Latest Posts by mikailakay - Page 5

You seem to assume that Harry already had a fully formed identity as a toddler or an inherent essence embedded into his soul that defines him regardless of how his environment shaped him. That is simply not true. That’s not how human personalities and behavior develop in real life. Due to the significant differences in Lily’s and Harry’s lives and upbringings, it’s clear to me that these two couldn't be more different in terms of personality and how their minds interacted with the world. While they might share some surface-level traits, such as stubbornness, a sense of justice, and martyrdom, these traits do not tell us who a person actually is, and that applies to Lily and Harry as well. These traits could easily be present in other individuals who still act in opposite ways and could also manifest completely differently in both Lily and Harry.

What makes a full personality is the interplay of traits within the context of a person’s behavioral patterns, decision-making, worldview, relationships, emotional processes, problem-solving, and more. So while I agree that the narrative suggests Lily and Harry share some surface-level traits that are unique to them and distinguish them from others, I also believe these traits manifest differently in each of them and that their full personalities and mental processes function in very different ways. Comparing them symbolically makes sense, but comparing them individually does not.

harry potter is NOT james potter.

I love parallels. I love people reminding others of those they've lost along the way.

But Harry Potter is not James . And that is so vital to his entire character.

When people see Harry, they see James. They see a James who sees the world through Lily's eyes. When they see Harry, they don't see Harry.

And that is so vital to his entire being. It's vital to how people see Harry. The people that didn't know James, see the Boy-Who-Lived.

The people who did, who were close to Harry, to James, to Lily. They see James and Lily Potter. They see the people who died, people they were close to, people they miss every day but will never see again.

Remus, Sirius, Snape, McGonagall.

At first, they see James and Lily. And then when they meet him - apart from Snape- they quickly realise he is anything but.

Harry is not arrogant, rich, spoilt. He doesn't have an ego, he doesn't play pranks, he isn't a chaser, he doesn't pick fights.

Harry isn't exceptionally bright at everything he does, he isn't inconceivably forgiving for those who don't deserve it.

He is not Lily and James.

When peole write Harry as a golden retriever, as effortlessly good at everything, they aren't writing about Harry.

Harry who grew up not wanted. Harry who grew up believing something was wrong with him. Harry who was forced into the wizarding world with no knowledge. Harry who is as stubborn as a mule,. Harry who is loyal to a fault, who forgives those he loves, Harry who isn't his parents.

He has traits of them, their anger, their ability to love, and much much more.

BUT Harry Potter isn't them. He isn't the 'best of them both' he isn't James or Lily or Sirius or Regulus.

Harry Potter is Harry. Just Harry.

And that is why he doesn't get along ith Snape. That's why McGonagall believes Harry dragged Neville out for a joke in first year.

When people see Harry, they don't see Harry. And by writing Harry as somebody else, or as 'so-and-so's child' you're not doing the character justice.

'I want a complex character with complex relationships'

'i want an angry character'

'i want to read a book that makes me think'

you couldn't even handle Harry Potter.

I need people to stop thinking that enjoying morally bad characters and ships makes people a morally questionable person themselves. Like, stop. I hope you are not a 13-year-old child but a mature individual that should know that fictional worlds have a completely different impact on a person's mind and how it engages with it compared to real life and real-world consequences. I need people to understand this and stop being weird.

Do y'all know what is more scary than people who ship Sam with Dean, who are literally brothers?

PEOPLE WHO SHIP VOLDEMORT AND HARRY POTTER. WHAT THE ACTUAL F**K IS WRONG WITH YOU FREAKS!!? 😠😭

For me, it’s all the popular ones in the current fandom. They all create a version of Sirius that feels sanitized of his complex original traits. I don’t have an issue with the fics themselves—they’re great contributions to fan writing—but I take issue when fans are so influenced by these characterizations that canon appreciation gets sidelined.

I love reading fics, so it frustrates me that so much focus in this fandom is placed on these fanon versions, and that the popular fanfictions available often feature these portrayals. Most fics you find now include them. I wish more people writing Marauders fics would focus on canon. I’d even read a Jegulus fic if it portrayed the characters well. I just find it strange that this fandom has such a huge divide in how it interprets its characters. It feels weird to completely strip them of their personalities but still call them the same names.

How do they think Sirius Black is portrayed in fanon?

Who is this referencing? Crimson Rivers Sirius or Choices Sirius? ATYD Sirius or TCOPTP Sirius? Only The Brave Sirius or KYD Sirius?

I don't really understand.

It's like a cult who creates an imaginary enemy and fights them with wooden swords. Or the enemy is children. It's worrying. I hope they get well.

yield and have fun

every time I read a paragraph that describes harry x voldy/tom...

like it's straight up begging to be explored. why is it so pretty. why is the ship so freaking disgustingly beautiful? why are they intertwined in every possible way? literally sharing blood and soul??? you guys are enemies, why are you so intimate??? It's giving they do not want to be soulmates but they are. they are literally each other's demise. why do they fuckin parellel despite being so different. like what the fuckkk

and the fact that there's no other HP/mauraders ship that could canonically have their vibes?? Like you have to make shit up to be on their level??

but no I will stay strong. I will hold on to my crippling morals. I will not be tempted...I will not..I will not....

Their relationship deteriorated because it was full of miscommunication. They just had these expectations and views of each other that were never fulfilled, I suppose. They couldn’t understand each other, and that was the main problem. Snape probably idealized Lily, while Lily didn’t understand Snape, so she couldn’t see why he kept hurting her in her eyes. They loved the idea of having a best friend, but I don’t think they ever truly knew each other. What kept Lily coming back was nostalgia, safety, and probably shared interests.

I absolutely hate the whole 'snape loved lily' plot twist. People often equate it to the way Sirius still loved and missed james years after his death and went to insane lengths to protect his son, but tht was so not the case with snily.

Coz snape and lily had such a toxic, imperfect relationship in canon, but instead of treating it tht way it was never addressed. It wud hv been so interesting to explore this, but the series just doesn't.

Both of them r awful friends to each other. Snape's faults r obviously pretty clear (aiming to join a terrorist group tht believes ppl lyk his friend shouldn't be alive...yea tht doesn't need to be mentioned twice lol). Don't get me wrong, lily was completely right to cut Snape off, but it wasn't lyk she was a good friend even before tht. Can u ever imagine Ron or Hermione almost smiling if Draco was exposing Harry's underpants to a crowd of jeering students? Nope. They wud throw hands, period. Can u imagine any of the marauders doing tht to each other? (their internal dynamics might not be the healthiest but they wudnt stand for it if an outsider bullied their friends). Absolutely not. Coz it's not about these characters, it's just... not how u react when ur 'friend' is getting tormented (or anyone else for tht matter, but friend in this context specifically). Also can u imagine Ron or Hermione relying on school rumours saying tht Draco saved Harry's life without asking Harry about his version of the event first? Nope. Can u see what I'm getting at here?

Lily wasn't even a good friend to Snape to begin with, but he loved her until the end (irrespective of whether u want to see it as romantic or platonic). Now, I cud buy the narrative tht lily was the only person who was ever kind to him and thts y he clung on to her, but thts not how canon sees it. The source material doesn't address the nuances of this relationship in any meaningful way other than 'snape loved lily and tht is y he switched sides'.

Which is y the reason he switches sides, and his continued love for lily until he dies at 38 seems sort of shallow to me. Coz it wud be different if he'd hurt someone who truly loved him, but thts clearly not the case (u cud say tht lily loved him and did wrong by him too but tht isn't canon, given tht canon doesn't think she ever wronged him to begin with). Just feels lyk he was gaslit by the author tbh

me when a fictional woman decides not to get an abortion

HP Canon for the Game Avoidant: The Marauders Era

Now that I have your attention! There seems to be some need for it so I decided to write up one of those brief character profile posts I was talking about in the two earlier installations of this series. If you didn't see the previous parts, the whole purpose of this series is to give canon info that people might not be familiar with so they can see what the series has been up to and take from it what they like. I'm also including a heavy dose of Pottermore info on this post since that seems to get heavily ignored.

The Marauders were at Hogwarts 1971-1978, and I'll be covering all the people we know or suspect were at school at the same time as them (that means anyone that started Hogwarts between 1965 and 1977), all clearly marked with when they started Hogwarts and what House they were in when such details are known from canon. I also intended to give you a look into the relevant adults that were around, but this post got way too long for that. So you get a brief timeline summary instead.

(reminder for the non-gamers among us: if anyone is referred to as 'unnamed', that character is an empty slot to insert your OC into. You get to decide their name, appearance, and House among other factors all by yourself, canon sources simply provide the detail of what happens to them)

Briefly on the Timeline

Just so we're all on the same page! It was quite a time of change back then. Across the pond Rappaport's Law (banning wizard-muggle marriages in MACUSA-controlled areas) was repealed in 1965 as we know from Fantastic Beasts, so it was quite recent still, and the Ban on Experimental Breeding came into effect in Britain around that same time as per the books. Also, Albus Dumbledore most likely became Headmaster in mid 1960s, at which time Minerva McGonagall took over as the Head of Gryffindor and Head of the Transfiguration Department, as told us by the supplementary Pottermore materials. A slight bit later, before 1970 considering that's when the books say the war started, a previous DADA professor quit for whatever reason, just as Voldemort came back from continental Europe. Voldemort applied for the DADA professor job and came to the castle for his job interview, but Dumbledore basically told him "lol no". And ever since then no DADA professor of that position (it's unknown whether that position is 'Head of the DADA Department' or anything of the like) has been able to keep the job for more than a year. The ever-changing DADA professors were still a fairly new thing at the time period we'll be looking into, as there had only been 2-5 such one-year professors previously.

The sixties also saw some other notable events at the school and elsewhere, such as the highest scoring student quidditch match in the history of Hogwarts in the quidditch cup final in spring 1967, according to Hogwarts Mystery. The person responsible, Ethan Parkin, graduated shortly thereafter and enlisted as a chaser for the Wigtown Wanderers. That same year Devlin Whitehorn founded the Nimbus Racing Broom Company and has produced high quality professional brooms ever since. Societal changes also saw the Squib Rights March make waves in 1969, along with the pureblood riots in counter to that.

The Minister for Magic at the time of the Squib Rights March and the pureblood riots was Eugenia Jenkins. People on the whole liked her peacetime handling of the politics, but she was eventually ousted from office in 1975 when she failed to contain Voldemort's rise. A bloke called Harold Minchum became the Minister instead, and immediately stuffed Azkaban to the gills with even more dementors. His actions also failed to do anything about Voldemort. Finally in 1980, the decisive Millicent Bagnold became the Minister and saw the wizarding world to the end of the war, although probably not due to any action of hers.

As mentioned, the war started in 1970 and lasted for 11 years. Despite that Dumbledore was busy on other fronts too. Over summer 1971 he prepared the Shrieking Shack, had a tunnel dug from Hogwarts grounds all the way to Hogsmeade, and had the school's whomping willow replanted on top of the tunnel entrance, all to bring a werewolf to attend Hogwarts as a student. It was a risky maneuver as not only were they at war in which werewolves generally allied with Voldemort, but there was no wolfsbane potion yet so any lapse in security measures would mean a rabid werewolf running wild in Hogwarts itself.

For the faculty, Dumbledore was Headmaster, McGonagall taught transfiguration, Flitwick charms, Slughorn potions, and Hooch was the flying instructor. Binns was on History of Magic quite naturally. Care of Magical Creatures was taught by Silvanus Kettleburn, him of the missing limbs also mentioned in PoA, and Herbology most likely by Herbert Beery still, although that might have changed to Sprout sometime in the mid 70s. Filch might have become the caretaker as early as 1968, but might also be that he didn't start until further into the 70s and the previous caretaker by the name of Apollyon Pringle was still on staff until then. Same thing with Pince, she might have started as late as 1976 but could potentially have started earlier. The rest of the faculty is quite a bit harder to say anything about. Divination and Muggle Studies are a complete unknown since Trelawney didn't start until 1980 and Quirrell not until sometime in the early 80s, and while it's quite possible that Pomfrey was already on staff since she's old enough, the astronomy class or the other electives we have no word about one way or another.

Quidditch continued to be a big thing throughout the 1970s, which we know from the mini-book Quidditch Through the Ages. In 1974 the Quidditch World Cup final between Syria and Madagascar saw wands forbidden for the audience amid draconian security measures. The following year Fabius Watkins, chaser for the Montrose Magpies, died in a freak collision with a helicopter. They may have technically been at war, but quidditch must go on, and such.

And now that we know a bit of what was going on at the time, let's look at the list of known students at the time. I know for a fact that it's quite a bit longer than some (most?) people are expecting. I've gone over the data before and I didn't register just how many people we know who attended Hogwarts in those years (certainly I didn't think that there'd be enough for it to take four days to type up this post!). I honestly ended up skipping mention of most of the murkier cases, there were much too many of them to write even a brief description about all in a single post.

The Student List

(note that several students have been omitted due to there not being anything to say about their school years that isn't in the books, provided that the character in question isn't widely ignored by the fandom. Don't worry, there's no chance you could forget any of the omitted characters attended Hogwarts at this time period)

Duncan Ashe a Slytherin who started Hogwarts in 1974, at the time when Snape was a fourth year. He was friends with Olivia Green (a Ravenclaw), and Jacob the unnamed (has the same surname and Hogwarts house as the unnamed Hogwarts Mystery protagonist). He was largely unremarkable for most of the time Snape and others were still at Hogwarts, the major events of his life happened after their graduation. In specific, he and Jacob were used by the criminal organization known as R to advance their goals. Duncan was made to brew potions beyond his skill level and eventually one exploded on him and he died, most likely in early 1981 or late 1980. He's haunted the prefects' bathroom ever since and is incredibly jaded towards all living beings.

Bertram Aubrey was targeted at least once by James Potter and Sirius Black, with an illegal hex that made his head gigantic. Unlike most of their tormenting other students the two of them got caught this time, but just like all the other times they faced practically no consequences. I mean. Detention. For an illegal hex!! (did you know hexes are canonically Dark magic?) We don't know for sure which year he was in, but considering their modus operandi Bertram was likely younger than James and Sirius, or at most in their own year. It's also unknown what house he was in.

Avery (M) + Mulciber (M) are more than a bit of an unknown. They could have been years older or younger or even the same age as the Marauders, and we can't even be sure if they were in the same year with each other. One can have friends in different years after all. Both joined the Death Eaters after graduation and fought in the First War, and both also had a male relative who was friends with Voldemort back in his school days, but we don't know how exactly the new generation Avery and Mulciber are related to the older ones, and we don't know for how long they were Death Eaters during the First War. Aside from their actions in the Second War we know basically nothing about them. That, and how Lily Evans once claimed that they tried to use Dark magic on Mary MacDonald. Considering how vague the definition of Dark magic is and how we didn't actually witness this event in question, they might have used a jelly-leg jinx on her for all we know. Being a jinx it technically counts as Dark magic by canon definition! And that is, of course, if they weren't just using a non-Dark spell in ways that disgusted some who heard of it - canonically, Lily complained that their sense of humor is evil and therefore Dark, and gave no further hints on the identity of any possible spell used.

Narcissa Black (later Malfoy) started Hogwarts in 1966 or '67, so she was fifth or sixth year when Snape started at Hogwarts. Was also very much a Slytherin, and before her older sister Bellatrix had graduated (in 1969 or '70) she was already being courted by Lucius Malfoy. At Bellatrix's graduation she would have been on her fourth or fifth, possibly as early as third year. She was close to both her sisters all through their school years, real problems didn't start until Andromeda's graduation (likely before Snape came to Hogwarts) when she left to marry a muggleborn.

Sirius + Regulus Black I trust we all know no problem who these are supposed to be. I would just like to emphasize that while Blacks were basically extinct by the 1990s, in the 70s there were still plenty of them left. Including but not limited to their parents, their three cousins, their uncles Cygnus and Alphard, grandparents Pollux and Irma as well as Cygnus and Melania, great-aunts Cassiopeia and Dorea... and in fact, Dorea married Charlus Potter so some manner of family tie already existed between him and the Potters long before Sirius befriended James. Dorea may have died in '77, same as Alphard, but by that point Sirius had already lived with the Potters for several years. Who knows whether she had any interactions with Fleamont and Euphemia concerning Sirius. And let's not forget the squib great-uncle Marius, nothing better to stir up trouble than his sudden reappearance. Or the first cousins twice removed Callidora, Cedrella, and Charis, of whom Cedrella married a Weasley (and was disinherited for it), which means Arthur Weasley is Sirius and Regulus's second cousin once removed. Hell, since Charis married a Crouch and had a son and three daughters it's in fact entirely possible that Barty Senior is also one of their second cousins once removed (yeah the math of their ages does work out), which in turn would make Barty Junior into their third cousin. And let's not forget that Callidora married a Longbottom so there's also Longbottom cousins somewhere, a man and a woman specifically even though we don't know their names or whether they had any children roughly Sirius and Regulus's age. And then there's the Gamp cousins and Crabbe cousins, but we know zilch about them other than that they likely exist. Clearly all these are an opportunity to expand, yeah? The web of various cousins the Blacks have is huge.

Greta Catchlove started Hogwarts in 1971 or '72, making her either be in the same year as Snape or the year below (same year as Regulus Black). She's a bitpart character at most, but what she'll eventually be known for is writing the book Charm Your Own Cheese. Clearly a homemaking type.

Glenda Chittock started in 1975 or '76 when Snape was a fifth or sixth year. It's unknown what house she was sorted into, but a personality like hers she was probably very outgoing, and as such would have been much more visible to older students. After graduation she became the host of the enormously popular radio programme Witching Hour.

Dirk Cresswell started Hogwarts in 1972 in an unknown house, back when Snape was a second year (and in the same year as Regulus Black). As a muggleborn the current goings-on of the wizarding world would have been highly relevant to him. He was also one of Professor Slughorn's favorite students. Anyone who intends to write about Regulus in his school years would do themselves a favor to pay attention to this character. We don't know much about him, but by the 1990s he was Head of the Goblin Liaison Office. He was also married and had an unknown number of sons. He was killed in 1998 by a group of Snatchers during the Second War.

Bartemius Crouch Jr unlike what some people would have you believe, Barty started Hogwarts in 1973, possibly '74, when the Marauders were in their third or fourth year. Sirius saw him after his trial and identified him as "no more than 19". That was early 1982. The canon is what the canon is. What Sirius says also underlines that he'd never seen Barty in his life before they were both in Azkaban, at least not so that Sirius would have paid any attention to this random kid. I also pointed out in Sirius's section that there's a chance the two are third cousins, but at the same time - how many people know who their third cousins are? Clearly Sirius didn't, if they're actually related in that way.

Mundungus Fletcher the series is very reluctant to give out info on Dung for some reason. However, from the hints given he started Hogwarts sometime after 1968 or so (after Filch was already caretaker) and no later than 1973 (was banned from Hog's Head in 1975). Either way he attended Hogwarts at least some of the same time as Snape did, although could be a couple years younger or older. His Hogwarts house isn't known either, and while we know all of his family is dead by the the late 80s, we don't even know when exactly they died. Or for that matter, when and why Dung joined the Order of the Phoenix. Because oh yes, here we have an Order member who supposedly fights alongside the Marauders in the First War, canonically knew both Lily and James well, and is more or less their age even. And yet, how often do you see Dung's existence so much as acknowledged? I guess an alcoholic petty thief just doesn't cut it for some fans.

Shane Golding a largely unknown entity, most of what he know of Shane comes from his wife Glenna (née Merriweather). He was either the same age or a bit older than Glenna, so likely started Hogwarts in the late 60s, and would have been roughly the same age as Narcissa Black. His House is unknown. After the wedding, he moved into the old Merriweather house in Hogsmeade. Sometime between late 80s and early 90s him and Glenna had a son, Nyle, who was born a squib. He wasn't discouraged by it though and did his best to include Nyle in wizarding daily life. He died over christmas 2010 of unknown causes.

Olivia Green started Hogwarts in 1974 when Snape was in his fourth year. Was sorted Ravenclaw, and was friends with the Slytherin student Duncan Ashe as well as Jacob, who shares his surname and house both with the unnamed protagonist of Hogwarts Mystery. While a lot happened over their school years, most of it happened in their last years at Hogwarts when Snape and the others had already graduated. To make a long story short, the international criminal organization known as R was using the boys for some of their dirty work inside Hogwarts. An unknown time after graduating in spring 1981 she was accepted into the Department of Mysteries as an Unspeakable. In 1990-91 she became the year's DADA professor as a personal favor to Dumbledore, although was careful to resign when the year was up so as not to suffer worse consequences from the curse. Afterwards, she joined up with the Rare, Obscure and Confounding Case division at the Ministry, who mainly go after international crime.

Daisy Hookum started Hogwarts in 1973 or '74, when Snape was third or fourth year, and attended an unknown house. We don't know much about her, except that after she graduated she gave up magic for a while and wrote the bestseller My Life as a Muggle. She also married celebrity herbologist Tilden Toots at some point, who'd been 2-4 years above her at Hogwarts.

Bertha Jorkins Sirius mentions she was a few years above him at Hogwarts, so she would have started attending around 1969, in an unknown house. She was a plump teenager with a nose for gossip and a memory for personal details. She must have been quite the memorable gossip for Sirius to have remembered and reviled her despite her being just a random older student, although if there was any particular incident behind that dislike we don't know about it for sure. Dumbledore may give a hint via pensieve though, when he goes through the trouble of finding a memory of her gossiping about a 'him' and a 'Florence' kissing behind the greenhouses. Why show Harry that particular memory of her if it had no relevance? Regardless of speculation, she went on to find employment at the Department of Magical Games and Sports an unknown time after graduation, where she eventually found out about Barty Crouch Senior's busting his son out of Azkaban and keeping him imprisoned inside the family home. The resulting obliviation to keep her quiet frayed her mind enough that she became known as particularly absent-minded, despite her mental acuity in her Hogwarts years. And of course, she was killed with Voldemort's wand in summer 1994 in Albania.

Gilderoy Lockhart started Hogwarts in 1975 when Snape was a fifth year, and was sorted Ravenclaw. In his school years was known for his grandiose stunts, such as carving his name on the quidditch pitch in twenty foot high letters, and sending a picture of his face in the sky in imitation of the Dark Mark. This is not a student that anyone who attended at the same time could have ignored or overlooked. Gilderoy graduated in spring 1982, after the war was already over. He wasted no time going for fame however, as even if he wrote just one book a year that means his first was published two years after his graduation - and that's calculated based on just the books that we know about from canon. And, as I'm sure we all remember, each of those books was him listening to the story of the person who actually did the deed and then obliviating them.

Frank Longbottom + Alice (maiden name unknown) while far from being in the same year as Snape (auror training takes three years and we know that Frank and Alice were both aurors before the end of the war), it's in fact quite likely that Frank and Alice were among the older students when Snape first started at Hogwarts. We know this also from the age of Augusta Longbottom (Frank's mother), who had to have been in the same year as Minerva McGonagall for Minerva to know her OWL scores intimately well. The time between Augusta's school years and the time required for Frank to become an established and well respected auror before 1981 when put together mean he likely started Hogwarts sometime around 1967, and thus would've been a fifth year when Snape was a firstie. Alice can't have been far behind for her to be a well respected auror too, before 1981. Additionally, we know Frank was a Gryffindor, but Alice's house is uncertain. It's more than likely both of them had graduated by spring 1976 at the absolute latest and went straight to auror training. If they took time off to do something else between graduation and auror training, Frank at the very least would have already graduated before Snape started Hogwarts, otherwise there's no time to establish a well respected pillar of the community type career.

Mary Macdonald an unknown entity who was a Gryffindor at least partially around the same time that Snape attended Hogwarts, as we know she was there when Snape was in his fifth year. It's noteworthy that Lily Evans refers to her by her full name despite the two being in the same house, meaning she either doesn't know her very well or she knows multiple Marys so she has to specify which one she's talking about.

Lucius Malfoy good ol' Lucy started Hogwarts in 1965 and was a seventh year when Snape was on his first. He was also one of the Slytherin prefects so younger students, even firsties, would have had reason to interact with him more than any non-prefect older student. By the time he was in his seventh year he'd been courting Narcissa Black for several years already.

M.G. McGonagall won an award of some sort for playing quidditch at Hogwarts in 1971, so they were definitely a student in at least Snape's first year, probably for longer. The last name and the sorting to Gryffindor indicates this was probably one of the nieces and nephews of Minerva McGonagall, and their father was either Malcolm or Robert Junior. The latter was killed sometime during the First War, which means basically the 70s. It's a quite relevant point to remember when writing Minerva McGonagall too, that she lost a brother in the war most likely when the Marauders were still at school.

Tarquin McTavish started Hogwarts in 1966 or '67, so he was a fifth or sixth year when Snape started school. Coincidentally, it's likely that he was in the same year as Narcissa Black. Nothing is known about him though, except that later in his life he was sentenced to Azkaban for trapping a muggle neighbor inside his kettle.

Glenna Merriweather (later Golding) one of the two daughters of the Hogsmeade Merriweathers, Glenna attended Hogwarts mainly in the 1970s. She could be a couple years older than Snape or even up to the same age, although what House she was in is unknown. She has pale blue eyes and brown hair in intricately arranged braids. Her home is located roughly behind Gladrags in Hogsmeade, on a road that leads towards the Shrieking Shack, and it's haunted by her great-great-great-grandfather Morven who built the house. She had a squib sister who was much younger than her, to the degree that when the squib was ousted from the family and left in the muggle world she retained no memories of the wizarding world, but Glenna still remembered her. The Squib Rights March in 1969 would have been of extreme importance to Glenna, even though she was likely too young to attend. Glenna went on to have a job at the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. Married Shane Golding an unknown time after graduation, and the two had a squib son, Nyle. After Shane's death over christmas 2010 she joined NOTME (more about NOTME in the post handling post-books events) in order to expose magic to muggles and through that create better conditions for squibs. It's also very much worth noting that Glenna's squib sister married a muggle, and they had at least one muggle daughter, and that daughter had at least one child who was a muggleborn witch or wizard. This is the same unnamed muggleborn who is the protagonist of Magic Awakened.

Sturgis Podmore started Hogwarts in 1968 most likely, and as such was a fourth year when Snape and the others started school. He was sorted to an unknown House. His graduation in 1975 afforded him plenty of time to join the Order of the Phoenix during the First Wizarding War and actually be useful. By the end of the war he had potentially been fighting for up to six years, although we don't know when he joined the Order exactly. In his adult life lived in Clapham (in London), and continued being an Order member in the Second War. Unfortunately, he was Imperius'd in the Death Eaters' efforts to enter the Department of Mysteries, and was sentenced to six months in Azkaban. For some reason I've never seen Sturgis mentioned when the time period in question comes up. Funny how it goes. This is canonically supposed to be one of the Marauders' brothers in arms though.

James Potter Just like I felt the need to point out with Sirius and Regulus, the Potter family (or at least this branch of it) wasn't always on the verge of disappearing. We don't know much about the Potters, but we do know that in the 70s there was still Charlus and his wife Dorea, even though we don't know their exact relation to James and Fleamont. What should also be taken into account is that Charlus and Dorea had a son, he would have been a cousin of some sort to James. It's unknown when this cousin died or why, we just know it happened before October 1981.

Gethsemane Prickle started Hogwarts in 1969, so she was a third year when Snape came along. We don't know her House, but at least in later life she's a prickly and strict personality, wears glasses and her hair in a bun, and is a notably good potioneer, even if she decided to not make a career out of it. She took NEWT level Potions, Herbology, and Care of Magical Creatures at the very least. After graduation she went to work at the Ministry, and starting in 2003 won every consecutive Ministry Exstimulo Potion Brewing Contest for the next 17 years. By around 2015 she was the Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and while we don't know for sure when exactly she got the job she definitely went far in her career.

Quirinus Quirrell a bit of an unknown, but he almost definitely attended Hogwarts (as a Ravenclaw) in time to share at least part of his school years with Snape, if not most of them - and there is that slight chance that he was in the same year. Not very likely though, considering that he was picked up as a professor (of Muggle Studies!) sometime in the early 1980s, and if him and Snape are the same age then Snape's age kind of fails to stand out for being hired. Regardless, it would have been fairly close. Of Quirrell's school years we know that he was bullied and turned to the Dark Arts because of that, in an effort to find something to 'prove' himself. His sabbatical year in 1990-91 with its end result of Voldemort almost being resurrected would never have happened if he hadn't been bullied, so he has kind of a major impact in the Second War beyond the obvious. And, lest the memory elude you for the moment, what Quirrell got for it was being either killed (movies) or severely wounded (books) in June 1992.

Patricia Rakepick started at Hogwarts in 1967 and was sorted Gryffindor, which makes her a fifth year when Snape was a firstie. She was always an out of control student who routinely broke school rules just for the fun of it, and was despised by most if not all of her teachers. Some among the students loved her though - mainly the Marauders. Rakepick loved to jump in on them tormenting Snape in particular and had good rapport with James and Sirius for that. They were close enough that Rakepick had seen the Marauder's Map and knew how it works, although that can be interpreted as the boys wanting to show off to an older girl instead of actual friendship. She graduated in spring 1974 when the Marauders and Snape were finishing their third year. After graduating Rakepick eventually became a cursebreaker for Gringotts, and was good enough at it that by late 80s she was famous worldwide. Less known is that by late 70s she had joined the criminal organization R. Around early to mid 80s she had teamed up with Jacob (him of the unnamed surname) and then locked him in one of the Cursed Vaults they were investigating, dooming him to eventual madness and death. Dumbledore hired her as a DADA professor for 1988-89. At the end of the school year she attempted sealing a bunch of students in the same Vault that Jacob was sealed in. When that failed she escaped, and later Avada Kedavra'd a sixth year student Rowan Khanna in late 1989. She was eventually imprisoned in Azkaban.

Evan Rosier once again we have a character that very little is known about. He was a Slytherin and later became one of Voldemort's most trusted Death Eaters. We can deduce that he probably shared at least a few years at Hogwarts with the Marauders since Sirius knew of him, and that considering they appear to share the same father (who was among Voldemort's original crowd from his own Hogwarts days) he has a younger brother called Felix. That's where it gets complicated since Felix didn't start Hogwarts until 1980 - the same year Evan was killed for resisting arrest. Evan can't have been still at school then either, as he was skilled enough to do some serious damage to the arresting auror Alastor Moody. The problem with saying he started Hogwarts in early 70s is his skill level and his high status with the Death Eaters. Those two seem to require someone far older than Sirius, but also the older you make him the more ridiculous the age gap between him and his brother becomes. Who even knows really, but the evidence does seem to point at him starting Hogwarts in the latter half of the 60s. We can also speculate that Evan and Felix's father the OG Death Eater might have gotten a young new wife at some point, which would explain the big age difference between the brothers, but that's pure speculation. There is also the tidbit that Sirius claims Evan was friends with Wilkes, but Sirius is unreliable on these things and the only thing we can really take from that is that Sirius canonically didn't know either of them other than for their names. Both Rosier and Wilkes were killed roughly around the same time though, so he might actually be on to something there.

Kingsley Shacklebolt there's no hard evidence, but Kingsley talks about James Potter as if he knew him. Considering that James canonically became a full-time Order member after graduation (James being an auror is pure fanon, sorry), and the fact that Kingsley didn't join the Order until the Second War, that pretty much just leaves Hogwarts as the time they met. He likely started Hogwarts in the latter half of the 60s and is of similar age to Lucius Malfoy and/or Narcissa Black, meaning he was at Hogwarts for a year or two at the same time as James and the others.

Stebbins (M) took the OWLs at the same time as Snape and the others, so he started Hogwarts in 1971 just the same as them. We don't know a single thing about him beyond that fact though, so it's OC creation time! He might have a son who attended the 1994 Yule Ball, as there's a Stebbins there. There's also a Stebbins who was an auror in the 1920s, so there's a potential grandfather or great uncle or whatever.

Tilden Toots started Hogwarts in 1970 or '71, and as such was either in the same year as Snape or one year above him. Other details of his student life aren't known, but he likely took NEWT Herbology at least. After graduation became a celebrity herbologist and a radio personality. Married the bestselling author Daisy Hookum at some point, who'd been two or three years below him at Hogwarts.

Sybill Trelawney probably started Hogwarts in the late 1960s, as she's young and still looking for her first job in 1980, but has had time for a brief marriage. It's possible she's of around the same age as Patricia Rakepick although could be younger by a couple years, making her probably somewhere between third and fifth year when Snape started at Hogwarts. Pottermore additionally reports that she was always very proud of her family ancestry and their abilities, so it's likely that if anyone took an interest in Divination while she was at school she would have gotten herself involved somehow as a supposed expert.

Dolores Umbridge must have started Hogwarts sometime between 1960s and '75, since she started working for the Ministry before she was 30 and we already see her there in 1990, although she's possibly been working there for some years by that point. Not too long though considering she isn't greying yet in 1995, which seems to favor starting Hogwarts in the 70s. We also know that she was sorted Slytherin. Here we have a rare potential girl Slytherin around the same age as the Marauders! She's also a rare half-blood Slytherin, which is bound to make her dynamic with the other kids in her house very interesting, not to mention her squib younger brother who she'd have done anything to conceal the existence of so it wouldn't affect her personally. As we all know, she committed quite the atrocities over the course of her life. By the early 90s she was Senior Undersecretary for the Minister for Magic and was creating anti-werewolf laws, and during the year of Voldemort's reign she was Head of the Muggleborn Registration Commission. She was imprisoned in Azkaban in 1998 after the Second War.

Wilkes (M) another one of them future Death Eaters we know almost nothing about. Sirius does say he's friends with Evan Rosier, but Sirius also claims that Snape used to hang out with Bellatrix who had long since graduated. So the only thing we can really say for sure is that he was in Slytherin, shared at least a few years with Sirius at Hogwarts (and was possibly in the same year as Rosier, but neither of them had any dealings with Sirius), and after graduation became a Death Eater who was killed by aurors in 1980. Since that coincides with Evan Rosier's death and Sirius does claim they're friends, there's some chance that the two were taken down together, but that's pure conjecture.

Florence (last name unknown) was snitched on to have been kissing a 'him' behind the greenhouses by Bertha Jorkins, and Bertha was friendly enough with her to call her by her first name only. She was probably in the same year (possibly even same house) as Bertha, or at the very least the two were friends. What's curious is that Bertha felt the need to snitch on her to Albus Dumledore of all people. Why report such a thing to the Headmaster? There could be any number of reasons, most of them very good fic material.

Jacob (unnamed) as already mentioned a couple times before, Jacob is the older brother of the unnamed protagonist of Hogwarts Mystery, and started school in 1974 when Snape started his fourth year, in the same house as the protagonist. He was initially groomed to become the next head of the criminal organization R after his father, but when he failed to meet expectations their focus switched to Jacob's younger sibling instead. Regardless, Jacob was a natural legilimens who received training for his gift from Dumbledore when the headmaster discovered the talent during his school years. If any of the Marauders paid any attention to him, it was likely through noticing Jacob was doing shady stuff around the school and meeting in secret with Dumbledore. Despite Dumbledore's inclination to keep him on no matter what, Jacob refused to tell the truth of what happened to cause the death of his friend Duncan Ashe and Dumbledore was forced to agree into expelling Jacob. His wand was snapped and the whole debacle widely reported in the Daily Prophet. The last of this all happened around 1980 though, when Snape and the others had long since graduated. Jacob was subsequently imprisoned within a portrait in one of the Cursed Vaults, from where he wasn't freed until early summer 1989. He then started hunting for Patricia Rakepick for what she'd done to him.

Also Consider

Mr + Mrs Brown In general, I find it a bit funny how the parents of other students in Harry and Draco's year get completely skipped over as if they don't exist, so let this stand in as a reminder that chances are, the majority of them shared at least some Hogwarts years with Snape and the others. And hey, if you're in need of some less white representation, there's a good chance that Lavender's father Mr Brown has Jamaican ancestry from a hundred years back. We know that there were Browns that arrived to Britain from Jamaica in 19th century, and while that's not a guarantee that the two appearances of Browns are related, there's no guarantee that they aren't either. They're also a particularly fascinating case since we know that at least in late 19th century, the (freshly from Jamaica) Browns owned a book store in Hogsmeade known as Tomes and Scrolls. That's fic fodder right there.

Amycus + Alecto Carrow We don't get ages for these two siblings, but we know they fought in the First Wizarding War for at least a few years. Like many other Death Eaters, there's some chance that they could have been older students when Snape started Hogwarts. Then again, they could already have been adults, but neither took the time to couple up before the war's end as far as we know, so it'd be realistic for them to be on the younger side. These two are a fairly good choice if you need to fill in some older Slytherin students.

Mr + Mrs Chang I offer you more diversity: the parents of poor Cho Chang. If even one of them was 20 when they had her, that parent would've started attending Hogwarts in 1970. That makes them a year older than Snape. Either way they probably shared at least a few years at Hogwarts with Snape and the others. See what I mean about the parents? You really shouldn't neglect the parents.

Gregory Cotton, Dougal McBride, others the thing with quidditch players is that they have a limited time on the pitch before they grow too old for the sport. Which then means that almost any professional British quidditch player in the 1980s or early 1990s can believably be made to attend Hogwarts in the 1970s, in a year of your choosing. Gregory was the Appleby Arrows Seeker in late 80s, while Dougal was the Pride of Portree Seeker, and the two had a bit of a rivalry going on.

Crabbe Senior + Goyle Senior + wives Considering that they both had sons of Harry and Draco's age, it's quite likely they were roughly around the same age as those two's fathers. This could mean that they've already graduated by the time Snape starts at Hogwarts, but they could also be among the older students in Slytherin.

Todd Cribb + Corrine (maiden name unknown) one of them couples that we don't technically know the ages of, but they look young enough in mid- to late 1980s when they appear in Hogwarts Mystery, so might just have attended Hogwarts in the 70s. Todd looks just like a self-important 25-year old to my eye, although that's just a personal opinion. It'd mean he would've started Hogwarts around 1974. Corrine is definitively a dark witch who takes pleasure in targeting magical creatures to use their parts for fun and profit, and while Todd tries his best, what he does usually amounts to petty theft at best. He's absolutely devoted to Corrine though. If you're in need of some light fun, add a young Todd and Corrine to your fanfic soup and watch the fireworks.

Lorcan d'Eath okay, so this one is a bit uncertain. Lorcan is a part vampire (someone whose parent was a vampire, and yes vampires can have children in the wizarding world), and we don't exactly know whether he attended Hogwarts. Considering the name he might've been French for what anyone knows and just sung in English for whatever reason, and that's on top of the whole 'part vampire' thing. He was born at the right time though, considering if he did attend Hogwarts he started in 1975 or '76. He went on to become a famous singer, and honestly? If he really did attend Hogwarts he probably made quite a splash, just like the Weird Sisters in the 80s. Not to mention the whole vampire thing. How often do you get a (part) vampire attending Hogwarts. No matter how much of an age difference there is, Lorcan would have garnered attention.

Bilius Finbok Bilius is one of those people who we don't get the age of, although considering that he has slightly graying hair in 2017 when we see him, it's entirely possible that he was a student in the 1970s should you feel like including him. He's a probably-Hufflepuff who lives in Cornwall at least as an adult, and dicks around with dangerous substances while being an experimental potioneer in his free time. Meaning he most probably took NEWT level Potions. He technically works at the Department of Intoxicating Substances at the Ministry, although might've been fired in 2017 after he was discovered using illegal ingredients.

Gerard Grey his age is unknown but he's definitely well into adulthood and definitely had a daughter in 1996-97 or so. He could well have attended Hogwarts in the 70s! He's stupidly tall and really buff, but what makes him interesting is that he was turned into a werewolf sometime over the course of his life. He takes a proactive approach and gathered himself a little pack of other werewolves that he protects at all costs, although that pack possibly didn't happen until after the wars were both over.

Rowena Rowle, Thorfinn Rowle members of the very large Rowle family that seems to keep producing girl children. We don't technically know how old Rowena is, but attending Hogwarts in the 1970s would fit just as well as any other option. Rowena is an employee of the Department of Mysteries (likely an Unspeakable) and appears to have been one since at least early 2010s, although probably quite a bit longer than that. And of course, Thorfinn is a Death Eater in the Second War. We don't have confirmation whether he'd already joined up in the First War or not, but since we get no hints on his age either it's entirely possible that he was a student in the 1970s.

Emmeline Vance a member of the Order of the Phoenix in both the First and Second War. We technically know nothing of her beyond that, but she's depicted as being fairly young-looking in all official art. One could suspect that she shared at least several years with Snape at Hogwarts.

Weasley cousins Honestly now. Considering how plentiful the Weasleys are and how much of a big deal is made out of there being too many Weasley cousins, it'd be more than a little unrealistic if there wasn't at least one or two Weasleys running around in the 70s. Go create some, shoo.

Wendy Wunderwind we have no indication whatsoever of this person's age, so she might as well have gone to Hogarts in the 1970s, right? She lives in Wrexham (in Wales) at least later in her life, and becomes an expert in weather modification charms. Sounds like someone useful to know, under specific circumstances!

(Likely) Not Attending in 1971-78

Bellatrix + Andromeda Black, Ted Tonks Bellatrix started Hogwarts in 1962 or '63, and as such she had most definitely graduated by the time Snape came along. Long before Snape ever even set foot in Hogwarts Bellatrix was already a marked Death Eater, since that happened before the war started. Andromeda we don't know for sure but since she's the middle sister she had to have started between 1963 and '65, depending on which years her sisters did (although the later years are more unlikely due to the birth of her child). Some configurations allow her to still be in her sixth or seventh year when Snape starts school, but in most sensible options she's already graduated by then. Regardless, she started secretly dating Ted Tonks while they were still at Hogwarts and married him shortly after. This is also the reason Ted Tonks is very unlikely to still be at Hogwarts when Snape is there. Their only child was born in 1972-73, not that there's any certainty her sisters or anyone else would have known about it at least immediately, but that's why it's very likely she and Ted didn't share Hogwarts years with Snape any more than Bellatrix did. You have Andromeda still be a student in 1971-72 and there's a good chance she got pregnant while at Hogwarts. Her free choice to marry a muggleborn in opposition to her family would turn into a scramble to get married for the kid's sake.

Marlene McKinnon (unknown if maiden name or married name) a complete unknown other than for being a core member of the Order of the Phoenix in summer 1981, and was said to be extremely skilled. Was not especially close to Lily Evans or Sirius Black as she was obliquely referenced as one of 'the McKinnons', although was their common acquaintance through the Order. She was killed "along with her family" in late summer that year, s per Moody, although we don't know if by 'family' they meant her parents and siblings, or whether they meant her husband and kids, or possibly both of the above. Her being especially targeted by the Death Eaters and killed along with said 'family' hints that she's no fresh-faced graduate but a recurring nuisance throughout the war who ran the risk of inspiring others to resist, to the degree that she along with her whole family had to be made into a warning to not go against them.

Dorcas Meadowes A full member of the Order of the Phoenix in the First War, and enough of a threat to Voldemort that he had to kill her himself. This is not something a literal child could have made happen. She was more than likely an active member of the resistance for the duration of the war to be so special. This powerhouse was most definitely nowhere near Hogwarts in the 70s unless it was to protect the kids.

Xenophilius Lovegood + Pandora (maiden name unknown) There's very little personal information known about the two of them, but what we do know for sure is that Xenophilius and Pandora met while both were Hogwarts students so they attended at the same time. And for Xenophilius there's a practical reason why he probably wasn't a student in the 1970s - the Quibbler was already a big name in its niche in 1986. It takes time and effort and above all money to get a publication off the ground, and the younger you make Xeno the more money he had to have access to before even starting, to make the magic happen well before 1986. I could see them being sixth or seventh year at most when Snape starts at Hogwarts, but again. You have to make Xeno filthy rich in some regard (or at least have a filthy rich patron willing to fund his passion) if you're saying that he managed to make the Quibbler into a sensation when he was right out of Hogwarts. With a baby. Since Xeno and Pandora's daughter Luna was born in February 1981. The possibility of them being school kids in the 70s is not looking very realistic when they had a baby to worry about all through early 80s when they by all sense should have been working on getting the Quibbler off the ground after graduating.

What do James stans find special about him? That guy isn't inspirational at all. Hell, his death couldn't have been more pathetic and useless. What makes him appealing?

At school, he was nothing but a bullying criminal. Harrassing anyone he wanted, sexually assaulting a guy, becoming an illegal animagus, spying on everyone in the castle - stalking as well. What did this guy do to achieve such a level of popularity? Nothing he said was ever funny, either. All his good deeds were a product of his status and recklessness. Welcoming Sirius into his home - not a big deal, he's got all the space for many others. Becoming an animagus for Remus - well, it was illegal, but I suppose a nice gesture. Joining the Order - alright, Peter and Mundungus did that too, and? It only really accounts for his bravery and self-interest, doesn't it? I mean his wife was a muggleborn and he thrived on recklessness left and right. Not a big deal. But what else, really? What do you find so appealing as to suggest he is more sympathetic than Severus Snape - who actually had to struggle in life?

As a descendant of sea sponges, whose ancestors were ruthlessly exploited by Roman patricians for their decadent baths, as someone whose great-great-great-sponge ancestors experienced the full weight of class oppression when rich Romans used them in their thermal baths, as someone with deep sponge trauma, I understand better than anyone the dynamics between different social classes.

And I declare — James Potter didn't “bully” Snape because he was poor

Exactly. His reason was 'because Snape exists', which must mean the wealthy, popular pureblood couldn't have possibly bullied the poor, unpopular halfblood with no serious consequences because of class. I cannot see the correlation. Lily was simply too pretty to be hanging out with that greasy weirdo, so James, the noble boy that he was, just had to protect her from him! That's it!

As a descendant of sea sponges, whose ancestors were ruthlessly exploited by Roman patricians for their decadent baths, as someone whose great-great-great-sponge ancestors experienced the full weight of class oppression when rich Romans used them in their thermal baths, as someone with deep sponge trauma, I understand better than anyone the dynamics between different social classes.

And I declare — James Potter didn't “bully” Snape because he was poor

Yep. Same way when people try to say that Lily was like Harry and that they had similar personalities whilst Harry and James shared the looks. What a lazy perspective. Personality is not shaped by genetics. It is formed by life circumstances and upbringing, and those significantly differed with Lily and Harry. Lily grew up loved, in a safe household, with an identity of her own. She lived a safe life, at least till the end of her school years. Harry was in survival mode since the day his parents died. He grew up physically and emotionally neglected, abused and had no sense of identity. Later in life, his identity was forced upon him by the whole wizarding world. He was forced to fight and die. He was groomed to be a soldier and to have a survival and hero-like mentality. Harry and Lily might share their kindness or good heart, but their personalities, priorities, motivations, and behavior/thought patterns couldn't be more different.

harry potter is NOT james potter.

I love parallels. I love people reminding others of those they've lost along the way.

But Harry Potter is not James . And that is so vital to his entire character.

When people see Harry, they see James. They see a James who sees the world through Lily's eyes. When they see Harry, they don't see Harry.

And that is so vital to his entire being. It's vital to how people see Harry. The people that didn't know James, see the Boy-Who-Lived.

The people who did, who were close to Harry, to James, to Lily. They see James and Lily Potter. They see the people who died, people they were close to, people they miss every day but will never see again.

Remus, Sirius, Snape, McGonagall.

At first, they see James and Lily. And then when they meet him - apart from Snape- they quickly realise he is anything but.

Harry is not arrogant, rich, spoilt. He doesn't have an ego, he doesn't play pranks, he isn't a chaser, he doesn't pick fights.

Harry isn't exceptionally bright at everything he does, he isn't inconceivably forgiving for those who don't deserve it.

He is not Lily and James.

When peole write Harry as a golden retriever, as effortlessly good at everything, they aren't writing about Harry.

Harry who grew up not wanted. Harry who grew up believing something was wrong with him. Harry who was forced into the wizarding world with no knowledge. Harry who is as stubborn as a mule,. Harry who is loyal to a fault, who forgives those he loves, Harry who isn't his parents.

He has traits of them, their anger, their ability to love, and much much more.

BUT Harry Potter isn't them. He isn't the 'best of them both' he isn't James or Lily or Sirius or Regulus.

Harry Potter is Harry. Just Harry.

And that is why he doesn't get along ith Snape. That's why McGonagall believes Harry dragged Neville out for a joke in first year.

When people see Harry, they don't see Harry. And by writing Harry as somebody else, or as 'so-and-so's child' you're not doing the character justice.

'I want a complex character with complex relationships'

'i want an angry character'

'i want to read a book that makes me think'

you couldn't even handle Harry Potter.

Everytime I see Snape posts that include Rickman's face I get the urge to cry and throw up.

There's a lot of fluff about how Harry shows no sign of trauma from his upbringing but maybe it's because I was neglected and often spoken of as extremely well-adjusted, but to me Harry seems to be a pretty natural response to a combination of neglect and a stable upbringing? He's not like. Traumatized. But a lot of people just develop maladaptive habits from these circumstances. Like:

Dissociative tendencies. I know this one is not intentional, but he shows constant lack of focus which interferes with his schooling and will often just space out and stare at things. This is used as a device to point the reader towards plot relevant items and turn them from irrelevant details, but it is something he does.

Harry does not actually distrust adults outright at first! He goes to teachers for help! But he tends to disrespect them, and struggles to think of adults as figures of authority the moment they slip up. Hagrid's bumbling chaos, Quirrell's nerves, Snape beefing with an 11-year-old, McGonagall not taking his Very Real Concerns seriously, Vernon's bluster, these are moments Harry discards their authority - that child thought McGonagall was going to burn him at the stake at first, but was barely shaken by her later. And it makes sense! You are a powerless child, you are looked down on, but the "consequences" you face are things you got used to and feel are normal, so you take strength from being unafraid of punishment.

A lot of fluff is made about abuse victims and independence because yeah, obviously, but I do think a lot of his savior/martyr complex is egged on by his servile role; he lived his entire life apart from the Dursleys, but they relied on him. To be crude, when someone shits the bed he puts it in the washer. And I do think he takes satisfaction in being the best man for the job, and I do think that can breed a whole host of mental problems that will lead you to a fated suicide duel with a Dark Lord

The books are mean-spirited in general, but he learned a lot of the fundamentals on engaging with the world from the Dursleys. He's pretty consistently petty and vindictive! And I genuinely believe Harry is, personally, as a character, fatphobic (in addition to the doylist text being fatphobic), because it was something Dudley gets criticized for and thus something that proves Dudley isn't infallible, and he would have definitely fixated on it and felt comfortable doing so, because that's just how the Dursleys talk about people.

For that matter, he is in general stifled by the inner lives of others - he's somehow the most socially stunted person in a trio with Hermoine in it. He is at all times deeply uncomfortable by the thought that other people have feelings and motivations, and reifies people with strong, clear roles in his life, and a lot of his development is realizing there are people behind those roles. I stand by the fact that Harry naming a child after Snape is a symptom of unaddressed mental illness.

This boy is so unbelievably susceptible to mania. I'll acknowledge a lot of his behaviour is teenage bull-headedness but the way the extremes of "I need to be doing something Now" and catastrophizing only gets worse...You know when he's 30 he's going to get prescribed mood stabilizers

And these are all things that can spiral into really toxic and self-destructive behaviour, which we know because that's what happens in the books. I think part of pushing his trauma in fanfiction is accepting that sometimes when someone is traumatized they develop an awful personality instead of PTSD.

(You may now reread this entire post and think about Tom Riddle.)

She was born between 1st September 1972 and 31st August 1973 (probably 1973), which means she had just ended her education when Harry became a 1st year. So he never saw her at all. They missed each other by a year. 

Every time someone says that Tonks was at school with Harry in canon an angel loses their wings

But like I said there isn't anything that proves Lily isn't mediocre in personality. She is a normal person without anything special that would tie her to Voldemort. Her traits of stubornness and cold streak are traits any person can have. You implied she would be a better match for Voldemort than Harry just because they wouldn't clash but that would mean she has the same personality as Harry does which is not true at all. Harry has been through hell. He is used to danger therefore he wouldn't crush under Voldemort's will. His psyche is trained to withstand danger and Voldemort's antics. Lily would crush because she grew up to be a normal person with normal reactions. She cannot relate to Voldemort in any way. They have no path that would allow them to connect. It would all be just manipulations on Voldemort's part. She also wasn't abused. Just because she has a great knack for intuitive magic does not mean she has the right personality to match with Voldemort's. It is implied she is insecure and the interactions we have of her do not prove her supposed genius. It seems like she makes exactly the same judgements as Harry does. Like when she said to Snape he should be grateful to James for saving him. She seems to go along with the crowd and allow others to influence her easily. I feel like part of her insecurity is that she wants a social standing and to belong. And also if she was as magically powerful as you said we would definitely see or hear more proof of that no? There is not much about her that Voldemort would find impressive or worthy of interest either. He would probably find her easy to manipulate and use. She would be scared of him and see him as just a monster because they have nothing in common and nothing to relate to in the other. What my main point is also is just because a character is implied to be talented does not mean they are a good fit to be shipped with an other talented person. That does not guarantee a good dynamic or chemistry. What creates that dynamic is personality. The reason they would not work is because of very different life experiences and life perspective. And also because Voldemort wouldn't want to connect with someone he doesn't find relatable. And what seems to work in Voldemort ships the most is when he can relate to the other person or they have something deep in common. The path to him respecting someone opens when they can somehow understand him. There is not a person that understands him more than Harry - that is confirmed in the canon text. Lily has nothing that would make him respect her humanity. Her magic means nothing too because tomarry also doesn't work because of Harry's talent and like you said he and Lily share the same talent. Tomarry works for the many different reasons I mentioned in my text and Lily simply doesn't have that. I really don't understand your perspective sorry.

hello! i was wondering whether or not you can envision someone as better suited for tom/voldemort since i remember you saying neither harry nor hermione would be a match — them being the most popular two characters shipped with tom. and on that note, what do you think about bellatrix and voldemort? pro/against?

i tend to get a bit blindsided by the sheer obsession she has for him, honestly. i mean… i feel like she would be willing to shape herself down to the last atom to what appeals to him, if he ever were to show any true interest, and that’s very… sad.

Hello 👋

Thank you for the ask and as with all ship asks, ship what you ship, these are just my subjective opinions.

Now, what I said about Tomarrymort is that I don't think they would realistically get together and have a functioning relationship, I didn't say it wasn't fun. Like, I love Tomarrymort, but only if the relationship is a messy push and pull that makes everyone (both involved and uninvolved) miserable.

Now, as for Bellamort...

Do I think they had sex at some point in canon? Maybe. Like, that's not the most absurd thing about CC for me, so I consider it plausible.

Do I think Voldemort actually likes Bella romantically? Not really.

Do I think their relationship works like an actual equal functional relationship? Not one bit.

Do I think their relationship is entertaining and interesting? I mean, clearly, many people do, but I don't like Bellamort.

Like, it really doesn't interest me. There's a reason I only like Tomarrymort when there's a push and pull and Harry and Tom are portrayed as the equals they are. Like, I don't like Tomarrymort where Harry is completely submissive to Voldemort and Bellamort for the same reason — these aren't the kind of relationships that make Tom interesting.

I like both Tom and Bellatrix a lot as individuals, but I don't think a romantic and/or sexual relationship between them pushes their characters to interesting places. They are both stagnate in this relationship and, for me personally, that just doesn't interest me.

Like, Bellatrix is completely submissive to Voldemort nodding her head excitedly and panting after him: "Yes my lord! Whatever you say, my lord!" And this is not the type of dynamic that'd push either character towards growth. They don't push each other into a character arc, which is what I usually like my ships to do.

Additionally, this dynamic basically means Voldemort always gets what he wants, and Bellatrix is happy with it, as you said, she'd shape herself for his every whim. This isn't a relationship between equals. It's a relationship where she worships him and he doesn't respect her or care about her as a person. Like, at all.

The dynamic we see from them in the books gave me the impression Voldemort cares about Bellatrix. He doesn't want her to be hurt or to die:

Bellatrix’s gloating smile froze, her eyes began to bulge: For the tiniest space of time she knew what had happened, and then she toppled, and the watching crowd roared, and Voldemort screamed.

(DH)

But he cares about her like how you care about your favorite pet. He relished in giving her orders and having her submit completely:

“Master, I am sorry, I knew not, I was fighting the Animagus Black!” sobbed Bellatrix, flinging herself down at Voldemort’s feet as he paced slowly nearer. “Master, you should know —” “Be quiet, Bella,” said Voldemort dangerously. “I shall deal with you in a moment. Do you think I have entered the Ministry of Magic to hear your sniveling apologies?” “But Master — he is here — he is below —” Voldemort paid no attention.

(OotP)

He doesn't actually care about her being hurt if it's not too bad, he doesn't care about her feelings or apologies, especially not when Harry is right in front of him — his obsession, his one failure. Bellatrix takes a backseat, basically always. He doesn't care about her all that much. He cares and respects her like a loyal dog, not like a person he has a relationship with.

He also relished in humiliating and embarrassing her. He likes making fun of her in ways Bella clearly does not enjoy, which isn't something you'd do to someone you love:

“I’m talking about your niece, Bellatrix. And your, Lucius and Narcissa. She has just married the werewolf, Remus Lupin. You must be so proud.” There was an eruption of jeering laughter from around the table. Many leaned forward to exchange gleeful looks, a few thumped the table with their fists. The great snake, disliking the disturbance, opened its mouth and hissed angrily, but the Death Eaters did not hear it, so jubilant where that at Bellatrix and the Malfoys’ humiliation. Bellatrix’s face, so recently flushed with happiness, had turned an ugly, blotchy red.

(DH)

she's desperate to please him, to tell him everything she thinks he wants to hear and she happily lets him treat her like fucking dirt. I don't find a relationship like that compelling, as I said, Voldemort would never change for Bellatrix and Bellatrix honestly deserves better than this. He even lets other Death Eaters jeer and laugh at her, this is not a romantic relationship.

Like even if he had sex with her, it was purely physical as he just doesn't care about her as a person like this. As more than a faithful servant (which he enjoys making fun of, as he does so for many of them).

And he is unwilling to show her real, unintentional weakness or ask her for help:

“My Lord, let me—” “I do not require assistance,” said Voldemort coldly, and though he could not see it, Harry pictured Bellatrix withdrawing a helpful hand.

(DH)

He does trust her with one of his Horcrux as the cup is kept in her vault and she seems to know what it is:

“Be quiet! The situation is graver than you can possibly imagine, Cissy! We have a very serious problem!” She stood, panting slightly, looking down at the sword, examining its hilt. Then she turned to look at the silent prisoners. “If it is indeed Potter, he must not be harmed,” she muttered, more to herself than to the others. “The Dark Lord wishes to dispose of Potter himself. . . . But if he finds out . . . I must . . . I must know. . . .”

(DH)

He trusts her loyalty, and she is one of his preferred Death Eaters (he doesn't hate her like he does Wormtail, Tom appreciates courage and loyalty, which are both traits Bellatrix possesses) but he clearly doesn't trust her with his backstory in the first war:

“Shut your mouth!” Bellatrix shrieked. “You dare speak his name with your unworthy lips, you dare besmirch it with your half-blood’s tongue, you dare —” “Did you know he’s a half-blood too?” said Harry recklessly. Hermione gave a little moan in his ear. “Voldemort? Yeah, his mother was a witch but his dad was a Muggle — or has he been telling you lot he’s pureblood?” “STUPEF —” “NO!” A jet of red light had shot from the end of Bellatrix Lestrange’s wand, but Malfoy had deflected it. His spell caused hers to hit the shelf a foot to the left of Harry and several of the glass orbs there shattered. [...] “He dared — he dares —” shrieked Bellatrix incoherently. “— He stands there — filthy half-blood —”

(OotP)

She doesn't really know who Voldemort is. She worships the persona of Voldemort. She loves his lies and masks. She doesn't actually know Tom Riddle. And I don't think she could accept and love the real Tom Riddle behind the title of Voldemort — the poor but brilliant nerdy half-blood who craves recognition. She would find him pathetic.

It's basically Hinny, isn't it?

She adores his persona and fame and what people think he is without actually knowing or understanding him. She changes her personality to fit what she thinks his girl needs to be because she is so focused on being with him. And He likes that she doesn't get in his way and lets him do and say whatever without crying about it but doesn't care about her or her feelings nearly as much as people think.

Bellamort is just Hinny with a different skin, and I never liked Hinny.

Like Hinny, they don't know or understand each other, and it's clear Bella and Ginny care about Voldemort and Harry more than the boys care about them. Like, yes, Harry would be devastated if Ginny died, but he'd get over it way faster than he did about Sirius. Same for Voldemort, he cares about Bella, but not as an equal he understands and cares for the feelings of. Voldemort got over Bella's death fairly quickly as well, he's way more focused on Harry.

So, with all of this, who do I think is the best pairing for Voldemort?

If we're talking about canon characters who are actually characters in the books? Then Harry is my top choice. Harry is the only one Voldemort would see as an equal and can actually push and change Voldemort as much as Voldemort changes him. There is no other character in canon, I believe, who would be able to do this to the level Harry could. Their dynamic is just so mutually obsessive and tense that a relationship like that can't not change both of them in a myriad of interesting ways.

Though, I was thinking about it, and Severus/Voldemort have potential. Voldemort clearly respects Sev and his opinions more than the average Death Eater:

Snape did not speak. “Perhaps you already know it? You are a clever man, after all, Severus. You have been a good and faithful servant, and I regret what must happen.” “My Lord—”

(DH)

He cares about him and regrets having to kill him:

Harry saw Snape’s face losing the little color it had left; it whitened as his black eyes widened, as the snake’s fangs pierced his neck, as he failed to push the enchanted cage off himself, as his knees gave way and he fell to the floor. “I regret it,” said Voldemort coldly

(DH)

Voldy is willing to forgive Sev for things he'd kill most for. They have so much shared experience (poor, muggle childhood in incredibly abusive environments) that would allow them to understand each other. They probably both get frustrated over pureblood idiocy. Both are intelligent and share many interests, like they're both magic nerds who'd talk all night about magical theory...

So, I think, under the right circumstances, Severus is a pretty good pairing for Voldemort.

The only real downside is that depending on when they get together, they'd push each other to be more extremist and overall worse. Like, they'd push each other to have less empathy for other people if they get together, say, during the first war. Well, it might not be a downside. It really depends on how you look at it.

If they get together in the second war, it's different, and in my opinion, more compelling and interesting for both of them. Like, pairing them up after Voldemort's return and after Sev already turned traitor opens so many interesting avenues. I mean, Sev was someone Voldemort actually regretted killing, that was remorse there, wasn't it? It means Severus could push Voldemort to change in a way Bellatrix doesn't. Because Voldemort respects Snape in a way he doesn't respect Bella. I mean, think about how many times Voldemort shut Bella down when she kept insisting Snape is a traitor — it's clear he values Snape more than he values her.

If we're also looking at side characters we don't know as much about, then we have some more options.

@iamnmbr3 has convinced me that Alphard Black/Tom Riddle is an option, and I have been very compelled by it. We don't know much about Alphard, but that never really stopped me because what we do know is interesting.

We know he is Sirius' uncle. He was born after Walburga but before Cygnus, probably closer in age to Walburga. So, I headcanon he was born in 1927 and was in the same year as Tom Riddle.

We know Alphard was a Slytherin since Sirius mentions all his family was in Slytherin, which would include his uncle. And we know Alphard was burned off the family tapestry when he gave Sirius money when Sirius ran away from home.

This leaves us with a character, who's cunning, capable of listening to his older sister Walburga go off about whatever without making the fight worse but has a spine to stand up to her bullshit when it's actually important. This gives him the right characteristics to be able to wrangle a character arc out of a romance with a younger Tom Riddle (and perhaps the older one, too).

He's a pureblood who's open-minded enough to support Sirius and not hate muggleborns (probably). He likely has the subtlety necessary to fix Tom without Tom feeling like he's being fixed. Alphard, used to his very eventful family, is an expert in dealing with dramatic people (like his siblings) and how to undercut their drama instead of pushing them further into their position (which is what Harry would do, for example. Harry and Tom would keep pushing at each other while someone like Alphard would be able to just remove the heat from the argument and allow it to not get as extreme).

Again, it's not much to go on, but it has so much potential.

(Also, @iamnmbr3 has this post about how Voldemort’s violence became worse in 1979, which happens to be the same year Alphard Black died, and while I don't agree with all the points made there, I find it to be a super fun concept)

Voldemort/Lily also has potential. She's smart, stubborn, academically inclined, and has the right rough edges to have the kind of push-and-pull dynamic with Voldemort that I like with Tomarrymort. Lily is probably the kind of witch Voldemort could grow to respect as well. I don't think he would've agreed to spare her for Snape if he didn't respect both of them. JKR also said he tried to recruit James and Lily, so, he was aware that she was talented.

I think, though, Lily/Voldemort would be slightly better than Harry/Voldemort in some aspects. Lily isn't as hot-headed as Harry. Lily's anger is usually much colder, which I feel would work better with Tom just because she wouldn't push all his buttons (just most of them). She would still push him into a character arc, but it would be a gentler nudge than if Harry did it.

My only real rule when shipping Tommy Boy is that he can't be shipped with someone mediocre, he'll just steamroll over them completely, and that's not as fun, in my opinion. He needs a partner he can grow to respect and see as an equal (or close to it) and that has the spine to stand up to him, otherwise, he'd just keep getting what he wants, and I think that's the opposite of what Voldemort needs in a relationship.

Isn't Lily kind of mediocre? The only reason why tomarry works is because Harry is his horcrux and has been beaten down enough in his life to not be scared off in the face of danger. And later is even groomed to literally stand up to Voldemort. They also both share a past full of pain and neglect and have their own little parallels so they have things in common. Lily is a normal person who grew up in a loving home. Just because she stands up to bullies and is stubborn does not mean she would have the same/similar dynamic with Voldemort as Harry would. Where is this idea coming from? Lily and Harry are not the same. They just share few traits. There is nothing we know about Lily that could make her be adapted to Voldemort's personality or anything that would make him interested. He doesn't gaf about someone that isn't special or doesn't bow down to him.

But I love the rest of your post!

hello! i was wondering whether or not you can envision someone as better suited for tom/voldemort since i remember you saying neither harry nor hermione would be a match — them being the most popular two characters shipped with tom. and on that note, what do you think about bellatrix and voldemort? pro/against?

i tend to get a bit blindsided by the sheer obsession she has for him, honestly. i mean… i feel like she would be willing to shape herself down to the last atom to what appeals to him, if he ever were to show any true interest, and that’s very… sad.

Hello 👋

Thank you for the ask and as with all ship asks, ship what you ship, these are just my subjective opinions.

Now, what I said about Tomarrymort is that I don't think they would realistically get together and have a functioning relationship, I didn't say it wasn't fun. Like, I love Tomarrymort, but only if the relationship is a messy push and pull that makes everyone (both involved and uninvolved) miserable.

Now, as for Bellamort...

Do I think they had sex at some point in canon? Maybe. Like, that's not the most absurd thing about CC for me, so I consider it plausible.

Do I think Voldemort actually likes Bella romantically? Not really.

Do I think their relationship works like an actual equal functional relationship? Not one bit.

Do I think their relationship is entertaining and interesting? I mean, clearly, many people do, but I don't like Bellamort.

Like, it really doesn't interest me. There's a reason I only like Tomarrymort when there's a push and pull and Harry and Tom are portrayed as the equals they are. Like, I don't like Tomarrymort where Harry is completely submissive to Voldemort and Bellamort for the same reason — these aren't the kind of relationships that make Tom interesting.

I like both Tom and Bellatrix a lot as individuals, but I don't think a romantic and/or sexual relationship between them pushes their characters to interesting places. They are both stagnate in this relationship and, for me personally, that just doesn't interest me.

Like, Bellatrix is completely submissive to Voldemort nodding her head excitedly and panting after him: "Yes my lord! Whatever you say, my lord!" And this is not the type of dynamic that'd push either character towards growth. They don't push each other into a character arc, which is what I usually like my ships to do.

Additionally, this dynamic basically means Voldemort always gets what he wants, and Bellatrix is happy with it, as you said, she'd shape herself for his every whim. This isn't a relationship between equals. It's a relationship where she worships him and he doesn't respect her or care about her as a person. Like, at all.

The dynamic we see from them in the books gave me the impression Voldemort cares about Bellatrix. He doesn't want her to be hurt or to die:

Bellatrix’s gloating smile froze, her eyes began to bulge: For the tiniest space of time she knew what had happened, and then she toppled, and the watching crowd roared, and Voldemort screamed.

(DH)

But he cares about her like how you care about your favorite pet. He relished in giving her orders and having her submit completely:

“Master, I am sorry, I knew not, I was fighting the Animagus Black!” sobbed Bellatrix, flinging herself down at Voldemort’s feet as he paced slowly nearer. “Master, you should know —” “Be quiet, Bella,” said Voldemort dangerously. “I shall deal with you in a moment. Do you think I have entered the Ministry of Magic to hear your sniveling apologies?” “But Master — he is here — he is below —” Voldemort paid no attention.

(OotP)

He doesn't actually care about her being hurt if it's not too bad, he doesn't care about her feelings or apologies, especially not when Harry is right in front of him — his obsession, his one failure. Bellatrix takes a backseat, basically always. He doesn't care about her all that much. He cares and respects her like a loyal dog, not like a person he has a relationship with.

He also relished in humiliating and embarrassing her. He likes making fun of her in ways Bella clearly does not enjoy, which isn't something you'd do to someone you love:

“I’m talking about your niece, Bellatrix. And your, Lucius and Narcissa. She has just married the werewolf, Remus Lupin. You must be so proud.” There was an eruption of jeering laughter from around the table. Many leaned forward to exchange gleeful looks, a few thumped the table with their fists. The great snake, disliking the disturbance, opened its mouth and hissed angrily, but the Death Eaters did not hear it, so jubilant where that at Bellatrix and the Malfoys’ humiliation. Bellatrix’s face, so recently flushed with happiness, had turned an ugly, blotchy red.

(DH)

she's desperate to please him, to tell him everything she thinks he wants to hear and she happily lets him treat her like fucking dirt. I don't find a relationship like that compelling, as I said, Voldemort would never change for Bellatrix and Bellatrix honestly deserves better than this. He even lets other Death Eaters jeer and laugh at her, this is not a romantic relationship.

Like even if he had sex with her, it was purely physical as he just doesn't care about her as a person like this. As more than a faithful servant (which he enjoys making fun of, as he does so for many of them).

And he is unwilling to show her real, unintentional weakness or ask her for help:

“My Lord, let me—” “I do not require assistance,” said Voldemort coldly, and though he could not see it, Harry pictured Bellatrix withdrawing a helpful hand.

(DH)

He does trust her with one of his Horcrux as the cup is kept in her vault and she seems to know what it is:

“Be quiet! The situation is graver than you can possibly imagine, Cissy! We have a very serious problem!” She stood, panting slightly, looking down at the sword, examining its hilt. Then she turned to look at the silent prisoners. “If it is indeed Potter, he must not be harmed,” she muttered, more to herself than to the others. “The Dark Lord wishes to dispose of Potter himself. . . . But if he finds out . . . I must . . . I must know. . . .”

(DH)

He trusts her loyalty, and she is one of his preferred Death Eaters (he doesn't hate her like he does Wormtail, Tom appreciates courage and loyalty, which are both traits Bellatrix possesses) but he clearly doesn't trust her with his backstory in the first war:

“Shut your mouth!” Bellatrix shrieked. “You dare speak his name with your unworthy lips, you dare besmirch it with your half-blood’s tongue, you dare —” “Did you know he’s a half-blood too?” said Harry recklessly. Hermione gave a little moan in his ear. “Voldemort? Yeah, his mother was a witch but his dad was a Muggle — or has he been telling you lot he’s pureblood?” “STUPEF —” “NO!” A jet of red light had shot from the end of Bellatrix Lestrange’s wand, but Malfoy had deflected it. His spell caused hers to hit the shelf a foot to the left of Harry and several of the glass orbs there shattered. [...] “He dared — he dares —” shrieked Bellatrix incoherently. “— He stands there — filthy half-blood —”

(OotP)

She doesn't really know who Voldemort is. She worships the persona of Voldemort. She loves his lies and masks. She doesn't actually know Tom Riddle. And I don't think she could accept and love the real Tom Riddle behind the title of Voldemort — the poor but brilliant nerdy half-blood who craves recognition. She would find him pathetic.

It's basically Hinny, isn't it?

She adores his persona and fame and what people think he is without actually knowing or understanding him. She changes her personality to fit what she thinks his girl needs to be because she is so focused on being with him. And He likes that she doesn't get in his way and lets him do and say whatever without crying about it but doesn't care about her or her feelings nearly as much as people think.

Bellamort is just Hinny with a different skin, and I never liked Hinny.

Like Hinny, they don't know or understand each other, and it's clear Bella and Ginny care about Voldemort and Harry more than the boys care about them. Like, yes, Harry would be devastated if Ginny died, but he'd get over it way faster than he did about Sirius. Same for Voldemort, he cares about Bella, but not as an equal he understands and cares for the feelings of. Voldemort got over Bella's death fairly quickly as well, he's way more focused on Harry.

So, with all of this, who do I think is the best pairing for Voldemort?

If we're talking about canon characters who are actually characters in the books? Then Harry is my top choice. Harry is the only one Voldemort would see as an equal and can actually push and change Voldemort as much as Voldemort changes him. There is no other character in canon, I believe, who would be able to do this to the level Harry could. Their dynamic is just so mutually obsessive and tense that a relationship like that can't not change both of them in a myriad of interesting ways.

Though, I was thinking about it, and Severus/Voldemort have potential. Voldemort clearly respects Sev and his opinions more than the average Death Eater:

Snape did not speak. “Perhaps you already know it? You are a clever man, after all, Severus. You have been a good and faithful servant, and I regret what must happen.” “My Lord—”

(DH)

He cares about him and regrets having to kill him:

Harry saw Snape’s face losing the little color it had left; it whitened as his black eyes widened, as the snake’s fangs pierced his neck, as he failed to push the enchanted cage off himself, as his knees gave way and he fell to the floor. “I regret it,” said Voldemort coldly

(DH)

Voldy is willing to forgive Sev for things he'd kill most for. They have so much shared experience (poor, muggle childhood in incredibly abusive environments) that would allow them to understand each other. They probably both get frustrated over pureblood idiocy. Both are intelligent and share many interests, like they're both magic nerds who'd talk all night about magical theory...

So, I think, under the right circumstances, Severus is a pretty good pairing for Voldemort.

The only real downside is that depending on when they get together, they'd push each other to be more extremist and overall worse. Like, they'd push each other to have less empathy for other people if they get together, say, during the first war. Well, it might not be a downside. It really depends on how you look at it.

If they get together in the second war, it's different, and in my opinion, more compelling and interesting for both of them. Like, pairing them up after Voldemort's return and after Sev already turned traitor opens so many interesting avenues. I mean, Sev was someone Voldemort actually regretted killing, that was remorse there, wasn't it? It means Severus could push Voldemort to change in a way Bellatrix doesn't. Because Voldemort respects Snape in a way he doesn't respect Bella. I mean, think about how many times Voldemort shut Bella down when she kept insisting Snape is a traitor — it's clear he values Snape more than he values her.

If we're also looking at side characters we don't know as much about, then we have some more options.

@iamnmbr3 has convinced me that Alphard Black/Tom Riddle is an option, and I have been very compelled by it. We don't know much about Alphard, but that never really stopped me because what we do know is interesting.

We know he is Sirius' uncle. He was born after Walburga but before Cygnus, probably closer in age to Walburga. So, I headcanon he was born in 1927 and was in the same year as Tom Riddle.

We know Alphard was a Slytherin since Sirius mentions all his family was in Slytherin, which would include his uncle. And we know Alphard was burned off the family tapestry when he gave Sirius money when Sirius ran away from home.

This leaves us with a character, who's cunning, capable of listening to his older sister Walburga go off about whatever without making the fight worse but has a spine to stand up to her bullshit when it's actually important. This gives him the right characteristics to be able to wrangle a character arc out of a romance with a younger Tom Riddle (and perhaps the older one, too).

He's a pureblood who's open-minded enough to support Sirius and not hate muggleborns (probably). He likely has the subtlety necessary to fix Tom without Tom feeling like he's being fixed. Alphard, used to his very eventful family, is an expert in dealing with dramatic people (like his siblings) and how to undercut their drama instead of pushing them further into their position (which is what Harry would do, for example. Harry and Tom would keep pushing at each other while someone like Alphard would be able to just remove the heat from the argument and allow it to not get as extreme).

Again, it's not much to go on, but it has so much potential.

(Also, @iamnmbr3 has this post about how Voldemort’s violence became worse in 1979, which happens to be the same year Alphard Black died, and while I don't agree with all the points made there, I find it to be a super fun concept)

Voldemort/Lily also has potential. She's smart, stubborn, academically inclined, and has the right rough edges to have the kind of push-and-pull dynamic with Voldemort that I like with Tomarrymort. Lily is probably the kind of witch Voldemort could grow to respect as well. I don't think he would've agreed to spare her for Snape if he didn't respect both of them. JKR also said he tried to recruit James and Lily, so, he was aware that she was talented.

I think, though, Lily/Voldemort would be slightly better than Harry/Voldemort in some aspects. Lily isn't as hot-headed as Harry. Lily's anger is usually much colder, which I feel would work better with Tom just because she wouldn't push all his buttons (just most of them). She would still push him into a character arc, but it would be a gentler nudge than if Harry did it.

My only real rule when shipping Tommy Boy is that he can't be shipped with someone mediocre, he'll just steamroll over them completely, and that's not as fun, in my opinion. He needs a partner he can grow to respect and see as an equal (or close to it) and that has the spine to stand up to him, otherwise, he'd just keep getting what he wants, and I think that's the opposite of what Voldemort needs in a relationship.

Marauders are interesting because of Snape, Remus and Sirius. The sisters aren't really interesting because they don't have a complex personality in the books. Bellatrix is mostly seen acting crazy and Narcissa/Andromeda are only known for like few traits. What would we write about them when we don't know who they are?

But I agree with your last point lol.

the black sisters are equally as interesting as the marauders/lily if not more so but y'all don't gaf because they aren't brooding men you can ship together arbitrarily..in this essay i will

and infinitely more fucking interesting than the wizard nazis y'all want to redeem so bad

Your values usually mirror the values of your closest loved ones. And neither James, Severus or Petunia were particularly kind so the idea of her being this saintly role model doesn't fit the picture.

Hi I have read many of your James posts and so far I agree with all of them. What gets me wondering however is someone like Lily Evans - potrayed as the saintly morally good character - dating someone like James - an entitled bully who kept his jerkish behavior even after he supposedly changed. Who do you think she was? Did she excused James's behavior because she found him attractive and thought she could change him? Or that he would change for her? Was she downplaying his faults because she fell in love? Or was she simply too naive? I cannot believe a person who would marry a person with so many faults like James wouldn't also be far off from being jerkish themselves. And what about her relationship with Severus? Was she as attached to him as he was? Why was she friends with him for so long if she was excusing his prejudice for years? I'm so conflicted about her. The author implies she is something but the text kind of goes against that. As someone who is pro snape and knows Lily was a big part of his life what do you think about her, her motives, actions or relationships? I love your opinions a lot btw never stop sharing them😄

I looove to talk about Lily because her character sucks. And not because of her, but because HOW Rowling portrays her. Sooo.. Lets go! Lily is emblematic of a significant issue in the series: the tendency to use female characters as tools for male development rather than as complex individuals with their own arcs. In Lily’s case, her character functions primarily as a moral barometer—she exists to reflect the “goodness” or “badness” of the men around her. Her choices and relationships with James and Severus are less about her own desires, values, or growth and more about how they impact these two men. This framing does Lily a disservice, stripping her of agency and interiority while simultaneously burdening her with the narrative role of deciding who is worthy and who is not

Rowling’s portrayal of Lily is heavily idealized. She is the perfect mother who sacrifices herself for her son, the brilliant and talented witch who stands out even among her peers, and the moral compass who chooses “good” (James) over “evil” (Severus). This construction paints her as infallible, a paragon of virtue, and the embodiment of love and selflessness. However, this saintly image is rarely interrogated within the text.

The problem lies in the dissonance between how Lily is presented and the decisions she makes. If she is meant to represent moral perfection, her marriage to James —a character whose flaws remain evident even after his supposed redemption—creates a contradiction. James, even as an adult, retains the arrogance and hostility that defined his youth, particularly in his continued disdain for Snape. If Lily was as discerning and principled as the narrative suggests, why would she align herself with someone whose values and behavior contradict the ideal of Gryffindor bravery and fairness?

This contradiction weakens her role as a moral arbiter, making her decisions feel less like the result of her own judgment and more like a narrative convenience to validate James’s redemption. By choosing James, she implicitly forgives or overlooks his past bullying, signaling that his actions were excusable or irrelevant to his worthiness as a partner. This not only diminishes the impact of James’s flaws but also undermines Lily’s supposed moral clarity.

Lily’s role mirrors a common, harmful trope: the woman as a moral compass or fixer for flawed men. Her purpose becomes external rather than internal—she isn’t there to pursue her own goals, ideals, or struggles but to serve as a benchmark for others’ morality. It’s as if Lily’s worth as a character is determined solely by her relationships with James and Severus rather than her own journey.

By failing to give Lily meaningful contradictions or flaws, Rowling inadvertently creates a character who feels passive and complicit. Her saintly veneer prevents her from being truly human, as real people are defined by their contradictions, growth, and mistakes. Yet Lily is static, existing only to highlight James’s "redemption" or Severus’s "fall."

This lack of depth reflects a broader issue with how women are often written in male-centric narratives: their stories are secondary, their personalities flattened, and their actions only meaningful in the context of the men they influence. It’s a stark reminder of the gender bias present in the series, where women like Lily, Narcissa, and even Hermione are often used to drive or validate male characters’ arcs rather than having their own fully developed trajectories.

Regarding Lily and Severus relationship, their bond begins in a world where both feel alienated. Severus, growing up in the oppressive and neglectful environment of Spinner’s End, finds in Lily not only a companion but a source of light and warmth that he lacks at home. For Lily, Severus is her first glimpse into the magical world, a realm that she belongs to but doesn’t yet understand. Their friendship is symbiotic in its earliest stages: Severus offers Lily knowledge of her magical identity, while she provides him with acceptance and validation. However, this connection, while powerful in childhood, rests on a fragile foundation—one that fails to evolve as their circumstances and priorities shift. When they arrive at Hogwarts, the cracks in their bond begin to surface. While Lily flourishes socially, Severus becomes increasingly marginalized and becomes a frequent target of James Potter and Sirius Black. This social isolation only deepens his reliance on Lily, but for her, this dependency becomes increasingly difficult to sustain.

It’s important to recognize that Lily’s discomfort isn’t only moral; it’s also social. By the time of their falling out, Lily has fully integrated into the Gryffindor social circle, gaining the admiration of her peers and, most notably, James Potter. Her association with Severus, now firmly positioned as an outsider and a future Death Eater, risks undermining her own social standing. While her final break with Severus is framed as a principled decision, it’s difficult to ignore the role that social dynamics might have played in her choice.

It’s worth considering that Lily’s shift toward James wasn’t necessarily a sudden change of heart but rather the culmination of an attraction that may have existed all along, one rooted in what he represented rather than who he was. James Potter, as the embodiment of magical privilege—a pure-blood, wealthy, socially adored Gryffindor golden boy—offered Lily something that Severus never could: validation within the magical world’s elite.

Though Lily was undoubtedly principled, it’s plausible that, beneath her moral convictions, there was a more human, and yes, superficial, desire for recognition and security in a world that was, for her, both wondrous and alien. Coming from a working-class, Muggle-born background, Lily would have been acutely aware of her outsider status, no matter how talented or well-liked she became. James’s relentless pursuit of her, despite his arrogance and bullying tendencies, may have been flattering in ways that bolstered her sense of belonging. James’s attention wasn’t just personal—it was symbolic. His interest in her, as someone who could have easily chosen a pure-blood witch from his own social echelon, signaled to her and to others that she was not only worthy of respect but desirable within the upper echelons of wizarding society.

This dynamic raises uncomfortable questions about Lily’s character. Could it be that she tolerated James’s antics, not because she believed he would change for her, but because she enjoyed the social validation his affection brought her? Interestingly, this interpretation aligns Lily more closely with her sister Petunia than one might initially expect. Petunia’s marriage to Vernon provided her with the stability and status she craved within the Muggle world. Both sisters may have sought partners who could anchor them in environments where they otherwise felt insecure. For Petunia, that meant latching onto the image of suburban perfection through Vernon. For Lily, it may have meant aligning herself with someone like James, whose wealth, status, and pure-blood background offered her a kind of social and cultural security in the magical world.

If we view Lily’s relationship with James through this lens, her character becomes far less idealized and far more human. Rather than being the moral paragon the series portrays, she emerges as a young woman navigating an uncertain world, making choices that are as practical as they are principled. While it’s clear she disapproved of James’s bullying, it’s equally possible that his persistence, confidence, and status were qualities she found increasingly difficult to resist—not because they aligned with her values, but because they appealed to her insecurities.

It’s also worth noting that Lily’s final break with Severus coincided with her growing relationship with James. This timing is telling. Severus, a social outcast from a poor background, represented the antithesis of James. By cutting ties with Severus, Lily not only distanced herself from the moral ambiguities of his choices but also from the social liabilities he represented. Aligning with James, by contrast, placed her firmly within the Gryffindor elite—a position that would have offered her both social protection and personal validation. And this whole perspective is much more interesting than her image as a moral compass for the men around her. Unfortunately, as with many of her characters, Rowling didn’t put any effort into giving us definitive answers; she just insisted on that unhealthy, idealized view of motherhood and the idea that everything is forgiven if you're on the "right" side and rich and popular.

Sorry for the long text, but whenever the topic of Lily comes up, I tend to go on and on, haha.

Perfect analysis.

Hello!

Fistly, I love your content <3

Secondly, do you think there were other reasons besides the difference in wealth, class and power as to why James and Sirius treated Severus the way they did?

They mock and humiliate him and reduce him to a toy, a doll to have fun with. But if that's all there is, they should torment him and leave, right? However, that does not happen. And this is the part I find odd. The way they watch him during the exam in the flashback (what business do they have watching someone write their paper?), the way Sirius' eyes follow him like a preditor to a rabbit when he spots Snape under the tree. James promises Lily to stop pranking people, but goes behind her back to get to Severus anyway. He dies for the tiniest chance that this woman may leave, but he betrays her trust that easily just to torment Snape more? It seems a bit obsessive to me, not just the typycal bullying,worse, something a bit off. Obsessive from James' side and then Sirius would follow his lead in any case. Ofc, I could be wrong about all of this.

What do you think?

<3

Oh, this is such a juicy question, and thanks for the kind words! ❤️

Buckle up, because we're diving deep into the murky waters of school bullying dynamics and why James and Sirius’s treatment of Severus isn’t your average schoolyard torment. (I love to made these type of meta because analyze violence is my cardio lol) This is gonna be looooooong:

At its core, bullying thrives on power imbalances. James and Sirius had every advantage: wealth, status, looks, charisma, magical talent—you name it. Severus, on the other hand, was everything they weren’t: poor, socially awkward, a loner, and unkempt. People like James and Sirius often prey on someone like Severus because he represents a threat to their sense of superiority. He’s smart, talented, and doesn’t bow to them, which means they can’t control or dominate him the way they can others. For people like James, that’s an itch they have to scratch.

But with James and Sirius, this goes beyond garden-variety bullying. It has this weird intensity to it that’s worth unpacking and as you said before, there’s something almost compulsive about the way James and Sirius target Severus. This isn’t just "let’s embarrass the nerd for laughs and move on." It’s fixated. Watching him during an exam? Catching sight of him under a tree and zoning in like a predator? Going out of his way to break his promise to Lily just to torment him again? That’s next-level, and here’s why that might be:

Severus was different: Beyond class, wealth, and upbringing, Severus was a challenge. He didn’t back down, didn’t beg, and he didn’t play the role of the "grateful victim" who might humor them to escape more torment. Instead, he fought back (verbally or with magic), which probably pissed James off even more. Bullies hate it when their victim refuses to crumble.

Insecurity masked as dominance: James, despite his wealth and privilege, could still be deeply insecure. Think about it: someone like Severus, who came from nothing, could rival him in magical skill and intelligence. That’s a big bruise to James’s ego. Bullying might have been his way of proving to himself—and everyone watching—that he was "better."

Additionally, let’s not forget that canonically, James’s animosity toward Severus began because of his relationship with Lily. It’s likely that, until he managed to date her and ensure any bond she had with Severus was completely severed, James experienced jealousy, anger, and even the insecurity of thinking they might have something more.

For someone like James—accustomed to being handed everything by his doting parents, who gets what he wants with the snap of a finger, and who’s probably never been told “no”—insecurity wasn’t something he’d know how to handle. The idea that someone like Severus, from a rival house, who held beliefs James had been taught were “wrong,” who was poor, scruffy, unattractive, could possibly achieve what James wanted, or spend endless time with the girl he liked, must have been inconceivable. Unthinkable.

Once again, class and status come into play: the wealthy kid who’s had everything can present himself as a fighter for social justice, but deep down, in certain situations, that intrinsic sense of superiority and entitlement always surfaces. After winning Lily over, James probably thought he had every right to treat Severus however he wanted. By that point, he’d dehumanized him to such an extent that he no longer saw him as a person.

On top of that, if you consider that James likely justified his bullying by convincing himself it was legitimate because Severus was hanging around with dark wizards, it all makes sense. It’s the classic psychological mechanism of rationalizing harmful behavior: “I’m not doing anything wrong; he deserves it.” It’s actually a pretty logical progression when you think about it.

Sirius’s role: Sirius is a complicated mess of a character. Growing up in a family where dominance, control, and punishment were the norm, Sirius might have channeled that energy into his dynamic with Severus. If James was leading the charge, Sirius probably saw joining in as a way to solidify their bond while also exercising some of his own unresolved issues. But the predatory way you describe Sirius observing Severus? That’s chilling, and it checks out.

I’ve mentioned this in another post, but Sirius is a Black, and his rebellious persona and attempts to distance himself from his family rested on two fundamental pillars: being a Gryffindor and defending Muggle-borns. However, at the end of the day, Sirius was still a boy raised in an aristocratic family that believed they were superior to others for absurd reasons. This superiority complex led them to treat an entire group of people as “the other,” dehumanizing them to justify their marginalization and even their extermination.

These are the values Sirius grew up with, and like many rich kids who rebel without bothering to deconstruct the behavioral patterns they’ve inherited, he thought that simply rejecting blood purity and getting Sorted into another house was enough to absolve him.

But Snape’s presence challenges that belief. Sirius’s relationship with Severus reveals that, deep down, Sirius isn’t so different from his mother or his cousin Bellatrix. Sirius sees Snape as “the other.” He dehumanizes Severus in the same way his family dehumanizes Muggle-borns—but for being a Slytherin and for desiring the things Sirius himself has chosen to reject. This cognitive dissonance makes Sirius feel justified in tormenting Severus, much like his family feels justified in their bigotry.

In the end, Sirius is just another hypocrite with a different spin—like so many others.

I’ve also pointed out several times that Sirius has a sadistic streak. Maybe not to the same degree as Bellatrix, because she’s clearly far more unhinged, but Sirius does have that violent, bloodthirsty impulse typical of the Blacks. Since he can’t channel it the way his family does, he chose an easy target—someone disliked by many, someone who didn’t fit in, who was isolated, and, most tragically, someone who no one cared about, not even his own parents. Sirius used Severus as a means to vent his anger and sadistic tendencies, fully aware that no one would step in to defend him.

Furthermore, as a wealthy boy from an aristocratic family with progressive ideas, it’s no surprise that Sirius relied on James as his moral compass when he struggled to discern right from wrong. If James believed it was entirely justified to bully and torment Severus, why would Sirius think otherwise?

James embodied everything Sirius wished he could be: a boy with the same privilege as him, but from a family without extremist beliefs. James’s parents treated Sirius like a son. They believed in “good” things. They were the “good” ones. If James was convinced that bullying Severus was the right thing to do, then Sirius had no reason to question it.

It became a way for Sirius to justify and validate his own awful behavior—a pattern that’s sadly all too common among bullies.

When we look at how James and Sirius treated Severus, it’s clear they didn’t just see him as someone to mock and forget; they actively sought to dehumanize him. This process of dehumanization is deeply rooted in power dynamics. Severus wasn’t just the “nerd” they bullied—he was someone who challenged their place in the social order. He dared to stand up to James over Lily and, as a highly capable student, constantly reminded them that they weren’t untouchable. Even if they had reached the top of the social and academic hierarchy, Severus was proof that someone outside their circle could match or even surpass them. In their eyes, Severus became the "other," someone who had to be eliminated to keep their world intact.

Dehumanization in bullying has devastating effects on the victim. It’s not just about causing temporary physical or emotional harm—it’s about erasing the person’s identity, reducing them to nothing more than an object for entertainment or a pawn in a game of power.

In Severus’s case, James and Sirius didn’t just want to make him miserable—they wanted to strip away his dignity, his individuality, and his sense of self-worth. They needed to prove, not only to Severus but also to themselves and their peers, that he didn’t belong. This is why their actions go beyond mere pranks or teasing—they were asserting their dominance and ensuring that Severus could never challenge the status quo they benefited from.

The relationship between James, Sirius, and Severus is a reflection of how power dynamics, insecurity, and the struggle for control can lead to psychological abuse far more complex than simple schoolyard rivalry. Throughout the story, James and Sirius don’t just try to humiliate Severus—they do it to prove something about themselves, about their place in the world, and about the relationships they maintain with those around them. This isn’t just bullying; it’s a demonstration of how children raised in a dysfunctional value system, with a limited understanding of others, can wield destructive power over the more vulnerable.

That’s why, when we look at Severus and understand what he endured, it’s not just a matter of “he joined the Death Eaters because he was bad.” There’s a context of pain, abuse, and a desperate search to belong to something or someone. What James and Sirius did wasn’t just cruel—it was one of the cornerstones that pushed Severus down the path he later followed.

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Still, to appease the more radical purebloods and future death eaters, Snape must have internalized some of that anti muggleborn propaganda that Voldemort was spewing and the hatred his Slytherin friends were spreading. Although I'm aware that majority of the wizarding society held some superiority over muggles and I even believe many of the so called good purebloods (like the Potters) were condecensing to muggleborns sometimes, tho unknowingly, there is a difference between quiet prejudice with no ill intent and the radical bigoted beliefs that some of the wizards held. The death eaters clearly believed that muggles were human sickness and muggleborns were no better and Snape was around that rhetoric every day and later became part of its circle. I always just saw Snape as a selfish person who tried to gain more power and a sense of belonging and he was insecure enough to believe many of the bigoted beliefs that was part of Voldemort propaganda or just the overall hardcore prejudice. He called muggleborns mudbloods even when he was Lily's friend. I always imagine him as someone who would dismiss Lily's feelings about slytherins and even gaslight her about Voldemort's propaganda and her worry behind anti muggleborns rhetoric. Like he downplayed it while participating in it at the same time. We can see this with any real life prejudice existing in our world. Many people who are homophobic try to create reasons for disliking gay people and when gay people complain about their hatred, they just downplay it, make it seem like its not that big of a deal or just continue with their excuses. I can see Snape being like that. And even if his reason for joining death eaters had nothing to do with violence and hatred, he became part of it anyway and being part of something like that influences the way you think especially if you wanted to be part of it. He also became part of it during the time the violence was already known and that certainly did not stop him so he must have had some prejudices or highly ignorant beliefs towards muggleborns.

It seems like you're very determined to apply a strictly logical, real-world mindset to a fictional, fantasy world. I get that imagining a Severus Snape with deeply ingrained, extremist, anti-Muggle biases would make more sense in a real-world context and may feel more "realistic". But that wasn’t the point of Snape’s character. This is a story, and not everything needs to follow real-world logic exactly. Even in reality, not everything unfolds as expected. Snape’s character is, in many ways, an exception—he surprises audiences frequently and makes choices that don’t always align with his past actions or logical expectations. Some of these contradictions seem deliberate; Snape has to exist in this gray area for the story to hold its depth and ambiguity.

So, while Snape does associate with future Death Eaters and, at times, seems to justify their actions, that doesn’t mean he fully internalized all of their views or intended to act exactly like them. Lily did a similar thing, in a way: she mentions that she often tried to excuse Snape’s behavior or overlook his mistakes. But we wouldn’t conclude that Lily agreed with or had adopted Snape’s beliefs. Another example is Peter Pettigrew, who is almost Snape’s opposite. Peter was sorted into Gryffindor, the very house that upholds Dumbledore’s ideals and values. He surrounded himself with people destined to be future Order members, yet look at what he became. Peter didn’t just reject his friends’ beliefs; he betrayed them completely and was loyal to Voldemort for years, even plotting his friends' deaths and stayed loyal to Voldemort for years afterward, to the point of risking Harry’s life for Voldemort's return.

I don’t deny that Snape held biases and some prejudiced views, whether as a teenager or a young Death Eater. But, as I mentioned in my previous post, there’s no solid evidence that he was an extreme racist, a torturer of Muggle-borns, or someone who delighted in the idea of “cleansing” the wizarding world.

As a personal opinion, I also feel that comparing real-world homophobia to anti-Muggle sentiment in the wizarding world isn’t quite the same. Muggles and wizards have a long, tumultuous history, and at one point, Muggles persecuted wizards to the extent that they had to hide their world to ensure safety and survival. This isn’t a distant past—Hagrid even mentions in Philosopher’s Stone that Muggles would likely exploit wizards if they discovered their powers. So, while homophobia is irrational and baseless, anti-Muggle sentiments in the wizarding world, however wrong, are somewhat rooted in historical fear and survival. It’s no surprise, then, that the wizarding society hasn’t fully let go of its anti-Muggle biases, even after the wars.

I think they were friendly and maybe even friends like they would stand up for each other and protect one another because they shared the same loved one - James - and had similar values etc. but I never felt like they were close. From what we know Lily and James started dating in 7th year, I imagine Sirius to be kind of resentful towards Lily because she stole James's time/attention from him so there was never a healthy opportunity to get close even tho they were friendly, I imagine they started to become friends during the time when Lily and James were forced to stay at home. Lily never mentions Remus so they were even less closer atleast in the final years of her life and I imagine she included Peter a lot because she pitied him or hell maybe he was funny or smth. But I still prefer to imagine her as James's girlfriend and wife only and that's how the marauders viewed her.

Lily's dynamic with the marauders (unpopular opinion)

Am I the only one who feels that lily wasn't as close to the marauders as the fandom makes her out to be?

Now before u jump at me, it's obviously fun to explore the dynamics btw different characters thru hcs and fanfics. However, i m only considering canon facts in this post.

First off, we never hear sirius or remus speak about lily when james isn't involved in the conversation. James was obviously a close friend, more lyk a brother, so its only natural that they reminisce him often. Both of them remark on harry's resemblance to james pretty often. It's literally the first thing sirius mentions when he sees harry for the first time in poa, saying james would have taken risks for him the same way harry came for ron. Remus compares harry's humor and unflinching belief in his friends to james aswell. There are constant little mentions post gof of james by both of them.

But lily? Absolutely nothing. We obviously can't expect her to be mentioned as many times as james coz she wasn't in their original friend group, but she isn't mentioned at all. The only time she's spoken about is post swm, and that's still in relation to her getting together with james. We learn more about lily from snape, someone she cut ties with when she was 15, than from her supposed besties. Heck, we learn more about her from Slughorn, her school teacher, than we ever did from sirius and remus.

Ik lily addresses sirius and peter by their nicknames in that letter, but i honestly always saw it as a casual thing, obvs in a fond way but not an indicator of their relationship.

There is obviously potential for a close friendship, there's often potential for a lot of things in fiction, but that doesn't make it canon. Apart from fighting the same war these characters don't seem to have anything in common. Yeah, both lily and sirius have complicated relationships with their siblings, but I would hardly compare a failed relation to having your sibling be brainwashed by your abusive family into following a cult that's trying to get u and ur friends killed.... Besides, lily is portrayed as this pure, perfect mother in canon while sirius and remus are both massively flawed characters, and that leaves little room for understanding between these characters.

Now, this isn't to say that the didn't like each other ofc, but the way lily's only mentioned with respect to james, they probably liked and respected her as their best friend's wife. There's no way I'm believing that they were super close when she isn't mentioned on her own even once after she's dead, it makes it pretty clear that the relationship was only because of james. There's nothing wrong with that ofc, it happens in plenty of friend groups and families, i just wish there were more fics representing their relationship the way it was originally written( although fanfics exploring their relationship are LIT in their own fanon way).

Men are just incapable of creating meaningful friendships that would fullfill their emotional needs and that is not women's fault.

If I have to see one more goddamn mention of the “male loneliness epidemic” i’m going to shoot myself. Yknow women have been lonely. For centuries. For millennia women have been lonely, isolated in marriages they didn’t want, forced into domestic labour they never asked for, at home with children they never dreamed of having, having their rights, their dreams, their aspirations, their hopes and dreams stripped away from them. For millennia! But sure some men can’t make friends and mean women won't fuck them. Let’s call it an epidemic and have all of the world’s professionals turn an eye to it, let’s have a shit ton of articles and papers written about why men can’t make friends or get girlfriends and how that’s just not fair you guys! It’s not as though men have been having the world spoon fed to them, carried to them on a golden platter for millennia either. It’s not as though every woman in a man’s life is forced constantly to do emotional labour for him because he has the mentality of a fucking six year old and is effectively useless on his own. It is the de facto position for a wife or a girlfriend to “fix” a useless man, to make him a real man, to make him empathetic and kind and patient, to temper and mature him and just hope to god he doesn’t fucking kill her on the way there. Men are lonely? Fucking good. Maybe, for the first time in civilisation, they fucking should be.

Omg yes

I may or may not have spent a lot of time scrolling through your incredible blog yesterday 🫣

You are incredibly talented and I’ve loved reading your hot (intellectual) takes😍🤓

I know you’ve mentioned you’re not a fan of Dramione, what are your thoughts on Lucius/Hermione?

I was a skeptic until I read ABitofWits writing which is *chefs kiss*

thank you very much for the asks, anons!

perversely, i am compelled to back this because lucius is so transparently a wife guy.

the problem i have with many of hermione's non-ron pairings is that they tend to assume that what she's looking for is a man who's smooth and sophisticated and ambitious [which is why ron is usually - in such stories - turned into a boor with sawdust rattling around in his head] and which turn her into someone who's similarly polished and perfect in turn.

whereas what she clearly wants is to be able to be herself [annoying] around a man who uncomplicatedly adores her.

she and narcissa are very different people - obviously - but since lucius is arthur weasley's narrative mirror and ron is very like his father [aka: a stone cold legend who is devoted to his missus and clearly fucks like a champ] we can assume that he has many of the same traits which canonically attract hermione to ron.

[and narcissa's clearly not only spiralling in half-blood prince because she's worried about her son but because she's suffering withdrawal symptoms...]

hermione's having the time of her life, lucius is prepared to throw hands if anyone dares to point out that his new girlfriend is a nightmare at parties because she simply has to have the last word all the time, and draco is sitting on his bed staring into the middle distance and wishing - for the first time in years - that voldemort was alive.

hot!

These two are both nerds, yes, but in all other aspects they are incompatible.

THE AUDIENCE CLAMOURS FOR YOUR VOLMIONE TAKE!!!!!!!!! In all seriousness the curiously is piqued tenfold by the fact that you go hard to bat for the other two voldemort/golden trio ships

i've definitely been putting this one off, anon, but it's hermione's birthday, and since the requests have kept coming...

maybe i have to grit my teeth and get through it.

i am, like my good pal @yorickofyore, broadly a tomione/volmione disliker - which is a spoiler for what follows. there are - obviously - huge numbers of people who are not, and they may sit happily in their ecosystem while i flop around photosynthesising in mine.

and the reason why i don't like tomione/volmione is right there in the last three screenshots: it relies - like several other hermione pairings, snamione and sirimione chief among them - on a portrayal of hermione's intellectual expression which bears absolutely no relation to how this is written in canon.

across all seven books in the series, hermione's intellect primarily manifests itself in a sincerely impressive ability to retain and repeat information [very usually verbatim from the source she got it from]. she is able to use this ability to retain information to understand the theoretical components of magic in a way neither harry nor ron ever manage, and she is then able to apply this retention - that is, to repeat the information she has acquired - of knowledge to the performance of magic which is [often considerably] ahead of her expected level both in terms of the hogwarts curriculum and in terms of what would be seen as the median ability of an adult witch or wizard.

but hermione is never shown - at any point in canon - to be a particularly radical, creative, or experimental thinker.

she places an enormous amount of intellectual trust in disciplinary authority - not only in the respect she has for following textbooks and teachers to the letter [hence why she won't attempt any of the modifications in the half-blood prince's textbook, she thinks it's offensive that they contradict the "official" peer-reviewed and sanctioned instructions] but also in her agreement with the gatekeeping imposed by the state and/or its authorities on academic inquiry.

[hence her disliking the invented spells in the half-blood prince's textbook because they're not ministry approved, or her easing her discomfort at having read the books from which voldemort learned to make a horcrux by insisting - undoubtedly correctly - that dumbledore wanted her to do it and she therefore has the permission of an intellectual authority].

she's immediately mistrustful of anything she can't find [something she regards as] an empirical source for - which is why harry's mental connection with voldemort frightens her so much, or why she thinks that harry's lost his mind when he begins to insist the deathly hallows are real and important, or, most famously, why she thinks divination is bullshit.

she's never shown to be able to synthesise her knowledge [she never answers questions in class in her own words, she always goes massively over word limits], or to use it in ways which are considerably removed from its typical application.

[the protean charm on the da coins, for example - the magic she's using is sophisticated, and is being applied in a way which wouldn't necessarily be classroom-sanctioned, since she's using it to defy umbridge, but the evidence of canon is that it's not magic which is being used in a way which is removed from the spell's original purpose. terry boot is impressed because he's looking at a flawless execution of newt-level magic by a sixteen-year-old, rather than because hermione is using that magic in an unusual way. the same is true of the polyjuice potion - it's impressive because she brews it flawlessly aged thirteen.]

this is a very logical, rational, and scientific approach to learning - and one which the series, which tends to take a dim view of anything which deviates too far from the status quo, views extremely positively - and it is intelligence. i know some people think that when i say this about hermione i'm saying that she isn't clever - or that i'm saying she's less clever than the characters [all of whom are male] that the series permits to be "brilliant" - but that's not the case. hermione is clearly extremely clever - and her logical, empirical, careful approach comes in clutch for the trio throughout the series, right from philosopher's stone. her intellectual expression just isn't the only way intelligence can manifest itself - and it isn't an intellectual expression which will automatically mesh with another very clever person's approach.

which is to say... lord voldemort, both as a teen and an adult, is - intellectually - the complete opposite of hermione.

he is someone - as he tells us - who thinks of magic as a creative force he has every right to shape as he sees fit, something whose boundaries he has the inherent right to smash through. he rejects disciplinary authority [his loathing of dumbledore - as an adult, at least - is because he thinks that dumbledore is a petty-minded gatekeeper who attempts to repress the dark arts - magic, snape tells us, which is inherently ever-changing, unfixed, mutating - because he's afraid of them and their refusal to be neatly contained in disciplinary boxes; his appeal to slughorn's authority is purely a manipulation technique]. he is an adaptor and inventor, and he uses magic in ways which radically deviate from its intended purpose.

and so the common "teen tom riddle and hermione are at school together" trope that they'd both get off on being academic rivals is, in my view, impossible to justify while keeping either of them remotely canon-coherent. she's going to think he's a cunt. he's going to think she's irrelevant.

indeed, i genuinely think the most likely scenario if the two are at school together is that the teen voldemort wouldn't be able to pick hermione out of a line-up - not least because she has very little to offer him when it comes to his plans for world domination.

when it comes to those he's "nice" to, the teenage tom riddle targets the socially prominent, rich, and influential, whom he can use parasitically to his own ends.

he's happy, undoubtedly, to have minions who are less useful to him from a social-advancement perspective, but who come in handy as pawns in his schemes - as dumbledore puts it, "the weak seeking protection, the ambitious seeking some shared glory, and the thuggish gravitating toward a leader who could show them more refined forms of cruelty" - but this is the only thing he sees them as. hermione has a capacity for cruelty he would undoubtedly see potential in [even if he would probably be wary of her "run and tell teacher" vibe], but as someone who does his bidding only, rather than anyone for whom he's willing to fake [or, indeed, to actually feel] any degree of mutual affection.

and i do think this - in and of itself - is interesting. hermione is someone - as i've said elsewhere - who has a tendency towards blind loyalty, which often causes her to accept people she likes and/or respects treating her cruelly [something we see in canon particularly in how she reacts to snape's behaviour towards her]. she's also someone who is incredibly deferential to authority, fairly naive, convinced she's always right, convinced she's not irrational, superstitious, or emotionally-driven, and capable of pretty egregious cruelty in pursuit of being rational and correct.

or, in other words, she's very easy for a flesh-and-blood voldemort to manipulate.

[she's not at risk from a horcrux because she's possessed of the empirical fact that they can't hurt you if you don't let them get emotionally close to you, which impacts how she behaves around the locket.]

on the rare occasions when i've enjoyed fics with this pairing, then, they've tended to be ones which actually acknowledge this - and which have hermione completely destroyed by a voldemort [usually in adult form] who has never cared one iota about her, all because she was convinced she'd be far too clever to fall for his tricks.

[my rec: enigma by devdevlin.]

and this is the main way my view of tomione/volmione deviates from my view of tomarrymort or ronmort - i don't think there's any circumstance where it can ever work as something mutual, whereas the entire point of tomarrymort is that the relationship is something voldemort perceives as equal, and ronmort sees the dark lord running headfirst into ron's ability to disarm and confuse him by possessing a crumb of emotional intelligence. i don't think voldemort would hate hermione - or even be particularly irritated by her - but nor do i think he'd find anything about her interesting enough to make him want to keep her around for any longer than she was useful.

but - like so many hermione pairings - the default in tomione/volmione tends to be "omg, hermione is so hot, brilliant, and fascinating that [insert man here] becomes completely obsessed with her". whether the story leads to voldemort becoming a better person or hermione going over to the dark side, the way the pairing is written always assumes that hermione is someone voldemort would consider [often very quickly] important to him [even in circumstances where she is a prisoner]. only very rarely do fics ever explore the much more canon-justifiable - and, in my view, much more interesting - idea that voldemort is somebody hermione could and would consider important, while he wouldn't give a single fuck about her.

[neither of them give a shit about dead rabbits though. it's the only thing they have in common.]

Two up, two down

We talk about Potter as a timeless series, as quills and parchment will never date, but there are a few key elements which are of their time, and I sometimes suspect that eventually, their original meaning may be lost.

Snape’s house in Spinner’s End is one of these.  If you visit Surrey, a house akin to Number 4 on Privet Drive can be found on hundreds of identical estates.  Indeed, the three-bedroom house with a garage, and both front and back gardens, situated on a private housing estate in leafy surburbia is one that most British people will have strolled through at some point.

But Snape’s house in Spinner’s End is the opposite of the Dursleys’ aspirational abode, and is somewhere that few modern readers will have seen in its original form with their own eyes.  Snape’s house in Spinner’s End is a traditional two up, two down through terraced house, mired deep in a maze of identical cobbled streets, overlooked by a looming mill chimney, and seemingly – by the 90s – entirely abandoned.

The difficulty that some may have in accurately picturing this scene is because these houses, in this state, no longer exist.  A large percentage of two up, two down terraces were demolished as part of slum clearance, which should tell you all that you need to know about the state of the houses.  

Those which remained have been extensively modified – usually knocking down the privy (outside toilet), and then building a two storey extension across the bulk of the yard to create a third room downstairs, and a bathroom upstairs.  Some houses only have a single extension; it is rather common in some areas of the Midlands to have a bathroom that leads off the kitchen downstairs – because the bathroom was the missing room, and it was cheaper to build one storey than two.

Pottermore had an article earlier in the year which explained how the filmmakers originally wanted to film on location, but could not, because the houses simply did not exist in their traditional state.

The houses were typically constructed with two rooms downstairs and two rooms upstairs with a tiny backyard entry leading to the outhouse. Craig actually considered shooting on location, but even though the buildings were intact, they had been brought into the modern era, with up-to-date kitchens and plastic extensions, so the set was built at the studio.

Throughout the 20th century, cobbled streets were routinely replaced by various other road surfaces, namely tarmac and asphalt – and, of course, the scarcity of cobblestones now means that such streets are aesthetically desirable.  However, the cobblestones in Spinner’s End are not an indication of affluence, but an indication of an area left behind. This is further illustrated by the rusted railings, the broken streetlights, and the boarded up windows.

These were workers houses, often funded by the owners of the mill, and therefore tied – meaning that rent was deducted from your wage before you received it.  There were benefits to being in tied accommodation, including being close to work and having a guaranteed landlord – but that was as much benefit to the mill owner as the worker.  Seeing great competition, some mill owners invested in their properties to entice workers – but Spinner’s End is not an example of this; Spinner’s End would’ve been regarded as little better than a slum even when fully occupied.

The narrow streets are indicative of when these houses were built, presumably in the late 1800s – cars were not a concern, and the attitude was to build as many houses on as small a piece of land as possible.

By the time the 90s roll around, and we see Narcissa and Bellatrix descend upon the street, Spinner’s End appears to be mostly deserted.  With the closure of traditional manual industries, families would be keen to relocate to where work could be found.  Estates which hadn’t already been cleared by the 60s would find themselves left to rack and ruin, their former occupants long gone – whether seeking a new life elsewhere, or having died.

For once, Bellatrix is not being anti-Muggle when she sneers at the Muggle dunghill; she is unnervingly accurate. It is a slum by her standards, but most importantly, it was a slum by everyone else’s standards as well.  By the time Severus was born, work should’ve been well under way to clear the area, or to renovate it.  This evidently did not occur – which itself explains how undesirable the area is; nobody wanted to spruce it up - they wanted to leave.  There were no jobs, no amenities, no services – and eventually, no people.

We often ponder why Snape remains at Spinner’s End, but perhaps there lies the answer; he wasn’t just hiding from the magical world, but he was also hiding from the Muggle world as well…

HP META MASTERLISTS

Hey! Here is a huge master list of all my favorite Harry Potter character analyses and Metas! 

I DID NOT write these! Please do yourself a favor and check out some of the wonderful and intelligent writers of these metas as they deserve all the praise for their hard and impressive work!

If anyone of the writers for whatever reason wants me to remove their meta from this list just tell me and it will be done!  

Some of these may be contradictory to each other but that is because I like to hear other interpretations. These may not line up exactly with your view of the characters (not all of them line up with mine) but please try to be respectful.

*Almost all of these are from Tumblr except one from reddit and one from a outside blog.

Enjoy!

Keep reading

Dumbledore was clever, cunning, and magically powerful. If he wanted real power, he could have quite quickly brought the wizarding world to its knees. Actually, he feared power and deliberately limited himself from it and tried not to get involved in the most political decisions because he knew he had a visionary side that could make him start deciding people's fates "for the greater good." He knew he could make mistakes. That's why all his positions were not really about power but were more like representative and guarantor roles, where there were many other decision-makers, and his power could be limited by others — from headmaster (from which he was disgracefully kicked out) to the position in the useless magical version of the UN.

Dumbledore didn't seek power, he feared it. That's why he avoided making some decisions and increasing his power even when he could and should have done so (like taking the post of Minister).

At first Harry thinks Dumbledore is almost like a god, but then he realizes that Dumbledore actually has no real power, makes mistakes, and is just an ordinary person with his own flaws, who has been fighting his inner demons all his life and can't forgive himself for a mistake he made in his youth.

Dumbledore is actually a deeply traumatised character who is often afraid to make decisions and avoids doing things because he believes his actions sometimes don't lead to good outcomes. He avoids action even when it's really needed, doing the bare minimum.

He is very distant, closed off, and I think quite an unhappy person. I can almost see the pain Dumbledore went through with the whole Harry situation, but it was a difficult decision that only he could make, and he actually hates himself for it, which is why he distances himself from Harry as much as possible (I don't think it's the right decision. I see it as Dumbledore's weakness.) Dumbledore's death isn't a sad event for him, it's the release he had been waiting for a long time.

This is such a simple idea that I really don't understand how people see him as a character who fought Voldemort just to keep his kinda pathetic power.

#agree #fuck fanon #canon Sirius Black #canon Remus Lupin #wolfstar critical

Yeesssss

What is your saltiest take on fanon Sirius?

Sirius being closer to Remus than he is to James.

Look. i get that y’all are wolfstar fans. i get that you love your ship. but. no. just. no. there is not a single fucking shred of evidence for that in the entirety of canon. not. one. frankly, the opposite is overtly implied/stated many times. who did sirius go to when he ran away? james’ place. JAMES. not remus. James. who did McGonagal, Rosmerta, hagrid and flitwick fondly reminisce about and say ‘never saw one without the other’ ’you’d have thought they were brothers... inseparable!' ‘ringleaders of their little gang’ ‘trusted him above all his other friends.’

was it remus? no. it most definitely was not. it was james. was remus even once mentioned in the conversation about james and sirius at hogwarts? nope. nada. zippo. zilch. exactly zero times did it come up. and to be clear. lupin’s not there at the table. they obviously think they’re not gonna be overheard by anyone (lmao, you’d think they’d be more competent than that) otherwise they wouldn’t be discussing any of this out in public but… lupin’s in their minds because he’s back at hogwarts. so. it’s not like they’ve forgotten who he is. it’s just that the person that they automatically associate with sirius black is james potter. even peter gets a shout out ‘that fat little boy who was always tagging around after them’ but Rosmerta literally doesn’t even remember remus as ever being with them. 

not to mention the fact that they didn’t trust each other enough to tell the truth during the first war. oh. and james named SIRIUS Harry’s godfather. he didn’t do the whole dual godfathers thing. he chose sirius. not remus. sorry mates, but it’s the truth. and he made (or at least wanted to make) SIRIUS their secret keeper.. not. remus…

look you can ship whoever you want (lord knows just about every single marauders fan there is is obsessed with wolfstar) but don’t try to erase or manipulate/bend/ignore/disregard canon to suit your desired ship (and then act like it actually is canon and not just what you want)

I cannot read any wolfstar fics for this exact reason. They just downplay or erase his actual personality, arrogance, toxicity, family issues, insecurities all for the sake of making him fit with Remus.

🔥 anything about sirius because i am being a little hater towards some characterisations too

i've already talked your ears off about this on discord but i'm happy to talk to about it again bc i fucking HATE new sirius black with a burning passion. i hate him as much as i love my sirius black that marauderstok can pry from my cold dead hands bc i'm not letting him go. i don't know when it happened and why but marauders fans are particularly persistent on taking away any interesting traits sirius had and leaving behind a whimpering pathetic twink that cries when someone looks at him the wrong way. sirius has been scrubbed clean of any morally grey traits he might've had (he's not allowed to care for his family (unless it's regulus) or long for them bc they are bad, he's not allowed to have any prejudices even though he was literally raised with pureblood mentality and taught he was superior to everyone else from the day he was born, he's not allowed to be an asshole bc he's not like his family guys!! and when he is an asshole it's always used to victimize the character he's being an asshole to and sirius is painted as the villain with mommy issues that can only be fixed by getting dicked down apparently)

i cannot stress this enough: LET THIS MAN BE A COMPLEX CHARACTER!! and no, giving him mental illnesses that miraculously disappear when he gets together with remus and making him attempt to kill himself post prank because he feels bad is NOT making him complex! you're just weird. you're just romanticizing mental illnesses and i can't believe you don't see anything wrong with it. giving him bipolar to justify his actions is?? not??? representation??? it's offensive to people who actually have to deal with these issues in their day to day lives and yet here you are using something that will impact their life forever as a plot device for your uwu sadboy mlm fanfic.

and that's what new sirius boils down to. he's a plot device, an accessory to everyone else's story that's never given much depth other than "oh his mom used the cruciatus on him and now he's traumatized". no hate to jegulus but hate to specific jegulus fics that turn sirius into an overdramatic caricature of his former self for the sake of drama and angst.

also, some of these wolfstar shippers... wtf are you guys on?? idk when and why (that's a lie i do but i'm not gonna say it) remus became sirius black in a werewolf costume but here we are. oh sirius was cool and effortlessly smart and handsome and girls wanted him? well guess what? snatches all of those character traits and throws them onto remus they're his character traits now. ignore how it doesn't make any sense for the werewolf child who was isolated from the rest of the world to be a smooth talking alpha casanova who plays basketball actually. while we're at it, ignore how unrealistic it is for a boy who was raised in a family that believed they were superior to everyone else based on blood status, who was raised to be the perfect heir and checked off all the traits needed to be one to be insecure?? and unsure of himself?? and stupid??? and a loser??? i don't understand what the point of flipping the wolfstar dynamic was when you're left with a shallow copy of the original but ok. you do you ig.

to summarize, my sirius is cool and effortlessly smart and egotistical and a complete asshole who thinks he's the best thing ever. is it an act to cover up how damaged he thinks he is because of his family? possibly. but i also fully believe sirius thought he was a god amongst men and everyone should be glad to be in his presence. he talked down to other people because he considered himself smarter, he rolled his eyes when students asked stupid questions and made fun of them when they got an answer wrong. he's a teenage boy let him be a dick with no excuses.

(also i find it funny when people write about sirius getting into a fight with james or remus and crying because they said something mean. as if sirius wouldn't throw hands the moment someone started criticizing him. he's toxic and that's what makes him interesting. that's his purpose! characters exist to make stories interesting, to start drama, not to be your moral guide on how to act. stories become so much more fun once you let go of the need to make every character a good person. also liking a character doesn't equal liking them as a person. i love sirius but i would hate his guts irl)