#and that actually it makes sense that he's done with hermione because having the same kid always answering the questions is annoying

[lilithofpenandbook]

We have murderers, torturers, people who betrayed their friends, people who drove others to insanity, rich self serving assholes...

...and a man being just a little bit nasty to children is where you guys draw the line.

How utterly peculiar.

Confession 3:

I was a Snape defender for about a year

It was a very dark time that I do not acknowledge

[dream-with-a-fever]

in defence of ginny weasley (ft fleur delacour)

never thought i would feel strongly enough about this topic to comment on it, but the ginny bashing in this fandom is just insane so i thought why the hell not. ginny seems to get hate for everything under the sun from being being a mary sue who can do no wrong in anyone’s eyes (meaning she’s boring and uninteresting as a character) to being a nasty bully responsible for hurting those around her (??? and they’re both completely contradictory statements btw). when the latter is brought up, ginny’s “terrible” mistreatment of fleur is always front and centre. ‘she’s nasty, she’s cruel, she is a jealous bully etc!’ and i just feel like we should put on our thinking caps and actually take a step back for a fucking second. people may disagree with me, but i think ginny’s reaction to fleur was totally understandable — and reminder, she is a TEENAGE girl, (not to mention both mrs weasley and hermione held fleur in the same regard but no one seems to focus on that side of things).

now in the books, we do see ginny mocking fleur, calling her ‘phlegm’ behind her back, imitating her gait and elegance, expressing her annoyance at her newfound presence in their lives.

let’s look at why she might have reacted that way. first of all, in general, we see that the w are a very humble and welcoming family; they don’t have much but what they do have, they are more than willing to share with others. their financial circumstance plays a massive role in how the characters in the wea clan react and interact with others (as seen with their refusal to accept money from harry etc). their sense of pride in that regard is also quite prevalent. we see that when harry first goes to the burrow, ron is slightly embarrassed by his home, painfully aware of the way many people in the wizarding community view/judge them. when harry goes on to say it’s best place he’s ever seen, we immediately see how touched ron is. ginny is the same in that sense — embarrassed that she has second hand robes & books etc, but at the same time she, like ron, is fiercely protective of what they do have, and what they as a family stand for. they are also very protective of people they love inside and outside of the family (see, ron with ginny, mrs weasleys with all of them etc).

this is relevant because one of the reasons ginny and in turn mrs weasley, have a problem with fleur is the way she talks to them. despite them inviting her into their home, fleur makes her distaste clear even if it is in small ways. she says it’s boring at their house as there’s nothing to do, she often talks disparagingly about how things are done in the weasley household, she loudly mocks celestina warbeck (who mrs weasley loves to play at christmas time) and insults her, she speaks badly about tonks several times etc. her words and mannerisms are also viewed by some (ginny etc) as very pretentious and arrogant — also rather posh, a sign of her family’s wealth (which might have been a sore spot for ginny also).

now don’t get me wrong. i love fleur as a character. i think she’s really cool, charming and brave, and i wish we got to see more of her honestly!! i think she makes a lovely contrast to the other younger characters, and i think she undergoes some nice character development in the books we do see her in. it’s also very clear to me, that when she acts the way she does, it is never out of malice or cruelty— it comes from a place of openness and honesty — which often comes across as quite blunt. it’s a cultural disconnect in many ways; when she inadvertently insults people throughout the books, i think it’s pretty obvious she isn’t trying to hurt anyone’s feelings. but i also think it’s obvious how this attitude might annoy those around her.

calling ginny is a big bad bully for disliking fleur (in the beginning), when her behaviour towards the weasley family would make anyone a bit frustrated, is a bit far. not to mention, her individual treatment of ginny is understandably annoying - ginny complains that fleur is very condescending when speaking to her (‘you’d think i were about three!’).

there’s also the fact that ginny is bill’s little sister. he is her favourite brother (as seen from the way she respects him and his opinions, looks up to him - she wanted to go to hogwarts ever since bill went!). ginny having a reaction to her brother’s new girlfriend is very normal - he’s her big brother! all his attention is now on his new girlfriend - who ginny finds to be full of herself, patronising & annoying. part of her may also be worried that fleur will end up breaking his heart in the end — because she’s protective of her brother.

add the fact that her brother and old crush and basically every man ever is drawn to her because of her godly beauty (as a part veela), her and bill’s wont to shower each other in public displays of affection (who wants to see their brother doing this!?) and the fact that ginny always gotten along with tonks (the person her and molly had in mind for bill’s future partner) has always treated her kindly and as an equal, and therefore would much prefer as a sister-in-law — it’s not that surprising that ginny feels the way she does towards fleur.

nevertheless, do i think this is something ginny would grow out of? yes, of course. we already see changes in their relationship in the final book. besides, a lot of this stuff is surface level, as ginny and fleur don’t know all that much about each other — i think fleur’s love for bill (especially shown in the hospital wing after he’s been attacked by greyback) definitely changes the way ginny regards her. i also like to think that they grew closer as they got older, as with age comes maturity, and with maturity comes understanding. i also feel that fleur was someone who really stepped up when it came to supporting the weasleys after fred’s death, something that ginny would have appreciated. i see them having a nice relationship later in life.

ANYWAY, this was an exceedingly long rant for which i apologise but i have often seen people talk about how nasty ginny is to fleur, and i think it’s so unfair to not look at the context which leads to her being a little frustrated at her future sister in law. plus, she is allowed to dislike someone who she does not get along with and who she finds unpleasant to be around. we all have people like that in our lives but god forbid ginny does…not to mention, ginny is never openly rude to her EVER, and she’s allowed to voice her frustrations to her friends/family. the fact people call her an outright bully for this is just insane.

people on here will defend so many other dubious characters but the second a teenage character with good intentions makes a mistake / doesn’t act perfectly (i.e ron, ginny), they are suddenly the epitome of evil in human form, i mean get a grip, honestly. also one last quick thing(!!!), i do note some people blame jkr for writing her female characters this way, as we’ve seen the way she seems to frown upon conventional/typical displays of femininity (lavender and parvati being seen as ‘silly’ girls with frivolous thoughts, cho chang as overly emotional - despite having a very rational reaction to the death of her boyfriend, fleur as overly feminine and therefore less serious/intelligent). her heroines are women who often conceal or discard these more feminine traits — and i will say that despite loving these characters very much, i do think some more nuance here, could have been very beneficial to the story, and to the message being sent to young female/female identifying readers. there is strength in femininity, and rejecting feminine traits does not make you more or less a person.

okay, rant over. if you actually got to the end, bless you, if not — well, that’s totally fair (lol). also please don’t kill me in the comment section if you disagree. this is just my two cents. ok that’s all.

[iamnmbr3]

ok so i'm rereading Order of the Phoenix and what's up with Draco being so... helpful??

Like back in the Goblet of Fire he's litterally telling the golden trio to hide Hermione because she's visibly (how could you tell tho?) a muggleborn;

then in OotP in the train to Hogwarts he comes to say hi to Harry and hints that Sirius had been spotted by Lucius (the dogging line);

THEN he goes all the way to lean on Harry during Care of magical creatures to say how Hagrid's being messing with stuff to big for him.

HUH??

Why on earth would you say that to Harry? To taunt him? But he could have done it without revealing precious intelligence passed by his father!!

Like, to me it makes sense if it is intended as Drarry moments, because he has a crush and can't help but being invested in Harry's life, and accidentally being helpful to Harry, but we know that it wasn't the terf meant.

And we clearly see how easily Draco can make Potter angry(their interaction during Potions and Quidditch, Potter stinks badges, Weasley is our king ecc.)

It seems like he's trying to help in a reeeeaally backward way, but at the same time he's enjoying himself so much that they do not translate as helping hand.

Also to me it kinda falls flat on a Doylist perspective because the golden trio would have hidden in the forest without him, and they were already worring about Sirius and Hagrid so...

What do you think about it??

P.s.: i reaaally love your metas about hp universe, can't get enough of it <3

yeah, it’s wild. I get why while the books were still being written some people thought he was secretly undercover trying to help the order or something.

I don’t think at that point he was consciously trying to betray his side yet. I think that didn’t happen till book 7. But at the same time, I do think two things were going on.

First of all, he always craves Harry’s attention and does everything you can to get it. And he also really wants to be a part of her story. Harry has other things going on his life and till book 6, Draco isn’t the center of his focus (although he does actually think about and watch him a lot - something Draco doesn’t realize but would be thrilled if he knew). From the moment that Harry rejects his friendship Draco looks for ways to insert himself back into Harry’s life. Dangling his knowledge of things Harry is interested in is one way of doing that. And it also puts him on Harry’s level - in his mind - because his secondary involvement with the Death Eaters mirrors Harry’s secondary involvement with the Order.

And also in his mind shows how cool and serious and important Draco is. He’s always creating the perfect set up for an enemies to lovers story but Harry won’t buy it. Like I think of his mind he think Harry’s going to be like OK I really wanna know what’s going on so I’ll make a deal with you and that will evolve into a grudging friendship. Of course Harry won’t do that while Draco holds the attitudes he holds. Nor as I’m sure he also hopes is Harry going to be like wow I realize you’re so important and special and well-connected and I was wrong to turn down a friendship with you. Draco desperately wants Harry to need and respect him. (Only when he grows beyond this post book 7, and learn to except Harry’s boundaries and to change his own behavior will he actually earn either of those things.)

Secondly though, I think it’s really notable that most of these instances end up helping Harry to either learn information about someone he cares about or protect someone he cares about. The example at the World Cup is really striking. Hermione is specifically in danger because Lucius is one of the Death Eaters under the hoods and he knows who she is and likely intends to target her. Obviously, Draco isn’t going to directly betray his father, but he does warn her that if she stays where she is, she will be recognized and attacked.

Draco at that point kind of likes the idea of violence but he doesn’t like the reality of it and I think a part of him is uncomfortable with what would happen if she actually got caught so although he doesn’t acknowledge it even to himself, that’s the basis of the words. Plus he knows was Harry will fight to the death to protect her. Something similar is probably also a factor in what he says about Sirius. Even his comments about Hagrid to at least revealed that he is alive In addition to dangling more knowledge if Harry will talk to him and pay attention to him - which he won’t.

[hollowed-theory-hall]

I think we're all deeply disappointed that we didn't get enough of Voldemort and his Horcrux parts in 7th book. the cup, diadem, and locket are no match for the diary. however, do you have headcanons, what would be the protection of the cup and diadem? I wonder is there a need to drink from a cup or wear a diadem for effect and what Voldemort could potentially be like if it would be successful... i think it needs to be explored more even in hcs

Honestly, I don't necessarily think the cup should've had better protections since it was the one given to Bellatrix to protect. So, I would've just improved on the Gringotts break-in instead of making up something entirely different. In the book, if they had broken in without Griphook and Harry just imperio-ed everyone they met, that break-in would've gone without a hitch. This seems silly to me considering how difficult Gringotts is supposed to be to break into. Like, if Impirio + Polyjuic allows you to steal whatever you want, its security is most definitely lacking.

It could've been actually fun and done very differently than the ministry break-in instead of being like, a worse version of the ministry break-in as it was in canon. Like, show some goblin magic, and have them sneak around to not be found more. Like, I would've liked it to be more of a heist than just: imperio + polyjuice. Like, it could be part of it, but, idk, I felt very underwhelmed reading about Gringotts defenses in the book. Even the curse inside the vault wasn't a fun obstacle because it was one where they just needed to suffer through it. There is no satisfying puzzle to solve or a clever way to get past it. And that's really what book 7 was missing in all its heists to get Horcruxes. The plans weren't all that clever and interesting. If they were, these scenes would be, like, 200% better without actually changing any big plot elements.

I also think the break-in to Gringotts could've been improved if they still didn't have the sword and didn't destroy the locket yet, so you had Tom Riddle whispering in Harry's ear constantly. And after he cast Imperio successfully Tom would've gotten so annoying about it and made Harry have more moral questions about it. Idk, it's a fun idea, but if they did already destroy the locket, then it makes sense they'll just destroy the cup instantly. If the defenses on the way there were more interesting and the locket had more moments to shine, I think it would've been fine if the cup didn't get too much of a chance to interact with the trio.

As for the diadem, like, the minimum he could've done is place a curse on it like on the Gaunt ring. Like, seriously, that thing was so under-protected. And, like, the curse could still kill Crabbe if we want. It'll make his death even more creepy and grotesque potentially. Or he can be possessed (I mean, I'm pretty sure Crabbe and Goyle are easy possession targets).

Like, imagine the scene in the room of requirement, but Crabbe or Goyle picks up the diadem first, and a curse starts spreading from his hand upward. He screams in pain, clutching the blackening limb that slowly starts to shrivel like a raisin. Harry, Co, and Draco are all horrified, they don't know what to do and then, picking up the diadem is a Tom Riddle, a Le diary, brought back by feeding on Crabbe/Goyle's death. And then they need to kill the diadem before Crabb/Goyle die so that they won't have two Voldemorts running around. It could've been an epic battle and given Draco a chance to destroy the diadem while the Horcrux focused on fighting the Golden Trio instead of Crabbe accidentally destroying a piece of Voldy's soul. Like, Draco wouldn't even be 100% sure what he's doing, but, like, Hermione dropped a basilisk fang and they were clearly trying to destroy it, so he just kinda goes for it.

And, I mean, we could've had it all with the locket, really. Like, we know the diary spoke to Ginny for months before it took form. Why didn't it feed on Harry and Co the same way? Like, let Tom in the locket try to talk them out of killing him, let him tell them why it's best he stays around. How he's more useful to them this way. Let them fight over who's wearing the locket, but deep down, Harry wants to wear the locket just as he liked flipping through the diary without knowing why — because soul recognizes soul. Have Tom actually talk to Harry, Ron, and Hermione and be his manipulative self to stew tension that feels less manufactured. (Because the tension with the hunger and locket depression felt a little off to me in the book. Like, it felt forced).

These are just some ideas where you won't actually have to change the plot and structure of the book too much.

As for how the Horcruxes feed and if they need to be properly used, like, I'm not sure. The locket seemed to only have an effect when worn, so I'd hazard a guess that physical contact at least is necessary. but I think, just holding the cup long enough would be enough and you don't need to actually drink from it. At least, in my headcanon/speculation of how Horcruxes work.

[ilguna]

☼ advanced (Hermione Granger) ☼

summary; when all of your friends left you for changing, Hermione was the only one that stayed.

warnings; swearing,

wc; 1.6k

notes; READER IS RAVENCLAW.

–

It didn’t take you very long to discover that the professors of Hogwarts don’t actually care about the academics of their students. If they did, then they’d offer more challenging material for those who need it more than others. Like you, for example.

There have been countless times where you’ve asked for harder assignments because what they were giving you was entirely too easy. You’d blow through their work in fifteen minutes, and then they’d expect you to make yourself busy until the end of class, as if that made any sense.

They didn’t want to give you harder work, because that meant they’d have to create a whole new curriculum for you, basically. They wanted you to continue to follow along with their lessons and do well in class. Harder work meant potential failing grades, and they weren’t going to take the chance.

So, you moved onto seeing if you could work ahead of your class. However, that only worked for so long. The only teacher that even entertained the idea was Snape, surprisingly, and that was mostly because he wanted to see how much you could do before you gave up.

You liked it, because that meant you’d have to read the potions book for once instead of skimming over it. You stayed up for countless nights finishing papers, excited that you finally had something to do. 

He got tired of watching you turn in work weeks in advance, because that meant you weren’t paying attention in class. Which isn’t entirely true, because you often found more helpful information in the class, and you were able to correct your mistakes—what little you had. Besides, you think he was fed up that you didn’t tap out.

It brought on a brief phase of doing other students’ work, especially the older students, until you got in trouble for that. It was fair, you couldn’t really complain about it because it made sense.

The very last effort you made was taking the issue up with Dumbledore, in hopes that he’d side with you and possibly talk to the teachers about giving you more nutritional work than what they had to offer. Instead, you were shut down and told that everything is taught at a pace for a reason.

Since, you’ve decided that you don’t really care about showing up to class anymore. If they’re not going to try and help you, after you’ve asked them several times, then you’re not going to humor them. What’s the worst they’ll do? Give you detention?

Well, they have. Each time you go, it’s the same bullshit about finishing your work, and then you can go. And each time, you finish the paper in ten minutes and slap it on the Professor’s desk on the way out. They don’t even bother to stop you anymore, because they know the work is actually done.

What a shame, really. You’ve spent a lot of time lately, thinking about what other students they’re letting down by going about it this way. In muggle schools, they have advanced classes for students who are ahead. You can’t understand why they don’t do the same here.

They’re all about bright witches and wizards, until they have one right in front of them. Of course, maybe it’s because of the house you’re in. It’s expected of ravenclaws to go above and beyond in their work. Maybe there have been hundreds of other girls and boys like you, looking for more and then repeatedly being let down. 

You would transfer, if you could.

“I was thinking we could go to the Three Broomsticks tonight.” Hermione bounces, looking between you and her two other friends.

Hermione’s the only real friend that you’ve managed to keep this year. The other friendships that you’ve taken years to perfect have all vanished into thin air. It must have something to do with them being afraid that your troublesome behavior is contagious. At least, that’s what you like to think, because they all stopped coming around when you began to skip class.

You can’t explain just how weird it is to go from being the most popular student in ravenclaw, to being not talked about at all. They were proud to call you one of them because of your test scores and excellent behavior, but it took a sharp turn when you no longer followed the criteria of the house.

You thought that shit would only happen with the slytherin’s—you suppose betrayal can happen anywhere.

When it comes to Hermione, though, she can’t bring herself to care. She can see why you skip class to cause discussion with your Professors, but she always turns her nose up when you mention detention. It’s an idea that’s never crossed her mind once, and it didn’t cross yours for a while, either.

Besides, she’s friends with Ron and Harry, who are friends of yours by association. The two of them are always getting in trouble, whether they mean to or not. She had to let go of the fact that you had unintentionally turned into one of them, without ever meeting them before.

Actually, that’s not entirely true. You’ve had a few conversations with the two of them, none of them were meaningful enough to remember.

“Sounds good,” Harry says, “Are we going to be studying again…?”

Ron makes a noise, “Please, no.”

“Yes, we are. There’s going to be another round of tests. The Professors warned us about this last week. We need to be ready.” She says.

“Hermione, I think you and (Y/n) are the only ones that care.” Ron says.

“I don’t need to study.” You give him a look, “And you should care. If your grade drops any lower, I think they’re going to kick you off the quidditch team.” 

“They won’t.” Harry says.

“I don’t care, anyway.” Ron rolls his eyes, “Let them try.”

Hermione places her hand on Ron’s shoulder, tilting her head, “I care.”

You bite down on the inside of your cheek, suppressing the urge to slap her hand off of him. Or better, get that look off of her face, “I can’t go.”

“Why?” She pulls her hand away, a frown appearing.

“I got detention.” You lie, crossing your arms and looking away.

“What? When? I thought you said you were going to stop skipping.” Hermione says.

“It was last week,” You say, “And I said I wouldn’t do it as often, not that I would stop altogether.”

You share a look with Hermione, and she doesn’t seem very happy. You’re not sure what she wants from you, exactly. You might be lying to her about having detention, but you did say that you would try. If you stop, then that gives them the impression that you’ve given up. And you’re not a quitter.

You wouldn’t mind going to the Three Broomsticks tonight, it’s just that you’re not really in the mood to watch her be all touchy with Ron for the rest of the night.

“Is something wrong?” She finally asks.

“Nope, I’m fine. I should go, I’m going to be late.” You stop walking, “I’ll see you guys later?”

“You can’t meet us there?” Harry asks.

“I’m making up a test. That’s why the detention was postponed for so long.” You shrug, “I’m going to head back to my dorm when I’m done.”

“Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find us.” Ron waves, you lift your hand.

You turn around, heading the direction you came from. There’s no doubt that Hermione caught on to the lie towards the end. If it weren’t for you, she would be the top student in your grade. You don’t think you’ve ever seen someone pick apart a sentence so thoroughly before.

You make it through two hallways before you hear your name being called. When you look over your shoulder, you’re met with Hermione. “You’re not actually heading to detention, are you?”

“I am.” You squint at her.

“Really? What class?”

“Snape’s.”

“Snape doesn’t have his detentions on Wednesday’s.”

“I have to make up a test. The deadline is soon.”

“He couldn’t have done it yesterday?”

“I don’t know, I don’t make the schedules, I just show up.” 

“You wouldn’t mind me walking you there, then?” 

Your eyebrows twitch. You should’ve known she’d do this.

“What’s the purpose of that?”

“To make sure you get there.” 

You press your lips together, “You don’t believe me.”

“No, I don’t. Snape was very specific at the beginning of the year that he’d make no exceptions.”

“It’s not an exception if he organized it, right?”

“Let’s go.” She begins walking, and you walk behind her a few steps.

You shake your head, “What are Ron and Harry doing?”

“They’re going to meet me there.”

You sigh, “Why are you doing this?”

“To make sure you’re telling the truth.”

“Am I not trustworthy to you?” You ask her, “And even if I’m lying, don’t you think I’d be doing it for a reason?”

She scoffs, “Humor me by telling me what that reason might be.”

“Maybe the fact that I can’t stand to see you so touchy with Ron.” You spit, she keeps moving for a second, before she stops to look at you.

“Why would that matter to you?” She asks, “You’re lying to get away from me, so you can’t care that much.”

“Take a guess, Hermione.” You grit your teeth.

You watch her think over it, and slowly, you’re able to watch the color flood her cheeks at the realization. There’s only one reason that it would make sense for you to try and distance yourself from her, and it’s the same reaction that a lot of people would have if the person they liked didn’t feel the same way.

“Oh.” She murmurs, “Okay.”

You raise your eyebrows, “That’s it?”

“No, well, yes,” She smiles nervously, “You feel the same way that I do.”

[arliedraws]

I find it many things weird in Harry Potter, in general the plot holes are everywhere and things when you think about them just don't make much sense, even in storytelling perspective, and consistency.

One thing that I find appalling is how Sirius didn't notice the scarring on Harry's hand, from Umbridges lines. It's established canonically they're lasting scars. Sirius already had to watch from the literal shadows how Harry was enrolled in that tournament, already fearing for his godsons life bc he suspected Voldemort was involved. How couldn't any responsible guardian, not notice Harry was physically abused, again, under Dumbledores nose, but away from Sirius direct influence to be able to do anything. Then on top of that, Snape is gonna to do the occlumensy lessons, and while Sirius knew that was necessary, I mean, he was outraged when he heared Snape stopped it, but ok, he let it all slide? If I were Sirius I would have pulled Harry out myself for that year, enough is enough. If Dumbledores presence didn't prevent Harry's suffering, in fact his choices add to Harry's real physical abuse (Dursleys, certain teachers). Sirius could educate Harry theoretical until Umbridge was gone. Harrry was save enough in Grimmauld during christmas and the summer so why not.

Its like those I mustn't tell lies scars only are there when needed and then forgotten during times of the plot supporting characters might have reacted to them, like Sirius or whomever. Sirius is a genius wizard but can't turn into an unassuming anonymous figure to go outside, like Hermione did to Ron's features with just her wand and spells in b7, negating need for polyjuice, it's his dog form or permanent housearrest (which leads to disintegration of his mind /character and then he dies)

At some point I'm really suspect this is character driven anymore and just JKs incompetence to consistently implement Sirius's character. Like you already said somewhere here, he is a miracle character. Too clever, too bright, too loyal to continue in the story JK wanted to tell like you said somewhere before. I have a feeling JK didn't know what to do with Sirius, denigrated him and his character and then killed him off. His best role at the end to fulfill is to reinforce Harry's suffering and loneliness it seems, while Sirius actually was the main hope of Harry in the heart of the series. So meaningless!

While I love character metas, I think JK is a meanspirited woman, I always had that notion bc she reacted in some ways, even before the whole modern eh, shenanigans. And that meanness, pettiness and inconclusive attitude reflect in hps worldbuilding.

I agree with several points here!

If Sirius had been in a better mental space, I agree that he would have noticed the scars from the blood quill. However, we could also interpret this as Sirius being exceptionally depressed. Now, I’m not defending JKR here, but one thing we do have to remember is that Sirius was a convicted murderer and Harry’s legal guardians were the Dursleys. Sirius literally has no say in what Harry does. Sirius is not a person with rights—in the eyes of the law, he is due to have his soul sucked out. Anytime Sirius makes a decision on Harry’s behalf, it’s a courtesy thing, not a legal guardian thing. Unfortunately. It’s gross to say, but legally, Molly has the same rights as Sirius to tell Harry what to do—which is, gross.

Also, sure, Sirius could go out of number 12 in disguise but he’s in hiding because he knows he can’t risk his own safety for Harry’s sake. Dumbledore has made it very clear that Sirius is not to leave, and frankly, by the way Harry believed he had to rescue Sirius, this was actually probably the right call. Sirius is the most important person to Harry (and likewise), and if Sirius were taken captive by either the Ministry or Voldemort, Harry would done something unwise (which…he did). I’m not arguing that this is how it should have gone down, but theoretically (if you ignore the importance of mental health and stability lol), this should have been the right call.

But the point is, Voldemort’s ability to manipulate people and destroy friendships is what killed Sirius. Voldemort manipulated Dumbledore who thought he was smarter than Voldemort; Dumbledore prioritized keeping Harry alive but sacrificed Sirius in the end. I do think JKR punishes Sirius for being smart and attractive (lol), calling him rash when he’s really…not, but I think it’s important to recognize that even the smartest, most caring people can make mistakes and overlook the pain of the people they love most.

I think Sirius is partially in denial about some of Harry’s struggles. As a man of action, Sirius’s inclination is to fix things, and when he cannot fix in the way he believes is necessary, he shuts down. He comes alive at the end of OotP when he is able to help in the way he wants—and then JKR kills him for it lol.

Anyway, just some thoughts. I don’t actually think Sirius was behaving out-of-character, but I think JKR was unmerciful in putting this fictional character into situations that brought out the worst in him because it served the plot. Just my two cents though!

[seriousbrat]

I think the part where Snape was suspended upside down and his underwear was shown, and Lily’s face twitched like she was going to smile, is really blown out of proportion. People exaggerate this moment, saying she outright laughed at Snape while he was being humiliated by his abusers and claim that a ‘real friend’ wouldn’t have done that. Then they compare her to Ron and Hermione, saying they would have adequately and forcefully protected Harry, and I honestly find this take bizarre.

First of all, that face twitch? It was a moment of complexity in Lily’s character, a suppressed smile, and in my interpretation: a fleeting moment of schadenfreude. It showed that Lily was human. She couldn’t control her emotions in that second, and honestly, it makes sense given the context. Snape was associating with people who wanted to be Death Eaters, going against her values, and she was clearly getting emotionally distanced from him. She was tired of his behavior, and a moment like that, where there’s a hint of vindication, is a flaw but completely understandable. But despite whatever fleeting feeling she might have had in that instant, Lily still chose to act on her morals and values. She defended Snape publicly and de-escalated the situation without resorting to violence. People are mad she didn’t use force, but violence isn’t the only way to stand up for someone, and she did what she could to stop the bullying. She acted with integrity and stood up for what was right, even as her friendship with Snape was deteriorating.

The comparison to Ron and Hermione doesn’t hold up, either. Ron and Hermione had a strong, healthy fully functional friendship with Harry—they shared the same values, trusted each other completely, and always had each other’s backs. That’s completely different from Lily and Snape’s relationship in their fifth year, which was crumbling because of Snape’s choices. You can’t compare a healthy friendship to a dysfunctional one to argue that Lily wasn’t a good friend.

Lily was a great friend to Snape. She defended him repeatedly, stood by him, and even stayed loyal to him to a fault. She was willing to ignore red flags for the sake of their friendship for as long as she could. She literally stayed delusional for him. That’s loyalty. So, I really don’t get the hate for her. People blow that one face twitch out of proportion and erase all the good she did for Snape just to push a narrative, and it’s not fair.

I completely agree haha, I call it the 'infamous Lily Evans nonsmile' because I always seem to have to point out that she didn't actually smile, she had a momentary impulse that she quickly got under control.

The important thing in that situation isn't Lily's involuntary reactions nor her subconscious thoughts. It's her actions, and whether or not she briefly found it funny despite herself doesn't matter as much as the fact that what she chose to do was defend him. Anyway, Sev's impulse was to call his best friend a slur and he actually did it, so that's much worse than your expression slipping momentarily imo. But what do I know

The 'why didn't she attack James and Sirius' thing is equally ridiculous lol, like idk why people expect Lily to have gone rambo on them. Most people don't naturally react with violence and Lily was trying to defuse a situation that was already violent. I think she did the right thing personally.

[thereisnolumos]

Want to discuss(or more like vent) about how horrible a character ron weasley is? Both in general and just how badly written he is. Also what's your opinion of Ginny Weasley? I dislike her character too and I think shes badly written.

I’m always ready to bash the Ronald Weasley👌🏼

1) He’s misogynistic to every single woman he meets (maaaaybee except McGonagall, but he’s scared of her, soooo…). Literally, he slutshames his sister for kissing a boy (she wasn’t even doing it in public, not that it would’ve justified his behavior), thinks of women in terms of “fuckable/dateble/attractive” only, is only ever nice to Hermione when he either needs smth from her, or against Snape. And his hatred towards Snape plays a much bigger role here.

2) He’s basically useless in the story. Except for the chess game in PS he isn’t needed for the story to progress. Everything he does can be easily done by pretty much any other character. And better so.

3) He’s stupid. Like extremely so. Many characters are not excelling at school, but are smart otherwise. Or they’re not excelling simply bcs they don’t try that much/don’t care. But he’s struggling even when focused and determined and is stupid overall in life. Neither a book smart, nor a street smart going for him. He doesn’t even have his own aspirations in life, it’s constantly a repeat of someone else’s. He wants to play quidditch not because he’s good at it (he’s almost terrible) or he likes it a lot, but because all the brothers he liked (sorry Percy, I like you a lot) played it, because Harry plays it. He chooses the same subjects as Harry before 3rd year (I actually don’t remember whom chose first, but I’m pretty sure it was done randomly), chooses the same profession on 5th year, etc. He’s never his own person, he’s barely a person for his written as “a best friend” and his lousy even at this

4) He’s a bad friend. He’s constantly jealous and allows it to take over him on multiple occasions. He refuses to acknowledge people’s trauma and problems. This goes to all Weasley’s except for Percy, who at least noticed smth was off: they didn’t fucking notice their little sister was POSSESSED for an entire year. A+ family…

I can continue, but I’d like to see your points:)

Ginny… I think she has a potential of becoming a cool character, but she wasn’t. She was written to be with Harry and be awesome at quidditch (which was what made him notice her, so…) But I can see how she can be a great character in fandom with necessary changes. Ron cannot be a good character, unless you scrape everything clean and start over, so it won’t be him anymore.

JKR cannot write women to save her life due to her misogyny. In her eyes, the only good quality a woman can have is being a mother…

But I agree, that Ginny and Harry probably won’t make it as couple. They’re too young, both waaay too traumatized. My headcanon is that they date again after the war is over, and while they’re rebuilding Hogwarts, finish their education there, all that. But then Harry decides to leave the country for a while (a long while) and they just separate, no hard feelings. Their lives move in different directions but they remain friends.

(I also have a headcanon that Ron never returned in DH, because that plot made no sense and was written simply because JKR wrote that, with no substance under it)

[phoebe-delia]

One Day More (Harry Potter Version)

Okay I have written a little HP-themed parody of "One Day More" from Les Miserables. Because it wouldn't leave my mind once I thought of it.

I'm sorry if this doesn't make much sense to read over text, especially the ending since it's technically a bunch of characters singing their parts until they all come together for the last few lines. If you're not familiar with Les Mis I suggest you listen to the song before you try to read the lyrics.

ALSO a few notes here. I have put commas and dashes in order to indicate the rhythm at which certain words are said to fit with the timing/rhythm of the original lyrics, if that makes any sense. Also this IGNORES some of canon. Dumbledore is alive, and I basically just sorta wrote what I wanted without regard for what had actually *happened* on the day before the war.

Also, yes, this takes place (in my AU) the day before the final battle.

Here's a link to the original song.

[Dumbledore:] One day more A day that divination long forebode

The seeds I planted then will now be sowed. The orphaned babe from decades past

Will fin'lly fill his fate at last One day more [Harry:]

My life-long war could be near end

Will—I-see-days, beyond tomorrow? [Dumbledore:] One day more [Ron & Hermione:]

How long we wasted in denial

But what, is left I’ll share entirely

[Draco:] How have months undone my life? [Ron & Hermione:] I regret the pain I’ve caused [Draco:] How’s my enemy my hero? [Ron & Hermione:] All the pride I let consume [Draco:]

Could it be I’ve been so wrong? [Ron & Hermione:] I will fight here by your side [Draco:] Could he ever take my hand? [Remus:]

I’ll avenge them one by one

[Harry:]

All I’ve done has led to now

[Remus:]

But their deaths won’t be in vain

[Harry:]

I will do what’s right and just

[Remus:]

Victory now won’t bring them back

[Harry:]

Riddle’s reign will end with me

[Remus:] But my marauders fight with me! [All:] The time is now The day is here [Dumbledore:] One day more! [Voldemort:] One more day till I’m triumphant

I’ll be on my well-earned throne

They are foolish child fighters

They will soon learn to obey [Dumbledore:] One day more! [Bellatrix & Greyback:] Little tyrant tykes

Screamin’ for their mums

Fun to teach ‘em lessons

About who’s in charge Spook ‘em with a sneer

Hit ‘em with a hex See ‘em runnin, squealin

Like a pen of pigs! [The D.A. Students:]

This is not a war we started

This is not a fight we chose

But if they won’t lend an ear

We will shout our battle cries

This ends with our generation

Evil won’t win on our watch

Stand your ground and raise your wands

[Harry:] My place is here I fight with you! [Dumbledore:] One day more!

[[ALL SUNG AT THE SAME TIME]]

[Ron & Hermione:]

How long we wasted in denial

I swear I’ll never leave your side

And all the time I’ve got I’ll give you [Draco:] Could he ever take my hand? [Voldemort:]

I will finally kill that Potter

Now his luck is all run out

They will see that he’s no hero

They will worship me instead [Dumbledore:] One day more! [Bellatrix & Greyback:] Little tyrant tykes

Screamin’ for their mums

Fun to teach ‘em lessons

About who’s in charge [Voldemort:] One more day till I’m triumphant

I’ll be on my well-earned throne

They are foolish child fighters Tomorrow fills the prophecy [Dumbledore:] Tomorrow is the fated day Tomorrow fills the prophecy [All:] Tomorrow nothing that we’ve known will ever be the same again One more fight One more war One day more!

[bonaesperanza]

Omg I feel the same about Cordelia. I love her both in shards of honor and barrayar, but in the other books she suddenly feels out of character. Especially when we get her as a main character again in gentleman jole and the red queen.

So to be fair to Cordelia, it's entirely plausible that she changed and grew in the 18ish years between Barrayar and Warrior's Apprentice, so her change doesn't make her character as incoherent as Hermione's. At least not to me.

Her life on Beta probably didn't require all that much in the way of social skills - she got promoted based on her hard skills, her social life was abysmal and she was sort of the patsy with her old boyfriend who took advantage of her. Some combo of being thrust into the apex of Barrayaran politics and having a supporter and cheerleader in Aral and maintaining a loving marriage for almost two decades could have helped her make virtue out of necessity and acquire better ones (if there's anything we know about Cordelia it's that she's always ready to learn).

And to be fair, the seeds of where Bujold would take her character were always there: she resolves the Kou and Drou miscommunication issue in Barrayar, and she resolves several other plot points by being kind to people who then become loyal to her and useful to her causes. This last one isn't quite the same trope, it's a different trope that I actually love in which a character is basically the human embodiment of the Strength tarot card, gently putting their hand into the mouth of the beast so to speak, but it's close enough because her power is still being kind and touchy feely with dangerous people.

And like, I get the appeal of where her character goes - it's basically a kind autistic person's power fantasy: you sit everyone down and you explain the facts of the situation to them and they are perfectly rational about it and see that you're totally right and this fixes all of their issues (and Lois herself admits that it's a power fantasy in a Goodreads ask). Things don't work that way IRL but who cares! It's a power fantasy! It's not meant to be realistic and I don't want to shit on it just because it's not MY power fantasy! As long as it gratifies the target audience we're good!

But I'm just so so allergic to this trope that I hate it even when it makes sense within the plot. Seeing it even in trace amounts makes me break out in hives. For me it's the most boring direction you could have taken Cordelia's character in. Scientist, soldier, etc. and her role is to give love advice 80% of the time?

And the sexist coding of it just feels so oppressive!

I understand that Lois was interested in exploring ideas related to soft power and the way women wielded it historically, and had this been done with a character that was inclined towards it from the start I would have eaten it up (I'm a big Padme Amidala fan, and she's a kind feminine politician who's also a human embodiment of the Strength tarot card), but when it's a woman who used to have her other personality traits highlighted and is then crammed into this role (alongside basically every other prominent female character in the series) it drives me crazy.

And you know, for me the problem with the empowering soft power approach is, like, what about the women like Cordelia used to be? The women who have no social graces and aren't really interested in learning any because they have other interests they're pursuing? They're basically fucked.

If a man wants to go for a subtler, soft power approach he can still get his, fuck, that's Odysseus, or any other guile hero, whereas a woman can't opt for the more overt approach if an entire society is actively against it, even if it suits her personality better. Not all women are naturally inclined towards being good with feelings or are even able to become so!

Funnily enough, your YA trash targeted at women, your Shatter Mes and Divergents and ACOTARs, seem to be better at avoiding this trope than most: there the women are allowed to be clueless about relationships and awkward and clumsy, and the agony aunt is usually a separate, supporting character. Because it's a different kind of power fantasy, that of being attractive to several hot people despite the poor social skills.

And Cordelia seems to be trading in that one at the beginning - awkward meet cute with Aral, oversharing, lack of traditional femininity, frankly pathetic life story of always being the awkward loser, etc. - but then does a sort of bait and switch, and that's probably also a part of where the annoying part lies for me specifically and where the series lost me with her character.

Also, I actually liked her in Gentleman Jole because she's just so exasperated and lowkey angry most of the time. She's annoyed with politics she's annoyed with Miles she's annoyed with everything that's stopping her from doing what she wants all the time and I loved that. She also comes off as arrogant AF, which I thought was A+ characterization because a person DOES need to be arrogant AF to be constantly sitting people down and telling them what to do with their lives. It feels like an organic part of her character that's been put there deliberately and thoughtfully. It makes her feel real and 3D, at least to me.

[saintsenara]

HOWLING at the reaction pic... no, because madam, I am not usually a tomarry girlie, and I was recommended your (utterly excellent) murder mystery, "one year in every ten" with the promise of a wonderful Ron (a promise that was fulfilled) and I came out of it being completely tomarrypilled but also, I don't know if your readers have already pointed this out to you, but your Ron and your Tom also have nastily good chemistry... especially in that one part where they have a heart-to-heart about loving Harry. And then I looked at your blog because what else do you do when you're a fan. And well. All I have to say is you're right about Ron being kind of Mother and you're Right that it's compelling. Sorry for the absolute mess that is this ask. Happy St. Paddy's!

anon, tom is shaking at the suggestion that he has actually admitted to loving harry at any point in the entire proceedings.

look, we know that ron's canonically not immune to the charms of thin, dark-haired men [kron nation rise up!], and i will die on the hill that lord voldemort isn't immune to the charms of gingers with a cracking pair of baby blues either [after all, why would he be so obsessed with dumbledore if he wasn't?], so i will roll around with glee in the idea that the combined forces of ronmort are going to enjoy messing with harry for the rest of time - in the one year in every ten universe, at least - by flirting with each other across the kitchen table in grimmauld place.

but ron's still going to remain a committed wife guy. obviously. hermione's getting treated right even when they're centenarians.

[lord, i have seen what you have done for others...]

my more serious point is that i'm always very interested by the fact that i get a lot of furious comments from people who have apparently read through 200,000 words of explicit-rated tomarry and been shocked to discover that the tomarry is explicit, who really take issue with the idea that ron's extraordinary love for harry might motivate him to try and understand just what exactly his friend might see in the dark lord.

and yet nobody ever says the same about hermione.

there does seem to be a general idea i notice in tomarry fics that hermione would be far more amenable to harry hooking up with a man who was obsessed with killing him than ron [also a theme i notice in other harry-centric slash pairings like drarry and snarry].

but i'm afraid i do just sincerely believe that ron would love harry enough that he'd be the first of the granger-weasleys to make the effort, and that he would discover in doing so that - since harry and tom are narrative mirrors - he, as harry's best friend... is going to quite like tom as well.

and, certainly that he's going to recognise that all of the things which ron is canonically shown to be really attuned to with harry - his grief, the weight of his orphanhood, the desire he has to belong to a family - also exist in spades in tom. one of ron's most underrated traits - especially within a fandom which likes to focus exclusively on his more negative characteristics - is that he is extraordinarily welcoming in that familial sense, that he clearly believes quite strongly in the idea that everything he and harry and hermione go through has given them a bond which is not only thicker than water but thicker than blood and will endure through anything. he is - and i'll die on this hill - the tomarry girly's secret weapon, and i love to see him get the respect he deserves in our little corner of the fandom.

and i also think that it's not only this version of tom [who is, of course, slightly saner than he is sometimes found...] who would like him - ron has lots of traits the canonical voldemort values, above all his loyalty, but also his pragmatism, his daring streak, and his intuition.

they make quite a formidable pairing. i can already tell harry regrets it.

[can i just also say that i continue to be delighted by the sheer number of people who tell me that one year in every ten is the first time they've read tomarry, or that they've tried it despite not being a fan of the pairing usually.]

[any and all engagement with fic is extraordinarily generous - obviously - but there's an extra layer of generosity in being willing to go in with an open mind to a pairing which might not immediately make sense to you which i really respect. i have encountered, as i'm sure many of us have, a great deal of the fandom's more narrow-minded denizens clutching their pearls at the idea that tomarry isn't automatically unpleasant or implausible, in a way which can often feel fairly demotivating as someone who thinks that it isn't in any meaningful sense a crack ship.]

[this is a very welcome reminder of the fact that far more people exist outside of this view than in it, and i shall never stop being grateful.]

[ifyouknowmenahyoudontt]

canon sucks in the sense that there should be more characters of color than we can count on our fingers, more canonically queer characters, more disabled or neurodivergent characters. not everyone should be cishet, white, and neurotypical. ( and the "erm but actually dumbledore was gay and hermione was black!" bullshit doesn't satisfy this ) and i applaud the old fans for getting over the old faceclaims ( aaron taylor johnson, andrew garfield, ben barnes... i salute the many edits of them ) and the new age fandom for keeping up the poc headcanons!!

canon sucks in the sense that while we can have complex characters, morally grey leaning dark characters, those characters should not try to be slotted into "good or bad." those characters shouldn't have very brief redemptions that suddenly make them heroes and epic good guys after entire books of assholery and even bigotry. two guesses as to who i'm talking about here!

canon does not suck in the "my favorite character may have maybe a sentence of plot relevance doesn't get enough attention, so i'm going to ignore all the canon things that point to them being a bigot and instead woobify them and try to make them more important than they actually were" way.

like, fanon regulus black my ABHORRED. while he wasn't abused himself, was canonically the favorite of his parents because he aligned with their ideals, it's interesting to explore sirius' complicated thoughts on his little brother. one that many mistreated and abused older siblings have when it comes to their younger- could i have done more, could i have saved him, changed him, etc. but acting like regulus wouldn't have hated his guts and wanted sirius dead, literally became a death eater and fully agreed with voldemort's ideals?? did we read the same books?

and canon does not suck in the "i'm going to take these cool complex characters and dumb them down to a single personality trait or stereotype, and pretend they're not a complex person with flaws" way.

like, i love james and sirius, literally my favorite characters! they were not always the good guys. canonically, even if he turned out to be an exponentially worse person, they were the villains in someone's story. they used to be bullies, just for the sake of it. they used to be asshole teenage boys with big egos and privilege ( both coming from wealthy pureblood households ). and they don't have to use that privilege AGAINST anyone! they obviously wouldn't, both of them are considered "blood traitors" for a reason ( james marrying a muggleborn and sirius even associating with james and lily and remus ).

it's so much more interesting to explore how they would have been as privileged little dickheads in the 70s in the midst of war, rather than "sunshine himbo james" and "femboy twink sirius" ( or if we wanna go back to old fandom shit, "sexy, lady-killer, has fucked everyone and their mom sirius" ). i also just hate "big sexy strict alpha remus," i can stand him being sarcastic because it's funny but i can't with people who take away his shyness and kindness. give us quiet bookworm remus back PLEASSEEE

even peter, and i used to be a victim of this as well- THEY LIKED HIM! peter was a marauder, he was part of the group, he was their best friend too. i understand people who try to erase him altogether just out of hating him, but those who pretend that james, sirius, and remus didn't care for him are just wrong. it's okay to not like a character, but don't rewrite canon in a way that fully fucks up the story. peter's betrayal sucked from all angles, because he was their friend too.

and reading what you and multiple other people have said about lily is so right, she gets the "jealous straight girl that wants james but HATES REGULUS for stealing jamie!!" treatment, or is just cast out altogether. like, sorry, who did harry get his striking green eyes from? who brought him into the goddamn world? james sure as hell didn't do it alone, and last i checked, regulus was dead by then if we wanna be real about it.

this turned out to be an insane rant, SO sorry, but hp is my special interest and i LOVE the marauders era just as much as i love the golden trio era. they're interesting to explore as characters, ESPECIALLY james, in the same way a lot of people like rose quartz from steven universe? he's spoken about as this infamous, talented, really good dude who died protecting his wife and son and helped bring upon the savior of the wizarding world. but he was also like a huge asshole when he was in school, and harry probably would have hated to meet james and sirius from back then! but people dumb all of them down in the marauders era works just because we don't get explicit descriptions or tellings of what they were like. and it's so annoying!!

i strongly agree with this.

tbh regulus being one of the most popular character speaks a lot about this fandom. bigotry is a broad term and those who criticize JKR (rightfully tho) but go on again to do that to women? or the poc? hypocritical

and the fanon remus thing pisses me off so bad because the point of his character was that he was a soft and sensitive person contrasting with his “condition”!!!! he was human!!!!!!

i agree w this sm

[gemsofgreece]

https://twitter.com/FreshSummerWind/status/1623961164416688130?t=yNPRu014GXgk50jAvxCIXg&s=19

It's a small clip but as a Greek i didn't know that this man did it to Sparta and other regions in Greece..i mean why does it brought him joy destroying ancient ruins? For what? France? It makes no sense and it's sad because they took advantage of Greece being occupied by the ottomans back then they did as they pleased.

Call it envy? Jealousy? I have no idea why destroy history. Thankfully now archeologists fixed many ruins but still..

So when I first saw this, I was convinced it was some hoax, because I couldn’t wrap my head around it. But no. It really is true. I searched Wikipedia about this asshole.

The video is about French priest Michel Fourmont (1690–1746).

“He was one of the scholars sent by Louis XV to the eastern Mediterranean to collect Byzantine inscriptions and manuscripts. He is now best remembered (what a phrasing, wiki) for the destruction of antiquities in Ancient Sparta and for having presented as genuine some forged inscriptions.

Fourmont made collecting ancient Greek inscriptions his primary focus. Fourmont would report to Count Maurepas that he copied 1,500 ancient inscriptions (300 in Sparta). His technique was brutally direct. Workmen were hired to dismantle any structure that might contain ancient stones with letters on them. Fourmont reported paying 1,200 man-days of labour to dismantle monuments in search of ancient marbles. In a letter to Bignon dated 20 April 1730, Fourmont wrote:

For more a month, although ill, I am working with 30 laborers for the complete destruction of Sparta; hardly a day goes by without finding something, and some days have produced as many as 20 inscriptions. If I could do at Tegea, Antigonia (Mantineia), Nemea and one or two other cities what I have done at Hermione, Troezen, and Sparta, it wouldn't be necessary to send anyone here. There would be nothing left. I have not been able to knock down the remains of the former places, because of the plague, without which they would be totally destroyed. For lack of books, these destructions shall be the only way to make illustrious a voyage which has caused such a stir. (…) Speaking frankly, I myself am astonished at this expedition. I have read nowhere that, since the restoration of literature, anyone has had the idea of turning whole cities upside down to find these marbles, which are the only irreproachable evidence of antiquity, the only things capable of shedding light on the dark corners of history, of the administration and religion of ancient peoples. Only in this manner can one contribute usefully to science. So convinced am I that Sparta is the fifth city of the Morea I have destroyed. Hermione and Troezen have had the same fate. I have not spared Argos, Phliasia, and some others. I am currently working to dismantle the temple of Amyclaean Apollo down to the foundation stone. Every day one finds things you will be pleased to see. ... I would destroy others with the same ease if I were left to do so.

Fourmont was called back to France before he could visit ancient Olympia as planned. (Thank God). Later travelers to Greece were horrified at Fourmont's descriptions of the ancient monuments he destroyed. Fourmont is alleged to have written in one of his letters that he had destroyed certain inscriptions after transcribing them. The British traveler Edward Dodwell reported that when he visited Sparta (in 1806) he was shown marbles that Fourmont had mutilated so as to make their inscriptions illegible. That some of Fourmont's most important inscriptions from Amyclae could not be relocated helped fuel scholarly suspicions that he had either forged or seriously misrepresented the inscriptions he reported.”

Like, this is an actual person that existed. Not a Disney villain.

And for some visual context:

What’s left of Ancient Sparta

Ancient Hermione

Ancient Troezen

In case you wondered why mighty and famed Argos isn’t a better known archaeological attraction like others, apparently we have this gent to thank

[iamnmbr3]

Hi again :)

Two questions actually:

First why didn't Lucius buy Draco another broom? I know JKR meant for Harry to have the bestest broom ever but I wonder why Draco never got a broom upgrade? His parents can afford it and I dont see why Lucius would deny his son a faster broom. Especially after he became prefect.

Second, why exactly is Harry so obsessed with Draco early on? Its obvious why Draco goes after Harry given he is famous and all. But why the other way around? Before Draco ever really did anything to hurt him, he was putting Draco on the same level as his abusive cousin, which makes no sense, and getting all angry at Draco getting care packages. What's his problem? Why pay this rich kid so much attention??

Hello! :D Once again, thank you for your patience. This was a cool ask so I wanted to do it justice.

1)

On your first point, I think a couple of factors are at play, but basically Lucius was probably feeling a bit fed up at that point and also he quickly had other things on his mind due to Voldemort's return. What do I mean by that? Well, in second year he already seems annoyed with Draco for coming second to Hermione in school and is kind of Done TM with hearing Draco talk about or complain about Harry (to be fair Draco did seemingly spend the whole summer doing this). Then he goes out and gets Draco on the Quidditch team and buys the entire team really good brooms. And Draco STILL loses to Harry (though only just). And presumably still comes second to Hermione in school. I think Lucius might've been less than pleased with this.

Plus, Draco's more of a talker than a doer. Yeah he complains about Hermione but he doesn't actually do anything to her because of his aversion to violence. If Lucius and his Death Eater buddies had got ahold of her at the Quidditch Cup they wouldn't have insulted her. They would have hurt her. And they would have enjoyed it. Draco would not have the stomach for that, and Lucius might already be beginning to suspect that. Not to mention, Lucius actually doesn't approve of Draco's open rivalry with Harry. He feels that it is smarter to at least pretend (at this stage) to like Harry since openly seeming anything other than grateful for Voldemort's fall is unwise politically. Draco of course is incapable of leaving Harry alone since if he can't be in Harry's life as his friend he's determined to be in his life as his Nemesis TM. Lucius probably views this as shortsighted and is likely annoyed by it.

Furthermore, the Firebolt is REALLY expensive. Even Harry, with all his wealth, decides it would be unwise to buy it. I mean, it's not really something you would usually use for a school team. It's what professionals at the Quidditch Cup use. So after buying a whole team's worth of brooms and being a bit displeased with Draco, Lucius may not be in the mood to get him something so fancy. Still, Lucius might have bought it for Draco eventually but let's remember the timing. Harry gets the broom midway through third year. Lucius doesn't feel inclined to rush out that minute and buy Draco a new broom (again).

And then fourth year rolls around. The Triwizard Tournament means there's no Quidditch so there's no point. Plus Lucius is probably distracted by the fact that his Dark Mark is getting clearer every day and oh no what if Voldemort isn't actually dead? What if he comes back? What if he's mad at all the people who didn't stay faithful to him...?

And then Voldemort DOES come back. And Lucius has...so many problems. First he has to tell Voldemort that he kinda sorta might've lost his diary. Whoopsie. And that...does not go well. then he's busy trying to stay alive and un-tortured and trying to regain Voldemort's favor during fifth year. And then he gets caught at the Department of Mysteries and arrested. Probably broom buying is the last thing on his mind.

2)

(First, as an aside, I don't know that Draco's interest in Harry is purely based on his fame. I mean, he tries to befriend and impress Harry in Madam Malkin's before he even knows who he is.) But anyway, both of them seem to be mutually drawn to each other even though their relationship is an acrimonious one almost from the beginning. Yes, Harry almost immediately takes a dislike to Draco. But he's also very aware of him. And that...never stops.

I'm not sure I would say that Harry exactly puts Draco on the same level as Dudley, but he is immediately reminded of Dudley due to Draco's boasting. Draco speaks in a way that makes Harry think he is spoiled and privileged...like Dudley. Draco also declares he'll bully his father into getting him a broom. This is a boast because he's trying to show off to impress Harry.

Lucius and Narcissa are not Vernon and Petunia. They do a lot for Draco but they would never allow him to push them around the way Dudley does his parents. Harry doesn't know this however, and takes Draco at his word which makes him draw a parallel to Dudley in his mind. Draco's bullying and bigoted behavior also further turns Harry against him. He's never afraid of Draco though in the way he is of Dudley, so the dynamic is different.

But yeah. Harry is...really hyper aware of Draco. Not because he's scared of him. But just because he can't seem to look away. They orbit and play off each other right from day one. Harry immediately recognizes Draco when he meets him again on the train (and Draco also remembers Harry right away). He watches Draco's sorting and where he goes to sit. He dreams of Draco his very first night.

I'm not sure Harry even knows why this is. There's just something about Draco that he's drawn to, even when they aren't friends, even when they are bitter rivals. They can never forget each other or look away from each other. Harry isn't like this with other people he dislikes. He's not like this about Zacharias Smith or Crabbe or Goyle or Michael Corner or Cormac McLaggen or even Snape or Voldemort.

There's something different with Draco. Something more. To me, that something is drarry.

[elvendorx]

Out of curiosity and because you write about them so beautifully, how do you think the HP characters we see (Harry, Ron, Hermione, Molly etc.) would react to seeing James and Sirius’ relationship in action? Like Harry upon learning the truth of Sirius comes to understand they were close but if he actually really got to see it in action? See how obsessed they are with each other? I think his brain might melt. Also, he might be kinda jelly cause him and Ron have some issues that turn into some pretty decent fights (GOF, DH) that I just can’t fathom happening with J/S.

hello and thank u! as usual i've taken your question and made it into a bigger question for myself because my answer is slightly different if we're thinking about harry who grew up with james and sirius around, vs harry in canon getting some retrospective understanding of how james and sirius were with each other (e.g. through the pensieve) so i'm answering both, oops :)

harry's introduction to james and sirius as friends is through the frame of sirius as his parents' eventual traitor, so from the get-go his understanding of their friendship is very intense and emotionally heightened. his parents being trustworthy people who were done wrong by a close friend just intensifies the tragedy of their death for him but also lifts them higher into harry's idealisation of them as Good People. even when he does believe sirius wasn't the traitor, sirius reinforces the full-on nature of his friendship, devotion, loyalty to james by telling harry "I would have died rather than betray them". so harry always knows how close james and sirius were. sirius maintains that intensity even 12 years later that harry overheard from mcgonnagal and hagrid, people he trusts, who tell him that james felt the same, fighting dumbledore on how much he trusted sirius.

that said, even though harry regularly notices james and sirius as a separate duo to remus and peter, throughout swm and in the photo in sirius' bedroom, i don't think he has any real sense of what james and sirius' friendship looked like in terms of shared activities etc outside of becoming animagi. seeing snape's worst memory changes this idea of their dynamic and he doesn't necessarily see that complete deferral to each other as positive in the way that maybe he could without knowing specifics. not that james and sirius' dynamic isn't positive in lots of way, but he gets a sense of the unpleasantness involved in the kind of boundless bond they created between themselves. he sees james' "sirius was the only one that james would stop showing off for" and he has "a slightly apologetic note in his voice" when he says to sirius:

"he just attacked Snape for no good reason, just because — well, just because you said you were bored".

that's where he gets that james and sirius would do things that he wouldn't in the same situation. harry wouldn't start a fight if ron said he was bored, because harry doesn't get pleasure from cruelty in the way that james and sirius did. it's a huge part of harry's story, recognising that those he admires do things that he doesn't admire and that people aren't black and white.

beyond that though, when he's used to the idea of his dad and sirius and dumbledore being flawed peop,e so i think harry understands james & sirius as the best example of a friendship with its own history and nuances. he has a very strong relationship with sirius independent of james, but at the same time sirius is a connection to his parents but in a way that makes him family, to harry himself and i think harry would sense that james & lily also felt that way about sirius because of james' parents being dead, lily's parents being dead and her difficult relationship with her sister, sirius being harry's rightful guardian in the event of their deaths. he accepts sirius as the person that james trusted the most and sirius becomes that for harry too, and i don't think he'd see anything unusual in it beyond them being reckless and cocky when they were younger.

if he grew up with them both in his life, i think it would be confirmation of the above and the general perception of james & sirius would continue along the understanding of james and sirius that the books - as brothers, or more broadly just as family. harry would grow up with sirius as family and james and sirius' relationship would be harry's baseline understanding of friendships, just very easy, seamless, fun, trusting, unconditional. harry would probably talk about "his dad and sirius" a lot so his friends would be very used to the idea of a james & sirius unit, would maybe be surprised that they weren't blood-related.

ron would probably be like "ah yeah they're like fred and george" and probably find them really fun, he'd love their stories from hogwarts and the things they did to snape & others, whereas it might sour hermione to them a bit. would they feel bad enough not to tell those stories post-hogwarts? i mean they knew they were wrong but sirius and remus downplay swm, james still fought with snape without lily's knowledge, so they'd probably tame them down and be careful who was around when they were telling them but they'd see it as their funny memory together more than a terrible thing they did? possibly a lot of harry and ron's arguments would smooth out if james & lily hadn't died because harry gets upset with ron taking his family for granted and ron gets annoyed at the attention harry gets and they would be largely non-issues in that case. it's hard to say, harry would be a different person (answering my own question here, apologies).

in wider circles, i think james & sirius would be highly regarded, trusted, they could have been an unappointed authority to others within the order, people who are recognised as capable and intelligent and whose opinion people would seek out and trust but i also think they would be a force to be reckoned with and a bit of an annoyance for others in certain situations where they insist on a certain plan and always stick together, potentially go rogue together when others disagree because they think they're right and they egg each other on in this. snape is extreme in his of james and sirius (not necessarily wrongly) but there would be others who would maybe be wary of them, who would see them as arrogant, reckless, irresponsible, maybe a cruel streak but also recognise them as capable. hermione can be more critical of sirius, she thinks he's selfish and wants harry to be expelled, she thinks his judgement is impaired by his loneliness, so I think she'd be critical of some of james & sirius' behaviour as a pair too. i think it's notable that harry doesn't tell ron and hermione about the scene he sees in the pensieve.

molly is the most likely to have a bit of a gossip and a snip ngl, probably all indignant about james spending a lot of time with sirius, making digs at sirius about giving james and lily space or something, rolling her eyes at something sirius has bought for harry (again), asking sirius why he doesn't find a nice girl to marry and stop bothering james & lily (i just can't envision james and lily staying together tho, they give me such young panicked war marriage vibes). i don't think it would bother sirius with james around, james would make a joke to diffuse it and sirius would moan about molly later to james and you wouldn't get so much of that snappy impulsive streak.

there might be other comments about them being close without anything malicious behind it from the order crew or whoever, you might get tonks like "you two are so in love" when they agree with each other or come to the rest of the order with a plan they've come up with together. i kind of love tonks and remus teaming up to tease james and sirius actually, that's very cute.

i hope i've actually answered what you were asking! let me know your thoughts too <3

[greenerteacups]

From "Weasley" to "Ronald": Nicknames in Lionheart

This is an entirely self-indulgent post about Lionheart, because a user named for_now on AO3 commented about Draco switching from "Weasley" to "Ronald" as a form of address for Ron in Book 4, and I got totally carried away ranting about my thought process. I didn't want to inflict it on that poor person's inbox, but I actually marked out a place on my outline where Draco starts calling Ron "Ronald," and it's at the Burrow, and I have Reasons for it!! So! I'm putting them out here.

The Importánce of Draco shifting to informal address with Ron is a sort of thematic emblem going into Book 4, because it telegraphs the broader scope of what's going on under the hood in Draco's brain. Draco is reluctant as a rule to use first names for the Gryffindors, less so in the later years than earlier on, but for certain people the habit just stuck — most obviously, "Granger" has become his nickname for Hermione because it's Special when he uses it, it's a Thing that they have. I think "Potter" is the same — he thinks about him as Harry, but Potter is DRACO'S nickname, it's what He Calls Him, and if he changed it then he'd be using the same name as everyone else. Conversely, he switches quickly to first names for his Slytherin friends, because it was much easier for him to get comfortable with them sooner, but that also means he doesn't have his Own names for them, which I think shows how he really feels about his Gryffindors. It's about possession, you know? It's about how giving something a name means taking it in.

Anyway, in that context, Draco coming to the Burrow is him being forced to reckon with Ron's personhood in a way he's never done before — he meets Ron's family, and he CAN'T call Ron "Weasley" anymore, because that name won't mean anything here. Both functionally and symbolically, he's having to acknowledge Ron's individuality. Because "Weasley" was never an affectionate nickname for Ron, like "Granger" or "Potter" was; in Draco's world, Weasley means something, there's a reputation attached to it, and it's not a good one. Calling him "Weasley" started as something derogatory, then became something neutral, and finally became unsustainable, because he was no longer distant enough from Ron and his family for it to make any sense. He's being brought closer — not just to Ron, but to the Weasleys in general, to their physical situation, to their social situation, to their beliefs, to their way of life. So he switches to "Ronald." (Not "Ron" — even for him, that's a bit too informal, and besides — well, nobody else calls him "Ronald," do they?)

And like, this is a broader theme in the context of Book 4, which is Draco's arc of shifting from a personal alignment with the Gryffindor Four to an explicitly political one. It's entirely possible to hold beliefs that contradict your actions, which is where Draco's at, vis-a-vis the muggle-born and blood traitor things, at the end of Book 3. He's come to care about his friends personally; he's learning to communicate that with them in ways they can understand, and voluntarily makes personal sacrifices to improve their lives, which is big growth and not an inconsiderable accomplishment; and he obviously sees them as people, but that's it. He never follows through on the actual consequences of them being real people for his ideology. So as the political gears and machinations of Book 4 kick into effect, he's having what is effectively a very drawn-out and painful come-to-Jesus moment about his whole way of life, the essence being that the personal and the political are not nearly as far apart as it seems when you're a kid. And the catalyst for that arc, in Book 4, is one Ronald motherfucking Weasley.