#second war with voldemort

[pangaeaseas]

Magic Is Masculinity: Or, Lucius Malfoy and How the Wand Makes the Man

One thing I'm always interested in thinking about in HP fic is how to realistically create a society with different mores from our own. If you take the premise that pureblood especially and overall wizarding culture more broadly is different from 1990s Muggle British society seriously, you must consider where social norms differ from 90s muggle norms. I personally am interested in the idea that pureblood families tend to live in multi-generational households with extended families rather than in a nuclear family, for instance, though I don't think this was JKR's intention (but who cares it's interesting). You could claim that LGBTQ+ people are more or less accepted than 90s Britain, depending on what you want to do with your story--and you could also consider that the wizarding world might have completely different definitions of sexuality (like, for example, the Roman use of penetrator vs non-penetrator as the main sexual binary). And we know that what is defined as masculinity and femininity varies massively across time and place.

So I want to think about how gender roles might differ in the wizarding world. There was a post I saw recently that discussed the idea of Sirius feeling affirmed in exploring femininity by being seen as feminine by Muggles while wearing robes, which I thought was a really interesting idea (and one that could apply to any character exploring gender). Of course the essential premise there is that something Muggles read as feminine--robes--are actually an essential aspect of Wizarding masculinity (see that guy who likes a nice healthy breeze round his privates in GoF).

So what else defines Wizarding masculinity? We can go absolutely wild! But I think there's a lot of canonical basis for the idea that one essential part of being a wizard and a man is having access to and control over one's own wand. This raises interesting questions about how characters who can't control their wands might be seen as emasculated (like Ron in CoS and Neville pre-HBP), and is also significant with regards to Voldemort's search for a wand that will allow him to fight Harry, and the period when Harry's wand is broken. So I'd love if people did additional analysis on this topic. But I'm going to specifically discuss the case of Lucius Malfoy, because I think he's a very clear example of how you need to have a wand to be a man.

"The faces around him displayed nothing but shock; he might have announced that he wanted to borrow one of their arms. “No volunteers?” said Voldemort. “Let’s see . . . Lucius, I see no reason for you to have a wand anymore.” Lucius Malfoy looked up. His skin appeared yellowish and waxy in the firelight, and his eyes were sunken and shadowed. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse. “My Lord?” “Your wand, Lucius. I require your wand.” “I . . .” Malfoy glanced sideways at his wife. She was staring straight ahead, quite as pale as he was, her long blonde hair hanging down her back, but beneath the table her slim fingers closed briefly on his wrist. At her touch, Malfoy put his hand into his robes, withdrew a wand, and passed it along to Voldemort, who held it up in front of his red eyes, examining it closely. “What is it?” “Elm, my Lord,” whispered Malfoy. “And the core?” “Dragon — dragon heartstring.” “Good,” said Voldemort. He drew out his own wand and compared the lengths. Lucius Malfoy made an involuntary movement; for a fraction of a second, it seemed he expected to receive Voldemort’s wand in exchange for his own. The gesture was not missed by Voldemort, whose eyes widened maliciously. “Give you my wand, Lucius? My wand?” Some of the throng sniggered. “I have given you your liberty, Lucius, is that not enough for you? But I have noticed that you and your family seem less than happy of late. . . . What is it about my presence in your home that displeases you, Lucius?” “Nothing — nothing, my Lord!” “Such lies, Lucius . . .” (Chapter 1, DH)

Having a wand is compared to having an arm: it's an essential part of a wizard's body. All the Death Eaters are shocked by the request. (Interestingly, we know of only two confirmed female Death Eaters, Bellatrix and Alecto Carrow. Bellatrix says that she would gladly give up any SONS specifically to the Dark Lord's service in HBP. This might imply that the Death Eaters are intended to be a majority male organization (though I personally like to explore the idea of there being more female Death Eaters) and so these are men specifically being affronted).

Before his wand is taken, it is specifically mentioned that Lucius appears ill--pale and waxen and yellow. Control of the body and good health is often seen as a crucial sign of masculinity. Lucius has lost this--he cannot control his own body--and is about to lose an important signal of his masculinity, his wand.

Voldemort is also treating Lucius as a child who's transgressed: there is 'no reason for him to have a wand anymore'--Voldemort doesn't respect Lucius's right to have a wand, like he's a child who isn't in control of his own decisions. A main throughline of Lucius's treatment since OOTP is Voldemort's interest in punishing him. This involves reducing him to a child to be ordered around, who can't be trusted with a wand. He treats Lucius as someone deeply beholden to him: Lucius having a wand and having liberty are dependent on Voldemort, instead of characteristics of an adult man with social authority. Voldemort is the patriarch of the Death Eater family.

Voldemort seems to enjoy humiliating him in front of the other Death Eaters: he could have asked him nicely as an equal in private, but he makes a spectacle of it, asking for volunteers he knows won't be appearing, only to single out Lucius and then mock any pretensions he might have to exchanging wands, then intimidating and terrifying him by questioning his loyalty (and the loyalty of his family, which thus insults Lucius's ability as a patriarch). The wand length comparison also serves no real purpose but to emasculate Lucius.

Immediately after taking the wand, Vodlemort also brings up Tonks's marriage to Remus to insult Lucius, Narcissa, and Bellatrix--another insult to Lucius's abilities as a patriarch as he cannot stop his family members from shaming the family through marriage choices. Again, it is delberate that Voldemort does this so soon after taking Lucius's wand. Now that Lucius is wandless, his masculine authority can be questioned.

Lucius clearly wants later to reclaim this lost authority --and implicitly his sense of his own masculinity.

When the Trio is captured, Lucius is extremely excited. He appears to be motivated by a desire to lessen his punishment (which involved Voldemort taking his wand, and said wand being destroyed by Harry):

"Harry had never heard Lucius Malfoy so excited. “Draco, if we are the ones who hand Potter over to the Dark Lord, everything will be forgiv —” “Now, we won’t be forgetting who actually caught him, I hope, Mr. Malfoy?” said Greyback menacingly." (DH)

Greyback says 'Mr. Malfoy' in a menacing way: it seems to be belittling him, reminding him that he doesn't actually have that much power in this scene compared to Greyback, who actually captured them by his own efforts compared to Lucius passively waiting for something to improve his situation. Greyback may be saying 'Mr. Malfoy' to say: all you have is your social position, compared to me--you might have the title of 'mr' but you don't have a wand and you don't have the power to act, so I am more masculine and can threaten you.

It's also really interesting how Narcissa is directing Lucius and Draco in this scene: she greets Greyback and brings him in, she refers to Draco as her son only, she is the first one to instruct Draco to examine them. Malfoy Manor might be Lucius's home, it has his name, but Narcissa appears to act as patriarch in this scene: it's her home, her son, she is greeting visitors and taking command, and she is the one to say 'we need to be sure and shouldn't immediately summon Voldemort' and the one to identify Hermione. This might be the typical Malfoy family dynamic, it might be because Narcissa is the one who still has a wand.

Then Bellatrix comes in, and she orders both Lucius and Narcissa around. She also asks Narcissa what happened, treating her as the leader of the family. Now Bellatrix has always hated Lucius, they certainly didn't seem to get along well during the DoM battle. But here she's just contemptuous of him, and provides key evidence for my wand-equals-masculinity theory.

"“I was about to call him!” said Lucius, and his hand actually closed upon Bellatrix’s wrist, preventing her from touching the Mark. “I shall summon him, Bella, Potter has been brought to my house, and it is therefore upon my authority —” “Your authority!” she sneered, attempting to wrench her hand from his grasp. “You lost your authority when you lost your wand, Lucius! How dare you! Take your hands off me!” “This is nothing to do with you, you did not capture the boy —” " (DH)

Lucius lost his authority when he lost his wand. He is no longer the patriarch, the master of the house, specifically because he does not have a wand: Bellatrix then goes on to order Draco around, which Narcissa protests because it's 'her house': a striking contrast to Voldemort calling it Lucius's house in the first chapter, before he took the wand, and to Lucius trying to call it his house. While Lucius has a wand it's his house, but when his is taken it become's Narcissa's (though of course she is talking to her sister about herself, so you don't necessarily have to read that much into it). Interestingly, Bellatrix doesn't give orders to Lucius: maybe because she just doesn't like or trust him but maybe because he doesn't have a wand and is thus useless.

The whole concept of authority in HP--and Lucius, owner of Malfoy Manor, husband and father, has specifically patriarchal authority as Head of his family--is linked to having a wand. Lucius seems to have expected to be able to exercise some control over Bellatrix as a fellow Death Eater and as his sister-in-law who appears to be living with him, but she rejects this possibility by saying he can't control her as a male patriarch might because he doesn't have a wand. Thus he is failing to meet the requirements of being a patriarch in wizarding society. Bellatrix can do whatever she wants in his house, and he has no way of stopping her. She seems to have replaced him as patriarch of the Malfoy family.

The linkage of masculinity with authority with having a wand is made extremely clear through Bellatrix's line. By taking Lucius's wand, Voldemort removed the last semblance of authority and masculinity he had, to humiliate and emasculate him for losing the diary and the prophecy (and I think the broader narrative is doing this to Lucius at least a little as well, he becomes more pathetic and pitiable, because in JKR's view of gender pity is for women).

Later, Lucius's role as a Death Eater has clearly been reduced: Voldemort dismisses his suggestions around the Battle of Hogwarts as only being concerned for his son, and assigns him the menial task of fetching Snape. He has been reduced from advisor to fetch-and-carrier. Lucius's last appearance on page is NOT fighting in the Battle of Hogwarts, appearing only concerned with his son (and JKR often associates concern with a child only over any other concerns with maternity and femininity, but that's another post).

In working on this meta I also had a lot of thoughts about warrior masculinity through martial magic in the Wizarding World, and the idea of a Death Eater specific masculine warrior ideal, but that's another post LMAO. I hope this has been helpful in imagining how magic might affect gender roles!

[mrstellmeafuckingsecret]

How would the Dark Lord react if his death eaters were gay, bisexual and/or queer? He loves to discuss other people's intimate lives. He talked about Snape's personal life, talked about Tonks and Lupine's child, and talked about Merope and Tom.

i think back in the og time period he'd def use it as a weapon. not publicly calling them out or anything, more as a constant way to humiliate someone or show how them being queer and him knowing it is just power play. he would have a personal prejudice, too, with how he was raised, and he'd treat them with way more disgust, i'm positive. in a modern au, i think he'd be too logical to have a personal prejudice, though he would still blackmail and manipulate said death eater with the threat of outing them, etc.

[augureysfeather]

Moja rambles about the British Ministry for Magic and the Auror’s Office during and after the Second War (and a bit about her fic…)

While writing yesterday, I had some thoughts about the consequences of the war on the ministry. Canon says that the ministry was re-structured to fit Voldemort’s ideology during the second war and this happened quite efficiently and quickly, imo. Voldemort installed his own puppet minister, he outright bullied the lower-ranking employees into using toilets to enter the ministry (I don’t need to talk about the symbolism of such - it’s outright shit - ba-dum-tish), there was constant surveillance, a complete change in attitude regarding muggle-borns (registration office, anyone?), an aura of constant fear and suppression and all Aurors - pretty much the executive of the ministry in peace times -  were decommissioned and stripped off their wands. Essentially, Voldemort made them fair (and easy) game to hunt. 

And this is something I wanna focus on, because I have a weak spot for the Auror’s Office. (It shows in my fic…)

Unfortunately, we do not know how many Aurors were there before the second war. But extrapolating from the dwindling numbers of Order of the Phoenix members (the next best thing to the Auror’s Office the British wizarding society has - and I’m not going to analyse what that means), the Auror’s Office might have lost a lot of people during the second war. We know they lost Moody - a goddamn veteran of the first war and probably one of the most powerful wizards below Dumbledore  - they lost Tonks and they lost their former head, Rufus Scrimgeour. 

I often think about the kind of Auror’s Office that Harry and Ron trained under, after the war. And as a logical consequence, I have a lot of headcanons about his head - who has turned into a not-so-secret fav of mine.

We know precious little about Gawain Robards, but I have gathered what we know, what we can conclude. He’s the next Head of Office after Rufus Scrimgeour, who personally appointed him. He took over in summer 1996, which is right on the doorstep of the second war. He was not mentioned anywhere during the first war, so - and this is my conclusion, he was not an active auror during the first war. He could have started his career in general later, but I headcanon him as too young during the first war. (Starting as an auror ~1981) Which would mean that the oldest he could have been as he took over the office in 1996 was 33. 

Thirty-three. I remind you, Harry was called the youngest head of auror’s office at the age of 26/27. Gawain could have been not much older. And he was dunked right into a war. As head of the auror’s office. With his mentor and predecessor just dying about a year into the position. 

And Gawain survived canonically. 

Granted, he could have fled the country, but likewise, he could have been badass enough to survive the entire war even though he was likely a target for the DE. (Maybe even without a goddamn wand.)

I have a lot of feelings for this guy. 

Likewise - returning to the fact that a lot of powerful wizards and witches died during or shortly before the second war - Dumbledore himself, the former minister Scrimgeour, Moody, Lupin, Amelia Bones…and a lot of personnel of the ministry replaced and this happening on BOTH sides of the war (on the baddie side, we have Voldemort dead, Grindelwald if you wanna count him, Bellatrix, maybe Greyback, probably a few more DE…)...I took all of this and realized, there was a serious power vacuum on both sides after the end of the war. Shacklebolt was installed as interim minister (and canon is not completely clear on how long he stayed minister, but potentially until 2019, so about 21 years! The longest a minister stayed in office was, I think something about 38 or 39 years.), why? Because - and this is my headcanon - he was one of the strongest surviving wizards and the one with the most political and leadership experience. Shacklebolt, who was at the time probably ~40 (knew James Potter, so had to be born around the 1960s). In a society where wizards and witches can get up to 130+ years. 

Yeah, I think they had a serious shortage of experienced personnel. 

And I’d like to see that explored more in after-war fics (and do that myself, lol). And I’d like to hear your opinions and ideas, for this is a topic that really fascinates me. :D 

[fafodill]

I have a funny headcanon about Snape's role within the DE circle.

Like, yeah he became a spy because he was really good at being stealthy and unremarkable but before that of course Lucius was talking to everybody about his potions skills. The guy was a malnourished greasy 17yo but also a fricking genius.

And ofc he made poisons or other stuff but my hc is that one of the thing he made consistently for the Dark Lord™ was... handcream.

Because of course old Tomy liked to look good and smell good and he had a handcream he used for years then it was discontinued and he was so pissed off (and everyone heard about it) and Severus made him a new one - even better - with the same fragrance and this is how he got noticed by the DL himself.

And when the Dark Lord™ came back... he made it again (and had to adjust the formula because his skin was different now) and it just cracks me up to imagine Dumbledore with a grave voice being like "So, Severus my boy, any news from your last meeting with Voldemort?" and Severus to be like "Lavender is now offensive to him, I need to find an adequate replacement." and Dumbledore being like "...what."

[apicelladonna]

Drew Tom Riddle for the first time! Pls be nice :)

[tedwardremus]

Blood Purity and a Declining Birth Rate

Voldemort’s promise to restore pureblood supremacy isn’t just a call to arms; it’s a lifeline for a community terrified of its own obsolescence.

The wizarding world is haunted by more than just literal ghosts; it is a world that seems to be shrinking, its former grandeur fading into memory. Signs of decline are everywhere: Hogwarts, once a bustling center of magical education, has unused classrooms and seemingly fewer students than one would expect for the only magical school in Great Britain and Ireland. Diagon Alley, supposedly the heart of the magical community in one of the world’s largest cities, consists of just a few streets. Even wizarding media is centralized in a single newspaper.

These clues suggest a world that was once much larger than it is now. There are references to better days and implications that Hogwarts isn’t what it used to be now that Dumbledore is in charge. This decline is tied closely to the waning influence of pureblood families, who are becoming a smaller and smaller fraction of the wizarding population. Muggle-born and half-blood students outnumber them at Hogwarts, a shift that threatens the social and political dominance Purebloods have held for centuries.

What’s particularly interesting is how purebloods respond—or fail to respond—to their declining numbers. Unlike other extremist groups like Christian fundamentalists or white nationalists, who often promote large families as a "sacred duty" to maintain their cultural dominance (Hitler gave medals to women who had five or more children), pureblood families in Harry Potter are remarkably small. This lack of larger pureblood families raises questions about their long-term strategies for survival. If blood purity is their highest priority, why don’t purebloods prioritize reproduction as a means to preserve their numbers?

Draco Malfoy, the prime school-age pureblood antagonist of the main character,  is an only child. Sirius Black and Regulus Black come from an ancient family with an extensive family tree, yet they have no siblings beyond each other and only three cousins. Bellatrix Lestrange, one of the most fanatical proponents of blood purity, didn’t have children until her late 40s—and even then, it is a single child (and only if you accept Cursed Child as canon).

Harry Potter himself comes from a pureblood family, but his only living relatives are his Muggle aunt and cousin. Neville Longbottom is raised by his grandmother, and while he mentions elderly relatives, there’s no indication of cousins his own age. Even the Weasleys, the exception to the rule with their seven children, seem to lack extended family—there are no Weasley cousins attending Hogwarts during Harry’s time.

The First Wizarding War can partially explain the small size of Harry’s generation: people were afraid to have children during Voldemort’s rise to power, and the violence of that decade wiped out much of a generation. However, this alone doesn’t account for the decline. Something must have happened in the previous generation as well. For several generations now, pureblood families haven’t been having enough children to maintain their population.

Another explanation could be that their intense focus on lineage and prestige means they are selective about marriage and procreation, limiting family size to maintain "purity" rather than expanding it. Marrying within a shrinking pool of acceptable partners likely leads to fewer unions and, consequently, fewer children. Additionally, inter-family rivalries, societal pressures, and a rigid class system may discourage collaboration between pureblood families to ensure survival. 

While we see pureblood families of different economic status in the series it is also worth noting that smaller families may be a deliberate choice to consolidate wealth and maintain power within a single branch of the family, ensuring that resources aren’t dispersed among too many inheritors. By keeping family sizes small, they can preserve their status and influence in a society where lineage and financial stability are critical markers of power.

Alternatively, external factors not mentioned in canon could help explain the dwindling pureblood numbers. Perhaps a catastrophic outbreak of dragon pox ravaged Britain at the turn of the century, disproportionately affecting pureblood families due to their insular communities and close intermarriages. An economic crisis could also have made it difficult for even wealthy families to support large households, especially given the high costs of maintaining pureblood status and reputation. Such events would compound the social and cultural pressures already discouraging large families, contributing to a steady decline in pureblood populations.

The decline in a pureblood population creates a simmering panic among purebloods. They perceive that their traditions and way of life are changing, and instead of adapting to demographic shifts and embracing a more inclusive future, they cling to fear and resentment. They blame Muggle-borns for their loss of power, projecting their anxieties onto those they perceive as outsiders for “stealing” magic.

When those in positions of power feel their dominance slipping, they often construct narratives in which the oppressed will rise up and do to them what they, the ruling class, have done to others. This paranoia leads purebloods to double down on their exclusivity, believing that maintaining their power is the only way to avoid losing everything. Their refusal to adapt blinds them to the potential benefits of inclusivity: a larger magical community, a stronger economy with more people working wizarding jobs and purchasing wizarding goods, and a broader cultural foundation to sustain their traditions.

This fear and resistance to change create fertile ground for Voldemort’s rise. He exploits the purebloods’ anxieties, offering them a roadmap for radicalization. Instead of addressing the root causes of their decline, purebloods embrace the Dark Lord’s extreme methods, leading to catastrophic consequences.

The determination to "purify" the wizarding world and maintain their position of power ironically accelerates their downfall. As Death Eaters enact Voldemort’s vision, their crusade doesn’t simply target individual Muggle-borns but entire families—wiping out, or nearly wiping out, powerful, established wizarding lineages like the Bones, McKinnons, Longbottoms, and Potters. This destructive cycle ensures that even the pureblood families themselves suffer massive losses, further accelerating the population decline they sought to prevent.

Purebloods who embrace the politics of purity in an attempt to stave off extinction ultimately hasten their own downfall, prioritizing exclusivity and radicalization over growth and adaptation.

(thanks to @livelaughlovetoread for reading this over and beta reading!)

[changetheprophecy81]

Hate the whole 'Dumbledore created a child army!!!' thing. He absolutely didn't

The marauders joined on their own, and yes, he raised Harry as a pig for slaughter, and yes, it was obviously not right morally, but a) what choice did he have, save 1 person over the whole ww? and b)he hardly did it out of spite, he did what he had to do for them to win the war. Again, it's not moral but it is what it is. Ig it's understandable to hate him for it, but the claim that he created a child army is simply not true

But uk who did create a child army? Tom fucking riddle, ur uwu misunderstood baby who was traumatized by Dumbledore

He literally wanted to apply to be a teacher just so he could radicalise children

So much of his forces consisted of people who were either just out of school or not even of age yet

Snape, Avery, Muliciber, Rosier, Barty Crouch jr, Regulus (who became a DE at 16 btw), someone named 'Wilkies' (acc to Sirius in gof), and it's said that he tried to recruit james and lily too, and later Draco(even if it was only as a punishment)...

Lyk... that's a surprising number of fresh graduates. I don't mean to say that all these characters didn't have varying degrees of agency in signing up to be a part of his army, or that they're completely absolved of any responsibility, but given that his initial plan was to teach at a school just to recruit children, this is hardly a coincidence

[rodolphus-lestrangex]

Art by @makanidotdot

The way Lucius is holding Narcissa. And Bella and Rod standing there uncomfortably, unable to say anything to the Dark Lord but they’re their family - heartbreaking. 💔

[catofadifferentcolor]

Terrible Fic Idea #100: Harry Potter, but make it Conclave

While driving somewhere for work the other day, I was struck by the most perfect, most terrible crossover for this, my 100th Terrible Fic Idea. Because at some point during that drive my mind went: Ralph Fiennes played a character named Tom in Harry Potter; he also played a character named Thomas in Conclave (2024). The rest, as they say, is history.

Or: What if, after dying in the Forbidden Forrest, Death sent Harry Potter to a universe where Tom Riddle was adopted by the Lawrence family as a child?

aka the keep the earth below my feet fic

Just Imagine It:

When Harry dies at the end of DH, instead of meeting Dumbledore in King's Cross, he encounters (the Angel of) Death, who grants him a boon for collecting their missing personal effects: Harry can either return to his old life, where it's very likely he'll die again in the battle now raging around him, or go on to his reward.

Now, Harry is in a pretty dark place at that moment. He has, after all, just committed suicide by Dark Lord. The idea of going straight back into a war that has cost him everything is so anathema to him that he decides to go to his reward. Naturally, he assumes this to be some sort of afterlife where he can meet his parents and see Sirius, Remus, &c again-

-but instead he's dropped into a fairly ordinary muggle living room somewhere in the near vicinity of Guildford, where an old man in clerical clothing is putting things into boxes.

Meanwhile, four months after the events of the conclave, things are running smoothly in Pope Innocent XIV's Vatican.

Joseph Tremblay has been publicly defrocked for simony but not excommunicated from the Church; Aldo Bellini has replaced him as camerlengo and been given the instruction to root out corruption wherever he finds it - a task for which Goffredo Tedesco is an unexpected ally more often than not, though there's serious talk of soundproofing whatever office the pair happen to find themselves in. The former dean Thomas Lawrence has been invested as Secretary of State and has become Vincent's closest friend and advisor.

Then, shortly after Easter, Thomas receives word that the last of his siblings has died and left her home in Guildford to him.

This is somewhat of surprise, but not how one might think. The Lawrence family had adopted twelve children from orphanages around London over the years; Thomas had merely been the last and youngest of these. The real surprise is that Iris Evans née Lawrence had outlived all her children and grandchildren so that her estate might fall to him.

Thomas takes a sabbatical to handle the arrangements and is in the middle of packing up her things when a young man in bloody, threadbare, dirt-stained clothing appears in the middle of his sister's living room.

The situation is tense at first, but a kindly old man offering Harry food, tea, and a place to rest breaks down a lot of barriers, and this and the stress of having recently been dead causes the truth to spill out.

Thomas takes the knowledge his houseguest is an unwitting wizarding refugee from a war in another universe much better than one might expect a priest should, in part because before his adoption his name had been Tom Marvolo Riddle and he'd attended Hogwarts before seminary. (Not, of course, that he's ever thought of himself as Tom Riddle. He's been Thomas Lawrence since he was fifteen months old and has lived his life as such. He's never had the slightest interest in tracking down who his biological family might be.)

After much arguing - and many cups of tea - they agree to pass Harry off as Thomas' sister's great-grandson, whose care has fallen to Thomas for lack of other options. Harry's hesitant to accept at first - hell, Harry can barely allow himself to accept a change of clothes - but he's got nothing and no one in this universe. Not to mention that he looks closer to 14 than 17 after his encounter with Death.

(Besides, from what Thomas knows of his eldest sister's family, it's possible that Harry might actually have been her great-grandson in another universe. And even if he wasn't, Thomas is unwilling to abandon a child in need.)

And so Thomas ends up bringing Harry back to the Vatican with him.

This is naturally a surprise and sets the Curia gossip mill running. Those who’d known Thomas as a young man are especially confused. ("Thomas, you’re the most repressed man I’ve ever met. How is it there’s someone who looks just like you forty years ago running around?" "Your memory must be failing, Aldo, if you think I ever had that much energy. Or that much hair.")

But the real bulk of the fic is what comes after - about how a child groomed to fight other people's battles all his life finds closure when the war is finally over and there's not even anyone to bury because even that has been taken from him - about how a child who was never allowed to live for himself learns how to exist without the weight of expectation on his shoulders - about how, "What had the most profound impact on me [...] was the moment when someone reached down to take my hand, drew me up by their side, and called me their friend. Not for gain, not for prominence or wealth, but because that man saw a small child who needed help, and he provided it [x]". This he does surrounded by those who only want the best for him and how have no expectations other than he grows into a happy, healthy adult.

It's all very pastoral and at least partially religious (dealer's choice on how much of it is finding peace and how much is finding god) given the setting, but at the end of the day the fic should be about how healing sometimes can only come after someone reaches out and says let me help.

I have very little plot for all of this, mostly vibes:

Thomas eventually finds out that he was a genocidal would-be dictator in another universe and feels immense guilt over it, especially since he and Voldemort share more than just an origin story - parseltongue, wandless magic, and the like. Again, it should be the realization that it was the hand freely offered by the Lawrences that kept him from going down that path. This doesn't stop him from wanting to help Harry, but does confuse the matter for a bit.

Vincent, of course, has a lot of experience helping former child soldiers and victims of genocidal warfare, he just hadn't expected to need those skills in the Vatican. Or for a child who is nominally his best friend's nephew. The truth comes out eventually, but even before that he's Harry's favorite person to talk to. (Thomas doesn't mind; Vincent is his favorite person too and he's just glad Harry has someone he trusts.)

Aldo too eventually learns about the Wizarding World (perhaps Harry has very violent, very magical nightmares), but has parallel arcs of 1) being angry his friend of forty years never confided in him that he had magic, 2) having extreme difficulty coming to terms with the existence of magic, even after it's repeatedly proven to him; and 3) fretting that there's a whole community that the Church is not engaging with and has no formal representation at the Vatican. Oddly enough, it should be Tedesco who helps the most with each of these, being the only other Wizard in the College of Cardinals.

Harry's journey is slow, but by the time he graduates he's in a much better place then when he first arrived in this universe and should vaguely encompass Éowyn's lines, "I will be a shieldmaiden no longer, nor vie with the great Riders, nor take joy only in the songs of slaying. I will be a healer, and love all things that grow and are not barren." Maybe he decides to become a healer or aid worker or follow in Vincent's footsteps as a missionary in underserved parts of the world, but whatever he decides, he always knows he has a family and a home to come back home to.

Bonuses include:

Harry never being quite certain what's going on between Thomas and Vincent. Maybe they're codependent platonic soulmates like he and Ron and Hermione once were, maybe they're carrying out an affair behind closed doors, maybe it's something complicated in between - Harry doesn't know and never asks. All he knows is it works for them and he'd never begrudge the adults who've done so much for him their happiness.

Harry never being quite certain what's going on between Aldo and Tedesco either. Are they each other's nemeses? Are they enemies with benefits? Are they even really enemies and not just antagonistic life partners for whom arguing is foreplay? Or is the arguing merely pulling each other's pigtails because they're both too repressed to realize they're attracted to each other? They agree on more points than they disagree, but invite schism every time they fight on the minutest points of doctrine - yet always seek each other out to argue with and never seem to tire of it. In the end Harry decides he simply doesn't want to know. There are some things in life he's better not knowing.

Multiple references to Sylvester II being the first - and so far only - Wizarding pope.

At least three jokes about cardinal-nephews, the first arising from the American media seizing on a poor translation of some international news article referring to Harry as the cardinal's nephew; and

Vatican City being a character as much as Hogwarts is in canon.

And that's it. That's all I have. As always, feel free to adopt this bun, just link back if you ever do anything with it. (And look forward to a spam of 100th Terrible Fic Idea celebration posts in the coming days.)

More HP Ideas | More MISC Ideas | More Terrible Fic Ideas

[tardiskater]

okay but like is there a fic that is more tragic then remus' canon? because like I think it's pretty damn hard to beat growing up alone because you were bitten when you were five and are afraid of hurting anyone, going to school during the start of a war, being thrown straight into fighting with your best friends as newly graduated teenagers, losing trust in eachother and coming home more and more tired, 'three' of your best friends dying all in one day and your boyfriend being the traitor who gets sent to askaban, having to survive alone for the next twelve years and endure the moons alone for the first time as a child because your pack is dead, becoming a teacher at the same school you grew up in and having to endure the ghosts of your past while trying to make a better future, having your deads best friends son be in your class who you saw on the day they were born but haven't seen since James and Lily's death, finding out that your traitorous ex boyfriend has escaped from prison and is near the school, finding out that one of your old best friends is still alive and that your ex boyfriend was never the traitor, reuniting with your ex boyfriend and feeling sixteen again, being thrown from the only job you have ever loved because you've been exposed as a werewolf, fighting in the second war with your boyfriend only to have him die a mear two years after you finally got him back, picking up the pieces and trying to find love again, marrying the cousin of your former boyfriend, having a child with her and then dying in the final battle of a war you've been fighting your whole life and being unable to see your son growing up.

[pangaeaseas]

thinking again about how Ginny is both central and peripheral to the war effort' in both the context of the war as an interpersonal mystical conflict between Harry and Voldemort and the context of the war as a war. like she is harry's girlfriend but when Harry goes off on his hero's journey his quest he leaves her behind (despite the fact that she might have had important insights as the person who knows best what it's like to be possessed by voldemort's horcrux....but she must remain a peripheral character) she is this person who's had a formative relationship with Voldemort but is utterly peripheral to him he has no idea who she is she has this deep intimacy with both of them but Voldemort doesn't know it and Harry doesn't take it seriously. she would probably have the most Thoughts of any person living about the mystical Harry/Voldemort conflict have really intense and complex feelings and connections and understandings but she cannot take part in it she has to watch and not know what's happening. even though the story of the horcruxes is so central to what made her her....(harry my boy you BETTER have told her about the horcruxes post war. you better damn well.)

and then ofc she literally lives in the official order headquarters in OOTP and then the burrow her familial home becomes a de facto order headquarters and a center for war planning (especially as Harry is central to the war effort' and also a peripheral member of the weasley family unit) but she isn't allowed any information at all. she fights in a battle that changes the course of the war bc Voldemort publicly reveals himself at it and then it's just like..it makes her cool at school I guess? it doesn't transform her role in the conflict. she is sent back to Hogwarts in DH as though she's an ordinary student. and then she becomes a leader of the resistance in Hogwarts, a center of the war in hogwarts but peripheral to the outside conflict....

[rogata453]

The scene where Harry comes back to life and calls Voldemort „Tom” just screams:

„So I leap from the gallows and I levitate down your street / Crash the party like a record scratch as I scream / Who’s afraid of little old me? / You should be.”

[hollowed-theory-hall]

The Riddle of Tom Riddle: Part 1/?

(Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7)

The Death Tool of Voldemort's Wars

So, I did say I'll make this post somewhere, so here it is.

When trying to make sense of Voldemort’s behavior in the books, I noticed that the two wars were actually very different. How they were waged, how many people died, and who was most targeted along with Voldemort's goals.

(Because I mentioned it, I'll just say Voldemort’s behavior in the book is really weird and somewhat contradictory, but I found a way to explain that. Consider this the second post on my way to analyze Voldemort after the Horcruxes one)

The Wizarding Population in the UK

(Edit: I have revisited this subject in a later post and concluded the distribution of ages is different than shown below. I still believe there are around 6,000 wizards in the UK though)

The first step to figuring out how bad the wars with Voldemort actually were is to know the size of the wizarding population in the UK. Numbers of deceased don't mean much without being able to calculate percentages.

If there are 40 students a year at Hogwarts in 1990s → 400 wizards and witches between ages 10-19

Account for fewer births during and right after the war with Grindelwald in the 1930s-1940s, and the war with Voldemort in the 1970s

Account for longer life acceptancy (Average of 130)

And we get an estimate of something like this:

With wizards being around 0.01% of the muggle population in any country.

The population in Britian in 1991 was 57,359,454, making the wizarding population 57,359*0.01% =~ 5,700

The population in Ireland in 1991 was 5.1 M, making the Irish wizarding population about 510.

So as a rough estimate, we'll say there were ~6,200 wizards and witches in the UK and Ireland together in 1991

Probably less though considering JKR killed most of Harry's grandparents' generation with Dragon Pox....

By the same logic above in the 1970s the Wizarding population in Britain and Ireland was ~5,600 + ~300 = ~5,900 wizards and witches.

So, now we have the estimated size of the population and we can gage how much damage these wars actually caused.

So, I may have compiled a list of all war casualties from both wars. I will not place the full details here (like the exact year each died), but I'll mention sides, who they were killed by, and any other information relevant to understanding the war's influence on wizarding society, and what we can learn from it about Voldemort's intentions.

For these lists:

(M) - muggle (MB) - muggleborn (PB) - pure-blood (HB) - half-blood (O) - other $ - Death Eater or affiliated ^ - Order of the Pheonix member or affiliated Italics - killed against Voldemort's orders

The First War: Surprisingly Targeted

Killed By Voldemort Personally:

~4 unnamed goblins (O)

Dorcas Meadowes (PB/HB)^

James Potter (PB)^

Lily Potter (MB)^

Killed by Death Eaters:

Mr. Bones (PB)^

Mrs. Bones (PB)^

Robert McGonagall (PB)

Marlene McKinnon (PB)^

~4 more unnamed McKinnons (PB)^

Mrs McGregor (M)

Douglas McGregor (M)

2 McGregor Children (M)

Caradoc Dearborn (PB/HB)^

Dean Thomas’ Father (PB)

Edgar Bones' Wife (PB)^

Edgar Bones (PB)^

~2 Edgar Bones' children (PB)^

Benji Fenwick (PB/HB)^

Frank Longbottom (PB)^ - Not dead, but counts

Alice Longbottom (PB)^ - Not dead, but counts

Fabian Prewett (PB)^

Gideon Prewett (PB)^

Killed by the Order of the Pheonix & Aurors:

Evan Rosier (PB)$

Wilkes (PB)$

+ 13 muggles killed by Peter Pettigrew on October 31st, 1981

+ Regulus Black who died in the cave with the Inferi

This lands us at 45 casualties (including the Longbottoms) for the first Wizarding War. Now, let's look more closely at the numbers.

Not counting the muggles and creatures other than wizards lands us at 24

24/5,900 =~ 0.40% of the wizarding population was killed in the first war.

And did you notice anything interesting about the names on the list? There is only 1 muggleborn and 1 muggle family, whose death wasn't even on Voldemort's orders. What does it tell us about the war?

Well, first off, Dumbledore's idea of morality and not using dark magic and lethal curses kind of sucks. This is hardly a war, it's a massacre. 19 Order members and their families die compared to 3 Death Eaters, one of which was killed by Voldemort's creations. Moody and Mr. Weasley aren't kidding when they say the first war was rough in the fifth book. It really was, but only for their side.

The innocent casualties of people not belonging to any side in this war stand at 19 (including the 13 muggles killed by Pettigrew), and 6 (not including Pettigrew).

It's just wild how Peter Pettigrew has the most kills in this war, more than Voldemort. And it tells you a lot about Voldemort's priorities.

His priorities clearly aren't to kill all muggleborns, we can see that much. So what are his priorities? What is he actually waging a war for if it's not to kill all muggleborns like all the characters tell us?

Well, I will post a full rundown of the timeline of the first war at some point, but for now, what we know is that Voldemort is targeting the Order of the Phoenix, who opposed him. And he is in general causing chaos for the Ministry of Magic.

We know that by 1981, Voldemort practically won, with the ministry having more spies of his than any other group. The ministry was made up of Death Eaters. But we don't know of any rules he passed in this time, or moves to legalize dark magic or outlaw muggleborns — nothing like that happened.

What did happen, was that Voldemort made a cave filled with Inferi and experimented with potions (he invented the potion of despair in the cave).

It seems, more than anything, the war was there to distract the ministry or weaken it, and less about accomplishing a specific political goal. And if he was after a specific political goal, then it isn't blood purity as he isn't rounding up muggleborns like in the second war.

The low death count overall (especially when compared to the second war) is because Voldemort is there. Voldemort does not approve of unnecessary death, even muggle one:

“Nice costume, mister!” He saw the small boy’s smile falter as he ran near enough to see beneath the hood of the cloak, saw the fear cloud his painted face. Then the child turned and ran away. . . . Beneath the robe he fingered the hand of his wand. . . One simple movement and the child would never reach his mother. . . but unnecessary, quite unnecessary. . . .

(Deathly Hollows, page 295)

Voldemort himself does not like unnecessary death. He considers it and killing in rage below him at the end of the First Wizarding War. He doesn't do it himself and doesn't let his followers kill unnecessarily up until the night he kills the Potters.

What exactly Voldemort was trying to accomplish is a question I've pondered and have a few more posts about. But understanding he wasn't really after the death of all muggleborns and neither was he after control of Magical Britain, which is made very clear by the second war, is the first step to understanding him.

The Second War: Chaos Galore

Killed By Voldemort Personally:

Bertha Jorkins (PB)

Cedric Diggory (PB)

Bathilda Bagshot (PB)

Charity Burbage (PB/HB)

Alastor Moody (PB)^

Rufus Scrimgeour (PB)

German-speaking child #1 (M)

German-speaking child #2 (M)

German-speaking woman (M)

Mykew Gregorovitch (PN)

Gellert Grindelwald (HB)

Peter Pettigrew (PB/HB)$

2 Unidentified Death Eaters (PB/HB)$

Severus Snape (HB)$

Killed by Death Eaters:

Bodrick Bode (PB/HB)

Emmeline Vance (PB)^

Sirius Black (PB)^

Amalia Bones (PB)

Florean Fortesque (PB)

Mrs. Abbott (PB/HB)

Igor Karkaroff (PB)$

Montgomery (PB/HB)

4 Unidentified Muggles (M)

Gibbon (PB)$

Albus Dumbledore (HB)^

5 Unnamed muggles in Gaddley (M)

Gornuk (O)

Edward Tonks (MB)^

Dirk Cresswell (MB)

Dobby (O)

Lavender Brown (PB)^

Camelia (PB/HB)^

Vincent Crabbe (PN)$

Colin Creevey (MB)^

Remus Lupin (HB)^

Nymphadora Tonks (HB)^

Fred Weasley (PB)^

Killed by the Order of the Pheonix:

Bellatrix Lestrange (PB)$

Killed by Golden Trio:

Bogrod (O)

Tom Riddle (Voldemort) (HB)$

+ 42 more casualties for the Battle of Hogwarts.

What we see here is that this second war was much deadlier. The Battle of Hogwarts alone had more casualties than the entirety of the First War. Even if I'm generous and add 20 more dead to my estimate of the First War, it doesn't come anywhere close to the death tool of the Second War.

Now, I ask myself, why?

The Second War was much shorter, officially ongoing between May of 1996 and May of 1998 (2 years), with the First War officially waging from 1975 to October of 1981 (6 years). What was so different between the wars that caused this kind of escalation in the second one this quickly?

We see the Second War unfold, we watch how quickly the Ministry of Magic falls and the Death Eaters take over. They quickly make laws such as the Muggleborn Registry — things that didn't happen in the first war.

“Attendance is now compulsory for every young witch and wizard,” he replied. “That was announced yesterday. It’s a change, because it was never obligatory before. Of course, nearly every witch and wizard in Britain has been educated at Hogwarts, but their parents had the right to teach them at home or send them abroad if they preferred..."

(Deathly Hollows, page 182)

Lupin is talking about the Muggleborn Registry and compulsory attendance to Hogwarts — completely new things, never seen before in Britain. They weren't around the first go-around even if Voldemort had the same amount of control over the ministry (it being made up of his followers even in the 1970s). So, what changed? What's the difference?

I pondered this question, and I realized what the main difference is — Voldemort. He is different. His priorities are different.

In the second war, Voldemort doesn't show any care for the ministry, government, or unnecessary death the way he did in the First War. In the First War he limited his Death Eaters, focusing them on targeting only Order members, but in the Second War, not only did he let them loose, but he let himself loose as well.

And I'll prove just how unconcerned he is with Britain and the war during Deathly Hollows and Half-Blood Prince.

In Half-Blood Prince, when the Death Eaters break into Hogwarts to kill Dumbledore, arguably their biggest achievement in the war thus far, and where is their leader? Off, somewhere. Researching wands so he could kill Harry Potter.

And where is Lord Voldemort, leader of the Death Eaters when his followers take over the ministry and start passing the aforementioned rules? He's in Germany, tracking down the Elder Wand.

“That’s—that’s pretty, Dolores,” she said, pointing at the pendant gleaming in the ruffled folds of Umbridge’s blouse. “What?” snapped Umbridge, glancing down. “Oh yes—an old family heirloom,” she said, patting the locket lying on her large bosom. “The S stands for Selwyn. . . . I am related to the Selwyns. . . . Indeed, there are few pure blood families to whom I am not related. . . . A pity,”

(Deathly Hollows, page 225)

Voldemort is so unaware and un-present in Britain during the time he supposedly rules it, that Dolores Umbridge can strut around the ministry with the locket that is his Horcrux and holds a piece of his soul and is his Slytherin family heirloom and claim it to belong to the Selwyn family and to be hers. And she wasn't tortured horribly to death.

Yeah, Voldemort never stepped foot in the Ministry throughout Deathly Hollows. At least, not until he retrieved the elder Wand and was convinced he could kill Harry.

In the First War, Voldemort had intentions, unrelated to blood purity as they were, but intentions nonetheless. He was actually leading and had goals for the war. In the Second War, it looks like he gave up. Like he decided killing Harry Potter is the only important thing and he isn't even bothering with anything else and lets his Death Eaters do as they please.

Conclusions:

Voldemort didn't really plan to win the Second War, he didn't really care what happened to the Ministry, as long as he could kill Harry Potter whom he is quite obsessed with. Like, he's really weird about Harry Potter, and maybe I'll talk about it more in-depth, but he's obsessed with being the one to kill Harry with a wand of his own, to the point of ignoring literally everything else.

If you are going to fight an opponent that is trying to kill you, you should probably be just as willing to be lethal in turn or you'd end up massacred like the Order of the Phoenix from the 1970s....

[honeygh0s1]

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Tom Riddle | Voldemort Headcanons, Part IV

Resurrection / The End of the Line

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Came back changed. The body was functional, but wrong; it was unbalanced, unfamiliar.

He was fascinated by it. Caught staring at his reflection like he couldn’t quite believe it was him. Watched himself move. Smiled at his own teeth.

Started forgetting names and faces. Entire people he’d killed became vague shapes. He didn’t care.

Refused to eat in front of others. Rarely ate at all. The new body didn’t hunger the way the old one did.

Spoke of death as a “temporary affliction.” Said it with conviction. Finality was beneath him.

Had backup plans for his backup plans - but rarely shared them.

Never rested. Sat in silence for days, surrounded by layered wards, staring into nothing.

Felt his Horcruxes weakening. Said nothing, but it felt like bleeding in reverse, like something inside him was being unmade.

Started speaking Parseltongue unconsciously. Mumbled to himself when stressed. Whispered to shadows.

No longer dreamed. When he slept, it was cold, heavy, and dreamless -> like he was trying to pretend death wasn’t real.

Began to rot things around him without meaning to. Magic warped the air. Plants died. Mirrors cracked.

Grew paranoid even of the loyal. Thought Snape was playing both sides. He was right and wrong.

Couldn’t feel the difference between prophecy and paranoia anymore. Everything felt like a warning.

Would stare at Nagini for hours. She was one of the last things he still trusted.

He kept an archive ( letters, tokens, names ) of those he believed had betrayed him, no matter how small the offense.

Wrote in it with a shaking hand he refused to acknowledge as weakness.

Would walk the halls of Hogwarts in his mind. Still saw it as his. Still thought he’d return. He did.

Watched Harry during battle like he was looking into a cracked mirror. Couldn’t understand how someone so ordinary had become his equal.

Thought Dumbledore would come back somehow. Kept waiting for it.

Refused to say the word “Horcrux” aloud in his final year.

Died thinking he was still winning. That was the worst part. He mistook silence for respect, and fear for loyalty.

[atlasdoe]

"Who's afraid of little old me is about Regulus!!!!"

Have y'all ever heard of Peter Pettigrew????

[sc0rpiflow3r]

Snippet for my Tomarrymort fic 🖤

So... I have 25,000 words of my Tomarrymort fic. I'll edit the chapters and post them soon!

But here's a snippet (of a very confused Harry glancing at Voldemort in the mirror):

(---)

The mirror reflected a strikingly masculine and muscular figure before him. The form was captivating, every muscle sharply defined beneath the sleek, form-fitting robe that barely covered him.

Harry’s gaze was riveted, the reflection stirring a potent, primal sensation coursing through his veins.

As he watched, a shiver of something ran through him.

His breath grew shallow, caught between the stark desire to claim and the gnawing sense of conflict twisting within him.

This was Voldemort?

Harry’s fingers twitched, longing to touch the reflection, to feel the solidity of the body before him – Voldemort’s body.

The candle’s flame flickered, casting a wavering light that made the reflection shimmer with a dark allure.

Harry tried to look at the face, but he couldn’t make it out. It was as if he were without his glasses; the image blurred every time he tried to focus on Voldemort’s face.

The face was obscured by shadows, the only thing Harry could see clearly was those red eyes, staring directly into his soul – a hungry, dark, famished look that seemed to pierce right through him.

What are you doing, Harry? The voice echoed in his mind, startling him.

(---)