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dufferpuffer · 3 months ago

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~~ Looking at Lycanthropy ~~

Part 6: Pottermore and More

How 'canon' Pottermore (and other information outside the books) is differs between person-to-person. There's some additions I love, and some I wish I could remove from my memory... My view: if it doesn't conflict with the books and makes sense (or is simply pleasing) - then it may as well be considered canon... ...but there is still a meaningful distinction to be made for information from the story itself vs. additions made later or by other people. (Only new information and information I think is put in an interesting way.)

Looking at Lycanthropy (all parts)

Words: Approx. 12000 i think...?

Physical Symptoms (What they feel; what they do; what happens) Perceived Effects (What they look like to others; health focused) Social Perception (What people think; social situation) Self Perception (What the werewolf thinks about themselves) Potion/Other Treatment Information

--- --- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander Bloomsbury paperback – pg 92; Scholastic hardcover – pg 83

WEREWOLF M.O.M. Classification: XXXXX16 The werewolf is found worldwide, though it is believed to have originated in northern Europe. Humans turn into werewolves only when bitten. There is no known cure, though recent developments in potion-making have to a great extent alleviated the worst symptoms. Once a month, at the full moon, the otherwise sane and normal wizard or Muggle afflicted transforms into a murderous beast. Almost uniquely among fantastic creatures, the werewolf actively seeks humans in preference to any other kind of prey. 16 This classification refers, of course, to the werewolf in its transformed state. When there is no full moon, the werewolf is as harmless as any other human. For a heartrending account of one wizard's battle with lycanthropy, see the classic Hairy Snout, Human Heart by an anonymous author (Whizz Hard Books, 1975) Ministry of Magic (M.O.M.) Classifications Bloomsbury paperback – pg xxxvi; Scholastic hardcover – pg xxxv XXXXX = Known wizard killer/impossible to train or domesticate. XXXX = Dangerous/requires specialist knowledge/skilled skilled wizard may handle. XXX = Competent wizard should cope. XX = Harmless/may be domesticated X = Boring.

((This puts the transformed werewolf at the same threat level as (Bloomsbury paperback): the Acromantula, the Basilisk, Chimaera, Dragons, Horned Serpent, Lethifold, Manticore, Nundu (“This African beast is arguably the most dangerous in the world.”), Quintaped, Wampus Cat.))

- XXXXX classification doesn't mean they're as dangerous as a Nundu, or as strong as a Dragon – but they aren't to be underestimated. You aren't making friends via a hunk of steak and a bellyrub.

This rating suggests the Marauders may be some of the first people to discover that being an Animagi makes a werewolf passive - because surely, by technicality if anything, if that fact were well known then the M.O.M. Rating would be reduced to a XXXX? Because Wizards with certain skills CAN handle them: Animagi.

- Northern Europe... the image that brings to my mind are long winter nights, animals hibernating, 20hrs without sun... would that mean a werewolf on a winter Full Moon would spend that entire night transformed? Did Lycanthropy perhaps start as a sort of survival strategy? When food is low in the long, cold winters – a human gets a burst of magical energy to search for meat – like poor Buckbeak...? Maybe a starving werewolf is more likely to kill and eat its human prey, so in the winter they have more chance for food. In summer, when they don't need as much food, they spread the affliction.

- Werewolves seek humans in preference to other prey. Newt confirms Remus is a liar telling kids he is safe around non-humans... and makes it more confusing that skinny Sirius was enough to make him run away, when there was five defenseless humans to bite. Either he had some clarity-of-mind from taking most of his weeks Wolfsbane... or werewolves are less one-minded than people give them credit for, because that wasn't exactly XXXXX behaviour.

- Newt is sympathetic to the plight of werewolves – however, if he thinks Wolfsbane has 'to a great extent alleviated the worst symptoms.' then he is mistaken. It alleviates the symptoms that scare others most but the werewolf still suffers all the most grotesque and debilitating symptoms. (Love that he is continuing to make revisions of the book – Wolfsbane was only invented 1980ish or later.) - Newt is in the minority for thinking people afflicted by Lycanthropy are 'sane and normal'. - Good to have confirmation that Muggles can be werewolves. God, what a shocking introduction to the magical world... I doubt they'd be accepted into it. Shunned, pushed out – more for Greybacks communes...

There are books published about the experience of being a werewolf – but the author is anonymous? Damn. That says a lot. The author doesn't want to risk being revealed even when pushing for sympathy. (1975... I bet Albus got that book for Remus while he was at school. :^) )

--- --- The Tales of Beedle the Bard Bloomsbury hardcover – pg 60

More recently, the self-help book The Hairy Heart: A Guide to Wizards Who Won't Commit5 has topped bestseller lists. 5 Not to be confused with Hairy Snout, Human Heart, a heart-rending account of one man's struggle with lycanthropy.

For context: This is part of Dumbledores notes on “The Warlock's Hairy Heart” A hundreds-of-years-old story (pg 55) where a Warlock (clarified as being a Wizard with particular skill or achievement, in olden times especially in duelling; pg 57) decides, essentially, that Love will make him weak and thus removes his heart with a fictional Dark Magic (pg 45). His heart, kept safety locked away, grows hair from being outside of his body (pg 51). When returned to his chest it turns him into a 'violent animal', a deranged 'beast' that takes what he wants by force: a regular human heart again. (pg 52/53/54)

- Dumbledore likens the fictional act of removing ones heart – splitting their body in order to be invulnerable – to Horcrux, splitting ones soul in order to be immortal. (pg 58/59) However - while I don't think it is intended to be a story about Lycanthropy - there are parallels that might have influenced Wizarding culture and views. As he says on page 59/60: 'Though somewhat dated, the expression 'to have a hairy heart' has passed into everyday wizarding language to describe a cold or unfeeling witch or wizard.'

A 'hairy heart' is no longer human. Dark magic has twisted it. The wizard in the story, placing a hairy heart into his human body, killed a woman seeking her 'human' heart. He licked and stroked it, rather obscenely - hoping to exchange it for his own... killing himself in the process. (pg53/54) That has parallels to how Lycanthropy functions: one becomes 'hairy', unreasonable, violently seeking humans.

Perhaps the concept of werewolves helped form the basis of the story, who knows – but what I think is more interesting is the idea that having a 'hairy' core is cold, unfeeling and beastly... If it's a common stereotype, then perhaps it imprints onto actual hairy people, too...? Beings vs Beasts, Centaur called 'Horses' as an insult - even to silly extremes like 'people with lots of body hair are more beastly, and thus untrustworthy'.

- The Hairy Heart: A Guide to Wizards Who Won't Commit sounds exactly like a book Remus Lupin should read. Would he be a man described as having a 'Hairy Heart'...?

- Albus considers Hairy Snout, Human Heart a 'heart-rending' book much like Newt Scamander does. Wowee, big surprise. They are both known to be sympathetic to Beings and Beasts. We don't really know what public perception of the book is: it could be unpopular or controversial and they are trying to spread a more positive light on it.

- Hairy Snout, Human Heart as a book title could be a direct play on the concept of having a 'hairy heart' – the book trying to show that werewolves are human, not hairy-hearted at all. This would insinuate that werewolves are assumed to be hairy-hearted, supporting my overall theory B^)

--- --- Wizarding World 'Fact File' - Werewolf https://www.wizardingworld.com/fact-file/creatures/werewolf (Some text removed for brevity - as it repeats what has already been covered)

Werewolves were normally human in form until the rising of the full moon, at which point they would be physically and mentally transformed into a fearsome wolf-like creature that was uncontrollably violent. Werewolf bites could be deadly unless they were treated with silver and dittany at which point the wound could be sealed and the victim sentenced to life as a werewolf. Some relief could be found through Wolfsbane Potion which would allow a werewolf to retain its human mind during transformation. Lord Voldemort recruited the notoriously vicious werewolf, Fenrir Greyback, to be one of his followers. … … Dangers Actively seeks humans in preference to any other kind of prey Only dangerous in werewolf-form during the full moon and can be subdued with a Wolfsbane potion

- Transformation at the RISING of the Full Moon. Not at the direct touch of its light. This follows with my theory in Part 3 that the POA transformation was not the Full Moon... Though, the moons rising doesn't always happen at night. I would assume it means more the 'rising of the night of the full moon', as in when it gets dark enough that sunlight no longer drowns out whatever magic the Full Moon casts – but that is my theory.

- 'Uncontrollably violent' unless you are a skinny dog. The more I read the more I am convinced that Remus kept some of his mind during the transformation in PoA – enough to run away and resist biting.

- A far more accurate take on Wolfsbane here in that it gives 'some relief', that the werewolf-form is 'subdued' (sedated) and confirmation that the werewolf, on Wolfsbane, 'retains it's human mind'. That insinuates complete/near-complete conscious thought.

- Could the 'ointment' detailed in Part 5 be 'Silver and Dittany'? Bill's wound being dabbed to slowly seal the wound fits what is described.

--- --- Wizarding World 'Fact File' – Wolfsbane Potion https://www.wizardingworld.com/fact-file/plants-and-potions/wolfsbane-potion (Some text removed for brevity - as it repeats what has already been covered)

A complicated concoction, the use of Wolfsbane Potion was important in the relief of symptoms of lycanthropy. For werewolves desperate to avoid a full transformation during the full moon, Wolfsbane Potion could be taken every day for a week preceding the moon and would allow the drinker to retain their mental, human, faculties following physical transformation. The potion was brewed for Remus Lupin by Severus Snape to enable him to work as a Professor at Hogwarts without endangering his students.… … Allows a werewolf to transform while retaining their state of mind If doses are missed, full werewolf transformation is still possible

- 'For werewolves desperate to avoid a full transformation' So we know werewolves transform no matter what – but it is not regarded as a 'full' transformation if they keep their mind. I can only see werewolves being desperate for that if, like Remus, they are living amongst normal society: they aren't desperate for the potion to make them feel better but are desperate for help in making them less likely to be discovered – and less likely to be dangerous.

- The potion is taken every day for a week preceding the Full Moon. - More confirmation that the drinker retains human mental faculties. A human mind in a wolf's body – thus Remus didn't endanger students.

Here's a thought: - Would this potion be useful for a werewolf like Fenrir Greyback? He wouldn't need to 'position himself nearby to ensure a bite on a victim' – he could just... think. Act. Be aware of every bite. He could be more effective in spreading Lycanthropy.

--- --- There was nothing particularly interesting in the 'Fact File' for Remus Lupin, but there was this:

Hobbies Being with Tonks Being a Marauder Sneaking off to the Forbidden Forest and Shrieking Shack

Hahaha 'Hobbies'... have wife, have friends, transform... Aw man, there's something real tragic about this...

--- --- Werewolves Originally published on Pottermore on Aug 10th 2015 https://www.wizardingworld.com/writing-by-jk-rowling/werewolves

There are werewolves worldwide and they have traditionally been pariahs in the wizarding communities from which they often spring; witches and wizards who are frequently involved in hunting or studying such creatures are exposed to a higher risk of attack than the average Muggle. In the late nineteenth century the great English authority on werewolves, Professor Marlowe Forfang, undertook the first comprehensive study of their habits. He found that nearly all those he managed to study and question had been wizards before being bitten. He also learned from the werewolves that Muggles ‘taste’ different to wizards and that they are much more likely to die of their wounds, whereas witches and wizards survive to become werewolves.

- Werewolves have always been pariahs. A long history of rejection. - Magical folk that deal with them are the most likely victims. Makes sense – also means that those who understand them the most are more likely to become them. They know their lives, their habits, their social situation... and then they join it, and see it from their viewpoint. They cross the bridge and look back at where they once were. Does that lead to more werewolf pride, I wonder...? - Muggles tend to die from bites. Not too surprising, given we are less resilient to injury in general. I wonder if the monthly transformations are also more debilitating and dangerous to Muggles? - Some people specialize in studying werewolves... ...but probably not many, since it took until the 19th century to do a comprehensive study on werewolf habits. With a name like 'Forfang' I bet Professor Marlow became a werewolf eventually lol - Nearly all those Professor Marlowe Forfang questioned had been Wizards, few were Muggles/Squibs. - Muggles 'taste different' An instinct to aim for those more likely to survive? Magic has a flavor, apparently.

The Ministry of Magic’s policies on werewolves have always been muddled and inefficient. A Werewolf Code of Conduct was developed in 1637, which werewolves were supposed to sign, promising not to attack anyone but to lock themselves up securely every month. Unsurprisingly, nobody signed the Code, as nobody was prepared to walk into the Ministry and admit to being a werewolf, a problem from which the later Werewolf Registry also suffered. For years, this Werewolf Registry, on which every werewolf was supposed to enter their name and personal details, has remained incomplete and unreliable, because so many of the newly-bitten sought to conceal their condition and escape the inevitable shame and exile. Werewolves have been shunted between the Beast and Being divisions of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures for years, because nobody could make up their minds whether a werewolf should be classified as human or bestial. At one point, the Werewolf Registry and Werewolf Capture Unit were both in the Beast Division, while at the same time an office for Werewolf Support Services was established in the Being Division. Nobody ever presented themselves for Support Services, for the same reasons that very few ever signed the Registry, and it was eventually closed down.

British bureaucracy sucks and can't even handle basic shit? Wow... how wacky... - So before the Statue of Secrecy werewolves were supposed to come reveal themselves and play nice? A rather demeaning ask: Most were likely already doing this, just in secret so they weren't shunned. Someone really woke up and said “Ok werewolves, scum by nature - come put yourself on a list”

In 1637, When Witch hunting was picking up in intensity and the Puritans growing in number? No shit it didn't work lol Maybe that's exactly why it happened: Muggles were becoming more violent, so they were trying to control Wizarding threats...? Picking on minorities to look better, look responsible, to Muggles? But enforced by who? How? What was the punishment for failure...?

- Shame, exile and lack of support directly leads to people not sharing their conditions...? wow what a surprise. - Even now society can't decide whether werewolves are Beings despite being fully human 353 nights a year. It's all very bleak.

- Love that the Registry and CAPTURE were in the same place, the Beast Division, despite werewolves being human - how demeaning. Would they have even known support services were in the Being division? Seems unlikely.

To become a werewolf, it is necessary to be bitten by a werewolf in their wolfish form at the time of the full moon. When the werewolf’s saliva mingles with the victim’s blood, contamination will occur. The many Muggle myths and legends surrounding werewolves are, in the main, false, although some contain nuggets of truth. Silver bullets do not kill werewolves, but a mixture of powdered silver and dittany applied to a fresh bite will ‘seal’ the wound and prevent the victim bleeding to death (although tragic tales are told of victims who beg to be allowed to die rather than to live on as werewolves).

- Love that 'Wolfish form' is the term for a transformed state. Epic. - Saliva mixed with a victims blood is how contamination occurs. I assume this means getting spit in a cut could be enough - or is at least not advisable - even in a human form, given what happened to Bill. What about saliva taken into the bloodsteam via eating it...? Is kissing safe? I would think so, otherwise there would surely be a few more contaminations like Bill.

- Silver does not kill werewolves - but Silver and Dittany on a fresh bite will 'seal' it in quotation marks? Also an Antifibrinolytic agent. Stopping the victim bleeding to death... well, Bill had his face torn apart, but there was no mention of blood being all over the sheets. I'd say that makes a strong case that Silver and Dittany is the ointment he was dabbed with.

- The clarification that Silver Bullets do not kill, but Silver is used to counteract elements of the transmitted curse... what is the effect silver has on a werewolf, then? Does a a werewolf in its human form suffer nothing from its touch? Perhaps a rash if wearing it against their skin too long? Would silver be uncomfortable in their Wolfish form? Would silver weaponry be a viable way to ward them off - as their curse reacts poorly to it...?

- People would rather die than be a werewolf, it's considered that horrible... and with most bites being those that hunt or study them, they would know well the world they are being forced to enter.

In the second half of the twentieth century, several potions were devised to soften the effects of lycanthropy. The most successful was the Wolfsbane Potion.

I assume these are the failed treatments Lupin's parent's tried. - Wolfsbane was devised not as a cure but to soften the effects. Devised as a treatment. I like that :^) It's nice when enough sensibility and care is taken to devise, from the start, not to shoot for the stars... but to help people stay afloat in the meantime. Shoutouts to the talented Potion Maker that didn't claim "I will CURE Lycanthropy"... but humbly said "I'll help them through the night."

The monthly transformation of a werewolf is extremely painful if untreated and is usually preceded and succeeded by a few days of pallor and ill health. While in his or her wolfish form, the werewolf loses entirely its human sense of right or wrong. However, it is incorrect to state (as some authorities have, notably Professor Emerett Picardy in his book Lupine Lawlessness: Why Lycanthropes Don’t Deserve to Live) that they suffer from a permanent loss of moral sense. While human, the werewolf may be as good or kind as the next person. Alternatively, they may be dangerous even while human, as in the case of Fenrir Greyback, who attempts to bite and maim as a man and keeps his nails sharpened into claw-like points for the purpose.

- Fenrir you fucking embarrassing nerd. Sharpens his nails into claws like a furry edgelord. I bet he calls his wolfish form 'shadowhunter' or something. Wolfquest is installed on his PC But seriously the claws he has are a choice, not a physical quality.

- Werewolf transformation is 'extremely painful'... 'if untreated'...? Treated how? How is the transformation treated? Wolfsbane...? Lupin says it is very painful to turn into a werewolf – and that even with the potion he still transforms, just 'keeps his mind'. Subdued. Does it also numb the pain a little?

- Transformation is preceded and succeeded by 'a few days of pallor and ill health'. We know this already, it's just nice to have it stated so plainly.

- There are books published that openly call for the death of werewolves in the very title. :^( - It is a common enough belief, before or after Emerett's book, that werewolves lack moral sense even as humans.

If attacked by a werewolf that is still in human form, the victim may develop certain mild, wolfish characteristics such as a fondness for rare meat, but otherwise should not be troubled by long-term ill effects. However, any bite or scratch given by a werewolf will leave lasting scars, whether or not he or she was in a wolf’s form at the time of the attack.

- Bill's wolfish 'rare' meat love (it says 'bloody' in the book) is one of 'certain' mild effects he will experience. That's... annoying. What are the others...? Does he have any sort of cycle? A slight growth of body hair? A struggle to sleep on the Full Moon? JUST the meat thing? Surely not. - ANY bite OR SCRATCH left by a werewolf, even in human form, leaves scars. Remus can't go biting or scratching. Judging by Greyback - if he doesn't keep his nails trimmed and scratches someone it'll keep bleeding until treated. Does this count for himself, too...? We have nothing that confirms Werewolves heal from injuries better, only things that vaguely suggests it. Fenrir making his nails sharp makes more sense now. Still funny.

While in its animal form, the werewolf is almost indistinguishable in appearance from the true wolf, although the snout may be slightly shorter and the pupils smaller (in both cases more ‘human’) and the tail tufted rather than full and bushy. The real difference is in behaviour. Genuine wolves are not very aggressive, and the vast number of folk tales representing them as mindless predators are now believed by wizarding authorities to refer to werewolves, not true wolves. A wolf is unlikely to attack a human except under exceptional circumstances. The werewolf, however, targets humans almost exclusively and poses very little danger to any other creature.

- Specific differences to wolves: slightly shorter snout; pupils smaller (both more human); Tail is 'tufted' rather than full and bushy. Tufted as in a lion tail...? Or more like a poodle, which (apparently) have longer bushier hair at the ends of their tails accentuated by grooming...? I'm thinking if the spine extends... then the end of the spine on the human form grows fur first, becoming the tip of the tail as the spine lengthens out away from the body? For a moment, the werewolf looks like it has a bunny tail haha. - Folk tales depicting wolves as monsters are thought to actually refer to werewolves as true wolves are intelligent and often passive. A werewolves Wolfish form is less intelligent than a True Wolf. Also this strongly suggests 'True Wolf' means a regular wolf, not surprising. - Werewolves target humans 'almost exclusively' and pose very little danger to any other creature – although we know from the books that werewolves not only kill other animals but EAT them... So do they pose a lethal danger? Or barely any? Which is it? I'm believing more and more my 'survival strategy' theory that well fed summer werewolves focus on biting, winter werewolves focus on feeding...

Werewolves generally reproduce by attacking non-werewolves. The stigma surrounding werewolves has been so extreme for centuries that very few have married and had children. However, where werewolves have married human partners, there has been no sign of their lycanthropy being passed to their offspring.

- Werewolf 'reproduction' is considered to be spreading Lycanthropy rather than breeding.That is certainly how the disease/curse/virus/condition spreads itself. It dehumanises the werewolf to being a vessel: the werewolf isn't reproducing, their Lycanthropy is... But then again, perhaps that's apt? When they breed the child isn't a werewolf.

- The stigma is so intensely bad for werewolves that very few have had children – even within their own groups. They don't feel confident in raising a baby safely when everyone is a werewolf - there would be nobody to treat the bite wounds... - Lycanthropy is not passed through blood, egg or sperm – only saliva on the Full Moon. Unsurprising that it isn't passed down to offspring.

One curious feature of the condition is that if two werewolves meet and mate at the full moon (a highly unlikely contingency which is known to have occurred only twice) the result of the mating will be wolf cubs which resemble true wolves in everything except their abnormally high intelligence. They are not more aggressive than normal wolves and do not single out humans for attack. Such a litter was once set free, under conditions of extreme secrecy, in the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts, with the kind permission of Albus Dumbledore. The cubs grew into beautiful and unusually intelligent wolves and some of them live there still, which has given rise to the stories about ‘werewolves’ in the Forest – stories none of the teachers, or the gamekeeper, has done much to dispel because keeping students out of the Forest is, in their view, highly desirable.

- Thanks, I hate it.

- Werewolves mating on the Full Moon is unlikely...? That... is surprising, considering there's groups of werewolves that live nearby eachother, all transforming on the same night... You know what that means...?

~~Horny Werewolf is dead.~~ Werewolves are NOT horny near or on the Full Moon. They feel sick before - and during have other shit to do - like pass on their Lycanthropy. THAT is 'Horny Werewolf Breeding Season'.

Everyone pack up, go home – leave your alpha-Remus at the door. The LAST thing on his mind near the Full Moon is sex.

- Two transformed werewolves mating will have a litter of highly intelligent wolf cubs that do not hunt humans. Ignoring the image of a human carrying a pregnancy of multiple canines for a moment – Lycanthropy as a condition isn't just shapeshifting. It's put WOLF into human veins. I... dislike this unnecessary complication, not gonna lie. It changes the content of every egg in the ovaries – and then back again...!? Does the wolfish form share the same ovulation period as the human form? Is 'old' stored sperm still human sperm, but as the wolfish form produces more through the night... it's wolf sperm? When they turn back into a human do they still have wolf sperm for a bit? Oh my goddddd

- Albus Dumbledore under secret conditions allowing the release of werewolf-born Wolves – nice. Keeps the kids out the forest, while posing very little actual danger. Even werewolf-born Wolves, despite being intelligent and passive to humans, face prejudice and misunderstanding. Gotta be sneaky.

--- --- Remus Lupin Originally published on Pottermore on Aug 10th 2015 https://www.wizardingworld.com/writing-by-jk-rowling/remus-lupin (Since this isn't a character study on Remus – I'll try to only include things relevant to experiencing life with Lycanthropy. A lot of text is removed for brevity.)

By the time that Remus was four years old, the amount of Dark magical activity across the country was increasing steadily. While few yet knew what lay behind the mounting attacks and sightings, Lord Voldemort’s first ascent to power was in progress and Death Eaters were recruiting all kinds of Dark creatures to join them in their quest to overthrow the Ministry of Magic. … … It was here that Lyall came face-to-face with a werewolf called Fenrir Greyback, who had been brought in for questioning about the death of two Muggle children. The Werewolf Registry was badly maintained. Werewolves were so shunned by wizarding society that they generally avoided contact with other people; they lived in self-described ‘packs’ and did all they could to avoid being registered. Greyback, whom the Ministry did not know to be a werewolf, claimed to be nothing more than a Muggle tramp who was utterly amazed at finding himself in a room full of wizards, and horrified by the talk about the poor, dead children. Greyback’s filthy clothing and lack of wand were sufficient to persuade two overworked and ignorant members of the questioning committee that he was telling the truth, but Lyall Lupin was not so easily fooled. He recognised certain telltale signs in Greyback’s appearance and behaviour and told the committee that Greyback ought to be kept in detention until the next full moon, a mere twenty-four hours later.

- Unclear whether Werewolves are yet considered 'Dark Creatures' Death Eaters recruited - but I think it is insinuated.

- Insinuated here also that Fenrir killed two Muggle children – and feels no remorse, lying and pretending not to know... but that would have either been a month ago, on the last full moon (as the next one is only 24hrs away) – or he killed them in his human form recently. He does like tearing young soft throats... and Muggles 'taste different'

- Werewolves choose not to have contact with the people that shun them – and called their groups 'Packs'.

- Fenrir Greyback was not yet known. He looked 'like a Muggle tramp' - dirty appearance later was genuine, not just to play up his fearsome image. Also... it's a little chilling to think how he could have learned how to 'act like an amazed Muggle tramp'... I wonder if he has ever revealed magic to them before, only to kill them for fun?

- Greyback doesn't have a wand with him. We know he is adept at using a wand in the 90s... has he ever had his own wand? Has it been stolen? Broken in some fight? Or safely put away somewhere for the upcoming Moon? 24hrs is rather early...

- There are 'telltale signs' in 'appearance and behaviour' that someone is a werewolf. As it's so close to the Full Moon, perhaps it's being peaky and pale...

Greyback sat in silence while Lyall was laughed at by his fellow committee members (‘Lyall, you just stick to Welsh Boggarts, that’s what you’re good at’). Lyall, generally a mild-mannered man, grew angry. He described werewolves as ‘soulless, evil, deserving nothing but death’. The committee ordered Lyall out of the room, the head of the committee apologised to the Muggle tramp and Greyback was released.

Lyall, a man who studies Dark beings, is able to spout vile things right infront of a werewolf, with full confidence. Either it is truly what he believes - or it is so commonly parroted in society that it slips off the tongue without much thought: Soulless. Evil. Deserving nothing but death.

The wizard who escorted Greyback out of the inquiry was intending to place a Memory Charm upon him, so that he would forget having been inside the Ministry. Before he had a chance to do so, he was overpowered by Greyback and two accomplices who had been lurking at the entrance, and the three werewolves fled.Greyback lost no time in sharing with his friends how Lyall Lupin had just described them. Their revenge on the wizard who thought that werewolves deserved nothing but death would be swift and terrible. Shortly before Remus Lupin’s fifth birthday, as he slept peacefully in his bed, Fenrir Greyback forced open the boy’s window and attacked him. Lyall reached the bedroom in time to save his son’s life, driving Greyback out of the house with a number of powerful curses. However, henceforth, Remus would be a fully-fledged werewolf.

- Greyback had two friends waiting for him – his 'pack', surely. He wasn't alone, even at this earlier time in life before he was a leader, and they already had desires for revenge against those who were cruel.

- Greyback still had the clarity of mind to open and climb through a window when transformed!? Apparently the sun sets at around 6pm in March in the UK – I guess its possible Remus goes to bed before then...? a 6pm bedtime at nearly 5 is rough... but if he went to bed after sundown, like 7:30pm - surely Fenrir's wolf mind would have gotten bored and left. I suppose Fenrir must have enough mind to stick to a plan. - Powerful curses are enough to drive away Greyback after successfully biting his prey. Too bad Lyall didn't have a skinny dog.

Lyall Lupin never forgave himself for the words he had spoken in front of Greyback at the inquiry: ‘soulless, evil, deserving nothing but death’. He had parroted what was the common view of werewolves in his community, but his son was what he had always been – loveable and clever– except for that terrible period at the full moon when he suffered an excruciating transformation and became a danger to everyone around him. For many years, Lyall kept the truth about the attack, including the identity of the attacker, from his son, fearing Remus’s recriminations. … … Lyall did all he could to find a cure, but neither potions nor spells could help his son. From this time onwards, the family’s lives were dominated by the need to hide Remus’s condition. They uprooted themselves from village to town, leaving the instant that rumours of the boy’s odd behaviour started. Fellow witches and wizards noticed how peaky Remus became as a new moon approached, not to mention his monthly disappearances. Remus was not allowed to play with other children, in case he let slip the truth of his condition. In consequence, and in spite of his loving parents, he was a very lonely boy.

- It WAS parroted - it came easily to his tongue because it's the common societal view: Werewolves deserve death. They have lost their soul and become evil.

- Being bitten didn't change Remus at all. He was still a clever little boy. A clever little boy that suffered excruciating pain.

- Lyall tried his best but there was nothing that worked - likely all the attempted potions referenced on the Werewolves Pottermore page.

- Magical folk are keyed into Astronomy and moon cycles – so they noticed when the little boy who never played with anyone became ill and disappeared at the same time every month. The backlash would be so harsh the best option they had was to move and start fresh... every few months. Remus grew up lonely. His parents' lives were dominated by his care. They were likely lonely, too – moving towns... who would be friends with the parents of a werewolf?

While Remus was small, his containment during his transformation was not difficult; a locked room and plenty of silencing spells usually sufficed. However, as he grew, so did his wolfish self, and by the time he was ten years old, he was capable of pounding down doors and smashing windows. Ever more powerful spells were needed to contain him and both Hope and Lyall grew thin with worry and fear. They adored their son, but they knew that their community – already beset with fears at the mounting Dark activity around them – would not be lenient on an uncontrolled werewolf. The hopes that they had once had for their son seemed in ruins, and Lyall educated Remus at home, certain that he would never be able to set foot in school. Shortly before Remus’s eleventh birthday, no less a person than Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, arrived uninvited on the Lupins’ doorstep. Flustered and frightened, Lyall and Hope tried to block his entrance, but somehow, five minutes later, Dumbledore was sitting at the fireside, eating crumpets and playing Gobstones with Remus.

- Young werewolves aren't as strong. They get stronger with age – getting bigger. Your Wolfish form correlates to your human form.

- He was scary enough that his parents 'grew thin' after five years of dealing with him. At ten he could bash down doors and windows.

- They loved Remus and taught him at home - but had no hopes for society accepting ever him, or for him amounting to much. None. It was so impossible for society to accept him that they tried to stand up against Dumbledore, thinking he had ill intent. Even his Muggle mother tried to stop him, to defend her son from a Wizard. I wonder what ill intent they feared Albus was bringing...? Taking Remus away somewhere? Are werewolves sometimes hurt or taken away, for no crime...?

- Unrelated to werewolves but I just want to say that when Albus was a kid icecream sellers didn't exist in England - but there WAS the Muffin Man, who would walk around with crumpets and muffins, ringing a bell so all the kids would hear. It's really cute and sweet that he's doing something he remembers from his own childhood to connect with Remus??? Out of touch grandpa doing his best

Dumbledore explained to the Lupins that he knew what had happened to their son. Greyback had boasted of what he had done and Dumbledore had spies among Dark creatures. However, Dumbledore told the Lupins that he saw no reason why Remus should not come to school, and described the arrangements that he had made to give the boy a safe and secure place for his transformations. Due to the widespread prejudice around werewolves, Dumbledore agreed that for Remus’s own sake his condition should not be broadcast. Once a month, he would leave for a secure and comfortable house in the village of Hogsmeade, guarded by many spells and reached only by an underground passage from the Hogwarts grounds, where he could transform in peace.Remus’s excitement was beyond anything he had known before. It was the dream of his life to meet other children and have, for the first time, friends and playmates.

- Greyback is proud of biting the kid of a bigot. He knows to the vast majority being a werewolf is a punishment - and uses it as such. Does HE think of it as a punishment...? Or has he 'saved' Remus...? - Werewolves are counted as 'Dark Creatures'

- Dumbledore had already made the arrangements to shelter Remus, to support his individual needs and understands his need for utter secrecy – before even confirming whether he was going. Extremely pro-werewolf and doesn't treat them as an afterthought. Highly unusual.

- It is not illegal for Remus to attend school – but is frowned upon enough to warrant all this work. Like a wholeass tunnel and tree - before even knowing if he was coming to the school - he REALLY wanted him there.

- The 'Shrieking Shack' is described at this point in time as a 'comfortable house' – it was made to be pleasant, and secure.

- Remus' biggest dream in life was to have friends to play with.

Inevitably, his three best friends soon became curious as to why Remus had to vanish once a month. Convinced by his lonely childhood that his friends would desert him if they knew that he was a werewolf, Remus made up ever more elaborate lies to account for his absences. James and Sirius guessed the truth in their second year. To Remus’s astonished gratitude, they not only remained his friends but thought up an ingenious method of easing his monthly isolation. They also gave him a nickname that would follow him all through school: ‘Moony’. … … The death of James Potter, along with his wife Lily, at the hands of Lord Voldemort, was one of the most traumatic events of Remus’s already troubled life. His friends meant even more to him than to other people, because he had long since accepted the fact that most people would treat him as untouchable, and that there could be no possibility of marrying and having children. Even worse, within twenty-four hours he had also lost his two other best friends.

- Remus had his dream come true, he had friends, but was so used to having to run away. He would rather lie than trust.

- James and Sirius figured out the truth in second year. They were bright boys – but I'm sure sharng a dorm and Astronomy classes helped. In any case - they were 12 when they figured him out. 13 max. That's following only information they knew from Wizarding society trickling through their parents - or from an early lesson in DADA. Is he really that obvious? Or do they just have no filter? "Going away again Remus? Full moon tonight - what, are you a werewolf?" (Remus sweats profusely) "....N-No. That's crazy...."

- Remus was grateful they didn't hate him. Not just happy, or excited, or relieved - he felt it was something undeserved. - Losing his friends was traumatic. He expected to never get new people who cared about him. His friends were a miracle.

- Werewolves are treated as untouchables - and Remus accepts that werewolves are untouchables.

He had lost his three close friends and, with the Order disbanded, his previous comrades returned to busy lives with families. His mother was now dead, and while Lyall, his father, was always delighted to see his son, Remus refused to endanger his father’s peaceful existence by returning to live with him.Remus now lived a hand-to-mouth existence, taking jobs that were far below his level of ability, always knowing that he would have to leave them before his pattern of growing sick once a month at the full moon was noticed by his workmates.

- Lyall loved him but Remus felt guilt over how stressful he was, and likely blamed himself for his friends' death in an illogical 'bad things happen to those who care about me, I am cursed' way. He would rather live hand-to-mouth, earn money and spend it immediately on food and board, than 'burden' someone. ...His mother dead, but father happy to see him - I wonder if Lyall and Hope planned on having more children, but couldn't because of Remus...? Muggles aren't as hardy as Wizards are - and they both became thin from the stress and struggles of raising Remus. Of about 72 Full Moons in a row. Did Remus' condition bring his mother closer to death?

- He could only take basic jobs for short periods due to his condition, never getting to know anyone or forming a support network. - He left BEFORE his pattern was noticed, not WHEN it was noticed like his parents did. Now THAT is an unhealthy coping strategy.

One development in the wizarding community gave Remus hope: the discovery of the Wolfsbane Potion. While this did not prevent a werewolf losing his human form once a month, it restricted his transformation to that of an ordinary and sleepy wolf. It had always been Remus’s worst fear that he would kill while out of his right mind. However, the Wolfsbane Potion was complex and the ingredients very expensive. Remus had no chance to sample it without admitting what he was and so he continued his lonely, itinerant existence. … … Once again, Albus Dumbledore changed the course of Remus Lupin’s life when he tracked him down to a tumbledown, semi-derelict cottage in Yorkshire. Delighted to see the Headmaster, Remus was amazed when Dumbledore offered him the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. He was only persuaded to accept when Dumbledore explained that there would be a limitless supply of Wolfsbane Potion, courtesy of the Potions master, Severus Snape.

- Remus' worst fear is killing someone while 'under the influence'. Completely understandable - just wanted to point out that it isn't just 'being seen', or 'being thought of as a monster'... Which lines up with how he acts. When Hermione revealed him in PoA he openly confirmed it. He didn't lie or obscure - nor did he yell at Ron for treating him like a monster. What he DID do was spend ages carefully explaining how, despite being dangerous, he prioritized control.

- Wolfsbane is complex, ingredients expensive – and restricts his transformation to a 'sleepy wolf'. Sleepy. Restricted. Subdued. It's a sedative. Perhaps being sleepy cuts some pain out, too - as insinuated before. It would certainly at least stop him scratching and biting himself.

- No matter how scared he was of killing – he was more afraid of 'admitting what he was in order to sample some'. What does that mean? Would going on the Werewolf Registry give you chances to have Wolfsbane? Doubtful, because that would actually be a good move by the Ministry. Was it perhaps for testing? Hospitals studying its effects? Being a guinea pig...?

- Despite choosing loneliness for himself, despite pushing away those he cared about, despite thinking himself a burden, despite being apprehensive to accept opportunities when they came... He was still happy to get a visit from Dumbledore. Still amazed be treated as someone worth effort by him. Still desired to belong somewhere. To feel safe. To go home. His childhood dream of friendship, acceptance and belonging still lives in him. It's just trodden down and crushed.

At Hogwarts, Remus revealed himself to be a gifted teacher, with a rare flair for his own subject and a profound understanding of his pupils. He was, as ever, particularly drawn to the underdog, and both Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter benefited from his wisdom and kindness. However, Remus’s old flaw was at work. He had grave suspicions about one of his old friends, a known fugitive, but did not share them with anyone at Hogwarts. His desperate desire to belong and to be liked meant that he was neither as brave nor as honest as he ought to have been. An unfortunate combination of circumstances arose that resulted in Remus undergoing a true werewolf’s transformation in the grounds of the school. Severus Snape’s resentment, never abated by Remus’s subsequent respectful politeness, made sure that it was widely known what the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher was. Remus felt obliged to resign and departed Hogwarts once more.

- Remus is an underdog himself, though I doubt he thinks of himself in that way - he would 'accept his role in the world' - but he understands the desire to be 'good enough' and 'belong' when there are troubles outside your control. He understands how impactful encouragement is. That understanding and guidance of others does not extend to himself. He won't gently guide himself like he would a student – he will avoid his fears and let himself be cowardly, untruthful and irresponsible for the sake of scraps of affection. He won't be as brave or honest as he would encourage in others, as he deeply believes he does not deserve it.... he isn't an underdog, just a beast.

- The transformation at the end of PoA was 'a true' one. True, as before, meaning 'doesn't have mental clarity'. It wasn't 'incomplete' or 'partial' from most of a weeks worth of potion. One missed potion is enough.

- Remus was not forced to quit, he felt obliged to resign. Instantly. While he had Dumbledore, ever supporting and sympathetic, in the room - and Harry wanting him to stay. He didn't talk to anyone, he didn't say goodbye to the kids, he wasn't even going to say goodbye to Harry. He didn't pass go or collect $200 - he didn't even let Albus walk him to the gate. He just skedaddled. He hadn't gotten a single hateful letter yet... but he is used to leaving before they have the chance. While he can still pretend he is liked and wanted.

As Lord Voldemort once again gained ascendancy, the old resistance regrouped and Remus found himself once more part of the Order of the Phoenix. This time, the group included an Auror who had been too young to belong to the Order during its first incarnation. Clever, brave and funny, pink-haired Nymphadora Tonks was a protégée of Alastor ‘Mad-Eye’ Moody, the toughest and most grizzled Auror of them all. Remus, so often melancholy and lonely, was first amused, then impressed, then seriously smitten by the young witch. He had never fallen in love before. If it had happened in peacetime, Remus would have simply taken himself off to a new place and a new job, so that he did not have to endure the pain of watching Tonks fall in love with a handsome, young wizard in the Auror office, which was what he expected to happen. However, this was war; they were both needed in the Order of the Phoenix, and nobody knew what the next day would bring. Remus felt justified in remaining exactly where he was, keeping his feelings to himself but secretly rejoicing every time somebody paired him with Tonks on some overnight mission. It had never occurred to Remus that Tonks could return his feelings because he had become so used to considering himself unclean and unworthy. One night when they lay in hiding outside a known Death Eater’s house, after a year of increasingly warm friendship, Tonks made an idle remark about one of their fellow Order members (‘He’s still handsome, isn’t he, even after Azkaban?’). Before he could stop himself, Remus had replied bitterly that he supposed she had fallen for his old friend (‘He always got the women.’). At this, Tonks became suddenly angry. ‘You’d know perfectly well who I’ve fallen for, if you weren’t too busy feeling sorry for yourself to notice.’Remus’s immediate response was a happiness he had never experienced in his life, but this was extinguished almost at once by a sense of crushing duty. He had always known that he could not marry and run the risk of passing on his painful, shameful condition. He therefore pretended not to understand Tonks, which did not fool her at all. Wiser than Remus, she was sure that he loved her, but that he was refusing to admit it out of mistaken nobility. However, he avoided any further excursions with her, barely talked to her, and started volunteering for the most dangerous missions. Tonks became desperately unhappy, convinced not only that the man she loved would never willingly spend time with her again, but also that he might walk to his death rather than admit his feelings.

- Interesting that Remus falls for a woman that is effortlessly all the things he tries hard to come across as - brave, clever, good humored, capable.

- Remus had never fallen in love before. Demi...? And/or would run away before he actually got to know anyone well enough. He never lets himself care about anyone enough. He isn't good enough to have anyone care about him. She will like just 'some other dude', because he isn't possibly on her radar, even though he delights in her company and has a warm friendship. He is too 'unclean' and 'unworthy'. The self loathing is so fucking real. And also so fucking obvious - Tonks has already clocked him as not only liking her but being too self-hateful not to realize she likes him back.

- He allows himself happiness for only a fleeting moment before grinding it under his heel. It is FACT he cannot be happy, ever, and anyone who likes him will suffer because of it. He will cause misery himself, by his own control, rather than allow himself to cause accidental misery later. It's inevitable, after all. He would rather die than face having his deepest hopes and dreams crushed again.

Remus came face-to-face with both Greyback and Tonks at Hogwarts barely a year later, when the Order clashed with Death Eaters within the castle. During this battle, Remus lost yet another person he had loved: Albus Dumbledore. Dumbledore had been adored by every member of the Order of the Phoenix, but to Remus, he had represented the sort of kindness, tolerance and understanding that he had received from nobody in the world outside his parents and his three best friends, and had been the only man ever to offer him a position within normal wizarding society. In the aftermath of the bloody fight, inspired by Fleur Delacour’s protestation of enduring love for Bill Weasley, who had been savaged by Greyback, Tonks made a brave, public declaration of her feelings for Remus, who was forced to admit the strength of his love for her. In spite of continuing misgivings that he was acting selfishly, Remus married Tonks quietly in the north of Scotland, with witnesses taken from the local wizarding tavern. He continued to fear that the stigma attached to him would infect his wife and wished for no fanfare around their union; he swung constantly between elation that he was married to the woman of his dreams and terror of what he might have brought upon them both.

- Love that Tonks is given as much weight as Greybac. Both make him face aspects of his being he really wants to avoid: His Lycanthropy, his image, his fate... his humanity, his dreams. Both are heavy burdens to carry. Both are realities that are painful.

- Dumbledore was the only person outside his friends and parents to fully accept him. To understand him. To support him. Want him. Not just put up with him, holding their tongue on prejudice or ignoring the 'ugly' bits. (Part of that will that he doesn't let others get close enough, like Tonks and Harry.)

- Tonks was brave for her public declaration - in ways deeper than just being brave to love someone openly. Loving HIM openly is an act of self social mutilation... how could he NOT love her?! His parents loved him regardless of their declining health. His friends became Animagi just to be with him. Dumbledore have him a home, an education, a job - endless support. And Tonks was willing to submit herself to his same social class just to love him. True acceptance is a siren song too strong to resist. Even if it lands to 'irresponsible' decisions he will 'regret'. Like going on Full Moon adventures... or withholding information.

Within a few weeks of their marriage, Remus realised that Tonks was pregnant and every fear he had ever had surfaced. He was convinced that he had passed on his condition to an innocent child and that he had condemned Tonks to the same life as his mother, forever moving around, unable to settle, having to hide her increasingly violent child from sight. Full of remorse and self-recrimination, Remus fled, leaving the pregnant Tonks, seeking out Harry and offering to accompany him on whatever death-defying adventure awaited. To Remus’s shock and displeasure, the seventeen-year-old Harry not only declined his offer but became angry and insulting. He told his ex-teacher that he was acting selfishly and irresponsibly. Remus responded with uncharacteristic violence and stormed out of the house, taking refuge in a corner of the Leaky Cauldron, where he sat drinking and fuming. However, after a few hours’ reflection, Remus was forced to accept that his ex-pupil had just taught him a valuable lesson. James and Lily, Remus reflected, had stuck with Harry even unto their own deaths. His own parents, Lyall and Hope, had sacrificed their peace and security to keep the family together. Bitterly ashamed, Remus left the inn and returned to his wife, where he begged her forgiveness and assured her that, come what may, he would never leave her again. For the rest of Tonks’s pregnancy, Remus eschewed missions for the Order of the Phoenix and made it his first priority to protect his wife and unborn child.

- Remus wasn't just scared for Teddy's health - he compared Tonks to his mother, scared he would have doomed her to a life of moving and stress... and Remus couldn't even help her: He would transform too - Tonks having to handle both him and his son alone. That is terrifying, and running away understandable - if of course not the right option. He simplifies the issues in her life... potentially saves her from death by stress.

- Remus would rather go and do something highly important that could kill him. Coping strategy: be useful or die a hero. Sounds a lot like how both James and Sirius died: Taking deadly risks to 'do the right thing' at great pain to their loved ones.

- Having his flaws and failings to plainly pointed out to him, rather than being unfairly hated or treated with gloves... broke Remus. He was utterly unlike himself. Deranged. Emotional. Forced to face his choices as a human, propperly, by a man he respects. How did he deal with this pain? He drank alcohol. It is an interesting choice: A substance that causes a clouding of the mind, a loss of motor control... encourages poor decision making... The things he hates about his transformation, He indulges in here. The pain of his humanity making him want to turn to his wolf...?

- Harry's family gave him strength... but so did his own. Which I like more personally - Harry saying Remus should be prepared to stay and die like his own father did rather than try to find a way to not repeat history is an understandable thing for an emotional 17yr old to say - but it stinks. Remus pulling from his own parents' staying there for him no matter what... better.

The Lupins’ son, Edward Remus (‘Teddy’), was named for Remus’s recently deceased father-in-law. To both parents’ relief and delight, he showed no sign of lycanthropy when born, but inherited his mother’s ability to change his appearance at will. On the night of Teddy’s birth, Remus briefly left Tonks and his son in the charge of his mother-in-law, so that he could go and find Harry for the first time since their angry confrontation. Here, he asked Harry to be Teddy’s godfather, feeling nothing but forgiveness and gratitude towards the person who had sent him home to the family that gave him his greatest happiness.

- Both parents has concerns Ted would be a werewolf, despite that not being how it works... - Ted showed no signs at birth. What would those signs be...? If you can tell who is a werewolf by 'clear signs' - why are they so rarely spotted? - Remus' greatest happiness was his wife and child. Remember his dream as a kid...? To have other kids to play with? To be accepted, normal, not have to hide - and just play?

Both Remus and Tonks returned to Hogwarts for the final battle against Voldemort, leaving their tiny son in the care of his grandmother. The couple knew that if Voldemort won this battle, their family was sure to be eliminated: both were notorious members of the Order of the Phoenix, Tonks was a marked woman in the eyes of her Death Eater aunt, Bellatrix Lestrange, and their son was the very antithesis of a pure-blood, having many Muggle relatives and a dash of werewolf. Having survived numerous encounters with Death Eaters and fought his way skilfully and bravely out of many tight corners, Remus Lupin met his end at the hands of Antonin Dolohov, one of the longest-serving, most devoted and sadistic of all Voldemort’s Death Eaters. Remus was no longer in prime fighting condition when he rushed to join the fight. Months of inactivity, using mostly spells of concealment and protection, had blunted his duelling capabilities, and when he ran up against a dueller of Dolohov’s skill, now battle-hardened after months of killing and maiming, his reactions were too slow. Remus Lupin was posthumously awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class, the first werewolf ever to be accorded this honour. The example of his life and death did much to lift the stigma on werewolves. He was never forgotten by anyone who knew him: a brave, kind man who did the best he could in very difficult circumstances and who helped many more than he ever realised.

- I left a lot in here because it always makes me cry, for real - and now you will cry too. Suffer.

- 'Antithesis' of a Pureblood is muggle heritage, plus something that 'taints' - like Lycanthropy. Interesting. Is that worse than being Muggleborn...? Does this insinuate that Fenrir Greyback could be Pureblood...? - Remus was the first werewolf to be awarded an Order of Merlin, First Class. Probably the first to be awarded anything, lets be real. What was he awarded it for...? - Remus' story was inspiring and helped cause some change.

- He never got to know he was eventually awarded and respected. He died believing he would have to battle for Tonks and Ted his entire life. Even with the war won and they were safe his life would be a struggle, like his own father. :^)

~~~ ~~~ Summary of part (italics + small are my own thoughts/theories)

Lycanthropy is believed to originate in Northern Europe. (FB by N.S.) Contamination occurs when werewolf saliva mixes with the blood of a victim, such as through a bite. (Werewolves Pottermore) It causes a transformation every month into a wolf-like creature that's uncontrollably violent. (Werewolf Fact File) The term for a werewolves transformed state is their 'Wolfish Form'. (Werewolves Pottermore)

A werewolves Wolfish Form is considered so dangerous it has a XXXXX M.O.M. Classification – a Wizard Killer; Impossible to train or domesticate – the same league as Dragons, Nundu and Acromantula. (FB by N.S.) A child's Wolfish Form is able to be kept contained by a locked room with silencing spells, but by ten years old they are strong enough to pound down doors and smash windows. (Remus Lupin Pottermore)

'True Transformation' is the term for a werewolf's Wolfish Form who is not on Wolfsbane. (Remus Lupin Pottermore) A Wolfish Form is unique amongst beasts for seeking human prey and rarely targeting other animals. (FB by N.S.) (Werewolves Pottermore) Muggles are said to taste different and tend to die from their bites. Only a low portion of the werewolf population are Non-Magical. (Werewolves Pottermore) As the treatment for fresh bites is Silver and Dittany, it could be that Muggles simply don't get proper treatment and bleed out.

Theory: Originating from a part of the world with long winter nights, low density human populations, difficult to traverse winter landscapes and not much food in winter that isn't meat... Perhaps Lycanthropy was a way to survive? We know that while werewolves prefer human prey they are capable of killing and eating animal prey. Perhaps a starving mid-winter werewolf will spend the long nights devouring prey they cannot hunt as a human – large magical game or even other humans, ones that taste different and are less likely to survive (Muggles) or accidents from being too desperate and uncontrollably violent to simply bite and run. In summer, with a full belly and no snow, perhaps they are less likely to hunt other animals and instead seek out people – to bite and spread the condition.

Despite being so uncontrollably violent, there seems to be some ability to think within the Wolfish Form's mind... perhaps a healthy werewolf with a full belly? Even in a 'true transformation' a werewolf has the potential to stick to a plan, opening a window and crawling inside to bite someone – as Frenrir Greyback achieved when biting Remus Lupin. He was driven back after the bite by 'powerful hexes'. (Remus Lupin Pottermore)

Wolfsbane potion allows a Werewolf to retain its mental human faculties and subdues it. Restricts the transformation to being a sleepy wolf. (Werewolf Fact File)(Wolfsbane Potion Fact File)(Remus Lupin Pottermore) Wolfsbane is for werewolves desperate to avoid a 'full transformation' and is taken every day for a week preceeding the Full Moon. If doses are missed a 'full transformation' is still possible. (Wolfsbane Potion Fact File) As the potion retains mental faculties: A 'full transformation' is thus a loss of human thought and instead natural violence and clouded mind – synonymous with True Transformation. This suggests they are not desperate for relief from the other symptoms of Lycanthropy like pain and illness – they are desperate to just fit in a little better. Not lose themselves. Not pose a threat. It is a complex potion made from expensive ingredients. (Remus Lupin Pottermore)

Werewolf transformation is extremely painful and is usually preceded and succeeded by a few days of pallor and ill health. (Werewolves Pottermore) The term 'usually' is interesting here. I would assume having better health, like Fenrir Greyback, would deal better – while someone as sickly as Remus Lupin would have rougher symptoms.

Newt Scamander says 'recent developments in potion-making have to a great extent alleviated the worst symptoms'. (FB by N.S.) Many potions were devised in the second half of the 20th century, with Wolfsbane being the most successful. (Werewolves Pottermore) Wolfsbane is the only known treatment, it was invented by at earliest 1978 – and it only keeps the werewolves mind human while in its Wolfish form and sedates them. This means Newt believes a werewolves 'worst symptoms' are the lack of mental clarity and abundance of drive to move and hunt. Not the pain, loss of bodily identity and control or days of illness accompanying it. Remus felt hopeful about the Wolfsbane potion being developed – but would have to reveal himself to sample it, or be far richer to buy it, so did not get to have any. Despite his adoration for Albus Dumbledore and his desire to belong, to have friends – Remus only accepted the role of being a teacher when he was offered endless Wolfsbane potion. His worst fear is killing someone while unaware in his wolfish form. (Remus Lupin Pottermore) Theory: I'd say he was hopeful it truly would fix him and let him live normally. It didn't. That might have helped with how flippant he was about taking it in PoA. Werewolf transformation occurs at the rising of the Full Moon. (Werewolf Fact File) ...Though this does not line up with other information we have, how characters act around werewolves nor even what we see happen in Prisoner of Azkaban. In Part 3 I detail a theory on how the 'once a month Full Moon transformation' actually seems to work. Werewolves have to lie about themselves constantly in order to fit in. However, due to the cyclic nature of Lycanthropy, the telltale signs can be difficult to hide for more than a few months. It took less than two years for some twelve year old boys to figure Remus out – in a place like Hogwarts where the idea of a werewolf being there would be preposterous. (Remus Lupin Pottermore) A werewolves Wolfish Form has some key differences to True Wolves: A slightly shorter snout and smaller pupils (both more 'human') and a tufted tail rather than full and bushy. True Wolves are intelligent and typically passive animals – folk tales that depict wolves as monsters are these days thought to be referring to werewolves. (Werewolves Pottermore) The Muggle myth of Silver Bullets is not real and silver does not kill werewolves – however, Silver and Dittany on a fresh bite will 'seal' the wound and prevent potential death by bloodloss. (Werewolf Fact File) (Werewolves Pottermore) Theory: Silver, an antibacterial metal, has an effect on Lycanthropy that stops its intended function. If we think of Lycanthropy as a virus, bacteria or parasite that takes over its host when the magic from the Full Moon is at its most potent – is Silver uncomfortable for it? Could silver weaponry help ward off Werewolves? I wonder if, at their most potent, Werewolves have a mild silver allergy.

Even if a werewolf is in their human form, a victim may develop mild wolfish characteristics from blood contamination by their saliva – such as a fondness for rare meat. Any bite or scratch from a werewolf in any form will leave lasting scars. Fenrir Greyback sharpens his nails into claw-like points in order to maim and kill as a human. (Werewolves Pottermore)

Werewolves were considered some of the 'Dark Creatures' the Death Eaters were recruiting in the 1960s. Despite this, werewolves with Muggle heritage are considered equal or worse to Muggleborn's to the Death Eaters – at least by the 1990s. (Remus Lupin Pottermore)

In the early 1960's Fenrir was unknown to be a werewolf, and could successfully pretend to be a Muggle tramp to Wizards who didn't know better: filthy clothing and lack of a wand... but had friends he lived with and boasted to, who fought for him and were just as angry about treatment towards them as Fenrir was. He still showed 'telltale' signs of Lycanthropy (likely because it was 24hrs till the next Full Moon) however and someone with a trained eye, such as Lyall Lupin, could recognised he was potentially a werewolf. (Remus Lupin Pottermore) Theory: Fenrir killed two Muggle children while in Human Form. It is insinuated – through him being pulled in as a 'Muggle Tramp', it being a month since the last Full Moon, the mention of the Death Eaters recruiting Dark Creatures to hate Muggles with them, Fenrir's apparent love for young soft flesh as a human – and his blatant avoidant lying when questioned.

Werewolves are 'untouchables' and do not expect to have children. (Remus Lupin Pottermore.) 'Reproduction' is considered to be via contamination of non-werewolves as they rarely mate in Human or Wolfish Form. Werewolves that mate in their Human Form do not produce werewolf offspring – but regular humans. However, if two werewolves were to meet and mate on the Full Moon, a rare occurrence, a litter of puppies similar to True Wolves will be produced – but even more intelligent and rarely aggressive. (Werewolves Pottermore) This heavily suggests that being a werewolf isn't a very sexually-charged existence – else werewolves that live together on the edge of society would be having kids in both Human and Wolfish forms. Human form mating results in human children – who are at risk of being bitten and dying by their own parents. Wolfish Form mating is considered to be very rare – so they are too uncontrollably violent and not interested enough in sex to try.

Albus Dumbledore secretly released a litter of werewolf-born wolves into the Forbidden Forest, giving rise to legends of werewolves inhabiting the forest and discouraging humans from entering it – while posing very little actual danger. (Werewolves Pottermore)

Remus Lupin had never fallen in love before he met Tonks – and if he had, he would have run away. Nymphadora Tonks was considered brave to reveal she loved him regardless of the inevitable shunning she would be subjected to. (Remus Lupin Pottermore)

Remus left when Tonks got pregnant because he feared having a werewolf son aswell as himself would have given her the same life as his mother – having to move frequently, becoming thin with stress and worry - dying early. However having a family was Remus' greatest happiness. (Remus Lupin Pottermore)

Loving families had no options when it came to treatments in the 1960s. The shunning was so bad that Lupin's family had to move house every time rumors grew about him due to his monthly peaky visage and disappearances. He wasn't allowed to play with other children, isolated and lonely – his parent's lives were dominated by caring for him, teaching him at home and keeping themselves safe every Full Moon. His parents grew thin with worry and fear as, every year, their little boy's Wolfish Form got bigger and stronger with him – and they had no social support or potential future for him. (Remus Lupin Pottermore)

Despite being 'untouchables' – when there is no Full Moon werewolves are as harmless as any human. Werewolves are sane and normal wizards and Muggles. (FB by N.S.) Getting Lycanthropy changes nothing about who you are as a person. Remus was just as clever and loveable as before he was bitten. (Remus Lupin Pottermore)

There is an autobiography by an anonymous werewolf called 'Hairy Snout, Human Heart' published by Whizz hard Books, 1975. Described as 'a heartrending account of one wizard's battle with Lycanthropy' by both Newt Scamander and Albus Dumbledore. (FB by NS – and Beedle the Bard) Did the publishing of this book cause a push for the development of a treatment...? :^) I've seen a theory that this book was written by Remus Lupin himself – white cute, I doubt it. Remus was 15 at the time it was published and is not the type of man to want to broadcast his experiences, even if anonymous. He isn't out here fighting for werewolf rights – he is trying to be 'a good one'. Werewolves are traditionally pariahs. (Werewolves Pottermore) Werewolf bite victims are 'sentenced' to life as a werewolf. (Werewolf Fact File) There are stories of victims who beg to be allowed to die rather than live as a werewolf. Witches and Wizards that involve themselves with werewolves, like hunting or studying them, are more likely to be bitten. (Werewolves Pottermore) It is those who know werewolves and their life situation best that then find themselves on the other side of that fence – and their immediate reaction is to beg to die. Prof. Marlowe Forfang in the late 19th century did the first comprehensive study on werewolf habits. (Werewolves Pottermore) With a name like Forfang... was he soon to be bitten himself, I wonder? B^)

There has long been attempts to expose and list Werewolves. In 1637, before the Statue of Secrecy, a Werewolf Code of Conduct was attempted – asking werewolves to sign and promise not to attack anyone and lock themselves up every Full Moon. Nobody signed as no werewolf was prepared to reveal themselves so brazenly. Werewolves have been shunted between the Beings and Beasts divisions in the Ministry for years, sometimes services split between them. At once point, Werewolf Register and Capture were in the Beast division – while an office for Werewolf Support Services in the Being division. Nobody went to the Support Services and it was shut down. (Werewolves Pottermore)

Common view in Wizarding communities that werewolves are 'soulless, evil and deserve nothing but death'. They are shunned that that avoid other people and form 'packs', avoiding being registered. (Remus Lupin Pottermore)

There are books published that freely spread misinformation against werewolves, such as Prof. Emerett Picardy's book 'Lupine Lawlessness: Why Lycanthropes Don't Deserve to Live', which state things such as werewolves permanently lacking moral sense. (Werewolves Pottermore)

Remus' parents were so fearful of how utterly shunned they were that they tried to prevent Albus Dumbledore from seeing their son – though he was only there to discuss good news: he was going to be sneaky in order to smuggle Remus into Hogwarts and keep him safe. A comfortable house through a long underground tunnel guarded by a magical tree... just so Remus had a chance at an education. Remus was more excited than anything he had felt in his life at being allowed to go to Hogwarts. His dream was to be able to play with other kids and make friends. (Remus Lupin Pottermore)

Nobody had ever shown Remus true kindness, tolerance and understanding outside of Albus Dumbledore, his parents and his three friends at school. Remus felt gratitude for his friends not hating him for being a werewolf. He thought such acceptance would never grace him again – making it extra traumatic when his friends all died/were locked away. (Remus Lupin Pottermore)

Remus' family always loved him, always fought for him, his father was always happy to see him – but he avoided him as a young adult, as to not 'endanger his peaceful existence' with his presence. He cared so much about this he chose loneliness and utter poverty, a hand-to-mouth existence of small jobs he frequently had to flee before being caught out, to simply living with his loving father. Remus lived in a tumbledown, semi-derelict cottage. (Remus Lupin Pottermore) It is either all he could afford – or he was squatting. Remus is drawn to nurturing 'underdogs' – but doesn't consider himself one, at least not consciously. He doesn't nurture himself to be as brave nor as honest as he does his students. He considers himself 'unclean and unworthy' of others. Remus felt obliged to leave Hogwarts as soon as he was found out – he was never fired, and had not even faced any backlash or shunning yet. (Remus Lupin Pottermore)

Remus is the only werewolf to be awarded an Order of Merlin, First Class – and his life story and martyrdom lifted a lot of stigma against werewolves. (Remus Lupin Pottermore)

#hp #remus lupin #love you remus #remus my beloved #hp meta #fenrir greyback #pottermore #lycanthropy #this one was HARD to get done for some reason #my brain didnt like it #so im just gonna post it as is for now ugh i dont wanna look at it anymore

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mylifeinfiction · 11 months ago

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Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

“It's funny leaving a place, ain't it? You never do know when you'll get back.”

Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove is the epitome of the American Western. It's scope is as grand as the frontier through which its characters journey. Its themes are as rooted in the American experience as they are in the American dream. And its characters are as flawed as they are heroic, as complex as they are charming, and as compelling as they are downright vile.

McMurtry fills this brilliant, behemoth book with an overwhelming understanding not only of these characters and their emotional and physical journey, but of the innate romance and ever-present danger of the wild west itself. Through this understanding and his impeccable prose, he brings us on an unpredictable, exciting and often infuriating adventure through the American west in a way that's as epic as it is singular.

This was one of those endlessly satisfying reading experiences, for me... the type where I continuously had to slow myself down because I simply never wanted it to end. McMurtry's storytelling is so immersive and enjoyable that I found myself longing for more of everything - even the characters I absolutely abhorred - every time I had to set the book down. And despite leading me down unexpected paths that broke my heart and had me damn-near ready to throw the book at the wall, and leaving so many character arcs wide-open, each and every moment throughout this book - every act of bravery, every betrayal, every death, every promise kept - works so well thematically that I couldn't help but embrace them completely in the end. Lonesome Dove is one hell of book.

“It ain’t dying I’m talking about, it’s living. I doubt it matters where you die, but it matters where you live.”

Some Random Thoughts: (Beware of Possible SPOILERS!)

The dialogue!! All of it is so dern good, but especially Gus. Just about everything that comes out of his mouth is thematically poignant and endlessly quotable.

I found it extremely difficult to get a read on Gus for just about the entire first act. I can't say he becomes less perplexing afterward, but I did manage to mostly understand him. He's such a great character. McMurtry made me cry uncontrollably no fewer than three times just by having characters gift Newt a horse. I really don't know why, either... those moments just completely wrecked me.

Jake Spoon's arc becomes more peculiar the more I think of it. (That's a good thing. It felt real. It felt unavoidable.)

That snake death was downright terrifying.

I absolutely love and hate how death is handled throughout this book. It's all so natural; so inevitable.

Clara, though. I get it, Gus.

The way McMurtry writes these landscapes conveys so effortlessly the effect they would have had on these men. Above all else, that's what I mean when I say 'immersive'.

It's rare that a book can have such a massive cast of characters and I'm still able to see each and every one as an individual, and have different opinions of them all.

I found it incredibly easy casting all of these characters using actors from Yellowstone. I mean, c'mon, Cole Hauser as Call?!? Perfect. (Though, yeah, Tommy Lee Jones was definitely more perfect.) Kelly Reilly as Clara?!? Yes, please. However, I found it impossible to see anyone other than Robert Duvall as Gus.

Whatever issues I had with the final act (all of them minor, nit-picky ones, other than maybe the way they left Newt), I was extremely happy with the way they resolved the Blue Duck subplot. Ooh, and the philosophically cyclical nature in which the book ended. I dug that quite a bit, too. Gus and Call are bona fide badasses, and I look forward to spending more time with them when I'm eventually able to read their other adventures.

9.5/10

-Timothy Patrick Boyer.

#booklr #book review #lonesome dove #larry mcmurtry #western books #western #classic books #pulitzer prize #book reviews #fiction #readers of tumblr #books #book cover #book photography #1985 books

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trothplighted · 3 years ago

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How would you imagine a Grindewald that doesn't pursue his oppressive plans? Where would he fit into the wizarding society? Still as a political figure that faces heat from all sides, a radical reformer pushing for exposing muggles to magic to improve wizards lifes? How would Albus fit into this if he would actually be with Gellert, would he face opposition from the ministry trying to get him off of Hogwarts, how would Albus friends now treat him and look at the relationship; newt/theseus etc seem to sympathise with Albus but their romance is 'safely' in the pass and Albus is "doing the right now" so to say...

I'm assuming you're asking about pursuing plans that subjugate Muggles as second-class citizens, if only because the rest of what he does isn't really that oppressive? At least, that's what I'm hoping, because that's what I want to talk about.

first things first, I think that reconciliation was possible after Ariana, but that both Albus and Gellert had a stick up their ass about it and didn't really feel like making nice. Albus is hearing from Aberforth that he failed and fucked up and he's an irresponsible idiot who put his dick ahead of what was good for the family (bold words from a man who got someone pregnant when he was fifteen, dude) and because he's self-hating about it he totally believes his brother. On the other side, Gellert is presumably upset about Ariana but justifiably believes that none of this would have happened if Aberforth hadn't started screaming at the pair of them that they couldn't take her away from him and they couldn't leave and how dare Albus do this, etc.

(another aside: the way Aberforth talks about this in Deathly Hallows is... creepy. there's not another word for it. it's creepy. Aberforth is someone else who JKR writes about in really loaded and frustratingly ableist terms, that's why I talk about him as a problematic figure, and unlike Albus and Gellert he hasn't really been retconned into a more positive guy, he's just creepy in completely different, equally cringe ways. also, Aberforth's simmering resentment in that same book really doesn't add up if you take what happened in FB canon into account, but this is if anything just more proof that we're well into what could be called JKR's The Peoples of Middle-Earth era)

so I think that they can reconcile, but I think it would probably have to be after Albus starts building a life for himself outside of his family. which brings us to something else - I think he taught at Hogwarts in the first place because of his sister and what happened to her. Consider that he's made significant impacts in the lives of two students from difficult backgrounds - Tom is a visibly troubled kid with serious problems who he takes under his wing and teaches and supports even though he's not Headmaster, and after he becomes Headmaster he goes out of his way to offer Remus safety even though Remus has what could be called outbursts that make him a danger to himself and other students. He never wants what happened to Ariana to happen to anyone else, he doesn't believe in turning someone away just because they'd be a challenge to help.

(one more aside: Obscuri as concepts are probably the thing Jo developed for the FB movies that do the most damage retroactively to series canon. Why wouldn't Harry have become an Obscurus when he was canonically punished for wandless magic? Why wouldn't Merope Gaunt have become one when her father and brother were physically and verbally abusive in the extreme and punished her both for not having enough magic and not exhibiting it in the right ways? What about Muggleborn kids from abusive homes or rough backgrounds? I think if she'd done more worldbuilding to establish what an Obscurial is and what an Obscurus is, this could have been avoided, but that even changes from film to film, with the most consistent lore in movie 1.)

but the point I'm trying to make is that if Albus is at Hogwarts, then it's a few decades later that Gellert decides to refocus. which means he's started his political movement, and he's begun gaining followers and loyalists. I could see them coming back together around the time that AWtFT is set, actually? if we're going by movie canon we genuinely don't know what it is he's done before this point except vague Bad Things that make the corrupt establishment look for him, and if we're going by book canon then it's completely wide open. but I think probably they'd come into contact, they'd talk it out, there would be apologies on both sides and then reconciliation. I really really want these two to be happy together. I want it very badly. I love them and I need them to be in a good place.

but realistically, I think it would have to be in a version of events where Gellert hadn't done anything actually and provably illegal - if he had committed serious crimes, he'd have to pay his debt to society with some kind of prison sentence, and Albus associating with him would be seriously detrimental to his reputation. They would want him out of his teaching job at Hogwarts (though whether or not that's successful would depend on how close Dippet was to the Ministry, because how much external influence the government has over the school is really never established firmly) and he'd be a bit of a pariah for fraternizing with a nascent Dark Lord.

but, if Gellert had only skirted close to breaking international law? they're good! the wizarding world is surprisingly libertarian when it's not an authoritarian state, and there's a shocking amount of bad shit one can get up to before it starts being the government's problem. all he has to do to stay with Albus forever is Never Commit Murder And Also Never Torture Anyone, which is surprisingly hard for him but is worth doing in the name of staying with your one true love forever, right?

so... who would he be, in this version of the story?

well, I think you're right - he'd still be a radical reformer, he wouldn't stop trying to bring down the system. but unlike canon, I think he'd get better at bridging the gap. like I've said before, the first Wizarding War is basically leftist infighting escalated to its logical conclusion - both Dumbledore and Grindelwald think society is bullshit, but one of them thinks Muggles are on the level of magical folk and one of them thinks Muggles need a bit of reverse-Uno-card imperialism to keep them in their place. if Grindelwald gave that up? shit, they'd basically be unstoppable. the underclasses of society vastly outnumber the upper classes, in both wizard and Muggle worlds, and a coalition of various groups (Muggle social justice activists and labor organizers, queer and landless and poor and otherwise disenfranchised wizards, magical creatures) would make short work of the establishment.

basically what I'm saying is that the take-over-the-world plan would have worked, and Gellert ruined it for himself by not aligning with Albus's idea of how things should be. sucks to be you, dude. better luck next time?

#replies #grindeldore

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lucky-katebishop · 4 years ago

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I spent a month reading harry potter fanfics and here’s what I learned

So for the past three and a half weeks, I’ve been doing basically nothing but reading Harry Potter fanfics and now I kind of just want to talk about them. No one cares but future me will! I tend to get caught in obsessions fairly easily (for instance, two months ago was comic books and last month was video editing and then k dramas). I’m feeling like my Harry Potter obsession is fading which makes me really sad cause it was a fun ride. I went from Drarry to Hinny, time travel to alternate realities, obscuris Harry to Dark!Harry, MCU AUs to Doctor Who AUs. I must’ve read more than 50 fics.

I’ve learned that I hate Dumbledore

Snape makes for a great mentor but I will only like him with proper character development

also where did Snape being Draco’s godfather come from? I don’t think this was in the books? I’m not angry, just confused

I read a fic that was so sad that I was physically unable to finish reading it -- actually I read two of those, one of them was a DID fic and the other Voldemort adopted Harry

the Voldemort one is quite possibly the most tragic thing I have ever read and even though it’s been two weeks I still haven’t been able to recover -- I was only halfway finished too GOOD LORD

another fic I read that was so fucking depressing was a time loop situation where Harry literally couldn’t get out of and it ended tragically

obscuris Harry is interesting but I really only like the ones where Newt is actually involved but I couldn’t find any finished ones

I don’t like it when Harry’s appearance changes, it throws me for a loop

there was this one where Harry got sent back in time and his figure got disfigured and so he didn’t even appear like himself anymore

I just find it odd for Harry Potter not to look like Harry Potter, idk

I also have a headcanon that his hair is very curly rather than shaggy

I haven’t been able to find a fic where Harry goes back in time to the Marauders era and has the right amount of angst but the right amount of fluff

I’ve read some good ones where the Marauders travel to Harry’s time but like,,, it isn’t quite what I’m looking for? I’m gonna have to write it, aren’t I?

this doesn’t happen with irondad fics, literally everything you’ve ever wanted you can find it there

I read one where Harry did go back in time but she (fem!Harry) didn’t really interact with her parents or the Marauders that much, she became friends with Regulus instead

Regulus should’ve been in Gryffindor

I’ve not only read fics where Draco has been a Ravenclaw, Slytherin, but also a Gryffindor. I haven’t found one where he’s in Hufflepuff

I’ve read fics where Harry’s in every single house - the Ravenclaw one might be my favorite so far, it had to do with him going to a different timeline where there’s another Harry and he’s a major dick

Hufflepuff Harry one was funny, but it got distressing cause Dumbledore didn’t trust him and tried to get him expelled

actually the Hufflepuff one made my heart hurt cause Harry was put in the body of a Harry who isn’t the boy who lived and barely spoke and was basically like an even more traumatized Neville

Slytherin Harry is everything to me and he should’ve been in Slytherin

Ravenclaw Draco is something that can be so personal

I’m tired of reading Year One fics, I get it, there’s a stone, let’s move on

Year Four fics are my favorite however, there was one (which is my favorite) where Harry’s a necromancer and in the graveyard scene he calls corpses from the graves alive to help him get out of there it was so cool

I am partial to Harry/Draco but Harry/Luna is cute

there was a Pokemon Harry/Luna one that’s adorable and I’ve read it twice already

I like when there’s a ton of lore involved

especially Hogwarts lessons - like ancient runes can fucking get it, I love runes fics

there was an MCU AU one where I read Harry didn’t have his magic anymore, not as potent as it was, but he did have ancient runes

LISTEN I tried to get into Dark!Harry but after that Voldemort adoption one I can’t do it anymore, I will start crying literally right now -- he just wants to be fucking useful! He just wants to be loved! Is that too much to fucking ask for?

however Harry doing dark!magic but isn’t actually on the dark side is cool

Death Eater Spy Draco! It makes me distressed but also I am so here for it!

Jenkins if you’re out there I love you (if you get this reference I love you)

I read a ton of Avengers adopt Harry when he’s younger but I don’t care for younger Harry fics, I prefer when he’s a teenager and I don’t have to read the first few years at Hogwarts, it can get repetitive

Give me all the angst with Harry being a horcrux please, I’m living for the drama

Lily is not a fan favorite weirdly enough, when the Marauders are in fics she’s usually not there which is unfortunate because I just really want a good Harry/Lily bonding moment

one of the saddest fics I read was where harry, luna, hermione and neville find themselves in an alternate dimension where Lily and Remus are married and alive, James is a dick but has other kids, and every single person that had died in their world is alive

I don’t like it when there’s Ron bashing, he’s one of my favorites, but if I have to, I’ll read some of them

there was this Sherlock fic (listen, I went in fucking deep, it’s been a weird month) where fem!Harry is on the run from the Ministry because I don’t actually understand and Ron and everyone is out for blood for her

Eleventh Doctor/Harry is a pairing I was not aware of but I actually kind of love?

Master of Death Harry is fucking OP and I love him for that

mcu aus is something I never knew I needed

Holly Potter and the Midlife Crisis is fucking everything

So is On Punching Gods and Absentee Dads, I realized it was the same author when I read in the author notes that the author was going to some volcano convention thing and I was like this is way too niche for it to be a coincidence

I’ve read Tony is Harry’s dad, Loki is Harry’s dad, Harry is just weird friends with Thor, ones where Natasha is Harry’s aunt

listen everyone is related to this boy

I will not read a fic if it doesn’t involve Harry, he’s my boy, he’s my love, I care only about him and him only I’m so sorry

you know that meme where people say nobody’s favorite character is harry potter, the titular character? Well meet me! He’s my favorite!

in battle of hogwarts fics, Remus almost always dies. Why is that? Why do you guys hate him so much? It’s always half and half for Fred, I never know if he’s going to live or not

In all of the good fics I’ve read I saw in the collections area of ao3 the same collection and I was like! You get me!

if it says Gammily’s Bookshelf on the fic, it’s gonna be a really fucking great fic let me just tell you that right now

Parseltongue gets me so riled up, I fucking love Parseltongue, it’s so cool

there’s a reason I usually filter out non/c*n but I decided to let it flow and I ran into a few that fucking d e s t r o y e d me why do you guys read shit like this, it broke my heart

that being said I read one that was really nuanced and actually really good but it’ll never be finished and I’m very mad about that

Either we have a better understanding of how goblins could be utilized than JKR or we’re just ignorant of how powerful they can be

weird coincidence that I’ve read two completely different fics where Harry thought having a threesome meant kissing three different people

Dumbledore’s a bitch and I hate him, every fic I’ve read so far agrees with me

there is a person out there that is CARRYING the bucky barnes/harry potter pairing on their back and I hope whoever that is knows how much I appreciate them

remind me never to click on a fic that hasn’t been updated since 2015 ever again, C’est La Vie I will miss you so

this is just a fucking quarter of the harry potter fics I’ve read but thanks for reading if you did, let me know if you want to know some of the titles

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quillyfied · 3 years ago

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Acknowledging that Good Omens was written by an atheist man and a Jewish man and hung on a culturally Christian framework, and that I’m coming to it as a strugglingly religious but very spiritual Christian woman, there is a…thought…brewing, about the idea of scripture and the book The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch and the concept of a character living their entire life dedicated to the study and interpretation and even practice that the book encapsulates and represents, and the final message when more of that brand of book becomes available being “this character should be free to make her own choices in life based on her own judgement and takes back her own agency by burning the new book of prophecies”.

[[MORE]]

Because…as far as we know, Agnes Nutter wasn’t a pendulum-and-auras kind of witch. She was a woman with singular gift at looking through a cosmic peephole and writing down what glimpses she saw, and by the time we get to Anathema, witchcraft meant something completely else, and Anathema (so far) doesn’t HAVE that particular gift. She doesn’t need it—she has the family Bible, which guides and directs her, and the traditions and practices that her family picked up along the way are, from what we can see as the audience, not referred to at all in the book but integral to Anathema’s family life (as evidenced in the show by Anathema’s mother asking if she’d used her pendulum yet and Anathema groaning and saying she wasn’t a kid, of course she had). Agnes never says Anathema saves the world—Anathema’s family assumes it, in the generations of Devices that came later and added their two cents and their interpretations to the bare text of Agnes’ predictions. Anathema DOES help save the world, in several indirect ways, but none of them were prophesied about specifically, they were choices Anathema herself made. She chose to share the New Aquarian magazines and be kind and encouraging to Adam, she chose to goad Newt into using his catastrophic luck with electronics to disable nuclear Armageddon, she chose to let herself be driven home by a couple of weirdos in a vintage car and thus accidentally left her book behind to fall into the clutches of an angel who would just happen to be able to work it all out and get himself and his demonic counterpart to the airfield. All Agnes helped her do was get into position to where Armageddon truly was, and put her in a position to influence both the Antichrist and the Techless Wonder.

Speaking of Newton, his role both in Armageddon and in Anathema’s life as the one who against all outward appearances actually asks the questions and doubts the Device family Bible is also interesting, because his disbelief in the accuracy of a long-dead witch’s predictions and his incredulity at Anathema being completely guided by them is the perfect “skeptic vs believer” dynamic around which a lot of the underlying tension of Good Omens hinges, both between characters and within singular characters themselves. It’s the delicious dichotomy of Crowley the skeptic and Aziraphale the believer, and also Crowley as both skeptic and believer and Aziraphale as both skeptic and believer. It’s the line that Adam Young walks, whether to believe in a better future or to destroy everything now in skeptical fury, or whether to be skeptical of his own role and reject it versus believing the voices in his head and giving in. Belief and skepticism go hand in hand, inseparable, in Good Omens, in many different ways and permutations. What I find interesting is how this balance manifests and grows in Anathema, where she begins never doubting Agnes to ending up burning her second book of prophecies. About the beauty of taking Word of God as Anathema knew it and deciding she was better off NOT putting that expectation on herself again, on future generations of Devices.

Good Omens is very anti-establishment in general, which is fantastic, please do question everything, but what it has done for me in examining my real-world faith and beliefs and questions is perhaps best left to another post, because my conclusion for myself is slightly different than the conclusion that is drawn in the story and I don’t need to air that kind of tension here. I just find it interesting how in the context of the story, even a book of completely true prophecies becomes something of a bludgeon and a burden that Anathema struggles under until given the push and pressure to question it herself, and once finding understanding, she outgrows it—the physical text, and the weight of the expectations that comes with it.

#good omens #the point is that scripture is what you make it I suppose #and that it’s still a damn good refreshing twist that the most ‘religious’ character is a WITCH #religious meaning following a set path as established by a book and the interpretations thereof #idk just a weird late night thought

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popurikat · 4 years ago

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Newtmas essay when?

Finally getting to this, thanks for waiting, I needed to go over a few bookmarks. (Warning, this post contains spoilers from the MAZE RUNNER book and FEVER CODE book, so if you haven’t read either or yet and want the jist of my analysis; just know that in general the fandom interpreting Newt as gay before it was revealed on a twitter post was not just a random headcanon and that Thomas in general is portrayed to have very strong unconditional love for Newt throughout the series; and it shows. To the point that even the director for the movie has stated that Newt and Thomas have a strong bond and portrays that in the movies. I will also preface that I am NOT adding personal opinion anywhere here, these are just backings from quotes and how they are thus meant to be taken/read as. My words are taken as a reader who is currently reading Scorch Trials has yet to fully read Death Cure or Crank Palace.) Anways, without further ado at 3AM today, I’ll try my best to explain how even though Dashner tries his best to make Thomas have other, female love interests; he creates a not so subtle gay subtext for Tommy boy here when in the context of interacting with Newt throughout the lore. Apologies beforehand for any grammar mistakes along the way.

To commence, I am going to start with FEVER CODE, as its supposed to act as the story’s preface to the actual events that play out later. Newt and Thomas upon meeting each other describe their presence as “familiar” and or as a “long lost friend” and they genuinely hit it off from the start to the point that Newt is okay with having Thomas see him cry over the fact that he and his sister are separated since he is doomed to be WCKD’s control analysis as he’s the only one lacking immunity from the flare itself. Once Newt is done being emotionally vulnerable we get our first instance of his personal nickname for Thomas: “That’s the way things are Tommy,’ he said his voice not quite steady. ‘The world outside’s gone to hell. Why should we expect any different here? [...] He said it as if they’d been friends for years” (ch. 14). An interesting note here is that Thomas doesn’t bother to correct him or stifle the moment by feeling that all this information was too much, he genuinely wanted to hear Newt out and is fine with seeing this side of him; if not slightly taken aback by how natural it is that they can converse about such aspects of their lives. In fact, Newt makes such an impact on Thomas that Thomas ends up that same night dreaming of him: “Throughout his shortened night, he dreamed of Newt and Sonya. Of Newt and Lizzy“(Ch. 14). The thing with Thomas though is that the idea of comfort and connection is very foreign to him as he’s been basically isolated all his life with only the adults like Ava to talk to and the one exception being Teresa as his only kid companion. So Thomas didn’t even think he could make others like him for being himself unless they were vital to the overall production of WCKD. Seeing this portion right before the end of chapter 14: “Alby, Minho, Newt, Teresa. Thomas had friends.” shows that Thomas really had to deep dive to see how he deals with personal connections and why he was excited about the notion of friendship. He could’ve been happy with just Teresa, but only fully cemented her bond to him as “friend” when his circle grew and these kids he got to hang with taught him he can be himself, a concept he didn’t realize was possible when all his life was dictated on what he was supposed to learn or do. It becomes especially clear just how controlled his life is with the aspect of sentiment when later on Teresa’s mental communication evokes physcial pain and fear in Thomas. I’ll get back to that later as its more of a small tid bit of Thomas’ view on his forced love interest, Teresa. And yes, I say forced because multiple sentences with Thomas have him even wish he could cease all communication with her. Moving on, let’s talk about mimicking for a second. As humans, we mimic as a behavioral response to become closer to the person we care about. It’s the reason why yawning or laughter is contagious and or why we copy the posture of the person we converse with face to face. Thomas is seen to do this the most with Newt’s quirks. I’ll give the example in chapter 15: “Newt has been promising them that he was saving something special, and he did that annoying zipped-lipped sign every time [...] the little light in his eyes showed he enjoyed every second of their torture” versus Thomas: “Thomas did Newt’s zipped-lipped gesture, and that got him a sharp poke in the ribs”. So, we know enough that Thomas’ mannerisms are developing as a sign that he wants to be closer to Newt and to continue this sense of playfulness they both enjoy from the other. This is the start of their budding bond and a clear indication that they hold each other at greater fondness than the rest through this unconscious copying. Through this copying, they also pick up on emotional cues the other lets up on. Newt is especially good at noticing small things like when Thomas is anxious or overthinking: “He was just shocked that with all their exploring, the others hadn’t already discovered it on their own. And there were supposed to be TWO mazes. How had Newt and his friends not stumbled upon either one of them? ‘Tommy?’ Thomas realized Newt was staring straight at him, eyebrows raised. ‘Sorry,’ he said embarrassed, ‘wandered off for a second there what did you say?’ Newt shook his head in admonishment. ‘Try to keep up, Tommy Are you ready to see the grat outdoors?” (ch. 15). Also in chapter 23: “Tommy?’ It was Newt, breaking him out of his thoughts. ‘I can see your wheels spinnin’ up there.’ He tapped the side of his head”. This furthers Newts perceptiveness on his friend and Thomas’ ability to pick out when he is being looked after. And they bounce off each other really well in that aspect. To the point that Newt can crack a joke he knows will land right on Thomas’ sense of humor: “Newt waggled his fingers in front of Thomas’ face [...] A laugh exploded out of Thomas’ mouth that sent a spray everywhere. ‘Sorry’ he said, wiping his lips on his sleeve” (ch.15). It’s enjoyable to know that at least at a surface level, they have fun together and can cheer the other up if needed or know when to ground the other to reality. It is also through these instances that as a reader I pick up that Thomas’ nervous ticks perhaps allude to an anxiety disorder he has; of which Newt is aware of and never puts Thomas down on for exhibiting. He in fact understands it and deals with it accordingly as he himself has a similar circumstance. SO, what does all this paying attention lead to? Thomas’ devotion to protect Newt. Yeah, thats right I said devotion. Thomas’ actions are influenced by his developed instinct to protect Newt at all costs. Here is the biggest example that comes to mind: “What in the world happened to Newt? -- Less then two hours later, Thomas had spliced together a series of camera clips [...] Thomas turned off the feed. He couldn’t take it anymore...Newt, Newt, Newt, Thomas thought, feeling as if the very air around him were turning black.”(ch.52). Essentially, Thomas seeing Newt plummet to his near death by falling from the maze wall as a result of Newt’s ongoing depressive state, this is the moment that makes Thomas realize WICKD isn’t as good as they seem and that he is going into the maze to save Newt. Its admirable how much self sacrifice Thomas does for someone he cares so much about, to the point that their name is like a mantra. Thats a sensible area of passion and fighting spirit for someone who is “just a friend”. Oh and, the feeling of fondness is mutual mind you if I haven’t been clear. After experiencing the horrors of cranks for the first time, realizing Newt was not immune, and watching Newt until they entered the pits it has been months since they last interacted; this is their first reunion: “What’s up Tommy?’ Newt exclaimed, his face filled with genuine happiness at the pleasant surprise that’s been sprung on him. Thomas couldn’t remember exactly how long it’d been since he’d seen Newt. ‘You look bloody fantastic for three in the morning” (ch. 23). I need to preface this that Newt DOES NOT mean that sarcastically and that out of all the people in the room (Minho, Chuck and Teresa are there in this scene), Thomas only reacts this way specifically toward seeing Newt is okay and back. The characters are also not afraid of being physically close. “Well, look who the bloody copper dragged in,’ Newt said, pulling Thomas into a big hug” (ch.31), “They shook hands, and then the two of them set off...” (ch. 31), and my favorite: “Thomas jumped at the sound, then stumbled. Newt tripped over him, and then they were both laughing, legs and arms tangled in a pile on the ground”(ch.32). I don’t think this far in the novel, Thomas has been AS (emphasis on as) comfortable with touch with anyone else other than Newt. And thats a big step forward on the aspect of trust in a relationship, being able to be comfortable with the presence of another person enough to be as intimate with them as shown here. And all this, is just fever code itself. Mind you this is not the MEAT of the novels as it came out later. But even without it, lets look at Thomas in Maze now, I’ll try to keep this segment a lot more brief. Here’s Thomas looking respectively at boys his age: “A tall kid with blond hair and a square jaw...a thick, heavy muscled Asian kid folded his arms as he studied Thomas, his tight shirtsleeves rolled up to show off his biceps [...] Newt was taller than Alby too, but looked to be a year or so younger, His hair was blond and cut long, cascading over his T-shirt. Veins stuck out of his muscled arms”(ch. 2). Thomas’ initial reaction to being surrounded by boys is to deeply analyze their rugged good looks and heavily emphasize their best physical traits. When reading this the first time, my mind immediately thought this boy at the very least is supposed to be portrayed as bi, especially when later down the line Teresa gets a similar descriptor: “...despite her paleness, she was really pretty...silky hair, flawless skin, perfect lips, long legs.” So right off the bat, we know that be it boy or girl, Thomas emphasizes how attractive someone looks in his eyes when he truly does have a sense of attraction to them. Case closed. Within the same chapter we get Thomas also immediately clinging onto Newt for a sense of grounding, it is now ingrained in him at this point that the boy is his lifeline, a person to rely on. “Thomas looked over at Newt, hoping for help.” And help he does, Newt in this chapter helps ease his worries, explain a general idea of what the glade is and even pats him on the shoulder a bit to ease tension. And Thomas doesn’t bat an eye in the same way he’s weary of literally everyone else. In fact, he’s eager to stay put with him as shown with; “If Newt went up there, then I wanna talk to him.” And if none of that seals the deal, we got early bird Newt being so touch starved he flattens himself next to Thomas to wake him up at the crack of Dawn in chapter 6: “Someone shook Thomas awake. His eyes snapped open to see a too-close face staring down at him, everything around them still shadowed by the darkness of early morning...’Shh, Greenie. Don’t wanna be waking up Chuckie, now, do we?’ It was Newt --the guy who seemed second in command; the air reeked of his morning breath. Though Thomas was surprised, any alarm melted away immediately”. This whole scene follows firstly by Thomas once again impressed by how strong Newt is and then Newt giving him a rundown of what everyone else was too afraid to show Thomas, the grievers. And you know, this scene could’ve ended well and everything as totally platonic, but then we have “Newt turned to look at him dead in the eye. The first traces of dawn had crept up on them, and Thomas could see EVERY DETAIL OF NEWT’S FACE, HIS SKIN TIGHT, HIS BROW CREASED.” Now, look me in the eye and tell me there is a hetero explanation on looking at your best bro like they are the sun reincarnated themselves. But let’s not hog all the homosexual undertones with Thomas here. Wanna know what Newt’s initial reaction to having a girl in the glade was? “It’s a girl,’ he said [...] Newt shushed them again. ‘That’s not bloody half of it,’ he said, then pointed down into the box. ‘I think she’s dead” (ch.8). It’s actually a stark contrast to the other gladers eagerly wanting to know her age, how pretty she looked, and calling dibs to date her; Newt isn’t interested in any of that, he’s more perplexed on her status and not even bothering to remark on her looks, he was the only one not to and even remarks a few other instances that girls are more Thomas’ domain. For instance, he makes a joke in fever code when Thomas remarks that the girls in the institution were going to tackle him down, Newt proceeds to point out sarcastically something along the lines of “wait, isn’t that YOUR dream though?” So Newt is pretty out spoken of his disinterest in girls, and his full admiration and attention on Thomas. Oh, and yes, Newt immediately switches over to “Tommy” the moment Thomas mentions he hates being called greenie, and once again it just becomes a thing between only the two of them. Newt is also the one to be straight forward about the whole Runners business. He warns Thomas about the dangers and doesn’t necessarily turn him down on his desire to be one, he in fact encouraged him to just wait until the right moment. “No one said you couldn’t, but give it a rest for now”(ch. 15). So once again, Newt is the voice of confidence and reason for Thomas to prosper. In turn, this time around Thomas is the one to catch when something is bothering Newt. For instance, “Newt chewed his fingernails, something he hadn’t seen the older boy do before...he was genuinely concerned -- Newt was one of the few people in the Glade he actually liked ”(ch.16). Interesting how we went from fever code “friend” to “like”. And also, when Newt explains his concern about the runners not coming back yet, Thomas pieces together how scared Newt is of the Maze without being told and goes to stand next to him as a physical presence to ground Newt as they wait near the entrance. In fact, this piece is trivial to understand why Thomas does what he does next. When everyone else had given up on the Runners still outside with 2 minutes left til closing, and Newt was escorted away from the entrance, Thomas waited. And when Thomas saw them, he yells to Newt, realizes he’s too far to do anything, and makes a decision himself. He KNEW how much Newt cared about his fellow Gladers, they were like family or “kin” as its said in the book, so what does he do? “Don’t do it Tommy! Don’t you bloody do it!’ ... Thomas knew he had no choice. He moved. Forward. He squeezed past the connecting rods at the last second and stepped into the maze”(ch.16). Yes, Thomas does this because of his empathy for the Gladers, but the chain reaction of Newt’s concern is what sets his decision in stone. And yet again, Thomas enters the maze for Newt. And that’s pretty much the constant for the rest of Maze Runner the book, Newt just sticking up for Thomas and Thomas in turn just being happy that: “He was at least relieved that Newt was there” (ch.17). And thats basically their entire dynamic. Newt just going: “If you really did help design the maze Tommy, it’s not your fault. You‘re a kid -- you can’t help what they forced you to do” to ease the survivor’s trauma Thomas has, as well as saying “I actually believe you. You just don’t have an ounce of lying in those eyes of yours. And I can’t bloody believe I’m about to say this...but I’m going back in there to convince those shanks we should go through the griever hole, just like you said”(ch.51); and I think thats the most romantic thing to hear from him. Just right out being all for supporting Thomas no matter what happens as long as he stays alive and continues to fight, he doesn’t care about what happened before. And Thomas eats that up because it fuels him even more to seek out a means to escape for the people (Newt) that deserve a life outside of running from monsters forever. So essentially, I’ll state again, it’s always been Newt the catalyst for Thomas to run head first into the Maze and seek freedom. And with all this I can clear that these two are shown to if not be romantically involved, at least have unconditional love for the other that transcends the author’s original intention. And with that in mind, here’s the thing with Teresa as a love interest. I can list here quotes of every time she mind speaks to Thomas and how that affects him, but then this would be too long. And this is a newtmas post gosh darn it. Teresa is gleeful to humiliate, control, hurt, and force Thomas to believe they’re in love. In multiple instances we get her barging into his mind unwarranted making him understand that she has full access to his inner most thoughts. Theres nothing romantic about that, and I think its why Thomas ends up being so perceptive to the smallest of gestures that allow him to think on his own and feel like his own person. Something I’ve seen Brenda do later in scorch, and something I’ve seen Newt do since the very beginning is that they allow Thomas to come to his own conclusions in order to create his own opinions on the matters at hand. Thomas’ love language revolves around words of affirmation. He likes it when people confirm his thoughts are valid and that remind him that WICKD can’t hurt him anymore now that he has the power to be his own person. This is where Newt comes in very handy. He allows Thomas to grow in ways his female love interests have yet to show, sorry Brenda but I’ve heard you were trying to unite all immunes together to the safe haven by the end and in a sense still only using Thomas to get by; I still think she was the better call than teresa of course and I have no remorse for Teresa getting smushed by a boulder. But essentially my point here is that, how do you fail to make your initial love interests clash so badly where one has no real care about the others well being so long as everything goes according to WCKD by using a form of gaslighting and manipulation? AND THOMAS HAS STATED HIS DISCOMFORT ON THIS MULTIPLE TIMES, but the narrative always erases these instances from his mind in place of pity for Teresa’s well being (as you can tell, Teresa through this becomes my least favorite character, I can rant about her some othe time though with proper backing). The narrative in turn treats it all like a joke. I understand there are scenes where Thomas is worried about her and looks out to make sure shes ok, but even then he doesn’t know how to react with mental images of her kissing his cheek or when she screams the next minute that she doesn’t know who he is or how hes speaking into her mind. And thats because they can’t properly communicate their emotions to the other, not even in fever code could Thomas give a forward answer if he loved Teresa or not, she just assumed. Come to think of it, Thomas really doesn’t show much affection to Teresa of his own accord. So then, how DOES Thomas show his affection? Thomas provides acts of service as his love language, if he cares about you enough he will risk his life for you. Why? Because Thomas values putting the people he loves foremost knowing full well they are what help him have purpose and succeed in continuing on. In a way, Newt and Thomas’ dynamic works in this instance because they balance the other out and because they have seen each other at their worst and at their best. In a way, that's why knowing the ending of the books makes it harder to accept that Thomas would just easily take the shot...when all his life clung to Newt’s survival. But that’s a story for another time where I compare the movies (of which let me make that clear, yes I prefer) over the books. For now just know that the book may have done this by accident, maybe not, but at the end of the day theres solid proof that Thomas and Newt care about each other in a way that is separately portrayed from their connection to the other glade members, and have this consistency of soft moments running through the entirety of the series. In conclusion; newtmas. Newtmas. NEWTMAS, etc.

#Newtmas #long post #Skquill #ask #The ending gets a bit ranty with Teresa I must admit #but for the most part its just me recalling the best newtmas moments from the novels I've currently read #Please add on more newtmas proof to the thread

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12tardis · 4 years ago

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Shy Smiles (Newt Scamander x Reader)

Warnings: none Requested: Yes! Lovely anon said ‘could you pretty please write a fic with Newt where it's just like a lot of fluff and shy smiles and looking at each other with the reader with loving eyes, maybe staying up till late just reading and whispering shy words of love, and holding hands, holding each other’. Anon, I’m sorry it took me longer than expected I hope you got through the uni week okay! You GOT this!

Pairing: Newt Scamander x Reader

Summary: Super short and sweet fluff drabble. The reader has always been the confident and affectionate one in the friendship but once their official relationship is established the tables turn. A/N: Thank you to lovely anon for the request I hope you’re feeling better! I’m sorry I took a while to write it I had a not-so-nice endo ep this week which left me falling asleep literally every time I sat down to write. I’m emotional AF this week. Uni is hard! I hope you enjoy and please send me more requests x

Words: 2,534

Newt looked down at you curiously where you where curled up next to him on the couch, leaning on him just slightly and looking incredibly uncomfortable perched so precariously next to him. You were trying to give him personal space while at the same time resting your head on his shoulder as he read to you, his arm slung lazily over your shoulder. In truth you hadn’t really been paying much attention to the story at all because you were so hyper aware of Newt’s body pressed against yours and trying not to come across as too clingy. And you may have also been slightly distracted by the colour of his eyes in the afternoon sun.

Newt flicked his eyes away from you with a shy smile when he noticed your staring, continuing to read the book he had balanced in his right hand, subtly sliding his other hand from around your shoulder and to your waist. He let out a grunt when you suddenly jerked in response to his touch, elbowing him in the ribs hard enough for him to be momentarily winded.

“Oh my god, Newt I’m so sorry! Oh god I’m sorry are you okay?!”, you gasped, flapping your arms around in a panic before your hands were suddenly cupping his cheeks and Newt leant into your touch , catching his breath again.

“Y/N, it’s okay”, he smiled, blushing lightly when you set your hands on his chest in an attempt to soothe the spot you’d struck him. He shivered slightly at the way your hands slid across his pecs and over his ribs in your flustered state “Y/N, I’m okay!” , he repeated, letting out a breathy laugh as he lay his hands over yours, gently gripping your wrists in his large calloused hands.

It had been nearly 2 weeks since the day Newt had suddenly confessed his love for you and you had kissed him in response and thus your official relationship had began and he was still over the moon.

In your years of friendship you had been the more tactile and comfortable out of the two of you. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence to to see you both hand in hand as you strolled around the castle. Or to find you perched upon Newt’s lap as you read a book aloud for the both of you or to find you sat with Newt’s head resting in your lap with your fingers tangled in his hair. And it definitely wasn’t unusual to see you both gazing at one another when you thought the other wasn’t looking. You’d both ignored everyone’s constant teasing over the years because it was blatantly clear to everyone else that you two were in love. Never ‘just friends’.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

It was towards the end of your second year at Hogwarts and you were stood in front of a very flustered looking Newt, waiting patiently for him to continue his story.

“W-we don’t have to go if you don’t want to. I just thought well-I thought you might like to see ”, Newt stuttered, his gaze darting around wildly as he started to fidget with his sleeves. He thought you might like to see the baby Pygmy Puff that he’d recently found but now he was stood in front of you he was worried he might scare off his one true friend.

You’d been incredibly accepting of his interest in magical creatures and you’d listened to many of his stories in rapt interest but he knew it was an entirely different thing to be faced with one of the creatures in the flesh.

You smiled gently at Newt, making sure you gave him the time to finish talking without interrupting him and when he finally finished rambling you took his hand in your own as if you’d done it a dozen times before. “I’d love to see your new Pygmy Puff, Newt.” you murmured gently, squeezing his hand.

Newt’s eyes widened, his gaze transfixed on your hand wrapped around his and he felt the all too familiar blush in his cheeks, eventually gazing back at you, a wide smile breaking across his own face. Your hand seemed to fit so perfectly in his own. So naturally.

He pulled you out of the common room and through the corridors, the smile never leaving his cheeks and he didn’t let go of your hand once that afternoon.

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

Your 3rd year found you standing in front of Newt with your hand cocked on your hip as you raised an eyebrow at him. “You’re in my seat,” you said disapprovingly.

You’d been sat beside him in the Hufflepuff common room reading through your shared notes for Potions together in preparation for your exam the following day and Newt had obnoxiously taken your seat when you’d left to go to the bathroom.

Newt just smiled back at you smugly and shrugged “it’s my seat now. It’s quite comfortable. And much warmer here by the fire. I can’t believe I’ve settled for that seat all this time,” he teased, trying not to laugh when he saw the pinch of irritation appear on your face.

“Newt move!”, you huffed, folding your arms like a petulant child and glaring at him when he only laughed and gestured to his lean body “make me”.

And you glared at him challengingly for a moment more before you shrugged and smirked slowly “Fine! If you want to be like that I guess we can share,” you said before you sat yourself down sideways in his lap without warning, biting back your own laughter at the scandalised look on his face.

Newt threw his hands up in surprise, his cheeks growing hot as he stuttered in response “Y/N w-what are you doing?”,he breathed out as his heart thumped heavily in his chest.

You just smiled in response and stretched your legs out across the couch where he would usually be sat, slinging one arm around his shoulders for balance and picking your notes back up with your other, starting to read them exactly where you’d left off.

Newt found his arm coming to rest around your back on its own accord as he gazed up at you, his lips slightly parted and he knew then that he stood no chance in that exam the next day because the only thoughts in his head right now were all you.

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

In your 6th year you were spending a weekend of your two week Spring break at the Scamander house as it had become tradition over the last couple of years.

The Scamander family was very accustomed to having you around by now. Newt’s parents were always glad to see the happiness that bubbled up in their youngest son at your presence and Theseus was just glad to have you around because it meant that for once Newt wasn’t rambling on to him about you. Instead he was rambling to you. And even he had to admit that it made him happy to see his brother so at peace.

Theseus had been sent to call you both for afternoon tea and he wandered out into the backyard, expecting to find you both in Newt’s shack when he stopped in his tracks. You were sitting under the cherry blossom tree, leaning back against the trunk of the tree and Newt was sprawled out across the grass with his head in your lap, half asleep with his eyes closed as you brushed your fingers through his hair slowly.

Theseus raised his eyebrows in surprise as he took in the sight of you smiling adoringly down at his younger brother and the the way Newt looked so relaxed there in your arms. It clearly wasn’t a new position for the two of you. He smiled softly to himself and turned around carefully, slipping back into the house as quietly as he could so as not to disturb the two of you.

“They said they’re not hungry just yet.” Theseus called to his mother as he stepped back into the house.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

You had always been the first one to initiate almost all physical contact during your days at Hogwarts but ever since that fateful day 2 weeks ago it was as if the roles had been completely reversed.

Suddenly you were a stuttering, flustered mess, barely able to touch Newt without tripping over your words and Newt found it to be utterly adorable and endearing though he was hoping you would get over your nerves soon enough because he really really missed the way you used to cuddle him without hesitation.

“Can we...maybe take this to your bedroom?”, you suggested, nodding towards his room that was just down the hallway and slapping a hand over your face when you realised what you’d said “n-not like that! I just- I just meant we could lay down there and stretch out because-because you look so uncomfortable squished on the couch like this and I just elbowed you and oh my god I’ve just completely ruined the mood”, you whined, covering your face in embarrassment as you willed the ground to swallow you whole.

Newt’s eyes had grown to the size of saucers when you first spoke and he could have sworn his heart actually skipped a beat but then you were sitting there panicking and looking so bloody adorable he was certain his heart skipped a beat.

“Y/N...” he murmured with a small amused smile, waiting patiently when you kept rambling “Y/N”, he tried again and eventually reached out to pull your hands away from your face.

“I knew what you meant”, he smiled softly, doing his best to keep the amusement off his face because the last thing he wanted to do was embarrass you further. He pulled your hand to his lips, pressing a gentle and hopefully soothing kiss to the back of it as you watched him shyly, letting out a sigh of relief.

“Come on then”, he murmured, pulling you in the direction of his bedroom and feeling his own nerves start to grow again as he gingerly climbed onto his bed, shuffling over to make room for you. His own nerves were running rampant but he decided to be brave for you, knowing one of you needed to take initiative if you were ever going to get past this awkward phase.

You sat down carefully on the end of Newt’s bed as you looked around the room taking it in properly for the first time, avoiding looking at your boyfriend as you tried to calm your nerves. You tipped your head aside curiously when you spotted a beautiful white and purple flecked orchid sitting on the window sill by his bed and you shuffled towards it, gently brushing your fingers along the petals of the flower in awe. “Did you know some people consider the orchid to be the most beautiful flower in the world?”, you murmured, your nerves momentarily forgotten as you gazed at the elegant flower.

“I know”, Newt murmured softly, watching you fondly as he leant in close to you “it reminded me of you,” he whispered, gazing down at you with a shy smile. You sucked in a quick breath as you took in his words “oh, you mean-“, you flushed when you found his face right in front of yours, seeing the pure adoration and love in his eyes as he nodded at you.

“Yes. I remember you telling me that in school and I remember thinking it was funny because I always thought of you and the first time I ever saw you smile when I saw the flowers in the Greenhouses”, he admitted, humming in surprise when you were suddenly kissing him.

You gripped the front of his shirt as you kissed him firmly, your cheeks warm as your heart thumped erratically in your chest. Newt sighed softly against your lips and gently cupped your cheek in response, moving his lips against yours delicately, unwittingly pouting just slightly when you pulled back from him.

“Merlin Newt, you can’t just say things like that, it’s not good for my heart,” you grumbled, resting your forehead against his shoulder.

Newt chuckled softly, his hand flying up to brush his fingers through your hair on its own accord “you are my heart”, he whispered, relishing the way you nestled your face into his neck shyly.

“Newwwwwwt”, you whined to which he hummed, leaning back and slipping his fingertips under your chin to tip your face back up towards him.

“What? I mean it. I love you Y/N. More than anything else in this world. I know you’re nervous about us now that we’ve finally put our feelings out there but I don’t want you to worry. Nothing between us has to change. It can be just like it was before just...just with kisses”, Newt murmured with a slight blush of his own, keeping his gaze locked on yours.

You listened to him carefully, taking in his sincere expression and the look of love and understanding in his eyes and you found yourself nodding along, laying your hand over his and threading your fingers together “I’m sorry I just...I’ve been kinda stressed about not wanting to make you feel pressured. Or be annoying and clingy. I mean I know I’ve always been clingy and overly touchy and affectionate with you but now it’s different I just worry about...about scaring you off.”, you admitted softly, looking down at your intertwined hands.

“I’ve always cherished your touch, Y/N. That hasn’t changed and that will never change. You know I’ve always struggled with physical affection with everybody else. I’ve always felt honoured by your affection. You can make my entire day with one single hug.“ Newt squeezed your hands firmly in his own as he leant forward pressing a loving kiss to the top of your head. “Please believe me when I say I’ve never thought you to be clingy.”

You wrapped your arms around him tightly and pushed him back onto the bed, laying your head on his chest and claiming your spot nestled in his arms, tangling your legs with his and looking up at him. “I love you too. Even more than my plants.”, you whispered, smiling adoringly back at him though your heart was still beating erratically in your chest.

Newt made a noise of surprise when you suddenly pinned him back onto the bed, his arms wrapping around you instinctively as he felt himself blush from your close proximity. It was entirely a new sensation to hold you in his arms in his bed and he adored it already. “More than your plants?” He teased, rubbing small circles onto your back.

“Yes and I’ll love you even more if you read to me again”, you murmured, holding the book from earlier up to his face and Newt laughed taking it from your hands before he did just like that. And you lay there, resting on his chest and gazing up at him with a dopey smile on your face as you listened to the rumble of his voice in his chest combined with his steady heart beat and eventually falling asleep just like that.

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-MASTERLIST HERE-

#newt scamander #newt x reader #newt x y/n #newt scamander x reader #newt scamander x y/n #Newton Artemis Fido Scamander #reader insert #newt scamander fluff #fantastic beasts and where to find them #harry potter

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ladynightmare913 · 4 years ago

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Secrets of the Darkened Seas

Welcome to Chapter 10! I know it has been a long while but, reality got in the way. As always, I would like to give a big thank you to my best friend Olivia ( @asunshinepuff ) for inviting me to help her bring this world to life.

Just a small reminder that the next chapter will be posted on Olivia’s blog!

As always there is mermaid lore hidden with the story. The included lore for this tale has been written under the guise of Fantastic Nautical Creatures by Newt Scamander. As always it will be taken from the book “The Secret World of Mermaids” by Francine Rose while putting our own twist.

Don't forget to send me an ask if you have any questions or comments about the story or its characters, or if you simply want to say hello!

Now without further ado,

Chapter 10: Dúi hǎi and Shou

Sirius glared at the snake, which was currently a bracelet on Remus’ hand. “How come it doesn’t bite you?” His eyes never leaving the gold snake.

Remus shrugged nonchalantly, unperturbed as he leaned against the lower walls of the quarterdeck. “He likes me.” He continues looking over his notes in a worn leather notebook.

“What do you mean he, it’s a sword, pretty sure it doesn’t need pronouns.” Sirius had been tasked with tying knots, eyeing Remus opening with contempt.

“And yet we call ships, she.”

“That’s different, you’re talking about a sword as if it can understand what you’re saying.”

Remus glances up for a brief moment, an unreadable expression upon his face as he considers his answer. “Because he can.”

Sirius pauses, “How?” He raises a skeptic's brow. Remus doesn’t respond, ignoring him in favor of continuing his work in the book. Sirius simply rolled his eyes, continuing to tie the knots.

Remus continued to have Sirius work on the ship for many hours. Sirius was not let out of Remus’ sight. And at small moments, Sirius would hear a soft humming sound. As if metal was vibrating. Sirius would look around to try to see where the humming was coming from, but no one seemed to notice.

And every time Sirius focused to find the source of the humming, it would stop. Oddly enough, Remus chuckled to himself softly throughout the day. Insane, Sirius thought as he was sent to retire for the night. Remus threatened another full day of work the next morning. He was definitely insane.

The next day, Remus was once again immersed in his work with that worn leather book of his. Sirius continued to work, mopping the deck under the beating sun. Then the humming returned. He ignored it at first. But as the day drew on, he noticed that it only seemed clearer to hear whenever he was nearby Remus.

“Are you humming?” Sirius prompted.

“No.” Remus look strained as if it physically wounded him to dignify Sirius with a response to such a stupid question. So Sirius carried on. Until he couldn’t take it more.

“What is that incessant humming?! It sounds like ringing metal!” Sirius cried out, searching for any possible source of what that horrid humming was.

Remus froze at the words, finally looking up to Sirius. “Wait… you can hear it?”

“I’ve been hearing it for nearly two days!” Sirius retorted with a dramatic turn of his head.

“I thought it was dramatics,” Remus replied simply.

“Please tell me you hear it too.” Sirius ran a hand through his black locks. “Otherwise, I think I still have some of that thing’s,” he pointed to the gold snake on Remus’ wrist, “venom in my veins.”

“Yes, though not humming, it’s words.” Remus closes the book, placing his quill as a marker in his place. He wouldn’t dare fold the pages of the journal. “There’s no venom.”

Sirius stared at the tawny-haired boy dubiously. “What? What do you mean, it’s words?”

“More a song really.” He continued as if the ebony-haired pirate had never spoken.

Sirius raises a quizzical brow, “Alright, I’ll bite. Who is singing?”

Remus gave the man a pointed look, growing bothered at the simple conversation, “Dúi hǎi.”

Sirius stared unblinkingly. “You’re joking. A sword?”

“Why would I joke? Over humming?”

“Why would a sword sing?” Sirius countered.

“It can’t physically speak to us, so it makes a near-silent song.” A male voice replies.

Sirius turned to the helm, the First Mate was resting his arms on the railing, his legs crossed, a wide grin on his face.

“And not everyone can hear it. Which is why Remus thought you were merely jesting.” Quinn explained.

Sirius’ eyes flickered as he looked between the two. “Can you hear the humming then?”

Quinn nods in reply, “I can. Though it’s a bit different for me, I had to train in order to hear it. It’s a process, but since then, I hear the sword’s song.” He glances down to Remus, “Remus had to train as well.”

“So why can I hear it?” Sirius frowned.

Quinn smiled. “Because you were bitten by Dúi hǎi. Its venom ran the course through your veins, as you so kindly pointed out earlier, it increased your exposure to the sword’s properties rather quickly.”

Sirius glared at the snake. Dúi hǎi took it upon himself to come alive and hiss at the pirate in retaliation.

Quinn tilted his head as he tsked. “Dúi hǎi, be nice. Your venom is very potent you know.”

The snake simply hissed, Quinn stuck his tongue out with a low chuckle. Sirius couldn’t help but watch the interaction with awe and mild horror.

Remus watched silently, amused at the interaction. A small smile upon his face as he watched the little snake.

“It can actually understand you…” Sirius spoke lowly. Disbelief and amazement on his face.

Quinn looked back to the pirate. “He is alive, so of course he can.”

“A language, like an actual living language that people learn and understand?”

Quinn smiled once more. “Well, it’s more like a melodious tune. There are no actual words in the Language of the Spirit Swords.” He chuckled at that. “It was a pain to learn.”

“The sword is alive, it has a spirit. And they are very aware and in tune with their environment. Dúi hǎi is the spirit of the sword. He was born when he was forged but named by his master. My sword is the same.”

Quinn reached for the sword at his side, brushing his fingertips across the hilt. A hum reached their ears. Sirius’ eyes widened.

“How does one come across a sword like yours?” Sirius found himself asking.

Quinn clicks his tongue, tilting his head side to side, contemplating his answer. “It’s a complicated answer. You usually don’t find a sword like ours. Not to mention they could reject you as their master.”

“Why?”

“Oh, there are many reasons. Personalities don’t match. The swordmaster could be cruel. They could physically harm a sword— and yes, you can harm a sword. Sword and master could reject each other. The sword could even be picky. Shou, my own sword is picky about everything.” Quinn paused. “It’s a lot like choosing a horse really.” He chuckled.

Shou, a wide sword with a solid black sheath adorned in gold accents, hummed loudly. Quinn winced a bit but otherwise ignored it. Remus also winced.

The hilt of the sword had red and black cross stitching etched the smooth grip. In the center handle, there was a small lion’s head, engraved in gold, much like the snake of Dúi hǎi.

Sirius simply continued to watch in astonishment, his lips parted. He simply couldn’t believe it.

“Shou and Dúi hǎi were forged for us, to fit our personalities. But even then, it does not guarantee the sword will accept you.”

Sirius found himself nodding as if he were a student. For once in his entire life, Sirius was behaving like a diligent apprentice. Remus stared at Sirius with perplexity. He has never seen the pirate this quiet for so long. Quinn looked between the two teens with a knowing grin.

“Well, I think that’s enough for today’s lesson class. You’re dismissed.” He chuckles. Leaving the two teens to their own devices.

Remus nodded his head in acknowledgment as Quinn left them. Sirius carried on with his task of mopping the deck. Silently.

As the day turned to night, Remus looked at the rising moon, noting that it was nearly full.

Soon.

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empress-of-snark · 3 years ago

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FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE SECRETS OF DUMBLEDORE—REVIEW

AKA: the series pulls a u-turn and gets good again!

(spoiler-free!)

Okay, WOW. I had such low hopes for this movie after Crimes of Grindelwald. I was mostly still seeing it out of loyalty to any and all Harry Potter content and wasn’t actually expecting it to be much better than the last.

I was wrong! While the first movie will always be my favorite of the franchise (for all the lovely magical beast shenanigans), Secrets of Dumbledore is now a close second!

I think a large part of the reason why is that I’m less concerned about nitpicky details now. Like, oh Professor McGonagall wasn’t actually born until 1935? Whatever, she’s not a major character here and that info isn’t in the books anyway. Oh, Newt shouldn’t be involved in the fight against Grindelwald because in the HP books, we only know him as a magizoologist? Harry frequently fell asleep in his History of Magic classes, so who’s to say he didn’t just miss the lesson that covered Newt Scamander’s involvement in the first wizarding war?

Anyway, for the sake of consistency with my Crimes of Grindelwald review, I’m gonna do some bullet pointing, although it won’t be in chronological order because this one’s fresher in my mind.

-Jude Law completely stole the show as Dumbledore. His Irish accent was a tad inconsistent, but I’m choosing to call it a character choice. He was wise, he was mischievous, he was burdened by guilt, and I loved every minute of his screen time, especially his interactions with Jacob. Because of course Dumbledore would get along so well with a charming Muggle baker from Queens. Also really loved the scene where Dumbledore was literally painting with magic—it was so cool and unique to his character.

-Mads Mikkelson is such an improvement as Grindelwald. Not gonna get into the messy personal stuff that Johnny Depp is going through cause it’s a complicated situation, but I think getting out of this franchise was the best option for him at the moment (also I’m kinda tired of his acting lately). I was uncertain about Mikkelson’s casting cause I haven’t seen a lot of his work but he did a fantastic job as Grindelwald. He brings out the full scope of Grindelwald’s emotions and makes it easier to believe that this character would gain such a massive following.

-I also really appreciate that they changed his look, cause the white-blonde hair and drastically different eye colors just wasn’t working for me. He looked much more normal in this one.

-And do not listen to anyone claiming that the series is “queer-baiting.” Dumbledore explicitly says he was in love with Grindelwald. That’s canon. That’s not baiting. And it’s obvious in their every interaction how they feel about each other. Yes, we could’ve used some flashbacks to when they were young, but I wouldn’t say they’re necessary.

-I will say that the main premise of an election being decided by a baby deer who bows to the candidate that’s ‘purest of heart’ is… a little silly lol. But they pulled it off well enough. I actually really enjoyed it.

-The rest of the movie felt like a political spy thriller and I was very into it. On the whole, it felt way more streamlined than the last, which was very scattered and confusing. In CoG, it felt like every character was working towards a different goal, whereas here, they actually have more of a plan.

-Eddie Redmayne is still such a fantastic Newt. I really love all of his little mannerisms and physicality, and his and Theseus’s scene with the crabs in the German dungeon was hilarious.

-Theseus was a little boring, but I still like him.

-Jacob was hilarious and adorable as always. It feels like he never really gets to do anything, like, really pivotal to the plot, but everyone likes him so much that they keep him around anyway, lol. Dan Fogler really makes him so lovable and he has great chemistry with everyone. Newt’s really just like “here’s my team of extremely talented and powerful witches and wizards. And this is my best friend Jacob, he brought snacks :)”

-The Jacob/Queenie romance deserved more screen time, but what we got was heart-wrenchingly good.

-Professor Eulalie Hicks may be my new favorite character, she’s so cool and I love her very much. Apparition via book? Hell yes, I love it. I want much more screen time for her in the next two movies, please and thank you.

-While I’m sad we didn’t get more Tina (from what I understand, Katherine Waterson came down with COVID real bad), the scenes we did get were sweet, especially Newt keeping her photo in his suitcase. I wish we had gotten to see how she handled Queenie joining Grindelwald, though. I imagine she took it hard, and it’s unfortunate that we don’t really know her perspective about that. Fingers crossed that she and Queenie have a lot of scenes together in the next movie!

-Credence was… kinda boring. I’m gonna be honest, he’s not my favorite character of the franchise. Maybe I just don’t like Ezra Miller, idk. I think his storyline was a little rushed and kinda pointless at times, but I’m pleased with how they handled the whole “you’re a Dumbledore” plot twist. That was one of my biggest beefs with CoG, but they actually pulled it off in a way that made sense.

-Also, about fifteen minutes in, my mom leaned over and whispered, “He looks like Yoko Ono” which distracted me for every one of his scenes lmao.

-Yeah, my mom really wanted to see it cause she loves Harry Potter (and Jacob — “is that funny little guy gonna be in this one??” she asked me) except she didn’t see the second one, so I was whispering a lot of explanations to her throughout.

-Cinematography was gorgeous—the HP books/movies feel a bit stationary, being primarily set at Hogwarts, so I love that this series opens up the wider wizarding world and explores how magic differs in different places.

-Very satisfying ending. I’ve heard rumors that Warner Brothers is considering not continuing the franchise (cowards), but if it does end here, it won’t feel incomplete. Yes, there are still plot threads to be tied up, but nothing major enough that I’ll lose sleep over it.

All in all, this series took a major upswing and got good again! Yay! I really really hope we get those last two movies, cause Crimes of Grindelwald burned me, but Secrets of Dumbledore gently rubbed aloe vera on my wound and kissed it better.

#fantastic beasts 3 #the secrets of dumbledore #fantastic movies and where to find them #I’m honestly considering going to see it again #I really loved it #harry potter

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vivithefolle · 4 years ago

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Not sure if you already talked about this. (I’m pretty sure you have) but someone seemed to notice that when the trio get into fights, Hermione’s always in the right. Even when she’s supposed to be wrong she always seems to be half right. That kind of bothers me. Especially since it’s evident in the whole Scabbers situation.

I have indeed, on Quora, so let’s move yet another answer of mine to Tumblr!

Hermione is seldom wrong in the Harry Potter books. Sometimes she makes mistakes but those mistakes are either completely swept under the rug or downright ignored.

It’s partly due to lazy writing and partly due to Rowling’s own growing bias in favour of her Author Avatar that was fuelled by Steve Kloves, the primary advocate of the Hermione Granger Is The Perfect Girl Ever line of thinking (an utterly ridiculous line of thinking mind you).

Lizo: Steve, Hermione is a character that you have said is one of your favorites. Has that made her easier to write?

Steve: Yeah, I mean, I like writing all three, but I've always loved writing Hermione. Because, I just, one, she's a tremendous character for a lot of reasons for a writer, which also is she can carry exposition in a wonderful way because you just assume she read it in a book. If I need to tell the audience something...

JKR: Absolutely right, I find that all the time in the book, if you need to tell your readers something just put it in her. There are only two characters that you can put it convincingly into their dialogue. One is Hermione, the other is Dumbledore. In both cases you accept, it's plausible that they have, well Dumbledore knows pretty much everything anyway, but that Hermione has read it somewhere. So, she's handy.

Now this, right here, is the exact core of the problem.

Rowling herself admits it: if she wants the readers to have information, she puts Hermione in the scene. Hermione is our primary means of exposition because, like *grits teeth* Sssssteve puts it, it’s easy to assume that she’s read about it somewhere and it makes sense.

That’s all well and good but at first, if you notice, Ron also gave us exposition about the wizarding world, mostly about its culture. He was able to recall the exact year of the Wizarding Confederation that outlawed dragon breeding in Philosopher’s Stone! He explained what were respectively a “Mudblood”, a “Squib”, and Parseltongue, Hermione doing a little exposition about the history of that last one! He was also able to identify Sirius, after being dragged into the Whomping Willow, as an Animagi!

But then Goblet of Fire happens and you can notice the first change that will exponentially grow through the books: instead of Ron, pureblood Ron, born-before-the-end-of-the-war Ron, lived-through-the-aftermath-of-the-war Ron, identifying the Dark Mark, it’s instead Hermione, muggleborn Hermione, lived-as-a-Muggle-for-most-of-her-life Hermione, has-no-idea-about-the-emotional-impact-of-the-Mark Hermione who looks terrified as the Dark Mark shoots into the sky!

And it only will get worse, by the end of the series, Hermione pretty much knows about everything the plot needs her to know, instead of having to work with things she knows but can’t always apply to the situation:

Suddenly has a deep knowledge of Magical Law (in the will of Dumbledore’s chapter, while we had Rufus Scrimgeour who could have provided it to us, or to a lesser extent, Ron could have explained how a wizarding will basically worked)

Is suddenly an expert at finding edible plants and mushrooms. Apparently books are always the goddamn answer in JKR’s world, you can literally learn anything from them

She can decipher all the Tales of Beedle the Bard (may I remind you that they were written in Runes, okay Hermione may have a few years of Ancient Runes education BUT I once tried to translate a 3k+ story I had written for fun, from French to English, which means I knew what the subtleties and intentions were, I knew which turns of phrase I had to preserve so it would make sense in the end, and it still took me two gruelling weeks to get a satisfying result!)

Has suddenly grown a sense of quick-thinking (escaping Xenophilius’ house, using the jinx to make Harry’s face weird-looking) despite it being the only remaining flaw she had at the time (remember when she turned her back on her enemy while he was still conscious just to compliment Harry, and almost died as a result, even though she had been training in the DA to learn how to fight Death Eaters?) Quick-thinking under pressure can be learned, but it takes time and a lot of work to force your brain to override its instinct - and it’s fine because we’re all human and different. But no suddenly Hermione is the Greatest Strategist Evah™ and those silly boys (who actually were the original quick-thinking ones, and one of them was established as the strategist early on) better be grateful for this literal goddess because she protects them from all harm with her superhuman brain.

Somehow knows about Quidditch stuff - she knows about a Snitch’s “memory-touch”. Why should she give all the answers? Why can’t Ron give us this particular tidbit of information?

And then when we come to something Ron actually knows, the damn narration itself goes “woah a book that Ron has read but Hermione hasn’t??? shocking!! incredible!! Ron is not dumb, somebody call the news channel”. But… is that really so surprising? We’ve never seen Hermione read wizarding fiction or even Muggle fiction. We’ve never seen Hermione with anything other than schoolbooks in her hands. Of course Ron has read books she hasn’t read since she doesn’t seem to read fiction at all!

Sorry, bit of a tangent over here.

There are only two characters that you can put it convincingly into their dialogue.

So, that’s one part of the problem: the fact that Rowling, after making Ron our insight into magical culture and Hermione our provider of knowledge, ended up saying “eh whatever I guess Hermione can tell us everything we gotta know because it’s more convenient for me”. Which is a decision that was not based on Hermione’s character, but simply lazy writing. Long story short, it probably went: “Could Ron explain this bit of trivia? Meh, better make Hermione say it cause she’ll have read it in a book. It’s convenient and I won’t need to bother myself with exploring Ron’s characterisation.”

(And thus completely forgetting that Ron could maybe ask his big brothers via owl and provide us with a good heap of extra advanced knowledge - Bill is supposed to have aced his NEWTs after all.)

The other part of the problem is quite simply that Hermione is more often than not, either painted as a victim by the narrative (which makes more people take her side, classic manipulation tactic), or made to be right anytime it’s about a plot point.

Hermione’s mistakes are never explicitly stated, corrected, or even pointed out as being unethical.

Hermione only gets one mistake expressedly pointed out as being a mistake: her misadventure in Polyjuice Potion. The rest of them? Even her crush on Lockhart can’t be counted as a mistake - people get crushes all the time, based solely on physical appearance, it’s not something awful or terrible (Except when it’s Ron who crushes on someone. Ron crushing on someone is absolutely forbidden, and he must be punished with much ridicule and humiliation if he thinks he can get away with not worshipping Hermione like the goddess she is. The nerve of him, really.).

Throughout the books Hermione eventually morphs into Rowling’s Powerful Angel of Vengeance, that punishes the people who dared to do something she disliked - Rita is silenced but at a very ethically dubious price; Marietta gets scarred for life because she was more loyal to her mother than to a bunch of people her friend insisted she hang out with; Umbridge is led to a very, very alarming fate that is never made clear but some people have ideas and they’re not all very kid-friendly; Ron first is “helped” without knowing it because Hermione can’t be bothered to have faith in his capabilities, then when he fails to dutifully reward her for “helping” him, she causes him bodily harm before actively bullying him for not mind-reading her interest in him; causes even more bodily harm to Ron because that’s how feminism works; etc.

Hermione’s mistakes are always justified through the plot itself (which is lazy writing).

Turning into a cat? Only affects her.

The Firebolt? Scabbers? Well, in the end, it was really sent by Sirius Black and Crookshanks really wasn’t the culprit. Therefore all the feelings that were hurt and all the trust lost are irrelevant because Hermione was right all along.

Trying to free the house-elves? Well, it’s the intent that counts, right? And we’re never told enough about house-elf lore to know whether they’re poor brainwashed victims or powerful Penate-like symbiotes who need to serve a wizard to survive?

Kidnapping Rita Skeeter, trapping her and blackmailing her? Rita may be one foul little beetle, but that’s going a bit far, isn’t it? Harry approves? Oh, well, I guess it’s okay then…? A main character can’t have a dubious morality, right?

Manipulating Harry into forming Dumbledore’s Army and forcing him to relive a traumatic event with the same woman she’s kidnapped and blackmail and that she knows he hates? In the end, it all works out for the best and Harry’s hurt feelings don’t matter since it’s all about the greater good.

Using the centaurs to get rid of Umbridge (which poses the highly distressing question of what did the centaurs do to her?), realizing that the centaurs aren’t nice little horsies that are going to gently obey her every orders like good Disney princess’ companions, my goodness could this be an opportunity for character growth - nevermind, here comes Grawp the Giant Ex Machina, saving her arse and protecting Hermione from all that scary possibility of introspection. Thanks, Grawp Ex Machina.

Trying to dissuade a highly stressed-out and irrational Harry from rescuing Sirius by telling him exactly what he needed not to hear, a.k.a. “you have a saving people-thing” which causes Harry to completely go bonkers and go save his godfather without thinking twice? Well she was right after all, it was a trap! Nevermind how mind-boggingly insenstive and inadept at dealing with someone else’s feelings she was being, she was right! That means it wasn’t Hermione’s mistake!… probably. (Geez, I’m sensing a pattern here…)

Endangering Cormac’s life (Confunding him WHILE HE’S ON HIS BROOM) to promote Ron’s success? Oh but that’s so romantic! (Yeaaaah, how romantic to display exactly how much faith you lack in your crush. Top it off with a broken neck and that’s a picture perfect first date!)

Assaulting Ron with magic and causing him even more scars than he already had? But he was being cold with her first, right? And he totally should have known she was asking him out! It’s not like her invitation was even worse than his attempt to ask her out two years earlier! Plus she’s just a teenage girl expressing her emotions, anyone who tries to find fault in this is a disgusting abusive misogynist pig! Ha!

Getting all jealous that Harry is better than her at Potions, then pretending she’s not jealous by claiming that TEH BOOK IS EVIL, HARRY, and giving him the cold shoulder too? But no, she’s right, look, Harry used Sectumsempra and he almost killed Draco, nevermind that he’s very horrified about it! Hermione was right, like she always is!

Hermione Obliviating her parents, which pulls her from the “ethically dubious” zone into the “wow okay I’m pretty sure that this counts as a violation of basic human rights” zone, makes her one of those quirky wizardfolk who have the privilege to control those simple-minded Muggles because it’s for the greater good? But nooo she’s crying about it so it’s obviously very sad and angsty and it shows her devotion to the cause!

Splinching Ron while fleeing from the Ministry? Eeeh, but he’s fine, they’ve got Dittany, he’s good as new!… blood loss? Anaemia? What’s that?

Hermione was wrong about the Deathly Hallows not existing? Um, um, that doesn’t matter, LOOK DOBBY IS DEAD AND HARRY IS BACK TO LOOKING FOR THE HORCRUXES!! Therefore Hermione was right, the Hallows weren’t important for their quest, therefore the Hallows might as well not exist, HERMIONE WAS RIGHT NO REALLY I’VE GOT RECEIPTS -

The books never forget to remind Harry and Ron of their own shortcomings and moments of weakness.

Harry’s wrath and recklessness cost Sirius his life. This is the lesson he has to learn from his entitled behaviour in OotP: actions have consequences, and the greater your responsibility, the greater the cost will be.

Ron’s envy and insecurity lead him astray; they’re used to humiliate, ridicule and torture him throughout the books. They’re supposed to teach him that he’s worth something - but how is he supposed to believe that, when nobody ever tells him he’s worth anything? When nobody ever apologizes to him? When his feelings are taken for granted over and over? When his two friends seem to discard him whenever he does one thing wrong?

Hermione is never punished. Hermione is never said to be wrong, never shown to be wrong, never called out on her behaviour. From Prisoner of Azkaban to mid-Deathly Hallows, she stays exactly the same character. She doesn’t grow up. She doesn’t learn. She doesn’t change. She has virtually no character arc.

The only time, THE ONLY TIME IN SEVEN BOOKS, the only time we have something remotely resembling a call-out of Hermione’s horrible behaviour is with this sole quote in HBP:

Harry was left to ponder in silence the depths to which girls would sink to get revenge.

Note how it’s about “girls” and not Hermione in particular, which implies that any girl would do what Hermione does to Ron. Thanks for the generalization, JKR, but I like to believe I’m actually a decent sort of person that doesn’t resort to petty cruelty and exploits my friends’ insecurities whenever I’m angry with them.

Hermione NEVER has to apologize. Hermione NEVER has to learn from her mistakes because she’s always presented as a victim when she really isn’t. Hermione NEVER develops into something more - she’s emotionally stuck at fourteen years old. Even less than that when you consider that her reaction to Ron’s return in Deathly Hallows is to trash him with her fists - and she was going to get her wand!! The utter psychopathic b- wanted TO THROW BIRDS AT HIM AGAIN!!! - and this reaction is an appropriate one for a four-years old girl, but certainly not for a supposedly “mature” seventeen-years old.

(Yes, because what separates a child from an adult is the ability to reign in your emotions and not succumb to your impulses. Exactly what Ron did when he left the tent (notice that he had drawn his wand, then he left before he could start hexing Harry), he left to calm himself down. Exactly what Hermione fails to do when Ron returns (she has the impulse to strike him and immediately succumbs to it, which proves to us that The Brightest Witch Of Her Age has all the maturity of a very small child).)

All of that, on top of the awful portrayal in the movies which removes all of Ron’s characteristics to stuff them into Hermione and turns her into some impossible epitome of perfection, eventually contributed to the portrayal of Hermione as the one who is always right and knows everything.

Add to it JKR’s own ridiculous bias (“Ron was quite emotionally immature compared to the other two”, yeah right I don’t see him trying to force freedom onto unwilling creatures or making Harry fly into an irrational rage with mere words but you do you, Jo) and the sexist misconception that “girls are innately more mature than boys”, and you get yourself this apparent behemoth of righteousness that was literally the sole reason why those two silly boys survived everything, and don’t you dare criticize this angel of perfection OR ELSE.

#vivi answers #ask #hermione granger critical #hermione granger #hermione critical #harry potter series #ron weasley #jk rowling #anti jk rowling

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sxvxrxssnape · 4 years ago

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Snolidays/Snapemas Day 3+4

Gift Shopping & Ornaments & Smile & Snow // pre-PS/the years between. Minerva and Severus friendship aka Minerva McGonagall’s personal mission to make Severus love Christmas part 3 aka min and sev’s shopping adventures: diagon alley edition ft. emotional disaster sev

“Don’t forget, final essays are due next week!” Severus reminded his classroom of sixth year students as they cleaned up their work tables. “You’ve had three weeks to write them and I expect them all to be turned in.” He attempted to glare at the class, but no one paid him any mind.

Students exited his classroom in small groups of two and three, huddled together and laughing over meaningless jokes and plans for the afternoon.

“Hold up, this classroom is still a mess! You’re NEWT students, for Merlin’s sake, you should know better than to leave things like this!” He tried to call them back, but he was speaking to an empty classroom.

He sighed.

Being a professor at twenty-five was a fucking joke when no one took him seriously enough to respect him as an authority figure. It happened primarily with the older students, but even some of the other professors treated him as if he were still a student. Minerva seemed to be the only one who really saw him as a colleague and even she had her moments.

What was he supposed to do? Practice making scary faces in the mirror until he perfected the disappointed eyebrow raise and scowl? Assign more detentions? He’d thought dressing the part would make him look more authoritative, but now he wondered if he simply looked like a child playing dress-up when he walked around in the stupid teaching robes Narcissa Malfoy had helped him purchase.

Another sigh, but this one was shaky.

He surveyed the room and got to work, shutting drawers and cabinet doors. He double-checked the supply closet before locking it and levitated the abandoned cauldrons to the wash basin with the others, where they would wait for whichever unfortunate student had managed to get a detention from him that day. Idly, he wondered if he should ask Argus to monitor the night’s detention or if they would return in time.

He shook his head; he was running late.

Locking his classroom, he hurried into his office and shrugged out of his ridiculous teaching robes. They were nice and he loved the black stitch detailing, but he felt out of place when he wore them. He felt like, well, like a swot. He had other robes as well, namely faded grey work robes that he wore when he brewed potions for the infirmary, but they didn’t make him feel powerful or deserving of respect. These did, at least, so pretentious purple teaching robes it was.

He hung them up and took in the small room that had become his safe haven between classes over the years. It was a bit off a mess, but aside from his personal quarters, this was the only other place in the castle that really belonged to him. It was his space, from the still-steaming teacup of darjeeling - courtesy of a modified warming charm - waiting on his desk to the old copies of The Potioneer’s Journal stacked on the floor. There were four different books on his desk, two splayed out, hidden underneath a pile of assignments that still needed to be graded and about two dozen more scattered throughout the stone room.

He considered tidying up a little before he left, maybe watering his rather sad looking peppermint plant and organizing the scrolls of parchment. The mantle and bookshelf looked as if it needed a good dusting as well. This office was an extension of himself, was it not?

Minerva was waiting for him, he reminded himself.

But what if a student came calling, hoping for assistance? For Merlin’s sake, he was the head of Slytherin (and how the bloody hell that happened, he still had no idea), he couldn’t just leave and traipse around the wizarding world as if he had no other responsibilities! What if something happened to one of his snakes and they needed him? He had a job! What part of in loco parentis was he not -

He was stalling.

He was absolutely stalling.

(And it had nothing with his position and everything to do with going to Diagon Alley).

He forced himself to take a deep breath. His Slytherins would be fine and even if something happened, they still wouldn’t come to him for help because he still looked like a seventh year - and a socially uncomfortable, paranoia-fueled mess of one, at that. Merlin give him strength if the day ever came where he actually needed to take charge.

At least he hadn’t stuttered anymore after his very first class. That had been a right disaster and he hated that the second years who got to experience that moment would still be attending Hogwarts for another bloody year.

It took a few more deep breaths before he could convince himself to leave. He glanced down, decided that the black trousers and black jumper he’d pulled on from the pile of clothing that resided on his bedroom floor were clean enough for public wear, and grabbed his scarf. It was hand knitted and pale blue and alright a little wonky, but one of his snakes had given it to him and maybe he was a little sentimental over the physical proof that some of them liked him.

He summoned his winter cloak (and he had to rummage around his desk for the silver cloak pin he might have used to stab through a particularly abysmal homework assignment) and the dragonhide satchel he knew some of the students found him hilarious for carrying around, but what was he supposed to use? His robe pockets? Then it would be obvious he was casting unsanctioned extension charms on his things.

Definitely running late now, he headed upstairs and ran into Minerva on the stairs, who’d clearly been en route to retrieve him.

“Well, it’s about time.” she huffed. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it was dark out already.” The words didn’t match her tone - gentle, and maybe a little concerned - and it turned his anxiety brittle. He didn’t need to be coddled.

“I was talking to a student.” he lied smoothly, adjusting his cloak so it felt more secure - made him feel more secure - and opened the front door.

“How was your class?”she asked mildly, as they stepped over the remnants of dirty, half-melted snow and made their way to the wrought iron gate.

He scowled and stared up at the sky, noting how overcast it was. “Frustrating.” he admitted, because Minerva was the only person he would ever admit that to. “It’s hard to believe they’re sixth years, for all they pay attention and listen to me.”

“They’re probably just excited for the coming break.”

“The first years are excited for the break and they behave far better than my NEWT students.” Severus’ scowl deepened. “I hate their class.”

“Just their class?” Minerva asked, glancing at him with a raised eyebrow.

He took a moment to contemplate that. “No, but theirs especially.” he decided. “The fourth years and under take me seriously, but the others - I’ve got seventh year Slytherins who will go to you before they come to me!”

“So the ones who’ve only known you to be their professor?”

Severus stopped. “You have a point.”

“Look at it this way,” Minerva smirked, “just three more years and they’ll all take you seriously. Besides, you are young. I’m sure you still have a little more growing to do, dear.”

“Don’t make me hex you.”

“You’ll lose.” Minerva replied simply.

They apparated directly into Diagon Alley once they cleared the wards, appearing in the courtyard between Gringotts and The Leaky Cauldron. Daylight was beginning to dim, the late afternoon sky fading languidly into the cool tones of winter’s night, and the shopping district was quiet.

There were only a handful of wizards walking about, making their way between the brightly colored shops and market stalls. The Alley had prepared for the holidays as well, with their decorated storefronts and the oversized Christmas tree standing tall in the center of the plaza, adorned with hundreds of ornaments and a dizzying amount of silver tinsel. There was no snow on this side of the United Kingdom though, and against the bare, wet cobblestone streets, Diagon Alley didn’t look like rows of icing-coated gingerbread houses.

“Let’s get this over with, then.”

Minerva was watching him carefully and he offered a smile that felt more like a grimace. He didn’t hate shopping for others, but that rebellious part of him was - once again - determined to complain and make a scene. He hated that part of him, felt like he was pushing away the only person who made an effort to see him as a person and not, well, everything else he was. Traumatized child, former student, former Death Eater, child professor, take your bloody pick.

He tried for genuine excitement, for her sake.

Their first stop was a nearby coffee stall and once again, they purchased paper cups of hot coffee with peppermint and chocolate sauce. His mood brightened when he noticed these came with whipped cream and chocolate curls. They spent nearly an hour browsing through the nearby shops and market stalls before he finally relaxed enough to stop looking over his shoulder - there was no one around but very few harried shoppers and the occasional bellringer.

They were inside of Wiseacre’s, fiddling with the selection of crystal balls and reading their futures, when Severus laughed - genuinely laughed - for the first time since they had arrived in London.

Minerva cracked a grin at that before she schooled her face into something more severe. “Don’t laugh!” she admonished, rubbing her hands over the glass sphere. “I’m only telling you what it said: you will get everything you’ve ever wanted, through your looks and charm.”

“I’m sure you will.”

She huffed and tried a different one. “A new voyage will fill your life with untold memories.”

“Now that one sounds like a fortune cookie.”

“You try then.”

Severus shrugged and took the proffered ball. He ran his hands over the joke of a crystal ball and watched as it filled with smoke, turning warm and tingly beneath his fingertips. Tiny print appeared in a golden, curling font: “Your shoes will make you very happy today.”

He looked up and made eye contact with Minerva, exhaling the barest hint of another laugh as he thought of the puddles of slush they had walked through to leave Hogwarts and the impervious charm casted on his boots. He supposed it wasn’t too far off.

Another crystal ball caught his eye and he reached for it. It was clearly another counterfeit, but the stand it rested on seemed genuine enough - heavy and silver-plated. Three crescent moons gather to keep the crystal ball in place, the empty spaces between them interlaced with deep blue sapphires and hand carved runes.

He studied the runes for a moment, fairly certain they were a protection spell. “I think I’ll get this.” he announced, holding up the stand. He took the faux ball in his other hand, getting distracted when it filled with smoke and offered him another fortune: an unexpected acquaintance will resurface.

“For Sybill?” Minerva asked, half-paying attention as she thumbed through a collection of star charts. She looked up when she didn’t receive an answer. “Severus?”

Severus was scowling down at the fortune (although it felt more like a warning) and set it down amongst the others. He didn’t put merit in fortune-telling, let alone crystal balls that sold for less than six galleons and were meant for children. “For Sybill.” he nodded, walking away from the merchandise. He absolutely wasn’t thinking about boots and his paranoia of running into old friends that increased tenfold whenever he left the castle’s wards and how fortune-telling was the only reason he’d made rank within the Death Eaters in the first place.

The stand ended up costing him three galleons, which was more than he’d hope to spend on all of his gifts, but there’s a guilt that gnawed at him whenever he thought about Sybill Trewlaney and his time as a Death Eater at the same time; namely, how a conversation he’d had with the Dark Lord had nearly gotten her killed and it was enough to override his desire to shop frugally.

Minerva purchased a pendant for Aurora: frail lines of silver connected to tiny stars, making up constellations that changed with the position of the planets. It was beautiful and he wished he had seen it first, but he also knew Aurora liked reading romantic murder mysteries and he could think of a few titles she’d likely enjoy.

Not that he read romantic murder mysteries.

At all.

They left the wizarding equipment shop and continued with their browsing. The outdoor stalls were being illuminated by floating orbs now and warming charms had been cast over the next huddle of tables they approached.

Severus was studying a display of cloak pins when Minerva called his name.

He glanced over at her and found her holding up a box full of ornaments - red, green, and silver baubles with gold flakes that changed color - and a tiny, but determined-looking pewter witch mounted on a broomstick that was meant to fly around the tree.

“We’re getting these.”

“We are?” Severus asked, moving closer to rifle through the table she had grabbed them from. He grinned as he found a box of potion phials, brightly painted and stoppered to keep the glitter water inside from spilling out. “This is entirely inaccurate.” he sniffed, but he was still smiling like an idiot because of course he was nerdy enough to find potion bottle ornaments delightful. “Amortentia is definitely not pink and if someone ever hands you a Sleeping Draught that sparkles, they need to be arrested for attempted murder.”

Minerva laughed and they paid for the three boxes of ornaments and two white-fur trimmed stockings because Min had insisted they were a decorating requirement, but that they would need to purchase two because hers matched Elphinstone’s and she wasn’t quite ready to hang it up when she knew they were meant to be a pair.

The mood dampened a little after that admission and Severus found himself floundering. He didn’t know if he was meant to comfort her or how to even do it, so he grabbed the cloak pin he had been watching, a little bronze frog that leapt from its post and perched on your shoulder - absolutely useless as a fastener, but perfect for a distraction and invoking a smile - and claimed it was the ideal gift for Albus.

“It even looks like a chocolate frog.” he finished, handing the vendor fifteen sickles in exchange for the now-boxed-up pin. “He’s going to love it.”

Minerva’s faint smile was soft. “He will.”

They parted ways for the first time when they reached the bookshop. Minerva had something she wanted to get at Twilfit and Tattings and Severus waved her off, eager to finally enter Flourish and Blotts.

“Be good.”

He scowled at ordinance and mockingly saluted her as he headed inside. The bookstore was warm and softly lit, smelled of fresh parchment and chamomile tea. The shelves reached all the way up to the ceiling, wall-to-wall displays only broken by the burning fireplace and the collection of squishy, comfy-looking chairs gathered in front of it.

The shopkeeper waved at him as she organized a stack of new releases next to the shelf where the school textbooks were kept. There’s a beverage cart near the fireplace, holding a teapot and an assortment of mismatched mugs. He helped himself to a spot of chamomile and started to wander around, using his wand to summon books that seemed interesting enough to add to the growing pile floating behind him.

In the end, he decided on six books - two for Aurora, one for Argus, and three for himself.

The newly purchased stack fit easily inside his satchel, barely taking up any room beside the crystal ball stand, the stuffed kneazle - plush toy, not taxidermy - he had found at the Magical Menagerie for Hagrid, and all the other knick-knacks he had decided on. Not to mention everything else that already resided in there.

It wasn’t technically illegal.

Besides, it wasn’t his fault that undetectable extension charms were so advanced that not many wizards were able to do it properly. Furthermore, both Albus and Minerva were aware of it, and if anyone were to get in trouble here, his money was on the headmaster. He was confident in his spell-casting abilities and the worst that could happen was accidentally falling in and unable to find his way out - which wasn’t even that bad, considering he always carried around a medley of potions and snacks and even a blanket because he was that paranoid of being left out in the cold with no one to turn to.

He blinked.

Alright, maybe his abandonment issues were starting to make themselves known, but in his defense, Minerva had been gone for a good forty minutes now.

The point was, casting the charm was heavily frowned upon by the Ministry, but it wasn’t going to get him arrested either. He had worse things on his resume to choose from - and thank Merlin the Ministry of Magic never found out about the...unsavory potions he had been experimenting with around the time of his trial a few years back.

“Severus?”

He stiffened, flashes of smoke filled spheres and curling script flashing in his mind as he heard a voice that did not belong to Minerva. Tension coiled in his shoulders and he carefully secured the buckle on his satchel before he turned around and greeted the man who had decided to approach him.

“Severus Snape.” the man grinned wolfishly, blue eyes twinkling with delight. “As I live and breathe.”

“Corban Yaxley.” Severus greeted, taking in the other’s appearance. His hair had grown out since the last time he’d seen him and his honey-colored locks were pulled back in a low ponytail, accentuating his squared jaw and arched eyebrows. “What a pleasure to run into you.”

“Quite.” Yaxley grinned, the edges sharp. “How is Hogwarts? I heard you were made Head of House for Slytherin.” He took a step closer and leaned forward, his voice dropping as if they were conspiring next to the biographies. “An excellent opportunity to shape the minds of the future, don’t you think?”

Severus kept his face blank. “As well as one could expect,” he answered airily, as if he weren’t gripping his wand beneath the folds of his cloak tight enough to turn his knuckles white, “considering how brainless they all seem to be.”

Yaxley chuckled and leaned back, his posture appearing relaxed and friendly now, but Severus knew better than to trust a former Death Eater who had avoided going to Azkaban simply because he was that good of a liar.

“I don’t get paid enough to deal with their unruliness.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ve picked up a trick or two to deal with that.” Yaxley winked and then raised an eyebrow at him. “Don’t tell me you’ve gone soft, Severus?” He stepped closer again. “You used to be so impressive.”

“All of that is irrelevant now.”

“Shame.”

The man was still smiling though and his eyes glinted with something that looked an awful lot like triumph when Severus broke and took a step backwards. He composed himself, but the fingers on his visible hand still clenched around the empty teacup he’d all but forgotten about. “How are things faring at the Ministry?” he deflected, proud when his words didn’t falter.

“Excellent, ever since I got this promotion.” Yaxley smirked. “Karkaroff might have turned traitor - and I can’t say I blame him, for all he’s accomplished: headmaster of Durmstrang, I hear - dropping names left and right in an attempt to hightail it out of Azkaban, but he really did me a solid by getting Rookwood sacked.”

“Glad to hear of it.”

Yaxley stepped closer again and murmured, “Glad to hear he didn’t take you down with him, though. I heard he named you, but I was in America on Ministry business during the Death Eater trials.” Severus could feel the man’s breath on his face and it caused his facade to falter as an awful feeling crept down his spine. “I’ve missed seeing you around, Sev. You’re not hiding out in that fancy castle of yours, are you?”

Severus shook his head, unable to speak.

“Good.” Yaxley’s smile turned saccharine as he put a hand on Severus’ shoulder.

The small bell over the door chimed as it opened, letting in a gust of cold air as someone entered, and it broke the spell. Corban Yaxley dropped his hand and headed for the door. “Don’t be a stranger, yeah?”

Minerva was standing in front of him now, her eyes narrowed as she studied him carefully. “Alright?” she asked, and this time, Severus jumped - and for a split second, he wondered the psychology behind his body staying absolutely still some of the times he was surprised versus the times when he flinched - and pulled his cloak tighter around his shoulders. He couldn’t find the words to answer her, his mind heavily focused on the unpleasant weight he still felt on his arm, as if Yaxley were still touching him.

“Let’s get a bite to eat.” Min led him outside and he followed as if on autopilot. “We won’t make it back to Hogwarts in time for dinner.”

He didn’t know the time, didn’t know if she was telling the truth or not, but he also didn’t feel like returning to the bustle of students just yet, so he let her guide him through the white dusted streets of Diagon Alley. Snow had begun to fall, but he barely paid it any mind. He was still reeling, lost in his head as Minerva walked them through The Leaky Cauldron and right into muggle London.

He flinched when she put a hand on his arm, still thinking of Yaxley’s unwelcome touch, and her lips thinned as he choked out an apology. She shook her head and gestured to his cloak before transforming her own into a cream-colored coat. He understood then and raised his wand - still gripped tightly between very numb fingers - and fumbled his way through the spell, changing his wizarding apparel into a winter coat.

“Did you find something for everyone?” Minerva asked gently, as she led them down the street.

He tried to think of everything he bought, frowning when he realized he’d forgotten the one person whose gift mattered the most: hers. “Just about.” he mumbled, hating the way his voice betrayed his weakness. It was no wonder his students didn’t listen; he was pathetic. How he’d ever been able to lie to the Dark Lord and not get killed was beyond him. Perhaps Yaxley had a point: he used to be so impressive.

They entered the first open establishment they saw, a hole-in-the-wall pub with yellow paint and wooden paneling that had once seen better days, but the imperfections were overshadowed by the dozens of framed photographs that dated the place back to the fifties. The lights were hazy, casting an ambient glow onto the green vinyl seats, and soft music - jazzy Christmas songs, from the sound of it- was playing over the speakers, a strange contrast to the clinking of glasses and stifled laughter coming from the patrons at the bar.

Minerva requested a corner booth and took the side that kept her back to the door, wordlessly yet pointedly, and Severus exhaled with a relief he didn’t wish to admit to. They were offered a laminated menu, but Min ordered the special for them without enquiring anything about it - and Severus was beginning to see a pattern there - and two pints of the house ale, and he wasn’t sure whether he was grateful or embarrassed for her help.

“I believe I found the perfect gift for Albus.” Minerva started talking, once they were alone again, and reached into a bright pink shopping bag from Gambol and Japes, pulling out a six inch slab of what looked like granite.

He stared at the object for a solid minute before he gave in and reached for it, taking the smooth square of white-speckled stone and examining it. It had no divots, no fault lines, no imperfections of any kind and he idly wondered if this was a very simplistic paperweight or an attempt to distract him from his impending anxiety attack. “I don’t get it.” he finally conceded.

“It’s a puzzle box.” Minerva took it back and turned it over a few times. “Only the most advanced spellcaster could ever dream of solving it.”

That piqued his attention and he reached for it again. “Hold on, I want to try.” He glanced around the pub before tucking his wand into the sleeve of his jumper and began casting a number of spells, starting with the most basic he could think of - it came from the joke shop, right? There was humor to be found in unexpected simplicity - and even casting a few that he definitely hadn’t learned at Hogwarts.

He gave up, frustrated.

Minerva, on the other hand, was grinning. “This will keep him entertained, don’t you think?” she asked, putting it away.

“It’s going to keep me up for the rest of my life.” Severus replied.

Their food arrived then, burgers on pretzel buns with grilled mushrooms and swiss cheese, and Severus was quick to reach for the chips. Whether it was her intention or not, the distraction had worked and now he worried that she would ask about his run-in with Corban Yaxley. Given the look on her face, it felt inevitable, so with a stifled sigh, Severus cast a whispered muffliato and a muggle repelling charm over them.

“Just say it, then.” he mumbled.

“Say what?”

He glared at her. “I ruined our outing with my overreaction, there at the end. I can tell you’re thinking it, so don’t bother lying to me.”

Minerva blinked and reached for her ale. “Actually, I was wondering if it would be in poor taste to gift Hagrid with a cookbook.”

“What?”

“Surely you’ve tried his rock cakes?” Min asked, biting into a chip. “I just feel he could benefit from a proper recipe. I’m sure he would be an excellent baker, if he just measured the flour correctly.”

He took the out for what it was. “You’d need to find a big enough copy of The Joy of Baking.”

They were nearly done with their meal, their glasses long empty - downsides to the repelling charm, he supposed - when Minerva asked quietly, “Are you alright?”

He nodded.

“Had fun?”

Again, he nodded, because he did have a good time. His chance encounter at the end hadn’t even gone badly - he always worried what would happen if he ran into an ex-Death Eater in public, worried he would choose his words wrong and give himself away. The Dark Lord might be gone, but his cover needed to remain intact, Merlin forbid, the worst ever happened. He just wished he had kept it together better.

He had to learn to keep it together better.

Minerva didn’t pry any further. He cancelled the spells while she talked about Filius’ plan to form a carolling group separate from the Frog Choir and then glared at her when she mentioned it was open to the staff as well, because he could tell where that conversation was going. They were interrupted by their server - small mercies - with their bill, and Severus rifled through his satchel for the muggle money he always carried.

They were standing just outside the door, shrugging back into their coats, when his attention was caught by a colorful flyer for a christmas lights festival.

“We should go.” he told Minerva and bit back a smirk at her surprise that he was suggesting an activity for them to do, instead of her.

“Really?”

“I recall you mentioning it was something you did with Elphinstone.” Severus kept his voice casual, shrugging the weight of what he was offering away. “I think we should go. This weekend.”

Minerva was still staring at the flyer, but when she finally replied, her voice was warm. “This weekend, then.”

-- a/n: maybe i got carried away again?? where’s the actual plot?? there isn’t one baby!! just 4.7k of general chaos

#snapemas2020 #snolidays2020 #snapedom #pro snape #severus snape #professor snape #snapcember #holiday writing challenge #snapemas

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