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The Impact of the Tumblr Discourse Community on the Harry Potter Series

Since the first Harry Potter book was released in 1997, the series has been a cultural phenomenon. Thousands of people lined up to purchase each new book and see each new movie. They dressed up for premieres, bought all different types of merchandise, even held Potter-themed weddings. The franchise is considered “one of the most financially and culturally successful enterprises in entertainment history” (Brummitt, 2016, p. 114). Despite the fact that the final book in the series came out ten years ago and the last movie was released six years ago, Harry Potter still thrives and remains relevant in pop culture, as evidenced by the success of the 2016 stage play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Now the question is, how has Harry Potter retained, even grown, its fanbase over time? I will argue that the discourse community surrounding the Harry Potter series – aka the “Harry Potter fandom” – has allowed the series to maintain popularity over time, even after the conclusion of the book and movie series.

Background

Let’s start with the obvious question: what is a fandom? A fandom refers to the collective and active groups of superfans surrounding any given topic. Often, these fandoms have unique names and those in the Harry Potter fandom call themselves Potterheads. Potterheads are an extremely large and diverse group of fans stretching around the globe.

Potterheads make up their own discourse community both in person and online. Though there is significant overlap between the “physical” and online Potterhead discourse communities, for this essay I will focus on the online discourse community, specifically that of Tumblr. As Catherine Tosenberger (2008) writes, the online “Potter fandom is an invaluable repository of the creative and critical responses of the series’ most dedicated and engaged readers” (p. 200). The fandom uses their discourse to contribute to the fandom and the series as a whole. Fan contributions to the Potter universe–whether fanfictions, parties, or blog posts—keep Harry Potter relevant, even years later.

 Method

I focused on the website Tumblr for this project. While the fandom is active on many different websites, Tumblr is the central hub of fandom activity. To take advantage of the Tumblr platform, I incorporated it into my project, highlighting examples of the Potterhead discourse community. I utilized the “tag” feature to group different genres of discourse into the blog. As Power states, “Built-in audiences… are linked by the ever-crucial tagging element” of Tumblr (2014, p. 91), and thus tagging is essential for the discourse community. The goal of this project is to submerge the reader into the Harry Potter discourse community on Tumblr.

 Why Tumblr is the Fandom Hub

Tumblr has gained widespread popularity due to “its accessibility to users and the important factor of community interaction” (Yunus & Salehi, 2012, p. 388). Essentially, Tumblr easy and customizable. One user can have as many blogs as they want, and typically each blog centers around a unique fandom or theme. Thus, it is easy to follow and interact with blogs connected to specific interests. Longtime Potterhead Jacqueline Gordon states that Tumblr “lends itself to fandom discourse” compared to other social media sites that are “geared towards self-promotion” (personal communication, 2017). Blogs are generally anonymous and tend to focus on the blog’s content, not the blogger. Compare this to websites like Facebook and Instagram where each profile is entirely centered around a person. Furthermore, the tagging feature allows users to easily search for posts relevant to their fandom community. Additionally, “many Facebook and Instagram posts that focus on the Harry Potter fandom borrow content directly from Tumblr, often in the form of screenshots” (J. Gordon, personal communication, 2017). While there are many Harry Potter posts on various websites, most of them come back to Tumblr. 

Beyond setting up a prominent presence for discourse on Tumblr, the fandom has developed its own vocabulary unique to the discourse community. Potterheads naturally incorporate unique vocabulary and phrases into otherwise common genres, creating their own language. People take words created for the series and add deeper meanings to them that people not in the fandom would never know. An outsider may understand the difference between a Gryffindor and a Slytherin, but they don’t question the greater meaning behind these things. Does Dumbledore symbolically represent death in the Peverell story? Should the relationship between Barty Crouch Jr. and his house elf be considered healthy or hostile? Was Harry justified in using unforgivable curses? The fandom takes words that were created and only used in the Harry Potter series and uses them to discuss greater and more important topics in the fandom.

Combining its unique fandom vocabulary with Tumblr’s specific website features, the fandom perpetuates Harry Potter’s relevance by creating different genres to appeal to a wide range of community members. I identified six main genres in the community: memes, informative posts, photosets, fanfictions, headcanons, and Q&As.. All of these genres incorporate the fandom’s unique forms of discourse. Though these genres are still very much unique to the Potterhead community, they help the series to stay relevant by recognizing a spectrum of fans, from those who know lots of details about the series to novices.

 The first genre, memes, appeal to by far the widest audience. Memes are comedic photos with written captions and are usually just for entertainment. These posts are often found on other social media platforms and though they require that the viewer have a basic understanding of the Potter universe, they lack the same depth as some of the other genres I will discuss. They are brief, clever, and “shareable” and make the discourse community visible to those less invested in it.

 Like memes, informative posts and photosets appeal to both highly invested and less-invested fans, but are not generally comedic. Informative posts simply contain facts both about the series and about other things in the fandom. They can be anything from logistics related to an upcoming fandom event to descriptions regarding a character in the story. It is common for them to look like an announcement or a list. This genre is used by the vast majority in the fandom. Photosets are mainly picture collages mixed with limited discourse. Any words are usually used to describe the photos. These generally appeal to a wider variety of Potterheads, those who may not know every Potter factoid but have a basic understanding of the series and vocabulary surrounding it. Additionally, these photosets generally are formed out of images from the movies, making them more recognizable to those who are less familiar with the books.

 For those more involved in the series and the discourse community, fanfictions and headcanons offer a niche. Fanfictions are fan-authored stories based upon the Harry Potter franchise. These can be very loyal to or stray heavily from the book. Some may take place at Hogwarts and some may take place at an ordinary “muggle” high school. Headcanons are similar to fanfactions in that fans create unique content based off of the series, but these headcanons are usually short (2-5 sentences). It’s common for a headcanon to be a made up conversation between two real characters. Unlike informative posts and photosets, fanfictions and headcanons appeal to a somewhat different audience, those who are more invested in the fan community.

 And lastly, for those most dedicated members of the fandom, Tumblr’s built-in Q&A feature appeals to them.. Users can ask a blog owner a question and when the owner responds, the entire Q&A is posted to the blog. In the Harry Potter fandom, these questions usually have to do with a person asking another about their views on something. Q&As generally cater to the most intense Potterheads, those who spend time and energy thinking out plot nuances and theories and debating them. Again, if you look in the top right corner of this Tumblr blog, there is a button for “Tags”. From that, select any of the genres listed and you will be shown examples of that genre.

 These various genres allow for different views and interpretation of the series. Potterheads can add in their own ideas and opinions of the series through the genres. One extremely interesting example that I would like to highlight is a headcanon. The first example in the headcanons section of my blog is a photoset. Somebody reimagined aspects of the series to take place in the present day instead of the early 1990s. This is one individual reimagining the series literally keeping it relevant to modern times. The genres on Tumblr offer a place for fans to contribute to the series and also allow access to any level of fan. Instead of creating an insulated group of super-fans, the various genres

 How Tumblr Has Increased Harry Potter’s Popularity

 We’ve talked about Tumblr Potterheads as a discourse community and also why Tumblr is a hub for fandom activity. But the community on Tumblr has done more than just house fandom activity: it has helped the fandom grow overtime, even after the end of new books and movies. One reason is that the posts, blogs, and conversations on Tumblr are constantly increasing. So there is more information out there in the fandom. Members into the fandom are increasing because people can see new content. These unique ideas blending together allow the series to grow over time. Essentially, the series grows with the audience. The more that the fandom contributes to the series over Tumblr, the bigger the series becomes. Whatever the background of the Potterhead, whether grizzled, old fan or just a Harry Potter moviegoer, Tumblr offers something for everyone, from shareable memes to outlandish headcanons. 

 Even more importantly, these fandom members on Tumblr insist on new content. They want to see new angles in the series and what happened to characters after the books ended (epilogues). When persistent enough, these new angles have the chance to continually shape the series. After the series ended, author J. K. Rowling “announced that Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore was gay” (Tosenberger, 2008, p. 200). Fans are torn as to whether or not this is actually canon in the series. It is common belief that “Dumbledore’s homosexuality… may be connected to her awareness of slash fans” (p. 201). Slash fans are members of the fandom who actively seek out homosexual relations in characters in the book. Not only did these fans help the series stay relevant in pop culture through engagement in the discourse community, but it is possible that fan pressure pushed the author to alter her vision of the story.

 The Harry Potter fandom is its own discourse community because members communicate largely over social networking. They use vocabulary and diction that are unique to the Harry Potter series. People reading their blog posts that are outside of the fandom would not know what is trying to be communicated. Tumblr is essential to the Harry Potter discourse community as most other social media websites refer back to Tumblr. The fandom’s various genres allow for personal interaction with Harry Potter content. This allows for a constant growth in information about Harry Potter to spread, thus making the series relevant even after it has ended. What’s more, the Potterheads’ influence upon the Harry Potter series expands to people even outside of the fandom. When utilized properly, Tumblr acts as a great hub for any fandom, or even any group of people with shared beliefs. It is easy to spread your ideas across a wide variety of audiences. If there is enough noise behind you, you may just influence something great, as Potterheads did with Dumbledore’s sexuality.

References

Brummitt, C. (2016). Pottermore: Transmedia Storytelling Authorship in Harry Potter. The Midwest Quarterly, 58(1), 112-132.

Power, J. L. (2014). Tumblr. Journal of Access Services, 11(2), 91-96.

Tosenberger, C. (2008). “Oh my God, the Fanfiction!”: Dumbledore’s Outing and the Online Harry Potter Fandom. Children’s Literature Association Quarterly, 33(2), 200-206.

Yunus, M. M., & Salehi, H. (2012). Tumblr as a Medium to Improve Students’ Writing Skills. Journal of Applied Sciences Research, 8(1), 383-389.

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Headcanons are similar to fanfactions in that fans create unique content based off of the series, but these headcanons are usually short (2-5 sentences). It’s common for a headcanon to be a made up conversation between two real characters. Here are some examples:

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MoM | Department of Magical Law Enforcement

Visitors to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement (DMLE) on Level 2 of MoM’s Whitehall office will find that security is high here, even more so than in the spell-ridden lobby. This itself is unsurprising. However, one is soon distracted – even from the self-directed probity probes – by the large portraits that line all major corridors. 

MLE officers who have fallen in battle stare out at the visitors as they pass, some of them friendly and some less so. They do not move in and out of their frames, as is usually the case, but stay in their frames and keep a watchful eye on the Department. 

While the subjects often chat with each other as officers pass by, visitors are treated to the intimidating experience of their falling silence, and the piercing gaze of witches and wizards who have given their lives to defeat evil. Each portrait features a quote from its subject on the fight against dark magic.

Evil will not prevail for long. Good will have the last word. (Kingsley Shacklebolt, 1960-2022)

Dark wizards want to sow fear, uncertainty, and division among us. They will not succeed. (Frank Longbottom, 1957-2020)

There is nothing they can do to us that will break our spirits or erase what we have done, and will continue to do, for each other. (Alice Longbottom, 1958-2020)

Voldemort is a coward. It takes guts to be kind. (Nymphadora Tonks, 1973-1998)

More Ministry of Magic here, here, and here

More 21st century wizarding here

This is for everyone who wanted to see what the different MoM departments look like. Will be exploring more departments soon, so check back in for that!

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Informative posts contain facts both about the series and about other things in the fandom. They are typically announcements of some type. Here are some examples:

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Photosets are mainly picture collages mixed with limited discourse. Any words are usually used to describe the photos. Here are some examples:

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Fanfictions are fan written short and long stories based upon the Harry Potter franchise. These can be very loyal or not loyal to the book. Some may take place at Hogwarts (Harry Potter’s school) and some may take place at an ordinary “muggle” high school (muggle = non-magic person). Here are some examples:

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Headcanons are similar to fanfactions in that fans create unique content based off of the series, but these headcanons are usually short (2-5 sentences). It’s common for a headcanon to be a made up conversation between two real characters. Here are some examples:

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Q&As are a feature built into Tumblr. Users can ask a blog owner a question, and when the owner response, the entire Q&A is posted to the blog. Here are some examples:

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Memes are photos with written captions. These are usually used to entertain. Here are some examples:

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Memes are photos with written captions. These are usually used to entertain. Here are some examples:

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Q&As are a feature built into Tumblr. Users can ask a blog owner a question, and when the owner response, the entire Q&A is posted to the blog. Here are some examples:

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Do you know any fics with draco speaking french?

FRENCH DRACO IS WHAT I LIVE FORR! There’s not nearly enough fics out there where he’s French, or speaks French :(

All Is Dust That Is Not His Heart - by Lomonaaeren (3k)Draco is a Beauxbaton student. Fleur is therefore the rightful Champion of the Triwizard Tournament. Who is this upstart Harry Potter, who insists on intruding where he doesn’t belong?(I adored this fic so much! Like the summary says, Draco is from Beauxbatons and idolises Fleur (she’s kind of like a mentor to him). I just didn’t want it to end!)

‘Arry - by DorthyAnn (2k)“Je pense toujours à toi.”Malfoy had always spoke french, over the years the occasional outbursts of french lessened and his accent became less pronounced, except when he lost his temper and would swear at length and quite colorfully in the elegant language. (Harry & Draco confess their love through Parseltongue and French)

Against All Odds - by momatu (54k)Beauxbatons is hosting the first ever Quidditch Summer School for children from all over Europe, and Harry has promised to enroll Teddy as his birthday present. Meanwhile, Draco is stuck in his office, putting together the first ever Quidditch Summer School for children from all over Europe during, when he should be enjoying summer holidays. (Draco, a Flying Instructor at Beauxbatons, is hosting an international Quidditch training camp. Harry brings Teddy and ends up staying to coach. The scenes where Draco tour Harry around France and takes him to all of his favourite place are all so sweet! Draco speaks a lot of French in this story, and there’s no translations provided, but the author promises that the sentences where Draco speaks French don’t affect the overall meaning of the story)

Say Anything - by megyal (8k)Draco has a crush on Harry and tells him in French. (Draco tells Harry everything he loves about him, but in French)

Crossing Lines - by Ren (48k)While investigating a ring of smugglers, the Aurors receive a tip saying that the European Express is being used to move contraband across state lines. To solve the case, Harry has to unmask the smugglers and find the hidden contraband before the luxury train reaches Bulgaria. Draco Malfoy is also on board… but that’s just coincidence, isn’t it? (Auror!Harry. A marvellous story where Harry and Draco have to share a cabin on a train. This really was a highly captivating fic and was such a joy to read!)

2AM Confession - by fairydrarry (1k)An inebriated Draco shows up at Harry’s doorstep at 2 in the morning murmuring French and ends up confessing his feelings to Harry. (A really cute and short one-shot where Draco confesses his love to Harry. In French. While Drunk)

Parce-que - by curiouslyfic (2k)Harry blames the salad. Everyone else blames Harry. Featuring bad salad, oblivious!Harry, and appalling French. (Don’t forget to read the sequel parce-que potter! It’s just as great as the first!)

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Can you list the Ron moments that the movie missed our changed?... or maybe give a link to a post which already has the list.

Okay, this is going to be done from memory so bear with me. 

Philosopher’s Stone

Ron offering to share his food with Harry from the moment they meet.

Ron teaching Harry how to play wizard’s chess (this is kind of in the film but not explicitly so I thought I’d include it.)

Staying over Christmas with Harry and trying to cheer him up after the mirror incidents (I think they did film a part of this but it was a deleted scene for some reason ??? why ???)

RON BEING THE CALM ONE DURING THE DEVIL’S SNARE SCENE NOT HERMIONE (’But there’s no wood!’ ‘Are you a witch or not?’)

Chamber of Secrets

Constantly defending Harry from Draco

The scene where Draco calls Hermione a mudblood and it was actually Ron who new what the term meant and explained it, not Hermione

Visiting Hermione in the hospital wing after she turns herself into a cat and bringing her all her homework that she missed

Ron going into a freaking forest full of spiders and tackling his biggest fear. Even though he was shaking the entire time and is so terrified he can’t even speak by the end of it and actually /throws up/ afterwards, he still went and did it because it needed to be done and he wasn’t about to let Harry go alone. (Okay so this was in the films but I really don’t think they actually captured the gravity of it, instead choosing to turn Ron into comic relief… Again.)

Being the one to go to the hospital wing so that Hermione will have someone with her so she’s not alone and to explain what happened when she wakes up

Prisoner of Azkaban

Actually being really concerned about Scabbers’ health and buying the rat tonic for him

Actual background to the Crooksanks v Scabbers business instead of just villainising Ron for the sake of making Hermione seem better

When he was literally woken up by Sirius holding a knife over his bed, who, as far as anyone knew then, was a mass murderer??? Why isn’t this talked about more ??

‘YOU ASKED A QUESTION AND SHE KNOWS THE ANSWER, WHY ASK IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE TOLD?’ 

Noticing Hermione’s weird af schedule and being the only one to aCTUALLY CARE about where she was going and what she was doing

Literally fucking pushing Harry out of the way when they see Sirius in dog form (who they think is The Grim) and consequently getting a broken leg + dragged by his arm into the Whomping Willow

Awkwardly patting Hermione on the head after she apologises, instead of that weird hug thing they share in the films

Taking on Buckbeak’s appeal and dedicating so much time and effort into his case. Call this boy lazy or apathetic again I dare you.

Standing up on a BROKEN LEG to tell Sirius, who, again, was thought to be a MASS MURDERER, that ‘If you want to kill Harry you’ll have to kill us too!’ whilst Hermione stood frozen in the corner

Making peace with Crookshanks at the end of the book by holding Pigwidgeon up for him to check that he isn’t evil (I love Ron so much)

Goblet of Fire

‘We’ll pick you up on Sunday if you can come, and we’ll still pick you up on Sunday if you can’t’ (or something like that) when talking about the quidditch world cup

The background and reasoning behind the big fight with Harry (+the later argument they had where Harry threw the badge @ his head.)

The actual insecurity Ron suffered because of the dress robes, not just the comic relief side of it.

Helping Harry practice for the second and third tasks practically 24/7 (including letting Harry practice stunning on him!!! #dedication)

Getting Krum to sign his autograph + basically all of hIS HUGE CRUSH ON KRUM JFC

Just generally being there for Harry after Cedric even when Harry pushes him away

Order of the Phoenix

Again, just generally being there for Harry even when Harry is being an ass to him (+ the part where Ron desperately wants to tell him what’s going on but Hermione + all the adults insists that they can’t)

RON WEASLEY BECOMING A MOTHERFUCKING PREFECT

The year of quidditch which, although being an essential part of the book with the whole Umbridge arc, is not even MENTIONED in the film. Literally, it’s one of the only films that doesn’t feature quidditch yet it’s the book where I’d consider quidditch to be the most important.

Anyway, yes, quidditch. Ron getting a new broom and sneaking out to practice so he can try out for the team

HERMIONE KISSING HIM ON THE CHEEK FOR LUCK. I SCREAM.

Ron making it on the team and having very very very little confidence so he’s… quite terrible the first few matches.

The awful ‘Weasley is Our King’ song that Malfoy made and the Slytherins take to singing at. Every. Single. Match.

Ron gaining his confidence and destroying the other team at quidditch, during which, neither Harry or Hermione were actually there to witness it. And Ron is so happy and proud but when Harry and Hermione start talking about Grawp, instead of being petty and angry at them, he listens intently and tries to help

Always backing up Harry when Hermione is being slightly insufferable towards him and not really understanding of his needs. (e.g when she’s pressuring him to do better at occlumency and Ron tells her to back off)

The whole arc where Arthur gets injured and all the Weasleys are sat around the kitchen at Grimmauld place waiting for news + the parts in St Mungos (this was in the film a little but they really didn’t go into the effect it had on the Weasleys. Especially Ron and Ginny)

The miraculous plan they all come up with to get Harry into Umbridge’s office (which, admittedly, backfires, but hey. At least they tries) during which Ron plays a pivotal role, not just a struggling character in the background

Everything to do with the ministry tbh ??? From battling death eaters to the spell that makes him delirious to the brain almost suffocating him

Staying in the hospital wing with Hermione for the rest of the year and the scars all down his arms from where the brain attacked him

Half Blood Prince

When Hermione is talking about why girls find Harry attractive and Ron is all like ‘Look at me Hermione! I’m tall too! I have scars too!” 

Backing up Harry when he answers Snape’s question about inferi compared to ghosts (”Well what Harry said was the most useful! If I’m going to face an inferi I’m going to be looking for if it’s transparent not asking ‘excuse me are you the imprint of a departed soul?’” or something similar. Get wrecked Snape.)

All of the quidditch moments in this book are golden.

That moment where Hermione super awkwardly asks Ron to Slughorn’s party and Harry is just in the background like,,, what an interesting plant

Ginny antagonising Ron about never having kissed anyone and the subsequent Lavender disaster that followed

Everything to do with Lavender tbh. Like, their whole relationship, not just the comic version in the movies

Ron’s getting poisoned actually being a really serious thing and all his family showing up at the hospital wing

Pretending to be asleep when Lavender comes to visit (Ron Weasley how dare you, your mother raised you better than this)

Okay, I really want to make a separate post about this but the whole Luna/Ron friendship in this one is gold

I feel like we as a fandom collectively forget this one but Ron and the rest of the DA fighting the death eaters with felix felicis whilst Harry is up the astronomy tower with Dumbledore

Holding Hermione at Dumbledore’s funeral ???? Honestly that’s all I need in life

RON ‘WE’RE WITH YOU WHATEVER HAPPENS’ WEASLEY VOWING TO ALWAYS BE AT HARRY’S SIDE INSTEAD OF SITTING IN THE BACKGROUND LIKE A STALE POTATO WHILST HARRY AND HERMIONE PLAN

Deathly Hallows

Giving Harry the how to charm witches book and actively trying to start a relationship with Hermione

Comforting Hermione when she’s upset and not being awkward about it !!!! Character development (I’m seeing a parallel to the head pat in PoA, anyone else?)

Standing up to the Minister of Magic at the age of seventeen like. Honestly Ron Weasley is such a badass I love him

Literally giving up a life of comfort and security to go and live as a fugitive in order to help Harry

Pushing Hermione the fuck out of the way when they’re found by Death Eaters near Charlesbury !!! Like, this boy is so brave and self-sacrificing I’m going to cry

Falling asleep holding hands with Hermione @ Grimmauld place

The severity of his splinching after the ministry debacle

The very real concern for his sister and Harry + Hermione’s apparent apathy that triggers the fight between him and Harry, not some motive entirely brought about by jealousy as the movies suggest

Okay, not Ron, but the movies really didn’t capture just how unable Harry and Hermione became without him. They didn’t talk to each other, they didn’t communicate in any way for like 95% of his absence. They were literally unable to function without him I’m so sad.

Saving Harry’s life and, importantly, the conversation they had afterwards where Harry reassured him that his insecurities were unfounded. And the hug. Where was my hug,Yates? Where was it?

Ron once again assuming his role as the heart of the trio; making Harry laugh, keeping the spirits up, getting them to function again.

Malfoy Manor. Just. Malfoy Manor. “NO YOU CAN HAVE ME, TAKE ME!” “HERMIONE! HERMIONE!” Literally being so distressed and worried for Hermione that he OFFERED UP HIS OWN LIFE FOR HERS AND LOST THE ABILITY TO THINK RATIONALLY. CAn we just. 

Even despite the mental anguish he’s going through, Ron still manages to come up with a solution for where Dobby should take them

Again, despite everything that’s happening around him, Ron does a near perfect imitation of Wormtail’s voice

Disarming Bellatrix fucking Lestrange

Managing to successfully apparate for the first time ever in a very high pressure situation in order to get Hermione to safety

Taking his shoes and socks off to lay on Dobby’s grave

Going back to Hogwarts and the reunion with the rest of his family; including Percy, which I really missed from the books

Literally like everything that happened during the battle of Hogwarts but especially:

“We’ve forgotten someone!” “Who?” “The house elves!” Like, guys, this is such a significant moment for his character and I understand completely why Hermione chooses this moment to kiss him 

How wrecked he was after Fred’s death. Like, in the books Ron is actually there to witness it. He sees his brother die. I am Not okay.

Hermione having to physically restrain him because he wants to go and get revenge for Fred

Ron punching Draco in his slimy little face “And that’s the second time we’ve saved your life tonight you two-faced bastard!”

Offering to be the one to go to the shrieking shack ?? ALone ?? He says something like ‘Harry you can’t go un case they see you, wait here with Hermione, and I’ll take the cloak and-” when they all know it could be a suicide mission. I’m.

BREAKING VOLDEMORT’S SILENCING SPELL

I’m sorry let me just re-iterate: RONALD WEASLEY BROKE A SILENCING SPELL MADE BY ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL WIZARDS TO EVER EXIST

Taking out Fenrir Greyback with Neville

Being the first to reach Harry after he defeated Voldemort, along with Hermione

Just the part where the trio go to Dumbledore’s office because I just. That’s such a nice and well rounded ending I’m going to cry

In the epilogue, practically everything about Ron is great but especially: “Don’t worry, it’s me, I’m famous”

In Conclusion

I love Ron Weasley so much

The films do not do him justice

- Admin Kat

(Feel free to reblog this with anything I’ve missed!)

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Okay but wait if it was Lily's willingness to sacrifice herself to save Harry, why the hell did James's willingness to sacrifice himself to save both Lilly AND Harry not qualify???

ok but imagine it did save both of them and lily had to raise harry alone

she emerges from the rubble of her home, limping, her crying son in her arms

but otherwise they’re both ok

when sirius and remus find her sitting numbly in the front yard she can’t bring herself to tell them about the lifeless body she had to walk around in order to get her son out of the smoldering house

they do it for her

they pull james’ body from the wreckage, and summon a blanket to lay over him

with him laid out like that, lily wonders if harry thinks his dada is sleeping

distantly she can hear sirius and remus arguing

“i’ll kill him”

it takes a glare from lily to shut them up

“do you think” her voice is raspy- probably from how much she screamed when she heard james hit the floor

she holds harry tighter and reminds herself that, no matter how much it already felt like she’s dead without james, she isn’t and she has someone to live for

“do you really think,” she starts again, “that he would want you to do that, possibly get yourselves arrested, and leave harry and i alone?”

the boys nod

and slowly they sit down on either side of her

dumbledore and mcgonagall show up shortly after and usher them all to a new safe house

they explain james’ sacrifice 

how his love saved them both

they didn’t need to though- lily knew that was what saved them

they bury him in godric’s hollow, just a few spots away from his parents

and they try to continue living 

peter is found and sent to azkaban but it still doesn’t feel right

nothing feels right to lily

except harry

so she clings desperately to her son

she sends him to muggle school and gets a job at flourish and blotts

“i need to do something, remus, i’m so bored while harry is at school”

she reads harry stories before bed

they have play dates with the weasleys

sirius and remus come over every day and eat dinner with them

and teach harry how to ride a broom

marlene baby sits when lily has to work late

they go for walks in the park

they get a cat, much to sirius’ dismay

and when harry’s letter comes lily wonders if she shouldn’t send him

but for all that it took from her- the wizarding world gave her so much too

best friends, the wonders of magic

james

and harry

so she takes a deep breath and sends him to hogwarts because she knows it’s where he belongs

she meets hermione and the two bond instantly

harry writes her every week

she goes to every quidditch game 

and almost punches dumbledore for allowing her son, this little boy, to remain in the triwizard tournament

and finally, when she’s at bill and fleur’s wedding, lily sees- despite the polyjuice potion disguising him- a determined expression on harry’s face is so familiar

so much like james

so lily lets him go again

the next time she sees him is at hogwarts

and then again in hagrid’s arms

and her heart is on fire because she did not lose her husband, raise harry alone and go through hell just to lose him too

so she turns to the man who started all of this

but just as she’s raised her wand to finish him, who steps forward but neville longbottom

and soon after that it’s over

lily holds her son in her arms, strokes his hair like she did when he was little and cries because she truly thought she had lost everything

“there’s someone you all need to see” harry whispers

they find sirius and remus, he leads them into the forest, and turns a stone three times

and there’s james

lily is vaguely aware of choked sobs coming from behind her- remus or sirius or both, she can’t quite tell

james smiles at her and reaches out his hand to gently brush her face

she can barely feel it but at the same time it sets her world on fire just like the very first time he touched her

“hiya, prongs,” remus murmurs

“boys- you’ve aged well”

“shame you haven’t” sirius says

james smiles sadly at them before turning back to lily

“we never got our proper goodbye”

“don’t be a fool james potter- how can i say goodbye to you when you’ll never leave me?”

he gives her that look

the one that always meant “i love you”

“i love you too,” she whispers

and then he’s gone again

but lily leaves the forest with a small smile on her face because after all these years she knows that he never really was

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Umbridge: [about Fang] Get this mutt off of me!

Hagrid: [unenthusiastically] Stop. Bad dog. No.

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Peter: I never know what to say to people at funerals.

Sirius: Just say "I'm sorry for your loss", then move on.

[a minute later]

Peter: Sorry for your loss. Move on.

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So the 20th anniversary of the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is coming up and I thought it might be fun to do a group reread! 

This is for anyone to get involved in, no matter your house, so hopefully we can all go back and relive the magic together

I’m aware that people have different commitments and a lot of people still have exams so, by popular consensus, we’re going to be taking it slow so there’s no pressure to read particularly fast. We’re going to be reading one chapter a day on weekdays, and two chapters a day on weekends which hopefully is a pace everyone will be able to keep up with

This means the reread will last just under two weeks, so we will be starting on the 14th of June, meaning we’ll finish on June 26th, the actual 20th anniversary

It’s up to you how much you want to get involved and how to document your own rereading journey, but I’ll be posting my own thoughts on each chapter on this blog; things I’d forgotten, things I never picked up on before, favourite quotes and moments, how my thoughts on characters have changed, that kind of stuff

I’ll also be posing a discussion question based on the chapter so feel to chip in your own thoughts on that!

If you want to reply to me or make your own posts, artwork, questions, anything like that then use the hashtag #hogwartsreread so we can all join in each others discussions and talk to each other about our rereading experience! 

Reblog if you’re interested so we can get as many people involved as possible! I’ll be posting reminders as we get closer to the day but I’m so excited and hopefully you guys are looking forward to it too!