#good dursleys

[meri-oddities]

Chapters: 1/21 Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Harry Potter/Bill Weasley (pre-relationship) Characters: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Bill Weasley, Minerva McGonagall, Sirius Black, Draco Malfoy, Severus Snape, Petunia Evans Dursley, Albus Dumbledore, Narcissa Black Malfoy, Dudley Dursley, Amelia Bones Additional Tags: Time Travel Fix-It, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Pre-Relationship, Bonding, Pureblood courtship, Good Dursley Family (Harry Potter), BAMF Minerva McGonagall, Evil Albus Dumbledore, Good Severus Snape, 2024 Quantum Bang, My Potter Head Canon, competent adults, 74k words, No Underage Sex Summary:

One night, right after the end of third year, Harry has a very vivid dream. Or at least, he thinks it's a dream. Whatever it is, it changes the trajectory of his life as well as the lives of several other people in his world. He finds out it's all about getting the correct information at the right time and then finding out who your friends are. Even more importantly, figuring out who your enemies are.

[bicholsdrarrysideblog]

ACTUALLY I CHANGED MY MIND IN THIS HOUSE WE SUPPORT TALLER HARRY AND IF YOU SPECIFY IN YOUR FIC THAT DRACO IS TALLER REST ASSURED MY MIND IS EDITING!!!!!!

[voidpacifist]

potter-verse headcanons that I choose to view as canon bc fuck jkr <3

*I redid these bc james' lineage was pointed out to me in a previous comment and I don't wanna disregard it so I tweaked a few things to keep it true to the lore while also spiting the terf

this will be very long btw

starting with the marauders era (sorry this is basically an essay now)

adding onto that, I just would love to see his inner conflicts and hopes and ambitions and dialogue more flushed out, because I really don't think him being rejected by an old flame is at all cause enough for him to suddenly just hate children. even his rivalry and bullying with/from james doesn't feel like the push that comes to shove idk

severus snape is not an abusive man. in my opinion, the way that he's written makes him seem like a very cause to effect character without much complexity to him other than that he was in love with lily evans. in my mind, he's lily's closest friend and defender for most of their growing up together at hogwarts, especially after he begins unlearning blood purist ideologies. he tries to protect her from james potter, who's antagonistic of blood purists by nature, and also a massive troublemaker. thinking it will get lily hurt is what ultimately fuels his hatred of james (that and the fact that james is just kind of a dick to him the whole time they're at school together)

an earlier commenter pointed out to me that james' grandfather invented fleamont's hair potion, so the inheritance of that success would make james' family quite well off. and while he grows up with a very good home life and very loving parents, I imagine james also feels quite stifled sometimes, being that he's an only child with a lot of room in his house and a lot of legacy to carry. it's not like he has a complex about it, but he's sort of a steve harrington-esque kind of character. he's not a complete asshat, but he does experience a lot of growing pains and contentions to his worldview on multiple levels when he first becomes acquainted with lily and severus, and even when he first meets the other marauders. it adds a lot more interest than just making him the charming class clown, and james being desi adds another layer of complexity to him too. (I'm quite curious about how desi metaphysics are practiced, and how that would be a shift for him going from eleven years of his own household magic to hogwarts magic)

adding onto that, it's why he and sirius become such fast friends - sirius feels estranged from his own family, and james' only family are his parents and grandparents. they're closer than sirius and his own brother are. this does certainly make things strange and angsty when regulus takes an admiration to james that sirius notices, when sirius himself is constantly being compared to his more "ideal wizard archetype" younger brother his entire life

in fact, regulus' admiration of james starts as more of a scientific sort of reverence - he wants to understand how a pure blood can be so defiant of the ideas that suggest he's more worthy of practicing wizardry, let alone a pure blood who has come from so much. he learns quite a lot about james through sirius, and when he actually meets him for the first time, he's nothing like the troublemaker prince charming that everyone expects him to be. it's the first time reg experiences real endearment to someone who isn't in his own family, and even that kind of love is conditional at best (shout-out to walburga and orion black for their a-plus parenting)

it makes it that much more painful when he sees that james, while kinder and more considerate than he seemed at first, only thinks of him as sirius'-younger-brother-who-isn't-actually-that-terrible-perhaps; when he sees that james only has room in his heart for lily evans, who by black family standards isn't worthy to have any knowledge of the magical world, let alone belong in it. and he's trying to be better and to understand, but even the kindest blood purists are still blood purists, and it will take him years after this heartbreak to rectify that mindset - even as he's defying voldemort himself

lily grows up in scotland, and while her parents love her and petunia very much, they're constantly fighting. she and tuney often spend time together, and when lily's magical talents start to emerge, she at first asks her big sister, her protector, her closest friend, to keep this secret from their parents. so imagine the heartbreak when lily's owl comes in the mail, and instead of the magical announcement being a complication for their parents, the evans' are overjoyed. imagine the betrayal that petunia feels when, after years of borderline neglect to the both of them, lily leans into the praise and attention she's now receiving. and she tries to make it up to tuney - she even grows a flower in her own hand hoping to make peace with her only real role model in life, only to have it shut down by being called a freak. things only get worse as tuney is left at home with quarreling parents while lily gets the privilege of being away from all of it. the number of letters she sends to dumbledore begging to learn magic, then simply begging to see her little sister more than just during christmas, should be enough to convince the old man to have some leniency, but dumbledore doesn't

now let's talk about peter pettigrew. we all blame him for the downfall of james and lily that kicks off the tragedy of harry's childhood, which we should. but the why of it feels important to me, so personally, this is how I see his psyche playing a role: what if he grows up in a religious household? now I know how that sounds, but hear me out. peter grows up in a religious family because his parents carry some sort of shame surrounding their magical lineage. maybe it's because their squibs, maybe it's because of other trauma from being discovered by muggles, etc. regardless, he grows up discouraged from using his magic, but instead of suppressing it and developing an obscurus, he learns how to hide it. he practices his abilities in secret, until he's a very good liar with the worst case of people pleasing. so when his owl comes with his hogwarts letter, his parents are less than happy about it. he's sent to live with his aunt when he's not at school. in the meantime, he hides as much as he can about his family from the marauders. remus has his lycanthropy to worry about, and sirius already has an even rockier home life to begin with. so it's no wonder that peter latches onto james - ironically, james becomes a secret keeper of sorts for him. but peter is never close to him the way sirius is, or even remus. he's forgotten by his friends, disregarded by his parents, and written off as soft and submissive by his other peers and even the teachers. it makes him all the more suggestible when he's sought out by voldemort, who promises him a place of belonging, which is all that he's ever wanted since he was a child. he's hidden things from the people closest to him once before, so he can do it again, right?

until of course, voldemort actually physically manipulates him with an imperius curse. and all it takes is one curse for the dark lord to convince peter that his friends can never take him back, not when he's killed and maimed and cursed and destroyed lives as much as he has. "not when you're my most trusted servant, wormtail." in short, peter pettigrew is and always will be remembered as a coward. but before he was a coward, he was in pain. and voldemort used that pain to turn him against his only friends before his only friends could turn on him

speaking of other death eaters, let's talk about regulus again for a moment. in an audience-sparing plot, regulus lives. in an angst driven plot, regulus drowns. so for the sake of compromising realism for emotional lenience, let's say nobody actually knows what happens to him. there's all kinds of rumors about the missing black brother, but the truth is that regulus doesn't drown. he's badly hurt in his attempt to destroy the locket, because not only is that thing messing with him psychologically, it's also a pain in the ass to try and get rid of. brutally injured and looking for a place to hide, he enchants a supply cabinet in a muggle cafe to expand into his own flat, which looks to non-magic users like any old closet, even if they try to open it. kreacher is left the locket along with regulus' note, because he doesn't want to be found (great opportunity for him to make a sneaky little appearance in the first half of the deathly hallows though, when the golden trio are debriefing in a muggle cafe...)

remus grows up in a really good home, but like james, he feels a sort of isolation. not because of his class status but because of his condition. as his body begins to mature in his teenage years, his lycanthropy also "matures," taking a bigger and bigger toll on his body until by the time his third year starts at hogwarts (between growth spurts and growing pains and the intensity of his transitions), he can't walk without using a cane. he's pretty sickly as a child anyway to begin with, so more often than not, he spends a lot of time in his bed in the gryffindor common room. this means when a lot of the pranking and troublemaking is happening, he's either in the background unable to do much more than try and dissuade his friends, or he isn't there at all. it isn't until a little way into his fourth year that he begins actively participating in marauders shenanigans, including helping with the construction of the map. I imagine he and sirius both have feelings for one another during this time, but these feelings cannot or do not go acknowledged until the later years (like, year six or seven)

when it comes time to meet sirius' family, sirius has already been disowned by his birth parents and is extremely distant from his brother and cousins. all of course, except for his cousin andromeda, who reaches out to him after the news of his erasure from the family tree makes it to her. this is actually how remus meets tonks in my mind - because during the whole "meet the parents" thing, he meets ted, his wife, and their daughter nymphadora

that's all I've got for now from the marauders era but the golden trio era is a whole different ballgame (and probably way longer sorry in advance)

let's start with harry. petunia is not near as strict with him as vernon is, but they're both abusive to him in ways that are physical and psychological. dudley, of course, is given everything by his parents to the point of spoiling, while harry is forced to feed off of the leftovers. and while he definitely inherits his father's "fuck around and find out" personality, he's a lot less likely to fuck around with the dursleys. in fact, he's much more quiet until he gets to hogwarts and blossoms. I also think his scar is much more noticeable and does much more alteration to his face. because it's the aftermath of the killing curse, it makes him much more likely to die just from a physical standpoint than from simply a plot device standpoint. voldemort is obsessed with killing him, and incidentally, he's a very easy person to kill

however, this doesn't make harry a weak wizard by any means. his magic is incredibly powerful and he's incredibly cunning with it. it's why the hat finds it equally appropriate to sort him into slytherin, other than the obvious connection that he and voldemort share. but this does mean that other people's perceptions of him are that he is weaker. draco thinks he can easily manipulate him. ron underestimates his understanding of the wizarding world and how to defend himself. hermione even has her moments, though hers are more a concern for his well-being as a target of all sorts of evil wizardry. even still, it's a shock and a half to go from being consistently neglected and abused to being coddled and handled with kid gloves all the time. it's no wonder his "fuck around and find out" attitude we see in the books and films also comes to life due to the way he's being mistreated - whether that's with good or ill intent

ron is not only his first friend, but also the first person harry is formally introduced to. he's harry's gateway to what the wizarding world looks like outside of school. of course, molly weasley immediately decides this makes harry her son as well as ron, and it's nice for ron to have a brother his own age. but as the youngest son in a family of seven kids, with one of the honorary offspring being famous in the wizarding world, it's easy for him to get swept up in the idea that he's the afterthought of his friends and family. as a result, he tries emulating harry's attitude towards the world, but whereas harry's is built up by his upbringing and those around him, ron's is built up out of spite. it creates resentment when they're horcrux hunting together, because ron not only hates that harry is refusing to be taken care of - he also hates that nobody's taking care of him

it's why I think he and luna lovegood make an excellent pair. luna is an uncommonly kind person by nature, and we already know in the books that she takes a shine to ron. I wish we'd seen more of them in canon, so it's my personal philosophy that they should have been together instead of ron and hermione. luna really softens the resentment in ron, because she takes so much in stride that it sort of rubs off on him. and ron brings out something very protective and fiery in her. if she weren't a ravenclaw, she'd make an excellent gryffindor, though honestly she's such a multitudinous character already that she'd do swimmingly in almost any house, in my opinion

more on luna: she and hermione were actually quite close as first years, but grew apart because while luna was accepted for her neurodivergence, hermione was singled out. there's not much difference between the two of them other than the two factors that luna doesn't mask her traits, and is a pureblood. at the time that they're both eleven, I imagine eleven-year-old blood purist logic would muddy a friendship rather quickly, especially when you're trying to seek acceptance from your peers. this isn't to say that luna is a cruel person by any means - it's just that hermione has to work harder for her fitting-in-ness. naturally, being in different houses and different circles of peers along with all the other factors, they grow apart. four years after they've met, luna is simply "looney lovegood" to hermione

hermione's parents are very eager muggles to integrate hermione into the wizarding world. the two of them meet in college, when both take an interest in metaphysical studies and the history of witches and witchcraft. though it starts as a scientific fascination, hermione's father turns out to be a rather superstitious man in the first place. when their daughter receives her owl, both of them are overjoyed at the possibility of there being a world where their fascination with magic and the occult is real. the only reason they both go into dentistry (and together at the same office, no less) is because they're ridiculously in love with one another and want hermione to have a stable childhood

snape ends up being a very protective teacher over harry. the reason he hides it is because he knows dumbledore is on the hunt for power and control, however much the man tries to disguise it as working for the greater good. the headmaster simply believes harry is the perfect conduit to attain those things, and rather than view him as a threat, dumbledore views him as a tool. snape is desperate not to see harry become a pawn, the way he did, but he also sees so much of james in him that it's hard for him to reconcile any outward respect for him. this makes snape a very cold man for harry to cross (and he's already cold enough for several other reasons), but in my personal opinion, it does his character a disservice to make him outright abusive. he's dismissive and intense and extremely aloof, but never does he use it to punish harry himself. snape's only seen as a shifty, mean person by harry because of how similar he is to petunia and her dismissal of harry at home so by god do those trust issues jump out between these two. it's by no means a father + son dynamic, but it's certainly a begrudging guardian + clueless guardee dynamic, if that makes sense

in fact, when snape realizes draco is also dealing with abuse in the home, he makes it a goal of his to do what he can to make sure their time in his class is as easy as possible. of course, true to severus snape fashion, he does this in such a way that it seems like he's going to single them out when in reality, he's only breeding an environment where draco and harry start having a tentative, mutual respect for one another. this is at first very confusing for hermione and ron, as well as draco's circle of friends. but these two are nothing if not stubborn, which means cycle breaking is what they're destined for

this paves the way for draco and hermione to be in each other's circles. mutually indifferent to one another at best. detestable to one another at worst. very much enemies to lovers, until hermione bests draco in a dueling practice and draco gains some respect for her. he learns that she is a very well schooled person when it comes to traditional witch traditions and rituals; that she recognizes the holidays that christmas and halloween are bastardizations of; that she does in fact "respect her betters," because she respects her magic as the sacred gift that it is. at that point, does it become allies to lovers. and when the second wizarding war rolls around, he does everything he can within his power to play the roll of double agent. snape becomes his mentor in that regard in more ways than one (he has to kill dumbledore and he has to outsmart voldemort, homeboy is stressing)

hey speaking of pairings, the only original pairing that I tend to keep the same within the golden trio is ginny and harry. it is the sole good pairing that jkr brought to the table. I still have a few notes on it — I just wish there was more development with them. I wish there was more canonical tension than "brother's famous best friend," because while ginny is a wonderful character on her own, she doesn't seem the type to be besotted by someone because of their fame. in fact, an enemies to lovers hinny would almost make more sense to me. they're both incredibly stubborn, it's a wonder they don't butt heads more during canon events, with the fact in mind that ginny is quite soft spoken around him. she's very do-no-harm-take-no-shit, and I wish we saw more of that in their interactions. in my head, their pipeline is as follows: younger sister figure -> academic rival/enemy -> allies during the order era -> confidants -> lovers. if this makes sense. I know it's similar to the canon pipeline for them but please I need tension I need depth I need conflict

I also have got to talk about cho because first of all, what the fuck kind of name is "cho chang" for the only visibly asian character in a franchise? said it once and I'll say it again: fuck jkr. she didn't put thought or depth into this character even one bit other than making her ditsy and boy-obsessed and I hate that shit! with all my heart! in fact, all of the POC women in this series she writes specifically to be obsessed with harry, and that makes my blood absolutely evaporate because they could be so much more than one dimensional figures. I digress

as I see it, "cho chang" isn't her real name at all. it's chao-xing zhang, and the first name means morning star. she hails from a family where her father is chinese and her mother is irish. if I had to give her a middle name, it would be siobhan. she grows up with strong roots in both her irish and chinese heritage, and she's the pride of her family, since she's the only child her parents are able to have. when she arrives at hogwarts, she is quite shy and reserved. but she's brilliant, so of course she's in ravenclaw. but it's in an atypical sense that she is brilliant, not in the I-come-fom-an-asian-family-so-I'm-clever kind of way (I think giving her the gift of clairvoyance would add a really good layer to her arc). she tries to fight off visions of harry potter dying, but she cannot shake them, so instead she vows to fight with him, especially after voldemort kills the first person to show her love and affection for who she is, not for the "cho chang" that her peers think she is. it's only natural for her to take a shine to harry when he's the one who saw cedric diggory murdered

while we're on the topic of horseshit naming, parvati and padma aren't called parvati and padma in my personal mindscape of the potter-verse. they're instead named drisana and salena, meaning "daughter of the sun" and "moon" respectively. not only are they fraternal twins, they also have entirely separate personalities and magical gifts. they're as different as the sun and moon are different, but they also both reflect each other's gifts quite well, just like how the full moon is an expression of both itself and the light of the sun. of course they're both enamored by the boy who lived and his best mate, and of course they say yes to them when they need dates for the yule ball. but to say either of them are actually in love with or interested in either of the boys isn't true by a long shot - salena much prefers her own company and drisana has been eyeing the pretty ravenclaw, chao-xing, for as long as she can remember (I also think they would take harry under their wing and help him reconnect with his desi culture because I can't imagine being raised by the dursleys gave him too much opportunity for that tbh)

now onto more world-buildy types of things

in fact, I'd say the only stereotypical twins at hogwarts are fred and george, and even then they only play into it for the bit. they think it's wildly funny to confuse anyone who doesn't know them well enough to tell them apart, which is a very small number of people (I mean come on, even their own mother doesn't always manage to tell them apart). one of them is probably just a little bit fruity, and the other one is either none the wiser or not the least bit surprised. they pretend like they're carefree people, but they both feel the pull of the war on their morale, even before the war truly sets in motion with the death of dumbledore. they don't have any older sibling figures present as far as we read until bill becomes part of the plot, but I like to think he and charlie are the ones they go to when they're needing someone to talk to about the state of the world. even then, they have to be careful about it in their correspondences.

and while I like to think that molly and arthur are all very present in the lives of their children, I also believe that arthur's work in the ministry keeps him quite busy, and molly can't always be there for each individual child without totally burning herself out. long story short, the weasleys are there for one another as much as they can be, but mainly as a whole. and of course, every weasley brother would level london for ginny if the need arose for it, since she gets little sister treatment (as she should, we love her for it)

it is in my humble opinion that each house has some elemental magic attached to it. some of these are more obvious, for instance, gryffindor would likely have many ties to fire magic, whereas with hufflepuff's patron being the badger, they'd have many ties to earth magic. ravenclaw and slytherin were a little bit harder for me to parse out, but a raven for me would signify air/weather magic while a reptilian, cold blooded patron would be symbolic to water. and while of course, any magical student can have a proclivity for any element of the four, many gryffindors will have a higher aptitude for fire magic. it's why (in my opinion) seamus finnegan is so talented with pyrotechnics in the first place - it's no accident that gryffindor is where he was sorted with that level of fire magic

so then, liv, how does that explain dumbledore's weird water orb and voldemort's fire serpent featured in the order of the phoenix film? actually that's a quite easy answer - remember how I said not every gryffindor has fire magic tendencies? this is actually referenced with neville longbottom's talent for herbology. if anything, he's more inclined to work with earth magic. we don't see a lot of deviating from house elements at all in canon, but aside from the main main characters, jkr also doesn't divulge much on it to begin with. even then, neville still has the inner fire of a gryffindor. and even though voldemort's raw magic takes the form of a serpent on fire, we see his former self most comfortable with the basilisk, who lives in the dank underbelly of the hogwarts plumbing. water snakes, anybody? dumbledore's is a little trickier to explain, but I do think in his conquest to be more powerful than voldemort, he also ended up mastering all four elements. he does certainly favor fire though, considering his animal companion is a phoenix, and his raw magic is displayed with fire in the half blood prince film during the sea cave scene

beyond the elements and patrons of each house, there's also astrology, runes, divination, etc. basically magic that isn't necessarily assigned to an element, but the elements can be present in each practice. for instance, astrology is a very planetary practice, and it relies on the position of the earth itself in relation to the stars and other celestial bodies (or vice versa). the moon oversees the tides (water), the sun provides warmth (fire) as well as nurtures greenery and living things (earth). all three interacting in different manners affects the weather (air). runes can be written or carved anywhere, but are best written either with something fluid like water and inked, or etched into a solid surface such as wood or stone. divination, particularly scrying, is best done with a reflective surface, however tea reading involves some herbology when it comes to making the tea itself. I digress, the point is, different aptitudes mean some students will have a higher proclivity for one practice than another outside of their "inner element" or which element works best with them (also jkr why didn't you include something for the crystal girlies?? for the fellas who love the pretty rocks???)

onto the topic we all love (said sarcastically) the most: wizard racism. rowling really thought she could paint a complex narrative about blood purity and the differences thereof when her own writing is inherently racist? miss me with that horseshit, anyway here's my personal take on the whole blood purity smorgasbord:

the only difference between muggleborns and regular old muggles is that some have the aptitude and skill for harnessing magic, and some don't. I don't actually know the science behind it. maybe the stars aligned just right. maybe it's a distant genetic thing. regardless, muggles have a very whimsical view of magic itself. we have our holidays like christmas and halloween and easter, and our cutesy packagings of the aesthetic for each holiday. but the holidays that they originate from, such as yule and samhain, have been celebrated by pagans and witches long before this christ-ifying of them, and even longer before making them palatable to a consumer culture. meaning it is real culture that has been taken and warped and accepted by society as normal, when it doesn't credit the original practicers in the first place

and considering the salem witch trials and other witch hunts (some of which are still happening in places around the globe, mind you), it's no wonder that, taking the canon of harry potter into consideration, purebloods (in this case, those from pagan families who have kept the practices for hundreds of generations and have only married within magical bloodlines) are at least mistrusting of muggleborns. does it excuse the blatant mistreatment and alienation of muggleborn witches and wizards? absolutely not. does it at least explain the disparity? yes it does

it gives salazar slytherins perspective of only allowing purebloods into his house an entirely new layer as to why. if only he didn't go about hatching an ancient bloodthirsty beast to hunt down the muggleborn students!

it does also add a very archaic level to slytherin house culture, though - they're not only the most cunning house (and most misunderstood), they're also the most observant of traditional paganism. dumbledore is so dead set on the belief that slytherin breeds evil wizards and witches, however, that his favoritism to his patron house (which happens to have the opposite mascot and element, mind you) creates an environment where slytherins are either feared or outright disrespected by the other houses. here's a hot take: dark and light magic can exist within the same space and still not have any moral attachment to them. crazy, innit

which means that not only is dumbledore a more "accepting" headmaster of muggleborns - they too, are a means to an end in this vendetta he has against tom riddle; a vendetta he's had against a child since he realized this child (who mind you, was already isolated as an orphan and a wizard growing up surrounded by muggles) was the heir of slytherin. and while yes, this made him a threat to the safety of muggleborn students, dumbledore also ensured the creation of the thing that which he vowed to overthrow. his mission in life as a wizard with great power and responsibility was a self fulfilling prophecy

(enough said about albus dumbledore. I hate that man. no wonder jkr paints him as such a hero figure in the series though like damn)

more world building! I think it should be canon that a modified obliviate spell exists so that trans witches and wizards can erase the memory of a dead name from the minds of anyone who isn't them. use this headcanon how you must, it may be the biggest fuck you to the author I could come up with <3

phew! that was a mouthful, but on that note, those are all my thoughts/headcanons/other things that I've conjured so far. some of them may be based off of headcanons I've already seen (like, we've all basically confirmed james is desi at this point), but I did wanna drive a little deeper into those existing ones as well as add thoughts of my own. I am planning on using most if not all of these to write my own rendition of the potter-verse canon, but feel free to use any of them you see in here! I'd love to invite more dialogue, particularly about more thoughtful name changes (like seriously if y'all have anymore suggestions on that front please send them to me, I don't want to be totally ignorant or off base so any feedback is super appreciated)

[a-sunset-outside-my-window]

fic rec friday

I'm starving, darling.

by MarigoldWritesThings @marigold-hills on Ao3

“Dear gods you are gorgeous,” the man said before Remus could utter a sound. “I’m so sorry about this. Truly. I wouldn’t, but it’s a rather desperate situation you see.”

I’m going to get mugged, Remus realised. Here, under the sharp stars, in the soft snow, by the hands of the most beautiful man he had ever laid his eyes on.

And wasn’t that just his luck.“Trust me,” the man continued, “I am no more pleased about it than you are, but it’s a matter of life and death at this point, otherwise… well, sorry. Again.”

***

Remus is accosted by a vampire on his way home. Strange in itself. But when the vampire realises he has anaemia, he starts bringing him food. And medication. And nice little treats to make him feel better.

And - well. Remus never claimed to be a man of strong convictions.

Ahh! So lovely and silly and sweet! I'm actually not sure if I recommend this fic already but if I did... just read it again? It's genuinely so good!

Of Fright, Cold, and Cruel Memories

by MidnightStargazer on Ao3

The house is haunted. That much was obvious from day one. But as for the story behind how the ghost came to be there...Be careful.

There are some mysteries better left unsolved. The truth about this one just might break your heart.

This one broke my heart a little bit. Don't mind me, crying in the corner... we love some Black family angst!

Prior Incantato

by AuroraNova on Ao3

Dudley Dursley's life was perfectly normal - until his younger daughter's eleventh birthday, when a letter arrived which forced him to recall buried memories about wizards and magic. Now he has to navigate raising a witch, a complicated relationship with his famous cousin, and his mother's loathing of magic, all while coming to terms with his childhood. And he's still afraid of dementors.

I've been really in the mood for redemtion fics lately so here you go with that I guess ^^' I just love this!!

so... I don't really know what the vibe for this fic rec is supposed to be? It's kind of all over the place lol but I just read so many good fics this last week and wanted to share a few of those

As always leave lots of love and kudos to the authors and have an amazing rest of the week <3

[celestialseawitch-ff]

Under the Moon

Harry tugged on the thick iron cuff around his ankle. 

“Come on. Come on. Come on.”

It was getting darker in the forest now. The moon would be out soon.

Of all the ways to go, massacred by Fenrir Greyback hadn't really been on the list. Dementors had been higher up on the list. Actually, Seamus’ explosive magic during transfiguration class was higher than the famous werewolf.

Fenrir Greyback was a ghost story. He was the boogeyman under Remus Lupin's bed. He wasn’t supposed to be an actual threat to Harry. That honour was still tightly held by Voldemort.

Harry closed his eyes and sighed. 

The Death Eaters had come out of nowhere while he was at the park. He spent most of his summer there before being forced to return to the Dursleys. When he was younger, lingering around the house meant he'd get locked up under the stairs or forced to do labour. Now that he was older, loitering tended to get him beat with a belt. He could still feel the lashings healing on his back from his uncle's latest temper tantrum.

The Death Eaters pounced before Harry even knew they were there. One moment he was sitting alone in a park and the next thing he knew, he was wandless and unconscious on the floor of an unknown forest. 

Voldemort stayed only long enough to gloat.

“I want you to suffer,” he told Harry. “The way you have made me suffer for years.”

“Fuck you, Riddle,” Harry spat back.

Voldemort smiled coldly. “Let's see how much fight you have left in you when Greyback is done with you.”

Harry's eyes widened.

Voldemort's smile widened. “Oh yes,” he seethed as he bent down so they were eyelevel. “You've heard the stories, I'm sure. More wolf than man. Our furry cannibal is going to eat you piece by piece. He's special among wolves. He retains his human mentality and control without the Wolfsbane potion. He's assured me he'll make it a long, horrible process. You will live until just before dawn breaks. And then,” he clenched his fingers into a fist and Harry flinched, “he'll eat your heart out.”

“I thought you wanted to kill me.”

“My mind has finally settled since the restoration potion. The prophecy will shatter once you die. That's all that matters. Then the only one who can stop me is Dumbledore and he will be dead by the end of the year.”

“You can't beat the Headmaster.”

“I already have. He fell for a dark curse I cast as a young boy. It's poetic really. He was always so terrified of me as a boy. Now my youth will be his death.”

“Just let me go,” Harry pleaded quietly.

“You're the final piece, Harry. But how about this. If the prophecy is destroyed before you die, I'll let you live.”

“The prophecy was shattered during the battle.”

“Oh? Well, I suppose you'll die then.”

The Dark Lord stood and strode away. Harry closed his eyes and bit his tongue on the desperate pleas that bubbled up inside of him. They would fall on deaf ears. Voldemort had no pity. 

The air cracked with magic as he disapparated and Harry was alone.

He opened his eyes and glared at the metal cuff on his ankle. His skin was raw underneath and starting to bleed. His fingers had begun bleeding from tugging at the rough metal ages ago. Tears stained his cheeks.

He had never felt so hopeless. 

“Please,” he cried. 

His eyes fell shut and he prayed to every god and deity he could think of. The Weasleys worshipped a goddess, he knew. He thought it was a prank at first, but Hermione had looked unsurprised and curious at the revelation. He knew she'd read up on it. He wished he had too. 

“Please,” he begged into the forest as night began to fall. “Please. Please. I don't want to die.”

Not like this, came the unbidden thought. Because of course he was going to die. Probably soon. Probably painfully.

But not like this.

[sk1fanfiction]

on dursley revisionism

Random people with wrong opinions: "Harry wasn't abused by the Dursleys" (bonus points for 'just neglected', which is a type of child abuse btw or 'that's all fanon')

Things that the Dursleys canonically did that are abuse just off the top of my head:

Swung a frying pan at his head (at the age of 12)

Grabbed him by the neck and basically tried to strangle him (even light pressure to the neck can cause internal damage)

Starved him

Verbally abused him

Locked him alone in a small cramped space as punishment (which can cause permanent psychological damage btw, and that's in adults. It is literally a type of torture.)

Made him sleep in that same small cramped unhealthy space when they had an extra bedroom

Encouraged their son to bully him and beat him up

Left him to be possibly attacked by a vicious dog

Bonus: Hid the evidence of his existence to outsiders and didn't speak about him to others (a typical thing for abusers to do)

And more. That boy is unrealistically well-adjusted.

I know the shitty guardian trope is so common in British children's lit (think Roald Dahl) that it became normalized, but it's not. It's abuse. I am worried for the children in your lives tbh.

[oflights]

there's no way quidditch is actually fun imo. like i know the seeker thing and how illogical it is has been talked to death but the whole overall concept is so stupid. imagine you're a world class chaser and you're amazing and everything you do is invalidated (or validated) by the performance of one specific player who has nothing else to do with the rest of the players. you have good stats but your win record means absolutely nothing.

there's little strategy; a good defense depends entirely the keeper, which is another way all the positions are just completely disconnected from each other. they could all be playing different sports and nothing would make a difference. beaters are there for Violence ("ethically mean-spirited"). god there are so many bludger moments in fic (and in the books too tbh) that are so dramatic and injurious and it's literally just the beaters playing their stupid position the way they're meant to lol.

i know the reasonings behind this are like: jkr fundamentally doesn't understand sports in even basic ways; the seeker position has to be for The Most Special Guy and that has to be harry always because he wouldn't be Special Enough if the entire game didn't ride on his shoulders; jkr is a bad writer. very annoying that this huge insidious piece of worldbuilding is so bad!!!

[olivers-cocoapuffs]

If you forgive Draco, you have to forgive the others like him. Dudley Dursley, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Pansy Parkinson, Regulus Black, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, Evan Rosier, and Percy Weasley.

They were all just kids

[theupfish]

After going viral with the phrase "Your body, my choice," white supremacist, Holocaust-denier and misogynist influencer Nick Fuentes has been doxed by a Jewish woman and is now (even more) paranoid.

[seaskate]

Hermione : Where did you grow up?

Harry: A place made for leaving

[marietheran]

Realising just how much I hate revisionist takes whenever I dab into fandom surrounding children's media. Like — you people do realise those are books for children and of course the designated mentors are going to send the teenage heroes into danger?

*sighs*

[meri-oddities]

Chapters: 4/21 Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Harry Potter/Bill Weasley (pre-relationship) Characters: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Bill Weasley, Minerva McGonagall, Sirius Black, Draco Malfoy, Severus Snape, Petunia Evans Dursley, Albus Dumbledore, Narcissa Black Malfoy, Dudley Dursley, Amelia Bones, Sharprock (Goblin) Additional Tags: Time Travel Fix-It, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Pre-Relationship, Bonding, Pureblood courtship, Good Dursley Family (Harry Potter), BAMF Minerva McGonagall, Evil Albus Dumbledore, Good Severus Snape, 2024 Quantum Bang, My Potter Head Canon, competent adults, 74k words, No Underage Sex, Helpful Goblins, Retelling of 4th Year Summary:

One night, right after the end of third year, Harry has a very vivid dream. Or at least, he thinks it's a dream. Whatever it is, it changes the trajectory of his life as well as the lives of several other people in his world. He finds out it's all about getting the correct information at the right time and then finding out who your friends are. Even more importantly, figuring out who your enemies are.

[padfootswhiskers]

interesting that the dursleys+harry actually stayed in cokeworth while on the run from the hogwarts letter

[wafflinglumos]

Might write a Lily and Petunia character analysis

[elisedonut]

Not me using anime face claims because I'm lazy and didn't feel like editing irl images because editing with real people is so much more annoying to me

Lavender FC: Kiryu Tsukasa(im@s) Percy FC: Keito Hasumi(Enstars)

Full Collection

At nearly 14k words I have completed Microfic May 2024!

While completely ignoring the whole microfic part um- anyway~

I had a lot of fun doing this challenge and feel like I've improved a lot because of it! even though it's a bit hard to tell since the order the fics went up and the order they were written in is pretty mixed up.

Thank you very much to the hosts of the challenge!! @microficmay I know its the last year you're hosting this so I'm happy i got the chance to participate!

Individual Links and Fic Summaries and Such Below The Cut!

Also keep an eye out for the five marked with a "🪻" Because that means I consider them my favorites c:

🍎 Day 1: Create

Characters/Ship: Molly Weasley & Percy Weasley

WC: 312

Summary:

Percy accidentally staying up far too late to make a shirt for his teddy bear Tallyton.

🍐 Day 2: Warmth

Characters/Ship: Percy Weasley/Oliver Wood (Perciver)

WC: 290

Summary:

Percy brings Oliver home with him and Oliver is confused that something that was always there is suddenly not.

🍎 Day 3: Horizon 

Characters/Ship: Lavender Brown

WC: 97

Summary:

Lavender is dying and she knows it.

🪻Day 4: Decision - Wand for a Kiss?🪻

Characters/Ship: Stan Shunpike/Percy Weasley (Stercy)

WC: 820

Summary:

Percy was going to miss his soulmate when he had to go back to Hogwarts. So, he chose to stay home while his family went to Egypt. To be able to spend time with him.

🍐 Day 5: Dreams & Reality - Once you decipher it, what will you see?

Characters/Ship: Lavender Brown/Luna Lovegood

WC: 240 

Summary:

A few weeks before you find your soulmate they'll start haunting your dreams.

🍐 Day 6: Flare

Characters/Ship: Fleur Delacour/Bill Weasley

WC: 71

Summary:

Bill is distracted.

🍎 Day 7: Innocuous - Are you sure he would like that?

Characters/Ship: Fleur Delacour & Molly Weasley

WC: 248

Summary:

Fleur and Molly are present shopping for Percy.

🍎 Day 8: Will - I'll bid my farewell to you without saying a word

Characters/Ship: Percy Weasley

WC: 538

Summary:

Percy had only a single hour to change things, to bring Fred back to his family. Another Percy decides to do something to get Fred back for his family at his own detriment fic.

🍎 Day 9: Agony

Characters/Ship: Colin Creevey & Dennis Creevey

WC: 122

Summary:

Dennis will return to Hogwarts even if he has to grit his teeth to do it.

🍐Day 10: Rise & Fall

Characters/Ship: Lavender Brown/Fleur Delacour (fleurvender)

WC: 206

Summary:

Fleur can feel herself being pulled towards her.

🍎 Day 11: Curse

Characters/Ship: Lavender Brown

WC: 298

Summary:

'Her scars don't define her.' Is what they keep telling her but it's difficult to believe it.

🪻Day 12: Vivid - Our path, dyed in blue.🪻

Characters/Ship: Dennis Creevey/Percy Weasley (Denperce)

WC: 736

Summary:

Until you first kiss your soulmate you will only see colour in the places that they have been, on things that they've touched. Dennis only sees colour for the first time when he enters Diagon Alley.

🍎 Day 13: Talisman - Talismans & Rabbits

Characters/Ship: Lavender Brown

WC: 499

Summary:

Lavender needs to find the right item to use for a new assignment.

🍎 Day 14: Humility

Characters/Ship: Percy Weasley

WC: 74

Summary:

Percy thinking about something Penny said once.

🍎 Day 15: Nothing & Everything - Spacing Out

Characters/Ship: Dennis Creevey

WC: 216

Summary:

Sometimes it's easier to just feel nothing.

🍐 Day 16: Squabble - None of Their Concern

Characters/Ship: Fleur Delacour/Bill Weasley (Bleur)

WC: 249

Summary:

Bill and Fleur like inviting others into their bed, some of the Weasleys find that weird.

🍐 Day 17: Worthy - To Be Good Enough

Characters/Ship: Marcus Flint/Percy Weasley (Flintley)

WC: 484

Summary:

Marcus is a fuck up but he's working on it.

🍐 Day 18: Healing - Pamper Me

Characters/Ship: Dennis Creevey/Percy Weasley

WC: 715

Summary:

Dennis wants to be pampered more. Percy wants to finish his work.

🍐 Day 19: Impatience - Listen To Me

Characters/Ship: Marcus Flint/Percy Weasley (Flintley)

WC: 901

Summary:

Tutoring Flint was typically an easy affair. When he's more interested in the clock and window then the words coming out of Percy's mouth though, not so much.

🪻Day 20: Push & Pull - Together with the waves, could we become happy?🪻

Characters/Ship: Lavender Brown/Fleur Delacour/Bill Weasley (Lavebleur)

WC: 632

Summary:

Lavender feels like she barely even knows herself anymore. Acting out in ways that seem to make sense in the moment but feel so cruel later. Luckily, she has someone around who understands what she's going through.

🍎 Day 21: Idle - Everything Changes

Characters/Ship: Percy Weasley

WC: 157

Summary:

Percy never liked moving.

🍐 Day 22: Precious - Every time we talk, "I like you" just loops in my mind

Characters/Ship: Lavender Brown/Parvati Patil (Pavender)

WC: 268

Summary:

Lavender loves days when the dorm is empty of everyone but the two of them.

🪻Day 23: Mistake - Gossip Club🪻

Characters/Ship: Angelina Johnson/George Weasley

WC: 970

Summary:

A normal night in the Weasley-Johnson household. Gossip and cooking just go so well together.

🍐 Day 24: Elation - Doomed From The Start

Characters/Ship: Colin Creevey/Percy Weasley/Oliver Wood

WC: 737

Summary:

Magic will always want you to meet your soulmate and sometimes to achieve that, rules that are known to be true have to be bent a bit. Oliver and Percy handle finding their third differently to say the least. The right answer isn't always so clear cut though.

🍎 Day 25: Day & Night - No Way of Defying The Waves of Time

Characters/Ship: Percy Weasley

WC: 522

Summary:

Percy got a great deal on this house, now if only it wasn't haunted.

🍎 Day 26: Vex - Who Do You Think You Are?

Characters/Ship: Fred Weasley & George Weasley, Remus Lupin/Percy Weasley

WC: 804

Summary:

Fred and George never thought of themselves as protective but learning that your brother's soulmate doesn't seem to want him would make anyone a little angry.

🍎 Day 27: Dandy - He's Not Blind

Characters/Ship: Roger Davies & Percy Weasley

WC: 355

Summary:

Roger is more observant than people give him credit for.

🍐 Day 28: Fetching - Masked Savior

Characters/Ship: Roger Davies/Percy Weasley

WC: 1,103

Summary:

Percy has to agree to social events to keep his family off his back, but he accidentally bites off a bit more than he can chew.

🪻Day 29: Thrall - Touching Those Petals And Asking For Their Name🪻

Characters/Ship: Sirius Black/Percy Weasley (percius)

WC: 599

Summary:

Sirius hates being at Grimmauld Place. Drowning himself in alcohol and avoiding thinking about it too much by roaming around the house.

🍎 Day 30: First & Last - That Time Dudley Almost Let his Daughter Fly Away.

Characters/Ship: Dudley Dursley & Daisy Dursley

WC: 588

Summary:

Daisy Dursley has had bouts of accidental magic in the past, but flying? Floating? He really thinks she's going to be the death of him one of these days.

🍐 Day 31: Fulfilment - Promise

Characters/Ship: Fleur Delacour/Bill Weasley (Bleur)

WC: 110

Summary:

Bill is thinking too much again.

[this-isajokerjoke]

dudley and his attempt at redemption

just imagine y’all

little dudley trying to play with harry and getting in trouble 

the only time he would get scolded or in trouble was when he hung out with harry and when he was angry he never got in trouble when he took it out on harry (ex yelling or punching him in the arm) as a child

so he kinda just stopped being nice to him

once, he was so angry. he got home from school and he could feel his hands shaking and the rage bubbling up his throat. he's seven. then he walks into the kitchen and he sees harry. and he lets loose. he hits harry again and again and harry is crying and he doesn't care because harry is a freak and when his mother comes in to see what all the noise was all she does is scold harry for being so loud. 

then she asks dudley if he feels better, and he does. all she says is “good im glad you got that out of your system”

so whenever he's angry he takes it out on harry. 

then his aunt comes over and, having heard the stories of harry at school, laughs when dudley shoves harry so hard he slams into his cupboard door. 

after that he hurts harry for fun. soon his friends join in. harry is a freak and he deserves everything after all he put dudley’s family through. this is harry potters punishment. 

this goes on for years

when dudley is fourteen, he starts feeling a little bad listening to harry be beat by his father or seeing him dodge a frying pan for messing up breakfast

he ignores it. his cousin is a freak. he's weird and gets in trouble and isn't liked by anyone. he deserves every bit of pain and hurt because he needs to learn to fit in and be normal. then finally, his house might be peaceful like it is at his friends houses

when he's fifteen, he reads a story in school. it's about a boy who is hurt by his parents and there's a class discussion on the short story. his classmates keep saying that “no one should be hurt by someone who's supposed to take care of them” and his teacher tells the class that if that sort of thing goes on at home, it's classified as abuse and they need to report it

dudley is confused. his situation is different, he thinks. harry is a freak. but after that, he stops hurting harry for fun. it's lost all appeal. 

he lashes out when he's upset. but he can't help but think of that dumb story. 

then, the summer before he turns 16, a new girl moves to surrey. she's pretty, dudley thinks. he meets her. she's kind and makes dudley’s heart skip beats. he goes over to her house one day, to pick her up for a date. she calls her parents by their first names, and dudley questions her. 

“oh,” she says, fidgeting a little. “my birth parents were deemed unfit to have guardianship over me. they're in prison for child abuse. so i'm being fostered.”

that explains her occasional flinches and panic attacks

it's explains why she's underweight. 

so once they began to date, he noticed more and more about her. she had panic attacks a lot, there were certain phrases that sent her into a spiral. she fell asleep on him once, during a movie. she thrashed and screamed and sobbed in her sleep, and when dudley finally woke her up, it took half an hour to coax her into calming down. 

she told him she had nightmares about her childhood. she was diagnosed with ptsd a while back. 

that was when dudley dursley decided to protect this girl with all he had. 

dudley hasnt hung out with his friends in a while. piers asks why at one point, but dudley just shrugs and avoids him more. the group stops talking to him completely when dudley punches one of them in the stomach. he’s not sure why.

so when harry came back for the summer, dudley saw the same things he saw in his girlfriend. he heard his cousin say things in his sleep, for them to stop or to “run cedric, run”

when harry was locked in his room without food or water, dudley snuck some in for him. he gave him ice packs and bandaids and tylenol when he was beat, and he didn't mention harry’s nightmares like he would have years before.

by the time the school year started, dudley knew that his parents hadn't treated harry potter right. there wasn't an excuse for him hurting harry even, and harry had been abused in the dursley home. 

dudley threw up.

when dudley dursley was 17, his cousin returned to his house in a panic. he watched as harry packed everything up and begged the his parents to understand that there was a war, they're in danger, they need to go into hiding please for their own safety

dudley dursley was 17 when he last told his girlfriend he loved her but it was for the best that they broke up. harry wouldn't lie about being in danger, and the last thing dudley wanted was the sweet girl to be hurt again

dudley dursley was 17 when he moved away from surrey. he was 17 when he asked his parents why harry wasn't coming with them and they told him harry was a waste of space. 

dudley dursley was 17 when he realized not even a part of him believed that. 

dudley dursley was 17 when he spoke to his cousin last and told him “i don't think you're a waste of space.”

harry potter is 17 when he says, “thanks big d.”