#did Lockhart cast Obliviate on you?

[the-stars-were-his]

headcanon: obliviate isn't complete memory erasure. its result and power depends on the target memory, the human subject, and the power of the castor. the spell doesn't always erase the memory, but can also bury it or hide it.

every memory has emotion and other events tied to it. the stronger the emotion, and the more powerful/relevant/important it is to the person, the harder it is to get rid of. some of this is conscious, some not. a bad memory that you want to get rid of will be easier to obliviate than a good memory tied to powerful emotion or important life event (like a wedding or good times with your friends/family).

the people involved matter too! the person being cast upon has ties to the memory. if that person tends to be super in tune with their emotions and generally feels strongly, their important and valuable memories will be hard to erase. if the person doesn't give much weight to the majority of their memories, the memories will have weaker ties to the person and therefore be easier to obliviate.

the castor is important! a strong witch/wizard will be able to use obliviate more effectively (like aurors over the average hogwarts student) (also how comfortable you are with the spell/how frequently you use it). the bond of the wizard and wand also matters, like with any spell. with a strong enough wizard and enough emotion within the castor (the castor's willingness and emotions matter too!), a powerful/important memory can be almost entirely buried.

example: lockhart! his memory was entirely erased, and as far as we know, it never returned. we know that he was particularly skilled at obliviate, so it makes sense that the spell was powerful. ron's wand (which he used) was also malfunctioning, causing uneven distributions of power (although he didn't have a bond with it, basically nobody did at this point). when considering lockhart's life story, it's likely that he wanted a chance at a new life, somewhere inside (just being optimistic here...). if you add all this together, you get his situation! he also doesn't seem like the type to value his memories in a sentimental way, nor the type to worry about emotions (both for himself and for others).

and that's it! if you got this far, here's a heart ❤️

[mizutoyama]

Seriously, Bill…

[ravenclaw-reblogs]

hello hi would it be okay if i asked you to try and write a little fluffly wolfstar drabble? (i don't know how to finish this so i'm just gonna say i hope you have a lovely day :) okay bye *waves awkwardly*)

Sirius Black was by no means a perfect man. He could be impulsive, careless, generally reckless... and jealous. Oh so very jealous.

It's not that he was intentionally possessive, or that he was at all controlling over Remus. Quite the opposite, he trusted Remus' loyalty more than anything. But whenever he caught sight of someone cosying up to his ever-oblivious boyfriend, he couldn't help that possessive stir in his stomach.

On this occasion that someone was Gilderoy-bloody-Lockhart, some fresh-out-of-Hogwarts punk who seemed to have made it his personal mission to swipe the lovely Remus Lupin right out of Sirius Black's arms. This wasn't the first time the twat had tried it on with Sirius' love. He'd made some overly-complimentary comments on all of Sirius' instagram posts that featured Remus (which was most of them), and some less than PG ones on Remus' own few photos. While it only made Remus mildly uncomfortable, it sent Sirius' blood boiling.

Despite being a few years their junior, Lockhart really didn't know when to quit. As usual, Remus was unable to tell friendly small talk from blatant flirting, and brushed Gilderoy's comments off as harmless jokes. Sirius didn't understand how Remus could be so oblivious!

It's not that he was at all worried about Remus leaving him for the bastard, or even had any real cause for concern over Remus' safety (Merlin knows he can hold his own in a duel), but the sheer arrogance of Lockhart as he cast smug glances in Sirius' direction while he shamelessly flirted with Remus made Sirius' hands ball into fists.

Lockhart pulled out his phone, no doubt to pull up one of his awful shirtless selfies, and Sirius saw his chance. He made his way over and wrapped his arms around Remus' body from behind, leaning down to press a kiss into his boyfriend's pulse point. The suprised noise that left Remus' lips was enough to attract Lockhart's attention and Sirius stayed in place a second more, relishing the irate flush creeping up the prat's face, before spinning Remus in his arms and sweeping him out onto the dance floor.

"Hey you," Remus fell into step as they spun slowly on the spot amidst several other couples, "where did you come from?"

"James and Lily went to relieve the babysitter. Can you really not tell he wants you?" Sirius didn't intent to mention his ridiculous posessiveness at all, let alone so abruptly. He quickly cut off Remus' undoubtedly whirring mind. "Not that I don't trust you or anything, you know I do, but he's clearly after you..."

If anything, Remus just seemed confused. "Who? Gilderoy?" Sirius gave a glowering nod "Oh don't be silly, he'd hardly out of school-"

"-which is exactly why he's got the balls to think he has a chance with the sexiest werewolf I know!" Remus snorted at that. Sirius didn't see what was funny "It winds me the fuck up!"

Remus leaned up and pressed a kiss to Sirius' jaw. Sirius was satisfied to see Lockhart's knuckles turn white around his glass. "You're cute when you're jealous. Really though, I don't know what you're talking about. To be honest I've never really paid him that much mind." Sirius' ego purred.

"Still, I want him to know that you're definitely-" Remus chuckled as he was pulled closer and Sirius' hand snaked low down his back "-off the market."

Remus laughed again. He's enjoying this, Sirius realised. He was shaken from his thoughts as Remus rested his temple on his shoulder and pressed his nose into Sirius' neck. Sirius didn't even notice Lockhart's glass shatter in his fist.

Sirius smiled as Remus pressed light kisses above his shirt collar, nestling his nose into Remus' curls. "Wanna go home?"

He felt Remus smile against his skin. "Thought you'd never ask."

***

Remus awoke to a mysteriously self-satisfied boyfriend, even more smug than he normally was after their... activities the previous night. Sirius was popped up against the headboard, one arm behind his head and the other tracing shapes on Remus' bare back.

"What's gotten into you?" Remus' voice was hoarse with sleep, eliciting a chuckle from Sirius. "You look all pleased."

"You certainly pleased me last night, love" Remus snorted and the hand stilled, coming up to brush through Remus' hair. Sirius' shit-eating grin still didn't let up. "Check your phone."

Remus reached over to the nightstand and brought the device in front of his face. Squinting as his eyes adjusted, the first thing Remus saw was a notification that Sirius had tagged him in an Instagram post. Not an unusual thing, considering that Sirius' social media is pretty much a photo album of Remus, but the timestamp of 06:04 was rather out of the ordinary.

"What did you do?"

"Just open it!" Sirius' grin widened as he watched Remus click the notification.

The photo was of Remus, as usual, except Remus was naked. Kind of. He was laying on his front in their bed, the sheet just barely reaching his lower back, making it clear he was bare beneath. Beams of light through the blinds illuminated the contours of his back, and made it impossible to miss the purplish red marks sucked into his shoulders and neck.

His immediate though was relief that his family didn't have Instagram, quickly followed by a thrill at being seen this way. By Sirius, by Sirius' flock of admirers, by... ah. So that's why he's looking so smug.

Remus' thoughts were intercepted as Sirius' strong arm hauled him up to where his boyfriend could hold him close, pressing open-mouthed kisses into the dip of his collarbone. "You're so gorgeous, no wonder they all chase after you."

Before Remus could respond, Sirius muttered "let's see what Lockhart had to say about that..."

Remus burst out laughing, setting Sirius off too. His boyfriend had his faults, and could be ridiculous sometimes, but he wouldn't change him for the world.

As usual, I'm incapable of writing anything without a dash of ✨spice✨ in amongst the fluff. I tried to weave in that comfortable domestic sort of fluff you get from a couple that have been together a while and are as in love as ever, which is exactly how I see these two. If I'm honest, I had this idea separately and decided to try and mould it to fit your lovely and versatile request, so I hope you liked it 🥰💙

[accioromione]

I love ron but there was a huge shift of his character from book 3 to 4, he went from literally not minding Harry's fame at all to always being jealous. It seemed so FORCED in book 4 onwards. Like jealous of the cup, jealous of him having gold, jealous of his robes, jealous of him being able to ask out any girl to the yule ball, jealous of Viktor I feel like because it was planned for him to leave she had to force that but it seemed unnatural tbh

I do think JKR pushed it with the Krum thing to kind of make it obvious Ron likes Hermione, otherwise people wouldn’t know right? She had to kind of make it over the top so like it's CLEAR that Ron likes her. If he’s okay with it, it just shows they’re good friends. I think that if this wasn't the case then Ron wouldn't have been as jealous, he’d be annoyed but get over it. As to the thing with Harry, Ron is pretty great overall with him. I think what you’re missing is how the books are told from Harry’s view and not Ron’s so you don’t really see how Ron’s experiencing things. 

So naturally, let me do an essay talking about Ron’s jealousy and where it stems from and why it’s justified. 

In the first book we see Ron and Harry becoming friends, people oggle at him, but Ron does not seem to mind. Becoming friends so early on, Ron ends up viewing Harry as a friend instead of the celebrity everyone else see’s him as. Ron assists Harry in taking down Voldemort in his first year, and he gets recognized for it by Dumbledore. Now people may not see this, but although he gets recognized- he is awarded 50 points. Now here is something to remember, at this moment- Slytherin is 160 points ahead of Gryffindor. Ron has just one them 50 points- yeah it’s great- but they need another 110 points to be tied.  Hermione gives them 50 extra points and starts crying. Then Harry is awarded 60. This makes them tied with Slytherin, and is obviously, 10 more points than Ron gone. So is once again, second best.  Ron’s moment is instantly overtook by Harry. Now Harry actually gets overtook by Neville winning 10 points, making Gryffindor win, Now in my opinion Ron doesn’t care at all because he immediately goes to cheer on neville, from book one to three I think Ron is generally okay with being overshadowed- but he just like anyone else would has a breaking point, which happens to be in Goblet of Fire . 

In the second book he goes  with Harry to the forbidden forrest, facing his arachnophobia, and goes to the chamber of secrets with him. It’s his broken wand that causes Lockhart to obliviate himself- otherwise the both of them would have been obliviated. And yes he has motives, it is his sister. But remember, Ginny has three other brothers in her school, does this mean they don’t care about her? Of course not. Ron just trusts Harry in a way that other characters can’t. Harry can talk to snakes and the whole school basically thinks he is the heir of Slytherin, so maybe falling Harry into a forbidden forrest or chamber of secrets isn’t something everyone is so keen on doing. But Ron trusts Harry and is willing to risk his life to be alongside him. Now is it ROn’s fault they get seperated in the chamber? No. Did Ron help as much as Harry, of course. Dumbledore gives them special services to the school for a reason. However a key thing to note is that Ginny does not see Ron. Who does she see? Harry. What is she going to tell her mum? Well, that Harry saved her. She is already a huge fan of him, so this already adds into her narrative. So what happens when Molly Weasley comes to see Ginny? She goes to hug Harry and thanks him right away, when Ron is right there. Ron says nothing, and he’s probably just happy that she’s safe. But what do you think happened when they went home that summer? Ginny gushed about Harry, she mentioned how he had saved her. Of course, she hadn’t seen Ron so it wasn’t her fault. But this yet again, shows Ron being overshadowed by Harry even though he himself contributed to her well being.

Come the third book, we see this quote

‘“Did you really blow up your aunt, Harry?” said Hermione in a very serious voice. “I didn’t mean to,” said Harry while Ron roared with laughter. “I just — lost control.” “It’s not funny, Ron,” said Hermione sharply. “Honestly, I’m amazed Harry wasn’t expelled.” “So am I,” admitted Harry. “Forget expelled, I thought I was go­ing to be arrested.” He looked at Ron. “Your dad doesn’t know why Fudge let me off, does he?” “Probably ’cause it’s you, isn’t it?” shrugged Ron, still chuckling. “Famous Harry Potter and all that. I’d hate to see what the Min­istry’d do to me if I blew up an aunt. Mind you, they’d have to dig me up first, because Mum would’ve killed me. Anyway, you can ask Dad yourself this evening. We’re staying at the Leaky Cauldron tonight too! So you can come to King’s Cross with us tomorrow! Hermione’s there as well!”

This shows that Ron is not ignorant to Harry’s favouritism, he is well aware that harry is more recognized than him. Obviously he is not mad, he’s laughing and thinks it’s great. But it shows how he is well aware that Harry has a treatment that he doesn't, this is important. This is where we get a glimpse of Ron’s perspective in the books. If you experience the events from Ron’s perspective, you’re going through all the adventures Harry goes through minus the same recognition. 

Now Goblet of Fire comes along, Harry is chosen to be in the tournament. Ron really wanted to sign up- but he was too young. Keep in mind he's mad at Harry because he thinks Harry found a way to sign up without him, not because he signed up. Ron deals with being pushed to the side all the time and genuinely cares about Harry. Ron just wants to be seen as his equal, he doesn’t care that Harry gets recognition. He literally just wants to be an equal counterpart. He apologizes when he see’s the danger Harry is in and puts that behind him. 

Order of the Phoenix Ron beats Harry in one thing- becoming a prefect, and Harry is instantly salty. Keep in mind that Ron has been dealing with this for FIVE YEARS, long term. This one little minuscule thing has Harry feeling some way. Instead of being happy, he APOLOGIZES to Harry. He says he was sure Harry was going to get it. This shows the regard he has for Harry, the difference is, unlike everything else, this is something they simply can’t both have, only one person can be prefect. Then we see Ron literally telling Harry all the things he’s faced and Harry rubbing it in Hermione and Ron’s faces that they haven’t experienced what he has. I personally thought this was so rude. Yes Harry stabbed the diary, yes Harry cast the patronus charm, and yes Harry saw Voldemort. But Ron was with him in the chamber, Ron drove the car, Ron kept Lockhart imprisoned, you think Ron can’t stab a book with a fang? Of course he can. Ron’s leg was literally broken in POA, and he still stood up on it to fight Sirius. Where have we ever seen a time where Ron can’t handle himself? Harry is different, he has this core connection with Voldemort, most of his victories are not due to him- take GOF for example. And what would Harry have done in POA without Hermione’s time turner? Nothing. GOF he wouldn’t have made it past the Dragon if Ron didn’t get Hagrid to tell him he was facing a dragon. Instead of Ron saying all of this he sits and takes it because he knows Harry has it worse than him in terms of Voldemort. He encourages Harry to start DA But also remember why the hell can Harry cast a patronus in the first place? Did he learn it himself? No! Lupin went out of his way to TEACH him, you think Ron wouldn't have been capable if Lupin had done the same with him? Of course, in DA we see Ron casting a patronus! He goes with Harry to the Ministry, he gets hit by a death eater, SO DOES Hermione Granger, why is Harry unaffected? Because the death eaters were TOLD not to harm Harry because VOLDEMORT wanted him! In the end Harry needs help, he needs the order and dumbledore. What comes out of all of this? Harry being recognized. That’s all. 

Come HBP , people don’t care about Luna or Neville, Hermione only mentions how Harry is so liked because people know how he was in the Ministry. Then the slug club comes, imagine a club like this in your school, that is BLATANT favouritism, Harry has all these fangirls, and then is a part of this club literally for his name. He’s also now quidditch captain- Ron isn’t even mad, he even jokes that Harry will be his captain if he lets him on the team again. Then he helps Harry yet again with the death eaters and all of that and then we go into DH. 

The jealousy comes into play with Harry and Hermione, which honestly Hermione had a part to play in this, Hermione does treat Harry differently from Ron, she’s like always more concerned about him and we know (well some of us) know it’s because he’s like her brother so it’s an overly protective sister kind of thing with him, but with Ron she likes him so she’s not as coddling, she treats him like she's his girlfriend which he fails to see. She also compliments Harry because it means nothing to her but she’s more reserved with complimenting Ron because she likes him (very teenager), she can say Harry’s handsome and not care but be too shy to say Ron is because of how she feels with regards to him.  Ron obviously misreads this. Anyways, at the end of the day,  him leaving isn’t down to jealousy, it’s down to frustration and Harrys’ lack of empathy for his family. When he comes back we see the Harry/Hermione thing which is just a bigger picture of giving insight to how Ron has seen everything. Ron is so good about it we never really heard his insecurities. But it’s sad how he see’s himself. So honestly, I feel for him and the man had a lot of patience. Hermione and Harry have no regards for his insecurities, Hermione mentions his insecurities ONCE in GOF and then goes onto say Harry should have been perfect, Harry is so brave for going in the ministry, I’m 100% Hermione thought she was giving Ron’s too many hints about her liking him so she didn’t feel like she had to compliment him. Like an ‘obviously I like you so I don’t need to tell how how much all the time,’ but you know Ron misreads it and he gives off that tough persona so Hermione fails to see how he is an actual puppy who hides behind humour. Tabloids are out about Harry and Hermione and how they’re so in love all of that, like he was justified for all his jealousies and he still stood and loved Harry none-the-less, so I think failure to recognize his experience takes from why he was jealous in the first place and that he’s not a bad person for being jealous given the situations he’s been put into. 

[rainybookshop]

Of Gryffindors and Rainy Sundays

Fandom: Harry Potter

Words: 2, 232

Read it on AO3 here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22298461?view_adult=true

It’s a typical rainy, dismal Sunday in April when Marcus Flint wakes up with a truly wicked hangover and Oliver Wood in his bed.

Of course, at first all he’s aware of is the horrible pounding at his temples and the queasy feeling in his gut and the way his veins sort of feel like sandpaper. But as he blinks his way into reluctant wakefulness, he can feel soft sheets against his - entirely - bare skin and the weight of a strong, freckled arm thrown across his chest, and, if he squints, he thinks he can make out a trail of clothing leading from the door to the foot of the bed. He can also smell the faint hint of someone else’s cologne in the air, an appealing, slightly spicy scent that seems vaguely familiar somehow, and beyond that, there are soft little snores drifting up from somewhere on his right. Marcus scowls, feeling his already impressively bad mood sour further. He fucking hates snoring.

He doesn’t think he actually had that much to drink last night – although it’s clear from the vicious pounding in his head that he wasn’t remotely sober – but the combination of a hangover and his general grogginess in the mornings tends to leave him horrifically disoriented when he wakes up after drinking. So he’s sure the pieces of last night will come back to him after a shower and some headache potion and a very strong cup of tea, but for now all he can remember is going to the pub with Terence and Adrian. He thinks Adrian might have been called back to work, and given his level of nausea he’s pretty sure there must have been shots, and for some reason he thinks he can remember a Puddlemere Chant? And…

Holy shit.

He’s pretty sure he can remember sitting and having drinks with the entire Puddlemere team last night, doing Quidditch-themed shots and earnestly telling Viktor Krum that he's a big fan and chatting amicably for hours with Oliver fucking Wood. The rest of the night is as hazy as ever, but Marcus feels the first tendrils of anxiety unfurl in his stomach, because going from drinking with other players to waking up with a man in his bed does not bode well at all for someone who has always kept work and pleasure separate.

So as much as he desperately wants to go back to sleep for the next six hours or so, he also really wants to figure out what the fuck happened, not to mention get some water and dislodge whatever idiotic stranger has had the audacity to snuggle him in his sleep. He’s reaching up to unceremoniously remove the admittedly well-muscled arm from his chest when he sees something that makes his stomach clench with an uncharacteristic sense of panic.

The man is wearing a ring. Not a wedding ring - which Marcus would never have been stupid enough to let happen, because there is nothing less discreet than a wronged, vengeful wife - but something much, much worse. There, on the middle finger of the man’s right hand, sits a large Hogwarts signet ring. For Gryffindor.

Jesus Christ. Marcus briefly wonders if he can trust his absolutely rubbish Charm work enough to try Obliviating himself, but unless he wants to risk ending up roommates with Lockhart in the Janus Thickey Ward, he thinks he’s shit out of luck.

Because the problem is, while he’s seen the gaudy, stupid class rings on several Hogwarts grads over the years, there’s one person in particular he remembers wearing this one. Specifically on the middle finger of his right hand, for luck in each Quidditch match.

He really, really doesn’t want to roll over and find out if he was just as colossally stupid last night as he suspects, but he also doesn’t want to spend any longer silently panicking in his bed in the arms of a Gryffindor. So he takes a deep breath, closes his eyes for a moment, and shifts to the right.

And right there, sprawled inelegantly across most of his mattress, handsome face shoved unceremoniously into one of his admittedly expensive pillows, is a blissful-looking Oliver Wood. Even in the grey light filtering through his curtains, Marcus can make out Quidditch-toned muscles and a jagged-looking scar on one shoulder and, he notes with a terrifying mix of horror and arousal, a rather large bite mark on the side of Wood's neck. Marcus is still staring - and is absolutely not frozen with a sort of panicked indecision that would be mortifying in any other circumstance - when Wood cracks open one brown eye and regards Marcus sleepily for a moment.

“Morning,” Wood yawns, closing his eye again and settling deeper into the pillow with a contented little sigh.

Marcus stares blankly back, wondering absurdly if he’s finally taken too many Bludgers to the head and needs that spot in the Janus Thickey ward after all.

“Wood,” Marcus grits out, shoving him roughly in the shoulder. “Wake the fuck up.”

Wood groans slightly, attempting to burrow deeper into the mattress, and Marcus watches helplessly for a moment, refusing to acknowledge the feeling that blooms in his chest at how comfortable Wood looks wrapped up in his sheets. Shaking himself, Marcus pulls himself to a seated position, Accios his wand from somewhere in the haphazard pile of clothes on the floor and, with a whispered Aguamenti he manages on the second try, fills the cup on his bedside table with water. He gulps it down hungrily while simultaneously kicking Wood in the shin until Wood pulls his face out of the pillow with a muffled groan and fixes Marcus with a glare that would probably be impressive if he weren't still half-asleep.

Marcus resolutely avoids Wood's eyes as he refills the glass again and takes another generous swig before, in an unusual moment of generosity, offering the rest to Wood, who hastily pulls himself up to lean against the pillows next to Marcus, close enough that their arms are almost brushing. Wood takes the water gratefully, downing the contents in about 3 seconds flat before setting the empty glass on top of the stack of Quidditch magazines on the bedside table. Marcus is painfully aware of the scant inches between them and that neither of them are wearing anything beneath the sheets and that Wood has definitely noticed that the cover of the topmost Quidditch magazine features a giant glossy photo of Puddlemere.  

A profoundly uncomfortable silence falls.

“Do you…do you not remember?” Wood finally asks, biting his lip in concern. His voice is rough with sleep, accent more pronounced than normal, and Marcus resolves not to find it cute.

And the thing is, while the night’s a little hazy in places and he’s still not exactly sure how they made it back to his flat, Marcus definitely remembers now. In vivid, technicolour, earth-shattering clarity.

He remembers Wood shoving him up against the wall outside the pub and kissing him with an intensity that was almost dizzying, and tearing off Marcus's clothes so he could trail his lips over every exposed piece of skin, and looking down at him with a sort of breathless awe Marcus wasn't sure he deserved. He remembers letting himself get swept up in what was probably years' worth of tension, in a fierce rivalry that maybe wasn't entirely about Quidditch, and in how Wood's always been able to make him a little more reckless than he probably should be.

“No, I remember,” Marcus mutters, looking over at Wood before he thinks better of it.

Except now Wood looks dismayed, twisting his hands anxiously in his lap.

“I didn’t mean to…oh god. I didn’t mean to – to take advantage of you, or anything, I swear."

“Wood,” Marcus starts, but Wood doesn't seem to hear him.

"I thought - last night, you seemed so sure," Wood continues, running a hand through his already dishevelled hair and looking agitated, "but, if you weren’t, and I …shit, I’m so sorry...”

“I did want this, okay?" Marcus cuts in, staring at the vivid bite mark on Wood's neck and trying not to shudder at the memory. “But - that’s it, alright?" he adds hurriedly when Wood opens his mouth to respond. "I don’t get involved with Quidditch players,” Marcus tells him with finality.

Wood blinks, looking a little wrong-footed. Marcus resolutely doesn't notice the way Wood's nose scrunches up attractively when he frowns.

"So, er, you don't date them - Quidditch players I mean - or...?" Wood asks, shifting just a little closer and looking at him earnestly.

This close, Marcus can see every freckle spanning across Wood's cheeks and how one of his eyes is a little more green than the other and all he wants to do is kiss Wood on his stupidly soft-looking mouth and suddenly he can’t stand it anymore.

“Look, can you just – you need to leave, now,” Marcus tells Wood, nudging him none-too-gently with his foot and nodding decisively at the door.

Marcus catches the confused frown on Wood's face out of the corner of his eye before he drops his gaze resolutely to his lap, fiddling mindlessly with the sheet pooled around him for one long, tense moment, until he hears Wood mumble "right, then" in a tone he can't decipher. In the next instant, Marcus feels the bed shift next to him as Wood heaves the covers off of himself and rolls gracefully to his feet, carelessly slipping on a pair of pants and casting around for the rest of his clothes.

Marcus keeps his eyes fixed on his lap, trying desperately to feign nonchalance while - he's well aware - a half-dressed Oliver Wood makes his way around Marcus's room, sorting through the mess they left in the hazy desire of last night. Marcus is pretty sure he'll start shredding the sheet if he tugs at it any harder, but this might be the most uncomfortable situation he’s ever been in, and he’s had to watch Warrington and Montague act like they don’t fancy one another for years.

All of a sudden Wood is right in front of him, stretching up to retrieve his shirt from where it somehow ended up on the bedpost behind Marcus's head, and Marcus looks up before he can stop himself - the strong muscles is Wood's abdomen are stretched taut with the movement, and Marcus feels his mouth go dry.

Wood's gaze snaps to his and Marcus hurriedly drops his eyes, biting his lip in mortification when he feels a flush rise in his cheeks. He can feel the weight of Wood's gaze on him for one long, tense moment until Wood moves off to retrieve his jumper from where it's entangled on the floor with Marcus's trousers, cloak, and socks, and Marcus lets out a silent sigh of relief.

"So, I'll just be going then," Wood tells him a few moments later, with what might be a hint of hesitation in his tone. Marcus nods once, slightly, before he realizes that now it must look like he can't even make eye contact with a fully clothed Oliver Wood, which is possibly the most humiliating aspect of this entire situation. So he forces himself to look up at Wood, who's standing in front of him holding his cloak, mouth downturned just slightly at the corners.

Wood who also, apparently, still looks stupidly handsome while nursing what's undoubtedly a rather pronounced hangover, and Marcus wants to smack himself for noticing, because - he can't be doing this. He's already been horribly careless, and he needs to stop this now before he runs an even greater risk of ruining the career he's worked so hard for.

Then Wood runs a hand through his hair awkwardly, and Marcus's eyes are drawn helplessly to the way the muscles in Wood's arm flex with the motion before he locks eyes with Wood again, who's staring at him with an intensity that sends a shiver up his spine. Marcus sits up straighter, trying to pull himself together, and he catches the moment Wood's eyes drop to the way the sheets have slipped a little lower around his waist to expose the bruises - of what are undoubtedly Wood's fingerprints - he can feel etched on his hips. Marcus is hit with an unnerving sense of déjà vu as Wood bites his lip and he can't stop himself from looking at Wood's mouth again, and Marcus is dimly aware of how his breath is coming faster and that there's a frenetic sort of energy surging through his veins the same way it does before he's about to make a particularly risky Quidditch play.

Then he looks back up to meet Wood's gaze, which is dark with want and unmistakably, disarmingly, fascinatingly intense and -

"Goddammit," Marcus growls, reaching forward hurriedly for Wood, who immediately presses closer, tossing his cloak carelessly to the side so he can take Marcus's face in his hands and kiss him soundly. Marcus fists a hand in Wood's collar to tug him impatiently back into bed, and Wood smiles against his mouth before leaning back to hastily strip off his shirt again, and well - Marcus figures that once more won't really make a difference, anyway.

***

When Marcus wakes up the following Sunday, mercifully not as hungover but no less entangled with a softly snoring Oliver Wood, he really thinks he should be less surprised.

[ottogatto]

There IS hope for Remus and the other werewolves!

May I present you

The Homorphus Charm

The second Harry Potter book describe its effects thanks to Lockhart here:

"Nice loud howl, Harry - exactly - and then, if you'll believe it, I pounced - like this - slammed him to the floor - thus with one hand, I managed to hold him down - with my other, I put my wand to his throat - I then screwed up my remaining strength and performed the immensely complex Homorphus Charm - he let out a piteous moan - go on, Harry - higher than that - good - the fur vanished - the fangs shrank - and he turned back into a man. Simple, yet effective - and another village will remember me forever as the hero who delivered them from the monthly terror of werewolf attacks."

So you'd expect that since it came from Lockhart, and most of his spells don't work, then this Charm never existed. But that's not what he says:

No one wants to read about some ugly old Armenian warlock, even if he did save a village from werewolves. […] I mean, come on -" 

"So you've just been taking credit for what a load of other people have done?" said Harry incredulously. 

"Harry, Harry," said Lockhart, shaking his head impatiently, "it's not nearly as simple as that. There was work involved. I had to track these people down. Ask them exactly how they managed to do what they did. Then I had to put a Memory Charm on them so they wouldn't remember doing it."

This means that all of what Lockhart said IS true, did happen, only it has been done by somebody else. Hermione and all those who found that Lockhart was a fraud may have concluded that the events told by the books haven’t ever existed, but we know that Harry and Ron know they happened, only Lockhart took the credit.

Meaning that there's a chance to find a Charm that will banish the monthly werewolf transformations. There IS a cure to lycanthropy. Only, like how people said a wand couldn't be repaired, they just haven't found the way to help werewolves yet, so they wrongly conclude that it's incurable (and I don't care what Rowling says out of the books).

Based on what was said, we have four solutions to find it:

We find the Homorphus Charm by research, tracking the Armenian Warlock's notes if possible

We find a way to bring back the memories of those who suffered Obliviation and we ask him how it's done

We find/create a Time-Turner or any device that allows to go to the past and we learn from the warlock, by will or by force, trying not to change the past a lot

We track down the village where the Homorphus was casted, ask who was present at the time, extract their memory, and use the Pensieve to run back to the scene where it happened and we learn/copy/etc from the warlock (remember, Penseives are objective and they can show things that even the owner of the memory didn't know)

The easiest seems to be the last one, though it's not guaranteed to be the most effective. A bit of Felix Felicis would be welcome.

Now the only thing we have to hope is that the Homorphus Charm works the way it sounds to work.

[adenei]

Waiting in the Wings

Wrote this lovely one-shot after being inspired by another tumblr post about the similarities between Ron and Cassandra from the Tangled series. Waiting in the Wings is a song that Cassandra sings in the series.

Takes place a few days after Harry’s name comes out of the Goblet, and Hermione tries to talk to Ron about it.

Ron walked into the library looking for a table that was out of the way.  After choosing one that would do, he threw his bag on the ground as he sat in one of the empty chairs. It’d been two days since Harry’s name came out of the goblet. He’d done everything he could to avoid being around Harry. Hermione, too, since she’d just nag him, and he really wasn’t in the mood for that. Ron was also running out of things to do that kept Harry out of his sight. Sure, tagging along with Seamus and Dean had been fine yesterday, but it wasn’t the same. So here he was, sitting in the library of all places, to avoid being around ‘the chosen one.’

He begrudgingly pulled out his work. Since he was here, Ron might as well attempt to get some of his homework done. He figured he’d at least stay until he got hungry, and who knows what he’d do after that. Ron opened one of his textbooks, not paying attention to which one, and arranged the parchment beside it. Looks like he was starting with History of Magic. “This day keeps getting better,” Ron muttered to himself as he attempted to focus on the book.

His focus didn’t last long, as his mind began to wander, as it normally did these past few days, to Harry’s betrayal. The anger and hurt was still simmering beneath his skin. They normally did everything together. He couldn’t believe that Harry would actually go behind his back and do this without him. So much for being best friends. Why keep this whole thing a secret? It didn’t make any sense. 

Ron heard movement across the table and looked up. Hermione sat down across from him and began pulling out her work. “I hope you don’t mind if I join you. All the other good tables are taken, and you looked like you could use some company,” she said blithely.

“Not if you’re going to nag me, no,” Ron snapped. They sat in silence for a while, but everytime Ron looked up at Hermione, he could tell she was dying to say something. If he wasn’t so annoyed at what he knew she was going to ask, he would have been impressed she’d held out this long from asking. She wasn’t known for her patience when it came to prying answers out of people.

“Why don’t you just say what you came here to say?” Ron finally said.

“What do you mean? I came here to spend time with my friend who I’ve barely seen or spoken to all weekend.” Hermione retorted.

“That’s a lie and you know it. I’ve known you long enough to know when you have an ulterior motive up your sleeve, and at the rate you’re chewing on your tongue, there won’t be anything left if you don’t come out with it already!” Ron hissed.

“Fine. Why are you so upset with Harry? And how can you not believe he didn’t put his name in there? You know him better than anyone, even me, so you must know how ridiculous this row is.” Hermione’s words flowed uncontrollably out of her mouth.

“That’s rich coming from you. I told you once, and I’ll tell you again. I’m not going to talk to you about it. You wouldn’t understand, anyways. So if you want to go take Harry’s side with this, then be my guest,” Ron said angrily as he slammed his book and shoved it into his bag. As his arm made his way back to the table to grab the parchment, Hermione reached out and grabbed it. Ron’s eyes snapped up to Hermione’s, who looked just as shocked as he did before she pulled away rather quickly. He wasn’t sure what just happened, but the shock he felt from it made all the anger evaporate from his body, albeit briefly.

Hermione recovered from the unexpected shock quickly and said, “Don’t be daft, you know I wouldn’t choose sides. Just as Harry did last year for us, and I’m sure you’d do the same for Harry and me if ever that were to happen..”

“Still wouldn’t be surprised if you chose him,” Ron mumbled, trying to gloss over Hermione’s brief mention of the Crookshanks/Scabbers debacle last year as well as the idea that Harry and Ron would forgive and make up eventually.

“Why would you say that?” Hermione asked him meaningfully.

“It doesn’t matter,” Ron said as he slumped his shoulders and stared at the blank parchment in front of him.

“Yes, it does, “Hermione pushed. 

Ron sat there for a long moment. His mum told him once when he was mad at the twins that it was always better to talk about something rather than hold it in. Ron wasn’t one to talk about his negative feelings often. He’d just let them build up inside until he combusted, rather than put his anger and hurt onto someone else. Growing up as the sixth youngest sibling, he didn’t want to come off as whiny and nagging to his older brothers. 

“I’m just sick of always being the sidekick. The one who stands by, ready to be there, only to get shoved aside.” He wasn’t sure what led him to lay it all out there for Hermione, but he did it anyways. 

Hermione stared at him. “Ron, you know that’s not true.”

“Who says? I’m always the forgotten sibling, and then I had to go become best friends with the bloody Boy who Lived. It doesn’t matter whether I’m there or not because it’s always going to be Harry who saves the day.” He wasn’t sure what possessed him to say it. 

“How can you say that?” Hermione asked. “You are just as important as anyone else.” Ron wasn’t sure what Hermione was thinking. She couldn’t possibly think he was more important than this. 

“Yeah? To who?” Ron said sarcastically.

“To me!” Hermione paused a moment. “To Harry, too, and your family.”

“Thanks, Hermione. I know you’re trying to help, but it’s not going to change things. It’s just how it is.” Ron wasn’t sure why, but his thoughts floated back to the Mirror of Erised that night first year. He remembered seeing himself holding the Quidditch Cup, as Head Boy, and aside from his brothers; finally noticed as his own person, and not just ‘another Weasley.’ He was pretty sure he’d still see the same thing if he were to look in it today. Nothing had changed.

“Ron, Harry couldn’t have succeeded in half of what he’s done without you beside him, or have you forgotten? Harry and I would have been stuck at the giant chess board if it wasn’t for you first year, or maybe I would have been strangled by the Devil’s Snare because I was too focused on needing firewood for light and forgetting that I could cast magic.” Hermione paused as Ron shrugged.

“You would have found another way around the board, I’m sure.”

“Okay, but what about second year? There’s no way Harry would have managed the Spider’s Lair on his own-” 

“Wish he would’ve” Ron interjected under his breath as Hermione rolled his eyes.

“He couldn’t have gotten down to the chamber of secrets without you either!”

“Hermione, he went in alone when I was stuck with Lockhart on the other side of the debris, remember? I didn’t do anything there to help him rescue Ginny from Tom or that diary.” 

“But you still went down there with him, and you were ready to go into danger with him. It wasn’t your fault you got separated.”

“That’s the thing, isn’t it? I got sidelined, so it was Harry saving the day, saving my sister, not me. And, it kind of was my fault. Lockhart used my wand that backfired and caused the rock to fall..”

“Honestly, Ronald! It’s a good thing he did  use that wand, otherwise you two would have been obliviated and Ginny would surely be dead!” When Ron didn’t respond, Hermione pressed on. “Okay, but what about last year with Sirius? You told Sirius he’d have to kill you before Harry. Even with a broken leg you were protecting your best friend!”

“Sure, a lot of good that did, yeah? Sirius wasn’t after Harry. He was after Sca- er Pettigrew, and then everything went to hell with Professor Lupin, and you both got to scamper off to save the day, but I had to stay behind because I’d gone and broken my leg.”

“Ron, you’re not giving yourself enough credit-”

“Why would I give myself credit when someone else is more important? I’m not destined to be the hero, so can’t I just have this? Just let me be angry, Hermione.  It was one thing for both of us to joke and think about what would happen if we were somehow in the running or chosen as the champion, but he took it too far! Once again, he wins. Harry’s the champion, he gets all the glory and attention.”

“Do you think Harry really wants the attention from this? When has he ever acted like he was basking in any glory? He didn’t get to choose this life, Ron. I thought you’d understand that of all people.” Hermione huffed. “No one can make you believe that Harry didn’t put his name in the goblet, and this is the last time I’ll bring it up. I hope you come to your senses soon because Harry could really use his best friend about now. In case you haven’t noticed, the rest of the school is also pretty peeved about Harry being a champion, too, so he’s not just dealing with Slytherin nonsense as usual. It doesn’t help that his best friend doesn’t even have his back. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to revise this History of Magic paper for tomorrow. You’d do well to take yours back out if you want any help on it.”

Ron sat there processing everything she said and slowly took his book back out. “Er, right, thanks,” he said, for lack of anything else to say. 

“Like I said before, I’m not choosing sides. So I’ll split my time as best I can until you two can sort this out, but I won’t get in the middle of it anymore.” Hermione went back to her parchment.

Despite taking his textbook back out, Ron sat there with his arms crossed thinking about what Hermione said. He’d been denying it deep down, but the more Ron thought, the more he realized that Hermione was probably right. Harry wasn’t exactly sharp witted enough to figure out how to get past the age line. Even the twins couldn’t crack that one. Ron had let the initial reaction of jealousy and betrayal get the best of him, and his anger had taken over. It wasn’t one of his best qualities, but he was who he was. 

Ron sat up to focus back on his homework as he’d resigned to the fact that Harry was probably an innocent victim, but they’d fought, and Ron was not the best with apologies, his pride always getting the best of him. So he’d wait until Harry came to him. He would, of course, have his back if anyone tried anything in the meantime. Loyalties were more important than pride. After all, it wouldn’t be that long, right?

[khantoelessar]

Rubeus Hagrid: One of the powerful and talented wizards in the Harry Potter Universe. A mini-meta on Rubeus Hagrid and his skill at magic.

Can we just talk for a moment about what an amazingly powerful but also talented wizard Rubeus Hagrid is?

Putting aside for a moment his gift with magical creatures, let’s just focus on his ability with magic, to cast spells.

We actually see Hagrid cast a number of spells throughout the books. In the Philosopher’s Stone, the very first time we meet Hagrid, we not only see him cast the fire spell Incendio . . .

. . . we also see him cast a partial human transfiguration spell on Dudley (which we learn in the Half Blood Prince is an immensely difficult spell and is only taught in the sixth year).

Now granted he was going for a full transfiguration and didn’t quite make it but still even a partial transfiguration is impressive.

When they leave the hut on the rock the next morning, Hagrid tells Harry that he is not allowed to do magic again once he has collected Harry. This is why they do not apparate or use a portkey. But instead of rowing Harry and himself back to the mainland (because what’s the fun in that) he casts another spell on the boat to make it go speeding through the water (much more fun).

So that’s three spells right there, at least one of them was a sixth-year level spell and Hagrid was expelled in his third year[1] On top of all of this we never actually hear him cast these spells. He did them all non-verbally, again something that is very difficult and taught only in the sixth-year.

In Chamber of Secrets we learn that Hagrid cast an Engorgement charm on his pumpkins and did this well enough that Hermione said he did a good job.[2] Additionally, when his roosters were being killed to protect the basilisk from the sound of their crowing, he goes to Dumbledore to ask permission to cast a charm on the chicken coop to protect them.[3] Please note, he does not go to Dumbledore to get him or one of the other teachers to cast the spell, he goes to gets permission to cast the charm himself.

Now as what kind of charm it is, we are not specifically told so I’m going into the realm of speculation here and assuming that it’s some form of shielding charm. The first time we see Harry cast a shield charm is in Order of the Phoenix when he uses it against Snape in his Occlumency lessons. We do not see Harry use any form of shielding charm in the Goblet of Fire so again I’m assuming, based on the evidence that it’s a fifth-year level spell that Hagrid cast.

Finally, the last actual spell that we see him directly cast is in The Half-Blood Prince after the Death Eaters set fire to his hut.

Now granted, Harry had to remind him that the charm was Aguamenti, but once he remembered it, he certainly had no trouble casting it. [4]

This brings me to the most significant point I want to make. Hagrid cast all these spells and, in most cases, did so correctly with a broken wand. A. BROKEN. Wand. We learn in the Philosopher’s Stone that Hagrid’s wand was snapped when he was expelled.

“[Ollivander] Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again … Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn’t it? “It was, sir, yes,” said Hagrid. “Good wand, that one. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you got expelled?” said Mr. Ollivander, suddenly stern. “Er – yes, they did, yes,” said Hagrid, shuffling his feet. “I’ve still got the pieces, though,” he added brightly. “But you don’t use them?” said Mr. Ollivander sharply. “Oh, no, sir,” said Hagrid quickly. Harry noticed he gripped his pick umbrella very tightly as he spoke.[5]

Now, how many other characters within the Harry Potter universe do we see being able to successfully use a broken wand?

We see a lot of wandless magic in the movies, especially in the third and fourth ones,

but do we ever see a witch or wizard being able to successfully use a broken wand? No, not really.

The closest person we see even come close to using a broken wand is Ron Weasley in the Chamber of Secrets and even then, the wand wasn’t completely snapped into separate pieces.

“My wand,” said Ron, in a shaky voice. “Look at my wand.” It had snapped in two; the tip was dangling limply, held on by a few splinters.” [6]

Now Ron did manage to make some very basic repairs to it. Enough that it could still channel magic (of a sorts) but every attempt to actually used it ended in disaster, both for Ron . . .

“[Ron] had patched up his wand with some borrowed Spellotape, but it seemed to be damaged beyond repair. It kept crackling and sparking at odd moments, and every time Ron tried to transfigure his beetle it engulfed him in thick grey smoke which smelled of rotten eggs.” [7]

. . . and ultimately Gildroy Lockhart when he tried to use Ron’s wand to obliviate Harry and Ron, which is the one spell that he is actually quite gifted at and it backfired on him, wiping out his mind instead. [8]

We never actually see anyone, other than Hagrid actually be able to successfully use a broken wand, not even Dumbledore, though I imagine he could if anyone. But even he I suspect would find it difficult. Now I ask you, if this is the kind of magic Hagrid is capable of with a broken wand, what do you think he could do with a whole one?

I also want to point out once again that Hagrid was expelled in his third year. A number of the spells and charms we see him use are at least fifth year or above. This means that even after he was expelled Hagrid did not stop studying and learning. How else could he have learnt sixth year level spells? Despite Ron Weasley being surprised at seeing Hagrid in the library in the Philosopher’s Stone, I suspect he would have known his way around the Hogwarts Library quite well. (So well, in fact that he managed to smuggle a book right out from under Madam Pince’s nose without her even being aware of it, and given Madam Pince’s legendary zealousness over her library, how often has that happened?) Where else could he have learned to do that kind of magic? Certainly, the Hogwarts teachers couldn’t have taught him, not after he’d been expelled.

It’s one of my personal head canon theories that Dumbledore would have done everything in his power to help and teach Hagrid. But this probably would have taken the form of subtle hints and nudges towards certain books in the library, idle talk of wand techniques over cups of tea and brandy in Hagrid’s hut. After all, there was little Dumbledore could do openly, what with Hagrid’s position of being expelled and having his wand snapped. On top of this we should never forget that as much as it is Dumbledore’s nature to nurture and teach so is his nature equally inclined towards secrecy, manipulation and . . . shall we say, circumventing the dictates of authority when he thinks it is in the best interests.

But this is only my personal head canon and whatever help he might have given Hagrid it would have had to have been discrete and hidden under the cloak of misdirection. The majority of the work and study would have had to have been done by Hagrid on his own time after his gamekeeping duties were done. It certainly would not have been the full-time regulated, organized study and teaching that the regular students received. Primarily Hagrid would have had to have been self-taught. In doing this he demonstrated (and I say this with more than a bit of Slytherin pride)

“resourcefulness, determination, and if I may say so, a certain disregard for the rules” [9]

It’s no wonder Hagrid and Harry got on so well.

If you add this skill and talent for magic with his gift with magical creatures, power with mind you, not power over creatures that most of the rest of the wizarding world would call extremely dangerous at best, kill on sight at worst, and you’ve got a man who is not only an extremely talented and skilled wizard but a very powerful one as well. This is something that goes unrecognised by most of the wizarding world, including Hagrid himself, though not I suspect by Albus Dumbledore (see my previously mentioned head canon).

It was this very blindness by Voldemort and his Death Eaters not only to Hagrid’s skill and power but also his intelligence (Voldemort calls him a great oaf [10] ) that lets him escape their attention, to seem insignificant and thus beneath their notice. This in turn lets him become one of the most important and powerful pieces on Dumbledore’s chessboard. In many ways he’s Dumbledore’s rook, his castle. He provides not only shelter and protection to Harry and his friends during his time at Hogwarts but also like the rook, he’s a powerful and versatile fighter. In the battle of Hogwarts, he not only brings Grawp and the Hippogriffs into the battle but is a deadly fighter in his own right. [11]

That Voldemort failed to recognise Hagrid’s power and intelligence is not only one of the reasons why he lost the war but is also indicative (and I’m saying this again as a Slytherin) of his complete and utter stupidity and blindness when it comes to recognising where a person’s true power and influence lies. But as Dumbledore said “…but then, if he had been able to understand, he could not be Lord Voldemort, and might never have murdered at all.���[12]

Dumbledore on the other hand was not so stupid or blind but rather was able to recognise greatness and potential even in the most unlikely of outcasts. Which is why Voldemort lost and Dumbledore ultimately won.

[1] Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone illustrated ed., Rowling, J.K. & Kay, J. p.g. 41, 48, 54

[2] Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets illustrated ed., Rowling, J.K. & Kay J. p.g. 91-92

[3] Ibid, p.g. 153

[4] Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Bloomsbury and Raincoast books, Rowling, J.K., p.g 565

[5] Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, illustrated ed, Rowling, J.K. and Kay, J. p.g. 71

[6] Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, illustrated ed., Rowling, J.K. and Kay, J. p.g. 64

[7] Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, illustrated ed., Rowling, J.K. and Kay, J. p.g. 77

[8] Ibid p.g. 230

[9] Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, movie, Warner Brothers, 2002

10] Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets illustrated ed., Rowling, J.K. and Kay, J. p.g. 234

[11] Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Rowling, J.K. and Kay, J. p.g.519 & 589

[12 Ibid, p.g. 569

[athyrabunlord]

Below is my rambling response to @argnatien’s lovely review of 3.3k words (?!??!?!?) for LLSHP AU ch16~

I had hoped to finish ch17 in February but oh, it’s April now XD;;; So I’m definitely way later than you. But! I’m still very happy to receive your feedback! Yes, I did intend this chapter to be ‘quieter’ in terms of actions, but definitely still a turmoil in terms of emotions. The thing with the ending chapters of Arc2 is that, the characters were not given time to truly absorb the aftermaths. Everything happened so quickly, back to back, and suddenly their world is turned upside down. It’s not just Yoshiko – Dia and Riko are abruptly gone from their peaceful school life. Chika and You learned about what really happened to them but they never got the chance to talk to Riko about it.

I think I mentioned this already, but I’ll stress again that, if it weren’t for the carbonado necklace, Riko would have ended up like Frank and Alice Longbottom. She was subjected to not just one but several Cruciatus Curses on top of many Legilimens. It was a difficult scene for me to write as well, though I still strive to be as realistic as possible given the circumstances.

Riko had immediately Obliviated You and Chika while their… ‘injuries’ were still fresh, so to speak, while it’s already too late for Riko. Her mind was broken already, so there’s no point in Obliviating them. Besides, messing with memories is a crude method to deal with Cruciatus aftermath – it’s not done in canon HP verse. Unlike physical torture, I believe Cruciatus to be a direct attack on the mind to stimulate pain receptors, rather than actual attack on the person’s nervous system. So, if the mind forgets that it ever sent such signals, perhaps there wouldn’t be an aftereffect. Of course, all of this is just my assumption and play around with HP canon material XD;

Back to present, Chika said that being surrounded by friends and family would remind her that the pain from Cruciatus is in the past. What Riko needs now certainly is time and, as the girls have discovered, Dia to be with her too. I can’t elaborate more on this point but indeed, there is hope. Hope is what Aqours is all about.

Dia was raised and shown in public as the heiress of the Kurosawa family. They could not just outright disown or strip her of her title for no reason, that would be even worse shame than the current suspicions she now faced. Hence the best countermeasure they have for now is to keep her from public eyes. There’s the matter of her relationship with Riko as well. Though the Sakurauchis is an old family with prominent background, their lineage is nowhere as pure as Kurosawas. Both women, different social status, and now this incident… Dia and Riko indeed face quite a lot of obstacles.

Grounded in her family home, unable to contact friends and left with only thoughts of guilt and regret, Dia’s not in a good state in many ways (as briefly shown in ch17). Dia is not privy to Riko’s condition, so her mind would just keep wandering and assuming the worst. As Dia-oshi (that’s hard to believe probably, considering what I’ve done), it’s difficult for me to imagine how much pain Dia’s been experiencing but had to keep inside her with no way to vent her stress.

My parchment paper analogy is my attempt to differentiate Magical healing from Muggle healing process. For Muggles, we have equipment like MRT scans, EGG scans etc. So, as I try to rationalize how Healers work, the parchment analogy came to mind. Ink is indeed the stressor and is unpredictable, as in what sort of stain the ink would make on the paper is dependent on how the ink is dropped upon it. Thoughts/experiences change the pattern that the ink runs on the paper. Chika and You mentioned how their minds are like ‘dried parchment, one that’s been stained before but the ink color has long lightened.’ So, just how can Riko’s ‘parchment’ be salvaged?

Yes, you’re correct, she was just having a PTSD flashback upon seeing the person who betrayed and tortured her. She had no idea it was ‘Yohane’ – she still thought it was Yoshiko. She definitely is in no state of mind to think about the why and how. ………… yeah, I deserve to be stoned by Riko-oshis.

Hmm, yeah, can’t comment much on Yoshiko & Riko atm. But yes, Yoshiko will not go anywhere near Riko in fear of triggering another panic attack. I don’t remember what I said to you for ch15’s review LOL I agree, trust is indeed hard to regain.

Can’t comment much on the Yohane-Yoshiko connection either. Just as how Yoshiko can do certain things Yohane can’t (ie cast the Patronus), there are things Yohane can do that Yoshiko can’t either. The how and why shall be revealed in the remainder of Arc3. Yoshiko’s bad Occlumency is due to the fact she’s not ‘whole’. Yohane is definitely more accustomed to handling matters related to her soul, having practically grown up with such knowledge and those wings being a natural occurrence for her. In the alley, Yoshiko was practically losing control and attempting to force her way into Yohane’s mind, and so Yohane abruptly cut off the connection.

Specifically, it was Yoshiko’s emotional attachment to Hanamaru’s broken wand that stopped her from going berserk. To her, the broken wand was a remnant of the ‘old’ Hanamaru, from a period of time where things were still good. As hinted in past chapters, being the one to be able to approach Yoshiko while those tendrils were rampant, Hanamaru is a key factor in calming down Yoshiko.  Emotion is another key catalyst for the black tendrils. Finding out that Yohane had tortured Riko caused such undulated anger in Yoshiko. Clues from past events will be accumulating and adding up, and of course more to come. Good speculations, that’s all I can say for now 😃

Yup, playing around one’s soul definitely isn’t healthy for the long run, especially when you use said soul fragments as a form of weapon or defense. In a way, you could say Yohane-Yoshiko are damaged already. Neither of them is whole after all. Again, great speculations!

Hanamaru is connected to Yoshiko in a way, ever since the Dementor incident as a child. (ch17 sheds some light onto that mystery) She hasn’t been aware of this connection, at least not consciously, but she’s always been able to locate Yoshiko at Hogwarts (between classes and whatnot). After the Chamber of Secrets event though, she becomes aware of it without understanding what it really means. Seeing the Augurey enables her to make a comparison/metaphor, and so she stated that she could hear Yoshiko’s soul crying.

Foreshadowing… welp, ch17 did reveal more things haha

I’ve been fascinated by Augurey since I first read Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which listed them alphabetically. So in the very early planning stages of this story, I thought of Yoshiko right away and wanted it to play a significant role. Ch17 does reveal more than it being a symbol. The Hogwarts registry that writes down the names of magical children is an Augurey quill, that’s why I chose to use it for a purpose in this story as well.

Just as how Professor Koizumi coaxed Ruby into letting out her emotions in Interlude2, Hanamaru managed to do so for Yoshiko. The poor girl needs it, it’s not healthy keeping everything inside after all. It’s mostly guilt, she keeps telling herself she doesn’t deserve to be comforted and she’s in no position to be crying when everyone else have suffered so much more. I’m glad that you as a reader find the moment satisfying, as I intended it to be in spite of the overall solemn and melancholic tone. Ch17 presents a different catharsis for her, another one that she needs, and for Hanamaru as well.

<_< ah yes memories. I’ve always found Obliviate a very fascinating spell – a dangerous one too – yet it was never expanded much in the HP canon. The most poignant instances would be Gilderoy Lockhart stealing credit, Hermione to protect her parents, and Bertha Jorkins who got tortured by Voldemort and regained her memories. All of these have different impacts, positive and negative, on characters and the plot.

And so, I did a little variation amongst the members – the Memory Charm saved You and Chika’s lives; Riko extracted her memory into the Pensieve before her mind cracked; Yoshiko’s own memories being disjointed due to the whole Horcrux issue; Hanamaru’s memory repression being purely psychological.

I make them suffer a lot don’t I… (but this is nothing compared to other AUs I had for them LOL *gets shot*) But personally, I find things so much sweeter (or, bittersweet at least) if there was suffering beforehand. The saying of ‘you won’t realize how much you miss/need something until it’s gone’ kind of feel.

Again, I must say I’m beyond amazed at the 3.3k review. Like, holy moly, that’s longer than most some of my blips already! I really appreciate all these feedbacks though – it lets me see how a reader views the story, and it brings me joy to see the little nuances here and there noticed and appreciated. I’m also glad to elaborate upon/share the more intricate details that have no room in the storytelling.

Thanks again!

[grumblersfilmreviews]

Film Review: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Being an avid Harry Potter fan, I was thrilled when the trailer for ‘Fantastic Beasts and where to Find them’ came out. The trailer caused a bit of tears, flapping, and wails of “Why does it look so good?!” so naturally I couldn’t wait when I went and saw it after work.

Containers spoilers (duh).

Eddie Redmayne captures the essence of the quirky genius, obsessed with magical creatures, well: the slight twitches, the awkward rapid words, the exceedingly brief eye contact, and forced smiles to be socially accepted. The rest of the cast I didn’t care much for, I have to say. Queenie reminded me of Luna Lovegood, spacey but wildly talented in her own way, and Tina who seems a bit thick, doggedly desperate to get her Auror role back. I found her a bit flat, annoying, and disappointing, who contributes little to the entire story beside calming Credence at the very end – which failed, anyway. Kowalski as the fat comic relief was entertaining and it was heart-warming to see the bowled-over reaction of a Muggle (or a No-Maj – what a terrible name. Who came up with that?) seeing magic for the first time. He’s endearing and a bumbling fool, but I still find him superficial along with the rest of the supporting cast and contributed little to the journey.

Kowalski kicks off the whole journey by accidentally taking Scamander’s briefcase instead of his own pastry-filled one and then inadvertently releasing some of them. Chaos ensues. Given Scamander essentially has a small world there, I am very disappointed only four escaped, and none of them were particularly dangerous. The Erumpent was cool, I have to say, and I enjoyed Redmayne’s sex dance to lure the female back to his briefcase (only to be completely ruined by Kowalski). The Niffler also proved some comic relief and is quite cute; but none of them were truly ‘fantastic’. Redmayne portrays the passion of a magizoologist well, showing his dedication to his creatures’ welfare (his scream of “None of them are dangerous! Please!” was heartbreaking as he was led away to be jailed) and knowledge of their individual needs when feeding them within his briefcase. I felt his love for his animals and, odd as he is, sympathised with him when they were taken away. He's absolutely right, of course: humans are the most dangerous animals alive.

Initial thought when Scamander got off the boat to New York was “Eh? Who the heck would take a bloody boat over there when you can Apparate? Maybe it hasn’t been discovered yet.” Cue they Apparate everywhere. Maybe distance was an issue, maybe across large bodies of water was an issue – but that stuck with me.

Graves’s revelation as the Big Bad in the end was predictable and with all the foreshadowing about Grindelwald as a threat (hey, this reminds me of Voldemort’s uprising and the threat of the magic world being revealed in the end of the Harry Potter series. Either JKR is reusing old plot points or is making a point that history repeats itself) I’m not entirely surprised it was Grindelwald himself masquerading as a high member of the American equivalent of the Ministry of Magic (Magical Congress of the USA -- MaCUSA, awesome name). What I was surprised to find was that Jamie Campbell-Bowers aged into bleached Johnny Depp. Johnny Depp does not carry bleached blonde hair well, great as he is as an actor. The film did go on to hint that Graves was not as he seemed; he moved alone and used unconventional methods and harsh words to get Credence to do as he wanted. It was obvious he had an ulterior motive and his less-than-good side was also obvious from the start.

The magical world is surprisingly useless except to trample upon their own kind. A few magical creatures get released – breeding them is banned, but it’s not like there are no magical creatures in the USA – and everyone gets flustered and things get messy. They can’t capture a few simple creatures and can’t wipe a group of Muggles’ memories – but hey, at least they can put back together a collapsed building! I found that a tad disappointing. The magical battles were awesome as always in the HP world: lots of flashing lights, dramatic CGI effects, graceful swishing of wands -- loved it.

The solitary twist in the story was the Obscurio’s true owner was not Modesty as Graves had initially thought (and huh? Grindelwald could be caught out by something like that?) but Credence instead, even though all documented cases of Obscuris had been in children younger than ten years old, but he was unexpectedly powerful, so I suppose that can explain Grindelwald’s mistake despite being the most powerful dark wizard of his time wielding the most powerful wand ever.

I guess.

And the ending? What a convenient way to obliviate everyone. And to what extent is the efficacy? Everything they know? Only the recent events? And how precise? And how does it not affect the wizards – they drink water and get hit by rain, too. Gilderoy Lockhart was an obvious example that wizards can definitely get obliviated. Or are you saying the entire New York City wizarding population just didn’t drink the water or get hit by rain until whenever it is the venom is out of the water system? To me, obliviating everyone meant nothing’s changed. Sure, Scamander got to release the thunder bird, which is what he wanted to do, and Tina got to become an Auror again, but there is still the discrimination, the American wizarding world still cowers, and their laws still discriminate against their own. Poor old Credence got the shortest straw, being beaten and abused all his life only to show some promises of magic and then getting completely destroyed. There’s a hopeful little puff of smoke that escaped, leaving room for a sequel, but there is no feel-goodness about it at all.

Much as I complained about it during this, I enjoyed it. It’s a magical, exciting, fun film for the Harry Potter fans, with funny lines and beautiful CGI, but I found the plot a bit lacklustre. It caters well to avid HP fans, but as a standalone film it wasn’t mind-blowing. If I were not a HP fan, this film would not have gotten me to start watching HP.

Oh, and the American accent is hilarious. Newt Scamander spent the entire film being called “NOOD”!

[ottogatto]

People tend to say that purism is racism, and that Mudblood is the wizarding N world. The problem is that if we stretch what it means you cast many people in the wizarding world, and some in the muggle world, as racist against each other. My main problem is that in the books, insulting a Muggle Born for their origins is presented as bad, but insulting Muggles has been normalized -- the only thing we require out of you is not to, you know, kill them and try to overcome the wizarding society. Otherwise having books such as The Muggle Conspiracy circulate freely in the stores is okay...

People will cast Muggle-Borns as a metaphor for Blacks. But I think it’s wrong. I think that if you equal blood status to “whiteness” you have:

Muggles = Blacks, treated like savages in the books. We have invented an insult, “thinking like a Muggle”, living off with Muggles is a tragedy because they can’t possibly understand whiter people, and there’s literally a spell called Muggletum Repelio that wards them off.

Squibs = Blacks slightly brown, born from whiter families that often reject them

Muggle-Borns = Blacks but really brown (because “whiter”), only there do we start not to insult them much because the difference is that you’re white enough, but reserve the right to insult their origins

Half-Bloods = Metis

Purebloods = Whites

Isn’t it widespread to think Muggles are just stupid and crazy?

Finally the biggest problem is the Statute of Secrecy and how it’s been presented in Pottermore. I’ll develop this later, but in short, here’s the story:

Before wizards were feared but respected by the Muggles. There were witch hunts but wizards would laugh it off because they only needed to cast a Flame-Freezing Charm to play with the stakes. But because, around the 17th century, Muggles had a jump in technology, Wizards started to feel threatened. They decided to create a Statute of Secrecy and live among themselves only.Wizards will never help Muggles because they don’t care about their struggles (diseases, wars, poverty...), they will never try to find a way to unite. Instead, wizards are trained to Obliviate Muggles, make them believe false stories about what happened to their dead members of their family (car crash story like what the Dursleys did to Harry), no matter if they Obliviate so many times they become crazy (but it’s a tragedy only for Lockhart huh?). In America, until recently, you were forbidden to have any kind of relation to a Muggle beyond necessary, or else you’d get the death sentence. Since then, Wizards thrive on the work of slaves, can eat banquets every day at their school, live in a world rich in gold and silver and jewels the size of your fist, and love to prank Muggles or scare them off with threatening to turn them into animals.

I said the essential. Now, if you were to talk about racism in Harry Potter, you’d have no choice but to consider discrimination against Muggles. What? They remain human beings. A fun thing then, is to read again my last paragraph and replace “Muggles” with Blacks and “Wizards” with “Whites”. In this case it’d be easy to talk about an elite of whites who appreciated being “feared” among Blacks until they started to develop technology, which prompted the Whites to seclude themselves and leave the Black community to their problems, because “everyone would want a solution to their problem and we don’t want that”. That secret white elite would be controlling the Black population so they’d hush any attempt to discover them (oh oh oh conspiracy scenario) .But meanwhile you know, it’s “fun” to “prank” them and the sort, calling them “crazy” or “dumb” or “dangerous”, inventing insults comparing you to a Muggle (a bit like when we’d insult you by calling you “gay”, see a post from deathdaydungeon about that).

So either applying racism to purism is inconsistent, or every single Wizard in HP is racist, whether consciously or not, whether directly or not.

Instances of Discrimination? - HP PS

Okay, I’ve made this, and again it’s meant to be compiled with other books. People are quick to say that purism is racism, or that ‘Mudblood’ is the Wizarding N word – but if we were to strictly apply racism to purism, what would we get? Were would we consider something as discriminative – whether targeted against Wizards, Muggles, Squibs, Creatures? The fastest, clearest way to see how off-limits wizards can be when speaking about Muggles is to replace “Muggles” with “Blacks” for instance. Well, considering that, how ‘racist’ is the Wizarding World in reality?

I feel the spice will mostly come in CoS and OotP though.

Here is the ‘Discrimination’ theme of my full commentary of HP PS. Some elements are redundant with what I said in a certain preview post, but don’t worry, it’s only on the first chapter… 

Good read!

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