#fleur/tonks

[dufferpuffer]

Opinions on flonks (fleur/tonks)?

I have never thought of this before - because I am not typically as interested in f/f relationships over m/f or m/m. Its dumb straight woman disease, I apologize.

It would be easy to assume that they would be besties over their body-related magic - Tonk's ever shifting appearance and Fleur's 'perfect' charming Veela blood... But I don't think they would see it that way. I don't think they would see each-others powers and say 'same hat'.

I think, at first, Fleur would annoy Tonks. (approx 1000 words)

Tonks isn't insecure. She is strong, she is talented, she is training under Alastor Moody - and she is right to be proud of it. She might have a 'real' self under all the shifting, but she doesn't really care about it - all of her faces are her 'real' face. She is proud to show all of them. Ugly or pretty or inhuman. She thinks in a similar way for others - she doesn't judge them on their appearance or first impressions, because she knows how pointless they are. She knows how Moody looks when grumpy: an insufferable knotted up hunk of driftwood... but she also knows how his face transforms when he laughs. In a way, everyone has powers like being a metamorphmagus: everyone is multifaceted, everyone has their different faces. Different emotions, moods, times where they act unlike themselves and times they are predictable. Not to mention how people can lie, can pull up walls and wear masks to hide... She knows people are more than their moods, their expressions, their greatest feats and their worst choices, their magic, or their illnesses. She is mature and wise enough to take people as the multi-faceted beings they are.

Fleur is also proud of herself - but she had been trained to wear a mask, to hide her authentic self even just a little, for protection. (Like Remus. They are both on the 'Magical Creature' spectrum, after all.) Fleur is desired. She probably has been from a young age, as dark as that is. She has had to be head-strong for herself and her little sister. She has probably been raised primarily amongst other Veela. Her wand core is of her grandmothers hair. She is tied to family. And yet she fights in another countries war. Because it is right. Because she is strong.

That is the basis of her cold, haughty demeanor, I think: People have an image in their head of a Veela being a beautiful but scary mistress, one you will desire but shouldn't underestimate - because they will break you. What an unfair idea to have of a person, just because they have a quarter blood of another sentient creature. But when people expect someone to be both desirable and untouchable... then they show vulnerability? If they are not untouchable then they're just desirable.

Of course Fleur is rude, cold - every bit the stereotype of a snobbish, rich French Veela. She would be stupid not to be. That doesn't mean she isn't also genuinely like that. She absolutely is. Pride runs strong in her. But it is not all she is. Make no mistake - Fleur isn't insecure either. She does not act that way because she is vulnerable. But to someone who can tell when someone is wearing a mask… it would look insecure, wouldn't it? Tonks would plainly see her mask. A rude one, that hurts people with cold, biting words - for seemingly no reason. Fleur is strong, healthy, rich, admired - why is she pretending to be an ass...? Fleur is welcomed into the Weasley house and she has the nerve to complain that it is boring. That would rub Tonks the wrong way - especially if she thinks it is fake. Tonks appreciates outspokenness - but the mean girl shtick grates.

But… Tonks doesn't judge people like most do. She wouldn't judge Fleur for being a Veela. She would judge her for 'pretending to be a bitch'. And I think it would be funny to her, endearing even… to find out quite bluntly that she '...iz a bitch, actually.' That… is something she can respect. That roughness, that realness. “She’s as much a fairy Princess, as I am.” - movie moody Fleur would appreciate that too in Tonks. Two peas in a pod, they are: Talented and strong and stubborn.

As a couple I think they are almost too much. They are not a sweet fem and a tough butch, nor a haughty girly girl and her feral alt firecracker. They are two warriors. Absolute beasts. Tanks that don't accept anything but their own way. I have no doubt that, with Tonks, Fleur would join in on more Order missions and Auror work. They are terrifying together. That can go badly, for others and for themselves. They are stubborn, hard-headed, easy to flare - imagine their arguments. Moody has his fucking work cut out for him.

None of that has anything to do with their powers - because both of them are not so shallow as to even really think of such things. Tonks could see the use in Fleur's charm ability - like her own metamorphmagus powers. A useful tool. Perhaps Fleur will be a little jealous in Tonks' ability - not because she is unhappy with how she appears at all, but because to have a break from how others see her Veela charms sometimes would be useful. To hide away, just for a little… is an alluring idea.

Overall… we know what both of these women are like when it comes to love: They burn brightly. Too brightly for anyone to touch. They both had a partner that cooled them down a little.

Two flames together…? That sort of love… risks burning out spectacularly, if the flames are not tempered. Whether they go out with a bang, or go out with true tragedy, or learn the hard way how to temper each-other - Intensity is the best word for what they would have together. Also Moody getting so stressed he throws up can you imagine having to juggle both Tonks and Fleur's attitudes

~~~

Sorry for the wait, anon. Do you think I did them justice? Any Fleur or Tonks pro's feel free to weigh in and tell me I am a fool B^)

[hp-fanfic-archive]

fanfic recommendation uquiz: 4/7

[belovedcampfire]

James, Sirius, Tonks and Teddy all standing guiltily in front of a completely turned upside living room that’s been converted into a giant blanket fort: Hey, we can explain I swear.

Remus, Lily, Regulus and Fleur walking through the door after a ‘quick’ grocery trip with 5x more bags than expected, a huge, expensive stand mixer they weren’t supposed to buy and also maybe a cat: We won’t judge if you won’t.

They’re messes I love them all.

[wisteria-lodge]

The Harry Potter Pretty People's Club

I’ve always been kind of fascinated by how and why *attractiveness* is used in the HP books. So, I’ve decided to play a little game, and score up characters based on how often their prettiness is brought up. Here’s my scoring system:

(1 point) - We are straight-up told that this character (or some aspect of this character) is attractive. The word beautiful, handsome, attractive, elegant, pretty, lovely, good-looking, good looks, nice-looking, curvy, or gorgeous is used.

(.5 points) - We are specifically told the character has nice hair, or nice teeth. (JKR describes teeth a lot, it’s a thing.) 

(.5 points) - The character is described as moving in an attractive way. The word lounging, lolling, graceful, posing, or haughty (so lounging/posing, but more evil coded) is applied to them

In terms of the ranking, twins and and parent+child duos get to compete together, because how common “they looked exactly like their parent” type descriptions are in these books.

No points for “they used to be beautiful” or “they would be beautiful if...” Also no points if someone is described as attractive specifically by Rita Skeeter. We are clearly not supposed to take her as a reliable source. Also not counting the times Petunia calls Dudley “handsome,” or the time when Slughorn calls Ron handsome while trying to cheer him up after the love potion, for the same reason.

(if you’re curious, Rita does describe Hermione as “stunningly pretty,” Pansy as “pretty and vivacious,” herself as “attractive blonde, forty-three” and Harry as “the most beautiful thing she had ever seen” when he’s giving the interview about Voldemort’s return.) So let's get to the top 26 most attractive (?) characters in Harry Potter.

#26 - WILKIE TWYCROSS (.5) 

“Graceful” apparition instructor. Unfortunately the rest of his description stresses that he’s practically see-through.

#25 - MADAM PUDDIFOOT  (.5) 

Has shiny hair. Unfortunately also “very stout” (and unfortunately we we know how JKR feels about fat people  : / )

#24 - ROMILDA VANE (.5)

Has hair that is “black and shiny and silky.” Of course Ron does say that while zoinked out his mind on love potion, so not sure how reliable his report is. 

#23 - HORACE SLUGHORN (.5)

Young Horace has “thick, shiny, straw-colored hair.” He’s also rocking embroidered waistcoats with golden buttons. Idk, I bet Horace was kind of dishy back in the day. Heck, I bet he still is. He’s well dressed, charismatic, charming. Someone has a crush on him. JKR is just mean and wrong about fat people

#22 - NEARLY HEADLESS NICK (1) 

Has “elegant” hands. So, if you’re into that…

 #21 - ANDROMEDA TONKS (1) 

Andromeda’s sisters are not actually going to make the list, because they fall in the “beauty potential” category. Narcissa “would have been nice-looking if she hadn’t been wearing a look that suggested there was a nasty smell under her nose,” and the “long blonde hair streaming down her back gave her the look of a drowned person.” I love Narcissa, but that framing isn’t especially flattering. Bellatrix was once beautiful, but “something — perhaps Azkaban — had taken most of her beauty.” Now if Andromeda looks enough like Bellatrix to give Harry a double-take, and she looks like a Bellatrix with “wider, kinder eyes” who hasn’t been to Azkaban… she more than earns her place on the pretty list. Also is described as “haughty.”

#20 - ANGELINA JOHNSON (1) 

“Rather attractive” according to Lee Jordan. Seems to wear micro box-braids, which Pansy says look like “worms.” Boo Pansy (who is not on this list.) 

#19 - PERCIVAL, KENDRA & ALBUS DUMBLDORE (2) 

Percival is “good-looking,” Albus has shiny hair, and Kendra is “haughty.” I’ll buy that the Dumbledores were a pretty striking family, that makes sense . But they rank a little low because they all only have one attractive descriptor apiece. 

#18 - OLYMPE MAXIME (2) 

She’s an elegant frenchwoman. The only lady on this list described as “handsome.” Also graceful, has shiny hair, and Hagrid is very into her. 

#17 - PARVATI & PADMA PATIL (2)

Both of them look “very pretty” in their Yule Ball dress robes, and are quickly snapped up by Beauxbatons boys when Harry and Ron ignore them.  

#16 -  FIRENZE (2) 

The “handsome centaur.” Also the only character described as “gorgeous” (by Parvati.) At which point Hermione scoffs and says that he’s got four legs. By which we can deduce that Hermione is a bit vanilla for this conversation.

#15 - BILL WEASLEY (2) 

Described as “good-looking” and “handsome” by Mrs. Weasley, and of course FLEUR is very into him very quickly. I considered adding “cool” to my list of words connoting attractiveness, which would have bumped Bill higher… but JKR seems to associate “cool” more with personality. Like Mad-Eye and Hagrid are “cool” without being especially pretty.

#14 - GELLERT GRINDELWALD (2) 

Briefly seen in a memory and a photograph, described as “handsome” both times.

#13 - LILY POTTER (2) 

A “very pretty woman” and a woman with a “kind, pretty face.” Like with Andromeda, JKR throws in “kind” to make sure we know this is good-pretty, one step up from the Patil twins who are girly-pretty (sorry Patil twins.) 

#12 - LUCIUS & DRACO MALFOY (2.5) 

They have super sleek hair. It’s brought up a lot. Pansy likes to pet it. 

#11 - BLAISE’S MOM & BLAISE ZABINI (2.5) 

Blaise’s mom is a “famously beautiful witch,” who “had been married seven times, each of her husbands dying mysteriously and leaving her mounds of gold.” Fanon needs to decide on a name for her, and I think Clytemnestra is the right amount of on-the-nose. Blaise himself is described as haughty, and picky, and tends to “pose” and “loll against pillars.” 

#10 - MADAM ROSMERTA (3) 

Attractive, pretty, and the only character who is “curvy.” (I think she might have the boobs of Harry Potter universe.) Also wears sparkly turquoise heels, which is cute. Ron is into her, and so (I think) is Cornelius Fudge. I mean -  “Rosmerta, m’dear… lovely to see you again, I must say. Have one [drink] yourself, won’t you? Come and join us.” Like, that’s flirty, right? 

#9 - ROWENA & HELENA RAVENCLAW (4) 

Surprising that they crack the top ten, but every time we see an image of them they are described as beautiful. Usually with a qualifier like “austere” or “intimidating.” Beautiful is a word with a little bit of an edge to it in this universe. Beautiful people are just… a little suspect. 

#8 - GILDEROY LOCKHART (5.5) 

Very handsome, good hair, good teeth. The teeth are honestly brought up enough to feel a little off-putting and predatory, which I think is exactly the point. Lockhart is a very 90s-Disney-movie queer-coded villain. But, he is extremely good looking (or at least very well put-together.) Mrs. Weasley and Hermione both have crushes on him, and he continues to get fan mail into his St. Mungo’s days. 

#7 - GINNY WEASLEY (5.5) 

Ginny’s an odd one. She’s described as “graceful,” popular, and “a lot of boys like her,” (according to Pansy.) Honestly, that’s mostly how we experience her beauty. Krum thinks she’s attractive, Blaise thinks she’s attractive, Amycus addresses her as “Pretty” in a creepy way, and so does some random Diagon alley amulet salesman. Both Harry and the narrative voice stay pretty quiet when it comes to thirsting over Ginny. We get the honestly very conflicted description “Ginny gave Harry a radiant smile: He had forgotten, or had never fully appreciated, how beautiful she was, but he had never been less pleased to see her” and then “Ginny and Gabrielle, both wearing golden dresses, looked even prettier than usual [at Fleur’s wedding].” Which isn’t even completely about Ginny! Maybe you could count the romantic descriptions of her hair being flamelike or on one occasion “dancing,” but that’s really it. I am doing my very best, and scraping the bottom here. 

#6 - HERMIONE GRANGER (7.5) 

Hermione seems to fall firmly into the “cleans up nice” category. She is the “pretty girl in blue robes” at the Yule Ball, looking good enough that Pansy gapes and Malfoy “didn’t seem to be able to find an insult to throw at her.” She’s also looking good at Fleur’s wedding, when Viktor and Ron are definitely interested. Her hair can look elegant and shiny if she puts in effort - otherwise it’s bushy, and Pansy compares her to a chipmunk. We also know she has large front teeth, before she gets them fixed. She occasionally gets a “graceful” or “haughty" description, and Greyback does creep on her (again with the creeping!) calling Hermione Harry’s “pretty little friend.” I also gave her half a point for the description of Horcrux!Hermione, who is “more beautiful and yet more terrible than the real Hermione.” That’s another good example of how JKR uses the word “beautiful,” and I guess “more beautiful” definitely implies some existing beauty.

#5 - CHO CHANG (8)  

Cho is very pretty. She’s often described that way, and she has long shiny black hair. She naturally pairs up with Cedric, who also scored an 8. I wish I had more to say about her, I really do. 

#4 - CEDRIC DIGGORY (8)

Our first “pretty boy" - he’s described that way by both Harry and Seamus. Seamus actually seems to kind of have a thing about Cedric. He doesn’t believe Cedric put his name in the Goblet of Fire because “I wouldn’t have thought he’d have wanted to risk his good looks.” And true, Cedric is “exceptionally handsome, with his straight nose, dark hair, and gray eyes” and probably our first extraordinarily pretty person. Angelina and Katie think he’s hot, Myrtle creeps on him - although, honestly - Myrtle creeps on everyone, and the text doesn’t take it very seriously. Interestingly in the film we get a moment of Voldemort turning over Cedric’s head with his bare foot, saying “Oh, such a handsome boy” - to which Harry replies “Don’t touch him!”  That’s a subtle difference - in the books it’s only threatening when girls get creeped on, the movies are a little more equal opportunity. 

#3 - SIRIUS & REGULUS BLACK (11) 

Sirius is hot. He’s “carelessly handsome,” his “dark hair fell into his eyes with a sort of casual elegance neither James’ nor Harry’s could ever have achieved.” He rolled out of bed looking this good. Sirius is graceful and lounging and bored as hell, but you know “handsomely so.” Even when he falls through the Veil, it’s a “graceful,” beautiful death. Regulus gets a shout-out too, because he “had the same dark hair and slightly haughty look of his brother, though he was smaller, slighter, and rather less handsome than Sirius had been.” But, as is mentioned nearly every time he appears on the page, Sirius is extremely handsome. Less handsome than Sirius is still handsome. 

I think it’s actually important to Sirius’ character that he is THAT beautiful. Sirius is a kid from a very bad environment who’s one bad day away from just snapping… but you’d never know it. He’s so attractive, he’s so effortlessly talented, he hides everything so well. Of course none of the adults in his life would be worried about him. 

#2 - FLEUR, GABRIELLE & APPOLINE DELACOUR (12.5) 

Fleur almost seems like a cheat, because she is supernaturally beautiful. She is “a woman of such breathtaking beauty that the room seemed to have become strangely airless. She was tall and willowy with long blonde hair and appeared to emanate a faint, silvery glow.” Even Aunt Muriel thinks she’s beautiful. (We also do get told that Fleur has nice teeth.)

But again, she’s beautiful. She’s that slightly threatening, too-feminine beauty. Until she gets married… and has a kid… which redeems her. “While [Fleur’s] radiance usually dimmed everyone else by comparison, today [at her wedding] it beautified everybody it fell upon.” 

#1 - TOM RIDDLE SR. & TOM RIDDLE JR. (14) 

Our clear winner, and also our second “pretty boy.” (Marvolo calls Tom Sr. “pretty,” and Tom Jr. is “his handsome father in miniature.” so yes, Voldemort does count as a pretty boy.) Poor Tom Sr. - the text frames the aftermath of his sexual assault as him “abandoning” his wife, but unfortunately that falls into the wider trend of only girls being victims of creeps in the HP books. It’s like the weird detail about the stairs to the dormitories - the girls can go to the boys dormitory, but not vice-versa. 

But yeah. Tom Riddle’s attractiveness is brought up almost every time he is. We even get details - we specifically know he lost weight and grew his hair out after he left school, and it looked super good on him. Hepzibah Smith is very into him, Bellatrix is very into him. (Although I do wonder just how snakey he looked when they met.) Adult Voldemort doesn’t treat the loss of his looks as any kind of sacrifice, he seems well rid of them. They’re just another annoying aspect he wants to shed on his quest for transhumanism. He gets rid of his father’s name, it only makes sense he would want to get rid of his looks as well. I do like the detail that his original eyes live inside the Locket, that is cool and creepy. 

(but, logically, I can only assume that means his original nose lives inside the Cup.) 

[yourgalgremlin]

Rewriting the Wolfstar Fight in POA:

SIRIUS: You MARRIED my cousin's daughter?!

REMUS: FAKE-married! You faked your death?!

SIRIUS: At least mine is forgivable!

REMUS: Oh so you're allowed to fake-DIE but I'm not allowed to fake-MARRY your niece?

TONKS: Hey my #1 wlw ship is w/ Fleur Delacour (the hot Veela) so Ima pack my ✨fake-DǏCK✨ for my REAL-gf. Bye✌🏼

[bellwood-qudditch]

Next Gen jobs

Teddy: Goblin liaison turned Stay at home dad

Victorie: Healer, turned Hogwarts school counsellor after 25 years at St. Mungo’s

Dominique: Record and archives keeper at the French ministry of magic + former bartender + former band member

Louis: St. Gringott’s desk job and then wizarding world equivalent engineer

Molly ii: Journalist for the ‘New York Ghost’ (American version of the daily prophet)

Lucy: Ministry secretary, specialising in PR.

Fred ii: Worker for his father’s business and eventual owner.

Roxanne: apprentice for Madam Malkin’s robes turned huge fashion designer

Rose: Professional quidditch player

Hugo: Paralegal turned Lawyer within the ministry of magic

James Sirius: Professional quidditch player

Albus: Worked in an apothecary in Diagon Alley, then became a potioneer for St. Mungo’s. And eventually became the Hogwarts potions teacher.

Lily Luna: Entrepreneur for her own skincare line within the wizarding world and eventually the Transfiguration professor at Hogwarts.

[hperoticsapphics]

Announcement || HP Erotic Sapphics Week ☆

We're glad to announce themed week dedicated to erotic/kinky content about women from any era of the HP universe!

Anyone can agree that there is a remarkably small amount of healthy erotic content with women in the fandom space. The goal of this event is to create more mature/explicit content centering on women’s pleasure, because exploring one's sexuality and being interested in this kind of content is not something to be ashamed of. We deserve a space to enjoy female sensuality.

The event will take place from May 19 to 25.

RULES || PROMPTS || AO3 COLLECTION

Ask box is open in case you have any questions.

[toujoursincorrect]

Fleur: What’s wrong?

Tonks: I’m having girlfriend problems with you.

Fleur: What?! But I’m not your girlfriend.

Tonks: I know. That’s the problem, right there.

[superfallingstars]

so back in november (!) i started drawing little outfit concepts for a bunch of hp characters and of course it spiraled into this massive undertaking of drawing about 6 outfits for nearly every character and i’m super picky about them so they’re taking forever lol. but i’ve never posted a single one before! so here are some wips for harry, ron, hermione, ginny, luna, tonks, lupin, snape, and lily – i’m sooo excited to get to coloring them!!!!!

[itingtmywly]

aaand the second work for the Femininomenon Fest is here!

now one of my fav rarepairs, fleurdora (which i also call rosethorns along some other people and i will die on this hill) as college kids! i love them dearly

check out more of the fest fanworks here and follow @hpfemininomenonfest !! you can follow me @ wlwfstar on twitter and instagram as well 😋

[hp-fanfic-archive]

Growing Teeth by earlybloomingparentheses Pairing: Fleur/Tonks Rating: E Word Count: 2k Podfic available here Read by: singularsenary Length: 10-30 minutes Fleur shaves off all her hair. Tonks changes pronouns, and some other things too. It turns out that Fleur's got a sharper bite than Tonks thought. And Tonks likes people with a sharp bite.

[lakeofflowerss]

hunter schafer is my fleur delacour, how can she be so cute????

[underrtheskinn]

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 1 (2010)

[marmotish]

Maybe it was a good thing that Freyja wasn’t there as an Auror in the Hogwarts’s Hospital Wing when Bill was recovering from getting his face maimed by a werewolf.

Would she have been there for him + the Weasleys + Tonk? Absolutely.

Would she have also regretted being there when the romantic drama exploded in her face? Oh ABSOLUTELY.

Mrs. Weasley: *being a worried sick mother while also assuming fate of wedding based on superficial perceived notions of Fleur*

Fleur: *wins over Mrs. Weasley by serving the latter some much needed slices of humble pie and establishing her place in the Weasley household she should never have proved to earn to her female future in-laws*

Tonks: *chooses this moment to be inspired to shake sense into her older werewolf companion by calling him out for his moody (hur hur) way of avoiding his feelings by confessing her love to him for the upteenth time.*

Moody: *chocolate/sleep-deprived, current sole survivor of best friend group who didn’t turn to villainy who’s been a target of prejudice bc of being an unwilling furry doesn’t know how to handle his crush for his most recently deceased friend’s much younger cousin beyond moody angsting*

Freyja: *standing there awkwardly; was there to get statements about Fenrir Greyback and provide what little emotional support she could give to her old classmates/friends and their family before reporting back to Chester WHAT-IN-THE-NAME-OF-SOAPBOX-DRAMA-SHENANIGANS-IS-GOING-ON-RIGHT-NOW???*

—

Had Rowan been alive and been a teacher at Hogwarts, you just KNOW she would have been there as well eating this romantic garbage right up (yass queeeeeen-ing Fleur and oh my gosh they were co-workers-ing at Tonks x Lupin)

“Sir I quit. It was like Coronation Street on crack.”

[maxdibert]

Do you think that the fact that most Harry Potter fanfics have gay couples as pairings (to the detriment of straight or lesbian couples) is because people have difficulty writing f/f characters as strong and m/f as equals or is this due to underrepresentation? of women in books?

This is an interesting question, especially because it’s not limited to the Harry Potter fandom; it’s actually quite widespread in all fandoms, particularly those where there are either very few female characters, or where the female characters play much more secondary roles than the male ones. I think nowadays, with the (slow, but ongoing) effort being made to foster representation, these sorts of things might go more unnoticed. But in series or franchises from fifteen or twenty years ago (we’re talking early 2000s here, no need to go all the way back to the '80s), it was pretty common for m/m pairings to prevail over the canon het couples and, of course, far above f/f couples, which are basically the ugly ducklings of most fandoms—and this isn’t just a coincidence.

The Harry Potter case is especially interesting to me because it’s a series written by a woman where, in fact, there are quite a few female characters, and one of the most important in the whole series (Hermione) is a girl. She’s not only the most significant female character but is also the only one truly developed, with depth and a gradual evolution throughout the books. The rest of the women are either unimportant secondary characters, villains, or merely “placeholder” girlfriends for Harry who only becomes relevant in the last two books (and yes, I’m talking about Ginny, who I find unbearable. J.K. Rowling’s forced attempt to keep Harry in the Weasley family shoves us with this girl who’s meant nothing throughout the story and is then given this “pick me” girl personality—please don’t count me among the other girls—which not only has aged terribly, but I already found it repulsive back then).

I’m bringing up Hermione because it’s not just that she’s the most important girl in the story; she’s also the token character who is constantly paired with every male character in the saga, including men who are twenty years her senior and are her professors, father figures, or fathers of her schoolmates. And this is really interesting because it’s not that Hermione “matches” with everyone or could remain in character if paired with Sirius or Snape; it’s simply that Hermione is the only genuinely complex, three-dimensional female character in the entire series. So, if people choose to create non-canon pairings between canon characters, she’s the easiest choice because she’s got substance and a basis to build on. The rest of the female characters are mere shadows or are relegated to the role of villains or mothers. And if we talk about the younger female characters, it’s a real hair-puller.

Sure, Rowling doesn’t give recurring characters much emphasis in general, but for every ten things you know about a male character, you only know one about their female equivalent. If you know little about Dean Thomas, you know even less about Parvati Patil, just as an example. And all those secondary characters with a bit more screen time ultimately end up being someone’s girlfriend or wife. For example, Fleur, who is also the only one who doesn’t make much of a mark during the Triwizard Tournament (what a coincidence—the three guys stand out, and she doesn’t). We then only see her as Bill’s girlfriend and eventual wife. And the other semi-relevant female characters despise her for being beautiful, only accepting her when she proves she’s a devoted, loyal woman to her husband, no matter what happens to him, even if he’s scarred or turns into a werewolf. This vision of a beautiful, confident woman as merely a sexualized figure (as initially presented) or a threat to other women (as happens later), who can only prove her worth as a woman who conforms to “proper” standards by renouncing her feminine essence to become a wife, is typical of a misogynistic, male gaze often found in fiction. It’s quite striking here because it’s a woman writing the story, yet she still falls into the same old tropes.

Then there’s Tonks, shown as an Auror, an independent woman with her own job, who’s “cool” because she’s “not like other girls” with her colorful hair and Metamorphmagus powers. But all that gets overshadowed when she suddenly becomes a simp for Lupin, who, on top of it all, abandons her after she becomes pregnant, yet she forgives him because love conquers all. Excuse me? This is the female representation you get in the series. Because the rest are mothers: Lily is a saint who sacrifices her life for her son, Molly Weasley is basically a tradwife, and Narcissa Malfoy is only worthy of some respect when she risks everything for Draco. Again, we know much more about their husbands than we do about them; we know more about the men in their lives than we do about them. Their husbands have deeper backstories, richer histories.

Take Lily, for example. We know nothing about her. The little we do know comes from Snape’s memories, and it’s tiny compared to everything we know about James throughout the series. We know so much about James that we can debate endlessly about whether he was truly a good guy or a jerk, and this despite the fact that both are dead at the start of the story and Lily’s relationship with Harry is supposedly more central to the plot. Yet James is more fleshed out! James had friends, friends who talk about him, who tell his son about their youthful adventures. James was someone outside of being a father and husband; Lily wasn’t. Lily is Petunia’s sister, Harry’s mother, Snape’s lost love/friend, and James’ crush and future wife—period. That’s it. Did Lily not have friends of her own? Didn’t she hang out with other girls in her year? Didn’t she have relationships beyond Severus? Why is there not a single friend of Lily’s in the entire saga who can tell Harry what his mother was like? We have not one, but two friends of James, a traitor, and an enemy. But for Lily? Nothing. Only Snape, whose relationship with Lily isn’t even revealed until the final book.

All the Weasleys, except Ginny, are boys. We know things about all or most of the Weasleys, and they have significant moments in the story despite being secondary characters. There are no recurring female counterparts who show up as consistently. Harry’s female classmates don’t interest him, or only come up when Hermione criticizes them. Generally speaking, the female characters have a lot of shortcomings compared to the male characters at any level of the story.

All this to say, while you could argue there’s female representation in the story, is there really? The only girl from the Marauder’s era is Lily. Mary McDonald is mentioned, but we know nothing about her. The rest of the female characters in that fandom are invented—names that pop up randomly in the books with no physical description, no substance, no relevance to the plot. They’re practically OCs thrown into fanfics because all that exists is Lily and the name of some supposed friend of hers who we never hear from again. There’s very little material to work with. And even though Harry’s generation has more girls, they aren’t significant enough for people to be interested in them because there are more boys, and the boys are much better developed. So, people either dive into slash or create OCs because there isn’t much else to hold onto. And if we talk about the reasons behind the lack of f/f pairings, it boils down to the same thing: if it’s hard enough with het couples because, aside from Hermione, Ginny, or Luna, it’s hard to find anything to work with among the female characters, imagine trying with two women.

Of course, I also think it’s largely because there’s zero LGBTQ representation in these stories, but back then, LGBTQ representation was practically non-existent in all children’s/young adult fiction. Although, seeing where J.K. Rowling stands on these issues now, I doubt she’d have done much differently in that regard today.

What I’m saying is that I’ve seen time and time again that when a fandom has well-developed female characters who actually matter, people do work with them. Take “A Song of Ice and Fire,” for example: we’re talking about a story with a ton of male characters, but every single female character has a point of view, a backstory, and a way of seeing the world. You get to know each of them, even the less important ones. If you dive into that fandom, you’ll see all kinds of het pairings and plenty of f/f pairings too. And this is a medieval fantasy saga with plenty of misogyny, but the reality is that it has a very powerful and diverse cast, full of women, each of whom is her own person with a story, ambitions, and a journey—and that gives you something to work with, which is not the case with Harry Potter. But it’s not exclusive to that saga; if you look at fandoms like Naruto, which hit their peak around the same time, it’s the same thing. Ultimately, the common thread I see (besides the fact that we live in a patriarchal society that usually ignores women in fiction, even when it’s by female authors) across all these fandoms where m/m dominates over any other pairing is precisely the lack of female characters or, if there are enough, the fact that their development ranges from minimal to nonexistent.