#Pensieve Post

[iamnmbr3]

Dumbledore: so anyway in the end harry has to die

Snape: wtf

Dumbledore: don't act so shocked lol

Snape: this is super messed up!

Dumbledore: do you actually care about him tho?

Snape: no not really lol

Harry: One day I will name my child after these two people.

[psychicdragondream]

what's funny is that I'd hide out in that boathouse often and he'd find me there.

I'd always lose some points for it but, after a while, he started to hide there too with me. She'd often pace and think or grade.. I'd lay in a boat and listen to music quietly..

she told me once it's the most peaceful they've ever been.

thank you Alex G for making me remember this /sil

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Harry Potter is Really Magically Powerful

So, in continuation to this post, and my desire to show some love to Harry James Potter, this post is dedicated to showing how magically powerful Harry actually is in the books — which is insanely powerful. Harry doesn't think of himself as a great wizard, but he is — definitely powerful enough to be Voldemort's equal (and Dumbledore's for that matter).

Under the cut are some quotes from the books that prove this.

Accidental Magic

Let's start with Harry's childhood accidental magic. Tom was considered prodigious for being able to steal things with magic and make animals obey him intentionally. Neville, as a late bloomer, bounced when thrown, which is the bare minimum of childhood accidental magic young witches and wizards should be doing.

Now he came to think about it…every odd thing that had ever made his aunt and uncle furious with him had happened when he, Harry, had been upset or angry…chased by Dudley’s gang, he had somehow found himself out of their reach…dreading going to school with that ridiculous haircut, he’d managed to make it grow back…and the very last time Dudley had hit him, hadn’t he got his revenge, without even realizing he was doing it? Hadn’t he set a boa constrictor on him?

(Philosopher's Stone, page 44)

Harry has:

Apparated out of Dudley's reach when in danger to get away - advanced magic only allowed to practice from the age of 16!

Growing back all his hair from not liking the bad haircut.

Disappearing the glass of the Boa Constrictor case and leashing it

not even when he’d had to take a school report home to the Dursleys saying that he’d somehow turned his teacher’s wig blue.

(Philosopher's Stone, page 84)

4. Turning his teacher's hair blue.

We see Harry is capable of aparation, transfiguration, and various charms at a level that is considered prodigious. Harry was incredibly advanced as a child according to his feats of magic before even knowing magic was real. And while he wasn't as intentional as Tom, he was aware enough to know odd things happened when he was "furious or upset" that the odd things responded to him.

Intuitive Casting

I wrote later in this post about this, but I do want to write a whole essay about how magic works in the Wizarding world, but like, really in short, emotion and intention matter in magic. A lot.

And we see Harry make use of this fact to great effect. Using spells with intention to change the way they behave and they work for him because of how magically prodigious he is.

Harry raised his own wand. “Protego!” Snape staggered; his wand flew upward, away from Harry — and suddenly Harry’s mind was teeming with memories that were not his — a hook-nosed man was shouting at a cowering woman, while a small dark-haired boy cried in a corner. . . . A greasy-haired teenager sat alone in a dark bedroom, pointing his wand at the ceiling, shooting down flies. . . . A girl was laughing as a scrawny boy tried to mount a bucking broomstick — “ENOUGH!” Harry felt as though he had been pushed hard in the chest; he took several staggering steps backward, hit some of the shelves covering Snape’s walls and heard something crack. Snape was shaking slightly, very white in the face.

(Order of the Phoenix, page 591)

This is from the last of Harry's and Snape's Occlumancy lessons. What's interesting here is that from Snape's words, it seems the protego spell isn't supposed to work like that. Harry is magically powerful enough to make protego (shield charm) to defend him from Legilamancy, turn the Legilamancy onto Snape and disarm Snape.

No wonder Snape is shocked, it really isn't supposed to work. Unless you're Harry Potter, that is.

He did say in their first lesson the rules of magic don't seem to apply to Harry.

“Reparo!” hissed Snape, and the jar sealed itself once more. “Well, Potter . . . that was certainly an improvement. . . .” Panting slightly, Snape straightened the Pensieve in which he had again stored some of his thoughts before starting the lesson, almost as though checking that they were still there. “I don’t remember telling you to use a Shield Charm . . . but there is no doubt that it was effective. . . .”

(Order of the Phoenix, page 591)

What I marked here is the fact in all their occlumancy lessons, even the first, Snape always placed a few memories in the pensive. He chose memories he didn't want Harry to see and place them there.

Okay... so why is that a big deal?

Snape repeatedly belittles Harry's magical skills, and yet, he fears Harry would turn the Legilemancy connection back on him. Legilemancy as Snape explained is no easy skill:

“Only Muggles talk of ‘mind reading.’ The mind is not a book, to be opened at will and examined at leisure. Thoughts are not etched on the inside of skulls, to be perused by any invader. The mind is a complex and many-layered thing, Potter . . . or at least, most minds are. . . .” He smirked. “It is true, however, that those who have mastered Legilimency are able, under certain conditions, to delve into the minds of their victims and to interpret their findings correctly...”

(Order of the Phoenix, pages 350-351)

As such, he doesn't expect Harry to be capable of it. But that’s a lie. He clearly thinks Harry is skilled enough to be a threat in this situation. That Harry just might be able to turn this around and glimpse his own memories, which is no easy feat.

And Snape is many things, but stupid isn't one of them. If he thinks Harry is uniquely magically prodigious to be capable of this, then Harry probably is. Especially considering how much Snape hates Harry and how much he'd rather think he's stupid, useless, and unskilled.

“SHE KILLED SIRIUS!” bellowed Harry. “SHE KILLED HIM — I’LL KILL HER!” And he was off, scrambling up the stone benches. People were shouting behind him but he did not care. The hem of Bellatrix’s robes whipped out of sight ahead and they were back in the room where the brains were swimming. . . . She aimed a curse over her shoulder. The tank rose into the air and tipped. Harry was deluged in the foul-smelling potion within. The brains slipped and slid over him and began spinning their long, colored tentacles, but he shouted, “Wingardium Leviosa!” and they flew into the air away from him. Slipping and sliding he ran on toward the door.

(Order of the Phoenix, page 809)

Okay, so can we talk about this Levitation Charm? Please?

Like, get this, he uses Wingardium Leviosa, like a shield charm that sends multiple magical projectiles away from him. This isn't how this charm works, but it is if you're Harry Potter. (again, this is that intention use I mentioned)

The point is, that Harry is magically powerful enough to bend the way spells are meant to work to fit his will and situation.

And when Voldemort possesses him at the end of the fight in Order of the Phoenix:

He was gone from the hall, he was locked in the coils of a creature with red eyes, so tightly bound that Harry did not know where his body ended and the creature’s began. They were fused together, bound by pain, and there was no escape — And when the creature spoke, it used Harry’s mouth, so that in his agony he felt his jaw move. . . . “Kill me now, Dumbledore. . . .” Blinded and dying, every part of him screaming for release, Harry felt the creature use him again. . . . “If death is nothing, Dumbledore, kill the boy. . . .” Let the pain stop, thought Harry. Let him kill us. . . . End it, Dumbledore. . . . Death is nothing compared to this. . . . And I’ll see Sirius again. . . . And as Harry’s heart filled with emotion, the creature’s coils loosened, the pain was gone, Harry was lying facedown on the floor, his glasses gone, shivering as though he lay upon ice, not wood. . . .

(Order of the Phoenix, page 816)

Harry kicks Voldemort out.

As I mentioned, I have a a whole theory I'm drafting about magical theory and how magic works in the Wizarding World, but emotion as Harry describes in this scene is part of it. Emotion drives childhood accidental magic. Emotion is required to cast the Patronus charm and any of the unforgivable. Because of how emotion is tied to magic in this world, this instance is Harry's magic kicking Voldemort in his full power out of his mind.

Which is an impressive feat of magic.

Advanced Charmwork

“Oh — yeah —” said Harry, quickly forcing his thoughts back to that first broom ride. “Expecto patrono — no, patronum — sorry — expecto patronum, expecto patronum —” Something whooshed suddenly out of the end of his wand; it looked like a wisp of silvery gas. “Did you see that?” said Harry excitedly. “Something happened!”

(Prisoner of Azkaban, page 238)

This is the first time Harry cast a Patronus Charm. On his very first try of this complex charm, most adult wizards fail at — he succeeds. It isn't a perfect casting. His happy memory isn't happy enough, but the problem isn't Harry's skill.

The fact he succeeded in casting it at all with how crap his life has been up to this point is a testament to his magical talent.

Hatred rose in Harry such as he had never known before. He flung himself out from behind the fountain and bellowed “Crucio!” Bellatrix screamed. The spell had knocked her off her feet, but she did not writhe and shriek with pain as Neville had — she was already on her feet again, breathless, no longer laughing.

(Order of the Phoenix, page 810)

Harry, at age fifteen, casts the Cruciatus Curse for the first time. An advanced piece of dark magic that is tricky to cast. Sure, it wasn't the best cast Crucio, but it did work.

It did land.

It worked enough for Bellatrix to stop laughing and start taking Harry seriously.

Harry raised the hawthorn wand beneath the cloak, pointed it at the old goblin, and whispered, for the first time in his life, “Imperio!” A curious sensation shot down Harry’s arm, a feeling of tingling, warmth that seemed to flow from his mind, down the sinews and veins connecting him to the wand and the curse it had just cast.

(Deathly Hollows, page 452)

Like with the Cruciatus Curse, Harry succeeds in the Imperius curse on his first try (and the second try that happens immediately after). In general, Harry learns to cast most spells (even the advanced ones) incredibly quickly — like, on his first try. That's insane!

As Amycus spun around, Harry shouted, “Crucio!” The Death Eater was lifted off his feet. He writhed through the air like a drowning man, thrashing and howling in pain, and then, with a crunch and a shattering of glass, he smashed into the front of a bookcase and crumpled, insensible, to the floor. “I see what Bellatrix meant,” said Harry, the blood thundering through his brain, “you need to really mean it.”

(Deathly Hollows, page 502)

And he gets better over time, both with the Cruciatus Curse, as we see here and his fully corporeal Patronus which is considered an unbelievable feat for a fifteen-year-old:

“Your Patronus had a clearly defined form? I mean to say, it was more than vapor or smoke?” “Yes,” said Harry, feeling both impatient and slightly desperate, “it’s a stag, it’s always a stag.” “Always?” boomed Madam Bones. “You have produced a Patronus before now?” “Yes,” said Harry, “I’ve been doing it for over a year —” “And you are fifteen years old?” “Yes, and —” “You learned this at school?” “Yes, Professor Lupin taught me in my third year, because of the —” “Impressive,” said Madam Bones, staring down at him, “a true Patronus at that age . . . very impressive indeed.”

(Order of the Phoenix, page 141)

I agree Madam Bones, Harry is impressive and is Voldemort's equal magically. Harry isn't just Expelliarmos. he's clever and talented and very magically capable with every spell he tries his hand in.

[libellule-ao3]

HC: Ominis, his eyes and his experience as a blind wizard

Picture Credits: @deathlysallows [link]

Hello,

I was talking to someone recently about Ominis' eyes, and it gave me the idea of publishing these HCs. 🙂

Please note that the ideas and interpretations presented in this post are my 'headcanon', some of which are mentioned/explored in my fanfictions, but not all. I respect and appreciate the different opinions and interpretations that others may have.

My intention is to share my thoughts, not impose them... I'd love to see yours btw. 😊

Approximately 1,560 words at present. This could increase with possible future updates.💚

☆ Ominis’ eyes do not have pupils to let light enter his eye and reach the photoreceptors. As a result, he has no light perception and is totally blind. This lack of pupils, a phenomenon unique even among wizards, is the result of the marriage between his family's consanguinity and Dark Arts, which they practise shamelessly. (Quote: Ominis was born blind and no spell could reverse it)

☆ Besides this absence of pupils, his eyes are distinguished by their density of pale blue radial streaks, which start from the centre of the iris and radiate outwards, against a dark blue background. This pattern gives his eyes a fascinating, dynamic look. Ominis’ eyes are not opaque, milky or cloudy. These descriptors are so often associated with cataracts or glaucoma (i.e. Eye diseases Ominis does not have in my HC) that I avoid using them.

☆ Even when taking on the appearance of a sighted person thanks to the Polyjuice Potion or using Legilimency, Ominis remains unable to see, as his brain does not know how to interpret visual stimuli.

☆ If the Polyjuice Potion had worked, Ominis' parents wouldn't have hesitated to kidnap a child of the same age, sequestering him so that Ominis could take on his appearance, proceeding in the same way as Barty Crouch Jr did with Alastor Moody.

☆ Using a Pensieve does not negate his blindness either. He therefore perceives the memories consulted by this means in the same way as he perceives his everyday environment.

☆ Ominis has a well-developed sense of touch and smell, and his hearing is very acute. However, the acuity of these senses is not superhuman. He has only learnt to maximumly use his sensory compensatory means to make up for the visual deficit.

☆ During his childhood, his parents and siblings, who struggled for a long time to cure his blindness did not value his existence. As a result, Ominis tends to see himself as less valuable than a sighted person, despite what his Aunt Noctua says.

☆ Ominis has never let his blindness stop him from doing what he really wanted to do. On the other hand, as a good sneaky snake, he doesn’t mind using his blindness as an excuse not to do what he refuses to do or... to justify getting physically close to his heart’s desire. "I can’t work with my wand today, can you guide me to the Great Hall?" How can you say no to him when you know his wand [HC link] is so fickle?)

☆ When not using his echolocation spell, Ominis relies on his other senses to understand the world around him. As a result, surprise contacts can be disturbing for him as they abruptly disrupt his sensory perception. This generates anxiety, as he cannot anticipate the contact. But when this is done by people with whom he has no emotional bond, Ominis experiences it as an additional violation of his personal space, which can make him angry.

☆ Before she disappeared, his Aunt Noctua used to embroider hangings for him, which she would then hang in his bedroom. Ominis loved to run his fingertips over the raised patterns and different textures. Even without seeing them, Ominis could appreciate their creativity and aesthetics through touch. He still has a strong taste for embroidered fabrics from this period.

☆ Without concrete sensory experience of colours, his perception of colours remains a mental concept for him. At Hogwarts, he used to ask Sebastian if his clothes matched properly until he was familiar enough with fabrics to recognise them by touch.

☆ Before Ominis got his wand, he had to learn to organise his living space so that he could be as independent as possible. As a result, Ominis is very tidy and always puts his things away carefully so that he can find them more easily and navigate safely. Even in the most intimate moments, he folds and tidies his clothes before attending to his lover... firstly out of habit, and secondly because he finds it very exciting to play with their patience.

☆ For the Gaunt, the family’s image and reputation were of crucial importance. Having a blind child was a source of shame, as it could be interpreted as a weakness in their lineage or a sign of failure. When they gave up hope of curing him, they convinced themselves that a Gaunt could not be born deprived of sight without obtaining a compensatory magical ability, such as the gift of clairvoyance... Reality soon caught up with them.

☆ This umpteenth disappointment, combined with Ominis’s repeated refusal to adhere to supremacist ideals, or to practise dark arts, reinforced the hostility of Ominis’s parents towards him. As a result, the abuse escalated until the terrible episode recounted in the game (negative emotions + intolerance + misunderstanding + social pressure formed a detonating cocktail)

☆ His echolocation spell allows him to navigate independently, but it will never replace sight.

☆Capable of taking initiative, his wand has a will of its own that sometimes comes into conflict with Ominis. When this happens, it is very difficult for him to work with his wand and he may sometimes ask someone to guide him to where he wants to go. If he turns to you in this case, it’s a sign that he has a great deal of trust in you, something he doesn’t grant easily.

☆ The fact that people avoid certain words (see, or look for example) in his presence, or are embarrassed when he uses them himself, metaphorically or simply as a linguistic convention, amuses him and he doesn’t hesitate to play them up.

☆ If he’s not serving himself, he discreetly feels his plate to find out where the food is.

☆ Ominis is very concerned about his appearance because he wants to blend in with society to avoid attracting unwanted attention. Also, he feels more confident with having an impeccable appearance. His obsession: getting a stain on his clothes that he can’t detect. He used to ask Anne to check his outfit several times during the day.

☆ Although many classmates have asked him to touch their faces so that Ominis can “see” them, he has always flatly refused, as he finds it too intrusive. Sebastian and Anne are the only ones with whom he has allowed himself this familiarity... until his fiancée.

☆ Aloof and reserved by nature, Sebastian, Anne and his lover are the only people he accepts hugs from. These have enabled him to obtain information about their appearance, height, weight, hairstyle, morphology and much more...

☆ Wizards of their background were often evaluated on their elegance and their ability to fit into the society at the time. In addition to the classic upbringing of a member of the illustrious Gaunt family, Ominis’ parents insisted he acquire good social skills and impeccable manners, which was not always easy for Ominis.

☆ For he had “automatic, stereotyped and repetitive” gestures (blindism). Swaying his body or turning his head, or repeatedly rubbing his eyes were very severely punished, as were the various postural disturbances inherent in his blindness (head in profile because that’s the ideal listening position, shuffling gait to keep his 2 feet anchored to the ground maintain his balance more easily etc...). As a result, Ominis has become very aware of himself and his body language.

☆ Always with the aim of meeting their standards, his parents imposed a strict education on him, ensuring that he was fully educated in the history of Magic, that of his ancestors, that of the great pureblood families, the evolution of the bonds governing them and the dark arts for which the Gaunt are so renowned.

☆ In Victorian times, professional prospects were rather limited for blind people, even in the wizarding world, and even with the best education. What’s more, the family safe at Gringotts was just a leaky basket, so Ominis’s parents forced him to play the piano hoping he would become skilled and renowned enough to bail them out. As a result, he plays the piano very well, but he is not a prodigy. This skill is the result of long efforts and painful constraints. All washed down with tears.

☆ At Hogwarts, potions classes are the hardest for Ominis to grasp. Too much simultaneous olfactory stimulation, a method of learning ill-suited to the blind as the recipe steps rely on the precise colouring of the brew.

☆ When he's not using his echolocation spell, Ominis hates it when people leave him after a conversation without telling him they're leaving.

☆ Braille appeared in England in 1861, and Ominis learned about this Muggle system of reading and writing from his Aunt Noctua, who was much more open to the Muggle world than the rest of the Gaunt family, who refused to hear about it. He learned it on his own, with the help of his aunt and the house-elf who provided him with reference books.

☆ When he has to use a knife for cooking or in potions class, Ominis demands a perfectly sharp blade that offers a more precise cut with less effort, reducing the risk of slippage and injury, unlike a dull knife, which is potentially more dangerous as it requires more force to cut, making control more difficult.

☆ He doesn’t cut his fingernails, he files them to make sure he doesn’t cut himself.

(These last 2 HC are from anecdotes heard about my paternal grandmother, whom I never knew and who became blind because of cataracts that were inoperable at the time because of certain medical history)

Masterlist

[ateliersss]

Journey into The Past Ch.1

Pairing: Tom Riddle x Fem!Reader Summary: They say every human has their person, even some as cold, heartless and cruel as the Dark Lord. Would you try and tell that to Harry Potter, of all people, he would not hesitate to deny even the slightest hint of someone having feelings more than blazing hate for that man, this monster. A journey into the past shows him a different part of the former life of the murderer of his parents. Cross-posted on AO3: here Warnings: English isn't my first language Word Count: 1,869 Masterlist

⇨ Want to join the tag list?

“Chocolate Frogs.” Harry murmured to the eagle statue, which jumped to the side a second later.

He was tired — Snape looked everywhere for an opportunity to give him detention, Ron and Hermione still avoided each other like the plague, and he still had no idea how to get this memory from Slughorn.

As he dragged himself up the staircase, he thought of an excuse why he still didn’t have it. Harry knocked on the office door and was soon called in by the Headmaster’s familiar, calm voice.

“Good evening, Harry.” Dumbledore greeted him from his chair, “Please sit down.” He added and pointed to the chair standing in front of his desk.

Harry closed the door and made his way through the office when he noticed something on the desk — alongside the usual silver instruments, the bowl of Dumbledore’s favourite sweets, some books and parchments, vials containing a silvery shimmering liquid stood on top of the dark wooden surface. Sitting down, they were on the same eye level as him and stared at him judgingly, as if they wanted to remind him of his failure.

“Professor, I–“

“–haven’t found a way to get the memory from Professor Slughorn.”

Harry shamefully looked down at his feet.

“If you did, you would have come to me the second you got your hands on it.”

“I’m sorry, Professor.”

“I have faith in you, Harry. You will find a way. Nevertheless, we will have to continue with our journey through Voldemort’s past.” Dumbledore said, eyes shifting to the gleaming vials. “These memories belonged to an incredibly smart and determined girl, always respectful and friendly to others.”

Dumbledore got up, walked around his desk and took the vial from the far left. The Pensieve was already floating next to them. Harry got up as well and watched Dumbledore pour the memory into it. The memory turned into an ink-like substance and slowly took on a hazy image. Harry dipped his head into the Pensieve and soon felt the familiar tug, lifting him out of reality and into the memory.

Harry was standing in a library, the library of Hogwarts. It had barely changed and was completely empty. Nothing surprising, it was already dark outside.

Just as he was about to turn to Dumbledore and ask him if they were in the right place, he heard a giggle, undoubtedly coming from a girl. Dumbledore headed in the direction of the giggles. Harry quickly caught up with him.

They passed the many bookshelves until they reached the barred doors of the Restricted Section. Following Dumbledore who apparently knew where to go, Harry soon saw the source of the voice.

“I mean it, Tom, stop bothering me. I still have to finish this.” You scolded, trying to suppress your laughter to sound serious.

To say that Harry was shocked by what he saw would be an understatement.

None other than Voldemort — or rather, Tom Riddle — was standing right behind you. He was bent forward so that your heads were on the same level. He brushed your hair aside, slowly revealing the eagle of Ravenclaw on your robes, and slowly kissed your neck up and down.

“You can do it later.” He groaned, his voice muffled against your skin.

“You know I can’t. I put it off until now and it’s due tomorrow.”

“You can copy mine.”

“No, I can’t. Slughorn will notice it.”

“He will ignore it. He loves you.”

“No, Tommy, he loves you. I’m just his second favourite.”

Tom let out a frustrated groan and buried his face into the crook of your neck. “I told you how much I hate it when someone talks back to me.”

You laughed at his antics. “And I told you, you would get bored. You didn’t have to come.”

“You’ll need me when someone catches you outside of curfew.” He countered half-heartedly, nuzzling his face deep into the crook of your neck.

With an eye roll, you tapped the badge on your chest. “Did you already forget I’m a prefect too?”

Tom ignored you and lifted his head slightly to watch your feather scurry across the parchment.

“Why don’t you take a look around? Maybe you will find an interesting book.” You suggested after a while.

When you got no answer, you sighed and wriggled out of his grasp, got up and disappeared between the gloomy bookshelves. You came back five minutes later and handed him a book.

“You told me you were fascinated by such things. I stumbled upon it a week ago.” You looked up at him and smiled.

Tom’s lips curled slightly upwards. Anyone else would have missed it, but not you. Your smile grew even brighter.

You pulled him down to meet his lips for a quick peck before sitting back down on your chair.

“Thank you, darling.”

He sat down casually on the chair next to yours, flipped through the book and flew over most of the pages. After a while, he stopped and began to read with an intrigued expression on his face. He suddenly seemed interested and he immersed himself in the written words. Then he looked up and at you, an expression on his face that Harry didn't like at all.

That must have been the end of the memory, because Harry was back in Dumbledore’s office again. His brain tried to comprehend what just happened.

Voldemort had someone, a person who looked at him as if he put the sun, the moon and the stars onto the sky. And in return, he had kissed this person, had clung to them as if they would disappear if he let them go even for a second.

Harry just met a completely new side of Voldemort, one he never expected to exist, one that was impossible to exist.

Voldemort had been soft. Or at least softer than one might imagine a cold-hearted, loveless and ruthless mass murderer to be. It didn't make any sense.

Dumbledore watched the conflicted expression on his face intently as the wheels kept turning in his head. “I believe you have some questions.”

Harry startled out of his thoughts. “I… Voldemort…” He stumbled over his words, not knowing to which question he wanted to have an answer first. “She was his girlfriend?”

“Yes. (Y/N) (L/N) was, as I already told you, an astounding student. Not only had her fellow Ravenclaws admired her, but almost the entire school. Very honest and responsible. Ideal for the role as a prefect, as you've seen, and later even as Head Girl. It was impossible for Voldemort not to notice her. There had been a rivalry between the two of them from the beginning, as they were fighting for the title best student. As you know, Tom Riddle was a great student with remarkable grades and loved by his teachers and classmates. So was (Y/N), indeed a very gifted and talented witch. However, when he saw there was no possibility for a breakthrough, he charmed his way into her life, but not with a little resistance from her side. She was probably one of the fewer people who were suspicious of him.”

“But she was still with him?”

“She was a 16-year-old girl who fell for the handsome and strange boy who was fascinated by her. A girl like her had many admirers, but he was the only one who could challenge her and was intellectually on par with her. In a way, she was also fascinated by him. Both were an interesting mystery to the other and they were eager to solve it.”

“So he was playing with her?”

“To be honest with you, Harry, I don’t think so.”

“Then what is it?”

“Love.”

Harry looked at Dumbledore as if he had just expelled him from Hogwarts and sent him back to the Dursleys. “But I thought…”

“It wasn’t typical love, the type of love we both know. It was more of a mix of mutual understanding, admiration, trust and something deeper. Just because Voldemort is incapable of loving someone, it doesn’t mean he was emotionless.”

“It’s hard to believe that Voldemort cares for someone else.”

“For someone who didn’t experience him in his school days, it’s easy to say. She had a not insignificant influence on him.” Dumbledore said with a smile before sitting back in his chair.

Harry did the same and asked, “What happened to her? I mean, if she and Voldemort were a couple, she could help us find the Horcruxes! After all, she let you have her memories. Do you know where she is?”

“Unfortunately, Harry, she died a few years ago. The reason for that were, in fact, these memories.” Dumbledore pointed to the remaining vials. “She came to me one year after your parents died.”

Confused, Harry leaned forward in his chair. “Why?”

The older man looked at him over his glasses, his eyes glittering, before looking back at the memory containing vials like it was the most obvious answer.

Harry bit his lower lip, nodding. “Right.”

“However, if you were actually asking about the specific time, then the answer is just as simple. Like some of Voldemort's other followers, she was cautious. Death Eaters were hunted and imprisoned, after all. They also didn’t know if he might come back to reclaim his power. So, she waited a year before she came to me.”

“And she gave you the memories just like that?”

Dumbledore shook his head before he hoisted himself up from his chair, his blackened hand shaking like a leaf in the wind being under so much pressure.

“Not back then, no. At first, she was suspicious of me, considering I could call the authorities the second she stepped on school grounds. Understandable, since she was just as much hunted by the Aurors as the rest of Voldemort’s followers, but I promised her no harm will come to her as long as I live.”

Harry shifted in his seat, a frown on his face. “Why would you do that, Professor? Why would you offer that to someone who was as close to Voldemort as she was? Why would you put someone under your protection who murdered and tortured innocents?”

“And how do you know she did all that, Harry?” Dumbledore asked and his eyes gleamed as he looked sharply at the boy.

Harry, feeling scolded, averted his eyes and merely shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what else to do.

So what if this girl wasn’t like the man who murdered his parents? How should he know? People who were involved with Voldemort were neither good nor innocent. You could have been very well a second Bellatrix.

Dumbledore, who had already taken the second vial and poured the memory into the Pensieve, nodded at his silence and smiled knowingly.

“Don’t view her as any enemy, but as an ally instead.” He said and Harry had to suppress a scoff. “Without her, we would know much less about Voldemort and how to go against him.”

Harry nodded reluctantly and got up from his chair to join Dumbledore again. He looked down at the swirling inky substance that slowly started to take shape and he could already recognize silhouettes of a fire-lit room.

[mrstellmeafuckingsecret]

i have a fic need that needs to be fulfilled and it's just sirius post-azkaban in ootp locked up in number twelve and his memory is damaged and he only remembers the worst of the worst so he just . pensieve-s it and pulls his worst memories out because he doesnt want to be burdened by them . and then harry finds them and takes a dip. and it's just all very horrifying yk because its really the worst of the worst and it's all happened in number twelve . and sirius doesn't find out and the next time harry sees sirius sirius is just doing the crossword on the dining table and he just thinks to sirius' memories where he's being punished on the exact same spot where he's sitting and just bursting into tears but he cant tell sirius because sirius didnt need to be reminded of that

[eris-eveningstar]

Chapter 17 fic excerpt

I'm literally too impatient. The day after posting day is my writing break damn it, but NOOOO I just have to feel so motivated to write the ball that I accidentally end up writing 2k. 'Accidentally.'

Ok so you guys are gonna get super lucky today. I'm being so generous with you all. Here is an excerpt!

─── • ⋄ ⋅⚡️⋅ ⋄ • ───

Tom's heart froze in his chest.

His darling omega was a vision.

He'd seen him from behind, and he did a double take. His hair was a bit longer, curled and styled, yet it was the same shade as a raven's wing, and no amount of pomade could ever take away the wildness of those locks. He recognized him immediately. After all, how could he not recognize the slope of curves he'd touched and held so many times? The shade of that sun-kissed skin? Or the figure he'd felt against his so often?

And then, Harry turned, and Tom's breath was stolen away.

Good lord, he thought. He'd never known true beauty before today. The concept of it simply untrue without the vision of Harry's beauty to cement it.

If he thought Harry was alluring during their dalliance in Diagon Alley—a time he often recalled fondly, and perhaps a little too closely with a pensieve and his hand near a very pleasurable place—then, well, he was a fool.

This outshined it all.

Harry grinned brilliantly, and Tom's eyes narrowed in on his mouth. The colour of his lips was deep red, a shade akin to blood, and Tom couldn't help but wonder what sounds his dearest would make if he leaned down now and stole those tempting lips, plundering the caverns of Harry's mouth with his tongue and pulling him closer by his waist.

But it wasn't simply his mouth. Tom basked in the loveliness of his omega's nymph-like form, and dark eyes narrowed in on his makeup. It accentuated his allure and brought out the emerald gleam of his eyes, and without his glasses, he looked simply, well, enchanting.

And the glitter, oh Merlin. The glitter. What Tom wouldn't do to figure out how far it went.

Golden flecks glittered against Harry's skin like a divine temptation—on his cheeks, eyes, neck, and collarbones. Tom wished to lave his tongue against the sinful stretch of Harry's shimmering, petite collarbones and make his lover shiver and twist.

And then he noticed his dear Harry's neck. Truly, he was a gift presented before him. A black ribbon was tied in a bow on Harry's neck, and Tom wanted to undo it slowly, teasingly, while Harry turned into goo in his hands. Or perhaps he would grab it and watch as Harry's head was forced back as Tom took his pleasure?

Instead, he settled for this.

He held out his hand, palm first as was tradition, and in a half-bow, he greeted his dearest in a way far more formal than their relationship dictated. Tom smirked, the masses would surely eat this up. The Chosen One and Lord Slytherin, seen getting along? Well, Tom wasn't unaware of what that would do for his currently stellar image, but it didn't matter as much as finally seeing his omega in the flesh.

"Greeting, Heir Potter-Black. It is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. I am Lord Thomas Slytherin."

Softly, Harry's hand curled against his, and Tom gave a secretive wink. Tradition dictated that he would kiss the omega on the back of the hand, but instead.... Tom turned Harry's hand around, and, slowly, his plush lips landed sinfully on the flesh of Harry's wrist.

[hpkinktober]

HP Kinktober will be running for 2023! All HP pairings and ships are welcome. We're not sure if we'll be able to do daily graphics/posts of the prompts this year, so save this list!

AO3 Collection: HPKinktober2023 Tumblr: hpkinktober

Rules:

1. Please tag your fics as accurately as possible. 2. Due to the nature of this fest, this is 18 and up only.

More information and the list of prompts can be found below the break.

It's encouraged that you post on the day of the prompt if possible, but you can really post whenever you want. Prompts can be combined all into one fic, written as one-shots, or mix and match—it’s all up to you!

All HP pairings and ships are welcome.

Hosted by: @manixzen, @anaxandria-writes, and @withgreatelan

This collection is open and unmoderated, so viewer discretion is advised, and please tag your works as accurately as possible.

Daily Prompts

1. Devil's snare 2. Orgasm Denial 3. Werewolves 4. Cockwarming 5. Firewhiskey 6. Collaring 7. Sex Pollen 8. Pensieve 9. Omegaverse 10. Mandrakes 11. Dragons / Dragon Eggs 12. Breathplay 13. Bathing 14. Voyeurism 15. Owl Post 16. Wings 17. Closets 18. School Uniform 19. Dungeons 20. Breeding 21. Brooms 22. Legilimency 23. Monsterfucking 24. Power Imbalance 25. Portkey 26. Bondage 27. Room of Requirement 28. Remembrall 29. Knotting 30. Formalwear 31. Aftercare

Alternatives (Can be swapped out for any day) Alt 1: Object Insertion Alt 2: Age Play Alt 3: Threesome (or more) Alt 4: Wandless Magic

[jennamalfoysmanor]

Haven’t posted here since 2019 but I thought I’d hop on to promote my first ever Dramione WIP In Memory of Hermione Granger.

Please mind the tags Xx

In a post-war world where the illicit trade of Pensieve memories has become a booming underground market, Hermione Granger is an Auror tasked with shutting down these illegal operations.

Her mission brings her face-to-face with Draco Malfoy, a former Death Eater whose family's fortune was decimated, leaving him to resort to selling stolen memories to survive.

As the lines between duty and desire blur, Hermione must decide if she can trust Draco, knowing that if she makes the wrong decision, it could cost her everything.

[phanfictioncatalogue]

Hi amazing admins, do you have any PERSONAL recommendations of (in the last 4 years) domestic tooth rotting fluff (non AU)? Can or can not include smut. I hope this is allowed but I’d love to not be directed to a master list but rather a personal recommendation of any fluff that stands out to whatever admin is reading this. Sorry if this is too specific ❤️❤️

Recently, this was posted about their recent vacation and I love it! Anyone feel free to give more recs!!

sunkissed (ao3) - ivylakes

Summary: Maybe Phil was made to pour warmth into this man and leave little marks all over his body the way the sun does when it covers his skin with freckles. Maybe everything they’ve ever done and every little way they’ve loved each other has culminated in this very moment, where they can hardly see each other in the low light but are still brighter than the yellow light that breaks through the sky and glitters on the ocean.

Or, Dan and Phil go on holiday, and every photo they take tells a story.

Also I love the recent fics about Phil in the hospital for ass bleeding.

a blur. (ao3) - Anonymous

Summary: ‘’-and I love that hat. I wear it allll the time, Dan gets annoyed but I think he’s just faking it.’’ Phil voices smugly.

‘’Oh yeah?’’ says Dan, as he gently picks up the hat and rests it on Phil's head.

‘’Mhmm,’’ says Phil, as he begins to look exhausted again, the conversation clearly knocking any energy he had out of him.

(Basically just another fic about the recent hospital trip.)

checking in (ao3) - pensieveity

Summary: phil is out of surgery and dan brings him his long ass list! also phil is out of it the whole time <3

Did Your Son Take It? (ao3) - steddieornot

Summary: “Did your son take it home?”

She watched as his face distorted into a bizarre mix of horror and disgust. Whoops. Not his son then.

She went to open her mouth to apologise before he slurred out “erm, yep, he’s bringing back clean clothes,” he then sluggishly attempted to school his expression into a neutral one.

not a lot, just forever (ao3) - blossomsphan

Summary: working through the feels post-hospital incident

Proxy Requests (ao3) - philsmeatylegss

Summary: A story about poop and fear (unrelated)

Sweet Haribo (ao3) - geoculuci

Summary: Phil says corny shit to Dan while he’s high on fentanyl at the hospital

the hot doctor (ao3) - jonsaremembers

Summary: Plot twist: it was Dan.

Through Sickness and In Health (ao3) - Mysticallykai

Summary: After Phil's hospital stay and their vacation, Dan and Phil try to fall back into their routine. Though it's hard to go back to normal when your normal has changed so suddenly. How will the significant health scare affect Dan and Phil even weeks after it's over?

to love somebody the way i love you (ao3) - howell_slide

Summary: Dan and Phil return home from the hospital, and Dan’s Going Through It emotionally.

-Rae

[virgil-anon]

My New One-Shot

Harry Potter Died (Again) by virgil_anon on ao3

Summary:

Harry Potter died. Again. And again. Something has been missing since his defeat of Voldemort, an ache in his chest so big and yawning he was afraid it would swallow him whole.

With no one else to talk to about it, Harry turns to Death.

Relevant tags: Harry Potter & Tom Riddle | Voldemort, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, battle of hogwarts, post battle of hogwarts, master of death Harry potter, Harry Potter is lonely, Harry misses the horcrux, horcruxes, angst, angst with a happy ending, Dumbledore bashing, death ships it

Snippet:

Harry didn't talk about what happened in the Forbidden Forest. Yes, everyone knew that he died—that Voldemort had killed him, more accurately. Hagrid hadn't stopped telling anyone who would listen about it. But no one knew what happened while he was gone—dead. Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, had died. Then he came back (and it was quite a shame only Hermione appreciated his Jesus joke). Harry hadn't even truly understood all that happened while at King's Cross. Not until after the battle. After Harry defeated Voldemort once and for all. After the man who turned himself into a monster died just like any other wizard. Like Fred, and Remus and Tonks. He couldn't outrun death, because no one could. Harry wasn't proud of the way he collapsed after dealing the final blow, as he felt how well and truly hollow he was inside. He couldn't properly breathe, like there was a gaping hole in his chest that threatened to swallow him whole. He didn't remember much till Ron and Hermione showed up. Then he had his best friends to lean on as he cried. They helped carry him away as the survivors rushed forward, and despite Voldemort’s death, the battle continued. Word spread like wildfire. “Voldemort is dead!” echoed off the broken castle walls, in much the same way the Death Eaters had declared his own death a mere thirty minutes ago. Or was it an hour? He had no idea. He only heard second-hand accounts of what came after. At the time, he could only think of his death. He needed to know what happened to him. His friends helped him inside, and he could stand on his own two feet again. “Hermione,” Harry rasped. “Your bag. I need your bag.” She frowned. “What? What for?” He waved his hand impatiently. “I don't have time to explain. There's something I need to do, and I need both of you to help the others catch the stragglers.” With Ron's insistence backing him up, Hermione gave Harry her Ever-Expanding Bag and they ran towards the Great Hall. Harry tightened his grip on the drawstring bag and marched up to the Headmaster's office. The pensieve was still where Harry and his friends had left it. He dipped inside and watched Snape’s dying memories again. And again. Then he remembered. With a simple accio, he pulled The Beetle and the Bard from Hermione's bag. He didn't feel right sitting in Dumbledore’s—or was it Snape’s now?—chair, so he sat in the smaller, less ornate one and reread the children's story. The story of the Deathly Hallows. Harry still had all three. His cloak was in his pocket, the stone in the snitch, and the wand was clutched in his dirt-streaked hand. But that wasn't the interesting part. He'd been so sure that it was Dumbledore. Why wouldn't he be? He knew the man was dead, he'd been his mentor in life, surely in death he could be as well? “He greeted Death like an old friend.” And Harry had. He had met Death at a crossroads—and what was more poetic than King's Crossing, the physical manifestation of the split between Harry's muggle and magical worlds? And he came back. Didn't that make him Death's Master? Only the realisation hadn't fixed the gaping hole in his chest.

[iamnmbr3]

How do you think Sirius and Lily would have gotten along while at school? Love your metas!! 🥰

Thank you so much! That's so kind of you to say. This is a really fascinating question. Obviously I think initially they didn't get along well since in the SWM scene Lily doesn't seem to think too highly of the Marauders. She's especially bothered by James but quite clearly doesn't get on with any of them - and we see that started right from their first meeting on the train (which paralleled Harry and Draco so much it's wild, but that's another post).

They were also housemates and had to be around each other but I think probably they mostly ignored each other. I think the antagonism was probably pretty one sided in the sense that I don't think she was a target of the Marauders' bullying. James probably tried to get her attention but Sirius probably didn't really care. His priority was James. So yeah, probably there was a chilly distance between them along with maybe some grudging respect because they are both talented and smart enough to notice each other's abilities (though I think Sirius probably also overlooked and underestimated her to an extent and didn't really understand her or see her the way Snape did), given that James certainly seems a bit wary of being hexed by Lily in the book 5 Pensieve memory. They have to live in proximity so probably Lily was cooly cordial when she wasn't actively angry about something, and Sirius was probably about the same since he didn't really care about her but knew his best mate fancied her.

Later things get more complicated. Because later Lily and Sirius have something in common. They've both fallen for the same person. I read Sirius as gay with unrequited feelings for James. On the one hand, he wants his best friend to be happy. On the other hand, it's hard seeing the person you're in love with getting together with someone else. It was one thing when James fancied Lily and she didn't like him back. Quite another thing when in 7th year suddenly they're getting on, and then not just getting on, but actually falling for each other and falling hard. Sirius could probably be moody even back then (tho probably less than he was post-Azkaban) so I think sometimes those feelings probably bubbled forth and led to some coldness or tension. But he probably tried to tamp it down as best he could.

And of course we know from the short prequel that James went running off to galavant with Sirius while Lily was left at home and that when James became increasingly frustrated with being cooped up in Godric's Hollow, Lily turned to Sirius for help because she thought he might be able to reach James when she couldn't. So there's also the question of who is really first in his regard - who he respects and listens to and has the most emotional intimacy with. Which again could create some tension.

Also, for Sirius James is always the priority. He cares about Lily and accepts her as family because she's James's girlfriend - and later his wife. Not because they necessarily would've been friends otherwise. So there's this interesting dynamic where he would die for her and sees her as family, but also he's not that interested in her as a person and she knows he would drop her if she and James broke up.

Even so, on a surface level they get along. They're both funny and clever and quick and a bit detached. The letter she wrote to him in book 7 speaks to some emotional intimacy between them. and that probably started in book 7.

Another bonding point, beyond the fact that now they spend a lot of time around each other bc of James is that there's a war that's picking up steam and they're both on the same side of it, which creates a sense of camaraderie. Not to mention, Sirius knows all about having an estranged sibling.

So yeah I think their relationship is messy and complicated and contradictory - both close and distant, brothers in arms and family by choice, but also rivals in affection who never understand each other beyond a surface level. People who resent each other but also need each other, who are inextricably bound together and part of each other's lives and yet separated by unbridgeable gaps, who rely on each other and yet don't know each other.

[thedrarrylibrarian]

I'm so excited to welcome @phoebe-delia to the library! I've loved reading her work for a long time, and am always especially impressed by the fact that she answers so many prompts! My favorite of her series is Eight Drarry Nights at Hanukkah time every year, which are always warm and so full of love and light. I knew she'd pick a great fic, and I think it'll be a sweet and romantic start to your Valentines season. Thanks again to @phoebe-delia!

I want to start out by thanking the incredible @thedrarrylibrarian for the chance to participate in Happy Hour. You do phenomenal work, and I just really hope you know how valued you are. I fangirl every time we interact and I am incredibly honored to get to do this.

Now, on to the rec!

When our lovely Librarian asked me to do a guest rec for Happy Hour, this fic was the first to come to mind. I still gave it a lot of time and consideration, of course, but at the end of the day I kept coming back to this story.

plant me in your garden (and watch me grow) by @thehoneybeet. 5,505 words, Rated T, and make sure to check the tags to see if it’s right for you!

Malfoy walks across the grounds to the forbidden forest nearly every night, but falls asleep in class during the day. Harry can't get enough of him.

An eighth year fic.

Every fic of Honey’s that I’ve read makes me want to be a better writer, because their storytelling is so effortlessly rich. I always have at least one moment where I have to pause and look off into the distance so I can really appreciate a line and let it sink into my brain.

And this fic has quite a few of those moments for me. The descriptions here are so vivid; I felt like I was watching Drarry through a pensieve. I’m resisting the urge to quote dump here, because I think you should experience this writing for yourself in the way Honey intended it. It’s the kind of story that, in my humble opinion, can’t really be captured in a quote or two. It flows exactly as it needs to.

I adore how Honey characterizes both Draco and Harry. Draco has clearly changed after the war but has kept the same wit and fire that attracts Harry so much. And Harry is just trying to figure out how to exist in this post-war world without Voldemort after him, and it turns out Draco is a big part of his healing. It’s a joy to watch the two of them fall for and into each other.

I just looked back at the comments, because I remembered that I’d left one a while back when I first read it (which was, apparently, in September 2022? What even is time, omg). I’m going to quote from my past self, here, who called the writing “decadent,” and the story “fucking gorgeous,” “creative” and “special.” I told Honey that this fic would always have a special place in my heart. Clearly, my heart kept that promise.

I also told Honey at the time that the fic deserved a much longer, more intensive comment than I could articulate at the time. Turns out I needed over a year. This is as close as I think I’ll get to accurately expressing the way it makes me feel.

Plus, as a personal bonus, this fic happens to include some of my favorite tropes: eighth year, pining, and Harry’s never-ending obsession with Draco.

I hope you all enjoy this fic as much as I do (and that you remember to leave them kudos and a comment!) And Honey, thank you for writing something so wonderful that it stuck with me for over a year.

Love,

Phoebe

[emeryhall]

Ten Questions for Writers

Thank you @artsyunderstudy @messofthejess and @roomwithanopenfire for the tags!

How many works do you have on AO3? 12

What’s your total AO3 word count? 393,555 (and I only started writing in March 2023!)

What fandoms do you write for? Carry On and Harry Potter (specifically wolfstar)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Hell fucking yes. Comments are my bread and butter. I love hearing people's thoughts on chapters; sometimes they even influence choices I make in the story (see @thewholelemon's Bleak House/spontaneous combustion suggestion in ALBD). I feel like if readers are taking the time to leave comments, I need to take the time to respond. That's what builds community, and community may be the most important aspect of fandom.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? no

Have you ever co-written a fic before? YES! I see most people are answering "no" to this question and I want to encourage y'all to try it! @hihimissamericanbi and I co-wrote our little Drarry baby PWP, show me how you like it. Apart from the fact that kudos-wise it is the most popular thing I've written and my only fic to have over 10K hits, it was really fun to write together, and I think Celine and I got to know each other better in the process. We beta-ed each other's sections, and I know she improved mine. So yeah, the next time your mutual posts "I think I might write some Drarry smut," you should always respond with, "I've got this idea that involves a Pensieve."

What’s your all-time favourite ship? snowbaz or wolfstar (sorry! don't make me Sophie's Choice this)

What are your writing strengths? comedy, smut (or as I like to see it, not smut for smut's sake, but smut as a driving factor in the plot and emotional development of the characters), dialogue, action sequences, plot development, descriptive language, unique and sometimes bizarre concepts

What are your writing weaknesses? I would like to continue improving my plots. Honestly, I think I might step out of fandom for a moment and write my own characters because I think it's so easy (and necessary) to shorthand characterization and character development in fanfic. I'd like to force myself to begin a character from the ground up, so I'm not relying on readers being already invested in them.

First fandom you wrote for? Harry Potter/wolfstar

Tagging: @bookish-bogwitch @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @cutestkilla @thewholelemon @hihimissamericanbi

@monbons @mooncello @shrekgogurt @orange-peony @larkral

[sofoulandfairaday]

Also got any sev ones?

If I have any Severus Snape headcanons? I think I might have to put this one under the cut bby, it's going to be loooong. Edit: it got severely out of hand, be warned this is insanely long.

BUT FIRST: this is a very long but extremely well-written meta about the Snapes' peculiar type of poverty that you should all read when you have time. Like, save it for later somewhere or whatever, but seriously. Do yourself a favour.

Some people like to headcanon Remus Lupin (!) as the Hogwarts drug dealer. Nu-uh. That's Snape. Severus, for the right price, can and will provide you with any kind of potion (assuming he can steal the ingredients from the supply closet/his fancy pureblood housemates can get him whatever he needs). See this post.

But it's not just potions. He'll write your essays for money (his prices go up as the years go by, but so does his credibility). Snape is the only reason Avery ever passed 4th year Transfiguration.

Until his 6th/7th year, when he was no longer friends with Lily and started expressing a vocal desire to join the Death Eaters, he wasn't accepted or popular in Slytherin House.

Avery and Mulciber, the only people who could be considered his friends, were still pretty classist and racist towards him and even then he only got to be part of their little circle because he knew more curses when he arrived at Hogwarts than half the kids in seventh year.

You see, he wasn't just a Halfblood (they have those in Slytherin), he was also dirt poor, and pretty rough around the edges. He wasn't refined, he swore like a sailor, he was classless, and “dirty” and had worn-out clothes and second-hand books, he was canonically ugly and twitchy as a child, and Sirius (who is still from the very elegant, very posh Black Family) describes him as a little oddball.

Never mind the suave adult Snape (who is very different in the books and in the movies, anyway). My man Eliza Doolittle-ed himself. He did a Tom Riddle.

But he was powerful enough that the hazing and bullying inside his own House stopped almost immediately when he got there. You despised Snape? Fine. You attacked Snape? Suddenly your pet cat has been poisoned and your kneecaps were jinxed backwards.

Also, Lucius Malfoy promptly singled him out, and while he was still in school (Sev's first and second year) he did what he could to shield him, and to make him just a little more credible and refined in Slytherin. Severus followed him around like a little puppy and definitely acted a bit like an errand boy for him and his friends, which is also part of the reason why Sirius calls him Lucius Malfoy's lapdog in OotP. I wouldn't say they were really friends though. He knew them, and maybe they liked him, but he wasn't their equal.

Unfortunately, the Marauders' bullying only got worse as the years went by, and Lucius had graduated by the time SWM happened (I think that and the Prank were the worst, but I also like the headcanon that they were not. That Snape put that particular memory in the Pensieve because it was the time he lost Lily, not because it was the worst time he was bullied by them. From the way he reacted to their attack, this level of viciousness was probably common. By the way, even if you dislike him as a character, if you deny that what he suffered at the hands of the Marauders was vile, I don't know what to tell you.)

I wouldn't say a good rapport with Narcissa Black - because why would a girl from the upper years hang out with a boy from the first three? - but she would be kind to him, and chat politely sometimes. She was impressed with him - the first Halfblood she had ever given the time of day to.

Do you know who wasn't (lol)? Bellatrix. Who had graduated years before and just could not understand why Narcissa and Lucius would be so fond of this little scrawny upjumped Halfblood.

With the exception of Andromeda (who doesn't know who he is) and Narcissa (who really likes him), all of the Blacks hate Snape. Regulus doesn't hate him per se but thinks him unrefined and overreaching and they also have a bit of a not-so-friendly competition going on even though they come from different years. Sirius and Bella... well, you know. (credit: @hxuse-xf-black, I think this hc is theirs)

One of my favourite headcanons is that the last Black family event Sirius ever attended was Narcissa's wedding (1976) [the last one Andy ever attended was Bellatrix's (1972)]. He was there as the bride's cousin, obviously. But but but. Snivellus Snape was also there, as the groom's best man (alongside Evan Rosier and Rodolphus Lestrange). The two almost get into a Muggle brawl, and an enraged Bellatrix is the one who has to separate them (how dare you try to ruin Cissy's big day?!). She would have happily let them kill each other on any other occasion, but that was her little (only) sister's wedding and she very violently cursed them both.

Started smoking cigarettes when he was young and never really stopped.

What tea does Snape drink?

Bad personal hygiene since he was a boy, especially in his periods of worst depression. Paradoxically, he was at his most groomed during his Death Eater years (1978-1981) because he had to deal daily with the likes of Lucius Malfoy and Rodolphus Lestrange, who might have been domestic terrorists but had standards.

Speaking of which. Bella hates him. I still have to decide how Rodolphus feels about him (Rod definitely defends him when the two of them are having a row, just to piss her off, but I don't know how he actually feels). I think they had slightly different social circles. As Sirius says, they were all - at different points in time - part of a gang of baby Death Eaters in school. But I see Bella & Rod as very close with Rabastan, and Rabastan as very close to Barty (the four of them even tortured the Longbottoms together, which means they definitely talked to each other in the very hectic days after Voldemort's downfall). In my headcanons Barty and Regulus are glued at the hip, so basically that's the five of them already.

It was a period of brilliant students for Hogwarts, nothing like Harry's time. James and Sirius were prodigies, Regulus gives me mad scientist vibes (also, he must have been knowledgeable in the Dark Arts seeing as he figured out about Voldemort's Horcruxes in no time), Barty brought home twelve O.W.L.S. (how?), and Snape was inventing curses.

The latter three were tentative allies in school, but Barty&Reg (who definitely had something going on if you know what I mean), pureblood and proper, with all of the entitlement that must have come from their bloodlines and talent, definitely were not his fans.

No one could understand his fixation with “that Mudblood” (Lily); Lucius was particularly overjoyed when he heard of their falling out. (This came back to bite him in the ass when he was the one who had to physically drag him out of his house, at Spinner's End, after she died and he was determined to rot and kill himself with alcohol.)

Cat person. But never owned any pets because he could not keep one alive. Except of course when he owned a rat... err... I mean, when Peter lived with him.

I am convinced the man took stimulants. Whatever the equivalent of wizard cocaine was (probably a potion he made himself, with minimal comedown and as little side effects on the body as he can), he took. He seems to spend his nights patrolling the corridors and his days teaching, so when does he sleep?

Extremely light sleeper anyway.

Can go without eating for a long time.

He is the personification of self-loathing.

I can see him self-harming in different ways. He denies himself the small pleasures of life, he smokes until his throat burns and his lungs hurt, and insists that he works best without protective gloves (more sensitivity or whatever) which means that his hands are covered in small cuts and stains from corrosive (possibly painful) potions.

Does whatever he can to look as little like his father as possible, whether that be growing a beard, or gaining weight, or cutting his hair.

He maintains that learning Occlumency saved his life. Legilimency is about control, and even that not-so-hidden sadistic part of him, and also the self-protection that comes from knowing your opponent's moves before they can strike. But Occlumency and the sort of meditative bliss that comes from Occluding heavily was an integral part of his transformation, and very definitely helped with the very obvious anxiety that plagued him as a boy. It's yoga + good weed at the same time. That's the feeling.

The Lily thing. Part of it was romantic but in the light I-am-thirteen-and-have-a-crush-on-my-best-friend type of way. He definitely thought he was in love with her when he was sixteen/seventeen, after they had cut ties, and that's how he explained it to Voldemort, too (and that's how Voldemort explains it to Harry - he desired her). But. Truthfully? No. After a while, and especially after her death, it wasn't about the love he felt for her, it was about the debt he owed her. She was the first person to be kind to him, and he betrayed her. Directly caused her death, and sold her to the most evil wizard in history. Whether you love someone romantically or platonically, being responsible for their death, or leaving a child as an orphan takes a toll on your psyche that's almost impossible for me to comprehend or explain. Imagine the level of guilt that he felt. She was his first friend, his first crush, his first everything. And his love for her was the love Dante felt for Beatrice, the love that moves the sun and the other stars. I hate it when they reduce it to “he just wanted to bang Harry's mom haha”.

With that being said, Snily is probably the most boring Severus ship of all.

Never planned for the future. He honestly didn't think he would survive the war; his character is pretty much doomed by the narrative, and I am convinced that the only thing that kept him going was fulfilling his promise to Dumbledore, taking down the Dark Lord. He always thought Voldemort would eventually discover he was a spy and kill him for it. And as sad as it is (and that's why I love those kinds of fanfics!) I cannot see him ever adapting to a post-Voldemort world. It would take a lot of work on himself for him to find peace and I don't think he loved himself enough for that. I don't think he wanted to live.

Also, while I love the fanfics where he eventually makes up with Harry, and they have a civil relationship, I cannot see it happening in canon.

The narrative draws very explicit parallels between Snape and Voldemort, there are so many (but not limited to): the social class they come from, their blood status, the abuse they face as children, this iconic line which is one of my favourites in the whole series: But he was home. Hogwarts was the first and best home he had known. He and Voldemort and Snape, the abandoned boys, had all found home here, the details we can infer of their relationship with Dumbledore when they were still students, the transformation they operated on themselves to become more polished, their interests (both of them invent curses and the like), the way they identify with their mothers' heritages, their dynamic is extremely interesting to me.

My headcanon is that Snape was one of the few people Voldemort actually liked (and perhaps he saw himself in), which would explain why he doesn't heed Bella's advice about him. Of course, it was a very tepid intellectual appreciation (just a tad warmer than his - very cold - expression of regret at having to kill him in the Shrieking Shack), but it was there. I think they had a teacher-student dynamic which doesn't get explored enough but was clearly there: Voldemort teaches Snape how to fly without a broom; he is reportedly the only Death Eater to whom he teaches this. I think Snape was absolutely fascinated with LV in the beginning and climbed through the ranks impressively quickly. Just as rapidly (maybe more) as purebloods Regulus Black (whose cousin was LV's right-hand woman and possible mistress) and Barty Crouch (who would have been an asset seeing his father's position). Keep in mind these guys weren't even 20 years old and had all met Voldemort personally, probably more than once. They would have been part of his inner circle.

I can see Voldemort appreciating Snape's interest in magic, especially his academic interest. I think it's especially fascinating if compared to Voldemort's relationship with Bellatrix (who was the opposite of Snape in every sense): I think someone like Voldemort would be attracted to someone like Bellatrix (rich, pure of blood, self-assured, inhabiting a world built for her, etc.) but on the other hand he would also resent her for these very things that were her prerogative, and not his. On the other hand, Snape would understand him on a personal level, he would simply get some of Voldemort's lived experiences (and personality, let's be real) in a way his other Death Eaters wouldn't. But, because he still represents his past in a way (and hasn't remade himself quite yet), Voldemort would also view him with contempt. (And a great deal of superiority, but he's like that with everyone).

Snape doesn't join the Death Eaters because of the Cause. I can see him hating Muggles and perhaps looking down on Muggle-borns, but I don't think of him as a convinced pureblood elitist in the way the Lestranges and Malfoys were. He joined for power. He wanted revenge, and he wanted to feel powerful and important in a world that would make him feel small (part of the reasoning behind Bellatrix's joining in my headcanons), which makes him much hungrier than his peers, which would make him stand out to Voldemort.

His invention of the Sectumsempra spell and its counter-curse is extremely impressive, even Bella had to recognize this when she found out, and she demanded it be taught to the younger recruits, (but really to herself).

Hates summer like no one else has ever hated summer.

Helped with Draco's conception. I headcanon that Narcissa had fertility problems (this extends, for me, to most women of the Black family) and Severus helped her and Lucius with it. (This hc isn't mine, but I love it to death.)

Any and all silly headcanons about Snape teaching sex ed, dealing with periods, etc give me life. You've all read them though, so I won't repeat them.

Worked as a potioneer for Voldemort too, perhaps alongside someone who was even better than him (older, more knowledgeable). The things he learned turned out to be super useful to him in the future.

His favourite food is fish and chips, or something equally proletarian, like beans on toast... that sort of thing.

Detested living with Pettigrew (and I hc that Voldemort did it as a form of cruel punishment: he's forced to live with - offer shelter to - the man who caused Lily's death).

Because I like angst, I really like the idea that the person he was closest with, in the entirety of the Hogwarts staff (except maybe for Dumbledore) wasn't McGonagall, it was Charity Burbage. I need more fics with an in-depth exploration of their relationship (whether it be romantic or platonic) because it has amazing potential, both for angst and fluff.

Idk how anyone can ship Snily when these two are right there

Also, she would be the second woman Severus loves that Voldemort has killed. This time it's even worse.

I doubt he could ever have had a functioning relationship with her (or any other woman, or person), because what flesh-and-blood woman could ever beat the lamented and idolised spirit of Lily Evans? She would stand no chance. Again, this makes it worse.

I'm going to stop here because this is getting embarrassing. Kudos to you if you got to the end of this.

Headcanons: James | Sirius | Remus | Lily

[fanfic-lover-girl]

How James Potter's character discourse could have been easily solved by JKR

Now, I love redemption arcs. While I would probably never get with a guy in real life who hurt me in the past, I love seeing how a guy can atone and build a loving relationship with a girl who was hurt by him in the past and how the girl came to forgive him. I love seeing male characters become better men. Bonus if the men had to grovel to prove themselves hah.

So in theory, I should like James Potter and Jily. However, I don't. I used to like James when I first got into HP but the fan discourse really soured me on him, especially the victim blaming and glorification of bullying. I also did not like how James' bad side was usually swept under the rug in the fics I read.

The main problem with James Potter is the show vs tell with his redemption. On screen/on page, we see his awful moments first-hand or see his problematic behaviour justified or downplayed by the narrative. However, we only hear about his good moments second-hand. That's why James discourse is circular and tiring.

To make it worse, we hear about his good moments in arguably not objective contexts. Of course, Remus and Sirius will big up their mate to his son when he expresses doubt. Of course, Minerva and Dumbledore will speak highly of someone from their own house who was a good athlete and headboy. Of course, people usually don't speak ill of the dead - especially loving parents who died as martyrs protecting their son. Of course Snape can't be trusted because he is a mean, nasty teacher. So when we hear these things about James, there's always that lingering doubt about whether the claims are completely true.

Moreover, Sirius and Remus never tell us how James redeemed himself. Just that he deflated his head...what the hell does that mean?? Did James apologize or express regret about hurting people? I need more details.

Another problem is that James died young so we never got to really see him as a mature adult. So to estimate his behaviour, we have to look at his friends (birds of a feather flock together) but Sirius and Remus are...questionable. Still love you Sirius! Best marauder hands down buddy! I love your family :)

So! How could JKR fix this if she wanted to? Simple. Have Sirius or Remus show Harry a pensive memory of James post SWM.

It always bothered me how little Harry seemed to care about his parents. Remus and Sirius were right there - why not ask about all the marauder adventures? Hagrid composed that album for him in book 1 from people who were supposedly friends with the Potters - why not reach out to them? Harry comes to you accusing James of tricking Lily into being with him...why not help him out by showing James as a good boyfriend and person? Why not show him a pensieve memory of how he proved himself to Lily? Or a memory of James being a just headboy? I would have loved to see some heartwarming James moments. It would not erase what he did to Snape but at least James would be better portrayed as a good person who just hated that nobody Slytherin out of immaturity.

Anyway, I think how James was written makes for a richer narrative but a lot could have been solved in fandom if JKR showed us some good James moments free of bias. James Potter is a character I am partially primed to like! I just needed to see how he changed. Being a good parent and husband is not enough. Evil characters can be good family men too so that means nothing. Jily is not good enough evidence that James was a changed man.