#but like. draco malfoy redemption arc. she clearly thought snape was redeemed

[sapphia]

sometimes i think about how the harry potter sorting system was about pubescent children being divided into social groups based on often-pretty indefinite traits, and then the story was about how those children were not just fed the prejudices of their parents and of history, but how they often actually found themselves grappling with the narrow definitions of self the houses placed on them and on others around them, and specifically the jarring presentation and diversity and boundary-blurring within those groups, and also how the overall message of the books was one of self-determination and hope that people would gradually grow past those prejudices and hard distinctions

and then somehow the author still became a fucking terf

[writcraft]

Hello! For the HP-themed asks: #11 and #13 (I love the way your brain works, so I'm very curious as to how you'll answer these in particular ;) )

Hiii! Ooooh, what cool questions, thank you! I think the obvious answers to these questions are ‘Voldemort’ and ‘Harry’ so I’m going to take both of those out of the running just to make things more interesting.

11. Who was the most evil character?

So many I’m not sure who to choose. The Carrows, Bellatrix Lestrange, Fenrir, Lucius Malfoy. I always find Lucius’ concern for Draco during the Final Battle an interesting redemption arc, in that I’m not sure it does redeem him at all, but I think it shows he has capacity for love and by the end of the books I’m not sure I could call Lucius - and certainly not Narcissa - the most evil. I keep coming back to Fenrir but he’s also an interesting one because he’s to some extent the monstrous product of being cast out from society. He has sadistic tendencies, there are heavy subtextual suggestions of pederasty (one of the many issues with the lycanthropy / HIV/AIDS analogy) and by the time we get to canon he’s more monster than man, with no redeeming characteristics. I think in the end though I’m going to go for Umbridge. She’s particularly poisonous because unlike Bellatrix she conducts her evil acts with cold, gleeful sanity. Unlike Fenrir, she experiences no rejection from society, quite the opposite. She is granted positions at institutions like Hogwarts and the Ministry and she implements her fanaticism through legislative measures which makes the system complicit in Voldemort’s rise to power. Her methods demonstrate a careful focus on creating a new world order, her outward demeanour of politeness and false sweetness juxtaposed with her sadistic pleasure in causing misery (Trelawny), her vindictive scarring of Harry and, of course, the fact McGonagall clearly can’t abide her and McGonagall knows what’s up. She, like Lucius Malfoy, represent the fact that evil isn’t the purview of the monstrous or the insane, it’s making your laws, teaching in your schools and meets society with a pleasant smile. That’s what makes her so particularly evil and also so dangerous.

13. Who was the bravest character in Harry Potter and why?

Snape and Dumbledore both were but like Harry they seem like quite obvious choices, as our POV character tells us this. I think Sirius Black was enormously brave, in a fatalistic kind of way. Standing up against his family with such force and resolution at such a young age would have taken tremendous courage. He fought against the Dementors for years and swam across a literal ocean to get to Harry when he thought he was in danger. He’s the kind of brave that shows no regard for his own life and even at times that of others, a hubristic, thoughtless kind of courage that’s driven by the force of conviction, grief, years of isolation, incarceration and anger. By the time he finds Harry he’s thirsty for the fight and itching to get involved yet he’s imprisoned again in a place that reminds him of everything he loathes, edging closer to breaking point. I think a lot of that is lost in the films. I don’t think bravery equates to unequivocal goodness, Sirius is an extremely morally grey character (Snape’s Worst Memory, Kreacher etc.) but I definitely think Sirius demonstrated enormous courage on countless occasions throughout his life. In this I think Bellatrix and Sirius are fascinating to compare, their familial relationship, Sirius dying at the hands of Bellatrix, both passionate about their beliefs to such an extent that it renders them incapable of seeing more moderate perspectives (e.g. Sirius with Slytherins). A really fascinating compare and contrast.

hp themed asks