#bring back pottermore

[atorturedpoet1989]

I miss the old potter more so much- does anyone else remember the really cool diagon alley and great hall animation things? Like it got simplified and became rubbish

The best GIF that Pottermore ever did… the first time Harry & Ginny kiss

[severus-snaps]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[marika-misc]

Mental Health & fandom

tw : mentions of Neil Gaiman and JK Rowling, mentions of suicide ideation (in the past)

Note : this is my personal musing and should not be read as facts or an universal truth.

(very long post)

I was never - ever- able to casually like fictions. When I like something it becomes a safe place of sort. A refuge if you will.

As far as I remember, I have been an avid reader and a lover of fictional worlds in books, movies, tv, podcats, etc.

For me, works of fictions have always been more than just pieces of media to consume. They are a get away when things get too much and they often feel like the only thing that can comfort me in a time of need.

I love more or less every kind of fictions. I have pet peeves, yes, and things I can't/won't read or watch, but I love them anyway because I know they bring comfort to other.

I like it so much, that it became my job (I'm a librarian) and nothing makes me happier than a patron telling how they enjoyed something. Even if I don't like it and wouldn't read it/watch it myself. I love when people like things.

So, fictions can't be a casual enjoyment for me. They are part of me and of what I am. When I like something, it consumes me and spreads through every aspects of my life. And yes, sometimes it's a little bit too much maybe ? But, so what ?

For me, being alive is a choice I make every day. Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's not, most of the time it's neutral. Being alive is hard. Life is hard. And the world is a violent, messy and loud place. So, if fiction helps me to keep going and find joy in this life ? Hell yeah ! Who cares ?

Numerous works helped me through the years to stay alive and deal with changes.

When I was 8, it was books by Enid Blyton. When I was 10, it was books by Agatha Christie and Gaston Leroux When I was 13, it was Titanic and Celine Dion (ilu Celine) When I was 15, it was Gundam Wing for 6 months When I was 17, it was Prince of tennis for about a year But between 14 and 25, it was mostly Harry Potter

Harry Potter and the Globet of fire was the first book I read in english. It took me 6 months, with a dictionary. It was also my first real foray into the world of fanfictions. I had read some before, but with HP, I binged like crazy. I read in french and in english. I printed pages and pages of fics in my highschool library. And I made arts. Lots of it, now lost in the ether.

I re-read the whole serie every time I had to go through changes. It was with me when I moved 500k away from where I grew up and helped me through 3 house moves.

At 25, I moved from HP to other fandoms, but it was still very dear to me and I kept going back to it from time to time. I was on the waiting list for Pottermore for example and still occasionnaly binged fanfictions.

When JKR started to be more vocal with her bullshit, I was chocked and disgusted. I felt betrayed. And it was also the first time that I felt like I was a traitor for enjoying a thing. I couldn't be a good ally if I admited to like HP, right ? So I gave away my books and stopped interracting with the work. I even started to judge people who still bought things HP related. Because HOW could you still give money to her ? But deep down I kind of understood how difficult it was to part with something that meant so much for so many of us. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to give her money and I don't plan to. But it's easy to judge other and forget that the real piece of shit is JKR, not the fan who buy a gryffindor pair of socks and/or write fanfiction after a grueling day at work. It's unfair to have this purity weight to bear all the time and judge people for how they chose to interract with a thing they like. And it certainly doesn't do much to tell people how to feel and how to be "good".

Also, being an ally is not just refraining to buy something HP related. But it's a whole other subject.

Anyway, after HP, I started to fall even harder in the fandoms I was a part of. A fair number of them being "problematic".

First thing first, liking a "problematic" media is ok imo. I know they are not perfect and I acknowledge it. I'm still allowed to like them. Nobody can dictate how I feel.

Second thing : some of these fandoms saved my life. Glee litteraly stopped me from jumping in front of a train and for at least two years, Merlin was the only thing bringing me a little bit of joy.

Nobody can take that away from me.

Recently, Doctor Who and Our Flag means death prompted me to go to therapy again and made me realize A LOT of things about myself.

And there is Good Omens. Good Omens is my current hyperfixation and really what kept me going these last few months. I fell and I fell HARD. Probably because I needed fiction to keep myself afloat and it was there for me. It's kind of funny, because I had read the novel more than 15 years ago (I came to it when reading a lot of Pratchett) and even if I liked it at the time, I still liked other Pratchett's works better. It all changed with the tv show. I wouldn't say it's better than the novel, but it's different and the changes made (and also the fact that DT is in it, lets be honest) spoke to me a great deal. So I became invested. And I began to create again. After years of art block and only drawing sporadically, I was drawing nearly every day and finding great joy in it. Good Omens kept me alive and gave me my creativity back. It was (and still is) so important to me, that I decided to get a tattoo of the first two sentences of the novel. It's a whole design with a book, a sword, a snake and apple blossoms. It goes from my right shoulder to my elbow. I got it done in april.

Three months later the allegations against Neil Gaiman came out.

It hit me hard. Harder than with JKR. And I wasn't even a fan of his. But what he did (because I chose to always believe the victims) horrified me and made me angry. So angry. Angry for the women who suffered first and foremost, but also angry for the fans who grew up with his words and now feel so betrayed and overwhelmed by what is happening. And I'm angry for myself. Very selfish of me, I know. I'm angry, because Good Omens is my safe place and I have now to fight to keep it that way. It still brings me joy, but it also brings me anxiety and seriously fuck you Gaiman. Fuck you. Fuck you for tainting a source of joy and creativity for me. Fuck you for dirtying Terry Pratchett's legacy. Fuck you for being an abuser and proving again and again that none is really safe in the world we live in. I hope you'll pay for what you did, even if I know you will probably not.

This is so not good for my mental health. Also, how do you cope when you have the words inked on your arm and are reminded everyday of the shitshow going on ?

I hope Terry Pratchett wrote them. Not you. But how would I know ?

I talked about it with my therapist because my anxiety was out of control (again) and we did some EMDR work on it. It helped me clear my head a little and reminded me that I was not in the wrong to love something and to find joy in it. I agreed to wait at least a year before deciding if I wanted the tattoo to be covered (not the snake, sword and apple blossom part ; the book part). I could do it now, I even have some designs in mind, but I'll wait to be certain and not take a rash decision because I'm hurting. I will not give him my money anymore, but I don't want him to take the joy and comfort I find in Good Omens away from me. I won't let him. I won't let anyone.

I don't want to do what I did with HP again. I don't want to negate something I love and which brings me joy. So I will rip this book and show from his dirty hands and keep them close to my heart where it's safe.

Maybe it's not being "good" or "moral". Maybe I shouldn't separate the art from the artist and preach for Death of the author. Maybe.

But I'll do it anyway.

My own moral compass is strong and I will not deny myself again.

[hollowed-theory-hall]

sorry if you’ve already answered something like this but given that we have a few different answers in canon, how many students do you see Hogwarts having? given their actual class sizes and lack of professors per subject i’d say the usual answer of roughly 10 kids per house per year makes sense. except Harry doesn’t know who Mclaggen is until he introduces himself which makes JKR’s statement of 1000 kids in school seem more likely because if there are only 40-ish kids in Gryffindor there’s no reason for Harry to have never seen someone in the year above him for the last 6 years right?

Hi, no problem. I have actually written about this before both here and here. And I tend to disregard JKR's statements outside of the books when they contradict the actual text. I'm a big advocate of death of the author so if the books imply something and Pottermore/JKR implies another, the book evidence takes precedence.

Even if Hogwarts has around 300 students (40 per year X 7 years brings us to 280) 11 professors with one teacher per subject is still an incredibly low student-teacher ratio. I also tried to create a schedule that could work with one professor per subject and 7 years, divided into two classes per mandatory non-NEWT subject (electives and NEWT classes have all 4 houses present but I believe 4th year Transfiguration, for example, is divided into 2 classes because all the 40 students are studying it), and I found that each student would only have about 20 class hours a week, which is pretty low. So unless all the professors are using time turners or there are more professors we don't know about I don't think the number of staff could support a student body much larger than 300. It also means Hogwarts students have so much free time that really all the homework is reasonable, tbh. (Maybe I should write about Hogwarts' schedule and homework amount at some point...)

As for Harry not noticing McLaggen... Harry has students in his own year in Gryffindor he doesn't notice. There are likey 2 other girls in Hermione's dorm besides Praviti and Lavender that he never mentions (I believe these are Sally-Anne Perks, who is sorted in book 1, and Sophie Roper who is in JKR's notes about Harry's year). Harry just tends to be very selective with the information he chooses to pay attention to and note to the reader. Like, if he has no reason to care about McLaggen he won't bother noticing him. So, that doesn't necessarily mean anything.

I mention it in the posts I linked regarding the size of the Wizarding Population in the UK, but I believe the size of the population we see in Harry's generation is slightly decreased from former generations and that the population would grow back after the books. This is due to fewer births (we see more only children than in former generations) and less to do with actual deaths in the war, which I covered in the first linked post too.

[hp-confessions]

prongsfoot would be a very interesting ship to me if their fans weren't so demeaning and belittling with remus as a character. mind you, as a remus fan, i also hate remus was reduced to sirius' ship partner, but i try to focus on remus and how much i like him instead of bashing on sirius relentlessly. it's always "james and sirius adored each other, peter and remus were just their sidekicks", but they also learnt to turn into animagus for remus' sake. it's written they were drawn to remus bcs of his kindness and gentle humor. he WAS deemed the senseful marauder by the author and the narrative and pottermore backs this up constantly so if prongsfoot shippers knew how to ship their boys without bringing up My boy constantly, i'd like the ship a lot more.

~

[leogichidaa]

Lovable Except for that Terrible Period: The Upbringing of Remus Lupin

I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about the Pottermore information on Remus, in particular the narrative around Greyback biting him and his childhood before Hogwarts.

I'm going to start with addressing the most absurd thing to me in the whole write up: "[Lyall] had parroted what was the common view of werewolves in his community".

Hmm. Did he though? Because if we look back at what was actually described a few paragraphs up:

It sure seems like Lyall's statements were so extreme and hateful that even his coworkers at the Bigotry Against Magical Creatures Department, whose job it was to round up werewolves and place them on a registry, were shocked and offended enough that they kicked him out of the room. His statements clearly fell pretty far outside the norm.

It's important to note that Lyall's bigotry was extreme even for the society he was in because I think it's critical to Remus' development and all the internalized bigotry and shame that Remus carries with him. Lyall did not, imo, go from declaring that all werewolves were soulless, evil, and deserving of death to being completely accepting of werewolves just because his son was bitten. I imagine that he did his best to be a loving parent to Remus, but that he projected his bigotry onto Remus in subtle, covert ways. This line describing his perspective on Remus really drives that home for me: "his son was what he had always been – loveable and clever – except for that terrible period at the full moon".

His son was his son, except when he was a monster. It's explicitly stated that during transformations, Lyall no longer sees his loveable and clever son, he sees a dangerous beast. And I think that absolutely impacts the way Remus sees himself. Remus has such a potent sense of hatred for that aspect of himself and he does everything he can to repress it, run from it, and make amends for it (except when he's with the marauders, who give him a taste of true unconditional acceptance and allow him to enjoy himself even when he is transformed). He cannot accept and integrate his condition into a whole, stable sense of self and I think that is in no small part because Lyall cannot accept and integrate it either.

(As a brief aside, I also think it's important to highlight the minimization of Lyall's actions in the text because I think the way Remus is positioned in the narrative is very telling. This could really be an entire other post, but I do think the way this Pottermore write up falls all over itself to try to make Lyall's bigotry seem minor and sympathetic is...revealing.)

The write up also states that Lyall lied to Remus for years about why Remus was attacked because he worried Remus would blame him. Reading that was a bit of an "aha!" moment for me. Because isn't this what Remus does in PoA? He withholds critical information about Sirius from Dumbledore because he feels so much internal shame and he worries that Dumbledore will think less of him if he tells the truth. Learned behavior.

Final thought:

"Remus was not allowed to play with other children" has me all the way fucked up. I am sure that such an extreme tactic seemed justified given the potential harm that could occur if Remus' condition was discovered, but it definitely impacted the way Remus functions in relationships, i.e. abysmally. He is paranoid that he will be found out and that this will mean that his friends will hate and abandon him because that's what his parents raised him to fear. A justified fear, perhaps, but a debilitating one all the same.

Also, while it maybe makes sense to keep him isolated from other children when he's five and the risk of him letting it slip is very real because he can't understand the potential consequences, his parents keep him isolated up until he is invited to Hogwarts and if Dumbledore hadn't fought above Hope and Lyall's protests to bring him to Hogwarts they might have kept him isolated...forever? It is not surprising that Remus struggles to form and maintain intimate connections when he was taught that even interacting with others was potentially dangerous.

[fandoomrants]

ohhh just saw ur rant post! i agree with like 99.99% of it and im excited and i just wanna point out that it's stated in canon that james would have considered it the height of dishonor to distrust his friends, so, canonically, we only know of sirius suspecting remus (although i've read fics where james also distrused remus and i adore the angst and the drama and the absolute tragedy of it)

to add to the dorm thing: there are only like 5 boys in gryffindor in harry's year. not just in his dorm, but the whole house (as stated in chambers of secrets), so there's a very real chance the marauders were the only 4 boys in their year in gryffindor

and also to back up another one of ur points: pottermore canon states that remus was the one to bring peter into the group ("Remus, always the underdog’s friend, was kind to short and rather slow Peter Pettigrew, a fellow Gryffindor, whom James and Sirius might not have thought worthy of their attention without Remus’s persuasion. Soon, these four became inseparable."). before that it also states that "Remus Lupin was swiftly befriended by two cheerful, confident and rebellious boys, James Potter and Sirius Black. They were attracted by Remus’s quiet sense of humour and a kindness that they valued, even if they did not always possess it themselves"

Half my posts are rants, it's literally in the name of my url 😅😅 But I know which one you mean.

Oh, yeah, you're actually right here. It was pretty much Sirius we know about but I somehow thing it must have been a little bit from the others too. Especially because of the fact that Remus had actively started distancing himself. Oh, just imagine if Peter was intentionally slipping comments about it or something just so he can fully take the suspicion from himself away. And then... In reality I think Remus was mostly doing it to just keep them safe.

I'm not 100% sure if it's ever mentioned that someone outside of the Marauders, later Snape, and Dumbledore knew he's a werewolf. Maybe the other teachers, or some of them, but I highly doubt anyone in the first Order knew. In fact, maybe Lily didn't know. And I mentioned in another post how I think that maybe he hasn't seen Harry as a baby and this makes me feel so sad because he probably wanted to stay away.

But I'm not so sure here, I have to admit it's been a while since I read the books.

I fall into some downwards spiral about angsty thoughts but I actually don't like reading such fics xD Honestly, in this fandom I can swear 80% of them are either some angst or Major Character Death warning... I can't. If I want that, I'll reread the parts from the book xD

Oh, okay, that's a good point! We really don't know if there weren't other boys there. I just think, all dorms were kind of for 5 people and idk, if there are 5 students, they all gonna be in one. If there are 10 or less, they'll be in two, etc. So I suppose here the question is how many boys were in this year. (Tbh, I never really understood the roommates thing xD I somehow can't imagine having to share a room with someone for years and not becoming friends. Sure, for example Harry and Ron were best friends but I believe they considered the other friends too, just not as close. How would you otherwise trust these people with stuff like... Not touching your personal things or like, killing you in your sleep. Stuff like that. Also, it's otherwise kinda awkward.)

Thanks for pointing this out! I wasn't completely sure about it but I thought it's so. Now just imagine how everything must have felt even more awful for Remus in the end. But aoso this whole roommate thing would make lots of sense as to why he befriended Peter in the first place and later they all became friends.

Thanks for the ask and the info!!

[dufferpuffer]

Do you have any general HCs about Lupin? (Love your posts btw!)

I DO have Hcs about The Woof Woof boy-! I actually forgot I typed up a LONG Music HC about Remus in February. It's been sitting in my drafts. Oopsy. Thanks for reminding me to post it :9

First ones are links to other posts - but with unique ones written under the 'Read More'... just to keep things looking neat and tidy :)

He likes Muggle music. It has been his companion his entire life. (1700 words)

He has a toxic (ha) relationship with drugs like alcohol, nicotine and caffeine. He uses them like self-medication for his Lycanthropy… and is smug about how he doesn't get addicted… not realizing he is addicted to feeling in control. aka Having an eating disorder. (short)

He isn't great with money. -He grew up with parents who were VERY good with money - and could always budget a little for nice things… but they didn't want him to worry about how little money they had, so they never included him in those talks. - Then when he was a teenager he had rich friends buy him things freely.So: when he grew up, he was used to having nice things around… and had to learn how to budget the hard way. (500 words)

Despite knowing he would love Hagrid - he has a fear of him. (short)

He is an honorary Weasley. They keep a picture of him up on the family wall, always. (short)

I love his diagonal face scars from the movies. They are one of the very few scars that are not self inflicted. They can't be. Look at where they are: Crossing over his brow, nose, cheeks… He couldn't do that to himself when he has a wolf face. They must have been done to his human face. But every time he would face a werewolf - he would ALSO be a werewolf… SO: They were done before he was a werewolf. They are the scars Frenrir Greyback gave him as he bit him.

Pottermore (or whatever its called) said that Greyback broke into Remus' bedroom when he was 5 and bit him. Where is the bite…? While Greyback is more controlled and aware as a werewolf, being well practiced at it - I doubt he is 'delicate' with his approach. A 5 year old boy laying on his back is a difficult target to chomp. (Of course - he could have woken him up… but I feel like if Remus had that experience, of fighting for his life against a beast towering over his bed… I mean, fucking yeesh, right? I doubt he would be calm around any creature anymore.) I propose this: Remus was laying on his side, back away from the window - his shoulder exposed and a perfect target for a good chomp. Greybacks claws dragged up Remus' face as he held him down, leaving the diagonal scars. Then he skedaddled back out the window as Remus panicked and screamed in pain - taken by surprise, not even seeing the monster. Maybe Remus didn't even know what a werewolf looked like until his dad gave in and showed him pictures in a book… maybe he didn't want to know.

Likes tea. Usually has some teabags on his person somewhere - but his true indulgence is in making his ~own blends~ of loose-leaf herbs and spices. He just can't carry a bunch of herbs around with him. While he was teaching at Hogwarts, he had the space and the money to buy far too many herbs - and would get ANYONE entering his office to try a new blend. And could be pushy. "No thanks, Professor - I'm not thirsty..." "Thirsty?! You don't need to be thirsty for a cup of brew! Please?"

Sweet tooth. This can ruin his tea blends: they aren't always that nice - he doesn't understand why 'try it with three or four sugarcubes!' doesn't appeal. It's a good thing he can't carry much around much Sugar around with him, other than the packets he takes from Muggle cafe's. - His father would always budget to bring sweets home, as Remus didn't have much to be excited for in his young life. - When he was weary and exhausted after a Full Moon, his parents would dote on him and cheer him up with sweets. Lollies, chocolate, biscuits, cakes... things he made with his mother the day before, give him something to look forward to. - The Hogwarts train with his friends? They were rich - they'd buy the entire trolley. …He is not beyond crunching plain sugar when depressed.

He wants to come across as an 'intellectual', but... isn't. I don't mean he is dumb or something. A third of each month he feels like garbage. Fatigue, brain fog, pain etc. The other two thirds he is being active, working anything he can... the whole month he is homeless, anxious and depressed. He is chronically ill, and when he has the time and the 'spoons' to enjoy things - he is so worn down he just wants to feel happy. Simple narratives. Sugary drinks. Happy poppy music. He wants to come across as the sort of guy that reads philosophy in his spare time, working on 3 different research papers at once, sitting in his office with a sharp glass of whiskey - while being delightfully pleasant company. You know, like Dumbledore. ...But he can't live that life. So he just pretends to, a little. Dresses the part, acts the part - when a kid comes into his Office he is reading a big book... but only because he could hear their footsteps approaching the door, so he picked it up really quickly.

Related to ^ - he is jealous that Severus is literally that. Apart from 'delightfully pleasant company' - but I think if you approached the wild Snape calmly and asked about his Potions research, he would be more palatable.

He likes the back of his head/neck rubbed. Is it a werewolf thing? Is it a man thing? Who knows, who cares. The short hair on the back of his head, behind his ears and the top of his neck... its comforting having someones hand there, playing with it. Petting it. Whether he is stressed or just wants to relax. One of his favourite places is laying on someones lap while they gently play with his hair. It's nice.

[shakespearean-snape]

Hi there! so glad to see you posting again I like a lot of what you have to say about Snape. I noticed you say a few times tho that your visual headcanon for Snape isn't conventionally attractive and I just wondered if you had any reference of what he looks like in your mind? An actor or other famous person? just someone like that?

I'm just curious how you imagine Snape because I admit I just see Alan Rickman as Snape in my head since I started with the movies as a kid and didn't read the books a few until years later. It always interests me so much when people say they read the books before the movies or read the books with the movies coming out and saw Snape as someone else.

Its ok if you can't think of anyone just thought I'd ask. thx!

Hello!

*waves enthusiastically like an idiot with zero chill*

I get so giddy when someone sends me an ask like this so I hope no one thinks I don't enjoy questions about Snape or my headcanons. As anyone who knows me knows, I think a lot and especially about those things I love so I always have lots of thoughts rolling around in my head I can be positively overeager to share with anyone interested.

So to answer your question, I don't have a specific person pinned down that is 100% like how I picture Snape in my mind but some close candidates would be a young Adrien Brody (which I think is common enough among Snape fans as a choice, right there with Adam Driver these days), obviously the man that JKR based Snape around, John Nettleship, someone like Adarsh Jaikarran as a potential Hogwarts-era and early 20s Snape (even if he is more good-looking than I usually lean, in some pictures he just channels Snape vibes for me quite a bit) and a very young Julian Richings if you've ever seen photos of him in his younger years (I have two here for you so you can see my point a bit, here and here).

Ironically, Julian Richings in the later years of his acting career would probably have been my first choice for a Voldemort fan cast back in the day when any Harry Potter reboot was purely in the realm of the hypothetical (I mean, c'mon, look at this and tell me you can't see it too) but as JKR is an unapologetic anti-feminist/TERF I provide no monetary support to any of her projects including any licensed games, the watching of future reboots or purchasing of future tie-in books in the HP universe, officially licensed HP merchandise, or even by giving traffic to what was formerly Pottermore, etc.

All I bring to the fandom now is my fan theories and love for Snape, which she not only does not benefit from but never seemed entirely at peace with given how the character got away from her and took off. I can't think of a better way to spite someone so utterly spiteful herself than to take the character she was most shocked by people loving in any capacity and celebrate him in every incarnation (gay, bi, trans, ace, autistic, poc, etc.) with my queer, gender-nonconforming little heart while she gets zero money off me for it.

Anyway I hope the visual guide gives you a little more insight into my mind. I've never seen Snape as "ugly" (even when I joke my Snape is "ugly" and I like him that way) but my mental picture of him is of a man whose looks might fall into that unconventionally attractive sphere or what some people call homely. Occasionally I veer off that a bit, as with Adarsh Jaikarran, oh, oh! And also Lee Soo Hyuk, Song Jae-Rim and Kento Yamazaki (ever since I saw him in the live-action Bloody Monday manga series adaptation)!

But yes, my favorite Snape and the Snape I love isn't usually model attractive but also not quite the gargoyle Harry describes (that kid had some ridiculously high standards of beauty tbh, about the only characters he didn't have mentally critical notes on their appearance was the unnamed Veela, Fleur, and Narcissa Malfoy so yeah he totally thought "Draco's mom has got it going on..." Lol!) but somewhere in that "unconventional" categorization of attractive which I feel really suits a man who so often defies easy categorization in general.

(Excuse all the edits. After I gave a few examples more started hitting me and I was like ohhhhh I should have shared them, why didn't I think to share them? So I may come back and make more edits throughout the day, no promises I won't! Lol)

[princeisolde]

My yandare af Slytherin MC, Isolde Roman.

They have my pottermore sorting🐍, wand, (Cypress, Phoenix Fether, 12.5” & unrelenting) & Patronus, lion with a huge mane. Pure blood, dead parents, and has a rich aunt that sends them funds. Throwing Isolde into this game was totally cathartic and so much fun. So because no one asked…heres all their facts.

Very classic tropes of a Dark Arts Kid™. They were my first oc for the WW back in 2010-2011 and they’ve grown up with me as my horrible other half. Isolde is always spending their time acting as a teachers pet, stalking Poppy, (she’s so pure and must be corrupted,) enabling Sebastian’s dark side, and constantly fantasizing about convincing Ominis to murder his family and take their estate. (Just a silly lil murder, gosh.)

Isolde favors curses and fire spells, and they simply love Occlumency. Any mind game is their favorite thrill. (They think imperio is kinky.)

They’re terribly sweet to people, but it’s all a face. Anything they want they get, take, or steal without a second thought. Selfish, cunning, pretty, cruel, quiet, curious, the kind to watch with a worried expression as you scream from their curse, stroke your face, smile sweetly, then cast it again. Isolde is really just the worst.

They follow Poppy around to make sure no one bullies her, but really they’re horribly possessive and just want her all to themselves, scaring off anyone trying to flirt with her. Those two boys that harassed her behind the beasts hut found themselves in hospital.

Isolde and Sebastian bring out the worst and each other and love it. Ominis does his best, but he’s wrangling two dumb dogs who won’t shut up or behave whenever they go out.

Teenagers scare the living shit out of me. 7th year, shits already gone down.

Involves: misuse of unforgivables, dark!MCxPoppy, MCxSebxOmi, dark!Ominis. corruption, sadism, smut, angst, elements of cannibalism (I’m sorry.) & blood. V dark stuff but it’s all so much fun.

[buckets-and-trees]

Can't Be Forgotten [Lily Luna x Tom]

Fandom: Harry Potter

Characters/Pairings: Lily Luna Potter x Tom Riddle

Word Count: 4.5k

Summary: When the fog is high on the Scottish fens, and the Veil between worlds is thin on Samhain night, it's the best time to summon the dead. By altering your course by one degree, you can end up somewhere you never intended to be. Lily, driven by a thirst for truth, slips into something no one would ever have dreamed she would do. “Most of the evil in this world is done by people with good intentions.” T.S. Eliot

Content Warnings: nothing graphic, but as you can see… we’re summoning spirits, so, IT BE DARK HERE

Additional Notes: Ignoring everything Cursed Child.  Made up historical references are consistent with Pottermore information. Endless thanks to L who agreed to beta for me. The title for this story is taken from lyrics to “Cold” by Aqualung & Lucy Schwartz, which is one of five songs I had on repeat while crafting this piece.

It was an obsession at this point. She knew that. But it was fascinating. Fascination founded in frustration. Lily couldn’t even remember exactly what Jenna Flint had said because she had immediately tried to let it roll off her back. She knew it was something said fully out of spite, Jenna having just lost the Quidditch Cup with her team as Gryffindor beat Ravenclaw in the final match of her sixth year. So Lily honestly had forgotten the words, but she didn’t forget the smirk.

Her smirk and the discarded words had insinuated that Lily had no idea what her parents really had done during the war. Lily knew what everyone else knew, but Jenna insinuated that she knew more.

Going home that summer, Lily had started to take notice of how much her family didn’t talk about the war. Not her parents, not her aunts and uncles, not her cousins. James didn’t care much when she asked him about it, and Albus had cared in a way for a while but didn’t care now, and she didn’t want to rock that boat. Of course her grandmother didn’t bring up anything that even came close to dredging up history from the war, but then there was her grandfather…

Her grandfather loved to talk to her about anything.

But even he wouldn’t speak in amount of detail, which seemed rather unfair. “You were there,” she tried to coax him.

He set down the clock gear he’d been polishing and looked across the cluttered worktable at her. “But you know everything that happened.”

“I know what they teach us at school.”

He sighed. “Lily, I don’t know everything that happened. No one really does, not even your father. But what’s brought on this keen curiosity?”

“Nothing, I just… I just wondered.”

“Ah,” he said, “I recognize that look.”

Lily frowned. She thought she had been keeping a blank face.

“It’s not wrong for you to want to know more, but it’s hard to talk about for most of us.”

He paused for a moment, and his steady gaze left Lily’s face and moved instead to look out the window before he continued. “We lost people, and that alone would be hard to talk about without losing them in a war. The horrible things that happened - some of them happened so quickly we could barely keep up. Many of us don’t know how to talk about them, Lily, or we don’t know enough to piece together the whole story.”

Lily nodded.

“You should talk to Teddy.”

“Teddy?” she asked.

“He had a lot of questions about the war when he was about your age, too. I gave him a book someone sent us that was published five years after the Battle of Hogwarts. I never read it, but I heard it was one of the best compilations of story at the time. Lee Jordan was a contributor. Teddy may still have it.”

Teddy did have it, and he loaned it to her without hesitation. He understood, she realized, more than anyone else the need to know what their parents had done, everything that had happened – his parents had given their lives to the cause. He loaned her three books, and told her that he had more if she was interested. She was. The more she read, the more she wanted to know. He loaned her another four. In the last weeks of her summer holiday, Teddy actually let her borrow a journal his father had kept during the war, part of the full collection his grandmother Andromeda had been saving and given him when he’d come of age.

The journal had revealed so much more. Remus Lupin had clearly not recorded everything in the journal, but there were moments that were so much more real than many of the books she’d devoured so far. Remus’s words breathed life into the lists of things that had happened. All of a sudden, the stories were tangible, even though the accounts Remus had kept were brief.

His journal had her seeking other journals. She delved into the shelves of rare books in different shops in Diagon Alley and then at Hogsmeade during her final year at Hogwarts.

Having only grasped at vague ideas of what she wanted to do after Hogwarts, Lily threw herself fully into the endeavor to earn top N.E.W.T. levels in Charms and History of Magic so she could work at the Ministry Archives.

When they accepted her for a competitive assistantship the summer straight after graduating from Hogwarts, Lily wasn’t naïve enough to think it had nothing to do with her last name and the approaching thirtieth anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts. Every five years the Ministry did something to commemorate the date, and after immersing herself into history the way she had, Lily had seen how much her family had cooperated only minimally in participating or sharing any information. If they could perhaps enlist the daughter of the Chosen One, maybe the historical and archival teams would have a better chance at roping in the Potters and Weasleys.

Lily knew she was the token, but she also knew they wouldn’t regret taking her on, and, in return, she would have access, resources, and encouragement to obsessively hunt down more information. As the first few weeks turned into the first few months, they relished her enthusiasm for research and pursuit of leads on both information and then artifacts. The head archivist on the Potter Project couldn’t resist taking her from the pool of assistants directly to his central team because he could see that doors opened for Lily Potter that many on his team had been unable to get through – some because her father is Head of Magical Law Enforcement; some because her father is the Boy Who Lived; some because she’s young and enchanting. Lily knows it, too, but she’s grown up in this kind of spotlight all her life, so she’s learned to use every moment of it to her advantage.

The only day she didn’t work was Sunday, but even most of her Sundays were given over to reading anything new she’d gotten her hands on. Since leaving Hogwarts and dedicating herself completely to the research, she’d learned even more. Lily was properly horrified by Voldemort and the Death Eaters, the corruption that grew rampant and nearly unopposed at the Ministry. She was inspired by accounts of heroism: small acts from ordinary witches and wizards, undercover work by members of the Order of the Phoenix, seemingly neutral parties who all along were sheltering Muggleborns in their own homes. She was somewhat annoyed her parents never spoke about any of their own experiences and nearly lived as if it had never happened.

To Lily’s surprise, it’s an interview at the end of September with Oliver Wood, Puddlemere legend who fought at the Battle of Hogwarts, that sends her down another rabbit hole. All Wood had said was, “I’ll never understand why anyone would want to split their soul just to remain alive. I don’t go chasing death, of course, but I think all decent people know you live your best partly due to knowing you only have a limited amount of time in this mortal realm. I guess it’s not supposed to make sense, seeing as Voldemort was pure evil.”

It turned over thoughts in her head about other things she’d been piecing together. Voldemort had followers, but Tom Riddle – by every account – had had nearly all of his peers and superiors eating out of the palm of his hand from the moment he’d stepped into the wizarding world. Dumbledore had been the only exception; others respected, admired, fawned over him. Tom Riddle had talent, he had intelligence, he was cunning, and he was handsome. When had he become “pure evil” as Oliver had said? What had driven Tom Riddle to Voldemort? What had changed the man to the monster?

The second week of October, Lily passed through the Leaky Cauldron, into Diagon Alley, and then made her way down Knockturn Alley to the shop numbered 13B. A bell jingled as she entered Borgin and Burkes. Autumn sunshine barely broke through the heavily frosted windows, and only a few candles cast dim light over the artifacts on display in the shop. It was not the first time she’d visited the shop, so the staff did not look at her with too much skepticism. Burke was wary of everyone, but his nephew and assistant Erasmus was much more inviting. Fortunately, Burke was already assisting a much older customer with deep pockets, so Lily waited for Erasmus to approach her.

After a few moments, he did. “Well, well, well, what brings Lily Potter to our humble shop today?”

His smile – closer to a smirk – was exactly what Lily wanted. She knew she could play Erasmus Burke.

It was not uncommon for the Ministry’s Archive staff to come by the shop, but Borgin and Burke rarely deigned to deal with the assistants. Lily had no complaints. Erasmus was the same age as her brother James but had been in Ravenclaw. She was banking on the rapport they’d built during her previous two visits and the tendency he’d shown to get carried away explaining details of obscure artifacts.

“Work, of course,” Lily responded. “Do you have anything new and interesting to show me?” She only hated herself a very little bit for tilting her head ever so slightly so that she was looking up at him through her lashes.

“You know we don’t sell anything new here,” he said, and now the smirk was there outright, “but I might have something to pique your interest. Follow me.”

She fell into step behind Erasmus, who led her through some narrow rows to a corner with bookshelves. There were a few books he showed her that she had him put aside to be purchased and delivered to the Ministry Archives. She let him show her a strange silver desk instrument rumored to have belonged to Ulick Gimp, the very first wizard to be named Minister of Magic. After half an hour, she finally stepped a little closer and said, “Now, I’ve already gotten a fair few things for the collections today, but you know I’m on the war history project.”

“I do,” he replied.

“Tom Riddle used to work here. Do you have anything left that belonged to him?”

Erasmus took a step back and scowled at her. “Are you serious?”

“Absolutely.”

“We don’t.”

“Oh, come on, surely you’ve got something,” she pressed, stepping close again.

He scoffed, “If we had anything of interest, it would’ve been snatched up years ago by his old followers, and I don’t think I would show you anyway. Ministry doesn’t pay what fanatics do. If we have anything, it might be some old acquisition records or bookkeeping or some shite.”

“Show me.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes. “You are serious.”

In the end, she managed to get Erasmus to take her into the old office in the back and find the acquisitions book from 1947 that turned out to have scores of entries written by the hand of Tom Riddle. That’s when she touched his arm with her gloved fingers – Forgetfulness Fingers, a prototype glove from her uncles’ shop. He blinked and swayed, disoriented. Lily quickly slipped the book into the bag slung over her shoulder, then, as Erasmus started to come back to coherency, she pressed a swift kiss to his lips. “I should go,” she said. “I’m expected back at the Archives soon.”

Erasmus leaned close for another kiss, assuming, as was her plan that they’d only been back into the office for a quick snog.

She put a hand to his chest. “Next time.”

Sundown on Halloween found Lily Luna Potter on the fen. A chill ran down her spine, but she merely pulled her heavy cloak tighter around herself. Nothing was wrong. She’d read through the ritual. The separation between the dead and the living weakest during Samhain and would allow her to call a spirit. She had from sundown on October 31 until sundown the next evening, and then the window to communicate would be closed.

She had battled a bit of a strong wind to finally get to her location – it wasn’t bitter, but it was persistent, and so she was glad the land rose high enough on either side of her to create a pocket of calm. From her research into this summoning ritual, it was unclear how long it might take, or whether she would succeed at all. Summoning a spirit was dark magic, Lily had no question about that, but this obscure ritual at least didn’t require blood sacrifice or incantations in a foreign or dead language. It seemed harmless enough that she felt she wasn’t being foolish in the attempt. She just wanted to talk to him, and this would allow her to do so, if his spirit was amenable. If nothing happened, none would be the wiser, and no one could disapprove. And even if it did work, all she was going to do was ask him some questions. There was no harm in satisfying her curiosity.

Lily settled on a patch of grass and began to build the small bonfire the ritual called for, summoning wood and kindling from the nearby flora. She pointed her wand first at the pieces of wood that would provide the base for her fire, mumbling an enchantment to dry the wood so it wouldn’t burn with excess smoke. She had no desire to inhale smoke all night. After building up the logs, she stuffed dried leaves and big bunches of tall dead grass between the wood. It was nearly sunset when she whispered “Incendio,” and the fire burst to life. She stood up and looked around. To her right there was a stream running quietly on to meet a river not far away. Trees completely bare of their leaves stood stoically at the edge of the stream in clumps, their dark silhouettes in contrast to a pale pink glow along the horizon, which gave way to periwinkle, blues, and then blackness as the sun dropped away.

Lily checked her watch. It was not time yet.

She conjured an armchair to curl up in to wait. She pulled a small, tattered brown leather book out of her bag. It was so old the gold embossing its title on the cover had completely worn to nothing, but the first yellowed page read Spirits: Suppositions, Séances, Speaking, and Summoning from the Other Side, no author. She turned to a page she had marked in preparation and carefully read the instructions again for what she was about to do.

Every hour on the hour after sunset, Lily was supposed to burn something that held an impression of the spirit that had passed to the other side of the veil, and speak their name. It was as simple as that. If the spirit chose to answer, it would appear, if not, then… nothing.

It was fortunate that the object she’d brought to burn was a record book that Tom Riddle had written in. There would be plenty of pages to offer up to summon the spirit to whom she so desperately wanted to speak.

Lily put the book back into her bag and then looked at her watch. She’d been very careful to check before leaving that it was aligned with Ministry Definitive Time down to the second. She had also placed a charm on her watch so it would vibrate three minutes before every hour. She couldn’t afford to miss her cue. The instructions for the ritual were simple, if somewhat vague, but one thing had been clear: if the summoner missed an hour, the enchantment would be broken for the night.

It was nearly time. She pulled the acquisitions book out of her bag and opened it to the first page that held only entries recorded with Tom Riddle’s initials. Carefully, she tore it out of the book, ripping from top to bottom. She looked at the face of her watch, and as the minute and second hands moved to cross the 12, she placed the sheet into the fire.

“Tom Marvolo Riddle.”

For the next minute, she was silent, her eyes darting around expectantly, but no one appeared, and there were no voices. The only sound she could hear was the rustling of the bushes and grasses at the top of the hill that crested the fen.

After another minute, Lily returned to her chair, drawing her knees up to her chest; she replaced the records book and pulled out a biography to read until the next hour approached.

Three more hours passed, three more pages in the fire, three more summons.

Nothing.

After one in the morning, she thought she heard rustling through the fen that sounded like someone’s footsteps, but no one appeared. She didn’t sleep during that hour, but succumbed to exhaustion again after calling out for Tom Riddle at two o’clock.

She didn’t sleep between three and four either because the wind had picked up to a howl that put her on edge. Lily built up the fire yet again to distract herself from thoughts of how foolish she’d started to think this night was.

She managed to sleep again after the four a.m. call, but when she woke just before five, she was shivering. A fog had rolled up over the edge of the hill and down into the fen. There was still no spirit to speak of after five, but morning twilight started to creep up over the horizon, so Lily stayed awake again. Her body ached from sitting curled up all night in the armchair, trying to stay warm. The fog was thick, but it gradually started to dissipate as the six o’clock hour approached. She tore another page from the book and threw it on the fire.

“Tom Marvolo Riddle.”

Now that the sun was beginning to reappear, Lily watched as the dim glow brightened the sky and, just slightly, the fen. She noticed a dark spot of movement and squinted her eyes, pushing her hair back from where it had fallen down through the night.

The fog still made it difficult to see anything too far away, but now she could see the movement was a figure, and the figure was coming her way, walking at a steady pace, but clearly in no hurry. Adrenaline spread through her veins, and she perched herself on the edge of her armchair, one hand gripping the corner of the armrest, her other holding her wand.

As the figure came closer, Lily was fairly certain it was a man. She evaluated every aspect she could as he approached. He wore plain black wizard robes with a long cloak falling over his shoulders, and the hem of his cloak billowed slightly as he strode toward her. He took each step without question. This man did not lack purpose or confidence.

His skin was pale, his hair dark, his figure tall and lithe.

At this point Lily’s chest felt constricted and her heart was in her throat. She knew it had to be him. She felt she should stand as he drew nearer, but she could not bring herself to move.

He stopped two meters away from her and stood perfectly still.

Now she could take in every detail of him, and it was exhilarating and terrifying. He was handsome. Every record she’d found of him had said he’d been handsome, and that’s what she’d expected, but she hadn’t expected him to be so strikingly handsome – without question the most handsome face she had ever seen.

But something bothered her. This was no ghost or spirit – and yet he couldn’t be alive. Whatever he was, he was studying her as intently as she was studying him.

“Why?” He finally broke the silence.

“What?”

He arched a single eyebrow. “You’ve been calling for me for hours. You play a dangerous game, calling to the dead. Why?”

Lily raised her chin a fraction of an inch. “I wanted to speak to you.”

The corners of his lips lifted ever so slightly. “Surely it’s much more than that, but I’ll humor you for now. What is your name?”

“Lily.”

“Lily, if you would be so kind as to conjure another chair?”

She duplicated her own chair, never taking her eyes off him, and he, likewise, did not take his eyes off her as he sat down. He took the chair like a king, and now they were only a meter apart. Lily resettled in her chair, moving from the attentive perched position to one she hoped made her look just as comfortable and confident.

“Tom Riddle?” She had to hear him confirm it.

“In the flesh,” he said, “or very nearly.”

“I was doubting whether this would even work.”

“What do you know of the spell you used to summon me?”

“It’s an ancient rite used to call to those on the other side during Samhain. Spirits can choose to heed or ignore the call. You can beckon every hour on the hour after sundown until the next sundown at the end of Samhain.”

He nodded.

“I also wondered if you would come even if it did work.”

“How little you seem to know of me then. Or even of this spell.”

Lily bit the inside of her cheek, unsure of what to say.

“I heeded your call from the first summons, but with each call, a spirit grows stronger until it takes the form you see now.”

“Oh.”

“And did you think I would appear suddenly before a stranger without first watching to determine if they were friend or foe?”

“You’ve decided I’m not your foe?”

“Clearly not. I imagine a foe, first, would not summon me from the other side, but if he had, he would not have been so unfailingly patient and persistent, and likely would have pursued other rituals or blood magic that would ensure my appearance.”

He let silence spread between them for a few minutes.

“Well, you have me here. You said you wanted to speak to me. What did you wish to say?”

“You said you think I called you for more than a conversation. What else did you think I wanted?”

He cocked his head. “Come now, Lily, that’s not what you wanted to know when you summoned me.”

“No, but it’s what I want to know now.”

He pursed his lips for a moment. “Are you sure you want to play this game, Lily?”

She never backed down from a challenge. “You think you know me. Prove it.”

“You’re a Gryffindor: bold enough to try to summon a spirit from the other side for a conversation, too noble to invoke a blood ritual, but too stubborn to give up. You’re on some kind of quest, but it masks boredom and emptiness in other areas of your life that you would refuse to admit to.”

She opened her mouth to argue, but closed it again.

“That’s not everything about you, though. I know it’s just the surface.”

He said it like an invitation. It made her want to tell him more, and so she did. She told him what it was like being the third child of famous parents, the stupid things her brothers had done growing up and the good things as well, how she loved and hated Quidditch in equal parts. She told him about her work at the Ministry, which led to getting the book from Erasmus. She told him about summers at the Burrow and her favorite books. She told him important and trivial things, and they flowed so easily because he seemed to just listen so well, and he asked excellent questions, made her feel like everything she said mattered to him. He listened in a way no one had in such a long time that she divulged much more than she’d ever intended.

Finally she realized time was slipping away, and said, “So you’re not a ghost. What are you? How long will you stay like this?”

“Like this? I’m not sure. What am I? It’s hard to say, but you could find out,” he said, moving to the edge of his seat.

“How?” she asked, matching his movement without realizing.

Perched there, close to her, he leaned a little closer.

The intensity in his eyes pulled her in, and she leaned further, closing her eyes just before their lips met.

Tom’s lips, his entire being, seemed blurred, cold, not really there the first instant of contact. Then there was a rush of warmth, almost as if what little warmth she had there sitting on the fen in the cold November morning was stolen completely from her, and then he was there, solid and warm himself. He brought both hands up to her face, then one moved to twine in her hair, strong, holding her there. The other hand drifted in contrast softly, delicately down her neck to rest just on her collarbone, and she sighed. He took the opportunity to deepen the kiss. She reached out to hold him, but then he broke off and pulled back slightly.

Lily opened her eyes in surprise. His smile was alarming, and yet she couldn’t bring herself to move away.

“What-?”

“You’ve completed my crossing over from spirit to flesh.”

“With a kiss?”

He kissed her again briefly, triumphantly.

“Yes, with a kiss. This ritual wasn’t invoked with blood, so it didn’t require blood. It was simple in its inception, and so it is simple in its completion, and the bonding is straightforward.”

Her breath caught for a moment, and she knew she should be truly terrified now. “The bonding?”

“You summoned me, you sealed the connection. As long as you live, I now live. Tom Riddle, in the flesh again.”

Lily began to tremble.

Tom stood and drew her up by the hand to stand as well. He captured her lips in another kiss, this one blazing. He wrapped his arms around her, and this time let her return the embrace. It was too cunning, and she knew it, but it was undeniable now.

When he broke off the kiss again, they were both breathless, and he rested his forehead against hers. “I have no complaint, do you?”

She should, she knew she should. This was all kinds of wrong. He was not supposed to be here, a hand cupping her cheek. She’d gone and brought him back from the land of the dead, but who was this Tom Riddle? Maybe there was a chance this wouldn’t end in ruin for them both. That’s what she forced herself to believe.

Damn her curiosity.

�� Masterlist | Aspen's Ask Box | Field Guide to the Forest

[kimarisgundam]

Everytime I see the Harry Potter game trending I feel so salty cos I really want to play it. I want to play it so badly cos it was my childhood 😭

But I don't want to fold, this is the hill I die on. I said I disagree with Rowling's views so I will not interact with Harry Potter stuff anymore

If I go back on what I said, I'll be betraying myself 😭

I won't break my word, I'm literally just going to sit here and stew in my saltiness

But omg... all my childhood friends are getting it... I'm the only one without it and the feeling of being left out is getting stronger 😭

^ Please don't blame anyone around me for "pressuring" me into not playing btw. No one is forcing me not to buy the game. It's my own choice

I think I mentioned this before, but LGBTQ+ rights aren't really a thing in my country (like, gay marriage isn't legal etc). So I'm not facing pressure from anyone. It's my own fault if I'm stewing in salt now 😅

Everyone thinks I'm overreacting... my bf said he can buy the game for me so it's not "my money", but that's not the point though!

Sigh... I'm so salty...

I used to love the series so much... it sucks that I can't enjoy it now. I have so much Gryffindor merch that I can't use...

I was so happy to be sorted into Gryffindor on Pottermore... like omg I'm so salty cos I can't even bring myself identify as a Gryffindor anymore... Gryffindor taking pity on me and letting someone like me get sorted into it was the highlight of my childhood @_@

[jaylienpotter]

this is the chapter of the companion fic in which the g slur is used: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14752685/chapters/42394160 and there's the apology in the a/n (i genuinely have no idea why people say she kept using the slur when it's used once in the entire fic? where does this info come from? and she specifically says in the a/n that she considered taking the chapter down but decided against it because she doesn't want to seem like she's trying to erase her mistake and it's better to leave it up along with the accountability statement so people can educate themselves)

Dorcas is mentioned exactly once in the entire series, in a throwaway comment about past Order members: “that’s Dorcas Meadowes, Voldemort killed her personally” that's it. that's all we know about her unless you consider extra canon (which i do! but not everyone does i guess)

Pottermore is credited as the source of the info on her skin colour on the wiki page and her picture is from this old Pottermore article which was released in June 2017: http://web.archive.org/web/20170621061919/https://www.pottermore.com/features/the-definitive-guide-to-the-order-of-the-phoenix-and-dumbledores-army-infographic

if you google "Dorcas Meadowes" and you set a custom range (i set 01-01-2010 to 12-07-2017) it shows a bunch of white women as fan casts incl. Lily Collins. so today there's this concensus that dorcas is poc because it's technically canon now but it wasn't always like that

ofc i'm not saying atyd is perfect because it's not

thanks for responding!

Thank you so much for your help and for not lashing out 😅 I have the bad flaw of being naive and when several people say the same thing and sound certain of it, I tend to believe it. It was the same with the first Lily Evans fancanon and the allegations of her being transphobic. I believed it for a while, then I decided to do my research and saw it had no backup whatsoever so I dropped it. (Still not my fancast but just bc i dont see her as my Lily).

I read the link you sent, the apology does seem quite complete and sincere. With supportive links and everything. Which changes everything imo. Yes, ATYD is not perfect, but no fic ever is. I still dislike the lack of POC representation and its negative stereotypes but well, in 2017 I also didn't make as diverse OCs as today. I wrote what I knew, what I was exposed to. With maturity and social media, that changes.

(btw at least in the thread that I took the info from and linked, OP only mentioned the usage of the g slur, didn't specify the amount of times. But yeah, in perspective that thread seems very out of proportion. At least after the apology)

With that in mind, I will at least put my ATYD post in private/archived or however this app works. If anyone thinks there's anything worth mentioning, or anything I didn't know about, I'll bring it back up, yet change the wrong info.

If you disagree with this, feel free to say so. Thank you for your help and patience with me 💙 Sorry for the trouble xx

[insuranced]

Just an intro page, why not?

I don't often post art because of my insane schedule (uni = no breaks).

Feel free to use my art for edits / personal use like wallpapers, profile pics. Also if anyone does use it for an edit, please let me know 🥺 I'd love to see it!!

I don't take commissions, sorry. Same goes for requests unless I say so on Instagram (usually stories).

I'm active on IG and tumblr, hardly on twitter because . . . it being twitter is self explanatory.

IG / TWT : moshiyare

I'm extremely active on tiktok, more in the case of scrolling mindlessly.

I don't watch anime anymore, so that might bring my anime fanart phase to a halt. (Edit as of September 2023: My manga phase is a roaring beast that does not understand the concept of rest therefore I shall be back with fanart, hopefully, especially from JJK)

My Harry Potter phase has never ended lol, so I'm more likely to draw something hp/Marauders related (no Snape though)

Random stuff:

Pottermore has put me in Slytherin, and I have to agree. My patronus is a grass snake and my Ilvermony house is Wampus!

INTP

I love cats.

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Magic and Genetics: Magical Beings

So, I mentioned in my other post about magic and genetics that the fact magical creatures and wizards can reproduce is significant. This is because generally, hybrids with parents of different species are sterile (at least with animals, plants are different). As Fleur can be a quarter-veela, it's clear the hybrids we see in the magical world are not sterile.

As sterility is attributed to the difference in the number of chromosomes between the two species, this suggests that goblins, wizards, muggles, veela, and giants all have the same number of chromosomes and are part of the same genus. And this has some interesting implications when it comes to world-building...

Disclaimer: As with my past post on the subject, this is from online reading, I haven't studied any of this in a professional capacity.

When it comes to interspecies hybrids among animals, they tend to be from the same genus, otherwise they can't even reproduce without some human interference. So, I feel pretty safe in the assumption that if wizards and veela can have fertile offspring, they fall under the same genus

A genus is a biological classification above species and below family. While there is some leeway in what falls under the same genus the general gist of what defines a genus is:

They all descend from the same group of organisms.

A genus shouldn't be expanded needlessly.

All species in a genus should show distinctive traits and similarities.

Now, the legal definitions in the Wizarding World somewhat support this. All the following creatures are defined as "beings" by the Ministry of Magic:

Humans (muggles, wizards and squibs)

Giants

Goblins (and the related Pukwudgies)

Vampires

Hags

House-elves

Veela

Any hybrid of the aforementioned species.

(Werewolves are technically human, Lycanthropy is treated in the books like an illness and not a separate species, hence why I didn't list them here)

I should note Merpeople and Centaurs were also offered the description of "being", but refused.

And we see practically all of the species listed as "beings" can have fertile offsprings with each other: Hagrid is a half-giant, Fleur is a quarter-veela, Flitwick is a half-goblin, the mobile games, and Pottermore reference part-vampires, and the Fantastic Beasts movies include a half-elf (I don't really consider these movies canon as a whole, but the existence of half-elves makes sense).

This means that the definition of "being" is for all species in this humanoid genus. The reason I'm bringing this up with association with genetics is that, if we go back to the definition of genus, all these species (and potentially centaurs and merpeople too) are descended from the same ancient race. Which, in turn, says something interesting about the evolution of magic in genetics.

Since most of these races are magical, well, all of them except muggles are. Muggles are incredibly similar to wizards and squibs, more similar than the other species are to each other. This suggests that the evolution in the Harry Potter universe started with an ancient humanoid magical species that got split into the different magical species we know of (goblins, wizards, giants, elves, etc...) first since there are more differences between them. Then, some thousands of years later muggles and wizards split.

I don't know how or why or what this ancient humanoid magical race could be, but the fact muggles and wizards are probably both descendants from some proto-wizard race that existed thousands of years ago gives another possibility into how muggleborns can be born. If all muggles descended from wizards, it could explain how muggleborns would occasionally be born. I still believe almost all muggleborns are descendants of more recent squib lines though. I don't think regular muggles have a high chance of giving birth to a muggleborn, but because of this evolution theory, it still could happen.

The other interesting note about this is that muggles are likely to be able to have children with goblins, veela, vampires, and giants just like wizards can. But these half-breeds, unlike the ones we see in the books aren't partial wizards, so could they cast magic like wizards?

I'd say yes.

The fact all non-human creatures are legally forbidden from holding wands means they all can produce magic with a wand. Winkey the elf got blamed at the beginning of GoF for casting the Dark Mark with a wand, which means that even though house-elves and goblins are capable of their own magic, they could use the same spells wizards do with wands if they had them. Goblins can use wands as well, Griphock says wands would expand their magical powers. If I had to guess I'd say the same is true for vampires, veela, and hags — that if they had wands they could cast magic like wizards. Their being from the same genus kinda explains it, they all have the genes for casting magic, and yes, their magic is different, but not that different. I'd say their magic is probably more similar than wizards are willing to confess.

Giants are different in that they don't really have an innate magic, and aren't shown to be capable of any magic beyond their sturdy skin. I'd say giants had a similar evolution to muggles in that they lost the capacity to cast magic at some point in the split. I'd guess it happened differently with each species though.

Back to the earlier subject of a muggle and goblin child, for example. I believe this half-goblin would have magic similar to a half-goblin wizard like Flitwick, potentially, a half-goblin half-muggle would be registered as a wizard by the book and quill that accepts students into Hogwarts. Potentially you could have a muggle-being hybrid who is treated like a half-blood wizard even though neither of their parents are wizards. I mean, goblins can use wands, and so can half-blood wizards with one wizard parent and one muggle parent... Basically, I think there could genetically be a half-blood wizard that has no wizard parent, or even grandparent for that matter.

(All this is potentially true for merpeople and centaurs too since they were offered the "being" status)

I just find these implications about the relations between wizards, muggles, and the other magical races really interesting.

[harognakosh]

Who is it going to be...