#The Fiery Cross

[transparentdreamruins]

Jamie & Claire

"I love you, a nighean donn. I have loved ye from the moment I saw ye, I will love ye 'til time itself is done, & so long as you are by my side, I am well pleased with the world." ~The Fiery Cross

[themusicsweetly]

“I have lived through war and lost much. I know what's worth the fight, and what is not. Honor and courage are matters of the bone, and what a man will kill for he will sometimes die for, too... For the sake of love alone I would walk through fire again.”

—The Fiery Cross

[gotham-ruaidh]

“You didn‘t ask what I want done with my body.”

I‘d meant it at least half in jest, to lighten his mood, but his fingers curled so abruptly over mine that I gasped.

“No,” he said softly. “And I never will.” He wasn‘t looking at me but at the whiteness before us. “I canna think of ye dead, Claire. Anything else—but not that. I can‘t.”

-- An Echo In The Bone

----------------------------------------

I was so happy to see this small scene come to life in 7x03.

And it got me thinking.

Why can't Jamie bear to think of Claire dead?

Besides the obvious - that she's his heart, a part of him, the pain of it could very well kill him...

I think it comes down to the fact that he saw how his mother's death absolutely crushed - in many ways destroyed - his father.

Brian Fraser obviously lived for many years after he lost Ellen MacKenzie Fraser - but of course he wasn't the same man.

Jamie was old enough when his mother died to see this, and to remember it.

It's why he says to Claire in The Fiery Cross:

“To see the years touch ye gives me joy, Sassenach,” he whispered, “—for it means that ye live.”

[semper-legens]

98. The Fiery Cross, by Diana Gabaldon

Owned?: No, library Page count: 1412 My summary: 1771, North Carolina. While revolution brews in the air, the inhabitants of Fraser's Ridge settle into their homes and lives. Forewarning of what's to come will prepare the Frasers and MacKenzies for the future, but they have other problems on the rise. Trouble is sparking in the colonies, and as the leader of his community, Jamie Fraser is called to lead his men into battle. Will their family ever find peace - or will war and strife and bitter conflict tear them apart once more? My rating: 4/5 My commentary:

Ah, Outlander. I blame this series for why I haven't read nearly as many books as I usually do this year - just look at that page count! The books are daunting in their size, and yet, here just past the halfway mark of the series, I think they're pretty well-paced. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of lingering around gossiping with other women or doing the washing or setting up Claire's surgery, but I think the books do an excellent job both of showing the domestic lives of our characters, and of giving breaks in the action, establishing and renewing the status quo, and doing the vital character work needed for a series like this. Sure, the book was a long one, but I always felt the pull to come back and immerse myself in its world and in its story. And while, as in previous volumes of Outlander, I've had some issues with certain aspects of how Gabaldon represents the past, I'm still overall enjoying it and glad that I've stuck with it this long! I can't write about everything that happens in this book, obviously, but here's some of my broad talking points.

Claire and Jamie continue to be a really good team. They work together excellently within their roles as healer and leader respectively. We also have another stable, settled relationship in Brianna and Roger, who get married at the start of this book and raise their son to a toddler throughout the book. Although it's still unknown whether young Jemmy is biologically Roger's kid or the child of Stephen Bonnet, who raped Brianna in the last book, Roger doesn't take any of the opportunities offered to find out. (Claire can test Jemmy's blood to see what type it is, which wouldn't confirm if he was Roger's, but could definitely confirm if he was Bonnet's depending on what the result was.) It's some nice character work, it shows that Roger ultimately wants to raise this kid as his own regardless of the biology, and though he thinks about the idea of having a kid that's definitely biologically his, he respects Brianna's choice early in the book to not have any more children for now.

Speaking of which, Brianna and Claire have some frank discussions about preventing pregnancy in this kind of time period, which is interesting! Brianna is worried about giving birth again without proper hospital care, and Claire warns her that abstinence is the only true preventative - abortificents available in this time period could cause just as many issues as childbirth. It's a very frank and unjudgemental discussion, and refreshing to see! So, too, is Claire's going through menopause throughout the book. It's not something often spoken of in fiction like this, so kudos there! Overall, I really like that this time, we don't have any will-they-won't-they kind of romantic intrigue. It's a personal preference, but I much prefer the domesticity of Claire and Jamie and Brianna and Roger's relationships as depicted here to the passionate young lovers of earlier books. Still, I gotta once again give praise to how all of the characters are allowed to have sexualities and be sexual without narrative judgement.

Claire is an inventor of sorts in this one. She's manufacturing crude penicillin, and has created a microscope that allows her to identify it properly. It's not at the standard of modern penicillin, and she can't inject it, but it helps patients throughout her practice. Claire's doctor skills have been her main strength throughout the novels, and I really appreciate that she's allowed to innovate and invent like this. She's blending both the archetypes of male and female medical professionals - the caring role stereotypical to a female doctor, the innovation stereotypical to a male doctor. And there's a realism to the production of penicillin, too. One patient dies of a suspected allergy to penicillin, which Claire deeply regrets, and it's not a foolproof treatment. But she's doing her best to do well by her patients, and that has to be commended.

I do have some things to say about how these books treat gender, though. Jamie and Roger are consistently depicted as being big, brawny, buff men willing to do rugged outdoor work like hunting and trapping, while Brianna and Claire live in more of a domestic sphere. Jamie and Roger are physically hurt more than Claire and Brianna, with Jamie covered in scars and Roger going through injury after injury (he's almost hanged to death in this one!). I don't remember an instance where the women are physically harmed in the same way. However, I don't mean to imply that Claire and Brianna are weak characters, or that they're never allowed to do what might stereotypically be called 'men's work'. Brianna is a better hunter than Roger, for example, and Claire's work is very bloody, plus she ends up killing a buffalo. I suspect a hint of romanticism is taking place here (I've never been a straight woman, but shirtless scarred Scotsmen with rippling muscles sounds like the sort of thing Gabaldon might be into) and there's nothing inherently wrong with that, it's just that an element of the stereotypical starts creeping in here and there, and it's very noticable. And again, some of it is due to the setting and to the fact that, enlightened though they may be, most of the characters are from the 1770s or 1960s. It's just worth noting as something I've seen creeping in here and there; the men are Rugged, the women are Harried and Domestic.

And finally, some of my major continuing criticisms. Gabaldon keeps dropping the ball when it comes to race. It's notable that, with five books in the series so far, and three of them fully or partially set in the American colonies, there's very few main characters of colour. The best there are Jamie's aunt Jocasta's slaves, Ulysses and Phaedra, but they don't get a lot of focus beyond their role serving Jocasta. We've seen Native Americans, we've seen a man from China, we've seen enslaved and free black people, but we seen them mostly in passing - none of them join the main cast. I don't think this is a conscious bias on Gabaldon's part, but it could very well be an unconscious one. Claire's friendship with a Native medicine woman happened largely off-screen, so to speak, as did Jamie and Ian's hunting parties with Native people. Roger, in this one, is saved from the fire by a group of Maroons (escaped slaves), but they're portrayed as intimidating, and the only member of their group to speak or get focus is a white woman that Claire and Jamie previously met. Ian living with Native people is likewise portrayed as a sad thing (though mostly for Ian's separation to his family than anything else) and while Claire and Brianna refuse to be enslavers, they aren't really doing much for the enslaved people whose labour they utilise when visiting Jocasta. Claire does attempt to help Phaedra's mother Betty who takes ill, but it ends up smacking of white-saviourism more than anything.

Again, I don't think this is something Gabaldon is doing consciously - and in fairness, there's a lot of positives to how she portrays people of colour! Ulysses, Phaedra, and the Native people Claire and Jamie interact with are portrayed with as much humanity and character as the minor white characters, and while the white characters are often racist in their thoughts and beliefs, the Native communities that we see are shown to be villages and towns the same as the white towns. At one point a local Native community asks for Jamie's help hunting a bear, and they work together well. I just think that Gabaldon could have put a little more thought into how she was portraying the non-white characters. Narratively, it's fine if these white characters from the 1700s are somewhat racist. But when the narrative itself is upholding stereotypes of the intimidating and dangerous Maroons, the savage Native people, the docile enslaved people, that's when eyebrows need to be raised, and I don't think that Gabaldon did enough to subvert these stereotypes when they arose in her story. I think that these books could have benefited from more major black or Native characters, and perhaps some consultation from black or Native historians. It's close to being better, and that's the frustrating and disappointing part about it.

Next, a she-wolf of Pompeii walks the streets.

[catmint1]

"When the day shall come, that we do part," he said softly, and turned to look at me, "if my last words are not 'I love you'—ye'll ken it was because I didna have time."

—Diana Gabaldon, The Fiery Cross

[brian-in-finance]

Outlander Watch S05E06 Better To Marry Than Burn

Connecting The 🟡 Dots

🟡 ⚜️👑 Season Five to One to Seven

The Show

The soldier looks to see that the Dragoon Lieutenant is heading back to his horse. As Morna walks back to the carriage, her SHOE gets stuck in the MUD.

The soldier bends down to help her -- as he does, he spies something STRAPPED UNDERNEATH THE CARRIAGE: a WOODEN BOX….

He’s slid the box out from its fastenings and has opened it to reveal BARS OF GOLD. He holds one up, engraved with a FLEUR DE LIS.

Official Script S05E6 Better To Marry Than Burn

Gifs: @lochiels

The Book

It was a company of English soldiers, Cumberland’s men. Arriving too late to join in the victory at Culloden, they were inflamed by news of it—but frustrated at not sharing in the battle, and only too ready to wreak what vengeance they could on fleeing Highlanders.

Always a quick thinker, Hector had sunk back in the corner of the coach at sight of them, his head bent and a shawl pulled over it, pretending to be an aged crone, sunk in sleep. Following his hissed instructions, Jocasta had leaned out of the window, prepared to pose as a respectable lady traveling with her daughter and mother.

The soldiers had not waited to hear her speech. One yanked open the door of the coach, and dragged her out. Morna, panicked, had leapt out after her, trying to pull her mother away from the soldier. Another man had grabbed the girl, and dragged her back, so that he stood between Jocasta and the coach.

“Another minute, and they meant to have ‘Grannie’ out on the ground as well—and then they would find the gold, and it would be all up wi’ all of us.”

A pistol shot startled all of them into momentary immobility. Leaning from the coach’s open door, Hector had fired at the soldier holding Morna—but it was dusk and the light was poor; perhaps the horses had moved, jostling the coach. The shot struck Morna in the head.

“I ran to her,” Jocasta said. Her voice was hoarse, her throat gone dry and thick. “I ran to her, but Hector jumped out and seized me. The soldiers were all standing, staring with the shock. He dragged me back, into the coach, and shouted to the groom to drive, drive on!”

She licked her lips and swallowed, once.“‘She is dead,’ he said to me. Over and over, ‘She is dead, you cannot help,’ he said, and held me tight when I would have thrown myself from the coach in my despair.”

The Fiery Cross, Chapter 53

🟡 ⚜️ 👑

The Show

My father was a Fraser. A younger half-brother to the present master... Colum and Dougal... my mother was Ellen, the elder sister of Colum and Dougal. Colum wished my mother to marry Malcolm Grant. — Jamie Fraser

Transcript S01E07 The Wedding

Instagram S01E07 The Wedding

The Book

“Oh, aye. Ellen was the eldest o’ the six MacKenzie bairns—a year or two older than Colum, and the apple of auld Jacob’s eye. That’s why she’d gone so long unwed; wouldna ha’ aught to do wi’ John Cameron or Malcolm Grant, or any of the others she might have gone to, and her father wouldna force her against her will.”

When old Jacob died, though, Colum had less patience with his sister’s foibles. Struggling desperately to consolidate his shaky hold on the clan, he had sought an alliance with Munro to the north, or Grant to the south. Both clans had young chieftains, who would make useful brothers-in-law. Young Jocasta, only fifteen, had obligingly accepted the suit of John Cameron, and gone north. Ellen, on the verge of spinsterhood at twenty-two, had been a good deal less cooperative. — Old Alec

Outlander/Cross Stitch, Chapter 24

🟡 ⚜️ 👑

The Show

There were three of us when the gold came ashore from France. Dougal MacKenzie took one-third and Hector Cameron another. I was the third man, tacksman to Malcolm Grant, who sent me… But it came too late to make a difference to the cause. So Grant used it for the good of the clan. I dinna know what Dougal did with his, but Hector Cameron, he fled. He was a traitor. And his wife wi' him. I only had to set eyes on River Run to see where the gold had been spent. But not all of it. — Arch Bug

Transcript S07E03 Death Be Not Proud

IMDb S07E03 Death Be Not Proud

The Book

“Ye were the third man, were ye not?” Jamie asked, disregarding this. “When the gold was brought ashore from France. Dougal MacKenzie took one-third, and Hector Cameron another. I couldna say what Dougal did with his—gave it to Charles Stuart, most likely, and may God have mercy on his soul for that. You were tacksman to Malcolm Grant; he sent ye, did he not? You took one-third of the gold on his behalf. Did ye give it to him?”

Arch nodded, slowly.

“It was given in trust,” he said, and his voice cracked. He cleared his throat and spat, the mucus tinged with black. “To me, and then to the Grant—who should have given it in turn to the King’s son.”

“Did he?” Jamie asked, interested. “Or did he think, like Hector Cameron, that it was too late?”

It had been; the cause was already lost at that point—no gold could have made a difference. Arch’s lips pressed so tightly together as almost to be invisible.

“He did what he did,” he said shortly. “What he thought right. That money was spent for the welfare of the clan. But Hector Cameron was a traitor, and his wife with him.”

A Breath Of Snow And Ashes, Chapter 124

🟡 ⚜️ 👑

Remember Ellen Fraser’s connection to the third man?

[buffysummers]

Just finished the 5th outlander book (the fiery cross) and tbh I really loved it? I wasn’t expecting to like it that much bc I have often heard people say it’s their least favorite (or one of their least favorite) books out of the 9 books. People either say it’s boring or they say they quit reading the series during it. I think that the 5th season of the show leaves out a lot of really good stuff but I also do respect some of the changes they made.

I seriously can’t wait to start the next book! I heard particularly good things about it (and book 8!)

[ursulanoodles]

“I like ye fat, Sassenach,” he said softly. “Fat and juicy as a plump wee hen. I like it fine.”

-Diana Gabaldon, The Fiery Cross

[smdesserts]

claire is so unserious💀 “oh, really?” has got to be the FUNNIEST way to respond to someone telling you they want to die LMAO

[for-my-reading-pleasure]

Fucking Roger and your over familiarity with people who don’t know they are your great great… grand mother. Don’t kiss people who aren’t yours to kiss and don’t want your kiss. What the hell is your problem?!?

[first--lines]

I woke to the patter of rain on canvas, with the feel of my first husband's kiss on my lips. I blinked, disoriented, and by reflex put my fingers to my mouth. To keep the feeling, or to hide it? I wondered, even as I did so.

  —  The Fiery Cross (Diana Gabaldon)

[gotham-ruaidh]

I was chatting yesterday with the lovely @lady-o-ren about this post, where I talk about Jamie's violent inner self and how his love for Claire redeems him from that violence. Saves him from sin. Absolves him in the eyes of God.

@lady-o-ren pointed out that Jamie is quite self-aware of his inner violent self - a self that only Claire's love for him (and his love for Claire) keeps in check. He fears this inner self - he knows it is nothing but destructive.

And, Jamie himself says this to Claire several times in the Books - which is something I hadn't remembered! Producing the quotes here:

In Voyager Ch 54 where Jamie sorta talks about it. It's after Claire's been stitched up by Yi Tien Cho and he's telling her about Culloden and Murtagh dying. "I could feel it there, a hot red thing in my chest and belly, and … I gave myself to it,” he ended simply."

In Fiery Cross Ch 17 is where Jamie talks about being in a mob. “I didn’t think you would. Can’t see you as part of a mob.” He kissed her ear, not to reply directly. He could see himself as part of a mob, all too easily. That was what frightened him. He knew much too well the strength of it. And then as the scene goes on he says - “Nothing will harm ye while there is breath in my body, a nighean donn. Nothing.” “I know. "

Thank you, @lady-o-ren, for such astute observations! xo

[fieriframes]

[I will forgive you. Days in my life. Are numbered and so rare. Holding pain. Is not living in truth.]

[slitheringghost]

Hermione As Teacher And Connections To Lily

An interesting narrative thread is how often Hermione's magic and teaching influences other characters' and how often it goes unrecognized, and particularly how it parallels a lot of Lily's own magic saving Harry from Voldemort. (Read on Ao3)

1. Triwizard Tournament

Summoning Charm

he did so badly at Summoning Charms in Professor Flitwick’s class that he was given extra homework — the only person to get any, apart from Neville. “It’s really not that difficult, Harry,” Hermione tried to reassure him [...] — she had been making objects zoom across the room to her all lesson, as though she were some sort of weird magnet [...] “You just weren’t concentrating properly —” (Ch 18, GoF)

Harry still hadn’t mastered Summoning Charms, he seemed to have developed something of a block about them, and Hermione insisted that learning the theory would help. They consequently spent a lot of time poring over books during their lunchtimes (Ch 19, GoF)

“Hermione, I need to learn how to do a Summoning Charm properly by tomorrow afternoon.” And so they practiced. They didn’t have lunch, but headed for a free classroom [...] At two o’clock in the morning, Harry stood near the fireplace, surrounded by heaps of objects [...] Only in the last hour had Harry really got the hang of the Summoning Charm. “That’s better, Harry, that’s loads better,” Hermione said, looking exhausted but very pleased. (Ch 20, GoF)

Flitwick then spends most of a lesson "talking to Harry about the perfect Summoning Charm Harry had used during the First Task".

1.2 Shield Charm

(Full analysis of the Shield Charm and how it's textually linked to Lily is in my meta When Lily Cast Her Life As A Shield)

He was still having trouble with the Shield Charm, though. This was supposed to cast a temporary, invisible wall around himself that deflected minor curses [...] “You’re still doing really well, though,” Hermione said encouragingly, looking down her list and crossing off those spells they had already learned. “Some of these are bound to come in handy.” [...] Come on, Harry,” she added briskly [...] “let’s try that Shield Charm again.” (Ch 31, GoF)

Which Harry then teaches the DA:

He was improving so fast it was quite unnerving and when Harry taught them the Shield Charm, [...] only Hermione mastered the charm faster than Neville. (Ch 25, OoTP)

Then, what Fred and George say makes the real money in the joke shop:

“We’ve just developed this more serious line,” said Fred. “Funny how it happened...” “You wouldn’t believe how many people, even people who work at the Ministry, can’t do a decent Shield Charm,” said George. “’Course, they didn’t have you teaching them, Harry.” “That’s right... Well, we thought Shield Hats were a bit of a laugh, you know, challenge your mate to jinx you while wearing it and watch his face when the jinx just bounces off. But the Ministry bought five hundred for all its support staff! And we’re still getting massive orders!” “So we’ve expanded into a range of Shield Cloaks, Shield Gloves...” “...I mean, they wouldn’t help much against the Unforgivable Curses, but for minor to moderate hexes or jinxes...” (Ch 6, HBP) Although Snape did not know it, Harry had taught at least half the class (everyone who had been a member of the D.A.) how to perform a Shield Charm the previous year. None of them had ever cast the charm without speaking, however. A reasonable amount of cheating ensued [...] Typically, ten minutes into the lesson Hermione managed to repel Neville’s muttered Jelly-Legs Jinx without uttering a single word (Ch 9, HBP)

I love that Harry is then the one to teach Hermione the Patronus Charm - which Remus tells Harry is "a kind of anti-dementor - a guardian that acts as a shield between you and the dementor".

1.3 Four-Point Spell

and the Four-Point Spell, a useful discovery of Hermione’s that would make his wand point due north, therefore enabling him to check whether he was going in the right direction within the maze. (Ch 31, GoF)

“Point Me,” he whispered to his wand, holding it flat in his palm. The wand spun around once and pointed toward his right, into solid hedge. (Ch 31, GoF)

It's reasonable to extrapolate that the spell is Hermione's invention, given that it's the only spell with an English incantation, and inventions are referred to as "discoveries" several times - Remus wrt the Wolfsbane Potion in PoA, Dumbledore's work ("the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon’s blood", "does Skeeter deny the brilliance that led to Dumbledore’s many magical discoveries?"), Harry has to "memorize the dates of magical discoveries and goblin rebellions" and mentions books titled "Important Modern Magical Discoveries and A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry", Fred says they "spent six months developing" the Ton-Tongue Toffees, etc.

Hermione inventing this is particularly compelling given that it's similar to what Harry's wand does in DH (related to Lily's spellwork deflecting the Killing Curse), and Harry's conflict with her after she breaks his wand.

[...] his wand acted of its own accord. He felt it drag his hand around like some great magnet, saw a spurt of golden fire through his half-closed eyelids, heard a crack and a scream of fury. (Ch 4, DH) He knew exactly what Hermione would say if he expressed any of this: The wand is only as good as the wizard. But she was wrong, his case was different. She had not felt the wand spin like the needle of a compass and shoot golden flames at his enemy. (Ch 18, DH)

Also notable is Hermione solving Snape's Potions riddle, and Harry echoing this with solving the Sphinx riddle during the Third Task (Harry thinking “it was Hermione who was good at this sort of thing, not him” and then “amazed at his own brilliance” when he solves it).

2. Other examples

2.1 Impervius Charm

“I’ve got no chance with these on,” Harry said exasperatedly, waving his glasses. At that very moment, Hermione appeared at his shoulder; she was holding her cloak over her head and was, inexplicably, beaming. “I’ve had an idea, Harry! Give me your glasses, quick!” He handed them to her, and as the team watched in amazement, Hermione tapped them with her wand and said, “Impervius!” “There!” she said [...] “They’ll repel water!” Wood looked as though he could have kissed her. “Brilliant!” he called hoarsely after her [...] Hermione’s spell had done the trick. (Ch 9, PoA) "Harry, didn’t you do something to your glasses to stop the rain fogging them up when we played Hufflepuff in that storm?” “Hermione did it,” said Harry. He pulled out his wand, tapped his glasses and said, “Impervius!” “I think we all ought to try that,” said Angelina. “[...] all together, come on — Impervius!" (Ch 18, OoTP)

Additionally, when Padfoot comes to watch during that PoA match and dementors swarm the field, making Harry hear Lily's murder for the first time, Harry falls from his broom, his Nimbus crashes into the Whomping Willow, others say they thought he was dead and "Lucky the ground was so soft" - of course, it wasn't luck, it was Dumbledore; Hermione then repeats these actions in DH - during the waterfall in the Thief's Downfall (evokes the drowning feeling from dementors; and Hermione additionally uses the Shield Charm there) and immediately after they escape LV in Godric’s Hollow and Harry finally gets the full memory of Lily's death (Hermione’s eyes being emphasized):

“Dumbledore was really angry,” Hermione said in a quaking voice. “I’ve never seen him like that before. He ran onto the field as you fell, waved his wand, and you sort of slowed down before you hit the ground. Then he whirled his wand at the dementors. Shot silver stuff at them. They left the stadium right away [...]" “Then he magicked you onto a stretcher,” said Ron. “And walked up to school with you floating on it. Everyone thought you were...” (Ch 9, PoA) “Yes,” said Hermione. “I had to use a Hover Charm to get you into your bunk, I couldn't lift you [...]" There were purple shadows under her brown eyes and he noticed a small sponge in her hand: She had been wiping his face. (Ch 17, DH) Water filled Harry’s eyes and mouth: He could not see or breathe: [...] Harry heard the cart smash into pieces against the passage wall, heard Hermione shriek something, and felt himself glide back toward the ground as though weightless, landing painlessly on the rocky passage floor. “C-Cushioning Charm,” Hermione spluttered (Ch 26, DH)

2.2 Murtlap Essence

During that PoA practice, Fred and George were debating using Fever Fudge to get out of flying:

“— but you get these massive pus-filled boils too,” said George, “and we haven’t worked out how to get rid of them yet.” “I can’t see any boils,” said Ron, staring at the twins. “No, well, you wouldn’t,” said Fred darkly, “they’re not in a place we generally display to the public —” “— but they make sitting on a broom a right pain in the —” (Ch 18, OoTP)

The knowledge Hermione uses to heal the I must not tell lies scar on Harry's hand helps the twins finish the Snackboxes:

“Here,” she said anxiously, pushing a small bowl of yellow liquid toward him, “soak your hand in that, it’s a solution of strained and pickled murtlap tentacles, it should help.” Harry placed his bleeding, aching hand into the bowl and experienced a wonderful feeling of relief. (Ch 15, OoTP) When Harry next saw Lee, the back of his hand was bleeding rather badly. Harry recommended essence of murtlap. (Ch 25, OoTP) Hermione cast him a stern look. “You’ve got exams coming!” “Told you already, we’re not fussed about N.E.W.T.s,” said Fred. “The Snackboxes are ready to roll, we found out how to get rid of those boils, just a couple of drops of murtlap essence sorts them, Lee put us onto it...” (Ch 26, OoTP)

2.3 Magical Eavesdropping Methods

Harry frankly marveled at the fact that Hermione could research magical methods of eavesdropping as well as everything else they had to do. (Ch 28, GoF)

People have theorized that Hermione’s research while she was taking revenge against Rita Skeeter may have aided Fred and George develop the Extendable Ears, esp. since she was staying at 12GP that summer.

2.4 DA Galleons

Hermione's inspired by Voldemort's magic to invent the DA's communication method; Draco then gets the idea from that to carry out his Death Eater mission, enchanting his own coins to secretly communicate with Rosmerta, and also gets the idea to poison the mead from Hermione, having "heard her talking in the library about Filch not recognizing potions".

“You know what these remind me of?” “No, what’s that?” “The Death Eaters’ scars. Voldemort touches one of them, and all their scars burn, and they know they’ve got to join him.” “Well... yes,” said Hermione quietly. “That is where I got the idea... but you’ll notice I decided to engrave the date on bits of metal rather than on our members’ skin...” “Yeah... I prefer your way,” said Harry, grinning, as he slipped his Galleon into his pocket. (Ch 19, OoTP)

Notably, Lily's blood magic - unlike Hermione's and very like Voldemort's - does burn Voldemort's skin.

Similarly significant is Hermione's invention of the SNEAK curse - where the DA members all sign the binding contract in the Hog's Head, the same establishment where Trelawney gave the prophecy, and the binding contract incorporated in Lily's magic. Hermione enchants ~28 coins for the whole DA and creates the curse within the span of ~a month.

2.5 O.W.L. exam

Three rows to his right and four seats ahead, Hermione was already scribbling… He lowered his eyes to the first question: a) Give the incantation, and b) describe the wand movement required to make objects fly... Harry had a fleeting memory of a club soaring high into the air and landing loudly on the thick skull of a troll... Smiling slightly, he bent over the paper and began to write

On the whole Harry thought it went rather well; his Levitation Charm was certainly much better than Malfoy’s had been, though he wished he had not mixed up the incantations for Color-Change and Growth Charms (Ch 31, OoTP) the exam to which Harry was looking forward least and which he was sure would be the one that would be the downfall of his ambitions to become an Auror. Sure enough, he found the written exam difficult, though he thought he might have got full marks on the question about Polyjuice Potion: He could describe its effects extremely accurately, having taken it illegally in his second year. (Ch 31, OoTP)

Hermione is linked to Harry's Charms and Potions exams, the subjects most directly tied to Lily. Important to note that Professor Marchbanks praises Dumbledore for having “done things with a wand I’d never seen before” during his Charms and Transfiguration N.E.W.T.s - which Hermione didn't get to take 'cause of the war; and Harry and Neville are acknowledged as doing better in Potions without Snape's presence - clearly true of Hermione's potential too as her best accomplishment was brewing a N.E.W.T. level potion second year, outside Snape's supervision (which took a month, and then she spent 2 months in the hospital due to petrification/Polyjuice turning her into a cat).

2.6 Body Bind Curse

Harry turned to Hermione. “Do something,” he said desperately. [...] “Neville,” she said, “I’m really, really sorry about this.” “Petrificus Totalus!” she cried [...] Neville’s arms snapped to his sides. His legs sprang together. His whole body rigid, he swayed where he stood and then fell flat on his face, stiff as a board. [...] “What’ve you done to him?” Harry whispered. “It’s the full Body-Bind,” said Hermione miserably. (PS)

Interestingly, Harry instinctively copies what he saw of Sirius in SWM during the DoM sequence, using the full Body Bind for the first time (at least, that we see on screen). Hermione compliments Harry on it, calling back to her being the first one to show him first year - and her being cursed right after echoes the description of Sirius falling through the veil: "the second jet of light hit him squarely on the chest", his eyes widening in shock and the "look of mingled fear and surprise".

Sirius said, “Petrificus Totalus!” and Snape keeled over again at once, rigid as a board. “LEAVE HIM ALONE!” Lily shouted. She had her own wand out now. James and Sirius eyed it warily. (Ch 28, OoTP) “Petrificus Totalus!” shouted Harry, as the second Death Eater raised his wand [...] “Well done, Ha —” But the Death Eater Hermione had just struck dumb made a sudden slashing movement with his wand from which flew a streak of what looked like purple flame. It passed right across Hermione’s chest; she gave a tiny “oh!” as though of surprise and then crumpled onto the floor (Ch 35, OoTP) Harry seized his chance: “PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!” The spell hit Dolohov before he could block it, and he toppled forward across his comrade, both of them rigid as boards and unable to move an inch. (Ch 35, OoTP) Springing up, Harry yelled, “Petrificus Totalus!” Once again, Dolohov’s arms and legs snapped together and he keeled over backward, landing with a crash on his back. “Nice one!” shouted Sirius, forcing Harry’s head down [...] (Ch 35, OoTP)

2.7 Unbreakable Charm

Not something Hermione specifically taught, but also interesting is Hermione mirroring Barty Crouch Jr. during his Unforgivables lesson (and saying Harry gave her the idea when he mentioned "bugging").

Moody got heavily to his mismatched feet, opened his desk drawer, and took out a glass jar. Three large black spiders were scuttling around inside it. (Ch 14, GoF)

“Oh not electronic bugs [...] Rita Skeeter [...] is an unregistered Animagus. She can turn —” Hermione pulled a small sealed glass jar out of her bag. “— into a beetle.” [...] Inside were a few twigs and leaves and one large, fat beetle [...] Hermione took the glass jar back from Ron and smiled at the beetle, which buzzed angrily against the glass. [...] “I’ve put an Unbreakable Charm on the jar, you see, so she can’t transform. And I’ve told her she’s to keep her quill to herself for a whole year. See if she can’t break the habit of writing horrible lies about people.” (Ch 37, GoF)

Hermione imprisoning Rita Skeeter in a jar vaguely references Lily and Harry's actions in 1981 leading to an "imprisoned" LV in Albania; this also happens a few chapters after Priori Incantatem, and Harry and LV under the web of light evokes insects trapped underneath glass:

The golden thread connecting Harry and Voldemort splintered; though the wands remained connected, a thousand more beams arced high over Harry and Voldemort, crisscrossing all around them, until they were enclosed in a golden, dome-shaped web, a cage of light, beyond which the Death Eaters circled like jackals, their cries strangely muffled now... “Do nothing!” Voldemort shrieked to the Death Eaters, and Harry saw his red eyes wide with astonishment at what was happening, saw him fighting to break the thread of light [...] and the golden thread remained unbroken. “Do nothing unless I command you!” (Ch 34, GoF)

Then the phoenix song comes from "every thread of the light-spun web vibrating around Harry and Voldemort", and a voice saying Don't break the connection (elaborated here).

3.0 Blasting Curse

All this comes full circle in the Godric's Hollow graveyard in DH (a deeper analysis also for another post), where Hermione mirrors what Harry did because of Lily as a baby (and also Harry's actions at the start of DH while flying during the Battle of the Seven Potters): blows up the house (“Confringo") and enrages Voldemort as she and Harry fly out the window - fly from death - together.

[catmint1]

Money might not buy happiness, I reflected, but it was a useful commodity, nonetheless.

—Diana Gabaldon, The Fiery Cross

[elasticmonk]

This is my go to 7 hour (and growing) Outlander playlist. Everything from soundtrack, to traditional Celtic, to songs I thought fit the vibe of both the Frasers and the playlist.

Tell me if you have a song in mind or come across one that’s off-putting. 😊