#like a character will say something generalizing about muggles but since it's positive that means they're good

[lord-save-me]

Would love to have a fanfic talk about the underlying prejudice muggles & muggleborns face even by people who are supportive.

Like really the whole "muggles are so" as of talking down and generalizing them to what one muggle is like, in an almost patronizing way

Also muggle studies how it fundamentally won't work because most wizards would take it for extra credit or as a joke, the actual prejudice ones won't even bother and the actual students raised by muggles likely won't take it so there's really no way of verifying if what's said is true (like that 'humans studies' in the owl house)

[seriousbrat]

let sirius (and james) be mean

Obviously in SWM both James and Sirius are atrocious towards Snape but I think it's pretty revealing how mean they also are to their best friends, especially Peter:

And while I think James possibly grew out of his mean girl phase to some extent Sirius didn't, at least not fully. To be fair he's usually not outright rude unless he dislikes someone-- mostly, he's dismissive or impatient especially when someone says something he perceives as stupid, as well as being overall insensitive to the feelings of others.

In the prequel they're both fairly insensitive and rude to two terrified Muggles lol, I mean who cares and it's funny but there are examples of Sirius being something of a mean girl later on as an adult. obviously, the famous one:

and yeah you can defend this by saying he was stuck in grimmauld place and frustrated, bla bla bla, I do get it and I still love him and don't think it makes him a terrible person or godfather but objectively this is an incredibly mean thing to say to Harry.

Other somewhat minor instances that nevertheless paint a wide picture:

OotP (I'm leaving out his interactions with Kreacher bc those are self evident)

-------

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he's also kind of dismissive towards Harry's feelings at certain points. A good example of this is the stiff "one-armed hug" and gruff goodbye he gives him when they leave for Hogwarts after christmas, or this earlier conversation:

Also, how he talks about Regulus. obviously it's somewhat justified since Sirius believes him to have just been a Death Eater, but he specifically calls Regulus stupid rather than just saying he was a bad person. This is interesting because it can be inferred that Regulus was not stupid at all, given that he figured out the secret of the Horcruxes. imo Sirius was too dismissive of his brother to actually know who he really was.

(and bonus him being snippy with Harry)

GoF

like this is probably true but it's still rude lol, as is this from OotP which has definite mean girl vibes:

next:

so this on its own doesn't seem especially mean but it does come after Sirius has basically dismissed every single thing that Ron has said lol, even raising his hand at one point to shut him up. It's not the worst but imo does indicate his impatience with "stupidity" which we also see in SWM:

and James has this too:

imo this shared feeling of superiority and mutual delight in their own intelligence were big factors in his closeness with james.

ALL THIS TO SAY, Sirius was mean lol ESPECIALLY as a teen. my rude scorpio child. So I think when writing teen Sirius it's an important part of his characterisation (and James's) for him not only to be rude/disdainful to people he hates but also just generally. It's also why it's extra ridiculous that he's portrayed as dumb in fanon seeing as he's very often dismissive and judgmental to those he perceives as being of lesser intelligence.

And this isn't a criticism of Sirius at all, I love him and tbh his mean streak is one of the things that make him so fun to write for me. He's a beloved character and I understand the desire to paint him in a positive light, but he wasn't perfect. As others have said the friendship between the Marauders wasn't something idyllic and aspirational, it's a warning story to Harry. Furthermore, kindness towards Kreacher being something that helps them find the Horcrux is also a lesson for Harry.

Sirius's insensitivity to the feelings of others was what got him killed, his insensitivity and disdain for peter led in part to James and Lily's deaths too. it doesn't make him a terrible person, just a flawed one.

[henqtic]

Can you do a draco x reader with us watching a film and reader saying how they’re crushing over a certain character

𝘭𝘦𝘰’𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘷���𝘦

pairing: draco malfoy x fem!reader

word count: 1.6k (1674)

authors note: just pretend that the battle of hogwarts never happened— that event ruins everything :/ and thanks for requesting !! it made me get a lot more inspiration to finish my other wips <3

masterlist. // taglist form. // request more works.

—————————

the room smelled of freshly buttered popcorn, soft drinks, and unhealthy snacks and for the same reason the night celebration was in place, strong mint gum. tonight was cleared, a time for you and draco to just relax, cuddle up within each other and have a break from everything going around.

the years after graduating a boarding school were life changing, even wizards themselves who could conjure up almost anything they’d ever want or possibly dream of but still, it was the time of realization for who and what you wanted to be.

and yes, there were the newts but they didn’t help much once you really got a look into the real world. many had found a passion in something that seemed wondrous— more fun. traveling and exploring the world, maybe even discovering more mystical creatures that hadn’t been learned in a simple care of magical creatures class and weren't seen in their own time because their parents didn't have the resources.

and some were set on everything but those test scores, a family business awaiting their sole airs take over and draco well, he was a part of that some. and surprisingly enough, even after all that time and all of those expectations set on him to live up to and stay in his family standard, he didn’t, and it was much to your encouragement.

his interest in healing sprung up in his last year of schooling coming to the conclusion that he’d been a prejudiced bully— not that he hadn’t already known that but, of course he did. but once he was left with less than five friends and a girlfriend who was steadily distancing herself further and further away from him, it set in.

so that’s where it started, him identifying nearly all of his mistakes and attempting to heal what had been broken relationships— which most never really did. but it was a change, and a good one at that, it brought him an inner joy, not for the factor of him getting things out of it like you wanting to be in his company more often but that he was mending the seemingly unfixable things.

it made him want to do that and not run a stuffy business that didn't do much but treat their workers poorly and customers even worse so he turned to medicine. observing how so many things lined up with potions, adding the right amount of this, and crushing that up the right way, to make a final product. a product that would soon heal the injured and bring a great smile to both of their faces.

but what he hadn’t realized was that being a healer took time and hard work— almost unusual to someone like him, being constantly handled things and easy ways out but with this, there was no fast tracking or getting anywhere if you didn’t have the right skill set or talents.

so to say he wasn’t ready for it would be a wrong statement. but to say he was exhausted, completely drained of all energy would be completely right. even after all of your cheering on, reminding him that it was only a few more months of studying and one big more test until he’d get to know if he earned his title of healer malfoy.

and usually, that worked, but after tonight after taking that so called big test, his mind was racked with anxiousness. if he didn’t pass, his father would be on his back, telling him how it was a waste of money and how he should've listened to him to that you’d even be disappointed in him— unlikely but as said before, there was nothing but anxious thoughts and anxious scenarios coming through.

so it was painfully clear that your natural remedies wouldn’t work, countless amount of neck kisses and back rubs and muscle soothing not sufficing so you both agreed on the last thing you couldn’t think about, a simple night with the television on, just in each other’s company to try and get his mind off of things—

“you said this was a muggle film, correct?” he called out for confirmation, eyeing the packaging of the movie you called.. the titanic?

“mhm, one of my favorite movies, i just know you’ll love it,” you said from the other side of the living room with a wide smile on your face, near close to beating a cheshire cats. the movie itself was beautiful, you couldn’t lie, the directing and acting brought tears to your eyes almost every time you watched it.

but there was ‘something’ else that could bring tears to your eyes, a gazing stare at the screen whenever his parts would come on.

draco handed you the plastic, allowing you to remove the disk and insert it into the dvd player. you quickly made your way back into the make shift bed made out of blankets and pillows and once the black screen turned green, copyrighted warnings started, you tucked yourself into his awaiting arms.

“why’d you say you loved this again?” he asked for the second time, limbs wrapped around your body as you searched for a response.

“umm, really eye catching.”

and yeah, of course, you were comfortable with him, growing up going to the same school for months at a time and then dating for a good fraction of those years. there was also the memory of a night where you two tirelessly played a game of dare or dare, multitudes of dares coming both your ways to say the most embarrassing, weird, or even azkaban worthy things you’ve done.

but it was something else telling him that you were crushing over a fictional character— who wasn’t even that since the story was true but you were crushing on the actor of that said fictional character that you had no chance with and that, well it was something better left unsaid.

and as it went on, he could see that too, the way your eyes were stuck onto the screen the other blonde was in frame— on the break of amusing how’d the only time your attention would shift is when he’d reach you another piece of popcorn, you offering a grateful smile before focusing back.

your mouth was slightly agape, opening for another piece just how the rhythm had been going, him eating one, him feeding you one, him eating one and so on but now he was beating it further and further away from before your body eventually gave up, falling on his chest.

“hey, why’d you that?” you groaned, annoyed that you were now looking at him from below instead of watching the film.

“why’d you say you picked this again?” his eyes were narrowed down at you, a sly smirk in place. you moved around, trying to remember your excuse and hide the growing smile arising to your face.

“I already told you, it’s eye catching.”

“no,no,no, who’s eye catching?” he asked again, this time correcting himself in order to get a more truthful response. you let out a half embarrassed, half astonished laugh before answering—

“if i tell you, you can’t laugh.” all he did was raise his eyebrows at you, positioning you on his lap, signaling for you to go on with two taps of his finger on your thighs.

“okay well—” you paused, a loss of words and a huff following, “all i’m saying is if jack were to run me over... i’d be the one to apologize.”

your tone of seriousness only made the barks of laughter from the boy underneath you louder, a small pout coming on your face as a response trying to not end up laughing at yourself—

“jack, are you serious? he’s one of the most basic people i’ve seen,” he said through breaths of air, slight tones of jealousy coming out making your head turn in feign sympathy.

“you do know that i’m dating you, right?”

“yea and what’s that supposed to mean?”

“your eyes are blue and hair is blonde and you’re the typical skinny wh—” you started, responding to his defensiveness in the best way possible.

“it sounds like you’re just describing him.” point completely missed. “and so what, what could a fictional character do for you that i couldn’t?” he asked with a smirk, your face saying nothing but unfazed and unamused.

“fine even though if you were listening you'd know that he’s not completely fictional, but everything. would you ever go down with me on an unsinkable ship and then let me survive only the door we could find?” you asked, sighing after like it’d been a dream of yours.

“no. love, take this as me caring for you but i don’t think we’d sink on an unsinkable ship— it’s in the name.”

“were you not listening? and stop, it’s romantic, don’t ruin this for me,” you scolded, lightly hitting his arm.

“they both could’ve gotten on, jack just wasn’t the brightest. and would you really rather date someone that daft over me?” his nose scrunched to further show his disgust, your scoff not failing to sound after.

“know what, if you were a fictional character, no one would like you.”

“sure, i bet i’d have at least two hundred of you treating me like him.” the smugness in his tone was apparent than ever. you loved him, more than anything in the world but, he wasn’t much compared to jack dawson. 

and then came the other obstacle, there not being a valid way to prove to someone like him, with such an inflated ego that no one would like a fictional character version of him. and when you repeated that, he was extremely butt hurt, still allowing his arms to reopen for you to snuggle back in.

single moments passed, another film starting to ease the argument before he spitefully grumbled, “i’d have people all over me.”

“no you wouldn’t!” you whisper shouted back tilting your head up to see his pouting face. 

“yes I would, don’t doubt me—”

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[idreamtofmanderleyagain]

Hot takes about Severus Snape are a wierdly decent glimpse into how a person with progressive values analyses things. Literally every time someone talks about Snape, it’s like this tiny window into how one-dimentionally people actually think.

Recently saw a twitter post that was a fantastic example. Here’s how it goes (paraphrasing):

Person A:“Snape is POC and Queer coded, that’s why you guy’s hate him uwu lol.”

Person B: “Actually I hate him because he was mean and abusive to children under his care uwu but go off I guess lol”

Both of these takes are designed to be dramatic and/or reactionary. They each use partial truths to paint very broad strokes. These are get-em-in-one-hit quips. This is virtue signalling, if you’ll excuse that loaded phrase. Nobody had a substantial conversation, but now everyone who sees their statement knows the high ground they took.

At least a hundred other people chimed in to add their own little quippy hot takes into play, none of which add anything significant, but clearly made everyone feel very highly of themselves.

So many layers of nuance and complex analysis is completely lost in this kind of discussion. On tumblr, you get more of this kind of bullshit, but you don’t have a word count limit, so you guys just spew endless mountains of weak overblown evidence backing up your bullshit arguments, none of which was really about engaging in a real conversation anyway.

Here’s the thing about Snape.

He is a childhood domestic abuse victim. His abuser is a muggle.

He becomes a student at a magical school that takes him away from his abuser and immediately instills in him the idea that being a part of this magical world is a badge of self-worth, empowerment, and provides safety and security - provided that he keeps in line.

There is a war is being waged in that world over his right to exist (he is a half blood).

He is a marginalized person within the context of the narrative, forced to constantly be in the same living space as the children of his own oppressors who are being groomed and recruited into a hate group militia (the pureblood slytherins). They are in turn trying to do the same to him.

He is marginalized person bullied by children who are also part of his oppressor group, but who have “more liberal” leanings and aren’t direct about why he’s being targeted (the mauraders are all purebloods, Sirius, who was the worst offender, was raised in a bigoted household, the same one that produced Bellatrix.).

He had a crush on a girl who is a muggleborn, and therefore she is considered even lesser than him and carries a stigma to those who associate with her. That girl was his only real friend. In his entire life.

For both Snape and Lily, allying themselves to a pureblood clique within their own houses would be a great way of shielding themselves from a measure of the bigotry they were probably facing. There would have been obvious pressure from those cliques to disconnect with one and other.

Every other person who associates with Snape in his adulthood carries some sort of sociopolitical or workplace (or hate cult) baggage with their association. Some of them will physically harm and/or kill him if he steps out of line. He hasn’t at any point had the right environment to heal and adjust from these childhood experiences. Even his relationship with Dumbledore is charged with constant baggage, including the purebloods who almost killed him during their bullying getting a slap on the wrist, the werewolf that almost killed him as a child being placed in an authority position over new children, etc. Dumbledore is canonically manipulative no matter his good qualities, and he has literally been manipulating Snape for years in order to cultivate a necessary asset in the war.

He is a person who is not in the stable mental state necessary to be teaching children, whom has been forced to teach children. While also playing the role of double agent against the hate group militia, the one that will literally torture you for mistakes or backtalk or just for fun. The one that will torture and kill him if he makes one wrong move.

Is the math clicking yet? From all of this, it’s not difficult to see how everything shitty about Snape was cultivated for him by his environment. Snape was not given great options. Snape made amazingly awful choices, and also some amazingly difficult, courageous ones. Snape was ultimately a human who had an extremely bad life, in which his options were incredibly grim and limited.

In fact, pretty much every point people make about how shitty Snape is as a person makes 100% logical sense as something that would emerge from how he was treated. Some if it he’s kind of right about, some of it is the inevitable reality of suffering, and some of it is part of the cycle of abuse and harm.

Even Snape’s emotional obsession with Lily makes logical sense when you have the perspective that he literally has no substantial positive experiences with other human beings that we know of, and he has an extreme, soul destroying guilt complex over her death. Calling him an Incel mysoginist nice guy projects a real-world political ideology and behavior that does not really apply to the context of what happened to him and her.

Even Snape’s specific little acts of cruelty to certain students is a reflection of his own life experiences. He identifies with Neville; more specifically, he identifies his own percieved emotional weaknesses in his childhood in Neville. There’s a very sad reason there why he feels the urge to be so harsh.

Snape very clearly hates himself, in a world where everyone else hates him, too. Imagine that, for a second. Imagine total internal and external hatred, an yearning for just a little bit of true connection. For years. Imagine then also trying to save that world, even if it’s motivated by guilt. Even if nobody ever knows you did it and you expect to die a miserable death alone.

There are more elements here to consider, including the way Rowling described his looks (there may be something in there re: ugliness and swarthy stereotyping). These are just the things that stand out the most prominently to me.

J.K. Rowling is clearly also not reliable as an imparter of moral or sociopolitical philosophies. I don’t feel that her grasp of minority experiences is a solid one, considering how she picks and chooses who is acceptable and who is a threat.

All of that said, this is a logically consistent character arc. Within the context of his narrative, Snape is a marginalized person with severe PTSD and emotional instability issues who has absolutely no room available to him for self-improvement or healing, and never really has. And yes, he’s also mean, and caustic, and verbally abusive to the students. He’s also a completey miserable, lonely person.

There are elements in his character arc that mirror real world experiences quite well. If nothing else, Rowling is enough of an emotional adult to recognise these kinds of things and portray something that feels authentic.

In my opinion, it’s not appropriate to whittle all this down by comparing him directly to the real world experiences of marginalized groups - at least if you are not a part of the group you are comparing him to. There have been many individuals who have compared his arc to their own personal experiences of marginalization, and that is valid. But generally speaking, comparing a white straight dude to people who are not that can often be pretty offensive. This is not a valuable way to discuss either subject.

Also, I believe that while it’s perfectly okay to not like Snape as a character, many of the people who act like Person B are carrying Harry’s childhood POV about Snape in their hearts well into their own adulthood. And if nothing else, Rowling was attempting to say something here about how our perspectives (should) grow and change as we emotionally mature.  She doesn’t have to be a good person herself to have expressed something true about the world in this instance, and since this story is a part of our popular culture, people have a right to feel whatever way they do about this story and it’s characters.

The complexity of this particular snapshot of fictionalized marginalization, and what it reveals about the human experience, cannot be reduced down to “he’s an abuser so he’s not worth anyone’s time/you are bad for liking him.”

And to be honest, I think that it reveals a lot about many of us in progressive spaces, particularly those of us who less marginalized but very loud about our values, that we refuse to engage with these complexities in leu of totally condemning him. Particularly because a lot of the elements I listed above are indeed reflected in real world examples of people who have experienced marginalization and thus had to deal with the resulting emotional damage, an mental illness, and behavior troubles, and bad decisions. Our inability to address the full scope of this may be a good reflection of how we are handling the complexity of real world examples.

Real people are not perfect angels in their victimhood. They are just humans who are victims, and we all have the capacity to be cruel and abusive in a world where we have been given cruelty and abuse. This is just a part of existing. If you cannot sympathise with that, or at least grasp it and aknowledge it and respect the people who are emotionally drawn to a character who refects that, then you may be telling on yourself to be honest.

To be honest, this is especially true if you hate Snape but just really, really love the Mauraduers. You have a right to those feelings, but if you are moralizing this and judging others for liking Snape, you’ve confessed to something about how you’ve mentally constructed your personal values in a way I don’t think you’ve fully grasped yet.

I have a hard time imagining a mindset where a story like Snape’s does not move one to empathy and vicarious grief, if I’m honest. I feel like some people really just cannot be bothered to imagine themselves in other people’s shoes, feeling what they feel and living like they live. I struggle to trust the social politics of people who show these kinds of colors, tbh.

But maybe that’s just me.

[writcraft]

Hello! How would compare and contrast Snarry vs Drarry? Since you have (beautifully!) written both, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the dynamics of these two ships. Thank you!

Hello Anon, thank you for this lovely message and what a topic!

I have set out below the cut why I think the dynamics differ but also some of the similarities and it got very, very long. Yikes.

DRACO

Draco is privileged, from a wealthy, pureblood, old wizarding family and immersed in magic from childhood. He's the kind of popular where he has his crew and doesn't really care if the Gryffindors don't like him, he is athletic and bright and he is described in a way that suggests he is attractive. Up until the point things really start to go wrong for Draco, he leads a relatively charmed life. He is a product of his upbringing, of his upper class status, he experiences a childhood where he is spoiled, loved and doted on, albeit he appears to be subject to high expectations of academic excellence and sporting prowess. With his friends he appears to be something of the ringleader and generally liked. He gravitates towards Voldemort because it's really all he's known, he's born into it. At first it seems Draco's views are driven by his desire to protect the things he values (wealth, status, power) and the privilege he has become accustomed to and, in the end, he sticks around primarily out of fear and self preservation. Draco exhibits moments of cowardice.

SEVERUS

Severus has an entirely different upbringing. He is working class, has a tense relationship with his parents, he is disliked and bullied at school which leaves him isolated, he gravitates towards solitary intellectual pursuits and he is described in a way that suggests he is supposed to be unattractive (although this reader would argue he has a certain magnetic charge). Lily aside, his relationships as a child seem to be shaped by a fascination with the power that comes with wealth and elitism, something he has never experienced. Sirius describes him as Lucius Malfoy's 'lap dog' and it is telling that Lucius is much older, a Prefect when Severus starts Hogwarts. He is radicalised in a way and gravitates towards Voldemort through a greedy hunger for power, a desire for revenge and a desperate desire to change his lot in life. He stays because, well, we all know why he stays. Severus is brave but grudgingly, acerbically so. The deepest insult he confronts is being called a coward by Harry.

FIRST ENCOUNTERS

Aside from the differences in their characters, the way Harry encounters Severus and Draco is completely different. When we meet Severus in canon, he is bitter, angry, jealous, grieving and indebted to Dumbledore. He is also in a position of power as Harry's professor. When we meet Draco, he is Harry's peer but he is also full of himself, an arrogant little shit who thinks the world is his for the taking and he thinks very little of Dumbledore, because father says...

This shapes Harry's encounters with them both. Severus approaches Harry with animosity, venom and a legacy of hurt that Harry doesn't yet understand. Severus places no weight on Harry's celebrity, he actively resents and despises it. Draco, by contrast, values Harry's celebrity initially. He wants to be friends with the wizarding world's brightest star and the animosity that follows between them flows directly from the sting of Harry's initial rejection.

ONGOING RELATIONSHIP

Severus wilfully misunderstands Harry. He draws connections between Harry and James based solely on their striking physical similarities and (incorrectly) ascribes the characteristics of James to Harry. He is tasked with protecting Harry but he does so always through gritted teeth. The curse of Severus Snape is to spend his life protecting someone who represents everything he despised as a child and yet the only person who can give a dying man that last connection to his one true friend.

Draco sees Harry more clearly but his perspective is shaped by jealousy and the sting of that first encounter, which leads him to make fun of Harry's circumstances and the people he associates himself with. He doesn't misunderstand Harry in the way Severus does, but he also doesn't know him fully.

MAGICAL CONNECTIONS

The magic that connects Harry, Draco and Severus is fascinating. Harry famously uses Sectumsempra on Draco without knowing what impact it will have. He then intentionally uses the same spell on Severus (unsuccessfully) knowing exactly the damage it will do. Not only does the use of the spell in both instances show us a darker side to Harry, but the spell was also created by Severus and he is the one that helps Draco after the spell has been cast. I could write an essay on the links this spell creates between those three characters.

Expelliarmus is another one. Severus teaches Harry this spell and in doing so, equips him with his most powerful tool in the fight against Voldemort. Harry disarms Draco of his wand and the implications of that in terms of the final battle are intrinsically connected to the 'signature move' of Harry's in battle, which is all about gaining possession of the wand of the attacker as opposed to trying to target the attacker themselves.

Avada Kedavra is also something that binds the three of them. Harry witnesses Draco failing to cast the Killing Curse, and simultaneously witnesses Severus easily casting it. This also is part of the broader relationship Harry, Draco and Severus have to Dumbledore. Harry and Severus are willing pawns in the master plan but neither are fully equipped with all the information they need. Draco ends up unwittingly being part of the plan but he is never a soldier of Dumbledore's Army in the way Harry explicitly is and Severus, with a gnashing of his teeth, also is.

Finally, one of the important similarities between Severus and Draco is they are both skilled Occlumens, something Harry is notoriously rubbish at. This skill suggests both are better able to bury and compartmentalise their emotions whereas Harry is unable to do so with any success and this plays into the fact that in both ships, Harry is likely to be the more demonstrative, wearing his heart on his sleeve in a way both Draco and Severus can better disguise/suppress.

DIFFERENT DYNAMICS

With all of the above the dynamics between Drarry and Snarry will always have a different slant, even if Harry himself is essentially the same. By way of sweeping overstatement, Snarry tends to skew darker and heavier because there is much more to overcome, but by contrast Severus has also spent his 'canon' years protecting Harry which creates this bitter 'Guardian Angel' type dynamic that, if you ship it, can be intensely romantic when they encounter one another again as adults.

The age difference lends itself to different dynamics too. Harry and Draco have that potential for young, dumb and in love, working things out, exploring, eighth year and spin the bottle sort of stuff that Snarry doesn't really have in the same way. It feels more natural that Harry and Draco would encounter one another as peers from the same year group, so part of the battle with Snarry is working out how Harry and Severus end up in the same spaces together in adulthood (Snape's canon death being a pesky inconvenience). The age difference raises another important difference in dynamic too, when it comes to the experience of Severus and Draco as gay or bisexual men, if you apply Muggle attitudes to same-sex relationships that have shifted over time.

The age difference is also relevant because there is a capacity for Draco to change his ways as he grows up, but Severus has already long changed his political beliefs and we know Severus as an adult in canon. That's not to say adults can't change their beliefs of course, but because his adult character exhibits moments of real cruelty you have a challenge around how this irascible, often mean, sharp-tongued character can give Harry what he yearns for when it comes to affection, love, family, security and so on.

There are hurdles to overcome with both ships and although the core 'enemies to lovers' starting point may create a similar overarching dynamic, the roots of those hurdles, the scale of them and the ways and ease with which they get resolved will differ because ultimately Draco and Severus are very different characters with quite polarised life experiences. They have some similarities, Occlumency aside, such as fostering beliefs during childhood they reject around the same time in their lives, albeit for very different reasons. Both are Slytherins who, their magical skills would suggest, are capable of pushing their emotions down in a way Harry can't, when everything for him is raw, on the surface, now, even though they both also unleash their emotions at various points. They are both prone to dramatics, to anger, to pettiness, to humour and in many respects, Harry is prone to those things too. In general though, I believe Draco and Severus would approach a relationship with Harry quite differently.

I don't think there's any one easy way to pinpoint the different dynamics in general because there is a huge variety of ways these three can be presented in fanfic, with its own plot, worldbuilding, external factors and so on. There are so many different directions you could go in with Snarry and Drarry so I'm only speaking from some of the things that strike me not only about the Severus/Harry and Draco/Harry connections/potential hurdles but also about the links between the three of them. Ultimately I think there is opportunity for deep connection, discovery, levity, passion and of course, delicious angst and UST with both ships, but they tend to manifest a little differently for all the reasons outlines about.

There's so much more I can say, but I'll leave it there. Thank you, Anon!

[masterthespianduchovny]

The Poor Development of the Marauder's Era

I've recently been listening to Binge Mode and, even now, I honestly believe the Marauder's era is some of Rowling’s worst writing of the series. When I say Marauder's Era, I'm simply referring to characters and events pre Harry.

The Marauder's era isn't poorly developed because I didn't like what happened. It's poorly developed because of how Rowling handled the characters, the events she put them in, and the reaction to said events.

As a kid, I respected Lily and thought she could do no wrong. As an adult, I find her decisions questionable. For transparency purposes, I read these books in real time and was a similar age as the characters. So, I don't want to hear anything about me being "unfair." Of all of the Mauraders era kids back then, I was the most generous to Lily. It's only when I reflected more about her role in the series that I realized how lackluster she is as a character and as a friend.

Rowling relies on Lily being seen as the moral compass to signify who and what is right or wrong during this era. The problem with this is that Rowling undermines Lily in the process. Minus being flat out called Mudblood by Snape, she has no proof that Snape has done anything her friends accused him of doing, but she unequivocally views it as the truth. Despite Lily listening to Snape, it's not really in good faith because she already has her mind made up about Snape's guilt.

Now, this is important to note because since Lily hasn't seen any of Snape's alleged bad behavior for herself, why would she definitively accuse him of these things? Lily claims she was in denial about this when she ended their friendship, but it's quite obvious she does believe Snape is guilty.

What makes Lily's beliefs and choosing to side with others over Snape is that none of the Marauders have ever mentioned ONE instant of Snape doing or saying some fucked up shit. As a reminder: THEY HATED HIM. They never mentioned anything about him bullying others, calling muggles mud blood, or any other troubling behavior. It was merely because he existed. They couldn't even tie him to being a Death Eater.

Also, let's consider the fact that kids like Snape have rumors made up about them all of the time. ALL OF THE TIME. Not even Snape's own bullies could attest to Snape doing the things Lily's friends claimed Snape did, yet Lily believed their words?

And, maybe I'm being nitpicky, but the fact that Lily says "my friends" in reference to defending Snape has always rubbed me the wrong way. Snape IS her friend too. Her best friend, in fact. Why wouldn't she have said, "my OTHER friends." My Gryffindor mates or whatever? IMO, that implies that Snape is just some weirdo she talks to and not the person she's known the longest.

HOW ROWLING COULD'VE FIXED THIS:

Have Lily overhear Snape calling one of his peers Mudblood. Have the Marauders be incensed that Snape called someone a mud blood. Have them call out Lily when she tries to intervene on them confronting (confronting NOT bullying) Snape. Hell, even have Snape fucking bully someone.

Because as far as canon goes, Snape was a bystander as death eater wannabes bullied people and presumably did nothing about it. We don't see any of his alleged wrongdoings and the people who hate him can't even recall that this happened.

There shouldn't be an ambiguity or readers relying on the word and opinion of Lily to guide their opinion.

Some may say, "she's only a kid." To this I say, "You're right." Lily was a teen and teens don't always know how to handle complex situations, I will give her the benefit of the doubt. However, this means we shouldn't hold her as the moral standard.

Lily essentially says that the difference between the Marauder's bullying people and the death eater wannabes doing it is dark magic. I'm sorry, but that's weak sauce. Dark magic is such a vague and broad thing depending on what you're talking about, so nah...Also, is there something not dark about James choking Snape with soap? I mean, that could've traumatized Snape to the extent of him being triggered by soap. Isn't that dark?

HOW ROWLING COULD'VE FIXED THAT.

Jut have Lily acknowledge that behaviors by the Marauders and death eater wannabes are both bad, but for different reasons. Problem solved. She can even emphasize that she takes so much issue with Dark Magic due to why it's being used and what it ties into.

We hear how great Lily is and that everyone loves her, yet Harry meets literally NOT ONE FRIEND of Lily's. He meets James' friends and a former teacher of hers. We don't see Lily hanging out with anyone else. We hear examples of Lily feeling sad for people, but no references to her actually helping people or supporting others somehow.

HOW ROWLING COULD'VE FIXED THAT.

Maybe instead of Lily talking about the bad thing Avery and Mulciber did, she could've intervened, even if it was too late, and "saved" Mary. Hell, we could've had Lily hex James rather than just threatening it. I'm sorry, after literally reading the many ways the Golden Trio are there for each other even before big shit started to happen, Lily threatening to hex someone who is actively bullying her friend doesn't cut it.

And give her her own friends for Harry to meet.

Lily is said to be smart and empathic, but how she deals with Snape and his issues don't exactly support this.

HOW ROWLING COULD'VE FIXED IT.

Have Lily genuinely listen to Snape's grievances about the night he was saved. Don't have her be so dismissive about the Lupin thing. Maybe have Snape set up by the Marauders and the big reveal is a flop.

I know Rowling wanted to tackle people having shady pasts and how they can change, but 1. Either she needed to commit to it being a rivalry or 2. She needed to appropriately deal with the bullshit the Marauder's did. Snape is justifiably angry and distrusting of the Marauders due to one almost killing him as a joke and the other publicly humiliating him. This doesn't even account for YEARS of bullying, which remus admitted happened.

We cannot say that bullying is wrong, and then excuse the bullies because they were on the right side of a war.

HOW ROWLING COULD'VE FIXED THIS.

She should've had Remus flat out acknowledge they were wrong for what they did and that there was no excusing it. Then, have Sirius and Remus privately talk about this where Sirius admits it too. OR, despite loving them and his dad, Harry realizes how flawed they were and that their reasoning is simply to protect their dad not necessarily because James grew up. OR Rowling could've not written James and Sirius behaving as psychopaths AS WELL AS show instances of Snape starting shit with them.

SHOW US Snape deliberately starting shit with the Marauders and James trying to apologize. Show us James' growth outside of that. Don't tell us that James is secretly hexing Snape behind Lily's back because it has her looking like a dumb ass.

Also, all of this James stuff is important because Lily ending up with James is such a bad fucking look. IMO, it makes her disgust at his behavior seem performative. It says that she didn't really care about him bullying others, but rather, the perception of her being with someone who bullied others. And, no, having Lily smile as Snape was actively being bullied, and then poverty shaming him isn't a good look.

"BUT, BUT SNAPE CALLED HER A RACIST SLUR!!!"

It doesn't matter how much you want to give your friend the benefit of the doubt, if you believe he's calling others racist slurs, you need to confront it. And, if you believe it to be true, you need to end it. You don't wait until he calls you the slur to say, "hey, maybe he really is this racist person people claim he is."

HOW ROWLING COULD'VE FIXED THIS.

After James saved Snape's life, this is where he could've matured and his big head lessened. He still hexes others, but leaves Snape alone because he realized that they went to far with him even before Sirius' "prank." Instead of James being the antagonizer, it should've been Sirius. Once again, James breaks this up and he and Sirius gets into a small argument. Snape is let down as Lily runs up and Snape says his mud blood remark.

Snape then tries to hex Sirius and James steps in once Snape refuses to stop. It gets out of hand and Snape accidentally harms Lily.

I won't lie, I'm a HUGE Snape fan. However, because of how Rowling handled this era, there are many ambiguous things, situations that don't make any sense, not enough development of characters, etc which undermines the story she tried to tell.

Yes, I do love the series, except I don't like any of the Marauders or Lily. I don't hate Lily, but she grates. Remus really was a coward and irresponsible as hell. Sirius was childish as fuck and, no, him being in prison doesn't excuse or justify all of his behavior. James saved his peer's life, and then publicly humiliated and sexually assaulted him. He didn't stop bullying, he just stopped how he did it.

This doesn't mean I believe that Snape was faultless, but I believe this era was so poorly told that by default, I believe and sympathize with Snape.

Although I believe Rowling wanted readers to do this, I don't think she planned for some readers such as myself to hold the positions we do. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Snape as is, but I do believe Rowling didn't intend for me to hold the views I do about Lily and the Marauders.

I don't understand her laziness during this era, especially since it's so key in Snape, Lily, and James' stories.

Lastly, she could've developed James and Lily better.

I know she only has so much time, space, pages blah blah blah. However, the best writers find a way to make it work with what they have.

[llendrinall]

I'm with you on how terrible we found Fantastic Beasts. Now let me ask, how would you have written/built the Fantastic Beasts storyline?

I have not watched the 3rd movie so it’s possible that they have managed to turn it all around, but to start with I would give some actual connection to the movies beyond the title and characters. Otherwise it just feels like those children books: “X goes to the park”, “X in the supermarket”, where we see the same people in different situations but they are disconnected from each other.

I probably would have gone a different route all together, but suppose Warner has already hired the actors and started building the sets so we must use at least some elements from the movies. In that case I would make a story of discovery and reflection in three parts, with narcissism being the main theme.

First movie

Newt goes to NY with his magical bag. Most of the film is the same, but we get a sense of Newt being less childish (less painfully obvious and thinly surreptitious wand waving around muggles) and a bit more selfish. However, we should like him more for it.

Newt is, to the society of the time, completely mental. Rather than going on hunts and collecting trophies, he is recuing animals! I would emphasize that the animals he keeps have been compromised and can’t be safely returned to their habitats and since conditions and wizarding zoos are deplorable, he keeps them with him. The exception is that thunder bird he has come to release.

And that’s his goal, releasing the thunder bird, which he pursues with extreme focus. He doesn’t care about anything else which is why he is so open to Jacob the Muggle. Newt could be imprisoned* and Jacob would be obliviated into a stupor, but Newt doesn’t care about personal risks so he doesn’t care about the danger he poses to others. He is selfish that way. A generous kind of selfishness, sure, but dangerous.

I’m sorry, but the President of the MACUSA is not a woman nor a POC. It must be a white man surrounded by white men, one of whom might be either Catholic or Jewish and that’s all the diversity you see. Are there POC wizards? Yes. But not in positions of power. There is a bigger emphasis on the separation of wizards and No-Maj, with waaay more surveillance and harsher punishments. Suspicion alone may be enough to break your wand in some cases.

* And that’s how I could believe that POC wizards and witches (WWs from now on because “magicals” sounds weird) aren’t intervening in muggle spaces. They must be suffering similar levels of racism. They are tolerated, maybe they have better prospects that POC muggles, but that’s it. I can’t believe none of them would show some solidarity to the Non-Maj, unless it meant being summarily executed.

(Oh, and there would be this scene in which we see law-abiding and conscientious Tina stalking the house of an African-American muggle family. Nothing is said of it, other that Tina used to work with a muggle-born partner but now she works alone. Keen-eyed viewers will notice some hoodo trinkets in Tina’s flat, and a photograph of Tina with an African American woman, and then we will know).

I don’t remember Credence’s storyline very well, but it doesn’t matter. What is important is that Graves (powerful white man Graves) develops some sort of empathy. He doesn’t want it, but it’s there in his heart now. Maybe something with Newt’s animals. Some “beast” (look at how they say beasts and not animals) should have maimed and eaten Graves, but doesn’t because Newt is there in all his animal-loving glory. Graves gets to see the monster as merely a scared and hurt animal and learns to treat others with some decency and kindness.

That would be a nice classic movie, (prejudiced man gets over himself), but we can’t end it here. I would even allow for Tina’s scene stalking the house to be cut in order to have time for the climax: the moment when Graves realizes his society and his government may not always be right and defies direct orders by helping Credence. As I said, I don’t remember what the deal with Credence was, but Graves fixes it. There will be a personal cost to his career, but losing a promotion is nothing compared to saving a life, which is what he does. No ambiguous explosion or cloud of smoke. Credence is evidently and irrevocably safe at the cost of Graves being demoted.

There is no Gellert Grindelwald whatsoever, except maybe some government secretary mentioning they like that guy from Europe.

Second movie

Set in London rather than Paris. Newt receives the visit from a lovely, lovely, gentleman who, as it turns out, doesn’t think Newt is a fool. The charming gentleman asks Newt about the dragons, specifically the ones in Gringotts and oh, oh, Newt is against it. It’s abominable and unethical. But Newt would rather not think too much about it because, what can he do? He would rather focus on helping those he can and on spreading his thoughts on animal conservation. He is publishing a journal, although he admits it doesn’t do too well. He has twelve subscribers and seven of them openly mock his papers during dinner parties.

The charming gentleman says, but what if Newt could do something about it? What would Newt be willing to do? Would he break the law?

Newt laughs. He is forbidden from leaving the country. He is no stranger to jumping, crossing, tampering or breaking the law.

Marvelous! The charming gentleman reveals that he, like Newt, is unhappy with their society. It is weak and corrupt* and someone must do something about it. They have to fix it.

So the charming gentleman introduces Newt to some other like-minded friends and together they plan a heist to get into Gringotts and release the dragons. It is time to build a society one can feel proud of!

We get the heist, which is clever and delightful. The charming gentleman is brave, smart and powerful with his magic. There is a moment when some of the co-conspirators, and even the charming gentleman himself, get inside some vaults. This is not what they had planned! Not at all. But the charming gentleman assures Newt that he has good reasons.

They get out. And here comes the Nagini moment. Meaning I really, really, really, don’t need to see an Asian woman condemned to whatever that was in the second movie. I don’t need to have beautiful Neville kill a woman who has been turned into a snake and then a Horcrux.

But, do you want an “oh no” moment? Here it comes.

Because of the heist, Gringotts revises their security measures. That poor dragon in Deathly Hallows? The one with scars who had been conditioned to fear a certain sound? Newt’s fault. And the charming gentleman doesn’t care.

We have established in the previous movie that Newt is somewhat selfish and short-sighted. He rejects his society and cares only about his animals which is very nice. Newt is well intentioned, but that is not enough. Not caring about politics is the privilege of those in the elite (and despite Newts’ eccentricities he is very much the elite). The previous movie had Graves’ awakening. The man discovering something about himself in this movie is Newt.

Newt realizes that he must be an active participant in society. Sadly, he only realizes it after he has helped Gellert Grindelwald steal a number of very important artefacts as well as some gold to fund his project to reform Europe.

The epilogue of the movie has Albus Dumbledore visiting Newt, telling him not to be too hard on himself because he, Dumbledore, also fell for Gellert lies. And if Newt wants to do something about it, Dumbledore has some ideas.

* History fans might not realize immediately, but hopefully they will catch on the fact that all of the beautiful arguments from the charming gentleman are about weakness of the state, which is a common fascist trope.

Third movie

In which characters from previous movies are brought back without having to completely destroy their personalities.

Graves is in Europe and he pays a visit to Newt to ask for his help. Graves is using his new found empathy (that he didn’t want) to investigate a series of highly suspicious murders and incidents. The victims were all Latinas so it was dismissed, but Graves thinks there is something.

Two scenes later in comes Tina, who has quitted her job in order to track the murderer of some friend’s friend. An African American child is dead, no it was not the No-Maj, it was someone else, someone who wanted to cover their tracks and leave no witnesses and Tina is going to eat their heart.

Is it possible that Graves and Tina are after the same person? Yes and no. It is two different henchmen but Dumbledore has no trouble going beyond the small picture to see the pattern. He knows Grindelwald always had an interest in powerful artefacts, not just the Deathly Hallows.

Grindelwald has stolen the Macguffin, a powerful artefact belonging to a Latin-American community. With that and the Elder Wand he will be unstoppable. Oh no!

But! Newt realizes there is something missing. The raven is not a symbol of death in all cultures. Grindelwald might not fully understand what he has taken or how to use it.

So Graves and Tina go fight Grindelwald’s organization and be awesome together, delaying Grindelwald’s big coup. Meanwhile, Newt illegally leaves the country, goes back to NY, takes Queenie and deploys her. Because Queenie is nice. She plays the vapid pretty woman, but she is above all nice and if someone can make a hurt and distrustful community open their door to strangers, it is going to be Queenie with the help of Jacob’s bread.

And, indeed! They succeed. The bruja Latina explains about the Macguffin. Grildelwald doesn’t understand what he has stolen. It is not meant to be used like that at all.

They go back to Europe quickly, Newt relays this information to Dumbledore and he steps to his duel with Grindelwald armed with the knowledge and insight that comes from showing some measure of respect to other people for once.

(And if it seems that Dumbledore’s victory rests on other people’s work, well, Dumbledore’s main trait is his ability to earn people’s trust and devotion. But I guess Newt and Queenie could have brought the bruja with them and after a nice chat with Dumbledore she agrees to share their secrets with him, so he has the opportunity to show he is different).

Rather than having a man realize something, this movie is about the consequences of not opening your eyes: Gindelwald’s fall. It would also nicely establish Dumbledore’s best manipulative traits. If we must have het couples, Tina saves Newt’s from some mook and taker a kiss. Graves goes with the pretty Lestrange, I guess, to have a long life of morality sanctioned crimes.

(A TV show. Twelve episodes. Cancelled after the first season. Graves and Lestrange are back in the States helping oppressed communities and dodging the MACUSA and whatever the equivalent of the FBI was back then).

[seriouslysam8]

Hullo, Sam. I have just finished reading Kalopsia and let me say, it was a wild ride! I loved it very much. I even called in sick to work today so I could stay home and read it.

I have a few more questions, so sorry to bother you again but I hope you will take the time to answer them.

1) I’ve noticed you don’t give Hermione a lot of screen time, do you have something against her? I felt so bad for her when she expressed her worry about not being able to follow Harry and Ron on their adventures anymore. Do you think this was something Hermione actually worried about even knowing how good they are at their job?

2) I know I asked it before in reference to violent crimes, but the cursebreakers, forensic experts, etc. Have you made the department have all of these categories like you can be an Auror cursebreaker or an Auror forensic expert? Does that mean Bill could work for the Auror department if he wanted to or is that a different field of cursebreaking?

3) What is an O-Team? Is that like an A-Team? What does it stand for?

4) The incredible amount of detail you put into the healers work, from the respiratory bubble charms, to beeping charms. Do you have medical experience? It comes across as so realistic. How did you turn it so magical sounding?

5) If Demelza is a junior Auror, what are Harry and Ron? How do you rank the Aurors? I remember in Breanie’s work, A Second Chance. Tonks is an A1 and then moves up to an A3 which I think is the highest level. Is your system the same? What did you base it on?

6) That’s twice now I’ve noticed you mention Ron as a baker. Why a baker over a chef? Why food at all? Is that a secret dream you think Ron has? Why does he continue to be an Auror?

7) I love that Demelza calls Harry and Ron husbands! Sutton is the best Auror next to Ron and Harry? Who is Demelza’s partner? How come Sutton doesn’t have a partner? Why is Demelza’s partner crappy?

8) Sympathy cravings? Pre-baby weight? I need to know more about Ron during Hermione’s pregnancy! What was he like?

9) Ron sure likes to tall about and to shake his arse. Is he really that vain about it or did someone (namely Hermione) comment that he has a great arse and he just never let it go? I fully support that if that’s the case.

10) Who is Montgomery? Who is Holmes? What Auror positions are they? Who is Reed?

11) You’ve mentioned the Dursleys a few times now, but we haven’t seen them since Croup, will we see the Dursleys at all? Or at least Dudley? Does Harry stay in contact with them? Do his kids know them?

12) So far, you haven’t once mentioned Charlie. Will we get to see him? Does he ever come back from Romania in your story? Is he married or have kids?

Thank you again. Sorry to bother you. Thank you.

1. I’m not the biggest Hermione fan. I find her character quite annoying, if we’re being honest. Plus, I find her difficult to write. So, she’s always a background character. I think naturally she worries about Ron and Harry because they have such dangerous jobs. Ginny worries as well. I think, given the nature of their jobs, it would be hard not to worry.

2. I’m theory, yes, I suppose Bill could work as a forensic cursebreaker, but the training would be different. I think it’s much like in the Muggle world, you can go down different career paths with a single job title. I saw you read about the medical cursebreaker as well. Bill would be more qualified to work for the Aurors than with St. Mungo’s. Medical is a different ballgame.

3. Yes, it’s like the A-Team. It’s O for Outstanding, the highest grade you can receive at Hogwarts. They’re the O-Team.

4. No, none at all. I just research a lot. And I just did turn it magical? Sometimes, it’s hard so I talk it through with Brie or with a beta. Sometimes I think of it on my own. It’s always a process though.

5. I feel like my ranks are pretty simple. There’s trainees, junior Aurors, and senior Aurors. Ron and Harry would be senior Aurors. It’s based off of solve rate, experience, performance. It’s not like a set year and you switch over. I didn’t really base it on anything.

6. I think having Molly Weasley as a mother, you’d be a pretty good baker and/or chef. I picture Ron as a good baker and Ginny as a good cook. I think Ron would enjoy being a baker but he also enjoys being an Auror. I think the job bothers him at times so he says he’s rather be a house husband or a baker, but he generally likes his job and loves working with Harry.

7. Ron and Harry do act like husbands. I would say Sutton is probably one of the best Aurors, he’s very good at his job and well respected. To be honest, I don’t think I ever gave Demelza’s partner a name or really developed him besides he’s a bit of an idiot. He’s just not a very good Auror and Demelza just kind of leaves him in the dust a lot until she gets a new partner when she rises to the rank of senior Auror and they still stay a junior. Funny you should ask about Sutton’s partner. I had his partner retire around Kalopsia so he was partnerless for a little bit. When Demelza gets promoted after Kalopsia to senior Auror, she actually gets paired with Sutton. I wanted Demelza and Sutton to eventually become partners because he really lets her take the reigns on cases and let’s her shine and move up.

8. Ron was dramatic while Hermione was pregnant. He’d say stupid shit like, “Oh yeah, Hermione and I are eating for two.” Or “Hermione and I craved some bangers last night.” He was 100% invested in the pregnancies and sympathized with Hermione’s plights to the point where he got a tad annoying.

9. Hermione made a comment and Ron just can’t let it go. He does have a fine, fine arse though.

10. Montgomery Reed is a senior Auror, around Sutton’s age (both are roughly 10 years older than Harry and Ron). Holmes is Demelza’s rank, a junior Auror.

11. Harry is only in contact with Dudley. They get together once or twice a year, their kids know each other, and they’re on decent terms. As you know, Harry sees Petunia briefly in Discomposure. She also makes a short appearance in Brontide. You will see Dudley in Legerdemain.

12. Charlie is still in Romania. Not married, no kids. I don’t think he ever makes an appearance? If it does, it’s just a mention he’s there. He just chills in Romania doing his own thing, managing a dragon reserve.

[dutydreamed-a]

pick five tropes for your character!

01. BADASS BOOKWORM

These characters are quiet, smart, and seemingly physically unimposing, but with Hidden Depths of formidable physical and practical skills. They are Brains and Brawn, with brains dominant, if not quite Strong and Skilled.

Their physical abilities might result from applying their genius to solve physical challenges like they were math problems. Their attention to detail might also result in a Diagnosis from Dr. Badass. While some badass bookworms are surprisingly strong, others might be Weak, but Skilled, relying on flawless technique or supernatural abilities. Sometimes a bookworm can lack any special physical traits, but has access to an Impossibly Cool Weapon or enough firepower to make toe-to-toe combat, as they say, academic. A favorite weapon of the bookworm might even be what's always close at hand.

Elderly examples are often Old Masters who have spent decades contemplating philosophy and punching trees in half. Another common type is the Adventurer Archaeologist, who spends as much time studying in the University as that type does evading the poison-tipped arrows of angry natives. If the bookworms are a bit ditzy or talented but lack common-sense/etc, expect them to be Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass. If they prefer not to fight, doing so only when they must, then they have Minored in Ass-Kicking. They are very likely to wear Specs of Awesome. In a Five-Man Band specializing in Brains, a Badass Bookworm might as well be The Big Guy.

The trope is the converse of Genius Bruiser. A Badass Bookworm looks like your standard geek, but then displays a surprising amount of physical prowess, whereas a Genius Bruiser looks big, strong, and tough, then unexpectedly shows off an intellectual side. See Muggle with a Degree in Magic if their bookworm side is what's making them impressive.

02. SPIRITED YOUNG LADY

There is a certain kind of character commonly found in historical fiction set in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (though she can appear earlier or later, too). Her literary ancestress can be found in some of the best-loved novels of the Regency and Victorian eras. She is the girl who bends the rules just a little. Oh, she can dance a country dance or pour tea with the best of them, but she may also be a good walker or horseback rider. She may be the most intelligent girl in the story, and she is almost certainly the wittiest and the most outspoken, sometimes earning her the title of spitfire. She may be talented in more practical ways, as well: if given the opportunity, she may turn out to be a wise investor, and she may harbor talent for music, writing, or art that goes beyond drawing room entertainment and might become a means of financial independence if necessary. In rare cases, she may even solve a murder. Though she occasionally runs into some trouble, especially if she fails to obey the powers that be, she usually comes through in the end. She will be the Veronica of a Betty and Veronica love triangle, and the hero is likely to find her more enticing than her more docile sisters.

The Spirited Young Lady has the same grace and style as the Proper Lady plus an added spark of attitude or rebellion that is missing from her more-prim-and-proper literary cousin. This is what makes her such a popular character today: she is the character modern audiences can most admire or relate to. In historical fiction, she is likely to be a proto-feminist. In nineteenth-century literature, she may not speak out for women's rights generally (a few examples do), but she will speak out for her rights pretty clearly. Her willingness to say what she wants is part of what makes her stand out.

03. UNDYING LOYALTY

A character characterized by their loyalty. Can be a trait of both heroes and villains. Most of them are supporting characters, intended as sympathetic. Indeed, if used on a villain, it can sometimes be used to flesh them out and give them redeeming qualities. Alternatively, it can be negatively portrayed as a threat to conscience.

When given to a main character or one in an authority position, expect it to manifest itself in protective instinct: as a Papa Wolf or The Caretaker or someone who is A Father to His Men. When given to a Sidekick, expect it to be an unselfish willingness to support the main character. It can also be given to friends who, despite their differences, are genuinely fond of the other, and bonus points if it works both ways.

Should the object of this loyalty die, expect generous helpings of Due to the Dead as the loyal one works to honor the fallen one's memory.

See also: My Country, Right or Wrong, My Master, Right or Wrong, Thicker Than Water, I Will Wait for You and I Am Spartacus. An Act of True Love will often be used to prove how loyal one character is to another, by having them perform a great sacrifice to show that they'll put someone else's needs before their own.

Similar to but not to be confused with Blind Obedience, where a character follows unquestioningly believing their liege to be infallible. A loyal character isn't necessarily defined as a perpetual Yes-Man, and may know when to defy or contradict the subject of their devotion, especially if it's as much for their well being as their own. At times this trope might actually come at the expense of those they follow, since they will generally not obey an order that comes at their expense or abandonment.

04. STRANGER IN A FAMILIAR LAND

A character returns home after a long absence and finds that they no longer fit in, either because their home has changed too much over time, because they themselves were changed by their experiences or both. In the second case, it can lead to a But Now I Must Go sentiment. In less extreme cases, the character may eventually settle down again with some effort.

Prominent real-life examples are usually based on soldiers returning home, most commonly from World War I or The Vietnam War, or prisoners who find after serving their sentences that they can't adapt to life "outside". This is also relatively common among anthropologists and related fieldworkers who come home after a long stint in another society only to realize how bizarre their own culture really is. Another common case is people who were raised in another culture who travel back to their family's homeland — despite sharing cultural ties due to their family's past, they experience Heritage Disconnect and find themselves alienated due to their foreign upbringing.

Present in Western literature as early as in Homer's The Odyssey, making it Older Than Feudalism.

Related to You Can't Go Home Again, Never Accepted in His Hometown, Going Native, and possibly So What Do We Do Now?. This experience may be part of causing the character in question to go From Camouflage to Criminal. Occasionally overlaps with Where It All Began. Contrast Home Sweet Home — although this trope may also make the character realize that his home is no longer the place where he used to live. He may find that his old bed is too soft and he now Prefers Rocks to Pillows.

05. I DID WHAT I HAD TO DO

Sometimes a decent person has to do something bad because it is the only way to prevent something worse from happening. 'I Did What I Had To Do' generally involves an after-the-fact justification for morally questionable actions. The culprit presents this statement when he's confronted with a "What Were You Thinking?" or "What the Hell, Hero?" reaction from someone (particularly The Heart) to whom he owes an explanation.

The questioned character will generally say, "I did what I had to do." And, more often than not, nothing else.

The consequences of such an action vary, of course, depending on the work's place in the Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism. A character who sincerely regrets the 'necessary' action is likely to regard it as Dirty Business, suffer Past Experience Nightmares, or try to forget through chemical means. Someone who realizes they don't feel all that bad about the 'necessity' may be suffering from Start of Darkness. A character who was already rather amoral might say this only because they're upset that they had to get their hands dirty.

Generally associated with OOC Is Serious Business. Compare Well-Intentioned Extremist and It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time. When the character's motivation is her responsibility to those under her command, see The Chains of Commanding. If the consequences shown actually justify the action, then The Extremist Was Right. A character growing too comfortable with 'doing what I had to do' is guilty of a Reverse Slippery Slope Fallacy. Can be a Moral Event Horizon if it was particularly cruel or if they're particularly callous and nonchalant about it when confronted. If invoked large-scale by a Visionary Villain, it's Utopia Justifies the Means. Also, see Just Following Orders.

TAGGED BY: @standbetween

TAGGING: @edithmaslow @wclfdreamt @papilosomnia @inqisita @highaever and you, yes you reading this right now

[annalise-rosier]

survey.

Character’s full name: Annalise Josephine Rosier Reason for name and/or meaning of name: means “graced with god’s bounty”; chosen because her mother liked the name and it went well with her twin sister’s name of Freya. Character’s nickname: Anna (only called thus by Freya), Lise (if you’re lucky to be close enough to her) Reason for nickname: Freya couldn’t pronounce Annalise’s full name for the longest time, so Anna just kind of stuck.  Birth date: December 12

Physical appearance Faceclaim: Danielle Campbell Gender: female Height: 5′3 Build: slender, athletic Eye color: blue Glasses or contacts?: none Distinguishing marks/scars: a faint scar above her right eyebrow, received when she crashed into the quidditch stands while trying to show up one of the boys in her house.  Hair color: brown Type of hair: thick and wavy Hairstyle: usually wears it down, but has it up in a bun or ponytail when she’s focused on something Physical disabilities: none Clothing style: annalise likes to wear the latest fashions and keeps up with the trends far more than her twin sister does, which makes it a little easier to tell them apart if you know their differing personalities.  Make up: she doesn’t often bother with makeup since the twins were graced with very good looks from the genetic lottery. 

Personality Good personality traits: adventurous, outgoing, determined, friendly Bad personality traits: stubborn, holds onto grudges, selfish, shallow Mood character is most often in: playful, charming, mischievous Sense of humor: has a more wry sense of humor, isn’t amused by the obvious jokes, likes inappropriate humor enough to regularly scandalize her mother Articulation: annalise is a great conversationalist and has a gift for being able to talk herself out of trouble. she can spin any story to her advantage.  Character’s greatest joy in life: using her charm to achieve her goals Character’s greatest fear: being perceived as simple or stupid, being limited by the perceptions of others. Character is most at ease when: she feels like she’s winning the game. Most ill at ease when: she feels that someone else has the upper hand. Enraged when: her family is threatened, she is insulted, or someone underestimates her. Depressed or sad when: annalise pretty much never feels this way. Priorities: carving out a path for herself in this world. Life philosophy: power comes in all kinds of forms, and there’s power in making your life what you want it to be. Greatest strength: her ability to read the motivations of others and charm her way into any situation, her capacity for deep thought.  Greatest vulnerability or weakness: she cares more deeply than she allows herself to acknowledge, more deeply than is wise for someone in her position. 

Goals Drives and motivations: having a good time, living life to the fullest. Immediate goals: protecting her family, enjoying the status that her last name affords her. Long term goals: who the hell knows?

Childhood Hometown: London, England Type of childhood: comfortable, happy Most important childhood memory: Evan’s birth. Even with how young Annalise was, she could sense the tension growing between her parents, a tension that led to their split shortly after Evan was born. This tension caused Annalise to cling even more tightly to her siblings, and she vividly remembers the protective instincts she felt when she first laid eyes on Evan. She knew in that moment that she would do anything for him, anything to hold her family together. Annalise might not have been able to hold her parents together, but she’ll be damn sure to be the glue for her siblings.  Dream job: Annalise would secretly love to become a healer, but she’s not sure that quite fits with her image.  Religion: none

Present Current location: London, England Currently living with: her twin sister Pets: a brown spotted owl named Minnie (a name mostly chosen to annoy McGonagall), given to her at the age of 14 by her mother so that they could communicate from the vast distance between them. Sexuality: heterosexual Politics: she doesn’t really care, she just follows her siblings Occupation/education: columnist and reporter for witch weekly, hogwarts slytherin alumna Mode of transportation: prefers apparition, but floo and portkeys are fine too. 

Family Parent one: Victor Rosier Relationship with them: Medium / Annalise’s father has never been her favorite parent, and she’s never been quite as close to him as Freya was, but he always treated her like his little pet, and she learned to use that to her advantage. She senses he might be disappointed that she never fully entered the Death Eaters, but he doesn’t pester her about it.  Parent two: Elena Yaxley Relationship with them: Close / Annalise was always very attached to her mother, so the divorce between her parents and her mother’s move to America was harder on her than she ever let on to anyone (except maybe Evan). She gets the sense that her mother is also disappointed that she hasn’t made more of a stand in the war, but Annalise is too proud (and smart) to talk to anyone about the confusion she feels about her parents’ differing viewpoints.  Siblings: Freya and Evan Rosier Relationship with them: Annalise would do anything for her siblings. Freya is her other half, the second part of her soul, and Annalise tries hard to mold herself in such a way that she can stay as close as possible to Freya, even if that means squashing the contradictory feelings she’s inherited from their mother. She’s always been a little mother hen to Evan, wanting to protect him and empower him at the same time.  Other important family members: Bellatrix, Narcissa, Andromeda. Her cousins were important to her growing up, and though she doesn’t cling to them like she does her siblings, she still cares deeply about being close to them. 

Favorites Color: yellow Music: Her mother introduced her to Muggle country music once on a visit to America, and it’s a secret guilty pleasure she keeps for herself.  Food: She has a raging sweet tooth because Freya was always forcing baked goods on her, but she also loves a good burger.  Film: She once saw the Wizard of Oz with her mother and it struck a chord.  Drink: Something fruity.  Form of entertainment: Being with people, trying to understand what makes someone tick. Most prized possession: A locket given to her by her mother on her 17th birthday. 

Habits Hobbies: potions, tending to her magical plants, shopping. Plays a musical instrument? She learned piano as a child and still plays when the mood strikes.  Plays a sport? No. She wasn’t half bad at Quidditch, but she didn’t have the attention span to devote herself to training. How he/she would spend a rainy day: people watching at a favorite pub, writing a letter to her mother, joining her sister for a bake-a-thon, game night with her siblings. Spending habits: She spends without thinking twice about it.  Smoking/drinking/drugs?: Drinks casually with friends, but isn’t interested in drugs or drinking heavily. She doesn’t like the way they make her feel like she’s losing control.  Extremely skilled at: Getting people to share with her, manipulation, charming people even if they’re suspicious of her at first. Extremely unskilled at: Understanding her own emotions.  Nervous tics: Bites her lip, brushes back her hair

Traits Optimist or pessimist? Optimist. Introvert or extrovert? Extrovert. Daredevil or cautious? Daredevil. Logical or emotional? Emotional. Leader or follower? Follower. Disorderly and messy or methodical and neat? Disorderly & messy. Prefers working or relaxing? Relaxing. Confident or unsure of himself/herself? Confident. Animal lover? Of her owl at least. Tolerates her sister’s cat but dislikes the tendency to have fur all over her robes.

Self-perception How do they feels about themselves?: Annalise would say that she’s very comfortable in her own skin and confident about herself. She certainly projects the air that she has great confidence in her abilities, though deep down she resents her tendency towards shallowness. She has deep seated confusion about who she thinks she should be and who she would really want to be, but she’d rather project the confident and shallow air to protect herself from having to face that.  One word the character would use to describe themselves: Perfect. What does the character consider their best trait? Besides her gorgeous looks? Probably her charm. What does the character consider their worst trait?: A worst trait? Please, she doesn’t have one of those.  What does the character consider their best physical characteristic?: Her gorgeous hair or her enchanting doe eyes. What does the character consider their worst physical characteristic?: Again, there isn’t one. How does the character think others perceive them?: As a charming, flirtatious, well-dressed, fun woman. What would the character most like to change about himself/herself: Why change perfection?

Relationships with others Opinion of other people in general: Annalise is fascinated by people -- she loves to understand what makes them tick, what motivates them, what keeps them awake at night. She thinks that most people are pretty dim about their own feelings and thoughts, but she loves being around them.  Opinion of the Scooby Gang: What the fuck is that? Does the character hide their true opinions and emotions from others? Yes. Even, and most especially, from herself. Most important person in character’s life: Her siblings. Best friend/s: [who are they, do they have one?]  Dating experience: Annalise has had plenty of casual relationships (how could she not, with her good looks and her penchant for flirting?), but she’s never considered herself ready for something serious. There’s too much life to live first. Romancing: Annalise wouldn’t be the one doing the romancing, that’s for sure. Anyone that wants her should be willing to work for it. 

[priorireverte]

Congratulations Rhiannon!

Your application for Charity Burbagehas been accepted. I’m so excited to have Charity around as that opposing voice to forgiveness and reconciliation with the undead former Death Eaters. What is she going to do? I’m a little scared for us all.

Please look to the checklist for the next steps and reach out if you have any questions!

OUT OF CHARACTER:

NAME & PRONOUNS: Rhiannon, she/her

TIMEZONE: GMT

ACTIVITY LEVEL: My activity level is pretty decent? I’m always available via discord for plotting and am normally able to get on the dash for replies every day if not every other day.

ANYTHING ELSE: No triggers. I’ve been roleplaying for over a decade, and have been roleplaying exclusively on tumblr since 2012 so I’ve been around a lot - mostly in Harry Potter roleplays.

CHARACTER DETAILS:

NAME: Charity Ffion Burbage

BIRTHDATE: 20th March 1965

DEATHDATE: tw torture 28th July 1997. Charity was personally killed by Lord Voldemort following a prolonged period of torture after she had been kidnapped by Death Eaters not long after the end of the school year. Her death was never made public.

GENDER, PRONOUNS, and SEXUALITY: Cis!female, she/her pronouns, bisexual. Her sexuality has never been something that she’s hidden, having been publicly involved with both men and women. She’s never cared what people have to say about it - as far as she’s concerned it’s no one’s business other than her own.

BLOOD STATUS: Half-blood

HOUSE ALUMNI: Ravenclaw. The hat did briefly consider placing Charity in Gryffindor, but her curiosity and thirst for knowledge ultimately won out.

OCCUPATION: Returned. Prior to this, Charity spent four years as the Muggle Studies Professor at Hogwarts, and before that she was working in Misuse of Muggle Artefacts

FACECLAIM: Gugu Mbatha-Raw

CHARACTER BACKGROUND:

POSTBELLUM

Confusion was the first thing that Charity had felt upon waking. She could feel rough stone against her back and as her eyes came back into focus she could see that she was no longer in Malfoy Manor. The space resembled neither the dank, low walls of the wine cellar that had been fashioned into cells, nor did it resemble the imperial coldness of the dining hall. That was when the panic set in. Where had she been taken now? The last thing she remembered was pleading towards Severus Snape’s impassive form as the jeers and cackles of the Death Eaters rang throughout the marble hall. She didn’t believe the Unspeakables when they first approached and explained the curious circumstances surrounding her return. Believing them to be Death Eaters, she summoned what strength she had and kicked and scratched, desperate to get away. It just didn’t make sense. Coming back from the dead was something reserved for muggle fiction - it wasn’t actually possible. But yet here she was, and the Unspeakables were insistent. She answered their questions distractedly; the cogs in her head were too busy turning over the situation to care too much about what was being asked of her. Just how was this possible? Sure, inferi were possible, but that was lightyears from what she was. Having grown up largely in the muggle world, the inability to use magic bothered her little - especially when there were more pressing matters. After all, doing things the muggle way had always been her default. Whilst she had grown used to doing certain things with magic, readjusting to doing them without magic was a minor inconvenience at worst. There was one name amongst her fellow returned that truly set her blood boiling, even more than the other Death Eaters. Whilst she wasn’t sure it was reciprocated, she had considered Severus Snape a friend once, when they had been colleagues. She hadn’t wanted to believe it when she had heard that he had been the one to kill the headmaster, Charity had always wanted to believe the best in people. But those final moments at the manor had broken any lingering faith she may have had in the dour man. The rest of the returned Death Eaters could fester away in Azkaban - it was what they deserved - but in her mind Severus Snape didn’t deserve a second chance. Once her trust had been broken, it was near impossible to regain; something that had only been heightened in her new perspective on life. Justice was needed and she would see to it that justice was indeed taken on all of them.

PERSONALITY

Ever curious, Charity loved getting to the bottom of how things worked. Her parents had always championed this, encouraging their daughter to never shy away from asking questions. Books, puzzles and various children’s science kits had occupied her free hours as a child, and she delighted in getting to the bottom of a mystery. There were few sweeter feelings than those felt in those moments she cracked the codes. Charity was loyal to a fault, willing to go above and beyond for those she cared about, even if that meant getting herself into trouble. If a friend needed help, she would give them the shirt off her own back, and if they needed a place to stay? Well, Charity would have the spare room in her flat ready quicker than they could say Bowtruckle. She was a firm believer in treating people as you wished to be treated, and would never back down at a perceived injustice. Of course, this got her into trouble at school more than once, with Charity often ending up in detention over going toe-to-toe with pureblood supremacists. They weren’t any more special than anyone else for coming from a long line of wixen, and Charity could never understand why they would believe that - a more inclusive society could only benefit everyone. There was so much that could be learned from the muggles that could only improve the world they lived in. It was something that only grew stronger within her as she grew older, and she did her best to impress it upon the students who took her class at Hogwarts, especially after Voldemort returned. A gregarious soul, she had always been one to get stuck right in, treating new acquaintances as if she had known them all her life. Of an evening she could have been typically found in the Leaky Cauldron or the Three Broomsticks with a beer in hand, unwilling to let the looming shadows of war affect her day to day life. Every moment was precious, and Charity would be damned if she couldn’t live her life to the fullest. After all, wasn’t it the muggles who said that the best revenge was living well?

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF FAMILY

Born into a cadet branch of the Rowle family, Margot Rowle had never quite fit in to what was expected of her. Warm and indulgent, no one had been surprised when she had been sorted into Hufflepuff, though it marked a first for a house full of Slytherins and Ravenclaws. Her school years were hardly remarkable though she did well in all her classes, and following graduation she joined the Muggle Liaison Office. A few years in she was assigned to a case in Wales, a dragon had been spotted and causing trouble near a mine in Tonypandy. The last thing she had expected when she had arrived in the area was to fall in love, yet fall in love she did. After a whirlwind romance that led to her being cast out from her pureblood family, Margot married Owain Burbage and settled into a muggle life among the verdant valleys she now called home. First came Rhodri, born a year after Margot and Owain’s marriage, then Charity two years later, and finally Morwenna followed along four years later. The Burbage household was a happy one, constantly full of friends and family. Whilst she largely lived like a muggle, Margot made no secret of her origins, telling her children stories of Hogwarts as bedtime stories. Charity had been the only one of the children to show any signs of magic as a child, and neither Margot or Owain had been surprised when the owl had tapped at the kitchen window the morning of Charity’s eleventh birthday. This didn’t change anything, she was still treated just the same as her other siblings. Returning home for the holidays, she never struggled to fit back in rhythm with the rest of the family - it often felt as if she had never left at all.

HISTORY

Upon graduating from Hogwarts, Charity returned home to Wales for a brief spell. With so many ideas and options for a career swirling about her head she didn’t know what her next steps should be. After several lengthy conversations with her mother, she decided to take a position within the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. It wasn’t the best job around, but it provided her with a steady salary whilst she figured out what it was she really wanted to, and having grown up surrounded by muggles there were few who were quite as suited to working with muggle items as she was. It was only supposed to be for a year or two, but that quickly turned into eight long years. Charity finally quit in 1991, and decided to spend the next two years in the muggle world, working various small jobs and settling in East London. It was by chance that she had seen the position advertised in the Daily Prophet when visiting her parents. Teaching had never been something she had ever really considered, but something within her told her it was the right path to forge ahead on. Recalling the inaccurate Muggle Studies lessons of her teenage years, she proceeded to overhaul the curriculum, with a particular focus on muggle achievements and areas that had no direct equivalent in the magical world. She loved her work, knowing that this was where she belonged. Her classes only grew more outspoken as the war crept up on them, determined to dismantle the prejudices held by many of the students. If she couldn’t save the current generation she was a part of, she would do what was within her means to insure that future generations would be different.

OOC EXPLORATION:

WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? I decided to apply after it was recommended by a friend (hi, nic!). It’s such a unique concept, something that is a rarity in the hprpc. It’s been a long time since a plot has made me this intrigued, and I’m curious to see just how the returned will adjust to be among the living once more. Charity is a character I’ve been interested in for a while, and I’ve finally decided to bite the bullet and give writing her a go.

ANYTHING ELSE? I am absolutely obsessed with pinterest, so here’s a lil board for Charity

[sweet-savvy-slytherins]

Hi, everyone!

Developing characters is something I really enjoy, so I had a lot of fun putting together a twin set of MCs! This is the first of the two, Evangeline! I’d love if people would give her a read, and let me know what you think of her!

For clarification, I used the Classified Text Generator in a few spots. That way, I didn’t have to leave any information out, and those who had reached that part of the game would recognize what I was talking about regardless, but those who hadn’t wouldn’t be spoiled.

Name: 

Hypatia Nadine Linwood, originally

Evangeline Nadine Desrosiers, currently

Usually goes by Vany

Initials spell “END,” which she finds hilariously ominous

Gender: Cisgender female

Age: 16 years old

Birth Date: October 20th

Species: Human (despite her mother’s insistence that they’re part Veela)

Blood Status: Pureblood

Sexuality: Openly homoromantic and homosexual

Alignment: Chaotic good

Ethnicity: Afro-European

Residence: A condo in Bristol

Myer Briggs Personality Type: ESTP-A, the Entrepreneur

1st Wand: When she was eleven, Evangeline was matched with a dogwood wand that was nine inches in length, with a dragon heartstring core.

2nd Wand: In her fifth year, after she unwisely challenged Madam Rakepick and had her wand broken as a result, Evangeline found herself paired with a spruce wood wand, this one nine and two thirds inches in length with a phoenix tail feather core. While she resents Rakepick for breaking her first, Evangeline does admit to feeling like her second wand suited her better.

Animagus: Evangeline never becomes an animagus.

Miscellaneous Magical Abilities: Unlike Jacob and Enola, Evangeline is not a born legilimens. However, just like her mother, she is a Seer. (Because that is just like her mother, isn’t it? To pass on the world’s shittiest super power?) Most of the time, this ability manifests in the form of a vague sense or a murky dream. To this day, she’s only had one proper vision, and it was when she was very small.

Boggart Form: Her mother showering her with praise, and saying she was proud of the witch she’d grown to be. This tends to confuse her peers, since it seems so positive—but Evangeline knows her mother. The narcissist that she is, Mireille would never have praised her like that unless she molded Evangeline into her double. That is Evangeline’s worst fear: becoming her mother.

Riddikulus Form: Mireille more or less being turned into a cymbal-banging monkey, with a kazoo in her mouth, cymbals in her hands, and a silly hat.

Amortentia: When Evangeline smells amortentia, the scent is a combination of broom handle polish, leather, and buttered toast. If someone’s amortentia were to smell like her, it would smell like cherry lip gloss, orange pekoe tea, and, again, broom handle polish.

Patronus: A crow. Although they’re best known for supposedly being an omen of death, they’re also believed to symbolize destiny, flexibility, and mischievousness.

Patronus Memory: About a month before Evangeline turned nine, there was a night where her entire family—Aunt Felicienne, Jacob, Enola, and Casper—all let her paint their nails. They all talked and laughed the entire night, drinking cocoa and admiring their nails, and it was the first time they felt like a proper family.

Mirror of Erised: Her family not only together again, but being treated with the respect they deserve. Her brother’s bad reputation erased, the whispers about her aunt for being a squib silenced, and the ghost of their parents’ actions exorcised.

Specialized/Favorite Spells: Evangeline has an affinity for fun spells, like Colovaria and Orchideous. They may not be the most practical, but is that such a crime? Not every spell can serve a greater purpose.

Physique: 

Athletic build, due to her involvement in Quidditch

Strong limbs and a toned figure

5′8 in heigh

Eye Color: 

Dark grey in color

Always decorated with pristine eyeliner and a light brush of mascara

Hair Color: 

Deep brown

Occasionally experiment with different hair colors using Colovaria

Naturally curly, but is often straightened

Hip length (when straightened)

Skin Tone:

Light brown

Warm undertones

Body Modifications: 

One piercing in each ear

Scarring: 

Extensive burn scars on both forearms — gained at 7 years old

Thin scar directly across the bridge of her nose — gained at 25 years old

Inventory: 

Her favorite cherry lip gloss

A bag of butterscotch candies

A hair clip or two

Her treasured leather journal.

Fashion: Though Evangeline consciously tries not to be vain, knowing it was one of her mother’s vices, she does take pride in her appearance, and enjoys looking good. When not outfitted in her school robes, she usually tries to aim for a classy, feminine sort of style. More often than not her outfits consist of trendy sweaters or turtlenecks (never t-shirts), tea length skirts, and oxford pumps. As for accessories, Evangeline is quite fond of dainty earrings and delicate silver rings, as well as pretty hair clips. The one exception to her style tastes is Erika’s sweaters: they’re over-sized, a little more traditionally masculine, and more worn out than Evangeline likes to let her clothes get. Still, she absolutely covets them.

Hogwarts House: Slytherin, house of the cunning and ambitious. It’s garnered such a reputation for being the “mean house” that people always seem to be surprised to learn that Evangeline was placed there. But, as she’s always quick to remind them, “mean” is not a requisite for being in Slytherin. It’s just an unfortunate trend.

Ilvermorny House: Thunderbird, house of the soul, home to the adventurer.

Affiliations/Organizations: Obviously, as first a student and then an alum, Evangeline is affiliated with Hogwarts. She also joins ███ ██████ ██ ██████ out of support for Enola, and, later on, is a member of the Order of the Phoenix.

Professions: After working as a spy for the Order during the second wizarding war, Evangeline builds a career as a grief counselor for magical children.

Class Proficiencies:

Astronomy: A

Charms: E

DADA: O

Flying: O

Herbology: P

History of Magic: A

Potions: A

Transfiguration: E

Electives: 

Divination

Muggle Studies

Both are total goof off classes, considering she’s a Seer who was raised in a muggle community

Quidditch: 

Seeker on the Slytherin team from third year onward

Played one season as a beater in her fourth year

Extra Curricular: 

Art Club

Frog Choir

Favorite Professors: 

Professor Hooch — fellow Quidditch lover

Professor Trelawney — endearingly kooky

Least Favorite Professors: 

Professor Snape — killjoy

Professor Sinistra — uptight

Brother: The eldest of the Desrosiers children is Theron, who renamed himself Jacob after his parents’ death. Of his three younger siblings, he’s arguably closest to Evangeline, since she shares his charisma and occasional haughtiness. Evangeline understood, better than any of the others, how badly he wanted to restore both the Kastellanos and Desrosiers family names to their former glory. No, actually, not their former glory—a new glory, built on talent and respect, rather than on the subjugation of those considered “beneath” them. 

Other Siblings: Older than Evangeline by six minutes, Enola is the second oldest Desrosiers sibling, and easily the one Evangeline is closest to. People can dismiss the notion of twin ESP all they want, but Evangeline believes it. Different as they may be, her and Enola have always been finely attuned to each other. They can read each other easily, and always know exactly what the other needs. There isn’t a chance they could ever be as close with someone else as they are with each other. 

Evangeline also has a younger brother. Helios Kastellanos, renamed Casper by their Aunt Felicienne, is five years younger than the twins, and truth be told, Evangeline’s never had too strong of a relationship with him. It’s not like they argue, or they hate each other. They’ve just...never connected. He’s always clung to Enola, so Evangeline figures that it’s a trade off she had to make. She gets to be close with Jacob, at the cost of being close with Casper. Enola gets to be close with Casper, at the cost of being close with Jacob. It evens out.

Father: Truth be told, Evangeline remembers very little of her father, Proteus. Beyond not spending a lot of time at home, Proteus was more concerned with his male heirs than either of his daughters. Everything Evangeline knows about him, she’s learned secondhand, and even then, it’s very little. Felicienne and Jacob always waved off her questions, telling her she didn’t want to know about him, Enola remembered as little as she did, and Casper was only three when he died. Evangeline knows that he was a Death Eater, and that’s more or less it.

Mother: Now, her mother, Mireille, on the other hand...Evangeline remembers her quite vividly. Mireille was a woman who prided herself on beauty more than anything, and wanted to raise her daughters to be just the same—as long as they were never more beautiful than she was. Though she came from a family of blood purists, Mireille was the first Desrosiers to become a Death Eater, and Evangeline suspects that she got in over her head. It’s her theory that the stress drove Mireille crazy, and that was why she was so prone to paranoia and explosive bursts of anger. One of Evangeline’s most vivid memories of Mireille attempting to throw a pot of boiling water in her face when she was seven years old; Evangeline threw up her arms to defend herself, and she still bears the scars from the attack all these years later.

Love Interest: Evangeline has a big, fat, gay crush on Erika Rath, and she’s not ashamed to admit it. She’d already been attracted to her on an entirely physical level, and then Evangeline had to seek out her tutelage when the Slytherin team was short a Beater. Discovering the awkward, uncertain girl that existed beneath the gruff exterior completely sealed the deal. They bonded over their love for Quidditch, continuing to train together even when Evangeline switched back to playing Seeker, and with time, came to find that they really enjoyed each other’s company. Evangeline could make Erika laugh like no one else, and Erika felt like one of the only people Evangeline could be entirely herself with, even if that meant exposing the ugly pieces of herself as well as the polished ones. Finally, Evangeline asked Erika to the Celestial Ball, and the rest was history. It’s rather funny to see them side by side, with Erika, perpetually dressed in her jersey and scowling, towering over Evangeline, with her pressed skirts and sunny smiles.

Best Friends: One of Evangeline’s dearest friends at Hogwarts is local contraband dealer, Jae Kim. Truth be told, he was initially quite intimidated by her. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but despite Evangeline’s bubbly disposition, something about her always struck him as distinctly...eldritch. Like she was something unusual, and not entirely human. Maybe it was just the way she could flip her emotions on a dime, entirely of her own volition. Watching her be seething mad and then slap on a bright, sunny grin as she turned away, easy as flipping a switch, was unnerving. Regardless, the two bonded throughout their time spent in detention, and Enola is quite proud to boast that she’s one of the few people that can almost wrangle Jae into following the rules.

She’s also quite close with Penny Haywood and Diego Caplan, two Hufflepuffs who share Evangeline’s popularity and social skill. Evangeline likes to joke that she’s “Penny, but with edge.” Penny gets a kick out of it. Diego, on the other hand, did initially have slightly selfish reasons for befriending Evangeline—namely, his hope that she could help him get closer to Enola, who he had a crush on—but ended up genuinely bonding with her somewhere along the way. She’s his favorite dueling and dancing partner, and they trust each other more than anyone seems to realize.

Rivals: Some people might not understand how two people on the same team can be rivals, but Evangeline and Skye Parkin make it work. It’s not a mean rivalry by any means, but it’s an intense one, with both of them aiming to be the star player on the Slytherin Quidditch team. Evangeline also considers herself rivals with Emily Tyler, who reminds her uncomfortably of her mother, and Merula, who competes with her in, well, everything.

Enemies: Logically, Evangeline knows that there’s really nothing wrong with Talbott Winger. He’s an entirely decent guy, who minds his own business and keeps his head down. She has no reason to dislike him the way she does. But she just can’t help it. Maybe it’s his aloofness that rubs her the wrong way—Evangeline’s always liked to be liked, not to mention the nosy streak she possesses and she finds people that reserved and guarded frustrating. Maybe it’s the fact that she thinks he has eyes for her sister, when Enola could definitely do better. (Of course, this is only Evangeline’s perception. If she really wanted to know who had eyes for Enola, she’d have better luck looking at her best friend, Jae.) Either way, Evangeline isn’t a fan.

Dormmates: Evangeline shares a dorm with Rowan Khanna, Liz Tuttle, Skye Parkin, and her twin sister, Enola.

Pets: On the record, Evangeline has only one pet, and it’s a very old, exceptionally grumpy, melanistic Sphynx cat named Toodles. Despite being more or less a crotchety old man in cat form, Toodles is absolutely the light of Evangeline’s life, and she dotes on him like he is her actual child. The amount of money she’s dropped on Toodles is honestly kind of staggering, but Enola insists that it’s entirely necessary. Sphynx cats require a lot of careful care, and if Evangeline has her way, Toodles is only going to get the best of the best.

However, off the record, Evangeline has also grown unusually close to one Thestral in particular. She’s been sneaking into the Forbidden Forest to study them since she was in her 2nd year, and during one such excursion, she witnessed a Thestral foal being birthed. Since it provided a prime opportunity to study the life cycle of a Thestral, Evangeline focused most of her observations on that foal, which she named Melinoe, after the Greek goddess of ghosts and spirits. It took some time to build trust, but eventually, Melinoe and Evangeline were thick as thieves, and Melinoe greeted her like an excited puppy whenever she came to visit the forest. Leaving Melinoe behind is perhaps what Evangeline’s dreading most about her graduation from Hogwarts.

Closest Canon Friends: Jae Kim, Penny Haywood, Diego Caplan, Nymphadora Tonks, and Tulip Karasu.

Closest MC Friends: Outside of Enola, none yet, but looking!

Pre-Hogwarts: Hypatia was born the third child of Proteus and Mireille Kastellanos. She spent the first eight years of her life in Greece, living on her father’s family estate, roaming the grounds with her siblings, enjoying the abundance of wealth at her fingertips. It should’ve been a charmed life...but it wasn’t. See, Proteus and Mireille were both Death Eaters, and neither were much suited for parenthood. It was a household strife with unease and contempt, and if the ruthless mental (and occasionally physical) abuse Hypatia experienced wasn’t enough, her childhood was also plagued by terrible visions. In this visions, an explosion burst in her family parlor, leaving both her parents dead on the floor.

Then, when she was eight years old, the premonition came true. Aurors raided the manor, and in the ensuing fight, both Proteus and Mireille were killed, with their two young daughters bearing witness. The children were whisked away from the home, and eventually sent to live with their maternal aunt, Felicienne Desrosiers. A squib who had fled her Pureblood-supremist family to live in England, Felicienne was hardly equipped to take on four young, magical, traumatized children, but still, she stepped up to the plate, determined not to fail them the way that their parents had.

The first thing she did? She sat them down, and helped them choose out new names. While her family name wasn’t exactly sparkly clean, it carried less of a stigma than their father’s. And thus, Hypatia Kastellanos died with her parents, and Evangeline Desrosiers was born.

From that point on, Evangeline grew up to be a rather well-adjusted girl. Or, as well-adjusted as a girl with her experiences could be. The only real point of concern was the fixation she began to develop with death; she played funeral director far more often than she ever played princess, and was prone to checking out books on embalming methods from the local library. However, she wasn’t hurting anyone or thing and showed no desire to, so Felicenne decided it wasn’t anything to worry too much about. It was simply Evangeline’s way of coping. Throughout the years, Evangeline found happiness with her new family, and despite Jacob’s disappearance, despite Felicenne’s failing health, Evangeline is determined to protect that happiness.

2nd Wizarding War: As the war starts picking up steam, Evangeline establishes her allegiance to The Order of the Phoenix, and starts working as a spy, able to rely on her charisma and family heritage to gain the trust of dark wizards. She’s not accepted into the inner circle, not nearly, but she’s silver-tongued enough to get information from those that are. During this time, she secretly elopes with her long-term girlfriend, Erika Rath. She fights in the battle of Hogwarts, and in doing so, gains a scar directly across the bridge of her nose.

Post-War: Following the war, Evangeline finds that her ambitions have changed. Despite having wanted for years to be a mortician, she finds that the idea now lacks the appeal it did when she was young. Perhaps she’s just seen enough death. Still, she’s determined to put all of her years of research to use. She ends up finding her calling providing grief counseling to children, and, specifically, to magical children. She makes the unconventional choice to train Thestrals as a sort of therapy animal for children who have witnessed death. Her and Erika, now going public with their marriage, also adopt a set of siblings—an eight year old named Winifred, and a six year old named Josephine, the daughters of a friend of Erika’s who was, unfortunately, killed in the war. It’s difficult, considering both girls are old enough to remember and miss their parents, but Evangeline’s grief training comes in handy in helping them cope with the loss. It may take time, but eventually, they do truly feel like a family.

There's a lot more to Evangeline than there appears to be at a glance. Upon first meeting, she seems...well, vivacious. She loves to laugh and lights up a room with her smile alone, and is playful and a little mischievous by nature. She's also quite the hopeless romantic, and ultimately wants to end up happy with someone she loves. Some may say that this makes her pathetic, but she doesn't view it that way at all. What's so wrong with wanting to be happy?

Though Evangeline may not hand out her trust too quickly or freely, she is always willing to provide a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on. Her loyalty to those who find a place in her heart is admirable, especially when it comes to her family, and she would willingly fight to the death to protect those she loves. She always finds some way to show her affection, whether it's through a warm hug when one is needed or a good laugh provided when sadness seems to be taking over. She’s charismatic and enigmatic and attractive, and most everyone she meets consider her to be a delightful young woman. 

And then her smile sharpens just slightly, glinting like light on the blade of a dagger, and all of a sudden, it’s abundantly clear why she was sorted into the house of the cunning.

Now, the image Evangeline puts forth isn’t a lie. She is genuinely friendly and outgoing, and the majority of the time, everything she says and does is sincere. However, certain traits are exaggerated because she wants to present a specific image of herself—or rather, she wants certain parts of her to go unnoticed, so she emphasizes the ones she wants people to see and lets the other ones slip out of the edges of their perception. 

Beneath the girlish laughter and perfect grins is a master manipulator, always poised for battle, whether they be fought with words or fists. The sweetness, the flattery, the pretty little smiles, they coax information out conversations faster than threats ever did. A true Slytherin at her core, Evangeline has long since learned how to use her beauty and natural charisma to get what she needs out of people and accomplish her goals, which are, fortunately, mostly altruistic. Who knows what sort chaos she could wrought, if she put her mind to it?

Total theater kid. She attended muggle primary schools prior to Hogwarts, and you can bet your bippy she jumped on every opportunity to get on stage that she was offered. Notable roles include Belle in Beauty and the Beast, the Wicked Witch of the West (ironically enough) in The Wizard of Oz, Wendy in Peter Pan, and Queen Zixi in Queen Zixi of Ix.

It’s no secret that Evangeline’s one premonition was of the raid that her parents died in. Her siblings all know, and none of them blame her. She was just a child; she didn’t understand what she was seeing. The secret is that, even if she had understood, Evangeline doesn’t think she would’ve warned anyone.

[strvngemagics]

{ cisgender woman, she/her } ❝ I'm a juvenile product of the working class / whose best friend floats in the bottom of a glass ❞ huh, who’s FIVEL STEWART? no, you’re mistaken, that’s actually MOLLY WEASLEY II. she is a 24 year old HALFBLOOD witch who is a CHASER FOR PUDDLEMERE UNITED. she is known for being FLIGHTY, IMPULSIVE, DISORGANIZED, FORGETFUL, and REBELLIOUS but also TRUSTING, DEDICATED, VIBRANT, ADAPTABLE, and INDEPENDENT, so that must be why she always reminds me of the song GLAZIN’ - JACUZZI BOYS and ROLLER SKATING DOWN A STEEP INCLINE, FOREHEAD KISSES, AN OUT-OF-TUNE ACOUSTIC GUITAR, AN UNMADE BED WITH LOTS OF PILLOWS, CHERRY LIMEADE SLUSHIES, PUTTING ON YOUR FAVORITE SWEATSHIRT. i hear she is aligned with THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX so be sure to keep an eye on her. 

BIO

Molly Adelaide Weasley was born into a (relatively) peaceful world but adopted into an ever-growing and infinitely chaotic family - and her father, having had a near-catastrophic falling out with this family in favor of furthering his career, made it CLEAR to her that her status as a Weasley was to be cherished, not derided, never forgone for more ambitious aims. Percy, sometimes rigid, though always loving, threw this lesson in familial love along with his more practical teachings.

Her first real sentence was “Molly do it!”, which was put to excessive use as a toddler. Doing the laundry? “Molly do it!” Her father’s bent over a stack of paperwork with a next-day deadline? Molly’s rushing over to help with a fat, color-changing crayon in hand: “Molly do it!” When Audrey was ill with a stomach bug, Lucy happened upon her sister, barely even three, mashing a ginger root with the handle of Mama’s wand in an attempt to make ginger biscuits. In short, Molly has always been headstrong and maternal. She takes a lot of pride in the traits that she shares with her namesake, her wonderful Gran, but regrettably never learned to knit.

Molly arrived at Hogwarts with a gaggle of cousins who’d already set the tone for who the Weasleys were and how they behaved. She found it difficult to find a life and identity outside of them - and still worries that she’s just another face in the family, unimportant compared to their accomplishments and accolades. Her time in Hufflepuff house passed without any prefect badges, school awards, or major academic achievements — even her five-year stint on the house Quidditch team was marred by the fact that she was always playing against some cousin or close family friend.

Life after Hogwarts has treated Molly well — she’s played professional Quidditch since age 18, something that she still can’t quite believe has happened. She was a reserve Chaser for the Kenmore Kestrels until 2027, when she was offered a contract by Puddlemere United. She took it, because wow that’s a lot of galleons, but Puddlemere’s always had a reputation for producing a lot of (painfully) straight-laced and by-the-book players………..which Molly definitely is not. She’s not allowed to speak at press conferences anymore due to PU’s management dubbing her “a PR nightmare” and “too foul-mouthed for a Dementor to want to Kiss”.

(TW DEATH MENTION) Memories of Uncle Harry pop up nearly every day - his voice, his rough hands positioning her arms and shoulders in a proper dueling stance, the smudges on his glasses, the way he looked at Aunt Ginny like she hung the moon in the sky. She misses him, dearly, but feels selfish and silly for doing so - she wasn’t his kid, and there are so many people who looked to Harry Potter as a symbol for the hope that carried them through wartime. She often worries that she isn’t doing enough - not enough to support her cousins, not enough for the muggleborns she knows and those she does not. There are days in which her inadequacy threatens to swallow her whole, when her hands tremble and breath rattles in her chest - but she’s able to bite it back for the moment. There’s bigger things ahead. (END TW).

PERSONALITY

okay so i always describe molly as a “disaster lesbian” or “chaotic dumbass” and i mean that with a lot of affection. she’s just very much motivated by pleasure and by fun, and much less motivated by duty or responsibility. she wants to stand out in both good and bad ways and more often achieves that in bad ways. she is also, like i mentioned, very headstrong. i consider her one of my funniest characters and that’s mostly unintentional because she just. says whatever pops into her head. i regularly giggle at what i make molly say. i am not ashamed of this.

uhhhh. what else? she’s a big old jock, one of those heinous people who for the most part actually enjoys exercising! will definitely ask you to join her on a sunrise run because she’s Ridiculous

loves her family so so so much, even though there’s at least 3 group chats where she’s currently trashing a cousin or two. is very down to take part in harmless pranks and shenanigans. someone outside the family tries to trash the cousins tho?!?!?! lmao kill bill sirens immediately go off. she and lucy probably call themselves twins bc they’re not blood-related but they are almost always on the same wavelength and in my eyes (jane u can confirm this for me) just get each other on a very fundamental level.

huge fuckin’ aries energy. you can find some personality assessments below:

zodiac.  

aries (sun)

“aries is an active, energetic sign. people with sun in aries are direct, straightforward, and uncomplicated. they expect the same from others, and are baffled when they don’t always get it.”

gemini (moon)

“nervousness and worry are common traits with this lunar position. An underlying restlessness is common, and many lunar geminis need more stimulation than others. they usually read a lot, talk a lot, and think a lot.”

mbti.  esfj (the consul)

+ strong practical skills, strong sense of duty, sensitive and warm, connects well with others

- inflexible, vulnerable to criticism, reluctant to improvise, needy, worries about social status

STATS

GENERAL

name. molly adelaide weasley

nickname. molls

birthdate. 4 april 2005 (she’s supposed to be 24? idk math)

place of birth. st. mungo’s

family.  percy weasley (father), audrey weasley (mother), lucy weasley (sister), extended family in the form of various weasley-potter aunts, uncles and cousins.

residence. (tbd), but roommates: rose granger-weasley, natalia bardon, lucy weasley

occupation. chaser for puddlemere united

gender identity. cis woman

romantic orientation. homoromantic

sexuality. lesbian

blood status. half-blood

relationship status. single

pets. a bright pink pygmy puff named romeo

MAGICAL

hogwarts house. hufflepuff

extracurriculars/leadership. hogwarts orchestra (clarinet), dueling club, charms club (president)

allegiance. order of the pheonix

n.e.w.t. grades. charms (o), transfiguration (a), herbology (e), d.a.d.a (a), potions (e), care of magical creatures (e), astronomy (e), history of magic (o), muggle studies (o).

wand. alder, ten inches, dragon heartstring core.

boggart. inferi

patronus. corporeal, brown bear

amortentia. vanilla bath fizz, lemon peels, sandalwood, mint

magical strengths. charms, nonverbal casting, transfiguration, flying

magical weaknesses. defensive magic, hexes and curses, potions.

[uthseikoashx-inflamedme]

Why are the Weasleys poor? (eng&fr) (theories about pure-blood families, inheritance, etc)

(really sorry for the mistakes, I’m not a native speaker!)

There are two answers, but the first one’s in English, and the second one’s in French (initially, I wrote it in French in the comments of a video). The text is sometimes a bit different but it’s the same idea.

disclaimer: it’s theories, not the truth, I’m obviously not an expert (at all) about things like inheritance, how aristocracy worked during the last centuries) and things like that, I also probably do not have the same eye on it as a French person, and I probably forgot many things, and I’m quite unclear at several occasions, but good luck! (and also, I hope I’m not indelicate or something like that)

                    - e n g l i s h -

Of course, the main reason is: M. Weasley is the only one who works in the family and Molly and him have 7 children (I do not consider that Bill, Charlie, Percy or the twins as “people who work” in the family, even if they probably give a part of their salary to help). But the Weasleys are also pure-blood: and most of the pure-blood families we know are rich, for different reasons – they are at least never poor.

So the real question I will try to answer here is: why, despite the inheritance the Weasleys should have (because they are pure-blood), are they poor?

(Before we continue: I’m aware that the Weasley family is the only poor family in the HP universe (Remus Lupin is the other poor character, but it’s not in the same context). Here, their true wealth is their love, the way they support each other, their braveness and ethics actions and convictions – and all of this is built in opposite of the Malfoy family (even if the fact they care for the others is the most important thing in the Malfoy family, but it’s not the subject here). However, it’s a “narrative” explanation (?) – I mean by that that JKR chose to have a poor Weasley family to carry a message. Here, I wonder why, in the world of HP, in the lore, the Weasleys are poor (so what are the logical and canon-compliant reasons to their poverty).)

(abbreviations: W = (the) Weasleys pbf = pure-blood families)

1. A bit of context: the other pure-blood families

Most of the pbf we meet in the saga have a huge capital inherited from their ancestors (the Malfoys, the Blacks or the Longbottoms for example). The other pbf (Bones, Abbot, Parkinson, etc.) doesn’t seem to be poor. Besides, we know that the Weasleys are related to the Blacks and the Malfoys, due to Molly's Prewett origins AND Arthur’s origins (if I remember correctly?).

We can think that the wealth is kept by the pbf, because they are all related. So how could Molly and Arthur have no money, no inheritance? It's can be quite surprising. It seems to me that there is no clear answer to that in the books, but there are clues and all. It's theories, it's up to you to say what you think!

(To be honest, there are exceptions to the rule “pbf = aristocracy = they have the money”: the Gaunts and the Potters. However, the Gaunts are quite particular – they ostracised themselves, so they do not belong anymore to the society and abandon their status of noble family. On the other hand, the Potters seems to belong to the bourgeoisie and not the nobility, because they are rich since only a few decades at the beginning of HP1 thanks an invention of an Harry’s ancestor. Like the bourgoisie and the bosses during the 19th century, they became rich with industry – they are not noble. (Besides, the Potters are not in the 28 sacred and some of them (Henry Potter, who lived at the beginning of the 20th century) seemed to be against the power of the pbf, if I remember correctly what I read on Pottermore (he was at least against the power and the Ministry sometimes).) My point is: perhaps the pbf are not all that rich, perhaps I’m biased by what we see in HP series with Malfoy and Sirius… Consequently, all the analysis is maybe a bit crappy and useless. But let’s consider the other pbf are rich and noble and the poverty of the W have to be explain.)

2.     Arthur's side

·         Muriel is alive

First, we know that Aunt Muriel has a large house, she owns objects of great value (the diadem of Fleur's wedding), and she is quite old (107 years old). So perhaps she has a lot of money and she owns all of the capital of the W family. Because she’s still alive, the other members of the family – Arthur for example – have no inheritance, she is keeping all of the money. That insufferable old bat is capable of that, fight me.

·         Arthur is disinherited?

It could also be because of a will. Arthur is definitely a non-conformist person: with his passion for Muggles and his unconditional love and tolerance, he could have been able to attract the wrath of few members of his family and to be disinherited. It is however quite unlikely in my opinion, because we know that the W family, at the difference of many pbf, did not in any case wanted to be counted among the "28 sacred families" (those listed by an ancestor of Nott as being the real pbf). In the W family, progressivism does not seem to be Arthur's exclusivity, because (from memory) the book on the 28 families appeared many decades before Arthur's birth, so Arthur’s ancestors were already non-conformist.

3.     Molly's side

·         sexist inheritance rights?

Similarly, why did Molly not inherit money? Again, there are several possibilities: perhaps the inheritance among the pbf is reserved for male descendants, as among the Blacks with Sirius. Bellatrix's chest is Lestrange’s, not Black’s. Maybe there is a tradition of this kind in a conservative part of the 28 pbf: after marrying Arthur, Molly quitted the Prewett family and consequently, abandon her inheritance rights.

·         Molly is (really) disinherited?

Sirius' uncle Alphard did make sure that his nephew had money though, so why would no one give anything to Molly? Perhaps, again, the fact that she is marrying a "blood traitor": she is anti-conformist, etc. However, we know that Molly’s brothers Gideon and Fabian fought in the first Order of the Phoenix, so were really the Prewetts such conservative? It is also possible that the Prewett family is tore apart: most of its members could have joined other families and dispersing the inheritance, so Molly didn’t received a lot of money.

4.     Other reasons

·         more powerful families than others (or… “siphon-families”)?

There is also the assumption that because of alliances and inheritance issues, the money ends up going to the same families. We can see in OotP that the Black family is extremely large: and that it integrated several other families within hers (Crabbe, Rosier, Bulstrode… ). So perhaps some families have arranged, or ended up by chance, to see a large part of the capital of the more pureblood families converge towards them (I hope I’m clear?). However, maybe we think that the Black family is central in the pbf because we only know the genealogy of the Black family (so we are biased, etc).

·         the aristocracy close to power?

In addition, certain pbf could have retained advantages by remaining close of the power or by seeking to obtain prestigious positions (director of Hogwarts (P. Black) or high-official (R. Scrimgeour, L. Malfoy, etc), which the W. family didn’t try (here, it is less a question of W’s poverty than a more or less unjustified wealth of other pbf).

·         they had money, but they spent it before HP1?

It is also possible that Molly and Arthur inherited something, but that they used it for various things: to acquire the land of the Burrow as well as to finance the construction of their house - what the Malfoys or the Blacks didn't need to do, for example. Or I can imagine them, when the Order of the Phoenix was first formed, to give funds. Nevertheless were neither Molly nor Arthur member of the first Order (Remus Lupin said it after the Molly’s Boggart scene of OotP), but Fabian and Gideon were.

·         bad luck

Finally, as with aristocrats, one can imagine that some families have simply lost a lot of money over the centuries, for reasons of laws, circumstances, etc. Well, that theory is not quite interesting, so that’s why I put it at the end, but it’s possible, so…

     Conclusion:

Honestly, I’m not quite sure that the pbf should be considered as aristocracy, even several members of pbf acts like we should. After all, Hannah Abbot, Ernie McMillan of Neville Longbottom don’t act like they are nobles. But there is discrimination in the wizarding world due to the witches’ and wizards’ blood-status (this is a fact); pbf have much more power than other families (that’s another fact); and people with power are generally also the one with wealth (at least in the Muggle world, and probably also in the Magic world, because it’s clearly not the people with special magic abilities who run the Ministry in HP)(that’s a third fact). So the pbf represent maybe a conservative aristocracy after all. Maybe.

(Frankly, I don’t know how to conclude. But all of this were theories, maybe we are going to learn more things with FB, etc. Anyway, thanks for reading!)

                    - f r a n ç a i s -

(bonjour les francophones)

Évidemment, la principale raison est que M. Weasley est le seul de la famille qui a un emploi, et Molly et lui ont 7 enfants (je ne compte pas Bill, Charlie, Percy et les jumeaux comme des membres de la famille qui travaillent, même s’ils le font (tout du moins le long d’une partie des bouquins) et qu’ils donnent probablement une part de leur salaire pour aider le reste de la famille).

Mais ce qui est étonnant dans la pauvreté de la famille Weasley, c'est qu'ils sont une famille de sang-pur – et les sang-purs qu’on rencontre ne sont jamais pauvres.

Avant de continuer: je suis consciente que la famille Weasley est la seule famille pauvre de l’univers d’HP (et Lupin, le seul autre personnage pauvre, l’est pour des raisons et dans un contexte différents). Leur vraie richesse, c’est l’amour et le soutien qu’ils s’apportent mutuellement, leur courage, leurs actions morales et leurs convictions – à l’inverse de la famille Malefoy (même si les liens familiaux restent la chose la plus importante chez les Malefoy, mais on diverge). Néanmoins, c’est une explication « narrative » : je veux dire par là qu’ils sont pauvre car JKR l’a choisi dans le but de transmettre un certain message. Notre objectif à nous, c’est de savoir les raisons de la pauvreté des Weasleys à partir du lore, de l’univers – et donc selon les règles et le canon – d’HP.

(abréviations : W = (les) Weasley fsp = familles de Sang-Pur)

1.     Un peu de contexte : les autres familles de Sang-Pur

La plupart des familles de Sang-Pur que l'on croise dans la saga possède un sacré capital hérité de leurs ancêtres (les Malefoy, les Black ou les Longdubat par exemple), et les autres familles (Bones, Abbot, Parkinson, etc) ne semblent pas du tout être dans le besoin. D'ailleurs, on sait que les Weasleys sont parents avec les Blacks et les Malefoy, du fait des origines Prewett de Molly (si mes souvenirs sont bons ?).

Donc comment ça se fait qu'ils n'aient pas d'argent, pas d'héritage, qu'ils n'obtiennent pas des sommes à minima non-négligeables alors qu'une grande partie des richesses des sorciers reste confinée au sein de ces familles ? C'est assez étonnant pour que ça interpelle. Il me semble qu'on n'a pas de réponse claire à ça, dans les bouquins, mais il y a des schémas, des pistes et des indices. C'est des théories, à vous de dire ce que vous en pensez!

(Pour être honnête, il existe des exceptions à la règle « fsp = aristocratie = ils ont de l'argent »: les Gaunt et les Potter. Cependant, les Gaunt sont assez particuliers - ils se sont ostracisés, donc ils n'appartiennent plus à la société et ont abandonné leur statut de famille noble. D'un autre côté, les Potter semblent appartenir à la bourgeoisie et non à la noblesse, car ils sont riches depuis seulement quelques décennies au début de HP1 (grâce à une invention d'un ancêtre de Harry). Comme la bourgeoisie et les patrons au XIXe siècle, ils se sont enrichis grâce à une industrie, donc ils ne sont pas nobles. (En outre, les Potter ne font pas partie des 28 familles, et certains membres (Henry Potter, qui a vécu début XXe) semblaient être contre le pouvoir des fps, si je me souviens bien de ce que j'ai lu sur Pottermore (ce qui est sûr, c’est qu’il s’est embrouillé avec le Ministère)). Ce que je veux dire, c’est que peut-être que les fsp ne sont pas toutes si riches, peut-être que je suis biaisé par ce qu’on voit dans la série HP avec Malfoy et Sirius… Par conséquent, toute l'analyse est peut-être pas ouf et inutile. Mais considérons que les autres fsp sont riches et nobles et que, de ce fait, la pauvreté des W doit être expliquée.)

2.     Du côté d’Arthur

·         Muriel ne mange toujours pas les pissenlits par la racine

D'abord, on sait que la tante Muriel a une grande maison, des objets de grande valeur (le diadème du mariage de Fleur), et qu'elle est très vieille. Donc peut-être qu'elle n'a pas encore eu l'occasion, en passant l'arme à gauche, de transmettre ces richesses que détient la famille Weasley au sens large – ou n’a pas voulu le faire. Cette vieille chauve-souris en est capable, j’en suis absolument certaine.

·         Arthur déshérité ?

Aussi, on n'est pas à l'abri d'une question de testament. Arthur est définitivement anticonformiste : avec sa passion pour les moldus et son amour et sa tolérance inconditionnels, il a donc pu s'attirer les foudres de certains membres de sa famille et se faire déshériter. C'est quand même peu probable, car on sait que la famille Weasley, à la différence de beaucoup de familles, ne voulaient en aucun cas être comptée parmi les "28 familles", celles recensées à par un ancêtre de Nott comme étant les vraies familles de Sang-Pur. Chez la famille Weasley, le progressisme semble ne pas être l'exclusivité d'Arthur, car de mémoire, le bouquin sur les 28 familles est paru bien des décennies avant la naissance d'Arthur.

3.     Du côté de Molly

·         des droits de successions sexistes ?

De la même manière, pourquoi Molly n'a-t-elle pas hérité d'argent ? Plusieurs solutions là encore : peut-être que l’héritage, chez les Sang-Pur, est réservé aux descendants mâles, comme chez les Blacks avec Sirius. Le coffre de Bellatrix c'est celui des Lestrange, pas des Black, donc celui de son mari. On n’est pas à l'abri qu'il y ait une tradition du genre chez une certaine partie, conservatrice, des 28 familles, qui aurait donc fait que Molly, en se mariant à Arthur, quitte les Prewett et renonce à des droits de succession.

·         personne ne lui aurait légué quelque chose ?

L’oncle de Sirius, Alphard, a pourtant bien fait en sorte que son neveu ait de l'argent - donc pourquoi personne n'aurait légué quoique ce soit à Molly ? Peut-être, encore une fois, du fait qu'elle se marie avec un "traître à son sang" (et qu’elle soit donc anticonformiste, etc). Après, on sait que Gideon et Fabian, les frères de Molly, étaient engagés aux côtés de l’Ordre du Phénix – est-ce que les Prewett peuvent vraiment être une famille conservative, contre les anticonformistes (entendons nous, « anticonformistes » veut dire ici tolérants, humains, etc) et autres joyeusetés ? C’est aussi possible que la famille Prewell était alors déjà éclatée, dans le sens où la plupart de ses membres ont rejoint d'autres familles en dispersant l'héritage – donc Molly est susceptible de ne pas avoir reçu beaucoup d’argent en héritage à cause de ça.

4.     Autres raisons

·         des familles plus puissantes que d’autres (ou les... familles-siphons ?) ?

Il y a aussi l'hypothèse que du fait des alliances et des questions d'héritage, l'argent finisse par se diriger vers les mêmes familles : on voit bien dans OotP que la famille Black est extrêmement étendue, et qu'elle a intégré plusieurs autres familles au sein de la sienne (Crabbe, Rosier, Bulstrode…). Donc peut-être que certaines familles se sont arrangées, ou ont fini un peu par hasard, à voir converger vers elles une vaste partie des capitaux des familles de Sang-Pur plus mineures (j’espère que c’est clair ?). Après, on est peut-être biaisés par le fait qu’on ne connaisse que la généalogie des Blacks, du point de vue des Blacks, et par conséquent, on a l’impression que la famille Black est plus importante que les autres (un peu une famille clef, nœud).

·         l’aristocratie proche du pouvoir ?

De plus, certaines familles ont conservé des avantages en se mettant dans la poche le Ministère ou en restant proches du pouvoir, en cherchant à obtenir des postes prestigieux (directeur de Poudlard ou haut-fonctionnaire), ce que n'a pas fait la famille Weasley (ici, c'est moins une question de pauvreté des Weasleys que de richesse plus ou moins injustifiée chez les autres).

·         ils ont eu de l’argent, mais ils l’ont dépensé avant HP1 ?

C'est aussi possible que Molly et Arthur aient hérité de quelque chose, mais qu'ils s'en soient servi pour diverses choses : faire l'acquisition du terrain du Terrier ainsi que pour financer les travaux de leur maison - ce que les Malefoy ou les Black n'ont pas eu besoin de faire, par exemple. Ou je les imagine bien, lorsque l'Ordre s'est formé la première fois, donner des fonds. Ni Molly ni Arthur n’en étaient alors membres (on le sait car Remus Lupin le dit après la scène de l’Épouvantard de Molly pendant OotP), mais c'était bien le cas de Gideon et Fabian.

·         la faute à pas de chance

Enfin, comme chez les aristocrates, on peut imaginer que certaines familles aient simplement perdu beaucoup d'argent au fil des siècles, pour des raisons de lois, de circonstances, etc. On ne va pas se mentir, c’est pas très intéressant comme théorie, mais c’est techniquement possible, donc bon, voilà.

    Conclusion :

Honnêtement, je ne suis pas sûr que les fsp doivent être considérées comme l'aristocratie magique, même si plusieurs membres de ces mêmes familles agissent comme si nous le devrions (après tout, Hannah Abbot, Ernie McMillan et Neville Longdubat n'agissent pas comme des nobles). Mais il y a une discrimination dans le monde sorcier en raison du statut de sang des sorcières et des sorciers (c'est un fait); les fsp ont beaucoup plus de pouvoir que les autres familles (c'est un autre fait); et les gens avec pouvoir sont généralement aussi ceux qui ont de la richesse (au moins dans le monde moldu, et probablement aussi dans le monde magique, car ce ne sont clairement pas les gens particulièrement doués en magie qui dirigent le ministère dans HP) (c'est un troisième fait). Donc bon, peut-être que les sang-purs sont représentatifs d’une élite noble et conservative quand même, en définitive.

(Franchement, je ne sais pas comment conclure. Mais tout ça c’est des théories, nous allons sûrement apprendre plus de choses avec FB, etc. Bref, merci d'avoir lu !)

[vivithefolle]

Have you read endrina's "The Secret Language of Plants" series on AO3? It is so good and so long and it does some really amazing stuff with Ron. With all characters really, except for the Death Eaters and Voldemort (and a little bit of Dumbledore) this author creates the best versions of these characters that JKR *wishes* she had been well rounded and clever and emotionally honest enough to write. "The Meaning of Mistletoe" is the first one. Its a full canon rewrite. All 7 books are covered!

I am very torn.

On the one hand it contains Drarry and Snupin and Geormione and I hate those.

On the other hand... the Ron-appreciation is fan-freaking-tastic.

Find it here.

Ah of course it’s somewhat a “Severus Snape mentors Harry Potter”, so we get those:

Severus had a tell. His face would be impassive, his voice perfectly even and smooth and devoid of all inflection. But if he found something funny, his left hand would twitch and he would close his fist instead of laughing. Harry was probably the only person who knew (maybe Remus did, he didn’t know). Twice, Severus had found one of Ron’s comments funny.

I gotta admit I have a soft spot for the Ron&Snape BROTP, AVPM has a way of making you appreciate it

“He has a… a permanent poker face” whispered Hermione as Severus waved Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, in the direction of the lake.

“You just have to learn how to read him” explained Harry while petting Buckbeak’ head to keep him quiet. “I know for a fact that he finds Ron very funny.”

“Funny?” Ron was having a day full of affronts. “He has given me more detentions than McGonagall ever has.”

(Not true. It was a tie).

How the Yule Ball ought to have gone - minus the gross Drarry shit:

Harry’s robes had belonged to three different witches of various tastes and body types before being purchased by Mrs. Weasley and adapted to be Ron’s formal outfit.

The next step had been very simple. Ron still cared about what other people thought. Harry did not. He really, really, did not. They traded. Ron resisted at first, because it was the polite thing to do, but once Harry got ahold of the dress and started to jump on the bed saying “mine, mine, mine” he accepted the exchange.

His smile had been so soft and wondering, as if Harry had given him the world. Harry felt as if he were trespassing on some religious ceremony, so grateful Ron looked, so easy it had been to make him happy.

Harry’s robes were green, to bring out his eyes. The colour also went very well with Ron’s hair and he looked quite fine. Not as elegant as Draco, for sure, but certainly one of the handsomest students in the ball

[...]

Harry could honestly say that he loved his new dress robes. Specially the cuffs. Oh, the glorious cuffs with three layers of lace. Harry could say that he loved the robes in all their frilly magnificence, but that wouldn’t be completely truthful because what he loved was the effect he had on people.

Headcanon accepted:

“Honestly, I don’t know why are you all acting so surprised.” He said to a variedly pink audience. Seamus Finnigan looked as if he had measles. “They are my brothers, you know. I had to grow up with them. And I am friends with Harry.”

Ron, like Percy, was easily overshadowed by the more explosive and flashy performances of his siblings. Ginny in particular, with her choleric character and her excellent jinxes, came on top of Ron. But Ron was not the runt of the group, not at all. Ron had slowly and painstakingly come to master a subtle non-verbal almost motionless magic, ever since his first year of school when he smuggled his wand to use during punishments. You would not see Ron cast anything, but he was, all the time. All. The. Time. Like someone compulsively pressing the save button on a computer. This was Ron, only with magic, defensive magic. It was now past conscious habit and it had become a tic.

Look, his brothers turned his favourite teddy bear into a spider, when he was on his second year a teacher tried to obliviate him, and the next year he was mauled by an over-enthusiastic Black (“so sorry, Ronald. Do you want a broom? I will get you a broom. Or better yet, a flying motorbike. I am sure you will look great in leather”). Note that he very generously was leaving the first year out, because it was the one time in Ron’s life when he actually went looking for trouble. Every other time the trouble came to find him.

It was only natural, given that he lived in a magical household where he could practice magic during the summers, that he would practice all the protective spells he could learn. He lived with Ginny, too, in case people had forgotten that. It was mere survival instinct on his part.

(Oddly, Percy had been quite helpful. He gave him tips and let him borrow his notes).

By the time he was starting his fourth year, it wasn't that Ron could cast protego in his sleep, it’s that he did. Constantly and absentmindedly. On himself, on Harry, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, Luna (for heaven’s sake that girl was too fragile, someone should look after her). Really, he was casting protego on everyone all the time.

MY BABIES MY UNAPPRECIATED BABIES

Percy was not his dad, he did not share his fascination with muggle ingenuity, but he did pay attention to his father. More than any of his brothers, actually, not that it was ever appreciated. Percy was never appreciated. (Not a complaint, just a statement. At the moment that lack of appreciation was what allowed him to work unnoticed. Hooray for ignored middle children).

(Side note: He should check with Ron, because Ronald was also very much a middle child like him and it occurred to Percy now that his little brother might be sitting on some big secrets of his own.)

Even though this fic went with the “Draco is second best to Hermione in class” cliché and I hate it it does get some things right:

Hermione wasn’t very good with emotions, hers or anyone else’s. She had always exhibited more awareness than Ron, it’s true, but that was more due to Ron having a philosophical acceptance of life than to any particular sensitivity on Hermione’s part. She was not very good with emotions because emotions clouded judgement and Hermione put all her might in her razor sharp mind. This is something that she understood very well.

This is why that morning, after breakfast, she had unfolded a piece of parchment on the table (sadly there were only two notebooks in the house and they were mostly full) and had announced, with great assuredness, that Voldemort must had been and still be very scared.

We love a Minerva that appreciates her chess lion

Minerva had put a swift end to the competition for Most Mischievous Student Ever by naming Potter (Harry) and Weasley (Ron) the ultimate and unsurpassable winners. (“I mean it, don’t even think about trying to take their place, unsurpassable I said.”)

She stood by her judgement because Harry was giving her headaches even in absentia and although Ronald grumbled a little bit that “he didn’t do nothing” there was not much force behind it. Minerva didn’t know exactly what Ronald had done or not done, but she would glare at him as if she knew and the boy looked guilty enough.

At this point, she wouldn’t even be that surprised if he turned out to be an animagus too. He had kept quiet about Severus’ involvement with Harry and he casted protegos nonverbally, so who knew what else he could do.

Ron’s Patronus is the best Patronus and this is canon

Ron was good, had always been good. When asked, because the quality and endurance of his patronus was amazing, he said he just had to think of that pigeon message that told him that his friend was alive and that was enough.

[SPOILER ALERT]

And Ron fucking killing Voldemort is like... *chief’s kiss*

Ron had grown as a young child in a big family. Not even the youngest which is a position of honour in a certain way and often featured prominently in fairy tales. No, he was the one just before, young but not the youngest. There were so many brilliant brothers before him that he knew he would never get to have an “-est” for him. Not the brightest or the funniest or the bravest.

Ron had gone through a process of acceptance in life. By the time he came to Hogwarts he had known and accepted that if he didn’t manage to do something magnificent and astonishing, he would be a bit of an embarrassment for the family. The runt, the one who did nothing remarkable. But even if he achieved a wonderful feat he would still be following the steps of his brothers and so it would not be something extraordinary. He could not win either way and he had accepted that.

By the time he was in his fourth year he had come to accept that his best friend, Harry Potter, was too much of a good person to resent him for all the attention he got and that Ron craved. During that year with the stupid trials Ron had come to accept that he would always be overshadowed by his brothers and friends. Talented Bill and Charlie and even Percy and his good grades, funny twins, clever Hermione, and lastly Harry who was very odd but still the Boy Who Lived. Ron was none of that and it was a bit like drinking black tea with no sugar, it wasn’t nice but he could take it and he could still care about all of them.

Ron had accepted a life of being the runt, the spare, the disappointment. Not even the black sheep of the family, not even that because Percy of all people beat him to it. Ron would be the grey dull brother, not so bad to be the outcast, not so good to be someone for himself. He had accepted it because at that moment making sure all the people he loved were safe was way more important than Ron’s sense of self-worth.

He had accepted it.

Perhaps this is not clear. He had accepted it. He was resigned to a lacklustre life, to becoming an insipid note in everyone else’s lives’ accounts. Ron Weasley, brother of the founders of Weasley Wizard Wheezes. Ron Weasley, older brother of record holder Quidditch player Ginevra Weasley. Ron Weasley, brother of William the curse-breaker and Charles the dragon-tamer. Ron Weasley, friend of Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived.

Never in his wildest dreams and fantasies in which he got all the recognition and awards, never, had Ron thought he would become Ron Weasley the One Who Slayed Voldemort.

[anchanted-one]

Harry Potter Talk

Settle in everyone, this is going to be a long one.

So a couple of days ago, I saw a massive anti-HP (the character) rant that really irritated me that I wanted to address.

Before I do, let's address the transphobic in the room. Rowling. Transphobia is detestable, and not wanting to support the series while that directly benefits and enriches her is a super valid stance. Also my personal stance, we support the trans people in this house!

Now that that's out of the way.

"Harry Potter, jock from a wealthy family" or something to that effect.

Regardless of how big his bank account is, remember how Harry was brought up? And by whom?

The Dursleys. The magic-hating child-abusers. Who forced Harry to sleep in a cupboard under the stairs for eleven years. Who gave him Dudley's things secondhand. His mother's sister was so unwilling to spend a dime on him that she was dyeing some of Dudley's old things gray to use as Harry's school uniform.

His cousin Dudley, who delighted in tormenting him, and whose gang joined him in beating up Harry whenever Dudley felt bored enough that he wanted to beat him up for fun.

Is this the upbringing of a "rich jock"? He never used much of his wealth in the Muggle world and even in his school years he seems to know the importance of restraint, and sharing (in book one, he's delighted to be able to share with Ron, and in book four he gives the Twins a thousand galleons without a second thought). Dudley was the one who got thirty-six presents on his birthday and threw a fit coz it was less than what he'd got the previous year. Harry got a used tissue for Christmas. He was the one so not expecting any gifts at all that his best friend's mother packed him a hand-knitted sweater for him, and made his day.

Jock? He played the loneliest position in the Quidditch team. The Chasers and Keepers work together as a team, and the Beaters too, but Seekers are ignored by everyone--including the team--until it becomes apparent that they've spotted something.

Harry was quite popular when he joined the school, but that popularity mostly manifested as people pointing at his scar and whispering about him. Most made him uncomfortable. He only ever had a few friends he was comfortable with.

There were long periods when he was in fact an outcast. That time he lost fifty points for the thing with the dragon, or the time when the Ministry and the Newspapers had turned the entire Wizarding world against him. The time his name came out of the Goblet of Fire, all Houses except Gryffindor treated him like shit, and even the Gryffindors, while they were cheering for him, weren't paying much mind when he was saying that he didn't do it, or that he needed support. That one time, even Ron didn't stay by his side. He was all alone but for Hermione.

The only time he fit the bill of the jock was in book six, when he was too obsessed with what Malfoy was doing to give a damn about his newfound popularity. That was also when he chose the company of outcasts like Neville and Luna over popular hangers-on.

Yes, there are legit reasons to hate the character; he has a massive hero complex. He routinely gets his friends into trouble because of it. He has a very narrow and myopic perspective because of which he doesn't notice much outside of his mystery-hunter track (there was a time when I could illustrate that point better, but it's been a decade and more since I read the last book. I wanted to better read up before talking about this, but I can't bring myself to binge-read like I used to)

By contrast, yes James Potter was a 'jock'. But that's reason to hate him, not his son. Harry, when he sees Snape's worst memory, is rightly horrified. When Remus tries to make the "we were just fifteen" excuse, Harry reminds him "I'm fifteen!". (It should also be noted that Snape's memories obviously show his nemesis at his worst, whereas Remus Lupin--the Werewolf--tells Harry repeatedly that James and Sirius were there for him when no one else was. James risked his life to fight Voldemort, whereas Snape was happily on Voldy's side until that one person he cared about was marked for death by the Prophecy©. Snape was also an abusive bully well until he died--just ask Neville. Dumbledore has also told Harry that memories are fickle things, which can be changed, so the chances that Snape simmered in this memory and unconsciously distilled it to make his old nemeses seem even worse--or himself seem like the angel who wouldn't hurt a fly--also exist. As someone who's experienced bullying, mockery, etc, I know this self-serving tendency of memory quite well. Though this bit is speculation on my part. )

Regarding the sillier names like Pansy Parkinson, and mean descriptions

In addition, when the series began, it started as a children's series, hence the Roald Dahl-like non-villain bad guys of the early part, and the "hate-me-I'm-nasty" names they were given. The Dursleys. Dudley Dursley aka Dudders. "Pansy Parkinson". Everyone was more caricature than character. That's how they are in children's books.

Many people are also described in a way to make the reader immediately dislike them. Malfoy is pale, with a pointy chin. Snape is an oily man with a large beaked nose and greasy hair. Rita Skeeter has a mannish jaw. Umbridge has a face like a toad. All of this is again in keeping with the Roald Dahl theme. Whether it's Augustus Gloop, Veruca Salt, Mike Teavee, Violet Beauregarde or their mannerisms and descriptions make readers feel an instant dislike for them.

When the series became more... Mature, those caricatures can start finding their critics. Never mind that such caricatures and worse can be found in thousands of other works, like Superhero comics for instance. Yes, no one names their children "Pansy" but Slytherin was an allegory for white supremacist type people. Back in those days, JK wanted them to be hated without reserve, much as she wanted bigotry and racism to be (irony, considering where she stands today).

Death of the Author

In the text there is no real transphobia that I can remember, other than that description of Rita having a "mannish jaw" (I admit that I haven't read it in ages, but I am still certain of this). Once the material is out in print, everyone is free to interpret it as they choose. Whenever JK comes out with clarifications or retcons or something--as she is known to do anyway--it's still more of her headcanon than in-world truth. If there is no outright mention of something in the text, then it doesn't matter what meaning the author intended to convey. What matters is what each reader makes of it. In the case of Harry Potter, the enemy are clearly folks obsessed with blood purity: Purebloods.

Lazy names

I'm going to speak specifically about the Indian names here: Parvati and Padma Patil.

While India is a large country and the name is more common in certain regions than others, I had heard that Patel/Patil surname is quite common in Britain. And really in Indian cinema the most common girls' names are Priya (Big Bang Theory as well) or Pooja, many girls in this side of the screen have goddess names. Like "Parvati". Many people also keep the same first letter for names for twins, or even in families (for instance, my parents, sister, and I, all have names starting with "A"), so "Padma" is a nice choice of name. And really, Padma and Parvati Patil are much better names than "Khan Noonien Singh" (now there's a lazy name).

Everyone insists that Star Trek's Khan is supposed to be of Indian origin, but with a name like that and an actor with a Mexican accent... I don't really think so. It was because of this silly character generation that I didn't particularly mind him being played by the very white Benedict Cumberbatch.

But the Patil twins. Them I can feel that connection to.

Races of the main cast

Now this might be something contentious, so I apologise for that in advance.

No one cares what Harry is, though since Petunia is noted as being pale, and Lily has red hair, the unknown factor is James Potter. Was he black? That would make Harry biracial at best.

Ron is written as a freckled boy with red hair, and all Weasleys share that look.

As for Hermione... She is the poster child of the blood-purity bigotry bias. When reading her, people are supposed to understand that the prejudice against her is certainly her Muggle-born origin; not her skin color, not her nationality, not her sexual orientation. Which is why I feel it's necessary that she stand out as less as possible in those other ways. For this reason I think that it was a good idea to portray her as white.

Here are characters who are specifically noted as black: Dean Thomas, Michael Corner (both of whom were Ginny's boyfriends), Kingsley Shacklebolt, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, Lee Jordan, Blaise Zabini (who's noted as being very handsome, and quite popular). Aside from these we have a few token people of Indian and Chinese origin. Speaking again as an Indian, I don't really mind. This is a British story set in a mid-nineties British school only accepting students from the British Isles. It makes sense to me if there are few Indians.

What does all of this translate to? There are legit reasons to hate both the character and the series. So don't make stuff up, especially if you're ignoring the text to do it. Don't confuse the author and their work, even if you have resolved not to buy that work and thereby support her.