#Potterverse Goblins

[zenosanalytic]

Nations Symbols Theft

For reasons too nerdy to contemplate or explain(the Leagues of Votann, super-heavy warmachines, and the Imperium of Man), I found myself thinking about narratives where non-human fantasy-persons create some wondrously enchanted artifact only for some human/god(and sometimes Wizard) to steal it, and of course that led me to the awful way Rowling resolved the Griphook & the Sword of Gryffindor situation, and THAT led me to realizing something about the "magical races" in the Harry Potter books which makes said series even worse(tho: I havent read the books in ages so maybe Im misremembering).

What are Griphook's three main complaints to Harry?

Goblins, and ALL ~magical races~ for that matter, don't get a vote in the Wizengamot even tho they're subject to wizard-law

Wizards have no respect for Goblin ownership claims, and as a result are constantly stealing their shit

Goblins, and ALL ~magical races~ for that matter, are LEGALLY BARRED from owning, operating, being taught HOW to operate, or KNOWING how to operate, Wands, which drastically improve one's access to and use of magic(and thus are also symbols of membership in ~The Wizarding World~ which Goblins etc etc MUST live in or be summarily executed or imprisoned by Wizards)

As always, from the moment I first read the Griphook storyline and how Rowling "resolved" it to every time I've ever thought of it since, I was struck by how much this all Sucked Horrendously, but then it ALSO struck me that this is a BRITISH Book. That Rowling was and is Proudly British.

And then I thought, well, the Wizards in Harry Potter aren't even analogies for Brits they're just literally(according to English/British-chauvinists: the Irish, obvsl, disagree Quite Strongly on this issue) British, so who, in the real world, might the ~magical races~ -- always "complaining" about how the Wizards(British) stole their land, and stole their cultural artifacts, and won't give either back; enslaved them, forced them into certain jobs and certain places and certain ways of life no matter what THEY Themselves wanted or are qualified to do; are always being grossly, insultingly, self-satisfiedly, ignorantly condescending to them; hold them subject to Wizard(British) law but give them no say in how those laws are made, force them INTO Wizard(British) society but never ACCEPT them as fellow Wizards(British) -- analogize?

The Goblins in Harry Potter, and ALL the ~magical races~ for that matter, are the Colonized. Rowling wrote them as the Colonized, and Rowling Wrote Them siding with the Fucking Nazis.

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

Will you make an OC for HPHL?

As a matter of fact, I do have one in the works. I can still enjoy this installment to the Potterverse vicariously, and I've actually toyed with the idea of writing a "retaliation" fanfic to this game, where The Fifth Year (that's what everyone is calling the MC, right?) teams up with Ranrok and he's portrayed more sympathetically. Because the squandered potential here is still maddening to me. If this game had just humanized him more (Okay, poor choice of words, but you get the point) it could have justified it's existence and perhaps actually done something good rather than causing more harm.

What occurs to me is that The Fifth Year is a late bloomer, right? Their magic didn't manifest until this year. If they grew up in a wizarding family, that means that they would have been assumed to be a Squib. And we all know how Squibs are treated.

Pericles Nott was the joke of his family, the disgrace. He was kept out of the way and treated like he was nothing by his parents. He was mocked and belittled by his extended family. But then. Oh, but then. His magic began to show itself. All of a sudden, he had his parents' love. They were proud of him, they could not stop boasting about him. The others still mocked him somewhat as a "late bloomer" but overall, he was respected and treated as one of the family.

And he hated every second of it.

He knew, he knew it was all fake. That their love was conditional and thus, worthless. Because of this, he grew to hate his magic and yet he paradoxically craved it's power. He was keenly aware of the hierarchy and it's ridiculous hypocrisy, but he would never allow himself to be placed underfoot again. He dealt with a lot of self-loathing until he recieved genuine care and approval from the Hogwarts staff, especially Fig. This helped him heal. He is someone who could have had it all, so to speak, everything he'd ever wanted. But once it was available to him, he had learned how hollow it was.

He also found, to his great surprise, a kindred spirit in Ranrok. Both of them having been cast aside by the wizarding regime at different points in their lives. Pericles was sickened every time he saw witches and wizards mistreating the less privileged, like Goblins, because he knew from personal experience for having lived as a Squib, what that was like. But he was now in a unique position of having escaped that box, and having magic, which gave him both power and access in his society. He and Ranrok were going to make one hell of a team. (Especially since I also envision Peri and Sebastian immediately becoming best mates. This alliance will be unstoppable. I've also not forgotten all the ship tease.)

[fika-drw]

Snarry Fairy Tale AU Rec List [ 4 ]

So I have decided to split the rec list into multiple parts so it easier to navigate (at least that was the idea). The list will naturally grew as I read and find more and more Fairytale AU fics. So keep an eye fairytale lovers! There might be a new rec list waiting on the corner 👀

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Sparks or Nothing by Inkdrinkershadowsinger

Rating: Mature || Words: 5,330

Summary: Severus is cursed. Find someone to love and someone to love him in the next year or die, but how can he fall in love with anyone else when it's only ever been Harry?

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head full of doubt by bleedcolor

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences || Words: 11,085

Summary: Severus spends his days methodically searching empty rooms, from the shadowy winding halls of the dungeon to the top of each spindly tower, and finds nothing more than the languishing splendour of places once well-loved, now abandoned to the vagaries of time and neglect.

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The Lost World (short version) by perverse_idyll

Rating: Explicit || Words: 10,871

Summary: His son may have found the garden, but Harry's the one who keeps going back.

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Severus’s Story (or, A Hero’s Tale) by avioleta

Rating: Explicit || Words: 17,458

Summary: When Harry Potter asks for help with a case, Severus finds he must deal with some very old magic, a bit of medieval romance, and far more heroism than he would like.

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Briar Nose by Isis

Rating: General Audiences || Words: 3,185

Summary: A sweet and funny Potterverse version of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. Except she's not beautiful, she's not sleeping, and, well, maybe 'she' isn't the right word...

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Dragons, Half-Goblins, and Soulmates, Oh My! (A barely-Snarry fairytale, narrated by the short attention span storyteller) by drwritermom

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences || Words: 4,201

Summary: A very lonely, mistreated dragon unites two Potter half brothers, Harry and his younger, half-Goblin brother. Their friendship ultimately saves Magical Britain, with minimal casualties. Gather round as this storyteller tells the tale.

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The Prince and the Merman by babygray

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences || Words: 29,967

Summary: A Snarry retelling of the Disney interpretation of the Hans Christian Andersen story. The merman Severus has few friends. He had lost one years ago to the surface world, and the other was a shark. One night, however, he becomes obsessed with a human prince and soon after searches for a way to do Lily had done so easily: join the human world. Someone, however, has very different plans. Will Severus be able to save Harry a second time?

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On the Origins of Dementors by DarkTony

Rating: General Audiences || Words: 2,662

Summary: Amidst the pages of tomes that now remain unread, there a story, a fable, a legend goes of a man made of misery…

Amidst the pages of tomes that now remain unread,

there a story, a fable, a legend goes of a man made of misery…

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The Ugliness Within by Slytherinroses

Rating: Mature || Words: 10,186 ||TW: Bestiality

Summary: Ginny curses Severus into the form of a beast, hoping that Harry will be so repulsed that he will dump the Headmaster and come running to her.

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The Prince, The Witch, and The Hatter by Crowley (Sh1ft)

Rating: General Audiences || Words: 30,923

Summary: Hadrian had an uneventful life working at his late grandfather's hat shop. Unfortunately, that all changed when he accidentally befriends the wizard Severus, who lived in a magical moving castle and came with a terrible reputation. The wicked Witch of the Waste takes an issue with their alleged relationship—she wants the man for herself. The witch casts a terrible curse on Hadrian, hoping to drive them apart. Hadrian's journey to break the curse does not quite go as he expected. Who knew he'd fall in love, gain a family, and develop a proclivity for magic along the way?

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[askkrenko]

I'm creating a D&D setting that is geographically just Earth, but where political borders are based on what would occur in the context of magic, monsters, etc., with only a limited effort to mirror cultures on Earth. I've got a lot of the locations for various humanoids mapped out, but I would like your input as a . . . is it cryptozoologist or arcanozoologist? Mostly, are there certain monsters, humanoids, or other creatures that you think should absolutely be in certain places or not be in certain places? Obviously, Kirin should be in Japan, Couatl should be in Central America, and other things like that. And I'm inclined to make any European Elves consistent with the tale of Erlkonig (sp).

Any input would be appreciated, but I would like your opinion on two topics in particular. Where the heck should I put goblins? And what should I do about Golems? I know that D&D's treatment of Semitic topics is horrendous (Phylacteries in particular), but do you think I should leave them as is, put them in the Middle East in particular, or do something else?

One more detail about this world, in case it helps. Dragons run the show. Each of the ten types of dragon rule over a portion of the world (and Brass Dragons are over the Middle East).

This is a lot of question so lets see what I can do now and I'll be happy to talk about it in messages, but lets get started here! First off, "Crypto" " and "Arcane" can both mean secret, but more commonly "Crypto" means "Hidden" while "Arcane" means "Known by few." So a Cryptozoologist studies creatures that have not yet been proven, like Sasquatch and Yeti while an Arcanozoologist studies creatures that aren't well known. Really, Magizoologist is probably the best term, but that term is exclusively used in the Potterverse so I prefer to avoid it.

The term "Goblin" is often broad, but if you want the stereotypical "Short jackass who's just going around having fun at other's expenses," you want them in Western Europe- Germany, France, the British Isles, Spain, and Portugal. That said, if you're going this route, make sure that there are many goblins that work seamlessly with humans in addition to the wild ones. House goblins (also called Kobolds, brownies, etc) are common things, with the idea being that they're super helpful as long as you treat them with kindness and respect but will absolutely ruin your day if you're a jerk to them. Also, they're extremely introverted and don't like talking to people, even the people they share a house with.

Golems are not a race. Golems are guardians created by Jews to protect Jews. You can have guardian statues, but honestly, just don't use the word Golem if they're not hanging out with actual Jews. If you really want to have fun with it, you can have a self-perpetuating race of golems where all the golems ARE Jews, but if you're not prepared to make sure the characters are Jewish, just don't use Golems.

You probably want to fill the middle east with Djinn. Honestly, good luck doing a project like this without offending people.

...Which you're already doing by saying "Obviously, Kirin should be in Japan." Kirin aren't from Japan. They're Chinese. And Couatl are wholecloth D&D creatures loosely based on a single deity, not real representations of Earth mythology.

If you want to use Earth as a base, you're going to need to do a lot more research on each area to make it feel right. So much of D&D is its own stuff or is so highly bastardized from real myth that just transplanting it to Earth isn't clean at all.

[leam1983]

On Authorial Intent

So, Hogwarts Legacy is nearing its street date, which means The Discourse is back in full swing, and various pieces from all potential angles are popping up.

This is a long boy. More below the cut.

What comes up frequently up here is the idea that the main antagonist, a goblin named Ranrok, effectively calls back to blood libel in attempting to kidnap the player character. This starts out of the assertion that on the wider spectrum, Rowling's goblins are supposedly wholeheartedly Antisemitic in design.

In that case, call me a troll, because I've got one heck of an unpopular read on the situation.

There is such a thing, in literary circles, called reading sensitivity. That should refer to a writer's ability to gauge his or her strength accordingly, in order to create instances of pathos or resolution that are impactful, without being insulting or disturbing. That's Fact A, to which I'll return shortly.

Fact B is that the Goblin, as a concept, is thousands of years old. The deepest roots of tales like Das Ring der Nibelungen relate to proto-germanic legends, and that virtually every culture in existence has its small, scurrying pseudo-humanoid of various levels of greed or material attachment. The Russians have the domovoi, some Irish folktales focus on Brownies, and the French have their own lutins that carry slight loaners from animal anatomy. Physical deformities can also feature, seeing as it took the emergence of most modern forms of medicine for the disabled or the infirm to not be seen as otherwordly or freakish. Let's not forget Victorian spiritualism, which saw faeries make a comeback as entirely anatomically-correct "little people" of a sort.

Considering, you'll have to excuse me if the Potter movies' use of money-lending and hook-nosed humans beset with a glandular or skeletal issue doesn't exactly strike me as being antisemitic. Culture warps and shifts over time, points of contention are identified and workshopped, and now you've got ethically mature postures found in Dungeons and Dragons' 5th edition, which rebrands liches' Phylacteries as more à-propos "vessels" or "soul jars". Looking at goblins and at virtually any other Fantasy staple, it's not hard to see that recent advances in criticism have enabled worldbuilders to think critically about their object of focus without disavowing them entirely.

Therein lies a tiny bit of an issue. It isn't impossible for a set of creatives to connect two dots without realizing the implications of the inferences they've made. As is the case with Hogwarts Legacy, this gives you Ranrok's rather awkward reasoning behind his siding with Dark Wizards. It isn't blood libel so much as a clumsy attempt at reclamation, our antagonist not realizing how his actions are painting his entire diaspora in a corner.

Fact C concerns Avalanche Studio themselves. I first thought their name referred to the Stockholm-based creators of open-world titles like Just Cause 3 or Mad Max, but it's a case of mistaken identity. They're actually American, with Hogwarts Legacy being their first tentpole title under WB Games' auspices. They're in more than a tertiary position in relation to Rowling's remaining rights - say that three times fast - and had more contact with WB Games than with anyone related to the wider Potterverse. Considering, I highly doubt they would've chosen to pile onto Rowling's already-massive pile of worldbuilding and character-creating flaws. This, for better or worse, is entirely theirs to shoulder. Going over demos and earlier cover stories, the entire Ranrok angle feels... sophomoric, rather than insulting. It's as though they thought that the game would primarily be played by fifteen year-olds, when the books and movies' core audiences are either well into their thirties or edging ever closer to the mid three-ohs. Some elements of complexity are missing that featured in the movies and games, with the entire premise giving me the impression that our poor Goblin fellow would be hoist by his own petard in some mind-numbingly spectacular fashion, following a boilerplate boss fight.

In clearer terms, I won't be kicking the ass of a clumsy and mean-spirited allegory for Jewish people getting even after the Holocaust; I'll be spending the game trying to set up the most aggressive take on an intervention you could think of. None of this reflects poorly on goblins - it reflects poorly on Ranrok, instead, as well as the game's scriptwriters.

What's interesting is how the current discourse underlines an important point about Rowling's oeuvre, which is that her attempts at making her characters mature through exposure to deeper sociopolitical undercurrents are consistently and amazingly clumsy. Most of her created organizations are pale facsimiles of their real-world counterparts, with her moral compass suggesting that she blew through Ethics without paying much attention in class. She's palpably had good intentions, but her looking for digestible shortcuts is exactly what landed her in her currently murky waters. Characters who'd start out ready and willing to clean their society of its systemic ills after a few books spent in-training would be shelved as now-useless adults by the series' end. The Big Bad is vanquished. Everyone, if not everything in Hogwarts depended on Voldemort's existence as some form of motivating impulse.

What do you do, once you've killed your campaign's BBEG and want to extend it? You totemize societal ills and tell another group of plucky mercenaries to have at it for the sake of a paycheck. Legacy likely wants to say something about the mistreatment of minority groups, but it's contractually obligated to focus on the mirth and whimsy. Considering, reading too much into the antagonist is a fool's errand.

My more personal take on the game is as follows: Rowling's been burned at the stake of Progressivism and now exists as a specter the reactionary Right flaps about. She goes quiet for a few months and then shambles for a few steps like a zombie, Tweeting inane nonsense that depersonalizes minority groups out of some rampant paranoia of hers. In clearer terms, she isn't worth anyone's time.

Everything Potter is now squarely in the House that Batman and Bugs Bunny built. The golden goose has laid all its eggs and the goose itself is now fallow and barren. Ultimately, you can interpret any product in any way you'd choose and ignore anything that displeases you, but my thinking is that you'd be punching down on a megacorporation that knows enough not to purposefully incense a particular group. If any game was focus-tested to Hell and back, it's certainly Hogwarts Legacy.

Don't buy it if you don't want to, sure, but try and maybe catch a few Let's Play segments. We'll all see for ourselves just how adroitly - or clumsily - one particular goblin's racial hatred and spite could call back to an anti-Jewish trope I've never seen bandied-about outside of tailor-made Fash mouthpieces like The Daily Stormer.

[megaamysbloguniverse]

Goblins: Goblins are creatures that have short bodies with long narrow fingers and are native to Europe. These creatures can also be found in North America. They have large pointed ears that stick straight out with big tapered noses. They have white hair and peach colored skin. The average height for a goblin is four feet. These creatures are known for scheming and being shrewd. Goblins are highly talented at wand making and goblin-worked metal products are the most valued throughout the whole wizarding community. Witches and wizards take a lot of pride in owning products that are made by goblins because of their exceptional craftsmanship. All of the currency that is known to the wizarding world was created by goblins, this is because of their advanced knowledge in metalwork. Goblins are skilled at using immense forms of wandless magic.

[latineslytherin]

Oh boy. *rolls eyes*

So I got this lovely DM, randomly.

And I messaged them once more but I want to post it here for everyone to see so they know what my stance is on this.

“What made you think it was remotely appropriate to send that to someone you don’t even know, have never interacted with, and completely unsolicited?

Not to mention, you assume I haven’t already read it. Because I did! It’s plastered all over the hp tags. And also doesn’t change my mind on whether I’m going to play Hogwarts Legacy because much like with every other media I have consumed with problematic content, I am perfectly capable of mind to think critically and not confuse what is in fiction as reality. Jewish people aren’t remotely like the goblins portrayed, because Jewish people are real and aren’t money grubbing. I have never known a Jewish person remotely like that. Why? Because that is a caricature worked into pre-existing folklore by Christians to demonize and dehumanize Jewish people.

And here’s another thing, especially with me… I don’t see the goblins of potterverse as Jewish tie ins. Why? Because like with every other marginalized groups of people, I prefer to see them in the HUMAN population of characters, not the fantastical not real ones race of characters. Especially when there are canonical characters with the last name Goldstein, a Jewish name!”

@inevitablehorrible

[carewyncromwell]

Okay I'm here to say, that post about Hogwarts history completely blew my mind. Can we have more Proffesor!Lane? :')

[Asking the Magical Historian to talk more about history?? Why yes, this pleases Lane very much.

Her lips spread into a crooked smile so like Jacob’s, even though her voice never reaches the levels of energy and volume that her son’s can when he’s geeking out about something.]

“(laughing softly) You’re a sweet ‘un. I’d be happy to...’give another lecture,’ so to speak.”

It’s a lot easier to give lectures through this ‘Askbox’ than presenting things in front of people. It reminds me of my one-on-one lessons with Winnie, before she went to Hogwarts.

“I know...why don’t I tell you a bit about house elf history? I wrote a whole essay presenting the research I collected for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures a few years back. That’s actually how I first got in touch with Bathilda, she sent me a letter after reading my essay...”

“Now first things first -- primary sources about elf culture are very hard to come by, as elf tradition and history has generally passed down through oral tradition. So most of the research I’ve collected is from second-hand accounts from house elves who were kind enough to lend me their insight and stories -- though I was also lucky enough to track down the journal of a wizard named Ralston Potter, who recorded the events surrounding him freeing his own family’s house elf, Frell.

“House elves are not human, and just like centaurs and goblins, they have their own kind of powerful magic and their own distinct way of seeing the world that differs greatly from our own. Most notably, elves do not use wands to channel their magic the way wizards do. There are...legal reasons for that today, of course, but there’s also history behind it. You might have noticed that underage witches and wizards can cast very powerful magic before receiving a wand. That’s because without a wand, their magic is very volatile. Magic is like fire -- if it’s not controlled, it can cause a lot of damage. And so wands are used to give our magic focus: it’s like a steering wheel that allows us to maneuver our magic wherever we want it to go. If one never receives a wand, or even uses magic without a wand too long, it can be very dangerous, not just for the people around that person, but for that person themselves. It can damage their health and body, and in extreme cases, they could even become an Obscurus.

“For elves, however, they’ve found another way to focus their magic -- not through a wand, but through permanent institutions. In the early days, elves were able to hone their extreme magical talent by focusing all of their abilities on the maintenance of a house or place of business. Their loyalty was not to the family that lived there, but to the place they cared for -- therefore, if the family was ever disrespectful to the elf or its home, the elf could take proper justice on that family. But if the family was kind to the elf, the elf would often return that kindness.

“Unfortunately, with the advent of the Statute of Secrecy at the end of the 17th century, things became much more complicated. In the old days, it didn’t matter what sort of family owned the house an elf cared for -- Muggle or magical, the elf would go on just the same. But as soon as the Wizarding World had to hide all evidence of magic from Muggles, the issue of what to do about the elves living in whatever house they wished became a real problem. The new Ministry of Magic knew it couldn’t compete with elves from a magical perspective -- elves have always been more powerful than wizards, even though their traditions and culture keep that power focused on a singular, concrete purpose like caring for a house or a family, rather than their own advancement. But at the same time, the Ministry couldn’t afford to have the existence of elves exposed to Muggles...and admittedly, many elves had become frustrated by the more rampant lack of respect shown by Muggles who had moved into the homes they occupied. So a compromise was reached -- elves would refocus their magic, not on a house that could pass from person to person, but directly onto a magical family. The magical family could then both offer protection and stability for the elf, so long as they chose to stay with them. At that time, the elf could leave whenever they wanted. This is also around the time when the idea of setting elves free with clothes originates. Although we’re not entirely sure where it came from, one theory among magical historians is that it was symbolic of the house elf’s services no longer being needed. As an example, one can point to the old Muggle fairy tale ‘The Elves and the Shoemaker,’ which, although likely not a historical account, may have been based on something true. The elves’ focus would’ve been on the family owning the shoe shop -- once the family had mastered their trade enough that they could make the elves their own clothes to thank them, the elves realized they were no longer needed, and so left with no regrets.

“Sadly, restricting elves to live only with magical families ultimately gave the elves much less choice about where they could live and what places they could use to focus their magic. If they were set free or left, it proved very difficult for them to find another home. They couldn’t just take up residence wherever they wanted anymore, either -- if they decided to stay even if a family set them free, or if they occupied a space where they weren’t wanted, the Ministry nearly always sided with the witches or wizards in question, since those magical families were now the only ones who could claim any ownership to the house. And as many magical families started to break away from the ideas of blood purity and marry Muggles and Muggle-borns, it became less popular to rely on house elf labor. So now today, elves are placed in a rather unpleasant position. They need a stable environment so as to focus their magic and not only maintain their culture but also their own livelihood...but due to lack of choice, elves have lost a lot of the equal footing they’d had with wizards in centuries past. This has therefore led many magical families to treat elves like servants or even slaves, rather than equals. But simply freeing an elf, or even all of them, wouldn’t solve the inherent problem, for they would still need something permanent that they could use to channel their powerful magic safely. Otherwise the elf’s own life and safety, as well as everyone around them, is put at risk.

“Now the idea of elves owning wands is...a thorny issue. Regardless of my own...personal views about the law forbidding house elves from owning a wand...many elves don’t want to use wands. They see it as a wizard invention exclusively. If they were to use a wand rather than focus magic on institutions or families the way their ancestors have, it would be sacrificing a piece of their culture -- and goodness knows, they’ve already been very detached from their heritage already thanks to wizard interference. But the law itself forbidding elf wand use was completely funded and propagated by wizards who felt deeply threatened by the thought of elves being treated as equals. They enjoyed having elves under their foot, and they had no interest treating them like creatures worthy of respect and an equal say in the Wizarding World and how it’s run. This is not an opinion or conjecture on my part....every single witch and wizard who supported that law -- Cantankerous Nott, Wilhelm Rosier, Josephina Flint, Odo Crouch, Aspen Greengrass -- expressed the belief that elves, if they were given wands, would be too powerful to control and that their subjugation was not only just, but also for the protection of wizardkind. They, to put it very simply, were so afraid of elves being extended the same privileges as wizards that they enshrined their second-class status into wizarding law.”

[Lane brings her hands together, interlacing the fingers solemnly.]

“Now I know a lot of this...isn’t particularly uplifting. Elves’ current position in magical society -- much like that of centaurs and goblins or even beings like werewolves, vampires and hags -- is not very ideal. But there have been some efforts to fight for elf rights, over the years. St. Mungo’s Hospital for Maladies and Injuries has been employing and housing elves for almost two decades now. There are now about a hundred wizard-owned restaurants around the world that are either completely or largely operated by elves. Helga Hufflepuff first brought house elves to Hogwarts back before the Statute of Secrecy was enacted, but when Albus Dumbledore became Headmaster, he introduced some improvements, such as adding a small, dormitory-like space next to the kitchens where the elves could sleep and keep personal belongings. And as our understanding of elf culture improves, so too can our laws and policies regarding them.”

((OOC: HEADCANONS GALORE AGAIN. For anyone who has read my fic Harry Potter and the Lack of Lamb Sauce, this is pretty much the essence of that one abbreviated history lesson Millicent Bulstrode gave Hermione in that one chapter where they discuss elf rights. XDD This also took WAY too long to write out...whew! Seriously, though, Candy love, I’m glad you enjoyed my absolute nerdiness!! *tackle-hug* <333

I’m well aware of the...problematic elements of the house elves’ depiction in the original Potter novels, and although yes, I agree the parallels one can draw are troubling, I also have to point to how goblin and centaur culture are depicted in the Potterverse being distinctly “not-human” (i.e. goblins’ conception of “ownership” being more focused on the creator of the object rather than anyone who inherits it, or in HPHM centaurs requiring offerings in order to have a chance to earn entry into their camp). It’s not out of the realm of possibility, therefore, that elves likewise have their own distinctly “not-human” traditions and culture. And admittedly the idea of Rowling’s house elves seems very inspired by folk tales surrounding the brownie/boggart, as well. But yeah, if you don’t dig this interpretation of mine, I totally get it -- I’m not going to act like I’m any sort of authority here. I’m just a huge nerd with way too much time on her hands who prefers to find ways to make this fictional world she enjoys better rather than double-down on the things she doesn’t like. XD;

In regards to elves using a permanent institution to focus their magic on...my personal headcanon is that Dobby, as a free elf, used Hogwarts and -- once he’d reunited with him -- Harry as that permanent institution. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go cry in a corner.))

Ask Lane Cromwell!

[dailyjcink]

( ✨  suspended in time ✨ ) 

magic is real. with young witches and wizards needing a place to learn their skills and harness their magic, hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry was created. but what of those who wish to see the world rather than spend their days locked in a classroom? what about the stories of adventure, of a time when magic ran wild? when humans and magical folk worked side by side, embarking on epic quests for glory. a time when a young centaur, a witch, and a goblin could leave home to journey into the world together and forge a path of legend to tell their children.

suspended in time is an upcoming 10th century jcink roleplay set in the potterverse, combining elements of harry potter series, dungeons and dragons, magic: the gathering, game of thrones, and more. with an overall emphasis on collaborative quests, storytelling, and adventure while implementing unique systems and game mechanics, we are striving to create a truly memorable and immersive roleplaying experience on jcink servers. we are currently seeking dedicated individuals to help staff the site. if you are interested, please check out our staff search ✨

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

Ragnok's backstory is actually revealed in one side quest where we rescue a student's uncle. He says that when Ragnok was young he came across an illegal dragon camp, and he was impressed with the dragons. He wanted to join the wizards there, and when one of them dropped their wand he saw his chance to give it back to him. But seeing the goblin with his wand angered the wizard and they attacked him. That's why he hates wizards. Also, haven't saw the whole story yet, but there is a goblin character that is on our side, we help him get a goblin helmet for him so he can gain Ragnok's trust. He says he doesn't fully agree with him

You mean Ranrok, right? I'm pretty sure Ragnok is a Goblin from the original books. Either way, that's definitely interesting.

Honestly, that story is a tragedy and it only serves to remind me who the real villains of this conflict are, and it sure as well isn't the Goblins. This is an almost textbook misunderstanding, fueled by bigotry and archaic institutions, that create a situation where Ranrok was just being polite but was immediately treated as a criminal. If one of the other Wizards had picked up the wand to return it, no one would have batted an eye. But nobody trusts Goblins and it's literally illegal for them to carry wands. (Or at least it is 100 years later, but I bet that law is already in place during HPHL.) That's one of the most blatantly racist details about the wizarding community that no one else ever seems to notice. They hold other creatures accountable to their laws, which obviously favor them and exclude said creatures. They have official designations to determine what counts as a "being." Honest to god, it's no wonder the Goblins fucking hate us. Humans really are trash sometimes.

I've gotten way off topic. Everything I've seen of Ranrok makes it difficult to sympathize with him or believe that the game is trying, but I have to admit that this backstory does help. In before Tumblr adopts Ranrok from Rowling and tweaks his character with the proper head-canons. Up to and including fanfics where he's the hero. Wouldn't be the first time we've woke-ified a problematic aspect of the potterverse...(I expect the same thing to happen to Sirona, by the way.)

Glad to hear that not all of the Goblins are depicted as villainous. That's a genuinely good thing, and I also appreciate that he doesn't "fully" agree with Ranrok versus just thinking he's flat out wrong. This does help, a little, but...to be frank, the issues with Ranrok's depiction go right down to the roots and can't really be solved by just including other Goblin characters. Because the Goblins are, deliberately or not (and it's looking more deliberate with each passing day) a caricature of Jewish people. So depicting them as the villains is already difficult to come back from. But, the way they do it is just so...typical.

Stop me if you've heard this one before. The villain of the story actually makes some very good points. They believe themself to be a hero, fighting injustice. Realistically, they're not wrong about anything they say. The only problem is that they're an extremist. By all rights, they could have been a good guy if they weren't causing so much damage in the name of their cause. So the heroes still have to stop them and uphold the status quo. They express disgust with the villain and the story suggests they have become as evil as what they were originally fighting. After the heroes win, they acknowledge how the villain may have had a point, actually....and proceed to do nothing about the injustices the villain brought up.

It's such a classic way of vilifying people who stand up against corruption and speak truth to power. People who take a stand and refuse to tolerate oppression, exactly like what the Goblins are doing. But oh, they're killing people and doing evil things. See? If you rise up against the institution, you're the bad guy. And in this case, villifying an extremist like Ranrock goes hand in hand with this game's antisemitic subtext. He didn't have to be the villain, he shouldn't be the villain. Because the Goblins, for so, so many reasons...should not be the ones we consider the villains of their conflict.

[rpings]

( ✨  suspended in time ✨ ) 

magic is real. with young witches and wizards needing a place to learn their skills and harness their magic, hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry was created. but what of those who wish to see the world rather than spend their days locked in a classroom? what about the stories of adventure, of a time when magic ran wild? when humans and magical folk worked side by side, embarking on epic quests for glory. a time when a young centaur, a witch, and a goblin could leave home to journey into the world together and forge a path of legend to tell their children.

suspended in time is an upcoming 10th century jcink roleplay set in the potterverse, combining elements of harry potter series, dungeons and dragons, magic: the gathering, game of thrones, and more. with an overall emphasis on collaborative quests, storytelling, and adventure while implementing unique systems and game mechanics, we are striving to create a truly memorable and immersive roleplaying experience on jcink servers. we are currently seeking dedicated individuals to help staff the site. if you are interested, please check out our staff search ✨

[shinylitwick94]

Since we’re all having fun complaining about the HP fandom today, please allow me to vent about my #1 HP Fanfiction Pet Peeve:

other than plain old poor writing and character bashing

“Lord” Anything

1. Why it’s not real in canon

At NO POINT in the entire series is anyone other than Voldemort called a Lord in HP.

I just Crtl+F’d the entire text for this and can confirm it again.

“Lord” applies to Voldemort exclusively, either as LV or “The Dark Lord”.

Interestingly the character who calls him Lord Voldemort the most outside of Death Eaters is Dumbledore. Also, Hermione in her big “finally saying Voldemort thing” also uses the whole phrase.

As far as we are aware, nobility as such does not exist in the present day Potterverse.

What exists is some pureblood families that are obsessed with their names and blood status and maybe have money.

None of this is ever implied to be legally recognised as a specific category of people.

To quote the part of the text that most directly addresses the issue:

“Have you ever heard of someone called the Half-Blood Prince?”

“The Half-Blood what?”

“Prince,” said Harry, watching him closely for signs of recognition.

“There are no Wizarding princes,” said Lupin, now smiling. “Is this a title you’re thinking of adopting? I should have thought being ‘the Chosen One’ would be enough.”

HBP, Chapter 16

There are no wizarding princes and, as far as we can tell no wizarding lords and the few times that Voldemort’s choice of name is brought up, it’s read to be self-aggrandizing BS:

“There he showed his contempt for anything that tied him to other people, anything that made him ordinary. Even then, he wished to be different, separate, notorious. He shed his name, as you know, within a few short years of that conversation and created the mask of ‘Lord Voldemort’ behind which he has been hidden for so long.

HBP, Chapter 13

There’s also Harry ruminating on the similarities between “Half-Blood Prince” and “Lord Voldemort” as chosen aliases, but it’s less relevant to what I want to say here.

Which is that it’s really easy to read Voldemort’s choice of name as something that sounds grandiose to him (who grew up in the muggle world), but is really quite foreign, perhaps even gauche to most wizards. It’s, ironically enough, one of the few things that marks him out externally as someone who doesn’t get it.

But what about the “noble and most ancient House of Black” ?

“Noble” as an adjective is pretty rarely used in HP. Most frequently, when used it is referring to nobility of character and is applied to either Dumbledore or Harry. Usually Harry.

Occasionally it’s also used to refer to other things, like the Hogwarts houses, “the noble art of Divination”, boxing, the Hogwarts founders or the profession of teaching.

None of these uses fall into the “belonging to the aristocracy” use of the adjective.

There are only three cases where it can very easily be read as meaning “aristocratic”.

The first is by Sir Nicholas, referring to his own blood:

“Terrified? I hope I, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, have never been guilty of cowardice in mylife! The noble blood that runs in my veins —”

Which I think we can take at face value, since Sir Nicholas is also, well, Sir Nicholas. That would indicate that maybe at some point a wizarding nobility did exist, but gives us nothing about the present.

Then we have the “noble and most ancient house of Black”, which is written over a tapestry (and is not the motto) depicting the family tree and is also used by Kreacher.

The Blacks, as we know, had a...pretty inflated sense of their own importance as a family. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if they had aristocratic aspirations, but that doesn’t translate to them actually being aristocrats. No one in the Black family is addressed by an aristocratic titlte, no one has any special Wizengamot seats for being a Black or any such things. So maybe they do at least think they are aristocrats. Or maybe they’re using the word in the same way that it is used to refer to the “noble Hogwarts founders” or “noble art of Divination”, i.e virtuous/honorable/something like that. Regardless, nobody else seems to see them as aristocrats.

And, of course, finally, we have Voldemort again.

Who refers to “Salzar Slytherin’s noble work”; “my noble ancestor Salazar” Slytherin and, in his address to Neville in DH says this:

“You show spirit and bravery, and you come of noble stock. You will make a very valuable Death Eater. Weneed your kind, Neville Longbottom.”

Which is interesting because no one else says that about Neville, ever.

I do get where the confusion comes from.

“Pure blood” vs everyone else in HP has elements of both racism and classism and kind of mashes it together. 

And people like Malfoy certainly behave like they belong to some sort of aristocracy.

But there is really no indication in the text that being pureblood actually gives you some sort of legal special status with the whole package of titles and positions of power and so on.

The only person who seems to think that it does is Voldemort.

Pureblood does kind of work like aristocracy but only Voldemort makes the mistake of thinking it’s the same thing.

TL;DR: noble titles don’t exist in HP; pureblood =/= aristocracy; but Voldemort thinks both of these things are true

2. Why I hate it in fanfic

The fact that Voldemort is the only character to systematically use a noble title should give you a hint: obsession with lineage is not a good thing - not in the context of the series.

I’ll be shorter here, but essentially the series goes out of its way to point out that pureblood ideology and lineage BS sucks and I tend to agree.

So “Lord Potter” doesn’t make Harry sound cool, it makes it sound like the author totally missed the point. And makes Harry sound like a snotty nosed idiot.

I’m aware that nobility-fantasising is a pretty common thing, though, so I get that people like it. They like the idea of fancy titles and fancy manners, and fancy balls and fancy inherited secret goblin vaults.

I can understand that. To an extent, it’s fun.

It just feels very un-Harry Potter to me and tends to creep up on fics that don’t focus on the fancy stuff as if it’s canon when it definitely isn’t.

So it ends up getting on my nerves.

[leam1983]

Hogwarts Legacy - Thoughts

I'll keep things succinct, seeing as a subset on here takes any discussion of this game in a justifiably personal manner. I'll skip the themes and head straight to the mechanics.

The combat system is surprisingly involved. It starts out basic as you'd please, with a Parry and a Basic Cast, but then you realize that shields can be color-coded, and that you're expected to more or less play Simon with your attack types, as well. What starts with you wiping your opponents without breaking a sweat ends with your frantically reading the screen and praying to God that nobody tosses in a spell of which you haven't prepped for their particular color. Add in the requisite Dodge mechanic and the occasional unblockable either on your side or theirs, and you end up with a system that feels a little too expansive for a comfortable mouse-and-keyboard experience.

On the audio-visual spectrum, I'm glad to see Avalanche didn't follow the same route as the old PlayStation releases for the Potterverse's movie tie-in games. The PS1 release for Philosopher's Stone involved such gems as Dan Radcliffe recording five or six different takes on the same basic spell shouts, so you'd spend the first hour hearing a little kid shrilly call for Flippendo! over and over and OVER AGAIN.

What we've got instead is general silence, punctuated by the occasional call for Accio, Stupefy or what have you. It makes a lot more sense than having to actually call out every spell consistently.

Lore-wise, one particular character professes a certain ease for wand-less casting. As a longtime Dresden Files fan, I've always liked to see takes on magic that don't involved a little spindly thing being waved around by someone pretending to be an orchestra conductor. You're wielding the Universe's primal forces, in a sense, so there's nothing more badass than needing a basic wave of the hand or a forward thrust to Get Shit Done. Here's hoping this features in the game later on at some point, as I'm barely past Hogsmeade.

Thematically, I get the sense that Ranrok's rebellion isn't properly anchored. The other goblins and house elves we see are well-treated and respected (minus the lack of official clothes for Dobby's kin), and I'm guessing that his own motivations are going to be left for an abuse-generated vector that'll crop up a few hours down the line. As it stands, Hogwarts feels nice and inclusive, which makes the idea of an armed insurrection a little hard to believe. Things could've gone better if Fig and our protagonist had been established as having discussed the state of, er, Goblin Affairs, as it were, sometime well before their departure.

There's the issue of our 'toon, too. Why are we special? How and when did we discover we were sensitive to magic? I would've loved to play out that particular moment, especially in the context of Victorian London. As it stands, we're just a fifteen year-old latecomer.

On the technical point of view, the game is like several modern releases in that it more or less requires an NVME SSD to really play comfortably. Every single door in Hogwarts is preceded by a seconds-long loading period, and some cinematics are clearly set in place to serve as model and texture-streaming aesthetic curtains, and the resulting effect isn't necessarily pleasing. Sarah's running the game on an i9 10900K with 32 GBs of RAM and an RTX 2080 Super, and her game more or less froze in the seconds leading up to Headmaster Black's introduction, as everything slowly and painfully left the realms of Placeholder Textures to bloom into view appropriately. It's buttery-smooth otherwise, but add camera changes to the experience and the engine clearly struggles in these interstitial moments. I've also noticed a few issues with culling, as some assets can blip out of sight just before that point where they'd normally leave your viewing angle. It's a little jarring to see an entire hair-length vertical slice of the castle effectively Apparate into being (heh) in some particularly packed corners of the premises. It's all terribly gorgeous, sure, but still not entirely optimized. Still, once it's loaded, it's loaded. It all works well, with no outstanding visual bugs.

More to add later, I'm sure.

[dcharrison]

Everyone loves #dragons—and the #Potterverse is full of them. This footnote entry is from chapter five, “Polywandrous”:

DRACOFORMS

Noun: Members of the animal order Dracoformes are found around the world—including two species found only in the Antarctic. While dracoforms enjoy great diversity in phenotype, they are widely considered to evidence human-level intelligence and self-awareness across the order. Toolmaking, though, is only occasionally referenced in the literature. Dracoforms are Magical beings, but are not, as far as human experts have found, magic users. Curiously, there are monotreme (egg-layers) and therian (live birth) species (and subspecies) mixed throughout the dracoforms hierarchy—though monotremes far outnumber therians—which puts the whole taxonomy into some question.

In a sad bit of Euro-centrism, Draconis rex (so-called “King of Dragons”)—which features the largest dragon breeds of the Eurasian region—is actually dwarfed by Draco siberica, found in the Kamchatka region of Siberia and the western-most of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, in the US. Draco siberica is, in turn, dwarfed by Draco austrovulcanorum, the famed “Dragon of the Southern Volcanoes”, found only in Antarctica, though they have been reported as far north as the Pitcairn Islands and Rapa Nui in the south Pacific and the Kerguelen Islands in the south Indian Ocean.

As human activity has expanded, many Magical governments have concluded that dragon reserves are the only safe way to guarantee safe cohabitation. In recent decades, this practice has come under increased scrutiny as dracoform intelligence is better understood. Opponents of reserves believe a better way to handle interspecies conflict is through treaty-making and keeping (in important ways similar to human–centaur and human–goblin relations—though these have been profoundly problematic, in their own ways).

In America’s Basin-and-range geo-region, various dracoforms of European stock have become invasive, displacing indigenous species.

WANT MORE? You’ll have to READ the book!

facebook.com/WesternWands

Like the Facebook page for #FILLED: A #Potterverse Story, to stay in the know!

[dreadart]

🖤🖤🖤TODAY ON ETSY!! SIGNED LIMITED EDITION PRINTS HOT OFF THE PRESS available RIGHT NOW on my Etsy page (link in bio)! 🖤🖤🖤 - ALL LE PRINTS ONLY HAVE 10 of each released to Etsy, BUT Patreon Elite Goblins and up are guaranteed prints in the “no stress weekend sales!” All CAN be re-sold and traded if you'd like! Check out the banners for suggestions on how to find traders and sellers! 👀 - 🖤🖤🖤 Our Pin Pre-sale this week is: DreaDFully Gryffindor: James and Lily Potter!!!! LE 65! THEY WILL PRE-SALE THURSDAY 9/23, 2PM PST for ELITE GOBLINS AND UP ON PATREON!! YAYYYY!!! $65 (free shipping in the US!) – 30 spots available in the pre-sale! Pin on pin, 4ish inches tall, thinking about all kinds of magical effects depending on what looks best! 🖤🖤🖤 WE ARE DOING TOPPERS THIS WEEKEND ON PATREON TOO! ALL ELITE GOBLINS AND UP can get one in the “no stress weekend sale!” If you can’t make the pre-sale, once the Pins are shipped to me, I’ll be selling the rest for $130 shipped, to ALL PATREON GOBLINS, then whatever is left will go public to etsy! - 🖤🖤🖤 Our In Hand Pin Sale this week is: Padme Amidala!! 30 full pins and 30 toppers will go on sale WED 9/22 at 2PM (Full pins) and 4PM (Toppers)! - So if you’re not a Goblin yet… join us!! We are currently making a made in the 80s series, a mixed fandom Tarot deck, fantasy pins (and LOTS MORE)! We’d love to have you!!! 🖤🖤🖤 - #andromeda #narcissamalfoy #bellatrixlestrange #sisters #witches #slytherin #gryffindor #hufflepuff #ravenclaw #rowenaravenclaw #godricgryffindor #salazarslytherin #helgahufflepuff #harrypotter #potterverse #hermionegranger #lunalovegood #studying #studysession #queenamidala #porg #starwars #lilypotter #jamespotter #rhysand #feyrearcheron #feysand #acotar #acomaf https://www.instagram.com/p/CUDbBE3PWkd/?utm_medium=tumblr

[maiassensibleblog]

Falling out of love with an old friend: How to be a Potter fan in 2020.

This is an opinion piece, views are my own. Although in this poorly referenced state, it is still better referenced than JKRs essay. 

I have been a massive consumer of all things Harry Potter since my early teens (I’m now in my mid-twenties). From pretty early on, it become more than just about the books and films and I found fanfiction.net and tumblr to experience the potterverse in more depth. I’ve explored the world more and more as an adult and have had peaks and troughs of obsession with it but the universe has always been a part of the world in my head and my social life. 

I had been saying for a while that JKR no longer had control of this universe. I’d been saying it because I was on her side, that I thought she couldn’t possibly be problematic- that Warner Bros. were controlling her words on sex abuse scandals and the lack of lgbt representation or that the queerbaiting in Cursed Child couldn’t be helped. 

My opinions have changed. She is an unlearning, problematic white TERF. 

Let me just prefix this with the fact that this article is not for people who haven’t decided whether JKR is problematic yet. I’m talking to the people who are trying to find their place in this world now. If you’re on the fence, here, here and here are some good starting points on why she’s such a problem now. 

This isn’t new. 

Her recent tweets have made me revisit the original stories with this new eye and I’ve noticed problematic themes at all levels. I am going to be forgiving of myself for not noticing these when I first read the stories aged 10. It isn’t as forgivable that we’ve seen who she’s been following and liking and ignored it. We’re adults, and those of us who have only reacted to this recently are reacting too late. There’s nothing we can do about this other than make up for lost time. 

This time has shown me to be critical even if I love something and to be unrelenting in my position in the fight for people in situations of injustice, no matter the view of my fandom. I don’t think the growth that we’ve been through in such a short time can be unravelled from the lockdown or BLM movements and in time I’m sure we’ll be thankful for the time and fire we had in us.

Something that I think we need to reconsider is this: We always say that we’ve learnt to be good adults because we were brought up on love and acceptance in these books as children. But were we? 

Harry Potter is centrist liberalism at its best. 

What was fed to us was a “(trying to appear) progressive” TERF-mentality of realising the trans people exist but not wanting them in your bathroom kind of nonsense. I mean this about all kinds of issues; race, gender, class... This can be seen in a number of cases: The quite frankly offensive reveal of Dumbledore’s queerness, when she made it clear if somebody was black, so this type of “other” probably should’ve come up? She also wrote a whole chapter written by Rita Skeeter on him when she could’ve used any number of homophobic slurs to even give his queerness a whisper. But nope. 

There’s also the anti-semitism of the goblins (Worth mentioning that she didn’t create this problem, but she certainly didn’t handle it with any transparency. This is not my lane but info here). 

Not to mention the massive lack of Black and Asian characters at Hogwarts. We’re all very aware of the Cho Chang situation (a *mess*), the explosive-loving Irish guy, the reduction of descriptions of black characters to their hair or simply the word “black” (re-visit descriptions of Kingsley, it’s remarkably bigoted). I’ve written about Black Hermione before, and I stand by little 2016 me. But no matter how much I saw her as me as a kid, JKR didn’t write Hermione as Black. We would know about it. (Also, on race, I would’ve loved to see race and blood purity interact in the cannon. It’s something I’m exploring now in fic and I’m really flailing with it.) 

I would finally like to discuss the use of house elves as actual slaves. I actually think this illustrates JK’s liberalism perfectly. The idea of house elves could be a wonderful, progressive exploration of the issues surrounding slavery to an audience of children and I’m still a bit mad at the missed opportunity. Harry is obviously distressed by the treatment of Dobby, a house elf that he gets to know, and deals with freeing him. However he doesn’t question the treatment of any other elves (wtf Harry? This is a bit like saying “I have a black friend”). When we reach book 5 and Hermione takes an interest in freeing the elves, she is shut down not only by her friends (she has to give up in order to keep Harry and Ron’s respect) but by the elves themselves. We were literally taught that enslaved beings want to be enslaved and not to bother helping them because they are happy as they don’t know any better and your friends will dislike you for trying. (Hermione being a super white feminist has been handled beautifully by others, so I would recommend looking into Hermione and S.P.E.W). 

This all shows me that Harry Potter taught us to be accepting, but not to the point that would put us at a disadvantage or look outside our little worlds or properly consider marginalised folks worldviews. 

In the cultural and historical context of these books, published from 1997 to 2007, there are some aspects of the books that are forgivable. But we no longer live in that context, nor did we when the final few books or Cursed Child/FB were published. Considering that by this time, Rowling would have been well-travelled, she could and should have been better. 

Anyway my point of all this is to point out that this is not new and that we’re being very reactionary by only really discussing this now. Even though my friends and I have been screaming queer-baiting about CC for years and trying to make our little fandom world better, we can’t ignore the fact that this is too late and we must now spring into action. 

Does all this mean that Harry Potter was bad for us? 

Every child goes through developmental phases. One of these is moving from an egocentric worldview to understanding that things exists outside your world and then appreciating others perspectives- this is abstract thinking or Theory of Mind. There are a few theories of when this takes place, but the literature usually cites from around 6 months to 11 years. The level that the Harry Potter books ask us to look at the big wide world is wonderful for children. It must’ve done us a lot of good. 

I think the refusal of JKR to improve the universe in the CC or FB universes is the problem. She is not exhibiting the abstract acceptance that is possible of her now-adult audience and couldn’t take the backlash at every bigoted move.

We aren’t good because of Harry Potter, I think we’re good because Harry Potter made us think as children and we didn’t stop learning and getting better. We outgrew it. You can even see this in our fanworks- so progressive and varied and creative. 

Does that mean we should move away from Hogwarts for good? 

The “read another book” crowds have been out in full force the past few weeks and I get it. We need to grow up. But I would argue that we have already in untangling the creator from the art. (And we do read other books, I promise). 

I think that if you’re a Potter fan and look around at your friends, your partners, your clothes, your homes and see how entwined your life is with this universe, the mourning that we’re feeling shouldn’t be surprising. It probably shouldn’t be, but this universe is our culture and our relationships. And I use the word “universe” intentionally. Very few of our worlds are in any way linked to JKR as a person. She did lose control of her world years ago. There are swaths of examples of art being separated from the artist, but we cannot do this blindly as we have been for years. 

I’ve really been searching for a way to navigate this in my own head. Just turning a blind eye and continuing as we are, however far removed we’ve become from JKR, would make us complicit and therefore transphobic. Is there any way for us to continue loving this world now? 

We know that the original Hogwarts isn’t a safe place for us LGBT folk but the love, support and comfort I have felt from fandom for those things about me and the community that we’ve created doesn’t have anything to do with JKRs bigotry. The world that we’ve created around her universe is a safe place. 

So what now?

I do not think that the attempts to rollback trans rights recently can be separated from the rise of TERF rhetoric from powerful people. Art controls culture therefore we must be responsible with our consumption of art. That being said, there are some things I have think will be necessary going forward:

1. I will listen to trans people on the Potterverse. 

2. I will not give JKR any kind of platform.

3. I will not give her any money (intentionally). 

We do not have to be big consumers anymore. We’ve all already got the books and the films. There will always be second hand merch hanging around to buy. It isn’t something we can ever completely buy out of- she is getting royalties from parts of the world we can’t even fathom but we have to be aware of what we are buying into and avoid it where possible.

4. I will write, read and amplify fanfiction and fanart that makes Hogwarts safe. I will write trans and gender non-conforming folk into my fics. 

5. I will continue to unpack her universe as an adult who can think critically and trash the issues in there as publicly as my platform allows.  

6. I will call out my friends when they’re not doing good enough and expect the same in return.

The question of how to proceed comes with how much of this discourse is acceptable to the people who are suffering from her rhetoric the most? And that is a question that we must answer personally. I think we need to be really reflective about it, and have constant conversations which amplify marginalised voices. That is how we will keep growing, and the only way we can keep our Hogwarts safe. 

Some fantastic resources: 

Mermaids: https://mermaidsuk.org.uk/

The Trevor Project: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/

Gendered Intelligence: http://genderedintelligence.co.uk/

Beautiful dissection of her essay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paVH1PdOfwc&t=46s

Older video on the tweets: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USoIAWVkCvk&t

General discussion on separating the art from the artist: https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/10/11/17933686/me-too-separating-artist-art-johnny-depp-woody-allen-michael-jackson-louis-ck

On JKR and seperating the art from the artist: https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2019/12/19/jk-rowling-and-the-separation-of-the-art-from-the-artist/#4bfd8e5fe0e0

On JKR and separating the art from the artist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdtdbnW2IDw