#hphm theory

[missnight0wl]

Let’s talk about Elton Elderberry – and why he’s a total bitch

First of all, I want to thank @thedoodlecat because a lot of the ideas I’ll discuss were formed during our conversations. So, credit where credit's due!

Secondly, I want to make it clear from the start that it’s not quite a theory, meaning: I personally don’t believe Jam City might take the story in this direction. However, I believe that a lot of it might be a leftover of what’s the story supposed to be. And yes, it can also be explained by the writers having no idea what they’re doing, but on the other hand, it ties in with many interesting details from the past, mostly from Y5. And I still believe that year was super important for the narrative.

Now, without further ado, let’s move on to Elton. Spoilers up to Y7Ch56.

Ok, so the first thing that really bothers me about Elton Elderberry is that he was well aware of the Crown of Mneme, how dangerous it can be, and he had to at least suspect that it might be in the Sunken Vault – and for all those years, he did absolutely fucking nothing.

And it’s quite problematic because there’s no way he just… didn’t know about MC and the Cursed Vaults. At the beginning of Y3, MC told us that pretty much everyone could learn about it from the Daily Prophet. And we know that the Ministry was especially aware of it. Even if we ignore Moody’s involvement starting from Y6, first with Rakepick and then with Peregrine, we also had the Ministry sending Tofty to spy on MC during our O.W.L.s because of the Cursed Vaults. And honestly, I just don’t buy the explanation that Elton somehow… just didn’t hear about it. So, like, what the hell?

Now, I can hear you saying: “Oh, but of course Elton didn’t do anything because he wasn’t a character yet and Jam City probably just created him now!”. And you know what? That’s a totally valid remark and quite probable explanation. Still, I kept thinking about it anyway, and I quickly noticed another problem with Elton: how we actually learnt that he was directly involved in Ryusaki’s death. I mean, look at those scenes:

And then after our visit to the Archives:

(I just have to point out that he’s fucking grinning here…)

… and then:

Do you see the problem here??

Imagine this. You meet Steve. Steve tells you about the mother who died in a car accident with her two children. Sadly, she was the one who caused the accident because she was under the influence. Later you learn on your own that the said mother was a model parent, always there for her children despite having two jobs, actually sober during the accident, rarely drunk at all, and in fact, it was Steve who caused the crash. When confronted, Steve admits to everything and says he feels terrible about it and it haunts him every day. Would you believe Steve that he’s so sorry? BECAUSE I DEFINITELY WOULDN’T. In fact, I’d do everything to stay away from Steve.

Now, again, I’m aware that it might be simply JC’s incompetence in making a connection between the Crown of Mneme and Dai Ryusaki – even though it could’ve been easily done without Elton actively portraying Ryusaki as a bad guy. For example:

Elton: I advise you to avoid the Crown at all costs. MC: I wonder if it has anything to do with the Dark Scroll… Elton: You don’t mean Dai Ryusaki’s Dark Scroll, do you? MC: That dark wizard? Yes, I do. Why? Do you know anything about it too? Elton: *not answering right away and looking very ashamed instead, showing already that he doesn’t want to reveal the truth because of his loyalty to the Ministry, but also showing his guilt*

And yes, I know it wouldn’t be the first time JC didn’t see the simplest solutions in their writing. But as I was thinking about it more, I realised that if we assume that Elton indeed knew about MC and the Cursed Vaults all that time and did nothing on purpose, it’s both surprising and fascinating how many things start to add up. In this scenario, Elton would also want to portray Ryusaki as a bad guy. I know it doesn’t fully work currently because, in the end, it was Elton who let us go to the Archives, but I guess it’s possible that originally, we were supposed to learn the truth about Ryusaki in some different way. And either way, I have to point out that there’s something very off in this part of the story no matter what. I mean, let me ask you one question:

Why exactly Dai Ryusaki was killed?

Because if you think about it, it was never really explained… properly. Like, we keep using words like “miscommunication” or “misunderstanding”.

But… how the fuck can you kill somebody because of misunderstanding? I guess we’re supposed to interpret it as: “The International Confederation of Wizards thought Dai wanted to use his invention to do bad things while he was actually trying to destroy his invention once he realised it’s dangerous”. However, this interpretation doesn’t really make sense. Why? Look at Ryusaki’s notes we found in the Archives.

Ryusaki seems absolutely certain that once he destroys what he was about to destroy, it’s done. He accepted that his work would be no more after that. And that makes me believe that nobody else (or almost nobody) knew about his work. Because otherwise, he’d have to realise that someone might try to replicate his work, right? Or even force him to simply repeat it? Yet he’s not worried about it. And the thing is that Ryusaki was a very intelligent, reasonable, and conscious man. So… how the hell the International Confederation of Wizards knew anything to misinterpret Ryusaki’s intentions?

Well, what if there was someone other than Ryusaki who knew about his work after all? But Dai completely trusted that person, so that’s why he was so sure the whole thing would remain secret? What if that person happened to work at the British Ministry of Magic? What if this person was…

Elton “The Bitch” Elderberry?

Ok, so I know that everything I said so far is a big assumption, but I swear it does make sense, so please, bear with me. And I’ll actually start by summarising what I believe how it all began and then I’ll elaborate on each element because it’s gonna be easier for me that way.

So, I believe that Dai Ryusaki and Elton Elderberry were once good friends. They were both quite talented wizards, and while they had different goals in life, they realised at some point that the treasure from the Cursed Vaults might help them achieve that. Together, they created a group that we know as R. Unfortunately for Elton, Dai realised eventually that both his own invention and the Cursed Vaults themselves are dangerous, so he decided to quit. Elton didn’t like it, and he was afraid that Dai would try to stop him as well, so he decided to be proactive about it. Using his position as a Hit Wizard at the Ministry, he sold Dai out, claiming he’s a dangerous dark wizard. Elton kept R alive ever since, and he was waiting for MC to be born because MC is necessary to open the final Cursed Vault.

Of course, I assume that the original plans for the final Cursed Vault were different than what we saw in Y6. Also, from that point, I’ll keep calling Elton “Brelton” because:

BITCH + R + ELTON = BRELTON

… and I just think this distinction might be useful because, as I said, I don’t think it might still be true, yet it seems that Elton Elderberry will stay in the story anyway. Ok, but let’s talk about some details.

Dai’s and Brelton’s goals

As for Dai’s goal, it’s pretty straightforward. It’s basically said directly in the game: he wanted to help people with traumatic memories. What would be Brelton’s goal then? Well, let me remind you one note from R we found in Y5:

The interesting thing about it is that for the longest time, it was the only case where it was mentioned that R had any interest in immortality. As soon as the Dark Scroll was introduced, we only talked about R wanting knowledge. I even talked with my friend about how weird it is that the writers totally abandoned the immortality aspect (Bee, I’m not tagging you because I don’t want you to feel obliged to read this long-ass post, but if you’re reading it anyway: Hi! I’m talking about you!). In fact, I’m pretty sure that the word “immortality” wasn’t even used in the main story after that note from R – until our conversation with Elton in Y7Ch49:

And you know what? I don’t think it’s just a coincidence. Because it’s not even true! Every time we talked about Ryusaki’s potion, it was about mind-enhancing potion.

So… what if it’s the leftover of the original plans for Elton’s character? What if it’s Brelton who was all about immortality? And now, JC just looked at the notes made by Matt London and his team and simply put the immortality potion in there without thinking if it made sense. I realise it feels like another stretch, but I have to point out that Elton’s old age is a little sus – and they stress all the time how old he is. I mean, wizards do live longer than Muggles, but most of them don’t live over 300 years. (There’s actually the HP wiki page about it.)

And the thing is that from the story point of view, it wasn’t even necessary to make Elton this old. Sure, it adds some flavour with the reveal that he was actually there when Dai was killed, but on the other hand, he mentions every now and then that his memory is not the best anymore etc. So, wouldn’t it be better if MC met Elton's son or grandson, for example? Personally, I think it would, and that’s why I’m gonna assume for the rest of this analysis that R was always about “enlightenment and immortality”, and that Dai Ryusaki represented the first element while Elton Elderberry the second one.

Why they needed the Cursed Vaults?

Ok, so now that we know what they wanted in general, let’s try to figure out why they went after the Cursed Vaults – and as I mentioned already, I assume that the original treasure was actually… well, a thing. I admit that I wasn’t able to figure out what exactly it could’ve been, but I have some ideas about what properties the Treasure could have, based on Dai’s and Brelton’s goals.

This time, let’s start with Brelton because it’s a bit easier. Basically, I believe that Brelton managed to invent something that grants semi-immortality, but it’s not the perfect invention. Sure, he’s still alive and his mind is not in the worst condition, but still. So, I think that he believes that the Treasure could improve his invention by granting actual immortality and/or eternal youth.

It’s a bit more complicated with Dai because we have to consider multiple elements. First of all, we have the mind-enhancing potion. The recipe for it was hidden on the Dark Scroll which was confirmed by the notes found by MC in the Archives. But earlier, MC also mentioned “a device”, and then they read: “I can’t bear to destroy my life’s work, but I know that I must. The scroll has already been hidden”. So… what exactly was he about to destroy? If we want to stick to the legend told by Corey, it might’ve been about the already-prepared potion. He might’ve also been referring to his research in general and his notes or something. But then we have the Crown of Mneme… And that’s quite interesting because we actually know that it’s something he found in Greece – which, by the way, confirms that the Crown was not something placed in the Cursed Vaults originally (I’ll return to it in a moment).

Either way, to simplify it a little bit, I’m gonna assume that Dai’s invention was about the Crown and the potion - and that together was considered his “device”. What about the Treasure then? I see a couple of options.

Perhaps the Treasure would give more control over the Crown or allow to exchange of thoughts both ways. I mean, what we saw in the game looked like the wearer could only send their thoughts, but if Dai wanted to treat patients with traumatic memories, he probably wanted to extract those memories.

Perhaps the Treasure could permanently remove/destroy traumatic memories. Because I don’t think you can actually do it with Obliviate, for example. I might be wrong, but I feel that there is always a small chance that the memory would come back or simply leave some mark behind it.

How the Crown of Mneme ended in the Sunken Vault?

So… If Dai was so certain that his invention was gone and to be forgotten, and on top of that I claim that he didn’t want to have anything to do with the Cursed Vaults, then how the hell the Crown of Mneme ended in the Sunken Vault? Well, I guess I won’t surprise anyone at this point by saying that it was Brelton who was behind it. And the best thing is that we actually know that R was in the Sunken Vault in the past – and that’s thanks to the note found in the Weird Sisters TLSQ:

So, this is what I propose. Brelton got the Crown of Mneme before Dai’s death somehow. I don’t think that Dai would just give it to him because I assume they already fell apart at that point. Or perhaps Brelton lied to Dai and offered that he’d destroy the Crown? Either way, he probably wasn’t planning to destroy it (as it might be useful for him), and he continued his search for the Cursed Vaults. Unfortunately for him, once he got to the Sunken Vault, he realised he couldn’t do anything without the key. And now, the key might be the Gillyweed/Coral Key Rakepick took from us in Y4, or maybe it’s about the siblings – or it’s both (like in my version of the story). Anyway, the Treasure was unachievable, so Brelton used this opportunity to hide the Crown of Mneme and just left.

Ryusaki and the creation of the Cabal

Ok, but why I assume that Dai Ryusaki even knew about the Cursed Vaults, to begin with? I just explained how it was probably Brelton who put the Crown in the Sunken Vault, and we don’t really have anything to prove that Dai needed the Treasure to improve his invention. Well, yeah. But we have something else. Something that I find very exciting. See, during our first trip to Knockturn Alley, we visited also Flourish and Blotts where we found a Black Quill containing this message:

And for the longest time, I was just… absolutely stumped by it. I couldn’t come up with any decent theory as to who left that note. But now, I do strongly believe that it was left by Dai Ryusaki. Brelton was too greedy to get his immortality and too afraid of his own mortality to leave the Cursed Vaults and refused to listen to his friend that it’s too dangerous. The note also talks about “them”, so maybe R had some more members at that point already (but only Dai and Elton knew everything). And you know what makes it even more fascinating? We found this Black Quill in the book by Maerwynn Montfort who’s a totally original author mentioned only in this specific scene in HPHM. Interestingly, Maerwynn is a feminine name that is of Welsh origin that means “joy”. And coincidently, Dai is a Welsh masculine given name (which means “beloved”), a hypocorism of Dafydd or David, as well as a masculine Japanese given name. Like…

Are you kidding me??

I mean, ok, sure. It might be just a coincidence. But you have to admit that it’s a pretty damn odd coincidence. Maybe Maerwynn was someone from Dai’s Welsh part of the family or just a friend whom he met there? Or maybe it’s just a pseudonym or something. But either way, it might be hinting at some (“Welsh”) connection. And that’s why they were exchanging secret information!

Still, that’s not even all I finally realised about the note. Because I also believe that it confirms that the Cabal from Jacob’s notebook is a different group than R – and I think that it was Dai Ryusaki who started that group.

Ok, so I explained the whole idea in this post. It’s one of my shorter analyses so I recommend checking it out. But to put it even shorter, my problem with the note from Y5Ch15 was always that Jacob was confused about why the Cabal wanted to kill him.

But R was very open about threatening Jacob and especially his family, so… it shouldn’t be surprising at all. He might’ve been confused if he was doing everything R told him to do – but then it doesn’t make sense that R would want to kill Jacob and MC. I mean, after Duncan’s death, they clearly told him to continue his search.

So, I always interpreted the Cabal as a separate group who wanted to protect the Cursed Vaults by killing the siblings because the siblings are necessary to get to the Treasure. And if we join it with the note from Flourish and Blotts, it totally adds up. Dai realised that the Cursed Vaults were dangerous and wanted to stop R. Brelton wouldn’t listen, so Dai wanted to destroy the vault portrait which, assumingly, would make it impossible to get to the Portrait Vault. On top of that, he started the group that was supposed to make sure that nobody would ever get hurt by the Vaults by killing the siblings (who can get the Treasure). It was about the creation of the Cabal this whole time!

Brelton as the true leader of R

In general, I have to say that Brelton being the true leader of R just makes more sense. In this scenario, it’d also mean that Peregrine is just… a current face of the organisation. A puppet. And yes, I keep saying that I don’t believe that Perry was always planned to be a part of the story, so why do I even mention him? Well, to be completely honest, I’m willing to accept that Perry was planned along with Dai and Brelton’s story – just not as MC’s father. Because it makes sense that Brelton would want to keep his position at the Ministry, and if so, he’d probably need someone to (occasionally) represent R. And that could be Peregrine. In fact, we saw some moments when the leader of R was treated weirdly ambiguous. The first case is our conversation with Rakepick in Azkaban. And yes, I know that we didn’t know about Peregrine then yet, so it kind of makes sense to leave it more ambiguous, but I want to point out a specific thing Rakepick said.

Honestly, I was always confused by it because “the one behind it all” sounds like someone who also created R, at least in my opinion. On the other hand, we had hints in the past that R is a rather older organisation. Not to mention that Perry claimed that he joined R, meaning that R was R before the current leader joined them. Of course, it is possible that Perry lies. It is also possible that the title of R is simply given to each leader. But… I don’t know. Rakepick’s words sound to me like she is talking about only one person. However, if that one person is actually Brelton, it makes sense that he’s both the current true leader and the one responsible for creating the organisation.

My other issue is with Olivia’s memories. Because Rakepick is very clearly talking to someone from R in those scenes, but for whatever reason we never learn who it was.

So, what if it was actually supposed to be Brelton? And speaking of that, ever since we learnt that Olivia was working at the Ministry, I thought it was pretty suspicious, and I fully expected that R was controlling that. And what a coincidence that Elton became Olivia’s mentor for all those years…

Hell, it’d even make more sense why Verucca is so damn worried about Perry being cursed by Ryusaki’s amulet. Because if Brellton indeed betrayed Dai, then it could mean that it’s Brelton who’s the real target of that whole revenge plan. The curse might be simply generalising it because, well, it’s just a spirit that’s basically the essence of Ryusaki’s anger. But if Verucca knows about everything as a high-ranking member of R, then yeah, she’d try to stop Perry from hurting their dear leader Brelton.

And… that’s it!

Once again, like I said, I do not expect the game to confirm any of the things I discussed above. But that being said, I feel very confident about pretty much everything I said. And even though it took me months to finally write it all down, I have to say that putting it together was really fun and exciting. Who knows, maybe it’s the last time I feel like that about HPHM theory, at least when it comes to relatively new content. But even if so, I’m kind of glad that I got some semi-closure to the things that were bothering me.

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

That sucks about your inbox. I think I sent a message asking what you thought about R and what it stands for at this point.

Thanks anon. It's tough to rebuild but y'know, just taking it day by day I guess.

At this point, R most likely refers to "Ryusaki" though I'd also say that "Rotfang" is not off the table.

Jam City's tight leash means that R being a reference to something from the canon would make the most sense and everything we've learned about R's motives and how they operate only points further toward the idea that The Cabal and the Rotfang Conspiracy are the same organization. The only thing is that while we know they've infiltrated the Ministry and their intentions could easily be described as bringing the Ministry down with dark magic...we've yet to see any Aurors be a part of it, really.

But given what we've learned about Dai Ryusaki, especially in the most recent chapter that's been released - I think it's more and more likely that he's the founder of R. Whether it was created in MC's lifetime or not. Which seems impossible given how it exists all around the world but Peregrine claimed to have created it so...who knows. Maybe that was Ryusaki talking. Either way, that could be what R stands for as well.

What I really don't get is why we haven't already learned this secret by now. I mean, we're approaching the end of Year 7, and moving into Year 8. We now know the truth about R for the most part ,and the Leader. So why haven't we been told what it stands for? Feels like the story isn't really at a place anymore where it would make sense to keep that from us.

[indigobackfire]

Almost three years after entering the hphm fandom, having experienced other fandoms before and after, the community here (and a bit on reddit) still remains the nicest and most respectful fandom I've been on

[immagrosscandy]

drawings i had since last year that i never finished

so i finished them

goddamn redundancy

[defoozor]

The Boys but Hogwarts Mystery or something idk

I’m tempted to make additional HPHM character, but everything in story will be taken literally, seriously and in an extremely completionist way.

Let me explain why…

MC is a superhuman. Bio product. Artificially created by government with the help of Dai Ryusaki’s researches. Even Dumbledore is in cahoots with that.

MC is set to cultivate multiple skills - becomes an animagus, enhances their legilimency, does absolutely every chore and event planning around Hogwarts, befriends nearly entire school and solves their problems, becomes Prefect and later Head Girl/Boy, passes OWLs and NEWTs in all O’s, plays and wins the entirety of Quidditch, makes any creature bow and tremble before them, closes every Cursed Vault, becomes a master Duelist, does every investigation for Hogsmeade ever, singlehandly runs and supervises the Clubs, keeps Forbidden Forest in tact, gains obscure titles and achievements for breakfast, does half of the work for both Ministry and St. Mungo.

Not to mention that they also have to deal with at least 8 people having a crush on them.

And all that in a span of 7 Years. Under Dumbledore’s careful watch and guidance.

For best efficiency MC’s “parents” are ordered to distant themselves from MC as much as possible, so MC develops immunity to stress on their own, and Merlin forbid they develop any human feelings or emotions. That’s why MC’s mother is so absent in their life throughout school years.

But the father? Oh, the father.

Peregrine. Peregrine is in fact, is a previous failed experiment. We know from their dialogue with Dumbledore - Peregrine had a painfully similar to MC school life. But somewhere along those years, up to Wizarding War something went wrong. He gained his own consciousness and woke up from Ministry’s influence on him. He found out what he is, and set himself to go against Ministry.

Dai Ryusaki was not a dark wizard, but we found out he feared his own inventions and attempted to prevent others from using it as it was dangerous. Peregrine’s curse has nothing to do with that amulet he’s carrying around, or anything from the outside. Peregrine’s curse occurred inside him because of the experiment and it IS what went wrong.

Peregrine made an underground organization and wants to take Ministry down for what they did to him, and now he gradually can’t take a single sneeze without aggravating himself and setting Ryusaki’s Fury off.

But what about MC? Peregrine can’t tell MC about their true nature. He fears to set MC’s fury as well, and doesn’t wish that upon them. Instead, he attempts to give MC bits of what Ministry took from them - he rebels against Ministry’s ways and dumps at least some parental affections to them. Although he fails at it because there’s so little time left before MC graduates and Ministry will inevitably snatch them to work for them and use as a weapon, and Peregrine is between 5 fires himself. All he can do is rushed and sometimes outright dangerous to himself and others decisions, that are more often than not taken over by R Fury without him even realizing that.

He knows he’s cursed. But he doesn’t always know when it’s showing. And he can’t accept any help because of his big “main character” ego. Despite all that he still dare I say, loves his kids and wants to prevent them from, in his eyes - greater evil.

What about others in the story?

Rakepick is a government experiment that went rogue as well. But she developed a lot more murderous and sociopathic tendencies, and possibly without use of Ryusaki’s research. While Peregrine and MC are set to charm and gather people around, Rakepick is not. She was meant to be efficient worker, problem solver. Until she became a problem…

She was sent to take Peregrine down. She pretended to join R on her own terms, and was meant to dismantle it and their Leader. She would go to any extent, and because of her frivolity she would even take down MC to hit Peregrine where it hurts. But it happened so, that someone else took the blow for MC and we know how that ends…

Rakepick wanted MC down, because she thought MC will end up like Peregrine. She’s not concerned about Ministry’s interests, she thinks that she knows better. However, after everything that went down, during Azkaban events, she sees and realizes where she was wrong, and just simply states that MC “has a good heart, and shouldn’t loose it”.

That concludes her character and her arc.

Jacob was not raised to be Ministry’s secret weapon. He gained a lot of similar to MC talent on his own, but he has too much free will and acts rather emotionally than rationally. That’s why Ministry dismisses him, as they simply don’t see potential in him.

Jacob does a bit of a better job at giving MC family experience, right under Ministry’s nose. Although, it’s still not perfect obviously. And, Jacob acts on the matters on his own, and gets hurt a lot, making mistakes that are inherent if you’re a human being.

Despite turning most of attention to MC for reasons stated above, Peregrine cares about Jacob as well. He desperately wants to be a normal human being, a father at that. Jacob wants to have his family as well. It just happened so, that their family is in this big of a mess.

MC’s mom is a mindless Ministry drone, I will not elaborate, we will never see her.

Who and why joins R? Why are people of R are so against the government, that they are willing to work with Peregrine?

R members we seen were walked over by government in one way or another. They all seem to be typical denizens of Knockturn Alley, but they end up there not because they’re inherently evil. But because, if in this world you fail at following the system - you end up at the bottom. They have no choice, but to live like this, because the system doesn’t give them another chance. Or, they suddenly do have a choice, and it’s to join an organization. It’s not perfect, it doesn’t have your best interests in mind. But it promises to stick it to Ministry, right?

And now, when majority of your organization are these people, they will inevitably do something stupid. So, when you send someone like Shiratori to retrieve your kids, someone like Shiratori will do something stupid, like attack them, or have 0 diplomacy and talking skills.

That’s why R appears to be an evil Cabal. They may not have “bad” intentions, but they just don’t possess better skills and are full of spite and grudge.

__________________

The final conclusion.

THEY ALL NEED THERAPY HAHAHAHAHAHA

Byeeee!

[carewyncromwell]

“All those decisions that I made back then  That shaped who I once was... I've turned my back and grown away from them  To be who I am now! 'And are you fine with that?’ Yes, I'm fine with that. Diving down with arms outstretched, further from land, Deep into the sea of dreams, lost --  Destroyed by my own hands -- And you...oh, you...bright and innocent youth... Please stay that way in forgotten days...”

~“Sea of Dreams (cover)” by RafScrap

x~x~x~x

Okay, this drawing didn’t exactly turn out the way I wanted, but since it’s taken me this long to finish, I figured I’d just go ahead and post it! 

So a while back, I was chatting with fellow Rakepick fan and rewriter @dat-silvers-girl​ and I shared this song with her since I both really liked it and really thought it had Rakepick vibes. Listening to the lyrics, I couldn’t help but imagine Rakepick looking back on her past mistakes in a Pensieve...so what I wanted to try to capture was the sort of inky aesthetic that we see for Pensieve memories in the film adaptations of HBP and Deathly Hallows -- 

As I said, didn’t exactly turn out like I hoped, but there you go!

One huge unanswered question I’ve had about Dumbledore in the game for a long while is why he decided to trust Patricia Rakepick in the first place. Just about everyone looked at Rakepick with suspicion, and yet Dumbledore both actively sought out her help and expressed no distrust of her, even though her Occlumency was strong enough to keep Snape out of her mind and likely Dumbledore as well. It’s well-established that Dumbledore isn’t the sort to trust blindly and is a chess-master who always plans five steps ahead too -- so why trust someone like Rakepick and let her into your school? Well, from a meta point of view, Dumbledore’s strange trust in Rakepick clearly parallels his trust in Severus Snape, which is likewise questioned by plenty of other characters and seemingly seems unjustified when Snape “turns” on Dumbledore. But we ultimately learn that Dumbledore trusted Snape because of his love for Lily Potter -- and so, at least in my headcanon that diverges completely from the game as of the end of year 6, Dumbledore ultimately decides to trust Rakepick for a very similar reason.

You see, when Dumbledore sought Rakepick out in Egypt, he initially was a lot more suspicious. He knew Rakepick had always been interested in the Cursed Vaults, and he did find it more than a little suspicious that she was suddenly so reluctant to return to Hogwarts to help him with them, as well as that right after school, Rakepick climbed the ranks at Gringotts so unbelievably quickly with seemingly no connections from public social groups like the Slug Club. Dumbledore had also caught wind of rumors -- forwarded to him by Mundungus Fletcher -- that Rakepick had made contact with Jacob Cromwell right after he’d been expelled from Hogwarts, and therefore may have been one of the last people to see him before his mysterious disappearance. Yet when he brought up Jacob and his family to Rakepick, she was dismissive.

“I’ve heard of them, certainly -- the Daily Prophet does travel, even this far out...”

“I don’t recall the Prophet discussing Jacob’s sister,” Dumbledore said, raising his eyebrows. “Yet you seem to know her, all the same.”

Rakepick crossed her arms, turning away with a slight huff. “Hardly. I only ever saw the girl in passing...I’ve never even spoken to her.”

And so when Dumbledore finally did leave Hogwarts to meet Rakepick, he approached her far more critically. He broached the subject largely by talking about the young student who’d already stumbled upon the corridor outside the Ice Vault, a girl called Carewyn, and although Rakepick’s mental shield was strong, Dumbledore got the sense that Rakepick had known Carewyn and her connection to Jacob long before he first brought up her name. He visited Rakepick a few more times, both trying to convince her to come deal with the Vaults as the professional she was and to gather more information about her connection with Jacob, when Rakepick finally and abruptly agreed to return to Hogwarts to deal with the Vaults. Dumbledore, however, had one condition for allowing Rakepick unfettered access to his school.

“You must give me something first, Patricia,” he said gravely. “A memory. Specifically, the memory you have of Carewyn Cromwell.”

Something in Rakepick’s expression flickered. 

“I told you I’ve never met her,” she said lowly. 

“You said you never spoke to her,” Dumbledore challenged her, “but that you saw her in passing, nonetheless. I require that memory, before I make my decision.”

Rakepick was a bit reluctant, but finally agreed to place the memory in Dumbledore’s Pensieve so that both he and she could view it. 

Dumbledore noticed immediately how incredibly dark the recollection was, with many faces and locations oddly blurred. He wasn’t sure whether it was Rakepick placing little value on these things or the work of active tampering...but one thing was crystal clear, and that was the tiny girl dancing down the street all by herself, singing Don McLean’s American Pie:

“Them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye,

Singing ‘this’ll be the day that I...die! This’ll be the day that I die!”

The details of the memory were vague enough to be compared to shadows -- even Rakepick’s reasons for being there, or even much of what happened after Carewyn ran by, were seemingly selectively dodged...and yet this little girl, in all of her blazing innocence and charm, was as clear as if she was really running right past Dumbledore at that very moment. And as she darted past Rakepick, completely unaware that anyone was watching her, Dumbledore saw a strange melancholy pass over the much younger woman’s face -- a melancholy he knew all too well, after all of the pain he’d caused his brother and sister...

And so it was Rakepick’s storge for Carewyn -- that love usually found among parents for their children, stained by remorse and regret -- that persuaded Dumbledore that the well-regarded Cursebreaker was someone worthy of his faith and trust. 

[libellule-ao3]

Once again, I love it.🖤

I love the warm atmosphere of this tent pitched in a hostile environment, the humour and the camaraderie.

The lively dialogue, which sounds so natural, conveys a relaxed evening atmosphere where the alcohol and intimacy of the tent unleash suggestive humour between friends whose complicity is obvious.

You make me want to spend an evening with these 3, so failing that, I'll settle for this excellent way to start the day. Thanks for sharing!

The theory of blow magic - How to train your dragon - 6/9

Warning: minor sexual references (nothing major), swearing, smoking and drinking

My favorite golden trio, action taking place at the Dragon Sanctuary. Talia, Charlie and Felix has some theories of their own to share.

Late summer, autumn, winter, spring, the season rarely mattered when the weather decided to show its nasty teeth and storm down on the earth below. Entering the warm tent, Felix ran a hand through his hair trying to tame it back in place “I swear if it were not for magic we would be blown away into a ditch by now. Surprised it did not knock me on my arse out there.”

Looking at him, Charlie smiled “A little wind never harmed anyone.”

“A little wind? Maybe next time you can go outside and see how you like being flung across the terrain.”

“Do you need me to blow you a kiss to make you feel better?” he smirked.

“Or blow him like the wind.” Talia said lifting a glass for Felix to take.

Snorting, Charlie made himself more comfortable on the blankets set near the fire “Blow magic.”

Sitting next to her, Felix resisted the urge to groan out loud “Oh do not start that. I swear it feels like working with children all over again.”

Suppressing laughter at seeing Charlie trying to mimic Felix’s expressions, Talia turned her attention to the former Slytherin prefect “Do tell, was there really a dismembered book about how to perform the perfect felacio?”

“There was definitely something floating about, I did not waste my time with reading such foul instructions.” Taking a sip from his drink he almost chocked when Talia asked.

“How do you know it was foul if you didn’t read the pages?”

“Maybe it wasn’t up to his expensive tastes.” Charlie chimed in “Or maybe he didn’t like the name. Bet you all my months’ wage that he would have devoured it if it was something called How to tame ones’ dragon.” He winked at Talia making her laugh.

“Or the Waltz of the one-eyed snake.”

As they went in a fit of laughter, Felix took another mouthful of alcohol “Or Ruffling the peacock.”

“There he is.” Charlie smiled raising his glass “We should definitely write a manual of our own, an homage to drunken late nights.”

Topping her drink, Talia raised her own glass “There would need to be sex for it to make it, everything is about sex these days. We only have funny wild shenanigans.”

“Well maybe the Theory of Blow Magic was written because there was no sexy time but the author wanted it.”

Shaking her head at Charlie’s statement, Talia clicked her tongue when the idea formed in her head “I’ll do you one better, what if the bloke couldn’t get it up and it needed magic.”

“You two are utterly impossible. The poor bloke is probably twisting in his grave right now from our mockery.”

Leaning closer to Felix, Charlie stared intensely “Since when do you advocate for a blokes meat sausage?”

Opening his mouth to speak, Talia covered his lips but turned to her other friend “Shhh Charlie, let him. I’ve never heard him be so passionate about something like this before. Maybe he’s working on his own matting manual.”

Removing her hand, Felix gave her a serious look “You are worse than him at times.”

“That I am. And you would do well to remember it.” Poking his nose, she removed her hand from his hold “And you should learn to relax more. Sit back, feel the blow.”

“The only thing I am feeling right now is a bloody headache forming.”

“Then drink more.” Charlie urged him, pouring more alcohol in his glass despite Felix having taken just a couple of sips “Blow off some steam, form a theory.”

“How good are you at taking a blow right to the face?”

Letting out a booming laugh, Charlie replied “Please, you’d probably break your hand in my face.”

“Incorrigible, the lot of you.”

Placing a hand against her heart, Talia gasped “What did I do?”

“Just drink, please.” Taking two more gulps, Felix knew the night was off to a good start.

[hairypotterhogwartsmystery]

Merula Is Not Actually That Evil

I recently finished Year 1 of HPHM and found many of Merula's actions to be rather unbelievable.

Kids can be awful, but I still don't think eleven-year-olds are capable of cold-blooded murder (such as the Devil's Snare Incident). The strangest thing about Merula's character, though, is that despite her track record, Jam City keeps trying to force Merula on us as a friend in the sidequests.

I didn't want to chalk it up to JC's dubious writing, and I was also inspired by the deep dives from @missnight0wl, so instead, I've spawned the theory that Merula Is Not Actually That Evil.

By the end of the first year, Merula has two "ambitions:"

1) To bully MC relentlessly.

2) To find the Cursed Vaults before MC.

Let's start with 1).

Merula is a bully---an awful, rude, reckless bully---but she's not pure evil. Most of her actions are not so much to instill fear and establish dominance (or, as I call it, MPWAH Syndrome) as they are an act of pushing people away. Merula does not find herself deserving of friendship, likely because she had a traumatic childhood that fractured her trust in people. This does not excuse for her behavior. However, I believe Merula's intentions for bullying MC + The Gang are different than what MC believes.

In their first Potions class, Merula coats MC's cauldron with Bulbadox Powder, which causes it to explode and makes Snape mad, yada yada. There are two strange things about this interaction:

1) Merula only learned of MC's identity five minutes before class, when MC stood up to her for tormenting Rowan. She kind of jumped on the "you're a disgrace" bandwagon, but didn't really say anything of note. See, Merula's original target was never MC---it was Ben Copper. This means that Merula's hatred for MC didn't appear out of nowhere---it was provoked by MC themself.

2) Bulbadox Powder isn't a potion ingredient. It's a joke product.

So Merula, who met MC five minutes ago and has only a generic hatred/jealousy of them, is also coincidentally carrying around a joke product in her pocket and manages to coat MC's cauldron in it without them noticing? Yeah, right. Merula didn't do it. Merula did not actually sabotage MC's potion. Chances are the cauldron was tampered with by some other mischievous student.

However, MC, assuming the worst about their newfound enemy, pins the blame on Merula, who, of course, denies it.

Then we have the Devil's Snare Incident, which most people cling to as a justifiable reason for hating Merula. Honestly, I did too, until I thought about it a bit harder.

I do believe that Merula sent the fake letter and locked MC in the closet full of Devil's Snare, because, well, Merula admits to it herself. However, I think she did this because MC framed her for blowing up their cauldron. Merula only says that she blew up MC's potion when MC is in the closet in order to seem more powerful and make MC afraid and distrustful of her. (See: MPWAH Syndrome.)

She also never intended for MC to die. Why?

a) She knows that MC is very good at Lumos.

b) I believe it was Merula who, in a fit of regret, alerted Hagrid that MC was trapped, and told Hagrid to go save MC. This is why Hagrid acted so shocked when MC told him it was Merula who locked them in the cupboard.

Now you might be wondering, "why didn't Hagrid just tell MC that Merula actually wanted to help them escape?"

Firstly, Hagrid is an adult, and in a position of power on campus compared to students. He understands that true disciplinary action can't happen without concrete proof (which MC doesn't have) and likely doesn't want to be the source of any gossip or rumors. Thus, he tried to de-escalate the issue instead of confusing MC with conflicting information, or encouraging MC to tattle/seek retribution.

Okay. That was a lot. In summary:

Merula's original target for bullying was never MC.

Merula bullies MC because she thinks MC wronged her.

Merula bullies MC + The Gang as a subconscious act of alienation, though she believes it to be a method of asserting her dominance.

This segues us into 2).

Why does Merula want to find the Cursed Vaults?

According to Merula, it's because of her MPWAH Syndrome.

I think this is partially the reason she seeks the Vaults. Though Merula herself may believe this is the true reason, her subconscious behavior says otherwise.

Merula's Cursed Vaults mission is very hush-hush---she doesn't want other teachers or students (such as Rowan) to find out. Obviously, this is for self-preservation---she doesn't want to get punished and expelled like Jacob---but I think Merula's secrecy ultimately proves that she isn't simply seeking the Vaults for attention and prestige. She's seeking them in order to validate her own loneliness.

Merula wants the glory of the Vaults for herself. She needs to reach the Vaults before MC, even though MC's not even in the race---MC's sole motivation for seeking the Vaults is to track down Jacob. By finding the Vaults all by herself, Merula validates the instinct within her that pushes people away. By finding the Vaults all by herself, Merula can prove that she doesn't need other people to succeed.

So why the Vaults? Why not prove herself by doing something innocuous like doing well in school? Well,

a) doing well in school is impressive, but not atypical or risky

b) doing well in school is a solitary act anyway; Merula needs to do something that would typically be collaborative on her own in order to prove herself.

c) I think Merula has a bit of a self-destructive streak. I don't have super solid evidence for this, though, aside from her pursuit of the Vaults themselves and her love of dueling.

So in summary:

Merula says she's searching for the Vaults because of MPWAH Syndrome.

In actuality, Merula is searching for the Vaults in order to justify her lone wolf/aloof personality.

Whew. I never thought I would psychoanalyze a fictional eleven-year-old from a mobile game this hard, but honestly, it's a fun exercise. Perhaps this skill will come in handy for future English essays.

Keep in mind this analysis was made only with information from Year 1. In a previous lifetime, I played up to Year 4, but I recently started anew. Feel free to spoil things in your responses---I know pretty much all the main plot points up until MC graduates.

Thank you for reading this far.

[catohphm]

In my HPHM headcanon, Rowan survives and achieves his dream by becoming Professor of Magical Theory at Hogwarts. If he can't teach History of Magic, I can see him doing just as well in Magical Theory.

[regretevator-confessions]

(https://www.tumblr.com/regretevator-confessions/763274171553890305/ngl-i-just-dont-seelike-the)

real, but even so I do think the grey stuff had made another riff in their relationship, of course not the breaking point but still damaged the relationship, another thing to note is that Mark wasn't the victim, and neither was walltar, they loved each other but they both are different and need to resolve it, though I don't agree that wallter is fine with being away from mark because of a certain interaction with folly

Folly: "They're very interesting, your dreams."

"I'd prefer it if you didn't look into my head, friend.."

Folly: "Ahaha.. Is that what you truly think of him?"

Folly: "How odd."

"Hphm.."

Folly: "Oh, and my 'friend',"

Folly: "As much as it would fill me with compassion to alert you of what is happening to your brain..."

Folly: "It is much more enticing to see what happens to your brittle mind as it succumbs."

"Ah.. I assure you, I think i'll be fine!"

of course, it can mean anything or anyone, but it STRONGLY implies that they are about Mark, and the dismissive reply can indicate he doesn't want to think about him in that way, personally i think wallpaper does have SOME attraction for mark still but just a theory

.

[deafblindshorty]

WARNING! SPOILERS FROM DATAMINE PROPHET 128!

So, the latest Datamine Prophet for HPHM shows a picture of an evidence board with a photo of Penny on it. Either she went to the dark side or she's gone missing or was found dead. I have a theory about that.

Year 8 is Harry's first year, the year Voldy is searching for the Sorceror's Stone and is possessing Quirrell. Remember how in the newest Romance TSLQ Penny was looking into the Sorceror's Stone (to ensure she and MC have a happy ending? I know, I know, she's not everyone's love interest- it could be Merula or Talbott or Barnaby looking into the SS. And if it was, Penny would have most likely known about it.). And also, if I'm not mistaken, another future quest is helping Dumbledore and the teachers set the traps for the Sorceror's Stone at Hogwarts.

What if Quirrell somehow found out Penny (or one of her friends) looked into the SS and kidnapped her for interrogation? Once he got the info he needed, he either put a powerful memory charm on her or killed her.

[missnight0wl]

Alright, but let’s actually talk about Callum McClintock

Fun fact about me: when there’s a new young but adult-looking man in HPHM, my first reaction is often: “it could’ve been Jacob”. This is how it was with Orion, with the Wizard in White, and Callum was no different. Well, he was kinda different because I thought: “OMG, are you real Jacob??”. And at first, it was totally a joke. But then I talked with @thedoodlecat​ who inspired this whole theory. Because she pointed out that “Callum” means “dove” and that there’s a particular relationship between doves and peregrine falcons. You know what that relationship is?

Peregrine falcons hunt and eat doves.

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME??

And I know what you’re thinking: it’s JC we’re talking about, they don’t know what they’re doing at this point. And you’re not wrong! However, JC also loves to play with names. Alright, but where’s Jacob in all of that? Admittedly, Callum doesn’t have to be Jacob. But on the other hand… it does make sense. And I know, I know, I might be influenced by my desperate wish for vault!Jacob to be fake… But just bear with me, please.

First of all, we’ve spent way too much time on the whole mystery of where exactly Callum works and being just a janitor feels too random to be a coincidence, in my opinion. If Jam City simply needed someone to help MC with cursed artefacts, they could’ve made Callum a Curse-Breaker or an employee of any other department who happens to be very passionate about curse-breaking. But no, Callum is not just some guy. Even if he’s not secretly Jacob, I believe that Callum had some past with Peregrine/R, especially when we consider the meaning of his name.

Ok, so does it mean that Callum hides in the Ministry? Well, it’s possible. Although I think it’s also possible that he’s allowed to stay IF he works as a janitor. Being a janitor means that he has no real influence. R might even believe that he has no access to anything important. Moreover, the janitor’s job might be seen by them as humiliating on its own.

And by the way, here’s a funny side note for you. Remember when Merula was making fun of MC for being a janitor at the Ministry?

HMMM…

Back to Callum, though.

Ok, but if he is Jacob… Well, I assume that R would have to manipulate some memories of some people and basically erase Callum!Jacob from existence. That’s why Callum can’t really go to anyone for help: nobody remembers him. On top of that, R might find out about it sooner or later. So, he stays low. Moreover, a while ago (in this post), I talked about the letter R sent to Jacob after Duncan’s death, where they mentioned “Miss Green’s fate”. I pointed out then that it might refer to Olivia’s memories being modified and that it’d mean Jacob had to know about it. So… what if Callum does know about it? And he was absolutely heartbroken that Olivia didn’t recognise him when they met recently at the Ministry?

Also, let’s talk about Callum’s last name. Because yes, “McClintock” is a surname of Scottish and Irish Gaelic origin which fits Callum’s “Scottishness”. But you know what’s actually the first result for this surname? “Barbara McClintock”. And Barbara is well known for her research in genetics. In fact, she was the first woman to receive an unshared Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. So, here’s my question: why the hell JC chose so very specific last name? I mean, sure, it might be a coincidence. But why not one of the more generic Scottish surnames? Why not Campbell, Stewart or Murray? Well, what if McClintock’s genetic research is actually important?

Alright, I admit that this part might be the biggest stretch in the whole theory, but this name just seems odd to me. So, you know how I keep talking about MC and Jacob possibly being connected to the Cursed Vaults by blood? And how MC and Jacob are born Legilimenses, for example? The point is that there’s something going on when it comes to family, so perhaps the choice of “McClintock” was supposed to be a very loose connection to that? Because here’s the thing: Jacob we know from before the Portrait Vault was a huge nerd. And he would definitely get interested in a such potential connection and tried to study. And I’m sorry, but Callum McClintock totally gives “a huge nerd” vibes.

I mean, just look at them:

A) A huge nerd, an intellectual, loves reading old books, probably said: “the dustier, the better” at some point in his life. Would absolutely come up with his own code by modifying Ancient Runes (that would impress Rowan Khanna some years later).

B) A half-brain. Gets into fights after football matches and gets drunk with his bros.

Also, can I just say that Callum showed more concern about MC during a couple of minutes than Fugly Slut over the whole time since we got him out of that stupid portrait???

Finally, one more silly thing. As you can see above, Callum has black hair. Interestingly, Peregrine also has black hair and it doesn’t change based on MC, unlike his eyes or skin colour.

Now, I’m aware that it’s totally possible for dark-haired people to have light-haired children… But considering that dark hair is a dominant gene, wouldn’t it make sense that at least one child inherited Peregrine’s hair colour?

Anyway, I guess that’s it for now! Again, I’m ready to accept that Callum is not Jacob – though I will cry from happiness for a week if he is… But I’ll actually be surprised if he has no connection to R whatsoever. I don’t know, maybe he simply runs his own investigation in his free time or something? I suppose it’d be enough for Peregrine to want to hunt him down.

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

Now that it looks like Moody won't be a double agent, what are your thoughts on his character in HPHM?

Without the whole "Imperius'd by R" idea in play to excuse his behavior, I find him annoying and invasive on so many levels. I sort of got used to his presence in the story, but it's never going to sit right with me that he just showed up to the Three Broomsticks and kidnapped a child to recruit them into being an informant in their investigation of a dark wizard cabal. Like, there are so many things wrong with that I don't even know where to begin. Actually, yes I do. This should have been Jacob's role. Oh my stars should this have been Jacob's role. He had just been freed, after all, and he could have been MC's consultant on R instead of the fanservice machine that was Mad-Eye Moody. It's just like how Corey's role in Year 7 felt like it was written for Rowan but then given to another character, it's the same gut feeling I get.

Every single moment I pointed out in my various theory posts where I just got a bad feeling about Moody from his negligent behavior and the way he entirely failed in his responsibility to keep MC out of danger. Like, throwing them into the line of fire with the Infiltration plan. Even when he did try to stop them from doing stupid things, it was annoying. Like when he showed up to veto the Ministry break-in after all that buildup. In general, I don't think he's acted entirely in character and the ways in which he deviated from his canon characterization just all come across as red flags to me. There are as many signs that Moody is shady (and potentially working for R) as there were that Rakepick had a hidden agenda in betraying MC. (And was potentially working for Dumbledore.) And in both cases, just because it didn't wind up being true...doesn't stop the hints from being there.

[improper-victorian-relationships]

my hphl mc isn’t related to my hphm one, but she IS the great-grandma of my oc who marries neville longbottom. florence becomes the head of the department of magical law enforcement, quietly amends laws related to self-defense and underage wizardry, and what her husband did in 1891 simply becomes a family secret. and you just don’t ask for more information when grandpa sebastian tells you that your magical theory homework about the dark arts is missing an important detail.

[akaisenhatake]

hey yall so my friends and i made a doc for all the theories and subplots for hphm and i thought yall might wanna read it :] they put a lot of effort into it!!

feel free to leave comments here on what you think! if you have any new theories you'd like to share feel free to as well!! ok byee

[usernoneexistent]

Okay, so this thought has been stuck in my brain for a while which is that Jacob could have possibly known Snape much closer than I realised and I decided to take a shot at a timeline for the main characters.

So the timeline just covers everyone’s overlapping Hogwarts years and who could have meet who during it all. A little note, the plus after Snape stands for the marauders and Lily since they are all in the same year as Snape and also all the dates I got, are pulled from the Harry Potter Wikipedia pages so let’s get cracking.

Lets start with the easiest one which is Rakepick, she was in 5th year while Snape was in 1st year. Great it works, moving on.

Now, for Jacob, I’m basing it that he was born in 1962/1963. Yes, Jacob and MC have roughly a 10 years age gap between them. My thoughts are that while it is unusual to have such a high age gap between siblings but maybe Jacob was planned and MC was not or the Parents had fertility issues, who knows. And he starts 1st year after Rakepick graduates so they just missed each other. This also means that Snape was in 3rd year when Jacob started, meaning they are closer in age than expected.

Now, for an interesting theory I came up with after reading @missnight0wl​ analysis who the third person is in Jacob’s notebook and she believes it is Snape. So what if Snape and Jacob were friends, like that could explain Snape knows quite a lot about the Vaults but they had a bitter falling out and that’s why it seems that Snape is always out to get MC but at the same time seems to be protecting us in his own way. He probably witnessed how the vaults affected Jacob mentally and doesn’t want MC to fall down the same way as Jacob. It could also explain why Jacob is so good at legilimency, Snape could have taught him. So yeah, this is my new head canon. Now back to analysing.

For Jacob’s expulsion, it has to be after September 1980 when he just started 7th year and is about 17/18 because that is when he can meet the prefects. Now I know it’s a bit of a stretch, that the prefects only know Jacob for a couple months and that Angelica has a crush on him but I guess it still kinda makes sense. For Angelica at least I could imagine that she has a cute high school crush on the resident, older, popular, “bad” boy and I would say that Jacob was probably popular or at least people were talking about him and the cursed vaults. So the prefects would have at the very least heard many of his exploits and at most had some interaction with Jacob in the couple months he was still at Hogwarts. 

The fact that Jacob is at least 17 at expulsion means that he can just leave without any Aurors searching for him since he is no longer a minor and his family can’t do anything about it. Apologises that I just ended up rambling on and it might be a bit incoherent. I struggle to properly organised my own thoughts in writing haha. That’s my analysis for now and feel free to add your thoughts and let me know if there are any holes in this theory.  Edit: In 1978, Jacob starts 5th year not 6th year. Thanks for pointing it out @raesblogv