#like in the Ministry scene where he possesses Harry

[sk1fanfiction]

I feel Voldemort torturing people for funsies is actually not super (book) canonical though, that's more Bella's thing.

Bellatrix: Potter's in the dungeon, may I torture him please My Lord?

Voldemort, looks up from his book/paperwork, waves hand dismissively : Sure, I don't care, go nuts

(but he would say it in a formal way obviously)

people saying i'm a "hard-core angst heavy hyper-realistic Harry being tortured at the hands of voldemort enthusiast" as if that isn't CANON. like bro have you even cracked open the books? or are you a fanon softboy simp voldemort enthusiast? you do realise the tomarrymort tags are for the CANON shippers, too, right?

[iamnmbr3]

i don't know it was for harry's age or what but harry did not understand and feel bad for ginny after possession even tho he realised it happened because she was lonely but he immediately felt bad for and understood draco who atleast accepted to commit crime

I do think Harry felt sorry for Ginny. It's not that he lacks compassion; he displays concern for her in the Chamber and is quite kind and comforting when she wakes up and is distraught. It's just that she's not that central to his life, so afterwards he moves on, whereas with Draco he doesn't.

Let's go through it.

Harry shows concern for Ginny when he finds her, apparently dead, in the Chamber - to the point that he drops his guard and throws down his wand, which proves to be a mistake. :

Also, after defeating Riddle he tries to comfort her. When she firsts wakes up he rushes over to her to see if he can help. :

He also speaks comfortingly and encouragingly to her when she bursts into tears. :

And he shows consideration for her feelings when they reunite with Ron by avoiding discussing topics in front of her that could be upsetting. (As a side note, the following passage is a great example of Harry being way more emotionally intelligent and perceptive than he often gets credit for.) :

So it's not that he has not compassion for her or doesn't care. However, Ginny is not a focal point of his life. He wants her to be ok. He's upset when he thinks she might be dead. He shows compassion towards her in the immediate aftermath of what happened.

But then he moves on. He doesn't spend that much time thinking about her or pay her much attention. Even when they're dating he knows remarkably little about her.

She's so peripheral to him that by book 5 he momentarily forgets about the whole Chamber incident and never really bothers to find out how it affected her. In book 6 while learning about Riddle's life he never once thinks of Ginny as a potential source of information or wishes he could get her insights.

Meanwhile in book 6 he remembers every single item he saw Draco look at in a shop more than 4 years ago (in fact, during book 2 - because apparently random stuff Draco did that year comes to mind more easily for him than the most traumatic events of Ginny's whole life). And from the end of book 6 on Harry feels a great deal of concern for Draco. He dwells on it in fact - where he is, what he's doing, how he's feeling. In book 7 when he witnesses Draco being forced to torture Rowle he is so upset by the vision he feels as though it's "branded on the inside of his eyes" - even though Draco was not the one actually being hurt in that scene. (More on that here)

Harry cares when he sees Ginny being hurt - just like he cares about the people he saves at the Ministry - but with Draco there's something more than just general feelings of compassion.

[hollowed-theory-hall]

I think we're all deeply disappointed that we didn't get enough of Voldemort and his Horcrux parts in 7th book. the cup, diadem, and locket are no match for the diary. however, do you have headcanons, what would be the protection of the cup and diadem? I wonder is there a need to drink from a cup or wear a diadem for effect and what Voldemort could potentially be like if it would be successful... i think it needs to be explored more even in hcs

Honestly, I don't necessarily think the cup should've had better protections since it was the one given to Bellatrix to protect. So, I would've just improved on the Gringotts break-in instead of making up something entirely different. In the book, if they had broken in without Griphook and Harry just imperio-ed everyone they met, that break-in would've gone without a hitch. This seems silly to me considering how difficult Gringotts is supposed to be to break into. Like, if Impirio + Polyjuic allows you to steal whatever you want, its security is most definitely lacking.

It could've been actually fun and done very differently than the ministry break-in instead of being like, a worse version of the ministry break-in as it was in canon. Like, show some goblin magic, and have them sneak around to not be found more. Like, I would've liked it to be more of a heist than just: imperio + polyjuice. Like, it could be part of it, but, idk, I felt very underwhelmed reading about Gringotts defenses in the book. Even the curse inside the vault wasn't a fun obstacle because it was one where they just needed to suffer through it. There is no satisfying puzzle to solve or a clever way to get past it. And that's really what book 7 was missing in all its heists to get Horcruxes. The plans weren't all that clever and interesting. If they were, these scenes would be, like, 200% better without actually changing any big plot elements.

I also think the break-in to Gringotts could've been improved if they still didn't have the sword and didn't destroy the locket yet, so you had Tom Riddle whispering in Harry's ear constantly. And after he cast Imperio successfully Tom would've gotten so annoying about it and made Harry have more moral questions about it. Idk, it's a fun idea, but if they did already destroy the locket, then it makes sense they'll just destroy the cup instantly. If the defenses on the way there were more interesting and the locket had more moments to shine, I think it would've been fine if the cup didn't get too much of a chance to interact with the trio.

As for the diadem, like, the minimum he could've done is place a curse on it like on the Gaunt ring. Like, seriously, that thing was so under-protected. And, like, the curse could still kill Crabbe if we want. It'll make his death even more creepy and grotesque potentially. Or he can be possessed (I mean, I'm pretty sure Crabbe and Goyle are easy possession targets).

Like, imagine the scene in the room of requirement, but Crabbe or Goyle picks up the diadem first, and a curse starts spreading from his hand upward. He screams in pain, clutching the blackening limb that slowly starts to shrivel like a raisin. Harry, Co, and Draco are all horrified, they don't know what to do and then, picking up the diadem is a Tom Riddle, a Le diary, brought back by feeding on Crabbe/Goyle's death. And then they need to kill the diadem before Crabb/Goyle die so that they won't have two Voldemorts running around. It could've been an epic battle and given Draco a chance to destroy the diadem while the Horcrux focused on fighting the Golden Trio instead of Crabbe accidentally destroying a piece of Voldy's soul. Like, Draco wouldn't even be 100% sure what he's doing, but, like, Hermione dropped a basilisk fang and they were clearly trying to destroy it, so he just kinda goes for it.

And, I mean, we could've had it all with the locket, really. Like, we know the diary spoke to Ginny for months before it took form. Why didn't it feed on Harry and Co the same way? Like, let Tom in the locket try to talk them out of killing him, let him tell them why it's best he stays around. How he's more useful to them this way. Let them fight over who's wearing the locket, but deep down, Harry wants to wear the locket just as he liked flipping through the diary without knowing why — because soul recognizes soul. Have Tom actually talk to Harry, Ron, and Hermione and be his manipulative self to stew tension that feels less manufactured. (Because the tension with the hunger and locket depression felt a little off to me in the book. Like, it felt forced).

These are just some ideas where you won't actually have to change the plot and structure of the book too much.

As for how the Horcruxes feed and if they need to be properly used, like, I'm not sure. The locket seemed to only have an effect when worn, so I'd hazard a guess that physical contact at least is necessary. but I think, just holding the cup long enough would be enough and you don't need to actually drink from it. At least, in my headcanon/speculation of how Horcruxes work.

[ashesandhackles]

Chamber of Secrets reread

Chapter 1, 2, 3,4

Harry's hope that Dursleys have not forgotten his birthday (hardly daring to believe it) - because it means Harry has not fully rejected them as caregivers yet. He does this in the next book - which is where Sirius steps in as the parental role Harry finally moves the Dursleys out of. There is this push and pull with Harry - he wants their approval, he wants to stay out of their way and not catch too much of the heat that comes with their attention. It is a very fragmented way of dealing with possible abandonment.

Vernon promised Harry he would flay him "within inch of his life". This, with descriptions of threatening body language gives such a strong implication that Harry was beaten up before being locked into the room with bars with lines like: "Uncle Vernon was as bad as his word (fade to black into next scene with Harry in room)". No wonder in Deathly Hallows that both Vernon and Harry wonder if Harry would actually rescue him.

love how charming The Burrow sounds, and how deliberately it is contrasted from the order of Dursleys. And how the most unusual thing about the Burrow was everyone there "seemed to like him." My heart.

The Weasley dynamics! Both Fred and George are so excited when Arthur is back home and genuinely want to hear stories of his job ( in contrast to Percy, who admits to being embarrassed of his father's reputation at the Ministry)! The other interesting festering family dynamic is that when Molly rages about them and brings up Bill, Charlie, and percy - Fred mutters, "Perfect Percy". It is a way to indicate jealousy of the approval and regard Molly gives Percy, although I doubt Fred would admit it.

"her face glowing like the setting sun". The sun imagery follows Ginny through the books. Harry refers to their first kiss as "several sunlit days" or the time he couldn't look in her eyes - "like gazing into brilliant light" "blazing look" and when Ron confronts him about kissing Ginny after the break up, this is the description when Harry says it won't happen again: "The day was cloudless, but he felt as though the sun had gone in."

Lucius Malfoy: ex terrorist and now a Tired Indulgent parent. His dialogue with Draco is hilarious. "You have told me dozen times already" - he tells Draco after Draco complains about Harry.

That said, @indigo-scarf has lovely meta on Hand of Glory and what it means for Draco's arc.

Chapters 5,6,7,8,9

Snape's Dramatic Entrance for this book - waits for appropriate moment behind 12 years olds to announce: "Maybe he's waiting to hear why you two didn't arrive on the train." Life of Severus Snape: Stuck in a job he hates, plans jump scares on 12 year olds for cheap thrills. (@incalculablepower also pointed out Snape's history with the tree in the infamous prank when he talks about Harry and Ron caused damage to a valuable tree)

Also his emo goth office with jars full of "revolting things Harry didn't want to know the name of"

Hagrid also picking up on Ginny's crush on Harry.(also for mystery plot, Ginny is scoping out the house cos of the roosters).

The macabre Headless Hunt goes with gothic vibe of CoS: something lurking in the castle from the underworld. A young girl possessed by a great evil etc etc. (going to reference this meta by @stuckwith-harry about Ginny's experience in the books and how her gender plays into it)

As was pointed out about Draco and hand of glory in early CoS chapter, we get Peeves breaking the vanishing cabinet here in this chapter. The cabinet Draco repairs in HBP, once he discovers the connection with the one in Borgin and Burkes, thanks to Fred and George shoving Montague in there.

the attack on Mrs Norris enlightened Hermione more clearly to dangers of being a Muggleborn. She was doing nothing but reading after the attack - and it feels like a measure of control she is trying to exert over her environment.

Chapter 10, 11,12, 13, 14,15

the opening scene where Harry had to enact a scene from Lockhart's book is comedy gold. Where are the fanartists with this scene??? This book is so funny, I swear to god.

"I never thought I'd see a day where you would be persuading us to break rules" - ah, Hermione. We see that its creeping up to her, the fact that she is another in the wizarding world and she deals with it the way she knows how - cognitively, making a plan of action: Polyjuice.

I have a lot of feelings about the political consciousness that Dobby showed here. "ah if Harry Potter only knew! If he knew what he means to us, to the lowly, the enslaved, us dregs of the magical world - but mostly sir, life has improved for my kind ever since you triumphed over He Who Must Not Be Named". I have written about how slavery is handled in the books here.

Hermione, the pyromaniac, book 2 edition. She is conjuring waterproof fires now, graduating from her blue flames in PS

Harry picks up the Expelliarmus from Snape, as he sees from duelling club. The only time Harry ever refers to Snape as a professor voluntarily - "shouldn't have let professor Snape teach us that one"..

Snape throws Harry a shrewd, calculating look when Harry speaks Parseltongue. I think this aspect of Harry makes him a bit curious - as he pretty much says this as a half truth in Spinner's End chapter in HBP. (that there were rumours about Harry being a dark wizard, and he was curious and not at all inclined to murder him. Spinner's End chapter is masterful in lot of half truths).

what a lonely braggart Lucius Malfoy is : he is sending his 12 year old son newspaper clippings of how his work colleagues he loathes is facing an enquiry. Who does this, lol? Probably because most of his friends are in prison, he needs to tell his son the gossip.

i love that what Ron sees in Mirror of Erised is that he is Head Boy, Quidditch captain, and here, he says in disgust, "Prefect, Head Boy - probably top of every class". It shows his tendency to devalue his needs and wants (of course, that's not truly what he needs - it's recognition, but it's interesting he sees this in the mirror and still reacts like this). refer: "I have seen your heart: exploring Ron's arc" by @bluethepineapple

Harry notes that Tom "had jet Black hair" ("strange likenesses ...we even look something alike" Tom notes in the final chapters. The twin imagery is strong with Harry and Voldemort, not just with the appearances but the twin cores as well.)

it's interesting to me that the injustice Hagrid suffers is also integral to the vein of CoS (he is a suspect, he was expelled and had his wand broken) and in POA (the Buckbeak trial).

"you will find that I have only truly left the school when none here are loyal to me". Dumbles being god like.

really have to admire Ron that he was even able to move and grab Fang when the car came in when they were talking to Aragog. He was apparently frozen with his mouth open and eyes popping. Ron Weasley is extremely brave.

Chapter 16,17,18

Tom displays bitter rage against his father, and emphasises his lineage from his maternal line. He also seems to think his father abandoned Merope because she was a witch, which I think is what he found out or guessed, as opposed to the story we know.

Fawkes enters with a song, and it makes Harry's heart grow twice its size (metaphorically). But we see a version of this in GOF - where priori incantentem between wands also makes Harry hear the phoenix song. It's very good vs evil. Also, the phoenix is described in such a grand, colourful way in this dark underworld chamber - a splash of colour. It is a very nice image.

Ginny wakes up from a harrowing experience and sees blood-soaked Harry holding the destroyed diary. No wonder that she "never really gave up on you, not really". I think this kind of thing would be embedded in her psyche.

I love that the story combines the grand, mythical nature of things - Dumbledore as God, Fawkes as Holy Spirit, the chamber as the underworld, and then it's also a story where themes of classism, systemic injustice against Muggleborns, slavery is introduced. The banal evil antagonist is Lucius Malfoy - who tries to discredit a poorer Arthur Weasley by setting up his daughter, who gets Hagrid sent to Azkaban and gets Dumbledore removed - all by using his power and position. I think this book toes the line between mythical evil (Basilisk that needs to be slayed, Tom Riddle diary) and banal evil well.

@urupotter made a post about how Lucius appears to be using Occlumency against Dumbledore in the final scene between them.

[childotkw]

ive seen a lot of writers' take on this, but not yours! so, naturally i have to ask! how do you think the canonverse would go, if voldemort found out harry was a horcrux sometime post goblet of fire? perhaps even directly during deathly hallows, where most of the other horcruxes were already either destroyed or missing?

Hmmm, I’ve used the trope a few times for some AUs….the one that jumps to mind is the AU where Harry and Bill are the ones that go horcrux hunting after fifth year and the whole ministry possession bit, and Voldemort’s hunting them down frantically to stop one wayward horcrux from killing the others.

But I could spin another one?

Maybe after the possession scene, Voldemort catches a clue and knows he needs get Harry immediately and either lock him up or reeducate him so that he’s no longer a threat. A lot of plans get tossed out the window because of this revelation, and Dumbledore is forced to reveal the truth to Harry to even the scales and give him some leverage over Voldemort.

Voldemort won’t kill him now, won’t even risk harming him, because there’s never been a human horcrux before and who knows what might affect the soul sliver inside him?

And oh boy does Harry exploit this new, horrible fact.

The problem is that this ‘protection’ doesn’t extend to his friends, so Harry does the only thing in his mind that makes sense.

They make a plan for it. He’s the one Voldemort wants. He’s the one with the mental connection to their enemy, the potential leak. If he removes himself from the board, draws attention away from the others, then they can focus on finding the remaining horcruxes while Voldemort is distracted by chasing Harry down.

It’s not an easy choice. Harry is fifteen. He’s untrained, he’s frightened, and he’ll be alone again because he can’t risk his friends coming with him.

He’s so fucking scared but he’ll do it anyway because what other choice does he really have? They finally have a way to beat Voldemort, he can’t not take it.

He takes a trunk of books, potions, clothes and other things Hermione foists on him in the hope it might help - and he runs.

Harry runs, and he learns, and he makes a nuisance of himself in loud and dangerous ways to keep Voldemort’s focus on him only him don’t you dare look away Tom

And it works for a while.

Harry is a brilliant distraction, and each time he slips through Voldemort’s fingers again it just makes the obsession burn hotter.

He’s dancing in the flames but he’s never so much as singed.

Harry doesn’t have the Trace on him anymore due to the tournament, and for the first time he’s allowed to learn at his own pace. He prioritises offensive and defensive magic, he dives into survival charms, into healing, into stealth - anything he thinks might give him an edge.

Without the traditional structure of school holding him back, Harry’s skill grows fast. He’s always learned better by doing, after all.

He tests himself against Death Eaters - slowly, carefully gauging his abilities against theirs. Studying their own spells and curses and trying them out for himself when he can.

And without someone to tell Harry the correct way to do things, he blasts past restrictions and limitations like they’re not even there.

It continues like that for months, years.

The Order are gathering the horcruxes, holding off destroying them to keep the advantage for as long as they can, and Harry is…growing. Changing. Becoming better.

More.

It’s all going well.

Until it isn’t.

Until someone makes a mistake, and Harry has to bargain with the only thing he has.

Himself.

[ggadtomarry]

HP books rated by tomarry content 🐍⚡:

PS: old-fashioned approach. Incredible, but the scene is done better in the movie. Voldemort doing an half hearted attempt at recruiting Harry and predictably failing. Harry being very scared but fighting back. Love it. The essence of Tomarry: powerful unhinged edgelord and Harry opposing him and winning. Good good. A solid 7/10. 8/10 in the movies for Tom's extra effort in trying to corrupt Harry as well as iconic phrase about power being above good and evil.

CoS: Tomarry with Tom! Excellent taste. Proof that Harry would have got deceived by Tom, too, if he would have met him. Arguably if LV had tried a bit more. Tom being obsessed with Harry. Harry fighting back, again. Harry and Tom interacting. All 5 stars gourmet food. 10/10.

PoA: LV was being a wrath in Albania. Still, we hear him killing James and Lily. I'm begging those who think that late 70s LV was chill: he laughs at Lily like the sadistic deranged murderer he was. Still, he isn't Harry's biggest fear (!). Awesome detail. 6 because I don't dislike it, but Tom is sorely missed.

GoF: fantastic content. Harry having visions of LV for the first time. The resurrection scene. Tom monologuing about very intimate things, no doubt because he thought Harry would have died soon. LV calling him Harry. LV playing with him. Harry resisting to his imperius (!!!). LV ecstatic about his ability to touch him. The twin wands. Awesome. Inspired. Terrifying. 15/10.

OofP: Harry having visions and for the first time seeing through LV's eyes. Harry getting possessed by Tom. LV trying to manipulate him with visions and (derogatory) "love". The fated prophecy. Tom marking him as his equal. Good stuff, but too little screentime and honestly, Tom, just go at the ministry yourself and get the prophecy, instead of infiltrating a group of teenagers and death eaters. I expected more, honestly. 6 1/2.

HBP: Tom's flashbacks! Harry being sympathetic! Harry calling Tom handsome every time he sees him! 9 1/2!

DH: great scenes where Harry is inside LV's head. Awesome final scene. The last dialogue is honestly top tier. Tom being a mutilated soul and Harry feeling compassion. Harry trying to get him to feel remorse. Like. Fantastic. Bad mention for LV: crucioing his thought-to-be corpse is low even for him. 13/10.

[lostdrarryfics]

THE BIG FIND: DAY EIGHTH

Welcome to the eighth day of our anniversary celebration!

The Big Find is a 10-day long Drarry fic-finding marathon to celebrate the blog’s first anniversary. Below is the Day 8 compilation of lost fics, both old and new, that we’ve been unable to find. Our aim is to get as much attention to these lost fics as possible, to help people finally find their missing fics! Anyone can participate by reblogging, reading through each list, providing additional fic details, and informing us the title, author, or link of a fic, and their respective number in the comment section. Happy finding!

8.1 AO3, Drarry is in front of a destroyed(?) part of Hogwarts and they’re with Neville, I believe. And Harry places a flower crown on Draco. He look so soft and Neville was quite taken aback for abit but didn’t say anything (I think). I believe it’s 8th year. (original post)

8.2 Draco is living alone in a very big flat, and he needs a roommate. Him and hermione are friends and work together or something? But I think she suggests Harry be his roommate and it kinda goes from there. Draco gets super drunk and goes to his moms house and like vents to her about his feelings for Harry. (original post)

8.3 I read on ff.net I think, a long time ago. It take place after Hogwarts. Harry and Ginny broke up, Hermione give Harry a magical device/spell/potion supposed to help him find his soulmate. The “spells” is supposed to give a green aura to an object belonging to the soulmate. When Harry use it, it make Draco’s wand green. Harry end up giving the wand back, reconnecting with Draco and then after a few chapter and some adventures, they end up together. But they hide it for quite some time. There is a follow up fic. With some actions and dark wizards. There is a big fig at the end, in the ministry. Draco is possessed and try to kill Harry, Ginny (who inherited some kind of power) cast a spell on Draco to save Harry but Harry gets in the way to save Draco, he ends up in a strange room with a pink swimming pool. Harry almost dies. Draco is dévasted. But something happen with a necklace Harry’s wearing (gifted by Narcissa) and he comes back to life. Ron hear a conversation between Draco and Harry and réalise there are together but he doesnt say anything. When she learn about it Hermione confront Harry and they end up fighting about it. Later Draco confront her, telling her she’s a bad friends for upsetting Harry that way, especially on that day (the fight between Harry and Hermione took place on Halloween). Hermione apologize to Harry later on. (original post)

8.4 8th year, sub harry, Draco and Harry are sharing the same room. Harry develops feelings for Draco. One day Draco sees Harry masturbating in bathroom and they start a relationship. Draco tells Harry that I am in charge as long as you are within the or something. Also makes him read books and memorize stuff during bed. (original post)

fic is not lumos by birdsofshore

FOUND! 8.5 creature fic, not sure what creature it is, i’m fairly sure that the creature is harry and draco is his mate, he’s very possessive of draco, like he can barely control himself when someone else touches him or something, i remember this scene where draco is talking/fighting with blaise (maybe someone else) and he like gets very close to him so harry gets all possesive and dangerous and he almost kills blaise or whoever, and then harry (or maybe hermione) gets very upset with draco because he basically used harry to threaten blaise (original post)

8.6 ffn, bottom harry, the story was like fairy tales but a little twisted, like modern AU, or the one that was of Snow White; in that Voldemort married Lily after he killed James with the promise of not killing Harry, he had the same mirror that say Harry would be the most powerful wizard and Voldemort didn’t want that, so he didn’t let Harry go to Hogwarts and didn’t tell him he was a wizard, but Lily trained Harry in secret so he could kill Voldemort some day and have their revenge. Harry was so girly in that one, he picked flowers, knew how to knit and do it all the time Voldy was around, and he had a Journal were he tell his plans and training but Voldy thought he was writing poetry about girly things; after Harry run away to Weasleys Voldy kill Lily and marry Narcissa after killing Lucius too, Draco was angry for that and that’s why Voldy grow more and more paranoid every day, specially when the talent of Draco for potions become obvious he feared being poisoned by Draco, and after Draco find Harrys journal he fall in love with him, and after knowing the poison he and Snape brewed was for Harry he try to find him, he found him but Harry was already poisoned but alive so he started with brewing a cure, he talked to Harry while he was doing that but he didn’t knew Harry was conscious and hearing everything so he also fall in love with Draco, after Harry wake up they fuck and go to fight Voldemort together, they win and live happily ever after. (original post)

8.7 8th year, In the great hall (towards the end) Draco and Harry kissed/got together/the conflict ended. I believe Ginny was sort of a villain that caused some strains in their relationship, she lied and manipulated them, I think but not sure what exactly she did. Oh, I think she scolded Draco? Then Ron and Harry heard this? I’m not sure if they came together, but Ron apologised in her behalf and was sorta nice. (original post)

8.8 Draco and Harry are in a relationship but Draco has an arranged marriage (I think secretly from Harry). This is after Hogwarts. His father has been pressuring him to go through with it but Draco thinks if Harry can learn the proper etiquette, he can change his mind? Bit fuzzy on the details but Draco asks for Pansy’s help. (original post)

8.9 Harry and Ginny were about to get married, but they got an invitation to a party(?) where they had to wear masks, and they both agreed that this was the last time they’d have sex with anyone else before they got married. But when they get there, Harry ends up having sex with Draco (he doesn’t know it, then Draco reveals himself), and Harry and Draco leave to go to Draco’s house. They drive in Harry’s car, but I think Draco has a really nice car too. The next morning, they’re having sex again, and Lucius walks in on them, wondering whose car is in the driveway. And then I think Ginny and Harry break up. (original post)

8.10 Christmas fic on AO3, it had a secret Santa theme, it was at the ministry and Draco obviously had to give Harry something. Draco in WWW where he was about to buy a chess board, spoke to Ron for a bit and turns out Harry already had one; in another scene he was about to buy Quidditch tickets but turns out since Harry was friends with Ginny he was gifted the tickets every now and then, and sometimes even gave it to other people; and so it goes, Draco’s ideas being frustrated. At the party Harry already gave his gift to whoever he pulled from the hat, Draco was nowhere to be seen, and so Harry grabs his gift and BAM it was a portkey and Harry was scandalized for a sec but then he saw Draco in nothing but a ribbon and they did the ding dong before the ministry’s panicked auror team arrived. (original post)

8.11 8th year with redeemed Draco. Harry is pining for Draco, Draco likes Hermione, and Hermione and Ron are together. I remember the reason why the light side started to trust Draco was because he saved Hermione and carried her to the medical ward. Harry is skeptical at first but learned to trust him. I also remember drarry witnessed Hermione and Ron get together. (original post)

8.12 They’re at hogwarts. Draco somehow turned into a spy and after losing nearly everything, Harry still doesn’t trust him despite being in a relationship. He says something along the lines of “I’m leaving you once I’m strong enough”. Draco bottomed on the fic and it was his first time, literally the day after he gave himself to Harry after losing his family and all, Harry implied he could still be a spy for Voldemort and still didn’t trust him. (original post)

fic is not the spy who loved the boy who lived by Alisanne

8.13 Takes place near the end of the series or something, and someone casted a spell or hex or something to Harry, making him enter like another world or something. In this world, he recalled everything before he wakes up (Voldy, his friends, hogwarts, etc..) but he’s back in the cupboard, and he thinks this is a dream or whatever. Sooner or later, in the beginning or throughout the story, he starts to slowly forget. I think he was with the Dursleys and they were actually nice to him or something but he attends school with Dudley. Since back in the normal world, Harry’s body is unconscious and his friends are trying to fix it. Somehow, Draco comes in the picture and goes in to try and convince Harry to come with him and end the war. But like, Harry likes this world and wants to stay (seeing that if he goes back, he’ll need to fight stuff and his life on the line) (original post)

FOUND! 8.14 Harry is this really cold person. It turned out he’d made a horcrux at some point, and it was this picture of Dorian Grey type portrait he kept either in the basement or the attic. (original post)

[ginisbetterthanfirewhisky]

hello!! I’m safa I love ginny myself and she’s a very lovely and lucky girl! I really relate to her <3! I’ve got a huge question that other people should know.

HOW much times has ginny cared for harry?

and please tell me why you love our read-headed hard-blazing girl! <3 I just love hearing it from you!!!

Hi! Thank you so much for the ask.

Ginny, despite having a crippling crush on Harry till her third year, has shown plenty of times that she does understand Harry, contrary to what many people think.

When she saw Harry for the first time at King's Cross station, she was naturally starstruck just like the rest of the Wizarding World. Heck, even rational, muggle born Hermione who hadn't even heard Harry's name until she read it in a book a month ago, couldn't stop having a celebrity moment around him. What about poor Ginny, who had probably heard stories of the great Harry Potter since she was a child?

I'm certain Ron must've talked a lot about Harry at home after coming back from his first year, and hearing all about Harry's heroics (that 11 year old Ron might have exaggerated) intensified that celebrity crush. But, you can see a stark difference between Ginny's behaviour around Harry in PS and CoS. In the first book, she is your average, squealing little fangirl who goggles at Harry and wants to get into the train compartment to see him up close. But in CoS, she is much quieter, clumsier and shier in his presence. Like an eleven year old girl with a crush on her older brother's cool best friend. That's not to say that she doesn't see him as a bit of a hero- of course she does, it's not like she really knows him, but she gets the general idea about him, and about the fact that he doesn't like the attention he receives (like when she defends him against Draco at Flourish and Blotts.)

Then, in PoA, she is much more awkward. Understandable, as he was the one who saved her life and all. On the train ride to Hogwarts, when the Dementors arrive, the two people who get affected the most are Harry and Ginny, who have both witnessed terrible things. In fact, JKR deliberately draws attention to this with the line "Ginny looked as bad as Harry felt." This sets a common chord between the two of them- both of them have been irreversibly touched by darkness. They understand each other. My favourite underrated moment between Harry and Ginny is when Ginny gives Harry a homemade get-well-soon card when he falls off his broomstick when Dementors enter the Quidditch pitch during the match against Hufflepuff. She knows how much the Dementors can affect you.

In the fifth book, Harry and Ginny display the "brooding/gentle" dynamic. Ginny is constantly described as a cheery, warm presence. (The "bright" imagery to describe Ginny was used by JKR as far back as CoS, where she "glows like the setting sun", has "bright" brown eyes and "blushes to the roots of her flaming hair"), in contrast to Harry's brooding one. When Harry is down after watching the Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff match from the sidelines after being banned from playing, it is Ginny who optimistically tries to cheer him up. She also reads his mind about Ron's performance (in fact, JKR deliberately draws attention to this and adds the phrase "as though reading his mind".) Then at Christmas, when he is worried about being possessed by Voldemort, she isn't scared of being firm with him and coolly calling him out. She does the same when he speaks rudely with her and Luna when they are about to go to the Ministry to rescue Sirius. She also knows when to be gentle and calm, and lend a ear, like in the library scene in the same book.

In the sixth book, Ginny is a reprieve from all the darkness around Harry. She is described as "his best source of comfort", and the time spent with her is "like something out of someone else's life". It is full of sunlit days and happiness away from Voldemort and the war. In DH, she is described as "blissful oblivion", and the brief period when they dated was like "stolen hours out of the life of someone without a lightning shaped scar". She is someone who inspires him to live for himself, not just to complete his duties towards the Wizarding World. Even in his (supposedly) last moments, Harry think of her.

Haha, I'm sure you didn't want to read such a long ramble, but I went off. :)

[kiefbowl]

I finished COS and I started POA. I wanted to write up some COS thoughts but it's been a few days now so I losing some details. It's not as tightly written as SS imo, and mostly that's bc jkr struggled with reintroducing key elements from SS. She's doing much better with that in POA, where instead of a couple of sentences, she'll use a few words. it's understandable why she has to do it, these books need to stand alone.

COS was a lot of fun to return to bc it was always my least favorite so I didn't reread it much. I wouldn't be surprised if I only reread it once, but I honestly can't remember. It was chockablock full of details I could not have told you before listening to it. It was also lacking details I thought were in it probably because of the movies, which is also interesting bc I have not watched the movies often, and especially not the first two. I wouldn't be surprised if the last time I watched COS was in theaters when it came out lol. Ron never makes fun of Hermione for turning into a cat, that must have been in the movie. Moaning Myrtle does though, she's real rude about it lol.

The chamber of secrets is sufficiently creepy. One thing I noticed is once Riddle is on the scene, it sounded like the writing tightened and whimsy was dropped, i.e. the adverbs were significantly less. I don't have a copy on me to check if that's true, but I'm going to keep an ear open for that in the future. I don't remember the writing changing that much in SS when Voldemort is revealed, but I wasn't looking for it. I think I had a memory of feeling like Riddle is corny in COS as a kid and that's one of the reasons I didn't like it much, like I didn't think jkr could write sinister well, but maybe listening to an actor read it out loud makes it better bc I thought that scene was very creepy. Or maybe bc I'm an adult now and I can't help seeing these kids as squishy faced and squeaky voiced.

There's a line earlier in the book that gave me a bit of a chill tbh! When Harry figure's out how Riddle's diary works and is talking to Riddle through it, Riddle writes something that to me was very eerie knowing now this is a horcrux, so that was cool. I would have to look it up exactly, I will later.

Also I felt like Lucius' plot with the diary plays much better in the book than in my memory. Much like you might realize the stone in SS is being guarded by a series of solvable puzzles, I always remembered Lucius' plot to be convenient and convoluted like oh I'll just drop this diary with a girl and hope she gets it into the school to open the chamber. I wonder if this is a holdover from the film bc actually in the book he's trying to get rid of ~~EVIL~~ artifacts from his house because the ministry is running raids which is the primary work of Arthur Weasley, Harry overhears this when he's in Knockturn Alley. Lucius and Arthur are set up as having a heated rivalry, and in the last chapter Harry points a finger at Lucius for dropping the diary into Ginny's cauldron in the book shop (Dobby is hinting this to him). It's implied Lucius was trying to embarrass Arthur by having his daughter have possession of the diary. It's not implied that Lucius was trying to open the chamber of secrets, that was a sort of unintentional bonus. I'm sure Lucius knew it was Riddle's diary, knew it was powerful and magically alluring, but I don't think he was expecting or hoping for the chamber to be opened, he just had an opportunity to pass off an object that was on him, and it was also an opportunity that he knew he could leverage later to embarrass the Weasleys, if not actively harm them. I'm not even sure if he would know it was a horcrux, I'll have to remember to pay attention to that in book 6/7 bc Voldemort might have been keeping that info on a need to know.

The more I write the more I'm remembering. Harry, once the diary was on him, could not stop thinking about it and could not chuck it. He was compelled to keep it. One has to assume that's part of it's magic, and Lucius knew that, therefore was willing to bet that an 11 year old girl would be compelled to use it, etc.

It's been poked fun at that Riddle's reveal that he's Voldemort is showing an anagram of his full name is the sentence "I AM LORD VOLDEMORT." I think it's pretty funny in an intentional way in the book bc Riddle is 15, and tells Harry he had been working on finding the chamber the entire time he was at Hogwarts, AND he's been amassing followers the entire time he's been there, AND he's been using the name for years. Does an edgy anagram of your name revealing you are LORD VOLDEMORT in a complete sentence not just scream edgy teenager?? I like it, it's a good detail idc lol. Lord Voldemort is living out his teenage manifesto, this is good to remember. His frontal lobe is not developing, he damages it with dark magic foolery. this can't be taken away from me now.

that's it for now I'll look up some lines from the book later that I liked.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Could you talk about the Statute of Secrecy? Or the Ministry’s corruption in General :)

Well, those are two different things. Given that I believe I have an ask floating somewhere in my inbox on the Statute, I suppose we’ll talk about the Ministry of Magic today.

I feel like this is such a broad topic though that I’m not quite sure where to start. I guess I’ll just throw spaghetti at the internet wall and see what sticks.

The Ministry is a Reflection of Society Who Never Admitted They Were the Death Eaters

In the ministry of Harry Potter’s era the Ministry is hopelessly corrupt and filled to the brim with spies (more on this in a later section). Lucius Malfoy, very high up in an unofficial capacity in the Ministry and owner of the Ministry’s mouth piece: The Daily Prophet, was a known Death Eater with a very flimsy excuse.

How is he even able to wield so much influence, you ask? Well, I think it’s not just because of Fudge picking the wrong friends.

I think most the population probably does believe Lucius Malfoy is innocent the way Fudge does. I think it’s a very small subsection, i.e. Dumbledore’s lackies, who go “Nah, ain’t buying it.” I think that, in 1981, when it came time to reveal just how many were Death Eaters and how far this went many people just couldn’t handle it.

Because it was to the point where the nation wasn’t battling Death Eaters, Death Eaters were the nation. Look at the members, these are and were the most influential and prominent families in the country, who combined hold a non-small minority of seats in the Wizengamot. More, these were only the participants, combine those who given anti-muggle and muggleborn sentiment (which I believe are pervasive even among those who claim they fight for the rights of muggles and muggleborns) and you get a nation that is suddenly facing a huge cultural issue that was never previously acknowledged.

We’re talking an entire purge of the Wizengamot, of the Ministry, of the major families and cornerstones of this society. The Black family is completely and utterly destroyed.

People were and remain throughout the 1990′s, desperate to believe it was not as bad as it was or isn’t as bad as it is. If Lucius Malfoy says he was never really a Death Eater then he was never really a Death Eater.

The Ministry is Lousy With Corruption and Spies

What’s hilarious to me is not only is the Ministry incompetent. It is positively flooded with spies. Given the ministry’s overbloated, it’s not even a sizeable minority of employees, but nonetheless every major department has at least one person (if not more) who works for somebody else.

Most work for Tom Riddle. He seems to have intelligence in every department. Through Lucius, who is working pretty much as an unofficial aide to Fudge, he has access to Fudge, complete control of the Daily Prophet, and a voice on the Hogwarts’ board of governors.

Through Rockwood, Tom has direct access to the Department of Mysteries which Lucius is then able to take full advantage of.

Lucius is able to set up an ambush in the Department of Mysteries, getting escaped convicts into the building with the none the wiser, and, had his sole purpose not been a prophecy that only Harry Potter and the Dark Lord can touch, he would have been able to take what he liked. (Though it was always odd to me that the plan was to get Harry Potter to do it, when the better solution would have been to polyjuice Tom Riddle into someone else, set up a tour with the department, and then Tom wanders off conveniently to pick up the prophecy. My theory, I suppose, is that chasing after the prophecy was mostly an exercise in punishing Lucius. And then Lucius fucked up.)

And of course, in book seven, Tom Riddle makes a puppet minister. Point being, to me, it always said a lot that in Book Seven Tom just sort of walks into the building and says, “I’m in charge now” and everyone says “okay”. There was no second Wizarding War, it was a bloodless coup that met zero resistance from anyone but angry school children. 

But that’s Tom’s spies, we also have other spies. Who am I talking about, Dumbledore’s folks of course.

Shacklebolt, Moody, Tonks, and Arthur Weasley are all spies, they just don’t have the introspection to even realize it (which really tells you something about the state of corruption in the ministry). They all work for the ministry, yes, but they in fact pass on information to and serve another master, whose goals do not always align with the government and was a hop skip and a jump away from overthrowing the government at any given moment.

And they don’t even really realize they’re doing this! There doesn’t even seem to be a thought of “I’m doing this for the greater good”, they don’t seem to acknowledge that what they’re doing is very very very bad. Arthur, in fact, is appalled when Percy refuses to do this (well, he’s upset for a lot of reasons, such as that he thinks Percy is spying on Arthur for the minister, but in there is also that Percy refuses to help out with the Order or follow Dumbledore without question). 

Harry paints the Dumbledore’s Army threat that Umbridge saw as something utterly ridiculous, but honestly if I was the ministry I would be worried about this. Dumbledore’s people have infiltrated the ministry just as deeply and badly as the Death Eaters, Dumbledore’s known for recruiting children into his vigilante organization, I don’t know what he’s doing with an army of schoolchildren but I can smell a coup coming.

Anyway, I’m getting off track, point being though that corruption is not only expected and accepted by the ministry, they cannot recognize what it even is. They’re at the point where paying bribes is allocated in their budget.

I Don’t Blame the Ministry For Not Thinking Tom Riddle Was Anti-Jesus

Fudge is designed to get a lot of flack for his outright denial that Voldemort had returned from the dead. He, and other denier characters, are meant to be fools with their heads in the sand who can’t see the obvious.

I ask what about it was obvious?

The only witness to Tom Riddle’s resurrection, Harry Potter, has a known history of erratic behavior.

The previous year, he’d performed illegal magic on his muggle aunt and run away from home. During the previous school year, Harry was revealed to be a parselmouth in a time when the Chamber of Secrets was presumably opened and the mystery was never fully solved (remember, that it was a possessed Ginny never comes to light for more than a few people.) Beyond that, since his first day of school, Harry is routinely in and out of detention, constantly out after curfew, and only seems to not be in serious trouble because he’s openly favored by Dumbledore (who gives him hundreds of points for breaking one of his school rules, during the Philosopher’s Stone fiasco in first year). In 1994, Harry is entered into the Tri-Wizard Tournament under very suspicious circumstances.

We know why all this happens to Harry but from the outside he looks like a delinquent. In fact, he kind of is a delinquent. 

Point being, the only witness is not only Harry Potter (who is already sketch) but it’s Harry Potter holding a dead body of a rival in the tournament.

And he’s claiming that a man who has been nearly fifteen years dead, a man who held the nation in terror and Harry Potter is beloved for destroying, has returned from the grave and conveniently murdered Cedric.

Why is Cedric dead? Well, you see, he and Harry both touched the goblet at the same time because they were going to share the reward. The goblet, a national treasure, was turned into a portkey so that Voldemort could kidnap him.

Why didn’t Voldemort just kidnap him at any other point during the year where he’s guaranteed not to get tag a longs or the wrong kid? Uh... VOLDEMORT IS BACK (for the record, I think it’s because Barty got hung up on the goblet scheme and was determined to ruin his father’s day.)

Where is Voldemort at this very moment? Being evil, somewhere, that is not right here. No, Harry has zero evidence this happened.

Frankly, I wouldn’t believe Harry either.

And when Dumbledore goes about promoting this as sound evidence that Tom Riddle has in fact returned, it starts to get even sketchier. Rather than sounding the alarm, Dumbledore is using this boy’s madness to stir the public into a panic that he, perhaps, plans to take advantage of.

After Dumbledore does that, I would suspect that, even if Harry does give me a memory of the graveyard scene that his head had been tampered with by Dumbledore.

And it’s so convenient that, of all the names Harry picked, it’s Voldemort who killed Cedric. It seems like a ploy to not only deflect the fact that he murdered Cedric but 

Harry’s very upset when some don’t take him at his word but Harry’s also a dumbass and a psychopath. He hates everyone who doesn’t agree with him.

More importantly, necromancy isn’t a thing in the Harry Potter universe. People don’t rise from the dead. Horcruxes exist, but they’re extremely rare, and it seems like no one ever really makes use of them.

So, yeah, not unreasonable that Fudge didn’t immediately go, “My god, Voldemort has risen from the dead! LIGHT THE BEACONS AND SUMMON ROHAN!”

So yeah, it’d take me seeing Voldemort waltzing through the Department Mysteries to go “... Goddammit, this man is more unkillable than Sheev Palpatine.”

After the Epilogue, I am Certain It’s Still the Same Damn Ministry

People hate the epilogue, but in a way, I love it, because it confirms many of my headcanons: these people don’t learn a goddamn thing.

Nothing in their society seems to have changed. Instead of one set of families holding all the power it’s now a new set of families and friends holding all the power. The difference being that they are now all in some way connected to Harry Potter.

Nepotism’s still the name of the game, we still see only human children boarding the Hogwarts Express so you know shit hasn’t changed for the goblins, Draco Malfoy’s alive and well and holds a position in the Ministry that Kingsly graciously allows him to have, it’s just now you have Hermione writing all your laws for you.

The Wizarding World is still the Wizarding World in every single capacity. The only difference is that Voldemort is dead again. Hooray.

Harry and friends simply don’t have the introspection to even realize it.

[k-s-morgan]

What He Grows to Be: Snippet 8

This snippet differs from others a bit because it's concerned with a specific arc more than with Tom and Harry. But that's why I picked it as without context and spoilers, strictly Harry-and-Tom scenes might start looking repetitive :D

----------------------------

Tom woke up in an excellent mood, the lines from Harry’s letter still dancing fresh in his memory. For a while, he stayed in his bed, mouthing them and enjoying the rush of pleasure doing so gave him. When he finally got up, he was met with tense faces of Lestrange, Black, and Mulciber. They were sitting on their beds silently, seemingly waiting for him to awake.

“What happened?” Tom asked sharply. His first irrational thought was that Harry got hurt, but rationality kicked in before panic spread, reminding him of how impossible the notion was. Even in the unlikely event that something happened, he’d be the first to feel it — in every sense of this word.

No one said anything. Instead, Lestrange gave him a newspaper. He looked so enraged that Tom was surprised he managed to stay silent.

The first thing he saw was a huge title with shaky letters: “The Heir of Slytherin — Or Is He?”

His heart twitched uncomfortably. Pursing his lips in preparation for what might be coming, Tom skimmed through the article.

Tom Slytherin is undoubtedly a rising star in the Wizarding Britain. His views are finding support among all kinds of wizards and witches, and that’s because he managed to occupy a middle ground between old pureblood ancestry and progressive pro-Muggle-born attitudes. An heir of Salazar Slytherin who believes in equality irrespective of one’s blood status; a prodigy in dark arts who became a vanquisher of the Dark Lord. Now he’s about to join the Ministry by taking a position that was crafted specifically for him. But is he really who he says he is?

Few of you know that Tom Slytherin was previously known as Tom Riddle. A half-blood himself, it’s barely surprising that he chose to appeal to both purebloods and Muggle-borns in his agenda to take power. His talks about equality and his claims that people grossly misinterpreted Salazar Slytherin’s beliefs are certainly inspiring, but are they true? Or is Tom Riddle a liar?

He can speak with snakes, that much is certain. It means that at least at some point, Tom Riddle’s bloodline was mixed with that of Salazar Slytherin. However, this alone does not give him the right to call himself his heir and even more, make statements about what Slytherin wanted and which ideals he supported. As reliable historical sources indicate, Slytherin built a Chamber of Secrets somewhere in Hogwarts for his heir to unseal. The question is, if Tom Riddle is indeed his heir, why hasn’t he done so yet? Where is the Chamber of Secrets and is the boy even aware of its existence? He told us that his knowledge about Slytherin’s true aims came from the unique books he has in his possession. Ignoring the fact that no one has ever seen these books personally, do they not mention anything about the Chamber? It doesn’t seem likely. In fact, it seems downright impossible. And if Tom Riddle lied about Slytherin’s beliefs to increase his popularity among the population, what else has he lied about?

No one has witnessed his alleged victory over Grindelwald. When asked to share his memories about it through the Pensieve, Tom Riddle refused. An anonymous source close to him confessed that the boy is highly manipulative and prone to exaggerations. He is indirectly linked to the murders of Charlus Potter and a Muggle woman who lived in his neighbourhood. So is he a hero? Or is he an impostor with delusions of grandeur who deceives everyone and ruthlessly disposes of people who do not support him?

One lie leads to another, and before you know it, Wizarding Britain will be ruled by a new Dark Lord who tricked us all by his alleged vague connection with Salazar Slytherin. Before giving him power, we have to find who he really is and what he is hiding.

“Dumbledore,” Tom said. His voice was toneless, but rage was trembling under his skin, trying to pour outside through his magic. “He’s behind this article.”

“Are you sure?” Mulciber frowned. “Why would he do this? He should be thrilled that his precious Muggle-borns are finally being treated with respect. All interviews you’ve given paint you as their supporter, so why would he—”

“Because he doesn’t trust Tom,” Lestrange snapped. He was pacing now, his face agitated. “The bastard always hated him — all of us. I just didn’t think his hatred would be stronger than his own hopes for equality.”

“Neither did I,” Tom replied distantly. His eyes went back to the article.

He’d been going out of his way to meet Harry’s ideals and shape his political aims around them. In many ways, Dumbledore’s ideals matched Harry’s. Mulciber was right, he should have been pleased to see them promoted. But Lestrange also had a point — Dumbledore’s reservations happened to be stronger. He must believe that Tom was playing a long-term game, and that as soon as he got the real power, he would reveal his true goals. Whatever Dumbledore imagined them to be, it must have been terrible enough to make him step up and try to tarnish Tom’s reputation.

“Is it true, though?” Black asked. Tom slowly looked up at him just as Lestrange whirled around in outrage.

“How can you even—” he started, but Black interrupted him.

“We never saw those books. We never really discussed the Chamber of Secrets. Do you know where it is, Tom?”

“I’ve visited it once,” Tom replied. He wasn’t lying — he saw the Chamber of Secrets in Harry’s memories. The only problem was that he had no idea how to enter it because Harry hadn’t trusted him with this information.

“You have?” Lestrange exclaimed. His ridiculously eager eyes lit up. “So you do know where it is!”

Mulciber began to grin. Black alone remained unmoved, watching him with furrowed brows.

Perhaps he sensed it was half-truth and was trying to understand what it could possibly mean. Black was smart, probably smarter than Lestrange and Mulciber combined — smarter than Tom had ever given him credit for. And right now, this was the last thing he needed. To have even his closest circle doubt him… just because Dumbledore felt threatened and wanted to be petty…

His rage darkened, turning into something vicious and vindictive. A hundred of possible counter-plans shot up in his mind, but they all crashed against one simple truth.

He had no clue where the Chamber of Secrets was. And now that the idea was planted in people’s heads, they would not let it go. He’d have to prove he knew its location or have everyone doubt him.

If Harry could just tell him…

No. He wasn’t going to bother Harry with it. What they had was more significant than any rumours or doubts that would circulate around him. Tom would rather be known as a liar and an impostor than risk stretching the trust he and Harry had been building all this time. If Harry wanted, he would tell him, but he wasn’t going to ask or rely on this possibility.

He’d have to find the Chamber by himself and make Dumbledore choke on his ‘anonymous’ testimony.

[immxrtalbi]

Tomarry Fic Rec: Politics Related

I saw @infinite-verse3 asking for some stories about politics fics so I checked in my bookmarks. Sadly you’re right about not enough about it... But yeah I found these!! I also put how much of politics it involves and etc., below as feedback <3 Also please read the tags carefully in the site. And don’t forget to comment and give love to these stories!!

Aconitum by VivyPotter (18k, Not Rated)

Merope Gaunt lived ten years longer, and everything changed. In which Harry Potter is a successful young Auror, trying to keep a crumbling relationship with his wife afloat. He and Ginny argue almost constantly, as they discover that their values do not entirely match up. Enter Tom Riddle: handsome owner of a flower shop on Knockturn Alley, who lends a willing ear to Harry’s woes. This is not as light and fluffy as it sounds. The Ministry is rife with corruption, the Muggleborn Registration is at peak popularity, and Lucius Malfoy is Minister for Magic. Harry is determined to get to the bottom of it- something has gone wrong here. Otherwise known as the flowershop AU that spiralled.

8/10 in politics. This story is chilling and downright good. I’m sure everyone at least heard or read about this story once. Tom in his finest *chefs kiss*

Everything's Fine in the Beast Division by Merrinpippy (15k, T)

Harry's lifelong ambition is to become an auror, but as his knowledge of Dangerous Beasts is somewhat lacking, Newt Scamander agrees to take him on as an apprentice. Contrary to the Weasley twins' predictions that Harry would die of boredom, Harry finds his time at the Ministry very interesting, and befriending the very attractive Tom Riddle doesn't hurt at all- in fact, quite the opposite.

7/10 in politics. This was a super cute story! And I love that Newt and other characters are there. Falling in love, protective Tom. Great bits!

Wizengamot Administration Services by under_that_sun (10k, T)

Tom became a politician rather than a Dark Lord, but still has small Dark, more underground following. Harry is a new intern in the Ministry who captures Tom's eye.

10/10 in politics. Really good story. AU where Tom isn’t darklord but stills rules the Ministry like an iron fist. Perfect. And hard worker intern Harry bonus.

What We May Be by darklordtomarry (alarminghella) (20k, T)

The pureblood nobility are known as the Sacred 27 and they have ruled magical Britain without a monarch for centuries. Lord Thomas Slytherin has appeared out of nowhere with a strong claim to the throne; he has aroused the interest of the nation, and of Harry Potter; A seventh year Slytherin who occasionally works as an information broker. Like everyone else Harry wants to know more about Lord Slytherin, but will he like what he discovers?

9/10 in politics. This is a series but I only read part one so far. Harry is smart and troublesome and Tom is intrigued. The I-want-you-by-my-side sold it to me, also Harry acts like a detective!

Growing Old With You by Batsutousai (28k, T)

A chance meeting between a Hogwarts student and the Minister for Magic spirals into a love story that the tabloids adore, while those involved are just trying to figure out how they actually fit together.

4/10 in politics. Soulmates and age difference and a bunch of family drama because of that. Poor Tom dealing with everything. I found myself laughing in some scenes.

Don't Fuck With Florists (They'll Fuck You Up) by MayMarlow (14k, T)

Unsatisfied with his post-war life, Harry decides to get to the root of all of his problems when that root was still working at Borgin and Burkes shop in the late 40s. He’s the Master of Death, damn it, he can do what he wants for once in his life.

Tom Riddle isn’t particularly happy about working at a small, dingy shop for magical artifacts, no matter how interesting those artifacts are. He’s even less happy when an insufferable stranger sets up the most obnoxious flower shop right across the street.

What follows would be a romantic comedy, if it weren’t for politics.

10/10 in politics. Tom and Harry are store rivals basically and try to ruin each other somehow. They bicker a lot about politics and Harry is great in this fic! 

Custodarium by Tina48 (73k, E)

Have you been missing a time travel Tomarry where Harry and Tom are on somewhat equal footing? Where Tom is a plausible budding political leader? Where Harry can stand up to him and their relationship doesn’t seem toxic? Where the surrounding events and characters don’t go unnoticed? I have, so I gave writing one a try.

“The war is over and the Wizarding Britain has been slowly rising from the ashes. Harry just wishes none of it ever happened – what will he do when he’s given a chance to change the past? Was Dumbledore right about “the power he knows not” after all?“

5/10 in politics. One of the first stories I read! And this was an emotional rollercoaster. The storyline goes in different directions from time to time but overall it’s a good fic to start with!

Backwards Thinking by this_bright_eyed_soul (32k, E)

Harry Potter has an empty feeling after he wins the war, and turns to the memories of one Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr for something to do. He soon finds an interest - he doesn't belong in this timeline now he's fulfilled the prophecy, and is out to seek a new friend, who will soon become a little more than that...

4/10 in politics. I like that Harry was on Tom’s side and both fall in love. Tom is hurting in the inside and only Harry can it. Some emotional moments.

Sweetbrier by SofiaBane (15k, Not Rated)

Tom Riddle is a Wizengamot member sent to audit Hogwarts in the transition after Dumbledore's death. Harry is an Auror assigned to provide his security. Also, nobody knows they're exes.

10/10 in politics. Great details about Wizengamot and Ministry. Also Tom cares more about his career which Harry hates. Exes to friends to back together. Love it!

Office Romance by thebrighteststar10 (17k, Not Rated)

The CEO of Morsmordre, Tom Riddle, is one of the richest men in the world. Oh, and he's a workaholic. Despite such fact, the new head of IT manages to seize the man's attention.

2/10 in politics. Nothing with politics but it’s an office fic. And a funny cute one! Tom becomes obsessed and possessive with Harry because of his attitude. Tom tries to get his attention but it backfires on him. Harry is oblivious and Tom is shitty at showing love and it’s hilarious 

[lunarfly]

Essay: H/Hr cheek kiss and its significance

UNPOPULAR OPINION

I really like the way the Harmione cheek kiss is phrased.

Many people say it was a "flop reaction" but I actually really like it. Of course it isn't the same as his kiss with Ginny, that was a full on kiss while the kiss in GoF is just a cheek kiss. And yet even this simple cheek kiss is so beautiful to me.

Let's take a look:

Uncle Vernon was waiting beyond the barrier. Mrs. Weasley was close by him. She hugged Harry very tightly when she saw him and whispered in his ear, “I think Dumbledore will let you come to us later in the summer. Keep in touch, Harry.”

“See you, Harry,” said Ron, clapping him on the back.

“’Bye, Harry!” said Hermione, and she did something she had never done before, and kissed him on the cheek.

“Harry — thanks,” George muttered, while Fred nodded fervently at his side.

Harry winked at them, turned to Uncle Vernon, and followed him silently from the station. There was no point worrying yet, he told himself, as he got into the back of the Dursleys’ car.

As Hagrid had said, what would come, would come . . . and he would have to meet it when it did.

First of all, I'd like to note that he was standing in front of the whole Weasley family so it wasn't a moment that he shared alone with Hermione. This means that this kiss was displayed in front of a few people.

To me it feels like a parallel to the Harry/Ginny first kiss (such a magical first kiss tbh) where Harry sees Ginny running towards him and he doesn't care about anything, he forgets everything and everyone when he sees her and just kisses her.

We see a somewhat similar scenario with Harry/Hermione. Harry's just given his money to the twins and now he's saying goodbye to everyone. Mrs Weasley hugs him, Ron claps him on the back and then Hermione comes in. She says goodbye, just like Ron, obviously she isn't going to clap him on the back but there's still something she wants to do, something that means more than just a goodbye. And even though there's people who are watching her and Harry(at least the Weasleys, they're not saying bye to each other so they most probably have their eyes on them), she can't stop herself from leaning in and kissing him on his cheek.

It isn't phrased exactly like that, but that's just the impression you'd get when you look at the text closely. Everything happens so fast.

This cheek kiss is especially cute and meaningful when it's put in context. Just think about it. Think about all that Harry's been through this year, especially recently. He had to fight through the third task, see Krum possessed, witness Cedric dying, unwillingly take part in the ritual to bring Voldemort back, see all death eaters line up in front of him and almost get killed by Voldemort. That's a lot of damage. And after all of this, he is being sent back to the Dursleys', knowing he is going to get no emotional support, he's only going to feel like an outcast. Harry knows he will have to face it.

As Hagrid had said, what would come, would come . . . and he would have to meet it when it did.

Ron and Hermione see all of this. They may not really understand what he's going through, but they both know he's going to need their support and they want to cheer him up. That's the context of the cheek kiss. That's what makes it so sweet and important.

Molly cheers Harry up by telling him that they might be able to see him later during summer, she gives him something to look forward to, to be excited about.

Hermione gives Harry exactly what he needs by kissing him on the cheek, shocking him by doing something she had never done before, making sure this was something he would remember, something that would cheer him up and give him hope.

See what I mean when I say this is a beautiful moment?

But that's not all. I still haven't gotten into the way this is phrased. This isn't a boring or "flop" reaction, even if it's not described like "blissful oblivion".

Let's read closely:

“’Bye, Harry!” said Hermione, and she did something she had never done before, and kissed him on the cheek.

Harry mentions that Hermione kisses his cheek, which isn't surprising, he points out everything that happens. But what is surprising is how he pays attention to this kiss and how he reacts to it.

He could've just said something like:

“’Bye, Harry!” said Hermione and kissed him on the cheek.

Or even:

“’Bye, Harry!” said Hermione and, surprisingly, kissed him on the cheek.

Just to indicate that this kiss wasn't something he expected at all.

But no.

This left such a big impression on Harry that he’s thinking about it more than he should be. He’s shocked and the way this is said is so beautiful. It’s as if this kiss just made him think about all of their previous interactions and made him realize that kissing him was something that Hermione had never done before, ever. And this reaction is phrased perfectly because we get to see it explicitly from Harry’s mind. It’s not only surprising, it’s also making him think about his relationship with Hermione, realizing that she has taken a step forward. 

That’s another thing I really like about the phrase.

Hermione did something she had never done before. It indicates many things, one of which being that Harry was left shocked about it and thought about it enough to realize this was something new. And another thing being that this is something new. This is something Hermione has never done before and now she has done it. Their relationship is growing. Something was stopping her from doing it before (maybe she felt like they weren’t close enough or she simply never even thought about it) but now she has taken this step. They’ve entered a new stage. She’s opened the gate to an even stronger relationship. It’s like this kiss was something that has brought them closer and bonded them like never before. 

I tried analyzing this phrase as much as I could while also keeping everything canon-based without bringing in headcanons and my imagination. Now ask youself the question, is this phrase really such a disappointment?

I’d like to happily inform you that this essay isn’t over yet. I’ve only analyzed Harry’s reactions. What about Hermione?

This gets a little tricky because the books are written from Harry’s point of view, not Hermione’s. But there’s still something we can make out of the breadcrumbs we have.

I’ve already pointed out that when Hermione kissed Harry’s cheek in front of so many people, she was most probably feeling a similar way to Harry when he kissed Ginny in front of the whole Gryffindor common room in HBP (In Harry/Hermione’s case, the Weasleys were watching but let’s not forget that there are always eyes on the boy-who-lived and they were at the train station! I think it’s safe to assume that at least 5-7 people were watching them). 

But I haven’t talked about what Hermione felt after she kissed Harry.

I personally think Hermione would be just as shocked as Harry, thinking about what she had just done. She kissed Harry’s cheek while quite a few people were watching! She’d be so surprised by her own self. But this is just a personal headcanon of mine, there’s no indication to this in the text whatsoever.

Back to canon, this kiss is the last time Hermione is mentioned in GoF, so we don’t know about how she felt. We only see Harry’s reaction to it, we have no information about Hermione and her feelings. So we’ll have to use a different text to guide us. 

Since this is their last interaction before having to be separated for months, and especially because this moment is a strong and emotional one, I expect this is something they’d think a lot about and they’d remember each other this way. This is the last thing they said to each other, the last time they were in contact. Harry spent a lot of time thinking about Ron and Hermione over the summer and the kiss was the last interaction he had with Hermione, so this would definitely cross his mind. The same thing would happen with Hermione. 

Since we’re talking about summer, let’s use OotP to guide us. 

We don’t learn much from Ron and Hermione’s letters, but we can gather quite a lot of information from their first interactions after months of not seeing each other, their last interaction being this memorable cheek kiss.

Here’s the scene I’m talking about:

He caught a brief glimpse of a gloomy high-ceilinged, twin-bedded room, then there was a loud twittering noise, followed by an even louder shriek, and his vision was completely obscured by a large quantity of very bushy hair — Hermione had thrown herself onto him in a hug that nearly knocked him flat, while Ron’s tiny owl, Pigwidgeon, zoomed excitedly round and round their heads.

“HARRY! Ron, he’s here, Harry’s here! We didn’t hear you arrive! Oh, how are you? Are you all right? Have you been furious with us? I bet you have, I know our letters were useless — but we couldn’t tell you anything, Dumbledore made us swear we wouldn’t, oh, we’ve got so much to tell you, and you’ve got to tell us — the dementors! When we heard — and that Ministry hearing — it’s just outrageous, I’ve looked it all up, they can’t expel you, they just can’t, there’s provision in the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Sorcery for the use of magic in life-threatening situations —”

 “Let him breathe, Hermione,” said Ron, grinning, closing the door behind Harry. He seemed to have grown several more inches during their month apart, making him taller and more gangly looking than ever, though the long nose, bright red hair, and freckles were the same.

 Hermione, still beaming, let go of Harry, but before she could say another word there was a soft whooshing sound and something white soared from the top of a dark wardrobe and landed gently on Harry’s shoulder.

Wow.

The first thing to note here is how Hermione shrieked. She literally screamed out of excitement. That is already a big and obvious clue that Hermione was thinking a lot about Harry and hoping to see him. 

And then she hugs him. More enthusiastically than ever before. She nearly knocks him flat! 

“Hermione freaks out a bit when she sees Harry. Like she'd been holding her breath. She'd obviously missed him and had been incredibly worried about him. [...] She'd been waiting all summer to speak to him and when she saw him, it was like she just needed to ramble away everything that she'd been wanting to say to him. Harry, despite his obvious animosity, couldn't help but be happy to see her.“ - this quote is taken from here.

The most interesting part is that even after this overwhelming hug and speech, she still doesn’t let go of Harry until Ron ‘reminds’ her to “let him breathe”. She holds onto him for as long as possible.

All of this: the shriek, the hug, the speech, the desire for physical contact is clearly showcasing that Hermione missed him more than ever and she has established an even stronger bond with Harry, so strong that she can’t stop feeling as excited as ever when seeing him. 

Compare to the previous years:

CoS:

“Lousy Muggles,” growled Hagrid. “If I’d’ve known —” 

“Harry! Harry! Over here!” 

Harry looked up and saw Hermione Granger standing at the top of the white flight of steps to Gringotts. She ran down to meet them, her bushy brown hair flying behind her. 

“What happened to your glasses? Hello, Hagrid — Oh, it’s wonderful to see you two again — Are you coming into Gringotts, Harry?” 

“As soon as I’ve found the Weasleys,” said Harry. 

“Yeh won’t have long ter wait,” Hagrid said with a grin. 

Harry and Hermione looked around: Sprinting up the crowded street were Ron, Fred, George, Percy, and Mr. Weasley.

PoA:

Harry woke on the last day of the holidays, thinking that he would at least meet Ron and Hermione tomorrow, on the Hogwarts Express. He got up, dressed, went for a last look at the Firebolt, and was just wondering where he’d have lunch, when someone yelled his name and he turned. 

“Harry! HARRY!” 

They were there, both of them, sitting outside Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor — Ron looking incredibly freckly, Hermione very brown, both waving frantically at him. 

“Finally!” said Ron, grinning at Harry as he sat down. “We went to the Leaky Cauldron, but they said you’d left, and we went to Flourish and Blotts, and Madam Malkin’s, and —”

GoF:

Mr. Weasley hesitated. Harry could tell that, however angry he was with Fred and George, he hadn’t really intended to tell Mrs. Weasley what had happened. There was a silence, while Mr. Weasley eyed his wife nervously. Then two girls appeared in the kitchen doorway behind Mrs. Weasley. One, with very bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth, was Harry’s and Ron’s friend, Hermione Granger. The other, who was small and red-haired, was Ron’s younger sister, Ginny. Both of them smiled at Harry, who grinned back, which made Ginny go scarlet — she had been very taken with Harry ever since his first visit to the Burrow.

Hermione and Harry are always excited to see each other, but never like in OotP. Their relationship really has grown, they have bonded even more and now they're as close as never before.

The phrasing of the kiss and the scene in OotP has made it obvious. The cheek kiss is a turning point in Harry and Hermione's relationship and they both realize this.

That is the significance of the cheek kiss. But enough about the emotions, reactions and changes, what about the visual side of this scene? Take this paragraph as a fun bonus because we were robbed from this absolutely adorable scene in the movies.

The scene takes place at the train station. This place is so loud and chaotic.

The rest of the journey passed pleasantly enough; Harry wished it could have gone on all summer, in fact, and that he would never arrive at King’s Cross . . . but as he had learned the hard way that year, time will not slow down when something unpleasant lies ahead, and all too soon, the Hogwarts Express was pulling in at platform nine and three-quarters. The usual confusion and noise filled the corridors as the students began to disembark. Ron and Hermione struggled out past Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, carrying their trunks. Harry, however, stayed put.

[…]

He left the compartment before they could say another word, stepping over Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who were still lying on the floor, covered in hex marks.

Mrs Weasley and Ron say goodbye to Harry.

Then Hermione approaches, says goodbye and suddenly kisses his cheek!

As we know from the quote, this is something "she has never done before" so Harry is clearly surprised.

I love imagining Hermione kissing Harry's cheek and then Harry having a surprised, confused and thoughtful expression on his face.

I'm not sure if Harry and Hermione's height difference is mentioned at all in GoF and I'm too tired to research so I can't say if Hermione went on tiptoes or not. I would like it if she did though. :)

All of this quickly vanishes as Fred and George thank Harry and say goodbye and Harry's thoughts shift to the Dursleys...

I wish we had seen this beautiful scene in the movies. If you wish to truly understand the depths of characters and relationships, you should really read the books. This scene is a great demonstration of that.

This marks the end of the essay! To finish it off, I'm going to present my post-kiss headcanons! :D

Hermione being amazed and surprised by herself and thinking about how she had just kissed him

Harry thinking about the cheek kiss during the summer

Hermione having to go on her toes to kiss Harry's cheek (not really post-kiss but still)

Harry feeling cheerful after this kiss

Hermione slightly blushing after kissing his cheek

Some first-year Hogwarts student seeing this kiss and telling all of his/her friends about it

Hermione feeling much more comfortable with establishing physical contact with Harry after this

That's all! I tried my best to analyze this scene, the phrasing and the significance of this moment in full detail. It took my quite a few hours to write but I'm very proud of it. Feel free to express your opinions on this. Thank you! ~ Lia.

[bongwater-supreme]

JK Rowling is obsessed with toilets, a non-exhaustive list:

- In the first book, we have the infamous scene of the troll terrorising a young girl in the girls bathroom. Note the phallic symbol of the troll’s club, and the way it is eventually used to defeat it. Rowling’s implication: amab people are slaves to their genitals but also vulnerable because of them.

- in the second book, there’s the whole subplot about making polyjuice potion in the girls bathroom, leading up to a scene where two boys disguise their identities in said girls bathroom. Note how hermione wasn’t allowed to change her appearance to that of another human in this scene, and is therefore not included in the deception. Rowling’s Implication: bathrooms are a place of disguise and deceit, which leads to the harm of women

- in this book there’s also the whole reveal about the chamber of secrets being hidden below the girls bathroom, with an evil monster lurking beneath and terrorising women in their safe space, even killing one. Note the phallic symbolism of a giant snake. (Also related is the grooming of a young girl by the villain in order to possess her, use her body, and drag her into the secret bathroom tunnel.) Rowling’s implication: bathrooms are unsafe for women so long as the phallic threat remains

- the only unisex bathroom we see in the books is in the 4th book, in the form of the prefects bathroom. It is here where moaning Myrtle (the ghost of a girl who was coincidentally murdered in a bathroom by the giant snake & future groomer) spies on the protagonist while he bathes, and sexually harasses him. It is also heavily implied she does this often to the prefects who come in here too. Rowling’s Implication: unisex spaces are dangerous and leave one open to harassment and sexualisation

- in the 5th book we find out that the main way into the ministry of magic is via a toilet, into which one must flush oneself. Rowling’s Implication: toilets are a portal to secrets, power and control.

- in the 6th book we get the Harry/Draco bathroom fight scene, which might seem like a step away from the symbolism of bathrooms so far in the series. However, in this scene, Harry discovers the disturbing outcome of the spell he’s been wanting to try for a large portion of the book, and almost kills Draco. Note the phallic symbolism of the wands, too. Rowling’s Implication: bathrooms are a place of horrific discovery and violence at the hands of phallic objects. This book also has the whole hidden identity theme, and it is later revealed that this scene is where Snape (mr secret identity) realises Harry has his book, and potentially evidence of his teenage alias.

- lastly there’s also Rowling’s post-canon assertion that prior to the advent of modern plumbing, all witches and wizards relieved themselves where they stood and then magicked away the mess. This is “natural” in opposition to the concealment of bathrooms. Rowling’s Implication: bathrooms are places of hiding and unnatural behaviour.

This is just what I could think of off the top of my head, but it’s beyond clear that this woman has a very serious preoccupation with toilets and the inhabitants of them, especially when it comes to men and those she views as men. It’s not surprising, given all this, that she is a raging transphobe, and honestly we all should have seen this sooner. It also goes to show that her bigotry cannot be extricated from her writing, as the two are very closely intertwined.

Fuck jkr, fuck transphobia, fight for trans rights

[sayruq]

Hi! I read a post of yours where you said that you think Harry and Jinny’s story is a weirdly written lust. I would love to read your elaborate take on them(I’m neutral towards the pair, and genuinely enjoy your meta)

essentially, we’re only shown (and told) harry’s physical attraction to ginny and nothing else. there’s the infamous chest monster (which was very absent when harry had a crush on jo) which might indicate that harry has grown to love ginny ig but it’s mostly about his jealousy and attraction. the book notes that ginny is considered attractive by the others, she’s really Cool, the teachers take a shine to her in a manner similar to harry, she enjoys the same thing harry does (quidditch), and she takes harry’s side on several occasions. she even brings up her possession from years ago for harry’s sake and not so that she could discuss her trauma at length (that would make harry uncomfortable and ginny is not allowed to make harry anything other than a weasley). the heavy emphasis on how ginny is perceived by the other students and harry’s friends makes it look like she’s some sort of price for harry to win rather than harry’s soulmate.

jkr spends a lot more time on harry’s attraction to ginny and she skips over the things that good romance should contain. we know that harry has wet dreams about ginny but we don’t see him spend time around her in the burrow. it’s only later that we learn that harry knows what her shampoo smells like. harry’s relationship with dean gets weird but we’re not even shown ginny’s relationship with dean so we can compare it to her eventual relationship with harry. we know ginny and dean make out in hidden places, harry and ginny like to do the same thing. oh and dean likes helping ginny out which she really does not like, i guess harry doesn’t have that flaw. that’s it. two shallow relationships with only one difference. compelling stuff to include in the penultimate book of the series.

jkr could have easily fleshed out ginny and the relationship but instead she changed ginny’s personality in book 5 and 6 so she only had traits harry would like and put the two of them together. there wasn’t even romantic tension throughout the books. no one was really waiting to see if harry and ginny would get together, the pining was minimal and added as though it was an afterthought in the form of a ‘chest monster.’ she did very little to create chemistry between them, whatever banter was there was very forgettable, it was a very weak version of harry and ron’s conversations. do you know why? because jkr does not bother to write harry and ginny spending time together, getting to know each other, having fun. they rarely had one and one scenes in the entire series. their conversations are short and not meaningful. you don’t get the sense that these are two people baring their souls to one another, you don’t get the sense that they’re in love. ginny has had a crush on harry since before she met him because he killed voldemort as a baby and harry thinks it’s neat that ron’s sister is a female version of him.

even in the play, ginny is just there as a supportive wife. harry’s primary relationships are with his best friends. it took one (smaller) book for jkr to establish that iconic friendship. you know how she did it? she treated ron and hermione like independent characters and she gave all three of them meaningful interactions throughout the book and not just to advance the plot. these interactions not only fleshed out their characters, they fleshed out their relationship. those kids were 11 and they were willing to die for each other and it was believable. harry and ginny fought together in the ministry (with not one battle couple moment) and it changed nothing. ginny becoming super hot and desirable did more to advance that romantic subplot than the two of them having voldemort in their heads at one point. ginny’s relationship with luna is more genuine, well paced and developed than her supposed soulmate. 

this is why their breakup didn’t even matter. it was a thing that happened after the biggest plot twist of the series so far. how could anyone feel sad about a relationship that was short and that apparently only featured make out sessions? seriously, harry kisses ginny towards the end of the books, we get like one conversation that features other characters, that is all about people’s reactions to harry snagging a Cool Girl, a brief mention of all kissing they do these days, and then they break up. in the next book, ginny gets harry to come up to her room so they can kiss again and she cries while harry waxes poetry about how Cool she is about emotions and such girly things. then he gets weird about ginny marrying another guy, and then he watches her through the map because jkr couldn’t think of any other way of showing us how much harry misses ginny. meanwhile ginny does Cool stuff that harry used to do and she’s suspicious of cho’s intentions (wow nice trusting relationship you two have). then harry has a bunch of traumatic shit happen to him and he sees ginny in the aftermath and thinks, ‘there’s time for that later,’ before he goes off to share information and process what happened to him with his real soulmates.

i honestly feel like jkr was just checking off a list: give harry the family he never had and make harry a weasley. the only way she could do that is make harry weirdly attracted to ginny.

[starlingflight]

Why Ginny fell in love with Harry? His personality and morality he's funny, humble, determined, selfless, powerful, generous, brave, strong, fearless, independent, smart, passionate and dedicated to his friends and love ones and extraordinary amazing person.

She had an crush on the boy who lived but fell in love with Harry Potter himself.

Many say she's perfect for Harry ( which is true) but people forget how perfect Harry is for Ginny. What's yours thoughts about this?

I thought about this a lot before I wrote my first Hinny fic. One of the side effects of Harry being the protagonist of the series is that his potential love interests get dissected in a way which he typically doesn’t, so I had to spend some time considering the reason why Ginny would still like Harry after she grew out of her childhood crush. 

Firstly, they have the shared connection of having had Voldemort in their mind. There’s a reason Ginny reminding Harry of this is seen as a turning point in their relationship. Both Harry and Ginny had their childhoods destroyed at a young age because of Voldemort and have an intimate understanding of the way he operates and how his actions can affect you in a deeply personal way, that none of the other characters have. 

Secondly, there’s the ways in which their personalities complement each other. They have the obvious shared sense of humour, which goes both ways in their relationship - we see it during the tattoo scene in HBP where Harry sets Ginny up for her joke and the dozens of shared looks that are sprinkled throughout the series between them.  

There’s also the fact that Harry is a bit oblivious, which I think suits Ginny really well. She breaks up with Dean because she was fed up with him helping her through the portrait hole (I’m sure there were other reasons, but I’m sticking to canon here). Harry is a bit awkward when it comes to romance, he’s not going to try and shield you from a puddle or idk, open a jam jar for you in an attempt to be a good boyfriend because it just wouldn’t enter his mind to act that way, which is good because Ginny is too independent to be happy with someone like that. 

Harry never treats her like a helpless girl either, which is important to Ginny given she’s grown up with six older brother’s that wouldn’t even let her play Quidditch with them. Even when he sees her put her elbow in the butter dish in COS he just ignores it. Her crush on him is so obvious as to be painful, but Harry never once treats her any different to any of her brothers. The closest he comes is in OotP when he doesn’t want her to come to the Ministry but even then he relents and he doesn’t want Neville to come either, so it’s got nothing to do with her gender (I know he doesn’t want her to fight in the final battle but by that  point I think Ginny understands it’s got nothing to do with her ability and everything to do with Harry’s feelings for her which is why she stops arguing with just one look from him in the Room of Requirement). 

Another factor you have to take into consideration when judging who is perfect for Ginny (imo) is her temper. I love Ginny, she's tied for my favourite character along with Harry, but the girl can be mean sometimes. We see it in the fight with Ron in HBP and the scene where she sticks up for Harry to Hermione after the Sectumsempra - she has a knack of knowing exactly what to say to hit someone the hardest in an argument. Harry has an incredible ability to forgive people for saying horrible things in the middle of a fight (Ron in GOF & DH). Ginny needs someone who can handle that side of her - this is why I don’t think Ginny and Neville would EVER work. 

Then there’s simply the qualities Harry possesses that Ginny values and would undoubtedly attract her to him. He’s kind, just like Ginny is - Luna notes that Ginny is the person who sticks up for her in HBP when people call her Loony and Ginny was really happy that Harry had asked Luna to Slughorn’s party - even when Ron thought he’d gone mad. He’s brave and determined, much like Ginny and they have shared interests like Quidditch (and defeating the forces of evil). 

I’m so sorry, I’m sure you didn’t want an essay response to this question, and I feel like I have a bunch more points but I’m trying to restrain myself! 

Thank you for my first ask! :)