around an hour or less (I read this to likely mean a little under an hour) before Voldemort was born:

The sunset was 3:57pm that day in London, and it would take longer than that for it to be fully dark. If Mrs. Cole considered it night as soon as the sun set and Voldemort was born in a little under an hour, technically this could have been before 4:51. However, I think 'night' is reasonably after at least like 5pm even if it's winter and dark out. Therefore, Voldemort was very likely a Sagittarius moon.

There are several possible rising signs: Cancer (until about 5:45pm), Leo (about 5:45-8:30), Virgo (8:30-11:20), and Libra (11:20-midnight). I'm just assuming he was born before midnight because it wasn't specified that he wasn't and everyone believes he was born on NYE so no reason to do otherwise.

Capricorn sun & Sagittarius moon still leave a huge gap in his personality, which is his romantic side, such as his tendency for nostalgia and sentimentality in thoughts and objects, and even more relevantly, the charm he shows so often and so strongly early in life. This fits a Libra rising really well. Rising sign refers to the self that gets presented to others, and Voldemort as a Libra rising presents himself as likable, charming, and attractive, and seems diplomatic and persuasive. I don't think any other ascendant explains his sentimental nature, which is such a big part of who he is.

Born at 11:30pm gives us:

Voldemort's sun and Venus are in the Fourth House (at the bottom, to the right), which means that his fundamental self and his love/romance are both based in home, family, roots, heritage, etc.

The houses are dependent on the birth time, so that's another reason I like a birth time around 11:30, because I think Fourth House fits Voldemort so perfectly. Voldemort talks about his family constantly (to Harry in both CoS and GoF), is obsessed with his heritage while at Hogwarts, and identifies strongly with his Slytherin roots for his whole life (he even brings it up at the Battle of Hogwarts).

He's often seen in domestic settings (at 'home') like with Wormtail in GoF and at Malfoy Manor in DH, and in the orphanage with Dumbledore. He gets moved from home to home, often against his will: he's forced to be at the orphanage, he's forced by Dippet to go back to the orphanage when he'd rather stay at Hogwarts, he has to flee the country and/or go into hiding after killing Hepzibah Smith, he has to hide alone in a forest for 13 years, Frank Bryce makes it difficult to stay at the Riddle House, I think he's at Barty Crouch Sr.'s for some amount of time in GoF, the Malfoys don't want him at Malfoy Manor... I see Voldemort, even if he won't admit it, as having a lifelong desire for 'home,' but probably struggling with that substantially.

[misanthrapologist]

TILL WILL SURVIVE ROUND 7 AND HERES WHY.

In the art where they reveal a part of his outfit in round 7 we see he is wearing green. YK WHAT ELSE IS GREEN. SKYLANDERS LIFE ELEMENT.

AND YOU SEE HERE'S WHAT THIS MEANS LIFE = LIVING = HE WILL SURVIVE BUT!!!! THERES MORE CONNECTIONS TO THIS THAN JUST THE COLOR AND WHAT WE ASSOCIATE WITH GREEN.

like this screenshot.

here we see what being a life element skylander means and the specific points I've circled are all to do with plants and flowers right. YK WHAT TILLS TALENT IS LISTED AS.

FLORAL ART. FLOWERS. PLANTS. LIFE. SKYLANDERS. WE SEE HIM MAKING FLOWER CROWNS ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS.

BUT IT GETS BETTER.

here we see life can survive even the worst environments. till is in an awful environment (obviously) and yet still mizi kept him going. he was strong and managed to survive everythinf that happened to him and continued making music and everything else which it's also said that the life element is powerful.

and that's why till alien stage will survive round 7. everything is skylanders. and uhh green and life elemennt....

this was a joke a stupid joke at that but then I made connections this is still a joke don't take it too seriously I'm just messing around and I've been a skylanders fan for like 10 years OH MT GOF ITS BEEN 10 YEARS????? my bad just realized that but thats all thank you and sorry I'm crazy

[aeligsido]

Hellooo! Because I cannot resist it. How is Daisy-raised-by-the-dursleys? I feel like having a sibling at least, does it make it better? Oh. And it just occured to me. Daisy would be left alone for two years, wouldn't she, when Harry goes to hogwarts?

AAAAAH I'M SO GLAD YOU ASKED!!!

Daisy, at her core, is brave, smart, curious, and kind, no matter how (or by who) she's raised (she's also pretty stubborn). But it does translate differently in her words & actions depending on which!

For example — she likes to know things. When her parents raise her, it's because they fostered and nurtured her natural curiosity, and made her want to know things. When she's raised by the Dursleys? She needs to know to better protect herself and Harry. It's less about curiosity and more about the safety of knowledge.

So, with that being said—

Daisy raised by the Dursleys is quiet, observing, because she learned it was the best way to deal with them and anticipate their moods. She's pretty skittish, and like Harry, has a hard time trusting people, adults in particular (even more so after he tells her everything that happened in his two first years at Hogwarts!!). She's kind of always on the defense, waiting for the other shoe to drop, especially with settings & people she's unfamiliar with. By the time HBP comes around, for example, she's pretty at ease around the Weasleys and Hermione, at Hogwarts, or with the people in her dormitory.

And like Harry, her bravery tends to go toward self-sacrifice a lot of time. She's very protective of the people she loves, and kind of internalized that she's less important than,,, anyone, hence the self-sacrificing thing.

She also holds grudges like no one else, especially when it's a matter of betraying her or her brother. Always worse when it's her brother, even! OotP was hell for her, she was angry at everyone, probably argued with so many students, ended up in detentions so many times, etc. Harry was angry because he was grieving and traumatized, she was angry because they were all hurting her brother (and she couldn't help). Also she loathes Rita so much.

And aaaaaah Harry & Daisy's relationship in those circumstances is something I love bc. A lot of angst!!! They were always aware they only had each other in life, so they're very protective of each other. Harry assumes that as the older one he has to be the one protecting her (and she always feels safe with him, no matter what — she always finds comfort with him) but she does protect him too, as much as she can. Mostly because she hates seeing him hurt. They're each other's most important person (she's the one in the lake in GoF, not Ron!), and it shows. They usually don't really hide anything from each other, either. They may not say things right away, but they will end up doing it still! Honesty is important for them and between them.

And yeah, as you say, it's a bit easier to have a sibling by their side when raised by the Dursleys! They can support each other and help each other out — they have less chores, or at least they can do it together and create games out of it! But it's also harder, because they have to see each other being hurt, and the Dursleys absolutely use one to hurt/control the other. If Harry tries to escape Dudley and his gang, Dudley tells him they'll go after Daisy. If Daisy burns the food, Harry will have to eat it (even if it's carbonized). And in general, if one is punished, so is the other!

So, it's a bit of both.

Also, yes! She does spend two years alone with the Dursleys while Harry is at Hogwarts, which is. Not great. I do have a lot of ideas about all of this — mainly, Lily's second pregnancy was very secret, with only a handful of people knowing about it (partly because they were in hiding, partly because either the people they would have told were dead, partly because Lily wasn't sure who they could trust anymore). So, of course, Sirius knew, as well as Remus, Peter, and Mary (Macdonald). Add to this Dorcas (who was Lily's healer), and Dumbledore, who last saw Lily when she was very obviously pregnant. Generally, I also add Alice & Frank (Longbottom) bc i HC them as close friends (with James & Alice knowing each other since they were toddlers).

(Peter was going to be her godfather, btw :D)

And out of all of them... Well outside of Sirius, who was here in the aftermath of the attack, and Dumbledore, who dropped them off at the Dursleys (and you can add Hagrid & McGonagall here), no one knows she's alive. There was nothing about her in the newspapers, just about Harry surviving the Killing Curse and James and Lily dying, and since her birth was not announced, they assumed she died with Lily. (So at the beginning of PoA Remus has an instant where he thinks he's hallucinating lmao.)

People are going to be very surprised when it'll come to her Sorting! (She's a Gryffindor all the way.)

So! Harry's first year, she goes to Diagon Alley with him & Hagrid. Her and Harry had a convoluted plan about getting her to Hogwarts secretly so she would be away from the Dursleys but it just never happened because the Dursleys locked her up before dropping Harry at King's Cross. The year is pretty hard on her but she does her best to make it better! She exchanges letters with Harry (Hedwig knows to only come at night and be very quiet), she manages to sneak into Diagon Alley a few times and sit down in a corner of the bookshop to read about this new world, and when she has moments alone she tentatively tries to make her magic work without a wand. (She's pretty successful too!) Harry still stays at Hogwarts for the holidays (she convinces him to), and he sends her a gift bought with his (!!!!) own money. She doesn't know how to access her vault (she thinks she'll get turned down if she doesn't have the key), so she sends him a homemade gift as usual. Harry mentioned her to Ron and Hermione (not a lot because he's still protective and he feels like he has to hide her to keep her safe), so when Ron tells his mom about Harry, he tells her about Daisy too (he tries to keep it vague as to not betray Harry though). So she gets a Weasley gift too!! She's overjoyed and specifically makes a gift for both Molly and Ron, as a thank you. And that's about it!! She spends the rest of the year trying to stay away from the Dursleys (Vernon is even more awful than usual, Petunia is hot and cold bc she misses her son and wants to coddle someone but also ugh magic u know), and doing what she has been doing. Harry and Daisy hug a lot when he comes back (they've never been apart so long before).

The beginning of CoS is basically the same — Dobby comes by, messes things up, and they get terribly punished for it, Ron and the twins come to save Harry. Harry refuses to leave without Daisy, so they sneak her in. She's amazed by the Burrow but also very very quiet and constantly hiding behind Harry. He's not phased, but Ron is very confused (mostly that it doesn't annoy Harry, because if Ginny did that with him he would hate it).

(Bonus points for imagining Scabbers' reaction to seeing Daisy lmao. He probably didn't catch Harry mentioning her before, and here she's in, in the flesh, the girl who would have been his goddaughter. Feel the regret, Peter.)

The Weasleys have to send her back when the summer is over, though :C Molly did want to keep her with them (she wasn't happy about the empty and hey!!! new daughter!!), but it just couldn't happen. The Dursleys are not happy, and she does get punished for what happened, but otherwise things go the same way as the year before. Harry doesn't tell her everything about the petrifications & all right away (he only does it when he's back for the summer), and they both get a bit confused because Daisy is a Parselmouth, too (which doesn't quite work with Dumbledore's theory about why Harry is one).

For PoA — well, Marge is her delightful self once again, she gets blown up like a balloon but neither Harry nor Daisy is sure which one of them did that, and they run away together. They end up at the Leaky Cauldron, meet Fudge (who has a moment of utter confusion when seeing Daisy because he has no idea who she is), get a room for two, and have a blast for the two (three?) weeks they live here. She also has to do her first year shopping, which she's excited about, and they do it together! Which is great! The whole Sirius Black thing is a bit worrying, even more so when Harry learns he's apparently the target, but oh well. Daisy decides to be optimistic. Then they meet the Dementor on the train — Harry has the same reaction as in canon, of course (what he hears changes slightly). Daisy reacts very badly too! She completely freezes up, and basically dissociates. Remus thought for a moment here (when he comes back and she's still not doing well) that she got Kissed with how vacant she looks. (After the Quidditch match, she ends up in the infirmary for the whole weekend.) So that's not a very great start for her first year.

The rest is better, but still bittersweet — she's amazed and curious about everything, but scared by all the new things and people and easily overwhelmed. Also, Snape is creepy and looks at her weird (she looks like her mother). Good point is, ofc, Professor Lupin™, and Daisy joins Harry in his Dementors lessons! She doesn't manage to get anything but a small silver cloud, but she's just a first year, so that's still pretty amazing lmao. (She keeps on training the following years, just in case.) She's very fond of Hagrid too, so she follows Buckbeak's case closely (her best friend is a Ravenclaw by the name of Astoria Greengrass, and she helps her out). Which means she's here when the night™ happens. (The Golden Trio caught her sneaking out and took her with them.) Things really much go the same way, with Sirius promising both Harry and Daisy to take them in, the Full Moon, Peter escaping, the Dementors. She's totally knocked out after so she misses the time travel, though :C (she's knocked out for days to the point they're worried they'll have to get her transferred to St Mungo, which also means she misses Remus leaving, and she's not happy about it.)

GoF goes the same — Quidditch World Cup, attack, Triwizard Tournament, etc. She obviously never believes Harry would put his name in, and yells at the other Gryffindors who plans a party that Halloween's night. She's Harry's most important person, as said previously, and she manages to get herself invited because she wants to go to the Yule Ball too!! She's staying at Hogwarts anyway!! I'm hesitating a bit if she rushes to Harry right away after he and Cedric appear again, and follows him and fake-Moody, or not. Probably yes. In any case, they end up cuddling in his infirmary bed bc she needs the reassurance he's still here (Padfoot's here too!) (Harry probably snuck her out of Hogwarts once or twice so she could visit Sirius in his cave lmao.)

OotP... Idk if she would be here when the Dementors attack or not. I'm not sure yet. She goes to Grimmauld Place, of course, and also she asks Remus to be her godfather because Harry has one and she wants one too (Sirius is laughing his ass off). Remus is flaggerbasted but accepts. She absolutely hates Umbridge, joins the DA, and she comes to the Ministry at the end. I think it would be the year where she really starts wondering about the connection between Harry and Voldemort, and tries to look into it. Ginny says it's not possession and she trusts her, so it must be something else, and she's determined to find out what.

Again, the main events of HBP don't change. She knows about the prophecy (re: Harry and Daisy not hiding anything important from each other), meets Slughorn with Harry, and while she's not in the office with Dumbledore and Harry Harry still tells her about what happened there. Not the details, but the basis, at least, so she ends up knowing about the Horcruxes (she doesn't link it up to Harry right away, though). She's not here in the cave, but she participates in the battle.

For DH, she's probably smuggled out of Privet Drive before Harry, maybe at the same time as the Dursleys. She's not going with them, though, lmao. She ends up at the Burrow too, helps out with the wedding, and is very happy about it. Idk if Dumbledore would leave her something. When the DE attacks the wedding, Remus is the one to take her with him out of danger, so she stays with him for a bit. Either they get found out or she tries to go back to Hogwarts, but in any way the DE tries to get her to use her against Harry, fails, and she ends up living at Shell Cottage with Bill and Fleur during the whole year. She sees Ron when he ends up here and they talk a bit, and then months later she gets reunited with her brother!! Harry updates her on the Horcruxes and everything she helps them out with their plans. She can't come though. She does come to Hogwarts with Luna and Dean for the Battle :D Harry is not Happy™ but she doesn't care, it's her fight too, and she's not leaving him alone in it. She kind of does her own things during the first half of the battle (mostly surviving, trying to find her friends, etc), and then waits for Harry when he's watching Snape's memories. She kind of guessed the Horcrux thing by now, but hoped to be wrong. She makes him swear to come back and then let him go alone in the Forest. She's devastated when Voldemort says he's dead, but then well, the rest happens and she knows he's alive :)

And that's. About it. For Daisy raised by the Dursleys. Jsjdndjndjdbfb I realize that I. Wrote a lot. Probably a lot more than what you expected. Sorry!!!! I couldn't stop. But also while I do have fics planned with her none is a fic following her during her school years in a canon-universe-but-she-exists so... Yeah kdjdjf.

Congrats if you read all of that, and thank you so much! ❤️✨🥰

[orchideous-nox]

Who are your favourite fancasts?

The first ones that jump to mind are just younger versions of the canon actors.

So for Barty, I love David Tennant from around the time of Takin' Over the Asylum when he was much younger than Tennant was in GoF and I think Campbell has the same energy I'd give Barty. I can't find anyone really for Evan except this one guy on Instagram but I can't remember his name, he gets used sometimes for art references for Evan though.

I think David Thewlis was great for Remus, younger David Thewlis just has the perfect awkward lankiness of Remus.

Younger Gary Oldman works for Sirius, but his son Charlie is also very Sirius! Like more people need to realise that.

I struggle with James, there's nobody I really vibe with. Even for Peter I'm not always sure, I like Cooper Hoffman but he's too slim for Pete how I imagine him.

For Regulus I like Mark Eidelshtein, there's something about him and his face that screams Regulus to me whereas Timothee Chalamet doesn't.

There's not particularly anyone else that I have fancasts that I feel strongly about but if anyone else has some then either reply or send me an ask if you want to be on anon! I love getting asks like these!!

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Ok so Harry has a tendency to blatantly state out loud just how much the Dursleys don't give two shits about him (to the point that the people around him think it's just a typical teenager over exaggerating their complaints), but... Does he realise that the way he is being treated by them is wrong?

Also like, I know that the way the Dursleys treated him plays a huge part in the way Harry behaves and views himself- specifically him not thinking an adult is a reliable source of help and protection + his disastrouly low self esteem + how he doesn't respond to Snape's everything (which is the exact opposite of what James would have done) ... But what are the other ways in which he got affected and it shows? (Someone once mentioned that they hc that when feeling extreme emotions Harry tends to skip out on food and may have nearly wasted away in his second year had it not been for Ron and Hermione- which is also why they act so much like Harry's bodyguards)

Yep, Harry put no effort into hiding his abuse. He literally told anyone who would listen. By 5th year, he was making jokes about it to Ron and Hermione who seemed used to it.

Now, you've raised a few questions and I'll try to answer them to the best of my ability.

Does he realise that the way he is being treated by them is wrong?

I think he does. Most of his comments about his relatives' treatment definitely sound like Harry is very aware that he shouldn't be treated like that.

“I told you, I didn’t — but it’ll take too long to explain now — look, can you tell them at Hogwarts that the Dursleys have locked me up and won’t let me come back, and obviously I can’t magic myself out, because the Ministry’ll think that’s the second spell I’ve done in three days, so —” “Stop gibbering,” said Ron. “We’ve come to take you home with us.” “But you can’t magic me out either —” “We don’t need to,” said Ron, jerking his head toward the front seat and grinning. “You forget who I’ve got with me.” “Tie that around the bars,” said Fred, throwing the end of a rope to Harry. “If the Dursleys wake up, I’m dead,” said Harry as he tied the rope tightly around a bar and Fred revved up the car. “Don’t worry,” said Fred, “and stand back.”

(COS, page 31)

“It was cloudy, Mum!” said Fred. “You keep your mouth closed while you’re eating!” Mrs. Weasley snapped. “They were starving him, Mum!” said George. “And you!” said Mrs. Weasley, but it was with a slightly softened expression that she started cutting Harry bread and buttering it for him.

(COS, page 39)

But Harry wasn’t going to stand for this. Gone were the days when he had been forced to take every single one of the Dursleys’ stupid rules.

(GOF, page 33)

“Excellent,” said Lupin, looking up as Tonks and Harry entered. “We’ve got about a minute, I think. We should probably get out into the garden so we’re ready. Harry, I’ve left a letter telling your aunt and uncle not to worry —” “They won’t,” said Harry. “That you’re safe —” “That’ll just depress them.” “— and you’ll see them next summer.” “Do I have to?” Lupin smiled but made no answer.

(OOTP, page 54)

“You don’t seem to need many qualifications to liaise with Muggles. . . . All they want is an O.W.L. in Muggle Studies. . . . ‘Much more important is your enthusiasm, patience, and a good sense of fun!’ ” “You’d need more than a good sense of fun to liaise with my uncle,” said Harry darkly. “Good sense of when to duck, more like . . .”

(OOTP, page 657)

It seems Harry is very much aware that the way he is being treated is wrong. the younger Weasleys and Hermione are clearly aware of that too. Harry calls the Dursleys' rules stupid, he knows the Dursleys aren't treating him the way they should and that he doesn't have to take it. That he shouldn't have to take it.

Harry is kind of a best-case scenario of an abused kid and Dumbledore was so lucky Harry ended up functional enough for his plans. It could've so easily gone down differently.

Honestly, I'm enraged on Harry's behalf at how Arthur, Molly, and Lupin (and every other adult) just completely ignore his mistreatment. He really does just state plainly what's going on and has Ron, Fred, George, and Hermione backing up everything he says.

What are the other ways in which he got affected and it shows?

I do like when Harry's approach to food is affected by the Dursleys starving him, that being said, there isn't really any book evidence for it. It's an interesting headcanon to explore though. His low self-esteem, willingness to endanger himself, and his thinking that adults be counted on are definitely effects seen in the books. As for other things we do see in the books:

1. Harry is actually really quiet. He doesn't speak as much as Ron and Hermione and he's pretty awkward with social interaction. He mimics Ron in many ways since he never had any friends before him.

His approach to studying is one of the ways he mimics Ron socially. Harry actually read their school books before 1st year, he found Hedwig's name in a History of Magic. And he planned to study at the beginning of Philosopher's Stone. Then he meets Ron and realizes no one in Gryffindor except Hermione actually studies, and she is hated for it. So he didn't bother studying either, even though he planned to because he wanted to fit in.

2. Harry isn't great at emotional regulation, specifically anger. Harry is a pretty angry character and throughout the books, he actually has moments when he completely loses himself to a sense of anger.

A boiling hate erupted in Harry’s chest, leaving no place for fear. For the first time in his life, he wanted his wand back in his hand, not to defend himself, but to attack . . . to kill.

(POA, page 339)

“Madame Maxime!” said Fleur at once, striding over to her headmistress. “Zey are saying zat zis little boy is to compete also!” Somewhere under Harry’s numb disbelief he felt a ripple of anger. Little boy?

(GOF, page 275)

Harry sat there staring at Snape as the lesson began, picturing horrific things happening to him. . . . If only he knew how to do the Cruciatus Curse . . . he’d have Snape flat on his back like that spider, jerking and twitching. . . .

(GOF, page 300)

If Dudley’s friends saw him sitting here, they would be sure to make a beeline for him, and what would Dudley do then? He wouldn’t want to lose face in front of the gang, but he’d be terrified of provoking Harry. . . . It would be really fun to watch Dudley’s dilemma; to taunt him, watch him, with him powerless to respond . . . and if any of the others tried hitting Harry, Harry was ready — he had his wand . . . let them try . . . He’d love to vent some of his frustration on the boys who had once made his life hell —

(OOTP, page 11)

He does calm down the older he gets. But he definitely has a lot of anger in him.

3. Harry, in general, has a disrespect for authority. I assume this is an extension of his distrust of adults, in that no teacher or nurse ever helped him. Harry is so anti-authority and anti-orders, that he can resist the Imperius Curse decently from the first try.

Harry just doesn't do orders or authority. Actually in the earlier books, and even in books 6 and 7, Harry has his doubts about Dumbledore. He repeatedly tells people he's Dumbledore's man, but in his head, he has doubts. Like he has for any other adult with authority over him.

“Dumbledore’s been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me!” he hissed. “He’s not as gone as you might think!” Harry retorted. He was speaking at random, wanting to scare Riddle, wishing rather than believing it to be true —

(COS, page 282)

“Because the Ministry of Magic’s still after me, and Voldemort will know all about me being an Animagus by now, Wormtail will have told him, so my big disguise is useless. There’s not much I can do for the Order of the Phoenix . . . or so Dumbledore feels.” There was something about the slightly flattened tone of voice in which Sirius uttered Dumbledore’s name that told Harry that Sirius was not very happy with the headmaster either. Harry felt a sudden upsurge of affection for his godfather.

(OOTP, pages 82-83)

He's very distrusting of adults and authority, but also his peers. He doesn't tell Ron and Hermione everything in the earlier books because he is very slow to trust. Which, makes sense for someone who grew up like he did.

4. His occasional impulsiveness is an extension of his issues with emotional regulation, I think.

5. I think Harry's cunning Slytherin streak is a result of his abuse. The Dursleys' mistreatment taught him to sneak around, to lie, to be clever. It taught him to keep a blank face when being yelled at because if he reacted it'll make it worse.

He learned how to insult the Dursleys in ways that go over Dudley's head. His little way to rebel.

6. His response to pain as well. We see it with Umbridge and the blood quill for example:

He let out a gasp of pain. The words had appeared on the parchment in what appeared to be shining red ink. At the same time, the words had appeared on the back of Harry’s right hand, cut into his skin as though traced there by a scalpel — yet even as he stared at the shining cut, the skin healed over again, leaving the place where it had been slightly redder than before but quite smooth. Harry looked around at Umbridge. She was watching him, her wide, toadlike mouth stretched in a smile. “Yes?” “Nothing,” said Harry quietly. He looked back at the parchment, placed the quill upon it once more, wrote I must not tell lies, and felt the searing pain on the back of his hand for a second time

(OOTP, page 267)

Harry can hide his pain and not react to it, and he does it well. He learned from the Dursleys that she wants to see his pain, and he isn't going to give her what she wants. Instead, he grits his teeth through it and doesn't react externally.

Even later in the book when Umbridge threatens with the Crociatus Curse, Harry just braces himself for it, not planning to break (in later books too, Harry is very willing to get hurt and just deal with it). He is willing to take torture without reacting, and I think this is something he got from the Dursleys.

These are the some other things that came to mind regarding your question. There are probably more that I can't think of now that I might add later. Harry is who he is in part because of his nightmare of a childhood. So many facets of his personality just link back to it.

[seriousbrat]

How come do you think Snape never informed other order members about the Dark Mark? When Harry brings up to Sirius in GoF that Snape and Karkaroff were showing their arms to each other, Sirius has no idea what it means. Surely once Snape defected he could have made the Order aware that an easy way to spot a Death Eater is to check if they have a big spooky tattoo on their arm? Do you think he was embarrassed? Or he told Dumbledore and Dumbledore chose not to tell the rest? Is this another JKR hole that will leave us doing gymnastics to get around?

I believe it's implied that the Dark Marks basically vanished after Voldemort's downfall in 1981, and only started coming back during GoF, so it wouldn't have been a reliable way of identifying Death Eaters after the war. Snape only switched sides at the very end of the war, and Sirius and the Potters all went into hiding so I just don't think this information would be of use or relevant to them.

The other thing is that they likely didn't need it-- I'm sure the Order was aware of who many of the Death Eaters were, even the ones who escaped Azkaban at the end of the war, without having to check people for tattoos. Sirius lists Death Eaters like Lucius Malfoy and Avery who claimed they were under the influence of the imperius curse.

So Snape probably did tell Dumbledore about the Dark Marks, it's just that it wasn't particularly useful information at the time for the rest of the Order and especially not once Voldemort was defeated and the marks disappeared. The Ministry was in utter chaos at the end of the first war too, so even if Dumbledore did provide them with info about the Dark Marks they were already desperately scrambling to catch the Death Eaters they already knew about and I don't think it would have been of much use. That's not even considering that there are probably magical methods to conceal tattoos, since there are certainly muggle methods that are pretty effective. So I don't think it's a plot hole, no.

[wordrage]

Hi! So I was going through your snape tag (btw sorry for the million notifications you probably got), and I noticed you weren’t very much a fan way back on the early days of your blog. Feel free to completely ignore this if you don’t feel like answering (it is truly none of my business), but I’m always fond of hearing people’s “how I came to like this character” or “why I changed my mind about this character” stories and I was wondering what yours was :)

Hiii! Thanks for the ask! (No worries on the notification spam lol) and I appreciate that you reached out!

Yes! I think he was one of the characters I had the most difficulty empathizing with because I had such a strong, emotional reaction to him. Especially after OotP forward. He's divisive! (Also looking back through my Snape tag has me internally cringing a bit with how little grace I extended to the poor guy...ah well. With age/maturity comes wisdom...? D: )

I'm ngl, after reviewing some of the earlier posts, my immediate reaction is to delete them as my opinions have definitely changed, but maybe it's good to leave it as a record of my evolving mindset towards the character? lol

Ok, so what changed?

Well, it certainly helps I'm now closer to adult Snape's age from Book 1 than Harry's age when I was first reading the HP series as it was being published. I didn't give much thought to Snape beyond he was a mean teacher and a bully, for the first four books at least.

I got into the HP fandom around when GoF had been released so I was discovering plenty of fanfic and fan meta. Snape was one of the more ... well ... fans reactions to him that liked him or even wrote him sexually with the cast confused middle-school me, to be honest. I was more interested in the child characters than the adults, so I was vaguely aware of how he was portrayed in fandom but didn't really engage.

This changed after OotP was released, and we finally got some explicit Severus Snape backstory and history with the Occlumency lessons. I had a really an emotional reaction to SWM and some of the memories we got a glimpse of. I was empathetic and not completely surprised to learn Snape was from an abusive home, that he had possible trauma and issues that explained his actions and why he was so cold and angry. Like Harry, I was really disappointed in how his father and Sirius treated Snape. There's just no excuse for how they sought him out to pick on him for fun. I was on Harry's side with confronting Sirius and Lupin about how his dad and they acted.

Also, I read everything with shipper eyes, and immediately felt there was more to Severus and Lily's relationship beyond her just coming over and reacting to James actions lol. They called Jily a crack!ship but it looks like they were validated in the end lol.

However what really made me emotionally react with anger was that we are basically being shown that Severus knows what it's like to be a scared child being abused and tormented by authority figures and other children, but he does it to his students?? I could not understand his actions at a time but I would get genuinely angry when I did think about it. To child me, this felt like a betrayal, both for a fictional character and when actual people did this. Looking back I was reacting so strongly due to my own personal experience with trauma in the home and with authority figures abusing children.

I recall not caring much about him in HBP or DH. I was much more upset with Sirius' death than Dumbledore's, so Snape's "betrayal" was just not something I recall reacting emotionally to. In DH, I definitely remember reading his memories and just feeling irritated with him. To me, he was a guy with trauma and emotional issues, sure, but I felt his behavior towards Harry, Hermione, and Neville was not excused for me. At most I felt begrudging respect for him and acknowledged he was not a completely terrible person. Harry naming one of his son's after him felt so bizarre, and I just could not understand why Harry wanted to honor him. Forgive him, sure I could understand Harry doing that, but naming his child after Snape just left me feeling confused. I could not understand how Snape could have loved Lily so much, but treated her son like he did.

I know I'm basically rambling, but it really has been a journey. :P

When I grew out of HP and the fandom after DH was published, I never gave much thought to him or his circumstances until I (unexpectedly) returned to the HP fandom last summer. I reread all of the books as an adult and I had the life experience and maturity to understand that:

A) Snape was funny! A lot funnier than I remember.

B) His actions throughout the book were too subtle for teenage me, but they made me really question my previous feelings for the character.

C) Everyone Dumbledore was kind of terrible to him!

I read a lot of really well written meta on the characters and HP. Specifically I think it was @pet-genius posts on reddit I found that really helped me put my thoughts and feelings regarding HP, primarily Harry, in order. And I can't help but compare and contrast Harry and Severus as characters and how they each approach their trauma and grief.

@ashesandhackles metas on Snape was also really helpful in highlighting the examples in the text that showed how Snape's actions sometimes directly contradict with what he said, especially to Harry. He's always presenting himself as this cold and controlled person, disparaging emotional reactions and connections. Yet he's one of the most emotionally reactive characters in the series next to Harry!

I was able to see clearer a lot of things I liked about him. That he's an incredibly skilled and hardworking person. That he cares very deeply for people he does allow himself to have feelings for and connections to. That he was scared, so scared, probably all the time after Voldemort's return to power, but he never wavered in his determination to continue to show up and fulfill his duty. Him making the Vow with Narcissa to try to protect Draco. The incredible pain he must have been in when he used the Killing Curse on Dumbledore, the one person left that knew everything about him and still valued him. That he dies keeping silent about the Elder Wand ownership, protecting Draco from becoming Voldemort's next target.

I also viewed his relationship with Lily as so much more complex than unrequited love. There's a meta out there (I will edit this post and link it if I find it again) that argues Snape wasn't really in love with Lily, and that "Always" quote is so much deeper than a romantic, or sexual, type of feelings for her. I think it argues that Snape elevated Lily to a symbol of Good, or at least used her memory to guide him on morality. I felt so much more respect for the guy that he had dedicated his life as penance, basically, for betraying his once-best friend once more.

This is getting long, I hope this wasn't too much. I have changed my feelings on how Severus treated Harry and the other kids close to him in that year's class. Looking at how he acts to others and comparing to how he acts with Harry, I now now I feel Harry was a very specific trigger for Severus and he showed Harry and Harry's potions class a side of him that he generally did not show to anyone else. This is just my personal interpretation based on how other adults, from Dumbledore to even Lupin, and kids speak of Snape as a professor and seem to think Harry is just exaggerating that Snape hates him. When, no, Snape really is projecting his hate and rage and grief about James and Lily onto Harry and he does actually hate the kid. Which, it's probably easier for Severus to think he hates Harry rather than hates himself.

I could keep going but I will stop here for now. I hope that answers the question? But feel free to chat more :) I hope you don't mind I responded with a blog post, I can take it down if you would rather it be answered privately lol.

I suppose the tl;dr version is that Snape makes me angry because he makes me feel things about myself that I don't like, but with age and reading other people's thoughts on the character has definitely made me come around to they guy!