#but like...people remember what was up with voldemort so a remarkable number of people back harry on that one

[halothenthehorns]

MAYHEM AT THE MINISTRY

Remus did not look pleased one little bit about accepting the book. He hated how they'd grown almost content, getting so many pleasant chapters in a row and then the huge finale of the Cup, just to have such a terrible one right after. He was terrified the trend would continue, but being afraid of something had never actually stopped him from doing anything, let alone in regards to a book, so he kept going.

Arthur woke them all very early the next morning, packed down the tents with magic, and only gave a vague wave to Mr. Roberts as they passed, while he called out a cheerful 'Merry Christmas!'

Lily's mind flickered back to her earlier worry that to many memory charms couldn't be good for him, and to have something so powerful taken away as well, oh she really hoped he would be okay.

Mr. Weasley spotted Harry's concerned look and promised he would be fine, some people got a little hazy with such a large memory being altered. When they reached the sight to collect their Portkey, there was already a huge queue all clamoring to get out of there at once.

"Cannot blame them," Remus sighed.

Arthur managed to get his way to the front, have a quick conversation with Basil, and returned back with a Portkey to take them home.

"Least they didn't have to wait on the Diggory's," Sirius sniffed.

    They walked back down the hill with little spirit, too tired to do much of anything, but were all caught off guard by a shrill voice shouting in gratitude they'd returned.

"Molly," they all muttered in surprise, considering the time it was a wonder she was awake, but even more surprising was that this reaction meant she knew what had happened already.

Upon reflection though, the four of them weren't that surprised, the Daily Prophet was known for staying on top of the news, though not always in the best light.

Molly was sprinting up the drive towards the lot of them, colliding first with her husband and dropping her newspaper in the process, which fell to the ground letting Harry read the title explaining that terror had happened at the Cup, including a photo of the Dark Mark.

Mrs. Weasley was still sobbing into her husband's shoulder, but quickly turned watery eyes to check and make sure all were still present, before her eyes caught sight of the twins and she latched an arm around each neck and pulled them in, crashing their heads together.

"Ooh," Lily sighed, completely understanding why she'd feel particularly awful for those two.

"Think now would be a good time to drop the bomb they won a gambling bet," Sirius smiled weakly, "I don't think they'd get in quite as much trouble for it."

Lily shot him a look, but as his joking tone hadn't quite smothered his own happiness at the scene, she didn't say anything.

The twins tried to protest their treatment, but Molly kept crying into them now that she felt terrible the last thing she'd done before they'd left was yell about their O.W.L.'s!

"This is really sweet," Remus smiled widely without a trace a humor.

"Bet it only lasts a day before they find some new way to tick her off," James chuckled, not really able to pick up his own poking fun at the situation.

Arthur finally managed to detach his wife from her kids and convince her to come inside so he could explain things to her, muttering at Bill as he passed to grab that paper so he could read it. Once Mrs. Weasley had calmed, Arthur did indeed read the print and found it full of the wrongdoings on the Ministry's part at the Cup.

"All the standard tosh of the paper," Sirius snorted.

He demanded of no one who had written it, then seemed to catch sight of the name Rita Skeeter.

Harry felt a vile shot of annoyance at once, a scowl appearing when he heard that name, but it was diminished as always when Remus kept reading so he chose not to pay it any attention.

Percy at once jumped in at how furious that woman made him, how she'd gone on about his useless report and had instead been trying to say they should be out hunting down vampires, going on to list the Guideline specifically explaining why this wasn't even a thing, when Bill cut him off by politely asking him to shut up.

Causing all four boys to crack up laughing, they were all liking Bill more and more as this kept on.

Mr. Weasley hadn't even been listening and had kept at the paper, stating in surprise he'd been referenced. Mrs. Weasley choked on her tea in shock, saying she hadn't seen that, and Arthur quickly corrected it hadn't been by name, just his passing comment saying that nothing had happened that night.

"There was no more information to give," Lily scoffed.

Rita Skeeter had added her own thoughts to that saying it probably wouldn't be enough to squash the rumors about bodies later being removed, causing Arthur to scoff that now she'd said that there certainly would be rumors.

"Why do I get the feeling Arthur has previous experience with this writer?" Sirius asked.

"She certainly sounds more like a tabloid then a reporter," Remus grumbled.

Arthur gave one last heavy sigh before telling his family he'd have to run into the office because of this. Percy agreed he'd come, he could hand Crouch his report on cauldron bottoms in person.

"I'm sure that'll be the highlight of his day," James sneered.

Percy sprinted up the stairs without another word, while Molly tried to protest Arthur's leaving, saying he'd just gotten home, and this had nothing to do with his department. Arthur gently corrected her he may have made things worse.

"No one in the Ministry would know it was Arthur who said that," Lily arched a brow in surprise. "This Rita person could have pulled that comment out of the air."

"Arthur really doesn't have a reason to feel so responsible," James nodded in agreement, "he didn't do anything wrong."

Arthur left for a quick change of clothes, and Harry couldn't hold in the question anymore of whether he'd gotten mail while he was away.

They all eagerly shut their trap in hopes Molly would say yes to that one.

Molly distractedly said nothing had come in.

Then they started to get a little fidgety, all eyes flickering to Sirius and away. Sirius tried for a scoff, scolding all of them, "oh relax, just because I haven't responded already," he hesitated for a moment, wavering and trying to come up with a reason for himself, before asking Harry, "how long did it usually take me to reply?"

"Less than two weeks," Harry gave a shrug he didn't really feel.

"See," Sirius really did relax back this time. "I haven't even gotten his letter yet, are you lot really going to be freaking out the day I'm late?"

'Yes' was the collective mental answer all of them had, but none of them bothered to answer him aloud. They'd take the paranoia and be wrong with relief every time than think for even a second Sirius had been captured, none of them could stand another year like the last one.

Harry's two friends looked curiously at him, and he heavily suggested he go dump his stuff in Ron's room. Ron and Hermione agreed that would be a good idea and came along.

"Absolutely subtle," Sirius started to snicker, then switched to scowling at his two friends when they wouldn't quite watching him with unease. If they didn't lighten up he was going to have to start doing something drastic.

They waited until they reached the privacy of Ron's room before demanding of Harry what that had been about, and he finally told them of his scar hurting a few days ago. Their reactions were near perfect to how Harry had predicted them.

"It's good you know your friends so well," James muttered, finally turning away from Sirius. He wasn't done worrying about him yet, and frankly he wouldn't be until his name was cleared, but at least this was a mildly entertaining distraction.

Ron began demanding to know that You-Know-Who hadn't been around Harry this time, right?

Lily really did start laughing at that. Harry's spot on imaginary Ron had been perfect.

Harry agreed he was sure no one was there who shouldn't be, but it was strange. His dream had been about Wormtail,

Remus managed to spit out that name with the same amount of contempt he would have with the word Mudblood, or werewolf, or a number of things he wished he'd never in his life have to mention again.

saying he couldn't clearly remember details anymore, but they'd been talking about murdering...someone.

"I get the feeling they could have filled in that blank," James mumbled, wiggling just that little bit closer to his son no matter how stupid he may have deemed it in retrospect.

He hadn't been able to say the word 'me' because Hermione looked more than terrified enough.

Lily was doing a remarkable reenactment of that expression now, and she had the knowledge Harry was going to be fine. It was still making Harry feel just as bad for his mum as his friend, but was unable to help soothe either of them.

Ron tried to comfort all of them it had just been a nightmare though, nothing to worry about, but Harry disagreed. Stating how odd these coincidences were, his scar had hurt, and three days later Voldemort's sign appeared in the sky.

"Why, why on earth can't we just have one year where we don't even have to mention Voldemort's name?" Remus groused.

"Because my life would be too boring otherwise," Harry muttered.

Ron snapped at Harry not to say You-Know-Who's real name, but Harry ignored him as always. Reminding them of Trelawney's prediction last year.

"Haven't been able to forget it yet, but thanks for the reminder," Sirius muttered, that prophecy had nearly been his undoing, and even when he'd found out it hadn't related to him it was not a pleasant look back.

That finally distracted Hermione from her fear, giving a huffy laugh at Harry for believing anything she said.

"You never told them she made a real prophecy?" James asked in surprise.

"Never got around to it," Harry shrugged, giving Sirius an absent nudge as he said, "had some other stuff on my mind that night, and then I was trying to forget about it there at the end."

Sirius though had something much more entertaining to say as he gave his best friend a superior smirk and demanded, "so you do admit prophecies are real now?"

"Can't hardly deny it when Harry had one smacked in his face," Remus sighed, already being able to tell where this was headed by Sirius' pompous tone.

"Then you owe me years of apologizes for calling me a loon in believing in them," Sirius crowed, his smile stretching wider every second as he glanced from one friend to the other. "Go on, I want to hear you say it now. Prophecies exist!"

"Oh knock it off Snuffles," Harry sighed, for some reason the idea of Sirius talking about this was setting him on edge, but even as he finished he ended on a pained hiss and went cross eyed, trying to understand why he'd call Sirius that. After blinking away a few bright spots, he saw he wasn't the only one.

"Now why would you know that name?" Remus asked first. "I only called him that a half a dozen times, back in our fourth year."

"I've never heard this one," James raised an even more surprised brow at his two friends.

Sirius shrugged with nonchalant as he said, "it was during our Christmas break, and I got a head cold. Kept sneezing and body parts kept randomly turning into a dog, we didn't master our transformations until fifth year," Sirius added on for Harry. "Remus kept laughing about it every time and started calling me Snuffles all week. By the time you," he broke off with an old wince at the fact he couldn't add on the other name without substituting a swear word, "got back, the joke had died off."

Harry nodded in understanding, but none of this answered their original question, why on earth Harry would know any of that. The whole matter had successfully distracted both Sirius and Harry though, so Remus decided to keep reading now while he still could.

Harry defended the Divination teacher though, saying it had definitely been a real prediction this time, even quoting the parts about the Dark Lord's return, reminding the end results had been Wormtail's escape that night.

Now Remus regretted it and wanted to go back to admitting Sirius had been right about something, it was certainly easier to stomach then thinking on that. Through a red haze he glanced up and saw the other four were a mask of boiling hatred again, so Remus collected himself and put on the most tragic face he could muster as he said, "alright Padfoot, I admit, you were right about prophecies. Never again shall I argue with your unending knowledge, about this," he quickly tacked on, already knowing he was going to regret giving in the moment Sirius attempted to replace his bloodlust with a satisfied smirk. It didn't really work, his jaw was still clenched too tightly for the expression to look natural, but the fact he even attempted a smile made it feel worth it to Remus.

No one could think of anything else to add until Hermione again asked about Hedwig. Harry said he'd written a letter to Sirius asking about this, and Ron agreed at once that was a great idea, he'd have an answer for them.

"Why on earth would they think that?" James demanded at once, far more up for pestering his best mate then giving in to him. "You hardly know the difference between Devil's Snare and Mandrakes."

"Oi," Sirius hooted. "What's those evil little plants got to do with knowing about this Dark stuff? I know plenty about that, more than you."

James looked like he was about to keep pressing in, with a highly amused audience of Remus and Harry, but Lily gave Remus a hard nudge and waved him on, still wanting to get through this chapter more then watch them snip at each other no matter how much it made her feel better.

Harry agreed, though expressed he was worried he'd thought Sirius would reply by now. Hermione reminded they had no idea how far away he was, it would take longer than just three days. Harry agreed with a heavy sigh.

James kept his superior expression in place even as that feeling of jealousy returned, still wishing in vain he could have replaced that sentence with his own name.

Ron quickly changed the subject by offering Harry to come play Quidditch, he knew all of his brothers would join in, and Harry could try the Wronski Feint.

"Oh that's a brilliant idea," Lily sighed, "because one life or death experience isn't enough for you in a twenty-four hour period."

"Stop exaggerating Lily," Sirius snickered, "Quidditch is good for him, helps him work out the nerves."

Hermione snapped at him in a 'I-don't-think-you're-being-very-sensitive' sort of voice

"I get the feeling she has to use that voice often," Remus chuckled.

by saying Harry didn't want to play Quidditch now,

"Oh yes he does," Harry laughed, the idea of trying out that move again now still present.

that he should want to go to bed, but Harry interrupted that a game sounded fun.

"Best to cut her off before she could keep going like that," James snickered, "she'd be tucking you into bed before you knew it."

He went rummaging for his Firebolt as Hermione stomped out muttering about 'boys.'

"I'm sure there were some other things mixed in there," Lily rolled her eyes, on complete agreement with Hermione on that.

The narrative jumps in by saying that for the next week, neither Percy nor Arthur were home much. Percy could be heard saying over dinner the Sunday before they were due back at school how the place was in an uproar in a pompous, superior tone.

"I swear that's the description you give after everything he says," Sirius snorted.

"And he doesn't deserve it one bit," Remus agreed.

People kept sending Howlers complaining of what all had happened, and wanting reimbursement for their stuff. One Mundungus Fletcher was wanting compensation for his twelve-bedroom tent that had been destroyed, but Percy knew for a fact he'd been sleeping under his own cloak.

"What an idiot," Lily scoffed, "did he really think he could get away with that?"

"I've heard of stupider things he's tried," James shrugged.

Unlike before, where he'd still felt to unsure to hardly even speak up, Harry had no qualms this time inserting himself into the conversation and asking, "how do you guys know him?" In hopes to ease some of the pressure in his skull telling him he should know that name anyways.

"He's an old friend of Dumbledore's," Remus shrugged, "does a lot of things for the Order most members either can't, or won't do because they don't have the same ah, connections."

"Friend is putting it lightly," Sirius snorted. "Dumbledore keeps bailing him out from the stupider crimes he gets caught doing, so Mundungus does whatever he asks." Then he turned to Harry and put much more bluntly, "he's a criminal, never made an honest living in his life, but he's pretty fun to have around. Dung's always been good for a laugh, and he can get you some really cheap things most won't normally go after."

"You are not endearing me," Harry finally laughed to show he'd gotten the message. All of this helped somewhat, he was now quite sure this was the same way he knew the same man, but there was still something missing. A connection he was sure he had to the name, but of course that wouldn't come to him.

Molly was not paying attention to the conversation, glancing repetitively at the clock where all of the Weasley family's names had replaced the hands, and instead of numbers it indicated such things as work, traveling, or home,

"I love that," Lily said instantly, her eyes brightening with want.

"I wonder how they got ahold of that," James ruffled up his brow thoughtfully, his mind already spinning with the idea he'd like to recreate that for his family, that nasty little pang reminding him of the count of hands he'd have now rather than if he'd heard about this just a week ago.

"It was an anniversary present for Mrs. Weasley," Harry said, "I think Mr. Weasley made it, though I have no idea how."

"Fascinating," Lily said honestly, adding this to her growing list of things she had a mind to say to the Weasleys when she planned to meet them in person.

"I do wonder though," Remus said with some surprise, "why she was so worried about her family if she had that. It would have said whether anything bad had happened to them."*

"There's a difference in a clock telling you, and seeing them in person," Lily said mildly.

"Besides," Sirius shrugged, "considering the time they arrived back, I'll bet you she just saw that paper and sprinted out the back to wait, I don't think that would have crossed her mind till later, and they came back soon enough she didn't have time to check."

as well as lost, hospital, prison,

Lily couldn't help but snort, thinking 'oh that's lovely.'

and, mortal peril.

"Sounds handy," Sirius snickered.

"That's where your hand would be all year," Lily shot back.

Sirius went wide eyed and pressed his hand to his heart as he cooed at her, "awe, Lily, you'd put my name up there?"

"Don't flatter yourself," she tried to say with a straight face, though the effect was ruined by her twitching lips.

All of the hands but Arthur's currently pointed at home, while his was at work. Mrs. Weasley gave a heavy sigh as she said to no one in particular that he hadn't been working this much since the time of You-Know-Who.

"Why would Mr. Weasley's job be involved in that?" Harry asked in surprise. "If he just informs people about what Muggle stuff is?"

Lily wasn't a hundred percent sure herself, as she'd personally never even spoken to Arthur in real life, and only had a vague idea of where his office even was in the Ministry, but she knew for a fact she had to send owls down there all the time for other things besides just what a Muggle object was so she offered, "it's a bit more than that dear. I don't think you quite realize how often wizards, mistakenly or not, involve themselves in Muggle affairs. Whatever any department does, Arthur would have to make sure to check it over and make sure it doesn't interfere with anything to do with Muggles. This Dark Mark business," Lily heaved a huge sigh in sympathy for the Ministry falling into even a portion of the pandemonium it was on a daily basis to her in this timeline, "it causes all sorts of mayhem at the Ministry to keep that sort of thing under wraps from the Muggles no matter how far away they were. All those wizards panicking and fleeing the scene for instance, apparating away in their panic and landing in Muggle neighborhoods for instance, could have shocked any number of them, you see where I'm going?" She finished with an expectant look.

Harry nodded in understanding, his sympathy for the Weasley patriarch suddenly doubling.

Saying his job was working him to hard, and his dinner would be ruined by the time he got here. Percy said that his father had brought this on himself with his mistake.

James's mouth opened with a little pop as he gasped, "is Percy really agreeing with the Ministry over his own father with that nonsense?"

"What a little prat," Sirius nodded with a heavy scowl in place.

Saying he shouldn't have said anything until he'd spoken with his Head of Department about the press,

"He is the Head of his Department," Remus snapped, stunned that he was defending Arthur from one of his own kids. Bloody hell, he remembered this random snap of information from when Ron had said it two books ago! How could Percy be acting like this?

Lily had always had the most sympathy for Percy, she found his position in the family more sad than annoying like the rest of the boys seemed to, but even she was getting a little fiery over the way he was acting now, there was no excuse of taking your jobs side over your family's.

Harry's thoughts were in perfect alignment with his mother's, wondering why on earth all of this Percy talk felt like a bad omen.

but Molly cut him off with a snap that Percy was not going to sit there and blame his father for whatever Skeeter had caused! Bill agreed with his mother, saying if their dad hadn't said anything, Skeeter would have just said no one at the Ministry had bothered to give a comment, all while keeping his eyes on the chessboard he was playing with Ron on.

That was a quick distraction, all of them vividly remembering the last time Ron had been mentioned playing chess, at least this time the pieces weren't life sized.

Harry gave a happy smile at this, saying, "Bill was the only one who could play Ron and actually be a threat to him."

Still going on to say that she didn't like anyone, she'd done some interviews of the Curse Breakers once, and she'd called him a 'long-haired pillock.'

"Well this woman's just getting more and more charming," Remus scoffed.

Molly couldn't seem to help herself as she did agree it was getting a bit long, but Bill cut her off with a quick no.

"I get the feeling that must be a daily occurrence," Sirius snorted, brushing his hair out of his own face.

Rain was pouring down outside, the cozy little scene in the living room displaying all of them sitting around in comfort working on something. Charlie was currently tending a fireproof balaclava,

"Why would he need to fix a fireproof anything?" Harry asked in surprise, having been too invested in his own project at the time to ask.

"It can still get worn out even when it's not set on fire," Lily shrugged, "I'm sure Charlie has to do that on his own all the time, considering how little he's home."

Harry was polishing his Firebolt, and the twins were off in the corner muttering over a piece of paper.

"Subtle," James snorted, thinking they'd at least have the sense to make more order forms outside of their mother's point of view.

"I think they're just asking for another argument," Remus nodded.

Molly seemed to notice this at the same time as Harry, as she snapped at her twins what they were up to? Fred responded at once with homework.

"Right," Sirius exaggerated the word to the extreme.

Mrs. Weasley scolded they were still on holiday, and George agreed they'd just left it a bit late.

"Now that I'll believe," Lily snorted.

She was still glaring at them as she demanded to know if those were more to do with Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes?

"Can't restart what they never gave up on," Remus smirked, as clearly no matter what their mother said, those two had this in the works for some time.

Fred turned hurt filled eyes on her, reminding that if the Hogwarts express crashed tomorrow and they died, did she really want to pick an argument with them about this?

Lily gave a small sigh, she didn't really think it was right to pick on their mother for that reaction she'd had, but it didn't erase her own laughter blending in with the boys at their picking.

Even Mrs. Weasley laughed at her son's picking, but then she quickly turned to excitement when she saw Arthur's hand finally switch from traveling, and then seconds later, home. She was already bustling towards the kitchen before Arthur could call out, and he came into the living room looking haggard. He picked listlessly at his meal as the told those around him that Skeeter was still causing all kinds of problems, now she'd found out about Bertha and that was going to be another Ministry blunder headline. Percy agreed Crouch had said weeks ago someone should go looking for her.

"Did he really need to add that?" Sirius muttered, fighting down the compulsion more with every line he spoke to smack Percy.

Arthur grumbled back they were just lucky Skeeter didn't know about Crouch's involvement with that Dark Mark business, that would be a headline for weeks.

"If that did happen, his grounds of clothing his elf would make a bit more sense," Sirius quirked a brow in surprise, "so I guess if you think about it, he was just doing that preemptively."

"I cannot believe you're really going back and saying that was okay," Lily balked at him.

Sirius rolled his eyes at her and said, "What? I still think they were over the line treating her like that, but we all know Crouch has such a large stick up his arse it's not really surprising he'd think that way. If you consider the way he is now, I wouldn't be surprised one little bit the second something Dark is connected to his name he'd throw it to the wolves."

"You're depressing me," Lily sighed, slumping back into the couch without argument for that.

Harry was getting a bubbling feeling in his gut, something in him telling him Sirius was very close to the mark and none of them realized it, but of course he couldn't begin to imagine details of what this was.

Percy was getting a temper now as he said everyone here had agreed Crouch had nothing to do with that!

James scoffed as he snapped, "I wouldn't be surprised if Percy just said that and no one argued with him. While yes he's right," he rolled his eyes, "you don't need to go shouting at them for it."

Hermione shot back Crouch was lucky the Prophet didn't know how he treated elves!

Sirius couldn't help a surprised little snort of laughter, that's what Hermione had caught on? No one else would bat an eye at that part.

Percy sighed at her, trying to defend his boss that such a man couldn't have disobedient servants, but Hermione hotly cut him off and corrected slave!

"Eh," James waved his hand vaguely, "I think Hermione's exaggerating the term a bit."

"I don't," Lily snapped at once. The more she heard about this, the more she was kicking herself or never having looked farther into it. "What's so different with house-elves, and treating people that same way?"

"The practice of house-elves being attached to wizarding families goes back centuries," Sirius rolled his eyes, "it's practically as common as wizards themselves."

"Just because it's old and traditional doesn't make it right," Lily ground out. "You're saying that these beings that are clearly as human as Remus shouldn't be treated the same."

"Hey," Remus yelped, "don't drag me into this." His eyes were getting wider the longer this dragged on, he actually began edging away from Lily as he sensed a true fight coming on and he did not want to be in the middle of this.

Sirius was clearly getting angry now, his glare actually holding some real threats of violence if she kept this up, she shouldn't have dragged Remus into this! His voice came out more of a growl now, "that's not fair and you know it. Don't you take a shot at him when they're two completely different things."

"How?" Lily insisted, her eyes narrowing clearly showing she wasn't going to back down one bit. "You tell me how treating something as lesser than you as a slave isn't that far off the mark how werewolves are treated, like a pariah."

"OKAY!" James finally got out louder than them. The baby in Lily's lap, already squirming in agitation at all of the raised voices, actually began wailing then, causing Lily to break away her glare and begin soothing her son, admittedly still more flushed than usual. James wasn't looking much better himself, alternately scowling at his wife for making Remus clearly so uncomfortable, and Sirius refusing to back down and just let the matter go. "You two knock it off, there's no since acting like this towards each other. Let Remus finish this chapter, then you two can have it out somewhere where we don't have to hear it."

Lily finally convinced baby Harry to stop crying by then, sitting back into her seat, and still throwing haughty looks at Sirius, which he was returning. Harry and his father exchanged an uneasy look, James had been hoping that someone cutting them off would make one of them admit it was time to let this go but that clearly wasn't the case. Remus still looked a little shell-shocked, but at a nod from James he decided to keep going.

Reminding that Winky hadn't been paid. Molly cut into the argument by telling her children to go upstairs and make sure everything was packed.

'I should take notes' Harry mentally thought, still frowning at all four of them. He'd seen them argue before, and he never liked to watch it.

Harry got to his feet and followed Ron up to his room, where Pigwidgeon set up a flutter when they came in. Ron threw him an owl treat to get him to shut up, and Harry watched the little owl with worry as he said it had been over a week since he'd seen his own.

"You said yourself she normally takes twice that long," James sighed, running his hand through his hair in agitation, as if he needed another thing to worry about.

"Well yeah, but I don't know. I was kind of hoping since this one was kind of urgent, he'd find a way to get a reply quicker," Harry offered with a shrug.

Harry then asked Ron with real worry if Sirius had been captured.

Lily's skin tone went back to normal, and then a few shades paler in shock. This was not the first, nor certainly the last, time she'd been ticked off at Sirius for some careless comment he made, but she was suddenly struck once again by this horrid future they were listening to and realizing these little spats they had may be numbered. It didn't completely erase her agitation towards him, but it certainly made the want of cursing him lessen.

Remus flinched as he got that out, but Sirius quickly jumped in and soothed them all with a smug smile, "oh please, those numbskulls couldn't find the broad side of a barn. There's no way they're going to find me."

"You're confidence is instilling," James muttered, unable entirely to stop his leg twitching in agitation.

Ron scoffed at the idea, saying that news would be plastered all over the papers.

"And there's that," Harry sighed, trying to show that had comforted him a lot more than it had. He really didn't like to think of Sirius being captured, it set him on edge in the worst way, though thankfully he wasn't getting any kind of feeling about this. So this must mean it never happened to him, right?

Harry agreed for now, and went about packing away his stuff, most of which were his new school books and some supplies Mrs. Weasley had gotten him while he was away, grateful she'd remembered his potion ingredients as he'd been running low on some.

Lily just couldn't seem to erase a frown from her face this chapter, the expression only increasing as she got her own shot of envy at Molly doing all of this for her son. She'd have loved nothing more than for the simple task of going to Diagon Alley for her son while he and his father went to that Cup, and this little reminder it had been someone else smarted more than she'd been expecting it to with her current mood.

Ron was at his own trunk, and made a disgusted noise of surprise as he pulled out a maroon dress with lacy cuffs.

That was such a random thing that Remus finally broke the bad vibe of the room with a snort of mirth, all five of them cracking a real smile at Ron for some deranged reason being handed a lacy dress-robe.

Molly entered at that moment with some last minute clothes for them, and Ron tried to hand the dress to her, saying he'd gotten something of Ginny's by mistake, but Molly corrected that it was for Ron, his new dress robes. Ron yelped in shock, and Molly said that's what their school supplies list had said they'd need this year.

"Wonder why," James said just a tad too loudly, hoping to keep on this laughing mood as long as possible. "Think Hogwarts is hosting a dance?"

Harry felt a buzz ring through him, somehow knowing his dad wasn't too far off, but also getting the impression it wasn't an event he was fond of.

"I think it would be a nice idea," Lily couldn't help a little smile now, warming to the idea the more she spoke. "Perhaps a Valentine's day thing, I always said Hogwarts should indulge in more school events."

"From memory, every time they've tried, it's been a disaster," Remus snickered. "I've heard tale of this one time they tried a school play over some fairytale novel, that didn't end well."

"Won't know until Harry gets there," Sirius cut in, perhaps still being a little more surely then was called for, but still too agitated to admit it.

Lily shot him another glare, she had been trying to play nice, but clearly Remus took that as a hint to move on now while he still could.

Ron was still balking at the material, stating he'd never wear a thing like this! Molly cut him off by saying everyone wore them, his own father had some.

"Just like that eh?" James raised a brow in surprise, forcing some good mood at Sirius whether he wanted it or not. "I'd like to see that, I'm sure seeing his father in lace would make Ron feel better."

Harry gave a happy laugh at the image, while Sirius did crack a smile for James's benefit.

Ron grumbled he'd show off his bum before he put that on.

"That'll be a day at Hogwarts," Remus snickered.

Mrs. Weasley snapped he was being silly, Harry had gotten some too.

Causing Sirius to really laugh this time, along with the other three, while Harry went beat red in surprise and fear for what this could mean.

Harry began digging through his stuff in surprise, but came up with something much closer to his school uniform, except it was dark green.

"Which is how most dress-robes look," James cackled. "So I don't know what was running through Molly's head with Ron in mind."

The smile trickled off of Lily just a bit though, not having to think hard on why the idea of Molly picking out that for Harry would give her a pang of sadness.

Ron saw it and snapped why he hadn't gotten something that looked more like that, and Molly couldn't help a faint blush as she said she hadn't a lot of choosing on her budget for Ron's.

Causing all of them to stop smiling at once. It wasn't so funny now that they realized that.

Harry looked away in shame, knowing he'd happily split all his money with the Weasleys,

"Wish I'd just done it, they couldn't argue the point once it's in there," Harry muttered, fidgeting in place.

but he knew they would never take it.

"That's why you don't ask permission," James smirked.

Ron snapped he refused to wear his, and Mrs. Weasley snapped he could just go ahead naked then. Asking Harry to make sure he got a picture, she needed a laugh!

"It's nice to see Molly with a sense of humor," Sirius sighed.

She stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind her, and at that moment Pigwidgeon began choking on a too large treat. Ron was grumbling that everything he owned was rubbish as he went to go unstick his beak.

Remus closed the book uneasily, looking between Sirius and Lily like he still expected a bomb to go off, being as clear and silent as he could the chapter was over, then looking longing at the door like he wanted to make a run for it while he could.

HPHPHPHP

Forewarning you guys now, the next chapter won't actually be a chapter, but an actual argument between Lily and Sirius about the house-elf topic. I set it up to much to just have them keep avoiding it, and since it keeps coming up so much in this book I decided I'd get their views up and as clear as possible now.

Thank you all as always for your endless support of this fic! No spoilers but, Oh My God The Cursed Child! I'm thinking about waiting until the next reading chapter and posting my opinion on it, or do you think that's a little cocky? Do you guys even really care what I think about it?

*Question offered by maana999. If you guys have any questions, even from one of the older books, or just something you'd like to point out and seen discussed, I implore you to say something, I love them all!

[jeremys-blogs]

Fantastic Beasts: More Beasts, Please

If you've watched a lot of movies in your time, you'll have likely come across a fair few that you wish would have done things just a touch differently. And I'm not talking alternate endings or the like, but rather finding that there's one part of the movie that you enjoyed so much that you wish the entire film had been centred around that, rather than what they might have ultimately done with it. As someone who has watched a lot of films in his time, I've come across several such films, but recently I've been thinking about one in particular, and as you can probably tell from the title, that movie is the Harry Potter spin-off, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Now, I am not saying that this is a bad or unentertaining film, not by a long stretch, but there's no denying that, as I watch it, I find myself hugely enjoying a part of the story that, by the end, I realised that it didn't really want to be focusing on. That part would be the titular beasts themselves, and especially the time they have with series protagonist Newt Scamander, played by Eddie Redmayne. Title or no, this movie had, sadly, left those creatures by the wayside, choosing instead to focus on other things.

If you're unfamiliar with the series, they centre around Newt, a former Hogwarts student and lover of all magical creatures, and he's devoted his life to them. Finding them, caring for them, returning them to their natural habitat and trying to help his fellow witches and wizards understand that they're not as dangerous as they might first appear. In fact, his very presence in the USA in the first Beasts film was entirely due to this passion for the creatures of the wizarding world, as he was attempting to ensure that a thunderbird was returned to its home in Arizona. During this American trip he comes across a muggle (a non-magical person) named Jacob, whom he introduces to many of these animals, and much like the audience, Jacob is fascinated by all of the different types that Newt shows to him. This right here was something that I utterly fell in love with in this movie, seeing all of these different beasts, learning about them and seeing Newt look after them. It was an utter highlight of the story and something I always returned to first whenever I felt the need to revisit the movie. When it came to delivering on its title premise, the movie did a, and pardon the remark, fantastic job of it.

Unfortunately, despite my love for this side of the movie, the film as a whole eventually shows that it's not going to be about that. For you see, the real story at the heart of this is the establishing of the conflict regarding the antagonistic character of Grindlewald, a wizard who will ultimately serve as rival to the famous Harry Potter character, Dumbledore. In fact, the only real connection that this main story has with the beasts of the title, and even the main character of Newt, is that the latter has possession of a particular magical creature (if it can even be called that) called an Obscurus, which Grindlewald needs for his plan. And in the sequel this becomes even more apparent, because while there are indeed more magical creatures for Newt and the audience to witness, the stuff involving Grindlewald moves even more to the forefront than it did in the first movie, to the point where the titular animals aren't even involved at all in the villain's plan. In short, despite the name of this particular spin-off series, the "Fantastic Beasts" are only marginally connected to what the movie actually wants to be about, almost to the point where they're only used as an excuse to bring the audience to this villain plot-line rather than wanting it as the focus.

Now, I fully acknowledge that this could all just be personal preference on my part, rather than any objective problem with the movie myself. I have, after all, always favoured the smaller and simpler moments in fantasy stories to the big and epic ones. And this was something that applied even to the Harry Potter movies that spawned Fantastic Beasts. It wasn't the battles against Voldemort, the big mysteries of what went on in the past or Harry's role as a chosen one that engaged me with those films and books, it was the everyday goings on of his and his friends' time at Hogwarts. Leaning new spells, spending time with the other students, playing their quidditch matches, those were the things that brought me the most enjoyment. And it's exactly the same here. Give me a scene of Newt looking after his animals, and I'm smiling, but force me to watch some big plot on trying to counter Grindlewald's plan and I'm just looking at my watch. So no joke, I truly believe that this film would have been near-perfect, at least in my eyes, if they'd simply stuck to the angle of the fantastic beasts, and just jettisoned all the stuff with Grindlewald and the whole subplot of Credence, as well-acted as they might have been.

Having made my stance as clear as I have, I can already imagine a few doubts for anyone reading this. After all, watching these charterers interact with the magical creatures is all well and nice, but could an entire successful film be made out of it? Would audiences be willing to come to Fantastic Beast is it was just about fantastic beasts and nothing else? Personally, I believe they would do. Remember, despite having a big adult audience, films in this franchise are meant for children above all else, and I don't think there's any denying that weird and wonderful animals are pretty popular with them, regardless of what story we're talking about. And even if we're sticking to just general audiences, remember that Hagrid, a guy whose entire thing was his love for exotic and dangerous creatures, was one of the most popular characters in the original Harry Potter films. And not just him but a number of the animals themselves proved pretty engaging. Fluffy the three-headed dog, Fawkes the phoenix, Buckbeak the hippogriff, people just really loved these animals. So yes, I'm confident that a movie that focused entirely on the beasts would have been a success, and if nothing else it would have given people a lot to enjoy, which is always the most important thing when making movies.

I suppose, at the end of the day, my main reason for writing out all of this is not really any dissatisfaction with the movie itself, but rather the trend that seems to overshadow movies like this and others. When a story that has so much in it to just be laid-back, peaceful and nice, the people responsible for it never seem to have confidence in that niceness. It's always that they seem to think that unless the stakes are high and the story full of plot and intrigue and all of that other stuff, then people won't want to come and see the film. Simple, to put it bluntly, isn't an eye-catcher. If a movie advertises itself as just nice and relaxed and chill with something straightforward like "a man looks after animals for two hours", the people behind it likely won't think of it as a winner. And as someone who, as said before, adores the lighter and more easygoing things in movies, it's just generally disheartening to see those aspects be shoved to the wayside just because someone decided that it wasn't going to put bums in seats. Again, it's my personal preference, but I doubt I'm the only one who feels that way, nor do I feel I'm the only one who feels it about these films in particular.

Please don't take any of this to mean that I think you shouldn't enjoy this movie. And also don't think that I have a dislike of people who prefer the more complicated or high-stakes kinds of cinema. Your tastes are your own and life is too short to not just like what we like. And besides, since this movie wound up doing about as well at the box office as several of the Harry Potter films, then I have to conceded that there's an audience out there for this. I guess all this really is just me musing on what could have been, the kind of movie I wanted it to be rather than what it was. And in truth it really was a good movie. The sequel wasn't perhaps as enjoyable, but again, as I mentioned before, they did away with the beasts even more in that one, so I guess it was inevitable that I wasn't going to like it as much. But I maintain that a story that was just Newt, Jacob and their colleagues being around these extraordinary animals would have been something special. Something that would have brought me no end of joy to watch. And while I know I'll never get that movie, I suppose I can at least take solace in the fact that, in times we do indeed see those fantastic beasts, they were the best parts of the movie 😊

[homenum-revelio-hq]

Welcome (again) to the Order of the Phoenix, Seb!

You have been accepted for the role of non-biography character NDULUE “LU” TRAVERS with the faceclaim of Keiynan Lonsdale! We really enjoyed reading your application and especially loved such a creative way to tie Lu to canon. During these dark times, it only makes sense that muggleborns and other ‘”lower” blood-statuses might hide their background to protect themselves! We also enjoyed your in-depth analysis for Lu’s biases and prejudices! 

Please take a look at the new member checklist and send in your account within 24 hours! Thank you for joining the fight against Voldemort!

OUT OF CHARACTER:

NAME: Seb

AGE:  21+ (I’ve turned yet another year older the other day though, can you believe how ordinary I am? Not even aging backwards, like some sort of amateur… )

TIMEZONE: GMT+1

ACTIVITY LEVEL: I’m still on holiday until mid april and after that I’ll be travelling to uni daily by train so… If anything I’m too active. Will there ever be a time when the poor admins don’t have to suffer through pages and pages of my replies?

ANYTHING ELSE: Love you <3

CHARACTER DETAILS:

NAME: Ndulue “Lu” Travers

AGE: 26

GENDER, PRONOUNS, and SEXUALITY: Genderqueer. They/Them. Queer.

Lu does not use the term ‘genderqueer’ themselves. They just know – and have always known – that their body does not fit how they feel inside. They know it’s a good body, and they don’t hate it, in fact, they quite enjoy using it for certain physical activities at times, but they just don’t think it belongs to them more than a handbag does.

They’ve tried living as a traditionally female-presenting woman for a while but it seemed just as wrong. So they’ve decided, especially in the face of war, that there’s bigger things to worry about and to just wear and act and love however they feel like it that day. If modern terminology and information were accessible to them, they’d choose ‘genderqueer’ for themselves and so I’m going with the most widely used ‘they/them’ pronouns as well. I can imagine Lu’s skin crawls when people address them with ‘Mister’ or speak of them with ‘he/him’ pronouns, even if they can’t fully put it into words why, but when it comes to playing into the ideas some people have of them, they’re good at sucking it up.

BLOOD STATUS: Muggleborn

HOUSE ALUMNI: Not applicable

ANY CHANGES:  X.

CHARACTER BACKGROUND:

PERSONALITY:

[Lu’s soul is split into two. Their parents divorced, leaving them and their brother commuting between different counties, educations and opposing moral values. They are of magical blood, no one else in their family is, has been, or will ever be. Their taste is accustomed to luxury and fame, but they themselves have no Knut to their name. To which world do they belong? Who are they really?]

Their personality is best described as vibrant and fun-loving on the one hand and selfish and sly on the other.

Meeting them for the first time, you’ll be confronted with a lot of sass, a lot of cheek, a lot of jokes and shallow remarks. They’re painfully honest about what they think of others – or at least their appearances. There’s something hyper-sensual, hyper-sexual to them even, as though their whole world turns around how to get who to bed. In a way, that’s very much the truth. After all, the person they’ve become can only exist as long as they keep being wanted that way. If they like you, they’ll shower you in gifts and wild adventures, they’ll make you get out of bed at one in the morning for a trip to an underground party where everyone is dressed up in Rococo fashion, and if you don’t want to, they’ll shame you for not living your best life. “These are the golden years of our lives, let’s spray-paint us in glitter to match!”

On the other hand they do have a dark past and a deep-rooted melancholy they can not always shake. Sometimes they use this to get pity-points. You see, even though they didn’t go to Hogwarts but to Beauxbaton, they are the epitome of a Slytherin. They’ll do most anything to protect their kin, foul play never out of the question. Lies are their best friend, and they’re damn good at it. In fact, they don’t just take pride in it but also joy. Imagine Regina George complimenting your bracelet only to turn around a second later and comment to her friend just how ugly it really is. That’s Lu. They found happiness in everything material; fashion, housing, parties, carriages is their life. Flowers are beneath them as they die too quickly. Diamonds are a girl’s best friend is their motto. And if you get on their bad side, you will suffer. You don’t know the bad luck that ensues is coming from Lu, but you will experience it intensely. There’s also an intense need to be appreciated, to be everyone’s number one and win first place in any competition – even those where no one else is aware that it’s a competition.

They can play incredibly sweet. Feed you honey as long as they get what they want, help you succeed, and rid you of all your adversaries. But if they feel insulted or neglected, the venom in their bite shows quickly.

So if it comes to what they’re good at, what they struggle with, it’s two sides of the same coin: being honest. Yes, they’ll use their actual hurt to get attention and some extra loving, but when it comes to facing how it actually makes them feel, how it influences their actions, they’ll put up a fight – or distract. They’re a master of conning, even before they met Mundungus Fletcher who helped them to their current life. They bamboozle and bedazzle their audience – and break when the truth beneath the facade is found out. The world’s a stage, they’re the lead role. But if you catch them behind the scenes, or reduce them to being the audience, a feisty tongue will jab and jab and jab until words turn to actions, indeed quite similar to theatre kids not being cast in the role they want.

What this hurt is, that I mentioned? See the next section.

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF FAMILY:

Lu’s theme – a soul divided into two – has its roots, as for so many, in their past and background.

Muggle Belgium is a country split between a French part and a Dutch part, and most people there are raised bilingual. Lu, with their Nigerian mother, was raised with yet a third language, a third culture to appreciate and respect, a third reason why fitting in was nearly impossible.

Initially, it was a happy childhood, with a baby brother Lu was devoted to, and parents who, despite their differences, managed to show their love to their children. But soon the differences grew too broad, and it didn’t help that each fight they had when they believed their children to be asleep was followed by furniture mysteriously bursting, disappearing, or changing colour. Accusations were thrown, insults were hissed, and soon Lu’s father moved up to Antwerpen, far away from the French language, far away from his family, far away from the open-hearted person he used to be.

He became xenophobic, as though blaming every immigrant to be the cause for his unhappy life. Even his own children, now coming to visit him every second week, weren’t safe from his drunk, racist slurs. But staying with their mother wasn’t an option either, as she soon married again, had two new children, blacker than Lu and their brother Urhie, happier, more normal. To the new husband’s sight, Lu and Urhie were a thorn, a mistake his wife had committed and simply couldn’t make undo, a chore. So every second week, Urhie would take their little brother by the hand, go on a train, and travel yet again across the country. It wasn’t perfect. Neither home felt right, and because of the going back and forth, it was nearly impossible to make proper friends at their two schools. And when they did, and the other kids found out that the Travers were children of divorce, they’d be bullied for it. Leaving one county was always filled with anxiety, wondering what would await them on the other side of this train ride. But at least they had each other.

Urhie was a happy boy. He barely remembered his parents fighting, and while the travelling and bullying, later the lack of parental love as well, took a toll on him, he at least had an older sibling who protected him. There was nothing Lu wouldn’t have done for Urhie. They taught him all the best curse words, helped them with the homeworks, built the best blanket forts and painted the greatest tigers onto their face, read them all the Comic books and stole just so much candy for them. They also took their father’s beatings, and got all the chores for their mother done so that their presence would be at least tolerated. At school, they’d meet each other in the courtyard, and Lu made sure that Urhie never felt lonely. Never felt like all of this was his fault. After all, somehow, Lu always knew that it had been their fault, and their fault alone. All the mysterious little things that had happened, the incidents which their parents used to accuse each other of and which led to the awful arguments – that had been all Lu, hadn’t it?

The famous Beauxbaton Flower Petals proved them right. They flew in through the window, even though Lu had been so sure to close it, and that was the end of their childhood. Everything about Beauxbaton was brilliant. The uniforms, the people, the teachers, the building, and of course the magic. Everything felt like a dream. A beautiful, rare, fantastical dream that had to be true simply because Lu knew their brain could’ve never come up with something like this on its own. Was it hard to believe that they were a Wix? No. Was it hard to tell their parents about it? Oh, yes.

Their father responded with a slap to the face. “Stop with your jokes.” The Beauxbaton Secretary, who came a few days later, performed a few spells and while Lu’s eyes grew wide with wonder, their father’s grew darker and darker. Perhaps it was anger, that his child was even stranger and more different than he had expected. Perhaps it was a form of jealousy. Their mother – forbidden to say anything to her husband – cried and cried until all her tears were out and then cried some more, with a dry face now. No one quite understood why but when she finally stopped after five long days, she also stopped acknowledging Lu’s presence. They had died for her, and in the rare cases she needed something of them, a chore done, she’d speak of them in the third person, detached, as though they were just not in the room, but not even in this realm.

But none of this was bad. Not compared to how it affected Urhie. At first there was eagerness: “So you think I’ll go to Beauxbaton, too, when I’m older?!” But no matter how much they tried to make things change colour, nothing ever happened. And when Lu was about to start their fifth year at Beauxbaton, and no Flower Petals came for Urhie, their relationship changed. Brusquely and irreversibly. Urhie grew quiet, visibly hurt, at first internalising, later placing all the disappointment in his broken life on their sibling. When they were with their mother, they now played with their half-siblings, or did the chores before Lu could do them, wordlessly. When they were with their father, they hid in their room and blasted music, letting Lu face the violence alone, but instead of kissing the wounds afterwards, he now didn’t even acknowledge them.

And the more Lu tried to escape the tension – staying at Beauxbaton over the holidays, ward themselves with spells at night, or spend more time in the Wizarding City of Antwerpen and Liège – the more Urhie resented them. It was a betrayal. Lu was able to live in a world where there was magic, where there was happiness, and he wasn’t. The traitor was Lu. And so they paid for it.

By their seventeenth birthday and their graduation from Beauxbaton, they had no home anymore.

OCCUPATION: Escort

Dancing the Devil’s Tango, you know? Playing the flute, you could say. Knowing how to truly enjoy eating a banana, is another way to phrase it. Practicing throat massages, loving the nightly work out and specific stretching positions, giving people excuses to wash their bed sheets more often. You get the idea, I’m done. No, wait, one more: Horse back riding but without the horse.

ROLE WITHIN THE ORDER/THOUGHTS ABOUT THE ORDER:

Lu thinks they’re losing. They’re not powerful enough, not strong enough, not smart enough to do anything against the upper class society that has always ruled over this country and will always rule over this country. No, they don’t think they’re bad people or acting against the law, but it all seems so futile. Such great efforts for what? Perhaps a few years of peace before the next racist radical group arises? Adapting is the key, not fighting, no revolution has ever gone anywhere productive, and because the Order isn’t even trying to adapt and make use of those inside of it with privilege, Lu is both condescending towards them, as well as mildly bemused by them.

They affiliated themselves nevertheless because they want to be protected.

First, if their secret ever came out, that they’re really a Mudblood, then the Order might be there for Lu until they can get out of the country. Possibly even help them back to Belgium. Secondly, if the Order does win the war, they don’t want to be known as a Death Eater.

They’re not a Death Eater and certainly don’t have the Dark Mark, but you’d be surprised how deep into their dinner-party affairs you can sneak when you’re only considered the hors d’oeuvre. Nevertheless, Lu’s somewhat affiliated. So if the Order wins the war and their affiliation is revealed, it would be best to be in the Order to say, oh no, I was just working as a double agent, I’m not actually a bad person.

So that was why they began helping the Order out, a few months after coming to England. Nothing big, only some very personal information or clear descriptions of locations that could be useful for Order missions. The reason the Order had such a detailed description of the Nott house in December, was because Lu had taken the freedom to ‘get lost on their way to the bathroom’ and have a snoop around. It was their first ‘trial’ to help the Order with something.

For three months now they’d been helping the Order, solely for their own protection. Until. Well. Until this New Years, when the Death Eaters decided to go against Muggles.

Their war against Mudbloods, Lu had always been able to understand, to accept. Muggleborns couldn’t properly fit into the Wizarding World, not without completely getting rid of their Muggle side. And who would want to do that? To split one’s soul for two completely different styles of life… That simply wasn’t healthy.

But Muggles? Those innocent, stupid bastards? What have they done? Who will protect them? Who will protect Urhie? Lu doesn’t let themself think that name, but that’s the source of their fears, isn’t it?

SURVIVAL:

Lu came to England as an extended family member of the Travers family. Their real name is, in fact, Travers, but that’s pure coincidence, and there’s no relation to the famous British pureblood family at all. It was only with Mundungus Fletcher’s information and a bit of conning that Lu made themself pass as a member of the Sacred 28. Well, that, and long eyelashes batting with promise of the kind of night you don’t dare speaking to your wife about.

At first it seemed risky to burst into the Upper Pureblood Society without a proper patron, but soon enough Lu realised that while the British liked to present themselves as quiet and respectable, they were no less naughty than the French. Living in a small country Manor, part of the Travers heritage, there’s rarely ever a day – or rather night – that passes without visit. And because none of those patrons are the kind of people to speak about their private affairs, Lu lives more easily than ever before.

It would probably be very easy to just stay out of the war, play innocent in case the Phoenix side wins. But what if all purebloods get persecuted at the end of the war? So it’s safer to play on both sides. And if the Death Eaters catch Lu meddling with the Order, they can simply say it’s a matter of double-agenting as well. Only properly joining the Order could be a proper risk, and until very recently Lu had absolutely no desire to do that. For what? To get sent into a mission and die? You wish!

But, well, now New Years has happened and sitting still in their country Manor is not as easy anymore, is it? So while everyone is seeking out safety, Lu is, for the first time, leaving their comfortable den, to get themself into trouble. Stupid? Perhaps. Well. Yes, actually. Most definitely very stupid. But… There’s this feeling. This knowledge that danger lies ahead, but that taking a beating or two is all worth it, if at least it will protect Urhie…

RELATIONSHIPS:

In general, Lu is careful not to make close friends.

Oh, their official list of friends is as long as the guest list for a Gatsby Party, sure, but the people that actually know Lu are … non-existent. In the past, whenever there was someone who came too close to Lu, learnt too much and made it hard for them to continue playing the role of luxurious party host and resident play-toy, they’d jump ship. Go to a new country. Find new friends.

At the moment they’re physically very close with a handful of Death Eaters, but none of them ask Lu for private information, only see them as a fun pass-time, and Lu lives for it. There is safety in not being known. Safety in being loved for all the wrong reasons, never hated for all the right reasons.

When it comes to the people of the Order – most of which Lu has yet to meet – they’re rather indifferent to them. Do they have money? Flair? A sense of humour and an ability to hold their liquor? Let’s be friends! Are they bland and all about the war? All right. Let’s focus on the war. They have no interest in being close to any of those people but that doesn’t mean they’re rude to them. They affiliated themselves with the Order for protection, and they are trying to join now to help the Muggles. Much like you treat your local grocery shop lady, Lu is friendly to them, not really trying to play serious or their glamour-card, just interacting in a professional manner. But again, if there are people in the Order who they think could pay for their bling, they will not draw the line just because they’re in the Order. They see the Order the same way they see the Death Eaters: they don’t care much about their ideologies but sees them as individual people.

Suggestions, as discussed with the players:

Peter Pettigrew/Severus Snape: Both of them are Death Eaters, both of them know the faces that hide behind the masks, both of them are wildly aware what that person, who is helping the Order get to personal information about Death Eaters, is properly doing to get to that information. They know Lu’s not a Death Eater, but they also know they’re not fully on the Order’s side. Interestingly enough, they’re the only people Lu’s wary off – on Death Eater side. The Inner Circle of the Order knows that they must be somewhat close to the Death Eaters, but the Death Eaters can under no circumstances learn that Lu’s flirting with the Order. Luckily, both Peter and Severus are also aware of the power that Lu holds against them, so there’s a mutual tension and black-mailing potential going on.

Mundungus Fletcher: Mundungus is the reason why Lu made it to Britain. The two of them met at a bar in Paris, where Mundungus was currently being caught red-handed in a con-gone-awry. Lu helped him and then “I owe you.” “Great. I actually got something I need help with right now.” At first Mundungus seemed irritated that a Muggleborn wants to play Pureblood, but he showed up the next day at Lu’s place anyway, ready to help them con the British Pureblood Society. Their relationship is riddled with quarrels, jabs and insults, but somehow they can’t quite go longer than a week without going out on a drink together again.

Lily Evans: Is reason for great conflict to Lu. On the one hand, she’s a stupid Muggleborn who isn’t even trying to conceal her identity. On the other hand, she’s clearly a talented Witch. Best of her year, they say? So maybe all those prejudices against Muggleborns isn’t actually true? So while at the moment Lu is still facing her with an air of hostility and sceptical arrogance, they do want to know how she’s doing it; finding all this bravery. It might do them well to learn of another Muggleborn’s past. Either because it’ll teach them that not all Muggles are bad, or because it’ll reinforce this idea that Muggles are in fact not suited to know about magic, that the Statue of Secrecy must be kept at all cost.

OOC EXPLORATION:

SHIPS/ANTI-SHIPS: Lu x Dumbledore only, please. Only supreme Sugar Daddies acceptable for my Lu.

No, but seriously, I’d like for Lu to actually get attached for once. You’ll see, they’re very vain and shallow, but beneath all that there’s a genuinely sweet person who wants to be protected as much as they want to protect. So whether that be someone older who fits their usual prey – homewrecking is their speciality! –, or someone younger who they wouldn’t even consider as a romantic partner, I’m very open to it all.

WHAT PRIVILEGES AND BIASES DOES YOUR CHARACTER HAVE?

I think it is safe to say that now that Lu has adopted the Sacred 28 name Travers as their own, they have all the privileges one can only image. They live in a big house with maids and footmen, and while they don’t actually live off the heritage of a long-lost aunt fifth removed like they’ve told the Purebloods they hang out with now, they do have their means to get by. Gain enough money to spend it on all sorts of fun activities.

And because they’ve stopped entering the Muggle world about five years ago, they’re also facing barely any prejudices concerning their skin colour – or extravagant clothes. The former seeming to be a prejudice indeed mostly fostered by a people that took too long to begin travelling the world, the latter a prejudice for a people that has never had a sense of fashion to begin with. The traditional Wizarding costumes are colourful and grand by nature, dramatic in all the right ways, and Lu savours it.

Coming to their own biases and prejudices.

Against Muggles: Stupid, hostile, irrelevant, prejudiced to a painful degree. As the above written paragraph makes it obvious, Lu doesn’t think kindly of their own once-upon-a-time kin – surely because of the way they were treated by them.

Against Muggleborns: Actually, deep down, knowing themselves quite the skilled Magician, they don’t really believe that Muggleblood washes out your powers. However, they do think that every Muggleborn who is still staying in Britain at the moment, without even trying to conceal their identity, is the epitome of stupid.

Against Halfbloods: Barely of any relevance to Lu, but if you’d dug deeper you’d find that they might think any Wizard stupid who thought to marry a Muggle. Can’t be that grand of a family, if there’s traces of dementedness in their blood, right? But mostly they don’t care.

Against Purebloods: In Lu’s opinion, every Pureblood is inherently more powerful than Muggleborns or Halfbloods. I know, I said they know themselves to be incredibly skilled, but those contradictions exist within themselves the same way everything else splits them into two sides. They’ve spent so much time around Purebloods that they can no longer separate the truth from lies, and their beliefs have seeped into their own skin, with a tendency to make them believe they might actually be less skilled at magic as they once thought they were. It’s one of the reasons why they barely ever use magic around Purebloods – simply not to accidentally prove themselves as weak-blooded. They also think all Purebloods are rich.

Against Halfbreeds: Between the horrid prejudices spread by the Pureblood Circles they hang out in, and their own Muggle background, halfbreeds are inherently unhuman to them. In fairy tales, you didn’t see magical creatures be given human emotions. The goblins were greedy, the sirens were sexual predators, the wolves were to devour you. Surely it’s the same in the real world. The house elves love serving, the veelas love dancing on pianos at cocktail parties, and the werewolves want nothing but to kill humans. No matter how much human blood they got in their veins, at the end they’re their fairytale trait… The same way you can’t just shake your Muggleblood, right?

WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO?

More lovely time with lovely people.

I’m going for Lu because they’re primarily a fun person, their sadness is so deep in that it will be fun to navigate them through a war, maybe bring some ease to the dash!

PLOT DROP IDEAS:

Lu is currently not in the Order. I’d like for them to make it in, because at the moment that’s their goal. They went from ‘affiliated for personal protection’ to ‘I might actually want to do something good in this war’, which is a pretty big step. The reason for this (wanting to protect their brother) is not something they’ve yet admitted to, and I think if the Order questioned them on why they want to join, it might come to the light of day, and I’d like to see them face their prejudices against Muggles.

I could also imagine a plot, much much further down the line, of them being found out a Muggleborn. Literally being kicked out of the Travers house, and losing all their patrons, etc, etc, and being about to leave Britain to run home before stopping and maybe deciding to properly serve the Order now.

But before that, the revelation of HOW it comes that they’ve got such easy access to Death Eater’s personal information. Because while Snape has ‘what’s going on’ information, Lu’s got the ‘who’s sleeping in which room, and how many house elves are employed in a household’ kind of information. It would be interesting to see someone questioning how Lu can know all this and then therefore learning what exactly they’re doing to be this close to Death Eaters. I don’t think they’re trying to hide that they’re an – in pg13 words – Escort, but I can imagine that flaunting love affairs with Death Eaters could pose some problems if they want to be trusted by the Order.

ANYTHING ELSE? Yes! Their Order status at the moment is Affiliated.

EXTRA FOR NON-BIO CHARACTERS:

PAST:

Once there was nothing more important to Lu than their little brother, Urhie. So when the magical Flower Petals came and invited Lu – and only Lu – to join Beauxbaton, something inside of them broke apart, was left behind, died. Their parents had divorced and for months they had spent commuting back and forth between the two households with Urhie by the hand, protecting them from the bribing, the exhaustion, and the inevitable feeling that they weren’t quite as loved as they should be. And now Urhie was supposed to just do all of this alone? Beauxbaton was splendid, magic was splendid, the life the French Wizarding World offered was splendid – but was it all worth it if they had to do it without Urhie? Unfortunately, going home was soon no longer an option. Their mother had a new family and the man didn’t like her children from the first marriage, and their father had slipped into right-winged circles, throwing slurs at the children the moment alcohol touched his lips. For Lu it was easy, they could stay at Beauxbaton over the holidays, ward themselves with spells or spend more time in Wizarding Liège – but Urhie? Tension between the brothers grew. And then Lu met Ferrari. A Wizard from the Russian high society who drove a very luxurious horse carriage (which earned him the name even if no one but Lu understood), and his offer was simple: Join me. Join me, let me bathe you in riches, let me take you on golden adventures, let me introduce to you the most glistening personalities of the Wizarding World. Join me, and all you have to do from now on is look pretty and kneel before me. Lu accepted – and Urhie never forgave them.

PRESENT:

Lu Travers, Pureblood Wix Extraordinaire. That’s how they’re known now. They had quickly become a brilliant gem of the Pureblood Wizarding world, a name people – that is, those with gold piles to their dragon – around the globe knew and invited to their parties hungrily. For years Lu travelled the world, first with Ferrari, then with whoever seemed willing to give them more. And more and more. They were never satisfied. Had the world previously been a crowded train ride between Antwerpen and Liège, it soon turned into the most brilliant and colourful oyster for them to slurp up. Paris, New York, Tokyo, Sydney, Capetown, wherever there were Wix of a pure blood and a decadent culture, Lu went there, lying about where they really came from and soon fitting in more smoothly than most actual Purebloods. Only one world remained closed to them: The Sacred 28 of Great Britain. It was Mundungus Fletcher who reminded Lu that they happened to share a name with one of those Pureblood families, and before they knew it, they were smuggled into London, now on their knees before the most infamous Wizards in history. Lu adores it here. Everything is just the right amount of traditional and elegant, and even though the Sacred 28 are quite careful with keeping the true nature of their relation to Lu a secret, none of them are shy to approach them. They’ve never lived any better. The only problem is this bloody war and the fact that it is, in fact, waging against Lu and their kin. If their secret comes out, it’ll be the end of them. And worse. What if the other side wins? Isn’t there this Phoenix Order? Perhaps it would be best to join them, so that if they win, Lu can say they’ve just played double agent with the Death Eaters? Not that the Order seems to be winning. And Lu doesn’t care – if only his employers hadn’t suddenly decided to kill Muggles…

FC CHOICES: Keiynan Lonsdale (they/them), Chance Pomodoro (he/him), Jordan Fisher (he/him)

reason:

https://youtu.be/8NS22iANsnQ?t=100

“oh damn” – scene change

and the following 40 seconds of that video.

[ballerinaroy]

thoughts from a survivor

He’d thought it before, the first time around. How young they’d all looked. In comparison those sitting here now were infants. Constantly he fought the urge to curse the bright looks out of their eyes.

Aberforth Dumbledore in the second war.

Read on Ao3

Did they know of what happened of those before them? The fate of those who had taken the torch in the first war? The lives of the people whos chairs they fill with no regard for the reverence of empty space?

So few of them had made it to the second. One by one picked off with equally terrible deaths.

“Fools,” Mad-Eye would growl when laughter dominated their meetings. “All of them.”

This Aberforth could agree with. They were all fools, even he, to think their efforts would be enough to spare their lives. Perhaps they were the only ones to understand it. They were among the few who could see the ghosts of the Order before them.

Did they know their fate too?

One day this war would be over, because, in the end, only one side could prevail. If it were anything like last time, half of the seats of the table would be empty. Lives cut off. Too young to even know what they were giving up.

He’d thought it before, the first time around. How young they’d all looked. In comparison those sitting here now were infants. Constantly he fought the urge to curse the bright looks out of their eyes.

And then there was the Potter boy and those friends of him. Not even of age and Albus was sending them to their fate. Aberforth knew the prophecy, he’d overheard what had been whispered in his own establishment. Of a boy born in July who would be the only one with the power to defeat Riddle.

But he’d never understood his bother’s ability to ignore everyone else’s feelings for the sake of his own plan. They were children, accomplished children, sure, but too young to have a fate thrust upon them.

“In case of my death,” Albus said, just weeks before it, passing a broken mirror across the table.

“Are you planning on dying?” Aberforth replied, pocketing the mirror.

“At my age, it would be foolish planning otherwise,” Albus answered.

Aberforth made a point of looking at his hand, crusted and dying. Aberforth had spent too long running an unsavory pub not to notice the signs. But he wouldn’t argue, he never had.

“What’s it for?” he asked of the mirror.

“Mr. Potter has the other half, should he desperately need help I expect he’ll call upon it."

“You don’t trust me,” Aberforth accused, even as he pocketed the mirror.

“You’ve never wanted to be in my confidence.”

They never spoke again.

Estrangement was a strong word for them. It implied a relationship prior, something to break. Albus had always been too busy for them, too bright. Even as a boy Albus had had no interest in his younger brother. The shared the same name and parents but their bond was never deeper. Particularly when Albus pledged himself to the study of magic and Aberforth his loyalty to his family.

Perhaps if Albus hadn’t been his brother he could have been remarkable. But it was hard for any sort of brilliance to penetrate his brother’s shadow. So Aberforth had found a way to make himself comfortable in the background, figured out a way to make himself unseen. He emerged only when needed, did his job and volunteered for nothing more.

The ministry had fallen, the order shortly after. Chaos because his brother had never trusted enough people with enough secrets. He’d promised to mind the mirror and nothing more. Aberforth didn’t make promises he couldn’t keep.

It was everyone’s responsibility to fight against Voldemort and he would do his part just as he had before. Not with the meetings and secret plotting but with information and overheard conversations. A pub was the perfect place for him, unsuspecting, simple. His job was to serve his customers, provide them with a place where they could feel at ease enough to have loose tongues and report back his findings to whoever asked.

Less and less people asked. More and more died. Potter never called and Aberforth saw his mission as complete.

And then, as Aberforth ate alone one evening, a ghost appeared in his sister’s portrait and climbed down his mantle.

“Longbottom, Neville Longbottom sir,” the boy said and even as he spoke Aberforth could see his father in his hungered face.

“And what you here for?”

But it was obvious, from the way he stared hungrily at the scraps on his side table.

“They not feeding you at the school, boy?” Aberforth growled, pushing the plate towards him and standing.

“It’s not safe for us to go to meals,” the boy explained even as he shamelessly sat in the empty chair and shoved an entire mouthful in his hands. “And we don’t know how to conjure food-“

“You can’t conjure food,” Aberforth snapped from the stove, lighting the burner with his wand and summoning more meat from the icebox. “Don’t they teach you anything at that school, boy?”

Neville flushed but didn’t say anything. Aberforth passed him a glass of mead.

“How many are there of you, hiding out?” he asked.

“Half a dozen,” he answered, “But our numbers are just going to grow once they realize we’re not getting caught.”

Aberforth shook his head, but had nothing more to say. The remains of his meal were demolished before he could make him a proper plate and when he set it before the weaning boy, he scarcely cut his meat before shoving it into his mouth.

“You’re Dumbledore’s brother, aren’t you?” Neville asked when he’d swallowed.

“Aye,” he answered. “Aberforth Dumbledore, at your service.”

Neville reached out and shook his hand as if just remembering his manners. “Has this passage been here long?”

“You’re the first to impose yourself,” he grunted. “I suppose things must be bad at the school if it’s sending it’s students to a pub.”

The boy nodded, taking another swig of mead. “Think it’ll hold long enough to get us out?”

“And where would you go?” he said harshly. “Nowhere is safe and so long as you’re certain those monsters the Carrows can’t get in, you’re as safe there as you would be anywhere.”

Neville didn’t flinch at his tone but nodded thoughtfully. “We can’t survive without food. I suppose Gran could start sending rations here-“

He couldn’t help his burst of laughter. “Augusta showing her face around here would be just as bad as that Potter boy coming round for a pint.”

“Well, then how do you suppose we survive then?” Neville asked and though his tone was calm Aberforth could tell he was getting under the boy’s skin.

“I run a pub, don’t I? No one’s going to blink if I put in an extra food order a week.” Said Aberforth trying not to feel stung at the look of surprise on the boy’s face. Did he really think that he wouldn’t help? “How many do you think’ll join you?”

He couldn’t save them, but he could do his part to make sure that their children didn’t die before getting a chance to raise their wands.

[sinfully-romione]

Exegesis

Summary: Sometimes a question isn’t really a question.

Rated: T

Category: Lust

There were a possibly infinite number of routes to take from the Hogwarts entrance by the doors of the Great Hall to the Gryffindor common room, and in six school years plus two-and-a-half months of a seventh, Hermione had counted one hundred and forty-two, so far. Their current track would usually take her about twelve minutes to walk, so not one she’d normally choose on a morning where she, say, woke up late from studying into the early hours and needed to rush to breakfast. What this particular path did feature, however, was an appealing number of dark alcoves, rambling corridors, and surprisingly roomy window casements, all of which she and Ron were happy to use to their advantage on this November Hogsmeade weekend.

When they had met at the gates in the morning the day had seemed endless, stretching out before them with exhilarating possibility. Hermione had tried not to count the minutes as they passed the day joking and laughing with their friends over hot butterbeer or wandering the chilly streets, arms wrapped around each other, tucked into a private world of their own. Now they ambled slowly, fingers lightly entwined between them, drawing out by mutual unspoken agreement their dwindling time together.  

“M’staying at Grimmauld tonight, I guess,” Ron said as they passed a statue of a shifty looking hobgoblin and a staircase that slid out of the way with a rude noise. “Me and Harry have been organizing the second floor this week.”

Hermione looked sideways at him, raising her eyebrows.

“OK, mostly just banishing everything in sight,” he allowed with a laugh. “You saw some of the things that old nutbag kept! There’s nothing else for it.”

She rolled her eyes affectionately, realizing with a sigh that they had reached the Gryffindor common room at last, despite their meandering pace. She heard Ron snort, and followed his line of sight to see the Fat Lady in a state of deep repose, stretched prone on her fainting couch. Her head was tipped back against the rolled arm, fast asleep, and her vast bosom rose and fell gently with each snore.

“She must’ve had a friend to visit,” Hermione observed, gesturing to the pair of wine glasses on the small table painted next to her divan, containing only the dregs of what had been consumed.  

“Lucky her,” Ron remarked smoothly.

Hermione shot him an arch look, then took a few wandering steps away from the portrait and leant back against the wall, drawing Ron with her by their still-linked fingers. It was foolish, but she couldn’t bear him to leave just yet, knowing it would be weeks before she could feel his fingertips rubbing the back of her hands, or hear the warmth in his voice as he spoke to her.

“So, heading back to Grimmauld Place,” he repeated thoughtfully, as he rested his forearm on the stones above her head. “That is, unless I get a better offer,” he added.

Hermione made an elaborate show of looking around.

“I’m sorry, are you expecting someone else?” she asked, blinking innocently. “I can’t imagine you’d be expecting me to sneak you in.”

“Then why are we here?” he teased, tipping his head in the direction of the common room.

“Because you were walking me to my door, like a gentleman,” she sniffed.

“Oh, is that what I am,” he replied with a dangerous grin, leaning in close.

She shivered as his heated breath skimmed across her skin. “What I’m thinking of isn’t very gentlemanly,” he murmured next to her ear, the tip of his nose just brushing the skin behind it. He ghosted his lips along the column of her neck as her eyes slipped shut. Her hands rose instinctively, pressing against the hard planes of his chest through the soft cotton button-up, fingers flexing ever so slightly as if to hold him in place.

“You couldn’t,” she breathed, determined to exert some common sense before the feeling of his lips on her skin drove out all rational thought. “The stairs…”

“Don’t tell me you haven’t figured that one out.” He sucked lightly at the juncture of her neck and shoulder, his hand slipping under her jumper to smooth across the skin of her lower back.

“Wellll, …” she began, and felt rather than heard Ron’s chuckle. Seeing as she had helped to repair the dormitories after the battle, she now knew exactly what spellwork guarded the stairs to the girls rooms from male visitors, and she had a pretty good idea which counter-charm would neutralize it. She had never tested her theory, of course - that would be violating several school policies - but if push came to shove, she was fairly confident…

She gasped as his fingers slipped around to brush the edge of her stomach, climbing daringly higher. His tall frame surrounded her, reminding her of the way his body felt pressed against hers in the most intimate ways, moments she viscerally longed to relive. She felt lightheaded, the scent of Amortentia flooding her senses as her conscience waged a fiercely pitched battle with her heart. Taking a long, circuitous route back to the Common Room was one thing; illicitly smuggling Ron into her dorm room? That was a kelpie of a different color. What would people say if they were caught -  or Merlin forbid, what would Professor McGonagall say? It was improper, wasn’t it? An abuse of trust?

A sad sort of bereft feeling flashed through her as he pulled back slightly. She opened her eyes to gaze at him, his fiery hair glowing in the torchlight.

“So?”

With that one syllable all the chiding and yearning voices in her head, all the of needs and rules and expectations, all the whirling thoughts and competing considerations in her mind stilled and crystalized around one question: would it really be such a sin?

So often in the past seven years she felt she had had to repress her own needs and wants, to sublimate her personal desires for the greater good. Part of her had always been an old soul, but after Voldemort’s return more than ever she had put away childish things and become the mature, responsible person necessary to soldier on and keep her friends and family alive.

Now Ron stood before her, long a source of temptation and frustration. She thought of fourth year, secretly hoping for a Yule Ball invitation from him and hurt by the manner in which it finally arrived. Remembered fifth year, when fear of unrequited feelings and of ruining a precious friendship kept her from risking her heart. Sixth year, when she couldn’t even dream of him without the guilt of knowing he was with someone else. Last year when she tried, some times more than others, to ruthlessly quash every tender feeling and hope she cherished for them to focus on their mission until everything exploded out from her in the most perfect kiss she could’ve imagined.

They had been together for months now, in every possible way, and the experience of sharing and exchanging the deep love they felt for each other was freeing in a way she could never have expected.  

Her emotions must have shown on her face because Ron ducked down again to kiss her fervently, his long fingers threading through her wild curls and cradling the back of her head, body pressing her into the wall. She felt his hands tremble and heard the words he mumbled between kisses.

“Miss you so much.”

Her heart swooped in a way that had nothing to do with the desire still singing in her blood. This was more than lust; this was an expression of a love that had grown and sustained them in the most difficult circumstances. There could be nothing to be ashamed about needing this connection that fed their souls, that made them both stronger.

She smiled against his lips, already formulating a plan.

“Follow me.”

[preserving-ferretbrain]

Acts of Sacrifice

by Dan H

Monday, 13 August 2007Dan H on Harry Potter, Aslan, and John Sheridan

I still, technically, have a weblog, although I haven't updated it in over a year.

One of the things I wrote about when I still did update it was the movie version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardobe. In particular, I felt that it was interesting that in movie!Narnia the Salvation of Narnia was supposed to come from the Pevensies, whereas in book!Narnia and BBCAdaptation!Narnia it was very much supposed to come from Aslan.

I don't think it was conscious, but this subtle change pretty much destroyed the underlying moral message, and the underlying emotional impact of the book. Incidentally it also undermines the original Christian message, but religion isn't really what I'm interested in for the purposes of this article.

In the movie, Aslan sacrifices himself to save Edmund, and the strong implication is that he does so because otherwise the Prophecy would not be fulfilled, and the Four Kings and Queens would not be able to Save Narnia and the White Witch would win. In the movie, Aslan makes a sensible strategic decision. His life for the lives of everybody else in Narnia.

In the book, however, the exact opposite is true. It is Aslan, not the four children, who is the key to driving back the White Witch. When Aslan dies on the round table he is not only sacrificing himself, he is sacrificing Narnia itself, and he is doing it purely for the sake of one rather horrible little boy. Again I should briefly mention that this is rather central to the Christian message: Jesus was not one man dying for many, he was God dying for You.

As you probably remember, I've just come from an epic slog through Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. One of the things that sat most awkwardly about that book was Harry's "sacrifice" at the end. Like movie!Aslan Harry makes a strictly Utilitarian decision: by his death he can weaken Lord Voldemort, and therefore achieve his goals (or, perhaps more precisely, the goals of that manipulative fucker Albus Dumbledore).

Perhaps I'm just selfish, but I genuinely don't see that as any kind of meaningful sacrifice. Both Aslan and Harry reach the decision that they can, by their deaths, further the goals they are working towards better than they can by remaining alive. It's just resource management. It certainly isn't heroism. It most definitely isn't Christ-like, despite Harry's miraculous resurrection and the revelation that his death broke the power of Lord Voldemort and redeemed Hogwarts.

There's an episode of Babylon Five, which I don't actually like very much (because it's very, very heavy handed) which actually highlights this point remarkably well. In the episode Comes the Inquisitor, the Vorlons send a man named Sebastian to B5, and Sebastian proceeds to torture the hell out of John Sheridan in an effort to get him to admit that he is unworthy of his destiny.

So Sheridan gets zapped, Delenn shows up, so the Inquisitor zaps both of them, and they do the traditional: "Wait! Don't kill my romantic interest! Kill me instead!" speech.

Here's where it gets interesting, where the distinction is drawn between the sacrifices of Movie!Aslan and Harry Potter, and the kind of sacrifice that actually has a meaning.

How do you know the chosen ones? No greater love hath a man than he lay down his life for his friend. Not for millions, not for glory, not for fame... for one person. In the dark. Where no one will ever know or see. I've been in the service of the Vorlons for centuries, looking for you. Diogynes with his lamp looking for a man willing to die for all the wrong reasons.

Now okay, it's a bit preachy, it's a bit JMS, and ultimately I'm in no way convinced that Sheridan actually displays the qualities which Sebastian attributes to him, but I think it recognises something which both the Narnia movie and the Potter books failed to recognise. It is easy for a fictional character to sacrifice themselves for an objectively defined Greater Good. Defeating Voldemort or the White Witch are obviously big important endeavours and they require that people make sacrifices. But it's precisely because those tasks are so vast that the decision to sacrifice oneself in their service is ultimately meaningless. If your destiny (sorry, "Destiny") is to die, then dying is really your only option, whether you go to your doom with your head held high or blubbing like a little girl is ultimately meaningless. In the Potterverse the vaunted Gryffindor courage is little more than a good old British stiff upper lip: putting a brave face on it while you do whatever it is you were intending to do anyway.

I should probably take a step back here and say that I'm very much talking about fictional characters here. Real people have survival instincts, they have millennia of evolution telling them to save their own skins. In the real world, a soldier going into battle, a policeman tackling an armed criminal, or an aid worker working in a warzone are all showing tremendous courage, even heroism, just by going about their daily lives. A fictional hero, though, has to be more than that. A hero must, by definition, not just be doing his job. A hero who is also a solider must do things which the ordinary soldier is not called upon to do, and ordinary soldiers are regularly called upon to lay down their lives for a cause.

The test which Sebastian places before Sheridan is a simple one, but one which cuts to the heart of what "sacrifice" really means. He does not ask "what will you sacrifice for your destiny" he asks "what won't you sacrifice for your destiny" or to put it another way "what will you give up your destiny to protect."

I think it's actually a very important question for any "hero" to ask. A hero is generally working towards some higher goal, and they will often make tremendous sacrifices in pursuit of that goal. The greatest sacrifice a hero can make, therefore, is not their life, but the very goal towards which they have struggled for so long. When your entire live has been devoted to something, dying for it is a small step, giving it up is what takes real moral courage.

The death of a fictional character is meaningful only insofar as it affects the narrative afterwards. When a fictional character sacrifices their life, the sacrifice only has meaning if it does not directly further their wider goals. Otherwise it's just a play, a strategic manoeuvre. Being dead but getting your way is infinitely preferable for a fictional character than being alive and losing.

When Lily Potter sacrifices herself to protect baby Harry, that's heroic. But her sacrifice is meaningful precisely because it is futile. From the Utilitarian mindset which governs Harry's later sacrifice, or the sacrifice of movie!Aslan, it's a completely stupid thing to do. As far as Lily is concerned, Harry is going to die no matter what she does, so really she should have just cut her losses and saved herself. Her sacrifice had power because she wasn't trying to achieve anything by it, she was just making a moral stand: no matter what, she wasn't going to stand aside and let her son be murdered.

In fact, one might almost say that the sacrifice of a fictional hero (as opposed to a real person doing a difficult and thankless job) is powerful only if it is ultimately futile. Its meaning resides in its very meaninglessness. It has to have a purity of intent, a simple moral decision that this line cannot be crossed, that this injustice cannot be borne, and all the "greater good" can go hang. The sequence in Pan's Labyrinth, in which the doctor administers a fatal injection to a captured solider who would otherwise be tortured is a fine example of this. This single act of mercy costs him his life, and it costs the rebels their doctor, but achieves nothing except the end of one man's suffering.

So for me, the most resounding moment of heroism in Harry Potter is not when he goes off to let Voldemort kill him, thereby destroying the chunk of Plot which resides in Harry's very soul. Rather, Harry's one moment of redemption in my eyes was when he flew into the burning Room of Requirement to rescue Draco Malfoy. Here he risks not only his life but his entire Destiny in order to save his worst enemy.

Unfortunately, Harry's principles are not always so unwavering. He happily uses Unforgivable Curses at little or no provocation, whenever it becomes convenient to his Quest, and it is his devotion to the Quest we are expected to admire, not his loyalty to any actual people (which is, let's face it, negligible).

I don't mean to single Potter out here. I think there's a general tendency in modern fiction to praise those who put the "big picture" ahead of the troubles of individual people. It seems to be seen, nowadays, as worthier to be concerned with large scale issues like destroying the Dark Lord than with small scale issues, like how many lives you wreck along the way.

Were I in the mood to make a trite political point, I might be inclined to draw parallels between this modern brand of heroism, and the attitude of a number of modern governments to problems like - say - international terrorism. So long as you take down the Dark Lord it doesn't matter what methods you use to get to him.

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Wardog

at 10:38 on 2007-08-14Hmmm...interesting, very interesting. *strokes goatee* Actually, it occurs to me that Harry's Big Deal is that he supposedly understands LOVE unlike Lord V. And that his sacrifice is, you know, this amazing, jesus-like act of LOVE. But surely the point of love is that it's personal and small-scale. I mean, it's LOVE that inspires the Malfoys to say "fuck this war and everything else, we're saving our son." If I had a son and he was walking off to lay down his life before a nose-less super-villain (and by, super, in this context I mean inept) I'd probably be all "Son, son, run away to Australia, you can live with Hermione's parents, go, go now." I wouldn't be saying "Hey, kid, death is fun. You're being really brave." LOVE is another one of those weird double-thinks, it's the ultimate selfish emotion that, nevertheless, inspires selfless acts. Thus Lily Potter dying for her son. Not Lily Potter grinning happily that the son she *gave her life to protect* is about to *fling his own away*.

Similarly, you'd think LOVE would not gather around Harry

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Wardog

at 11:01 on 2007-08-14Also I have to wonder if the 7th book was trying to ship RAB/Kreacher, just because it occurs to me that drinking the Killing Juice himself was an insanely noble sacrifice, especially when Kreacher survived it and, in fact, had suffcieint dodgy plot-hole house elf magic to be able to get them both out of the cave again. Also to lay down your life for an attempt to kill your house elf strikes me as ... well ... is that LOVE do you think?

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Arthur B

at 12:28 on 2007-08-14I think the general rule with Harry Potter books is that "if the fans think they can discern a relationship between characters which is not specifically stated in the text to be a relationship, they are Wrong because they are trying to corrupt the Holy Writ of Rowling".

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Wardog

at 16:52 on 2007-08-14I don't know, I think there's definitely something going on between RAB and Kreacher... Greater love hath no man than he who is willing to lay down his life for house elf... Oh, sorry, we're talking about Rowling here so that should be LOVE.

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Jen Spencer

at 14:46 on 2007-08-15My current favourite source of heroism: David Sumner in Straw Dogs. He is willing to fight the pack of maniac locals to the death because he will not stand by and let them lynch a slightly retarded murderer, and he certainly will not let them violate the sanctity of his home (again) to do it. You go dude!

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Wardog

at 10:36 on 2007-08-16I haven't seen Straw Dogs, I'm afraid it's another one of those movies that would upset me. I gotta comfort zone and I'm sticking in it, dammit.

[shanastoryteller]

You had a post about Draco not getting redeemed and I thought he had been, as much as he needed to be. Did JK *say* he hadn't been or am I getting terminology wrong? I liked the whole thing with Dudley and Draco - who Harry explicitly compares in book 1: Dudley proves he's started to think for himself and disagree with his parents and is becoming a better person and Draco obviously wants out once he understands the reality and if he was a supremacist still the nod of respect wouldn't be there.

referring to this post here

here’s the thing.

“not a supremist” is not redemption. “didn’t get thrown in azkaban”is not redemption.

i am so glad that you drew a comparison between dudley anddraco, because it’s one of the things that absolutely makes me furious. dudleyis harry’s family, grew up with him, and made his life absolutely miserable. hephysically, emotionally, and verbally abused harry for over a decade.

and dudley still got a redemption moment, he got a couplesentences where we, the readers, go ‘maybe he isn’t so bad, maybe he’ll grow upokay, maybe he was just a product of his upringing.’

and with draco, who hasn’t done nearly the same amount oftrauma and damage dudley has, who has far better reasons to do the things hehas done, we don’t get even that.

the way the books are written, the way the narrative iswritten, we are supposed to feel sympathy for snape. we are supposed to like snape, we’re meant to empathizewith him. and the fact that most of can look at it objectively and go ‘actually,he’s a garbage person, but thanks anyway’ doesn’t change how his character iswritten. just like how we can all look at draco, and analyze his situation andhis actions and what he did and did not do, and decide, hey, he’s probably anokay guy, he probably didn’t deserve the level of shit he got doesn’t changethe fact that narratively? we are not supposed to feel sympathy with draco.

this is unfortunate, because jkr wrote a likable, complex,sympathetic antagonist for harry. but she clearly didn’t mean to. because unlikeseverus snape, peter pettigrew, and dumbledore – three abhorrent characters whowe’re still meant to feel empathy for – we don’t get to see draco’s emotions,except in passing, except when it’s to make other people look better, or to furthertheir backstory, not his own. the audience is forced to infer a lot ofinformation about draco, a major character, when for these other characters we’regiven lots and lots of backstory – backstories which, ironically, prove they’reall sacks of shit.

dumbledore places harry in an abusive home and set him up todie and lets hagrid take the blame for the slytherin’s monster and didn’t doanything for sirius or remus and a whole slew of other things, but it’s okaybecause he struggled a lot and he feels sorry for it and he’s an old man doinghis best, so we should forgive him.

pettigrew betrayed his friends, killing or ruining theirlives, and orphaning harry, then betrayed them all again and again for voldemort,but hey! he sacrifices himself in the end, so he’s not all bad. he’s a complexcharacter who had some good in him.

snape served voldemort, turned his back on his friend, andthen emotionally and verbally abused her son, oh an a few hundred otherchildren. but it’s okay, because he and lily were childhood best friends, andhe was in love with her, so that excuses his horrible behavior.

yet draco, who – what? said some mean things? got in somefights? as a kid and teenager? who was coerced into joiningthe dark lord to keep his family safe and hated everyone moment of it, but lovedhis family enough to do it anyway? irredeemable. awful. will never change,always terrible, do not pass go and do not collect $200.

jkr’s words on draco: “archetypal bully of dubious morality”“I have often had cause to remark on how unnerved I have been by the number ofgirls who feel for this particular fictional character” “I told them, ratherseverely, that Draco was not concealing a heart of gold under all that sneeringand prejudice”

draco could have had a wonderful, amazing redemption arc ala zuko from the last airbender, it was all set up and perfect. but just likenot having a single slytherin student fight in the battle of hogwarts, not givingdraco even a paragraph of humanization, like so many other characters got, is infuriating. jk should have put hermoney where her mouth is when she talked about how all Slytherins weren’t eviland shown us that. and no, regulusdoesn’t count because we don’t get to see any of it, because he still followsthe dark lord and dies. besides, kids can’t grow up and change and learn fromtheir mistakes, remember? so how regulus ever happened is a mystery.

that nod isn’t a redemption.

the nod is a slap in the faceto what we should have had, and her parting joke about his receding hairline isher final reminder that she doesn’t like this character, and hey – you shouldn’teither.

a nod and a hairline joke is not redemption.

it’s a fucking insult.

[bellatrixobsessed1]

McMalfoy’s (Part 1)

So awhile back things were really slow at work so I may or may not have written a fic (on receipt paper of all things) to vent about work. Now I may not work in food, but this made me feel better about my job. 

So I present to you all, a fanfic about Harry (and his co-worker, Draco) doubling as an employee for both McMalfoy’s & MalfoyMart. A good number of these chapters will be based on things I’ve had to deal with at work. 

Once upon a time there was a kid named Harry Potter. He worked at McMalfoy’s part time. He promised himself that it was only temporary, he would keep the job until he had just enough to go to Merlin’s Music Magic festival that summer with Ron and Hermione. It was pricey, but all of the sickest wizard rock artists were going to be there. So McMalfoy’s would do. It was okay mostly, but his coworker Draco was kind of a jackass. Of course Draco was the boss’ son so he never got in trouble for licking the French fries of muggle born customers. Or for hitting on hot babes when he was supposed to be flipping burgers.

“Babes before burgers, Potter.” He’d say assholishly.  And since he was the boss’ son Harry would take the fall for the low productivity and the growing stream of customers.

 What made it worse was that McMalfoy’s was ran out of the Malfoy Manor so sometimes he’d get lost on the way to the kitchen and find some muggle corpses or run into Voldemort combing his lack of hair after getting out of the shower on a fine Saturday afternoon. But worst of all were the rude customers.

 Bellatrix was a regular, and she always had something to bitch about. One time she tried to use a Hagrid’s Hamburger Hut coupon at McMalfoy’s. He remembered the day quiet vividly, being as it was the first experience he had ever had with a customer like her.

 His Wednesday started out decently normal, with Draco adjusting his uniform hat, pretending that he could make it work. Literally no one could ever pull off a McMalfoy’s bucket had not even Cho Chang. Not even Flure Delacour. But hey, Harry had to give him props for effort. Of course, it was Draco’s turn to wipe down tables, but Crabbe and Goyle decided to drop in at that time. Harry found it funny how the pair always showed up when Draco was supposed to be wiping tables. Grumbling to himself, Harry picked up a handful of paper towels and a spray bottle. He wouldn’t get reprimanded for Draco’s laziness this time! He was running on auto-pilot scrubbing robotically as he waited for the lunch rush. He came to the table in the back corner, his ‘favorite’ to clean. He began referring to that spot as the artists’ corner.  That day’s mural was a classic. A nice big ol’ depiction of someone’s junk, captioned ‘Big D’. Harry would know it anywhere, he’d caught Dudley drawing it on menus at various high-end restaurants, and even once at a playground. Harry assumed he’d be free of it at McMalfoy’s but apparently the Malfoy’s were willing to serve anyone who had bucks to throw at them. So Harry found himself scrubbing at Big D, resenting Dudley for using a glittery gold sharpie this time. Within five minutes, Big D was very nearly gone.

 It was at about that time when Lestrange kicked in the door—literally lifted her leg and slammed it against the door despite having two perfectly functioning arms. Her hair was disheveled with her comb still stuck in it.  He sometimes liked to replay that moment in slow motion with a freeze frame on the part where she practically toppled to the floor. Upon successfully entering the establishment, Bellatrix balled her fists and scanned the place as if scoping out an employee to fight. Rodolphus sulked behind, silently begging her to, maybe, not do that.

 As was the script Harry gulped and greeted, “welcome to McMalfoy’s how can we McMake your meal?”

 “Two apple pies and McMalfoy’s flurry. Rod wants a burger.” Bellatrix replied, leaving Harry to mutter, “thanks for asking Bella, I’m doing great.”

 Instead he spoke, “Please let me get to the register so I can...”

 Bellatrix gave a dramatic huff. “Do you need to? Can’t you just take my order?”

 “Well I have to be able to enter your order into the register so…”

 “Just hurry up, I have places to be.” Bellatrix scoffed.

 Harry made his way behind the counter, to his luck Draco took this as his cue to follow and ready the stoves. “Okay, what can I McMake you?

 “I already told you. I want two apple pies and a McMalfoy’s flurry. With extra chocolate chips. And Rod wants a burger.”

 “Actually I wanted a chicken sandwich.” He squeaked.

 “He will have the burger.” Bella stated firmly. “Also get me a chocolate frog to go with that.”

 The feeling of dread that crept into his soul was overpowering as he carefully replied, “we don’t sell those here.”

 “Don’t. Sell. Those??? Here???” She shrieked. “What do you mean you don’t sell those here!?”

 “We only see those on Mondays when we are MalfoyMart. We’re McMalfoy’s at the moment, mam.” Harry explained. Frankly he thought it was very ridiculous for the Malfoy’s to double as a restaurant on some days and then become a popular grocery store on other days. But hey, if magic can do it then it would be done. Such was the way of the Malfoy.

 Bellatrix squinted menacingly at him. “Draco’s father will hear about this.”

 Harry stole a glance back to see the boy mentioned, blushing at how he had just been mocked. If Bellatrix hadn’t continued to be a complete and insufferable pain in the rear, that might have made up for her prior remarks. But no, reformed (and he used that word oh so loosely) or not, Bella was still Bella. If she couldn’t cause people physical agony she would settle for mental torment and the opportunity to be annoying enough to give someone a brain aneurysm.

 Harry held his smile. “I’m sorry about that. Would you still like the rest of your order?”

 “Sweet Lord Voldemort below! You have the brains of a house elf, of course I want the rest of it!” Bellatrix chided as Rodophus pretended to be very interested in the cheap toys that came with the kid’s meals.

 “Hey Bella look at that one.” He pointed at a plastic wand that looked like Lucius’ cane.

 Bella ignored him. “Also here, it says I get five knuts off.”

 “Bellatrix, you must have grabbed the wrong one, this is for Hagrid’s Hamburger Hut.” Harry fought to keep his smile good and wide.

 “Not it isn’t” She insisted.

 Harry couldn’t stop his eye from twitching. “Would you like to take a look, Madame Lestrange?” He hoped against all hope, that the use of the formal title would stroke her ego just enough to get her to calm down at least a little.

 She turned the coupon over in her hand, inspecting it way too closely. Once, then twice, and then a third time as if doing so would change what it read. “Hmmm.” She hummed before turning it a fourth time. Harry wanted to bang his head against the counter. And in that demented sing songy voice he had become accustomed to she asked, “Well can you use it anyways?”

 Harry blinked twice. “It’s for Hagrid’s Hamburger Hut.”

 “But if you use it, it can be for McMalfoys?” She seemed genuinely confused.

 “I’m sorry, Madame Lestrange, our registers can’t take coupons that aren’t ours.”

 He expected another one of her frenzied explosions. The ones that typically led to the police being called. She surprised him though, in calmly taking the coupon back with an, “oh, okay, just let me see it.” She turned her back on him, there was a flash of purple light. “Here you go, that’ll be five knuts off of my meal.”

 In her palm lie a clearly counterfeit McMalfoy’s coupon. “Bella, I just saw you use magic.”

 “Wh-what, me? Use magic?? To get my way??? I would never.” She sputtered with false shock.

 “Hey dear?” Rodolpus tried. “I’m very hungry, it’s only five knuts and we’re one of the richest wizarding families, can we please just order our meal?”

 “Can we just…pfft…order our meal.” Bellatrix snorted. “No, we can’t just ‘order our meal.’ We’re getting five knuts off, I have a coupon.”

 “Yes, you have a coupon, it’s the wrong coupon.” Draco grumbled to his aunt. And to Harry he muttered, “this changes nothing, Potter, we simply have a common enemy right now.”

 “Alright fine, how’s this?” Bella bargained. “No coupon but I get a toy.”

 “From the kiddie meal?” Harry asked.

 Bellatrix’s eyes narrowed, clearly she was getting serious. “From the kiddie meal.” She confirmed.

 Harry sighed, he didn’t want to do this. “Just a moment, let me ask my manager.”

 Bellatrix clicked her tongue and drummed her fingers impatiently on the counter until Malfoy’s majestic mane could be seen swooshing around the corner. With all of the regality a pureblood ought to have, Lucius came to stand behind the counter. “Yes, Potter?”

 Before Harry could open his mouth to explain the situation Bellatrix spoke up. “You’re employee is not being cooperative.”

 Harry’s jaw dropped at the sheer audacity of the woman.

 “He won’t take my coupon that I saved specifically for this moment.”

 “It’s for Hagrid’s Hamburger Hut.” Harry put in quickly. “So I offered…well she offered to take a kid’s meal toy instead.”

 “Just let her use the coupon.”

 “Wha-what?” Harry sputtered.

 Lucius took the coupon from Bella and finished processing your order. “That will be seven knuts and with the coupon…two knuts.”

 Harry knew at that moment he was in for a long few months. It was about four days now, since the incident, but he was still shaken. It haunted him on his lunch breaks, as he pondered whether or not she used a McMalfoy’s coupon at Hagrid’s Hamburger Hut. He took a bite of his PB&J sandwich and gazed at the restaurant mansion. Bellatrix was skipping up the walkway and he only had five minutes left of his break.

[books-and-cookies]

THINGS I HAVE LEARNED FROM HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE (PART 3/?)

Part 1   Part 2

1. There’s always this worry that you won’t enjoy books you’ve loved as a kid as much when you’re an adult, but THIS IS NOT THE CASE. BRING OUT THE BUTTERBEER, THE HP TRIVIA, MY BODY IS READY 2. “Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune” – listed as the number one reason to love Hagrid 3. Hagrid takes none of your crap, Hagrid doesn’t give a shit 4. “Harry opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with Happy Birthday Harry written on it in green icing” – this is legitimately one of the sweetest, most moving moments in the entire series. Harry, a boy who has been neglected his entire life, who has suffered so much, sees someone he doesn’t even know, actually care about him and go the extra mile to acknowledge his birthday and his as an individual. It’s such an important moment. I can’t even. I HAVE TEARS AND FEELINGS.

5. Okay I want an infinite pockets coat just as Hagrid. I’d keep tiny kittens in all the pockets. Just whip them out when people need to smile. 6. “In his anger he seemed to fill the whole hut. The Dursleys were cowering against the wall.” – I am here to witness the reckoning. BRING IT ON. Fight fight fight 7. “I know some things,” he said. “I can, you know, do math and stuff.” – I swear, how people can say they dislike Harry James Potter will forever be a mystery to me. I mean, have we read the same books? Have we read about the same cinnamon roll? Are you on crack?

8. “Harry — yer a wizard” – bless this with the grace of a thousand angels descending

9. Guys I genuinely teared up when I read the Hogwarts letter. I mean, this is my childhood right here. And I remember wishing more than anything that all this were real. And that I was secretly a witch too. God. To think so many people’s lives were shaped by a book. Whoever tells you books don’t mean anything, you have my blessing to beat them with the entire HP boxset. 10. I lowkey feel sad for Petunia, because you can sense the regret that’s masked by her viciousness. But that doesn’t excuse her behaviour towards Harry, or saying this about her sister: “she went and got herself blown up”, knowing full well what actually happened. Honestly, kind of fuck you, Petunia. 11. And honestly, I don’t understand why the Dursleys are clinging so much to Harry and keeping him with them. They hate the boy, they’ve been nothing but awful to him, yet when chance comes to have him taken out of their hands, they turn so adamant about not letting him go. Like WHAT IS THE LOGIC OF THIS

12. “I had no idea, when Dumbledore told me there might be trouble gettin’ hold of yeh, how much yeh didn’t know” – Dumbledore, the little shit, he KNEW they hadn’t told him anything. Skeevy bastard. 13. Voldemort could have thrown baby Harry out the window, instead of being a cocky wizard and relying on spells. Just sayin’. Wizards are remarkably stupid when it comes to any non-magical solution to their problems. 14. “I accept there’s something strange about you, probably nothing a good beating wouldn’t have cured” – Vernon, I hope you choke on some dicks. Honestly there’s nothing ever remotely redeemable about this character. 15. “Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die” – HINTS AND FORESHADOWING, FUCKING JK I SWEAR 16. “Some of ’em came outta kinda trances” – IMPERIUS CURSE 17. Not gonna lie, I love how many hints and nods to later books we’re getting. I FEEL LIKE A DETECTIVE 18. “There was somethin’ goin’ on that night he hadn’t counted on — I dunno what it was, no one does” – Dumbledore knows, THE FUCKER

19. “Hagrid,” he said quietly, “I think you must have made a mistake. I don’t think I can be a wizard.” – poor precious baby, he still can’t believe he’s capable of amazing things, I just want to aggressively hug him for several years 20. I love how Hagrid and Harry just leave the Dursleys on the island, without a boat to get back to shore. 21.  IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS THAT COUNT 22. “They say there’s dragons guardin’ the high security vaults” – FUCKING JK MADE ME WAIT YEARS TO SEE THIS 23. “Harry, everyone’d be wantin’ magic solutions to their problems” – yes hi hello, I would like a magical solution to put my life together please and thank. Otherwise this is me on a daily basis:

24. “Crikey, I’d like a dragon.” – same tho 25. “sat knitting what looked like a canary-yellow circus tent” – Hagrid is the mother we all need and deserve in our lives 26. “Could there really be piles of wizard gold buried miles beneath them?” – can I like, find one of these piles? I just need a tiny one. 27. Okay but how does everyone know that it’s Harry Potter with Hagrid? It can’t be just the scar. Or his mother’s eyes, not everyone knew Lily. Also, other people have green eyes. Or is it common knowledge that Harry Potter has a scar? I mean THESE ARE THINGS THAT KEEP ME UP AT NIGHT 28. “I’ve g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself.” He looked terrified at the very thought” – I know HP was written years before, but imagine Quirrel + Voldemort reading Twilight and engaging in shipping wars; Quirrel is team Jacob and Voldemort is team Edward, because they have the same pale skin tone and Voldemort has always secretly wanted to sparkle in the sunlight. It’d have been the next thing he’d have researched after making the Horcruxes: “How to sparkle like the queen that you are. A Guide” 29. “Harry leaned over the side to try to see what was down at the dark bottom” – YOLOOOOOO 30. “Harry didn’t know where to run first now that he had a bag full of money” – me when I get my paycheck 31. “imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I’d leave, wouldn’t you?” – PUFF PRIDE BADGERS FOREVER FUCK THE HATERS 32. NO KITCHEN FOOD FOR YOU FUCK YOU ALL

33. “Yes, exactly. I heard he’s a sort of savage — lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed.” – Draco, stop being a little stuck-up bitch no one likes you 34. We already got a glimpse of the bigotry and discrimination in the wizarding world and honestly, little ol’ me should have known that these books would be more than oooooooh pretty magiiiiiiic yaaaaasssss 35. Like, child, get over yourself, this is SERIOUS 36. “Everyone says Hufflepuff are a lot o’ duffers, but —” – oh my gOD STAHP WITH THE PUFF HATE I WILL POP A VEIN 37. “the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps in covers of silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a few books with nothing in them at all” – can I move there it’s better than Beast’s library. YES I WENT THERE 38. “Hagrid wouldn’t let Harry buy a solid gold cauldron” – Harry knows what’s up gold is the WAY TO GO. I mean, go big or go home 39. “Just yer wand left — oh yeah, an’ I still haven’t got yeh a birthday present.” – protect Hagrid if it’s the last thing you do in this world 40. Ollivander remembering every wand he has ever sold is me remembering the petty things people did to me throughout my life and looking for the perfect time to exact revenge 41. “It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather — just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother — why, its brother gave you that scar.” – this plot twist SHOOK me

42. “I don’t know anything about magic at all. How can they expect great things?” – poor Harry, imagine the pressure. Also, he is literally every kid expected to succeed in school/life. EXPECTATIONS CRUSH US. 43. I CAN’T WAIT FOR HIM TO GET TO HOGWARTS THIS BOOK IS GIVING LIFE TO MY SOUL

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[two-friends-read-hp]

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: The Man with Two Faces

It was Quirrell! Oh WOW I never would’ve guessed! (Honestly though when I first read this I was deffo shocked)

Also its the End of the Beginning! Seventeen seems like an odd number to finish on but then you know how Jo likes the number 7 so much… also the final climax is combined with the end of the book… that seems a bit weird, but I don’t really know the reasoning behind it anyways

Hah these explanations seem like a bit much, like he’s answering all these questions nobody has asked him yet… like the fact that he knew exactly what Harry meant when he said, ‘...but Snape tried to kill me…’ and he was like, ‘no no I tried to kill you and I happened to notice that Snape was there and I also happened to notice he was muttering a counter curse and also I happened to notice your friend Granger who knocked me over even though she was supposed to be behind the stands and also I happened to notice that Granger set fire to Snape…’ You see what I mean?

Ew, having a gift with Trolls is not something I’d be proud of Quirrell

If the key to getting the stone from the mirror was wanting it not so that you could use it yourself, how come Quirrell wasn’t able to get the stone, especially if he saw himself in the mirror giving it to Voldemort? Maybe that was the one scenario that also wouldn’t have gotten you the stone, the one with Voldemort in it

OH YEAH Quirrell was there when they went to Gringotts of course!

Lol do you think Voldemort saw Harry fall over at that moment? And he was like: hmm what is he trying to do? Look into the mirror? USE THE BOY QUIRRELL!

Did Quirrell have to shave his head for this?

How did Voldemort know about the stone in his pocket? Do you think that even back then he could sense the part of himself that was in Harry and that’s how he knew somehow?

Lol Quirrell was walking backwards, he couldn’t even see what was going on though, unless it was Voldemort making him do it

I’d say poor Quirrell but he kinda deserved it

I respect that through the pain, Harry realised what he had to do and jumped into action

WOOOOW I never realised they said, ‘...Voldemort’s yells of ‘KILL HIM! KILL HIM!’ and other voices, maybe in Harry’s own head, crying, ‘Harry! Harry!’...’ amazing

Oh yeah now the friends and admirers don’t care about house points

Lol I love the sentence, ‘What happened down in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally the whole school knows.’

Harry was so preoccupied with the whereabouts of the stone that he forgot that he could’ve literally died

‘You did do the thing properly, didn’t you?’ So he expected him to stop Quirrell? Or is he just remarking on how Harry didn’t only stop Quirrell, he found out the full story behind the philosopher’s stone too before he did? I don’t see how he could’ve stopped Quirrell without knowing the full story

Interesting, because Voldemort wasn’t fully alive, he couldn’t be killed… that’s immortality Voldemort! Isn’t that what you wanted? You can’t be killed now!

LOL the very first thing he asks is the forbidden question

‘...to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection for ever.’

I mean, I’d use the invisibility cloak to sneak off to the kitchens too… in fact that’s the only thing I’d use it for lol

I like how he lets Harry refer to Quirrell without the Professor title, but when Harry mentioned Snape, Dumbledore’s like ‘Professor Snape’, it seems like he’s implying that Quirrell doesn’t deserve that respect anymore

Ok but again as Dumbledore explained, only if you wanted to find the stone and not use it, you’d be able to acquire the stone; So how come Quirrell wasn’t able to get it? I guess there probably definitely was an enchantment preventing you from getting the stone for Voldemort

Oooooh maybe Quirrell was lying! I never considered that… ok then

How would you even know what earwax tastes like???

I can’t believe Harry actually remembered the words Dumbledore used

Ok so Dumbledore expected Harry to go after him

HERMIONE IS RIGHT. YOU COULD’VE BEEN KILLED. WHAT WAS DUMBLEDORE THINKING.

I mean, even if he wanted to give Harry a chance, he couldn’t have known that Quirrell couldn’t touch Harry… I suppose giving him the cloak and making sure he knew how to use the mirror was some kind of preparation as opposed to going in blind. I think it was more of a test, he wanted to see if Harry would rise up to the challenge, he wanted to see the kind of person he was dealing with, especially if he was going to formulate his plan for defeating Voldemort

They should cancel matches if the seeker of either team isn’t there… but I guess there is potential to win despite not being able to catch the snitch

I wonder how much gossip Madame Pomfrey has heard in her lifetime from people at the hospital wing

Lol Harry just bellowed VOLDEMORT at Hagrid

Aww Harry couldn’t speak

Ooh Hufflepuff placed third! That’s great! Lol, they’re about to be placed last

‘...cool logic in the face of fire…’ nice

Ah yes the best part

‘It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.’

Did anyone apologise to Neville for that body-bind curse?

I don’t think they’d fail you guys that easily, since it’s your first time practicing magic

Lol people saying bye to Harry like they know him

Yep I feel the same way Hermione

WOW We’re done!

This chapter was called The Man with Two Faces but I feel like 75% was the end of the book… I guess chapter seventeen was too small to just have Quirrell’s encounter? But they’ve had shorter chapters in here no? Ah well

This has been Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

:D

Chamber of Secrets

[homenum-revelio-hq]

Welcome (again) to the Order of the Phoenix, Gabe!

You have been accepted for the role of non-biography character CORA CHITTOCK with the faceclaim of Hunter Schafer! We were thrilled to see a veela character in a non-fanon way and can’t wait to see what you bring to the veela lore! We are so excited to see what you do with Cora! 

Please take a look at the new member checklist and send in your account within 24 hours! Thank you for joining the fight against Voldemort!

OUT OF CHARACTER:

NAME: Gabe

AGE: Still 22!

TIMEZONE: GMT-3

ACTIVITY LEVEL: Pretty solid, eh? I always go missing in the weekends because it’s Official Socializing Time, but then I make up for it during the week, mostly

ANYTHING ELSE: Nope!

CHARACTER DETAILS:

NAME: Cora Chittock

BLOOD STATUS: Half-Blood/Half-Breed (Veela)

AGE: 18

GENDER, PRONOUNS, and SEXUALITY: Trans girl, she/her/hers, lesbian. She can’t imagine her transition is anyone’s business, so I wouldn’t think that is something she’ll talk about at all these days, but her sexuality is definitely public knowledge, as she makes it her mission to make it obvious whenever the opportunity for it presents itself. She’s heard it too many times before that her interest in women is simply another cheap tactic to rebel against veela expectations, and she likes to assure everyone that nope, the 12-year-old knew what she was talking about, and she’s still very much gay.

HOUSE ALUMNI: Slytherin

ANY CHANGES: I wrote this myself, so nope!

CHARACTER BACKGROUND:

PERSONALITY:

Cora is an avocado – soft on the outside, hard on the inside. Some may argue – and she would argue with those some – that she doesn’t even have a soft exterior at all. Nothing is what it seems with her. There was no hesitance from the Sorting Hat when it sent her straight into Slytherin, its booming voice making the announcement as soon as it touched the first strand of hair on her head, much to her sister’s dismay.

        Being a veela wasn’t something she was conscious of until somewhere around third year. Or, at least, it wasn’t something that bothered her before that. It wasn’t hard to fit in right from the first day at Hogwarts, life was easy to navigate as an eleven-year-old that almost everyone feels inclined to like; Cora used to love the attention. She had many friends, teachers liked her, there was nothing to complain about! That’s what most people think about veela, anyway, and it might be true for a while, but only until you’re no longer a child. People’s intentions change. Her classmates’ friendly smiles and high-fives became inappropriate remarks and catcalls down the hallway. She went from Good Friend to Object of Desire in what felt like the blink of an eye and she despised it.

And no one cared, she quickly learned, about the veela complaining about getting too much attention, being too liked. It’s like complaining you have too much food to eat, or a bed too comfortable to sleep in! At least it’s how everyone saw it. Even her family refused to acknowledge the issue. Get used to it, they’d say. Welcome to the real world!

Cora isn’t one to sit idly by while someone has to deal with any sort of abuse – not herself, not anyone else. She learned quickly that no one else seemed to care about her fight, but she wasn’t gonna fight any less because of it. She just had to become her own fortress.

Her charisma and charm are still there, but now, every time she smiles, she’s baring her teeth. Every flip of hair is weaponized, every bat of eyelashes is a threat. She learned how to defend herself before anyone had a chance to do something more than hide behind catcalls and love letters. There are several expectations when it comes to veela, and she’s willing to break every single one of them, if she can. She’s still friendly and flirty when she wants to be, but she’s loud. Self-assertive to the point of brashiness, energetic and sarcastic, with the mouth of a sailor and a tongue sharp enough to kill. Every bit of her is a quiet armor, the pieces carefully collected and glued together over the years, though she still sees everything with unbeatable humor. Her skin is as soft as her edges are sharp and she’ll always throw the first punch. She refuses to be the fragile little fairy-thing made to cater to the fetishizing ideal of acceptable half-breed, and she won’t apologize for it.

She still keeps her fair deal of friends around, even though nowadays she prefers those who don’t seem to react to her much. Her defenses are up so high that it’s become a problem – maybe she has thrown a couple fireballs at one or two innocent people who she thought were following her, yes, can you blame the girl? –, but she’s pleasant company when she’s not climbing up on any tables and delivering speeches about half-breed rights that no one wants to hear.

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF FAMILY:

The Chittock sisters never really met their mother. It’s a complicated story, really – at least that’s what Cora heard all her life. Their father, an eccentric wizard devastated by the loss of his beloved veela companion, never told his daughters what really happened. When they were little, he would tell them these crazy fantastic stories of how their mother was and why she had to leave, but that only lasted a couple of years, until the girls grew up and realized these were products of his mind. And terribly inconsistent stories, at that.

He’s not crazy, Cora would say, but he’s, perhaps, not the most sane man she’s ever laid her eyes upon, sure. He’s a conspiracist and a bit of a nutcase, but he has a heart bigger than his body, and that’s how he raised his daughters to be. He loves them more than anything, and they know it.

Cora has a good relationship with her family, through and through. She loves her sister, even if they pick fights with each other sometimes, and she loves her dad even if he insists on cooking and burning the dinner every single night. They’re not too supportive of her feisty ways, and they would surely lose all the hairs on their head if they knew about her finding her way into the Order, but she’s not planning on telling.

Despite the absent mother and the lack of explanation that comes with it, the girl has never felt like anything was missing from her family. In fact, before she was even a teenager she’d already stopped asking questions about her mom’s fate, knowing it would only sadden her father and get her some nonsense response in return. Her family’s not a big one, but it’s perfect, as far as she knows. They’re as good of a support system as any, she thinks.

OCCUPATION:

Cora works at Eeylops Owl Emporium, at Diagon Alley. It wouldn’t be hard to get any sort of part-time job with the Veela charm turned all the way up, and while Glenda chose a much more artistic path with her own show, Cora decided she didn’t want all of that attention. No, instead, as soon as she was out of school, she marched right up to her favorite shop in Diagon Alley, and sweet talked until they gave her a position in there. It’s her dream job, for the moment, even if it pays terribly. Her family is quite wealthy and she doesn’t plan on moving out immediately, so it’s not like she needs piles of money. Here, she gets to hang out with the pretty little birds for most of her day, and it’s incredibly soothing. She thinks it might be the Veela bird-like tendencies that make her feel so comforted to be surrounded by the little winged animals, but she won’t question it. The owls keep her calm, and they seem happy to have her around, and she gets to help little eleven-year-olds to pick new friends. It’s a pretty fun job.

ROLE WITHIN THE ORDER/THOUGHTS ABOUT THE ORDER:

Cora still feels a little out of place in the order, but only because she’s new and hasn’t quite figured out who she can trust yet. She remembers some of these faces from school, but back then she’d been so busy perfecting her skills and learning defenses and dodging creeps that she would rather forget that time entirely, start fresh. The tiny self-conscious part of her worries she might be too brash for the crowd her age and too young for the older people, and that she’ll float somewhere in between, but she’s willing to make her presence known either way. She believes in their fight. She also, perhaps selfishly, believes she can have more of a voice if she has a group like this to back her up, and maybe she can convince them to join some rallies for half-breed and veela rights, while she’s at it. She certainly has been trying to make that happen for a while now. Cora sees the war for how heavy it is, and she knows how easily the tides could change against her, as a half-breed. As much as she vowed to fight her own battles, now she seeks protection, too. She knows no one is gonna survive on their own and if she can do something to help this end quicker, then it’s her duty to do so.

SURVIVAL:

Cora still lives with her family, and doesn’t plan on changing that anytime soon. Her father may be a nutcase, but their little hut in the middle of nowhere might also be the safest place she knows. She doesn’t know what it is about it that makes it feel so secure, but it does, at least for them (he told her once that her mother had enchanted it before she left, but he also said a number of ridiculous things, so she doesn’t believe it). She’s easily overlooked when it comes to this war. She’s a half-breed, but an acceptable one, one that society may praise from time to time, when it fits them. It’s just her and Glenda’s luck. Most people don’t seem to care about what the half-Veela are up to, and the rest who do, only care because they feel enchanted by them, so it’s mostly a win-win when it comes to hiding.

RELATIONSHIPS:

Cora doesn’t do relationships all that much. She’s never had a romantic relationship with anyone, nothing that ever went beyond some meaningless fooling around – even though there was and still is a lot of that. She likes the affection, she craves a human connection like that, but she doesn’t feel like she can have it until she learns to reel in all of her Veela charm. She’s still too young, too insecure. Even if she’s learned to keep most of her unwanted charm in, nowadays, she knows some people can still be affected. And how can she trust their affection, then? How can she know if the pretty girl who wants to date her won’t lose all of her interest suddenly, the day Cora learns to control her abilities better? She can’t. The line is blurry between someone loving you for the energy you put out, loving how you make them feel, or really loving you for who you are. She’s not willing to take any risks.

For that reason, she’s been known to still deliberately use her charisma here and there to get what she wants, but she tries to keep close to people who aren’t affected by her blood status at all. At least, those, she knows she can trust. Some specifics:

REGULUS BLACK: It’s not like they’re childhood friends or anything, but Cora might risk saying they were the closest friend she had in Hogwarts. It was a confusing, chaotic time back then, and when people started reacting differently to her, she found comfort in Regulus’ blatant indifference. She’s not fully convinced they even like her at all, as a friend or general company, but she still likes to hang out with them when she can.

DORCAS MEADOWES: They met because of Cora’s brief panic in fifth year, when a poor, sweet boy asked to be her date on a trip to Hogsmeade and she was too tired to be mean or blunt, as she usually was. Dorcas happened to be walking by, and Cora took the opportunity to grab her hand and yank her over before declaring she couldn’t accept the invitation, as she’d be going with this Hufflepuff, instead. She paid Dorcas back for any inconvenience by buying her some Pepper Imp on the trip, and she still occasionally helps distract her from her job nowadays, by visiting Flourish and Blotts and bringing candy.

OOC EXPLORATION:

SHIPS/ANTI-SHIPS: Cora/women is what I ship and Cora/dudes is the anti-ship, that’s pretty much it. Let my lesbian daughter thrive.

WHAT PRIVILEGES AND BIASES DOES YOUR CHARACTER HAVE?

Cora’s fatal flaw when it comes to biases is probably the fact that she wants to be an advocate for half-breed rights, but the truth is that she has no idea what that even means. She might wave that flag around and call people out, and she may get mad if anyone trashtalks any type of half-breed around her, but has she ever stopped to listen to another half-breed? Absolutely not.

Her concerns are very personal and Veela-focused, she doesn’t know what the other species are going through in the current society, and certainly not in this war, either. She wants to help everyone, genuinely, but she’s too caught up in the stuff Veela have to go through. They’re a particular type of half-breed, the model minority type, they are the ones who get invited to parties and get to escape from the general population’s scrutiny. On the other hand, they’re also victims to a lot of abuse and prejudice, and that’s the battle she’s (wrongly) focusing on. She says her fight is for all of the half-breeds because she knows her voice will have more of a reach that way, and she genuinely thinks it’s the right thing to do, to try and help others.

That being said, she is still a pretty sheltered half-Veela girl who lives a good, wealthy life, she’s never even seen many of the half-breeds she claims to be trying to help. She’d still be wary of a half-giant, and twist her nose at a half-goblin’s appearance.

Almost the same goes for her view of muggleborns, too. Circumstantially, the majority of her friends – and fellow housemates, back in her Hogwarts years – are purebloods or half-bloods, which means she hasn’t really ever heard from the muggleborns what they go through, and what they want. She’s angry, and loud, and she wants to be an activist for everyone, but she isn’t great at studying her causes.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO?

Absolutely NOTHING, I’ve heard this place is horrible!!! Yuck!!!! Delete my number!!!!! No but on a serious note, I’m dying to explore all of the Veela world and create a sensible, more inclusive lore for it (suck it, JKR). And this character is one that I’ve had in mind for months now, in sort of an abstract form, living somewhere in my brain in the room of Characters That Already Have a Voice But No Background Or Story. So I’m looking forward to finally flesh it out and write her!

PLOT DROP IDEAS:

I’m terrible at these BUT I’d be down for the Order wanting to use her Veela charm for something, like use her as bait or a distraction, because she would probably hate the idea of doing that and i’d love to watch her get pissy.

Also any opportunity to get her to use the fire hands, obviously, that’d be amazing.

ANYTHING ELSE?

A Headcanon:

Not really into sports at all but tried to get into the Slytherin Quidditch team out of sheer spite because everyone kept saying Veela were only good for mascots, not for playing. She almost made it in as a Beater, which she’ll deem good enough to prove people wrong as long as she doesn’t have to ever do that again. Yes, she’s still bitter about it.

EXTRA FOR NON-BIO CHARACTERS:

PAST:

Cora Chittock grew up to be pretty alright, all things considered. Despite her absent mother, her father and sister were all the family she needed, and she lived a sheltered life until she entered Hogwarts. There was where she discovered what being half-Veela really meant – and how she would have to try her best to repress that part of herself, if she wanted to stay safe. As a good Slytherin, of course, it was bite or get bitten. The charm and charisma that she flaunted as a child quickly turned into unwanted attention from her peers the second that hormones came into play. Everyone thought she was spoiled to complain, a rebel without a cause, but they didn’t know what it was like, to receive all these looks from people she had no interest in, people she didn’t like. She had all the attention she could possibly want, but loneliness still stung. Learning to be part Veela was learning to handle the harassment that came with it, and that was a hard lesson to learn.

PRESENT:

School had been hell for Cora, but now she’s finally found her footing. She worked hard to perfect her abilities to the point where her Veela charm is mostly controlled nowadays, and it makes her feel more confident than ever; she knows when she can, and should, display it around freely. That doesn’t mean all the past years haven’t left a bitter taste in her mouth. Now that she graduated Hogwarts, she wants to make sure people understand and listen to her side of things, too. Her people are still harassed every day, she’s not letting anyone forget that. These days, she can easily be found trying to organize marches and protests for half-breed rights, even if most of them fall through. She snuck her way into the Order as soon as she heard rumours of a resistance group existing at all, and she’s ready to give everything to fight this war. She believes in the group, she trusts her peers and she’s got her combat boots laced up and ready. Finally, she’s making the difference she wants to make in the world, right?

FC CHOICES: Hunter Schafer (truly my one and only, love of my life, but also to add other good names to the list because other rps need more representation anyway: ), Loiza Lamers, Hari Nef