#about how jk portray slytherins in the whole serie

[remus-poopin]

Question for the brit’sh folks: I was thinking about hogwart houses and their value systems and about how JK shows her bias towards these value systems. She holds Gryffindor values in very high regard but seems to look down on Slytherin. One of her biggest issues seems to be that of the ambition trait. Ambition is almost always portrayed as a negative quality to the point that those who aren’t even in Slytherin with this trait are treated quite poorly by the narrative (Percy you deserve better).

I’ll admit right now that I don’t truly understand the class system in the UK. (I’ve found myself asking “wait what jobs do the Malfoys and Blacks even have? Where is this money coming from” And then I have to remind myself that they’re old money aristocrats types). I’ve made attempts to get it but I’m still a bit perplexed. So as an American reader some things in the series completely went over my head and I’ve had to have them be pointed out for me to even notice them (thank you Snape meta writers!).

As an American reader it is a little strange that ambition is held in such contempt in this series. The whole thing about America is to try to do better than your parents did, to move up in life, to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and achieve that American dream! So when you start analyzing the series with that perspective it is a bit puzzling.

So I guess my questions are: Is JKR’s aversion to ambition a “her problem” or is this a general view that the British class structure encourages. Or to put it a different way, does British society look down upon upwards economic mobility? And if so what are other ways this is reflected in the series?

For a more general question: Is the idea of the American dream in contrast with traditional British values? If so, what do these culture clashes look like?

(Also I’m not asking if you personally as a British citizen have a problem with ambition but more trying to understand UK culture and society)

[deidremercer]

I think it's remarkable how many people will be so anti-JK Rowling yet still enjoy the Harry Potter series. I get there's like nostalgia there but whenever I go back to books or movies I just find more and more to dislike about them. Not to mention that Rowling continues to use the excuse of "people keep consuming my products" as a reason to justify her hateful behavior. Maybe it's just me but going back to Harry Potter media always makes me think "man I wish I was engaging with any media that isn't this." I feel like HP isn't even worth it for the fantasy like all the spells in the series are so lame and being at Hogwarts would suck dude that place is so fucking dangerous all the time, they throw you into a forest full of monsters for breaking the tiniest of rules that shit would not be fun! I also find the whole four houses thing so stupid like, you're really about to group up your students by "Brave, Smart, Evil, and ????" Hufflepuff feels so genuinely like a "oh fuck what if they aren't any of those first three" "fuck it lets make a miscellaneous category" type deal. Also don't try to argue with me that Slytherin isn't just the evil house, their entire thing is being conniving and sneaking around and being little schemers. It also feels a lot like a bunch of the students are just in the wrong house, right? Like you're about to tell me that A. Slytherin isn't just the evil house while simultaneously telling me the B. The weasely twins shouldn't be in Slytherin for being little scheming pranksters. What the hell is that man? If you're going to try and tell me "actually Slytherin's traits are resourcefulness, cunning, ambition, and heritage" I don't fucking care, because they shouldn't be, why give the 4 houses listed characteristics at all if they're all basically the same shit. The thing about the Hogwarts houses is that they're all so fucking broad that anyone could fit into any of them unless we actually take a look at what the subtext tells us about each of them, right? Show don't tell, and Rowling shows that everyone in Slytherin is fucking evil. And even if not, the Weasely twins get to be in Gryffindor? These prank pulling fucks are in the chivalry house? For what purpose? Why isn't Hermione in Ravenclaw? She feels like she would be a much better fit there, but no then our protagonist would have to come from slightly different points of view gods forbid! And if she were in the smart house we couldn't possibly portray her as wrong for thinking slavery is bad. The fucking slavery too, how much do you really need to read into this book to realize just how much of Rowling's awful ideology leaks through. While we're on the topic, I was looking at the wiki just to make sure I didn't fuck up any of this information and one of the traits they list on every character is "blood status" which defines whether or not a character is "pure blooded" or not. Hey what the fuck? Why is that something so important that you feel the need to list it for every character on the wiki? I fucking forgot Harry Potter had a whole eugenics thing going on but low and behold once again as I look back on this series I discover another reason to dislike it! Every turn I take there's a new racist or homophobic or anti-Semitic jumpscare! I'm playing fucking Spooky's Jumpscare Mansion with shitty political views!

[out-of-context-fanfics]

This is just adorable.

From - The Boogeyman, a nearly 70k Harry Potter fanfic with Ron as a great focus.

If like me you like excellent takes on Ron Weasley's character and his family's dynamic i highly suggest you read Stay Standing by the same author, Windschild8178. Just browsing their profile will cure you of all the unfair bashing you might have tripped on.

[bookishable]

harry potter opinions

not all of these are unpopular

dumbledore should have been in slytherin

the only reason people ship dramione is because they think the actors are good looking, if the characters had been played by actors who aren’t conventionally attractive people wouldn’t ship them

draco and hermione are just not compatible at all

fred’s death was the worst one

the golden trio belong in gryffindor because they use the traits they have from other houses in order to be brave (harry has ambition to survive and a strong sense of self-preservation, ron’s loyalty helps him defend others “if you want to kill harry you’ll have to kill us too”, yeah thanks for ruining that movies, and hermione often uses her intelligence to find solutions and work a way out of a situation)

kreacher is more likeable than dobby

on balance the order of the phoenix is the worst film

i agree that the sorting system should be based on the traits you value most not the ones you have, and if this is canon then it should have been made clearer in the books

snape is not a good person but one of the best characters

it’s pointless to compare james and snape to figure out who is a worse person they had totally opposite lives

slughorn is a better example of a flawed but good character/person than snape

luna embodies ravenclaw house more than any other character

it sucks that ravenclaw has only luna as good character representation, we had cho who became a bigger character, but so many people in the fandom hate her and her relationship with harry ended badly from his pov

harry potter is the most underrated character in harry potter which is a crime

kreacher’s tale should have been in the films

percy, fred, george and ron could all have fitted in slytherin fight me

the best portrayed character in the films was snape

most of the hogwarts professors were also very accurate to the books and well acted, especially mcgonagall, sprout, lockhart, flitwick and madame pomfrey (although she should have had more lines from the books)

oh and also filch

daniel radcliffe looked most like harry potter in prisoner of azkaban

charlie and ginny fit in gryffindor the most out of all the weasleys

ravenclaws are probably the ones who procrastinate the most

peter pettigrew is such an interesting character

dean thomas needs more appreciation

ron and hermione are simultaneously the best couple and the most annoying couple

pettigrew should be viewed as a true marauder not just someone who tagged along with the other three because that’s what made his betrayal so terrible

regulus black deserved better

fleur delacour is underrated but i’m glad to see she’s starting to get more appreciation now

i could write a 300 page essay on how amazing harry and ron’s friendship is

it annoys me when people make harry potter as vines videos and just stick the name padfoot over any video of a dog even if it has no relation to sirius

most of harry’s escapes were due to luck and i love that he acknowledges that

but this doesn’t make him any less brave or skilled

the deathly hallows is the best book

the idea that mary poppins is a witch is more canon than hogwarts being a school (which isn’t saying much because honestly the only thing the students learnt there was that they lived in close proximity to several things that could kill them)

dumbledore is a better person than everyone makes him out to be

aberforth dumbledore is underrated

the best house pairing is slytherin and hufflepuff

harry should have named his children sirius, remus and ruby (rubeus), but i totally get why he used his parents and dumbledore’s names even though i can’t accept severus or luna

i still love harry and luna’s friendship and i guess since ginny was close friends with her too they both chose her name

jk rowling is not a bad person, yes she has done some controversial things, but people should be more appreciative of the world she created and how she encouraged generations of children to read

harry and hermione’s friendship is so precious

i love ron because he is a realistic character and a great guy

the crimes of grindelwald should have been named ‘the rise of grindelwald’

people need to stop complaining about characters being portrayed as poc in fan art, these artists dedicate their time to creating something and it’s their choice how they interpret the characters

also i’m sure lots of artists don’t design them this way just to encourage diversity, it can simply be a stylistic choice and some probably just prefer to draw them this way

not all slytherins are obsessed with the colour green omg

same applies to the other houses and their house colours, i just see the slytherin one more frequently

voldemort’s movie death is atrocious

but cool use of cgi i guess

ginny and ron were ruined by the films but not the actors

so was the entire weasley family a little

arthur and bill should have been in ravenclaw

molly should have been in hufflepuff

the whole “calmly“ thing doesn’t really annoy me, but i do think that dumbledore was too angry generally in the fourth film (maybe this was purposeful for the character i just prefer book dumbledore)

this leads to my conclusion that goblet of fire is the second worst film

i actually liked crimes of grindelwald, but i thought the first film was better because it was quite different to the harry potter series

however,, even though cog was very plot heavy, bear in mind that they are setting up for 3 more films. the first has to be simpler to set the scene and kick off the franchise, just like philosopher’s stone. the next film will naturally have more to it. it was dark because grindelwald played a bigger part. this is just like the chamber of secrets film (a lot of people dislike it) which was also plot heavy and had a different feel to it. people need to give it time, there’s 3 more films

jk rowling needs to write a new children’s book with a new universe to harry potter, and leave the harry potter franchise alone after fbawtft. it’s fine as it is. she still has the talent to create something great

the books are infinitely better than the films

even though i disagree that all the weasleys belong in gryffindor, i support the idea that they all have the same values and would probably choose to be sorted into gryffindor over the other houses

[araeph]

Anonymous said:

Since HP is one of your fandoms, I'd like to know your opinion on typical questions: 1) what are your views on Dumbledore and Snape, not only the characters but also the way they are portrayed in the narrative? 2) what are your favorite HP movies and how do you feel about the way they portrayed the characters (in particular the leading trio)? 3) what are your views on how JK deals with minorities? 4) what are your ships, canon and non-canon? A favorite of mine is still Remus/Sirius. Thanks!!

1)    I very much appreciate what Rowling tried to do with Dumbledore: have a wise, benign mentor figure to a child, who then has the scales lifted from his eyes when he grows up. It’s kind of like looking up to your parents as a kid, and then finding out how human they really are as an adult. I am also on board with Dumbledore having a tarnished past. What I felt was missing, though, is that Harry never got a chance to challenge and defy him—really mess up his plans—because at the point where Harry knew the whole truth, he had already followed Dumbledore’s predetermined path for him and the latter was already dead. Harry should have gotten a chance to tangle Dumbledore’s carefully crafted web because his belief system is perhaps evolving away from that of the man he once looked up to.

As for Snape, I wish his character were as dynamic as a lot of people seem to think it is. Is he an interesting character? Yes, but not particularly complex. I have the same problem with his heel-face turn as I do with Mai’s: he turns because the object of his affections has been endangered, not because his value system has undergone a substantial metamorphosis. There is nothing to show us that Snape fundamentally disagrees with Voldemort’s ideology pre- or post-downfall, even though he had 13 years between turning and Voldemort rising again to reform his behavior and beliefs. For someone who is the subject of so much heated discussion, Snape’s character is remarkably stagnant. (Also, those who believe that his abhorrent treatment of his non-Slytherin students can be justified by his being a double agent for Voldemort should read this: )

AlexFS: Parzival, that doesn’t make any sense. Snape was playing double agent. His job was to convince Voldemort that he was on his side and spying for him. Now, if you’re a spy for Voldemort, what do you do? a) walk and talk like a Death Eater, bully the Boy Who Lived, and snark at muggleborns, or b) do you play the part, gain Dumbledore’s and Harry’s trust allowing you to get valuable information to pass on to Voldemort…

Any sane spy would go for b). That’s what Barty Crouch Jr. did. He didn’t waltz into Hogwarts and let everyone know he sympathized with Voldemort. That would’ve been ridiculous. He played nice with Harry, even Neville for god’s sake, gained their trust, helped Harry out, and guess what? His plan worked flawlessly. It’s the same reason Peter was an effective spy for Voldemort: no one, not even Dumbledore, suspected him because he was playing the part.

Voldemort was happy that Snape was so close to Dumbledore after all those years, even if it pissed off DEs like Bellatrix. It was useful for him. He wanted someone on the inside. If Snape could say he was also close to Harry, Voldemort would’ve been over the moon. Voldemort wouldn’t give a shit about how nice Snape had to be to muggleborns if it meant gaining Harry’s trust.

Ursula: Snape was a double-agent.

No, he wasn’t.

Snape was in Voldemort’s camp, firmly and unambigously, until he learned that Lily was a target.

He turned double-agent to try to save Lily. He failed.

Voldemort fell.

After that, Snape was in Dumbledore’s hands. Dumbledore protected Snape, but on the condition that Snape would stay where he could monitor him. Snape agreed, not as a double agent, but as someone who was effectively a solidier on the loosing side of a war, needing the protection of someone powerful on the winning side in order to survive.

This situation continued until the en of book 4, when Voldemort returned. Snape found himself in a trap. Dumbledore knew too much, and could destroy Snape if Snape didn’t continue to toe his line. Dumbldore told Snape to play along with Voldemort, to be a double agent, while retaining the power to destroy Snape, have him sent to Azkeban like the innocent Stan Shuntpank, if Snape didn’t continue to play along.

This is blackmail. Dumbledore tells Snape “Do as I say, and I’ll protect you from the Ministry’s justice system and the horrors of Azkeban. Fail me, and you’re on your own against a wizarding government looking for vengince and scapegoats.”

Once Dumbledore was dead, Snape seemed quite comfortable with the new Death Eater regime, with the exception of a desire for revenge on Voldemort for Lily’s death. It is a personal vendetta, not the actions of a double agent. I can’t rememer anything in-text to suggest that Snape wouldn’t be happy with a Death Eater regime with someone other than Voldemort as a leader, or that he had any second thoughts aside from his pecular obsession with Lily.

Someone playing for the enemy against his preferred side, out of fear and blackmail, is not the same as someone voluntarily choosing to be a double agent bcause they believe the cause is good.

2) I actually like “Chamber of Secrets” the best out of all the movies, even though it’s not as visually artistic as others such as “Prisoner of Azkaban,” because it comes the closest to capturing the spirit of the book it was based upon. Most of the movies were unable to find the right balance between “dark and gritty” and “playful children’s adventure series”—sometimes literally, as the weather was remarkably overcast for the last 3 movies if I recall.

3) She didn’t. It was something she never contended with in a narrative filled with WWII analogs. Rowling’s books are now a generation old, and if her more recent work had taken the time to address these concerns better, she might have fended off some of the (deserved) contemporary criticism. Sadly, I think that ship has sailed.

4) I don’t ship anything in particular with Harry Potter, but Remus and Sirius raising Harry together (whether they’re a romantic couple or not) is one of my favorite alternate plotlines.

[armada-of-ships-against-antis]

My problematic ship dynamic 1: Snarry

Okay I was thinking the last days, when I saw a post going around on my dash about your personal favorite problematic ships. I started to think about reblogging it and wanted to come up with categories for what the ships are problematic and stuff. But now I think, I just want to write a series of posts about the problematic ships I have, why I have them, what dynamics I love about them, ect. The tag will be ‘my problematic ships’.

If you are a pro shipper: I hope you will enjoy reading a bit about it. And if you want to discuss about the ships, I would be happy to engage.

If you are a anti shipper / fandom policer I would advise you to stay away from it, but since I know that 99% of you won’t I hope you will read every fucking line of it and hyperventilate about how much I love my problematic ships and for what reasons. And I hope you will be enraged when you can’t change my stance on it, that I continue to love these ships no matter what you accuse me of or how much you insult me.

That being said: Good day to you, who reads this.

We start with Snarry (Severus Snape x Harry Potter)

[This post contains spoilers about Harry Potter]

How and when did I start to ship them? : I think I started shipping them around 2003-2004 (I was 14-15 at that time) when I read the fifth book, so Harry was pretty much my own age in the books during that time. Snape was already my favorite character since The prisoner of Azkaban and even more after I saw Alan Rickman portraying him in the movies. I can’t remember well what exactly made me think, I want to ship them, but I guess it has something to do the with Occlumency lessons. I guess it had also something to do that I personally had a crush on my math teacher in 2001 who could have been a real life Snape with his appearance and choice of clothes.

Do I like one character significantly more than the other? : YES! YES! And YES! When I started reading Harry Potter around 2000, I rooted for Harry and it was easy to like him for me. He knew how it was, when you where bullied, when you are the weirdo, ect. But my perception shifted with the third book. I realized that Harry had jumped at every chance to accuse Snape of anything bad so far. But my overall interest also shifted from the younger characters to the generation of Harrys parents. So I ended up loving Snape, Lupin and Black. But through the next books and the whole story I also liked Harry less and less. I found the pattern that every time he would accuse Snape, that Snape was doing the opposite and had in fact helped him. It’s funny how I still love Snarry as a ship when I love one character endlessly and pretty much dislike the other one. But I guess when I see myself in Harry’s shoes, whenever I read or write about them, it doesn’t bother me that much + in fanfiction we have room to make him into a character I like more.

Why is the ship problematic and do I love it for it or despite it? : Snarry can be problematic for several reasons.

1. Adult/Minor - Mostly despite it but also for it

The characters interact the most in canon when Harry is still a minor considered by wizard law (17 is the line) and always a minor when 18 is the line. Although I admit that like 95% of the plots I imagined included aging Harry up. I mentioned earlier that I was his age when I started shipping them, so it would appear unnecessary for me to feel better if I make him older. In fact I felt bad for the Character of Severus. In my mind I didn’t want him to commit a crime. Although I also had some plots where Harry definitely tried to push him, when he was still younger than 17. I also had some few stories about their life like 10 years later after the war and how Harry was now mature enough to see beyond his own bias, ect. I also had one when Harry went back in time in some “Back to the future” fashion and fell in love with a same age Severus.

2. Student/Teacher - Absolutely FOR IT

Very similar to the minor/adult theme but also it makes the ship a bit more problematic, because of the increased power imbalance. But I’m a total sucker for that dynamic. I had 3 crushes on my teachers, 2 while I was a teen and 1 when I was an adult and even if the canon material has nothing to do with student/teacher or mentor dynamic, I always love some AU with that shit.

3. Love-Hate - For it

They despise each other so much and yet I always think there is also a spark of other tension between them. This way or the other, strong feelings connect them. I’m not sure if you also say it in English like that, but in my language we say: Love and hate lie closer to each other than ignorance. Cause when you ignore someone you don’t waste your time, energy and thoughts on that person, but when you hate someone with a passion, you invest as much resources to think about them as when you love them.

4. Snape loved Harrys mother - Mostly despite it

The funny thing is here, I read that dynamic in a lot of fanfictions before the last book came out. It was a trope the shippers loved and used for both Lily or James and I was okay with it. It was a bit creepy, but tolerable. Until JK made it canon and it kind of destroyed Snarry a bit for me. Suddenly I felt less okay with that aspect. There is still a flair to the whole ‘I protected him because of her’ but my passion for Snarry dropped significantly after that revelation, since most of the newer fictions all included it. It feels like making that trope canon stole the diversity of how people ship them. That and of course Snape’s death.

5. Harry is also the son of Snapes biggest bully - For it

I think it’s some kind of irony when a character gets together with a relative of their biggest enemy. There is potential for struggle because he will be reminded of James but I love when someone writes it that Snape is finally able to see Harry as himself, as a distinct person and not just the son of James. Harry gets so often compared with his parents that I want him to grow out of it and others to see his growth.

6. Snape is one of main reasons for Harrys suffering - For it

The Slytherin potions master is not only bullying Harry openly during classes, he also seems to have a sixth sense for whenever Harry breaks the rules. He actively makes his life miserable although he rescues his ass many times. This would normally go into the love-hate relationship, but Snape is also the reason why Voldemort attacked the Potters in the first place. If he hadn’t overheard the prophecy and told the Dark Lord about it, Lily and James wouldn’t have died like that and Harry would never have been the boy who lived. We don’t know if both of them would have survived the war or not, but alone the possibility that Harry would have not grown up as a orphan who was taken in by the horrible family of his aunt. There lies an underneath guilt between Harry and Severus, something that can never be made up again. So I’m also a sucker for redemption arks and I love to read when the characters can acknowledge what damage was done, but can overcome it. In a way both of them are damaged mentally by their life and I want to imagine it all, the pain, the suffering, the dark thoughts that will be chased away by love and acceptance and the forgiveness. I want them both to slowly heal...

Finally I have to say that I now ship them for roughly 15 years and although my interest has died down (and sometimes flared up again for some time) it’s still one of my most loved ships I have. It helped me through one of my roughest times in life and it will always hold a place in my heart.

[ramajmedia]

Harry Potter: 10 Things About Hermione Granger That Haven't Aged Well

Everyone's favorite witch has developed a few blemishes in the intervening years.

Since the books and movies told the complete Harry Potter story they've continued to be analyzed, puzzled over, and investigated. JK Rowling put in so many layers and themes throughout the series that it is rewarding on third and fourth reading or viewing. However, some elements for certain characters haven't aged as well as others. Between the accuracy (or lack thereof) of portrayals between mediums or simply having modern perspectives reflect poorly on aging ideas, some characters have gone from 'near-perfect' to less-so.

Hermione Granger is still to be admired for all her positive attributes. We just need to be aware that rose-colored glasses shouldn't dismiss her (few and far between) lesser moments.

10 TattleTale

Hermione's strict adherence to 'the rules' as often as not led to her working against her friends as with them. Especially in the early entries, she can't not report anything and everything to the nearest authority figure. Sure, sometimes you need to be the one to blow the whistle if things get out of hand, but she takes it well over the line again and again. Looking back, she is hardly someone you'd tolerate for long. Luckily, that Troll encounter bought her some leeway.

9 Fronoculus Levotus

Emma Watson did an admirable job portraying Hermione Granger, there's little doubt. She delivered lines like "or worse, EXPELLED" with the appropriate haughtiness as they had on the page, but there was one thing that stuck out less well. For the first few movies, you could power a small town if you attached a generator to Hermione's eyebrows as she spoke.

RELATED: Harry Potter: The Worst Teacher From Every Movie

Those things jack-hammered up and down with every other syllable and once you notice them, they're endlessly distracting. She wrangled them in the latter movies, but in Philosopher's Stone, Chamber, and Azkaban, they were out of control.

8 Skipping The Ugly Duckling Part...

Emma Watson isn't to be blamed for this one, but for book readers coming to the movies, it stands out. Hermione was expected to be a bushy-haired, buck-toothed girl, who walked with a self-inflicted hunch due to excessive book carrying. She most definitely wasn't the standard 'Hollywood hottie who doesn't know it'. It turned out they'd cast someone who quickly grew towards beauty and that undercut her written character somewhat. The scenes where Viktor Krum and Cormac McLaggen sought after her removed some of their depth due to her outward appearance. Krum, in particular, lost something because of her obvious appeal circumventing the 'library meet-cute' we heard about in the books.

7 Quidditch Catastrophe

Hermione just doesn't get Quidditch.

Both Ron and Harry express this sentiment throughout their school years. It captures Hermione's occasional weakness where she dismisses some things that are important to others. When Harry receives the Firebolt from Sirius in Azkaban, Hermione is reporting it's imagined dangers to McGonagall with only her hunch as reasoning. At other times she belittles what the lads like because it doesn't matter to her personally. We're holding her to a high standard here, so these moments don't reflect well in hindsight.

6 She's Right. All. The. Time.

Snape isn't a good example to follow when it comes to making friends but he does sum up Hermione, albeit in a cruel way. She IS an insufferable know-it-all, to her detriment, and she can't help but point it out. When the Firebolt is revealed to be from Harry's godfather, after all, she still has to claim that she was right, even if her reasoning for it was completely off base. After their disastrous venture into the Ministry Hall of Prophesies in Order of the Phoenix, despite Sirius' death hanging heavy, she has to mention how she was correct that Harry was tricked into the escapade. When Snape is outed as a literal 'Half-Blood Prince' she still can't bite her tongue. There's more to being a good friend than being the one who can't be wrong.

5 Weasley Usurper

Another one for the book readers, Hermione steals a whole hell of a lot of Ron's best moments and lines in the films. Moments such as standing between her friends and an apparently evil Sirius in Prisoner of Azkaban. That was Ron's moment, doing so with a broken ankle and the courage befitting his Gryffindor house.

RELATED: Harry Potter: 10 Hilarious Voldemort Logic Memes That Are Too Funny

Instead, Hermione receives a few too many of these moments and at a certain point, it breeds resentment rather than admiration. It's even led somewhat to the opinion that she and Ron shouldn't have happened in favor of shipping Harry and Hermione, and that's a fandom-splitter right there.

4 Fortune Telling Is Rubbish. Now, Where's My Magic Wand?

In a series devoted to enchantment and the exploration of a world where anything can be 'more than it appears', Hermione's aversion to prophesy is incredibly off-putting. In the same year as she receives a Time-Turner to facilitate her ability to get to all her chosen classes she somehow can't envision knowing the future? This smacks of limited thinking from someone less intelligent and only book-smart, a far cry from the Hermione we see most of the time. Not only that, she belittles and chides anyone taking that branch of magic seriously. Considering how importantly prophecy plays out within the series, she looks well out of order here. Plus, she calls Firenze a Horse!

3 I Only Believe What I Can Read

Hermione has a detrimental habit of denying anything she doesn't read from a book that's been sat on a shelf for a couple of dozen years. Considering what she encounters (or hears firsthand about) within just her first few years, including Basilisks, Quirrellmort, Unicorns, Dementors, an immortality rock, a diary that can possess people and houses the soul of Tom Riddle, the list goes on, she is remarkably close-minded. It almost seems like she takes up the contrary position purely for the sake of it within the trio. She may know Hogwarts: A History back to front, but has that been updated anytime lately?

2 10/10 Intentions, 2/10 Execution

Hermione isn't one to get an idea in her head and not follow through. Often that's admirable, but when it comes to enforcing your ideals on another species' culture... Yeah, it's a thorny issue at the best of times. When it comes to House-Elves, Hermione isn't up to hearing anything from others who know more or have wider experience than her to draw from.

RELATED: Harry Potter: 10 Slytherin Memes That Prove It's The Sneakiest House

Surely a quick word to Dumbledore or McGonagall to voice her concerns about elvish mistreatment would've gone further and revealed more than her ill-fated SPEW campaign. Even the Weasley twins assurances that they naturally love their role in wizarding society couldn't persuade her to learn more. Not even from her usual trusty resource, books!

1 Sore Loser

Hermione takes a lot of pride in her schoolwork and spellwork and it usually shows positively. The problems arise when she's not 'the best' and she becomes a worse version of herself. When Harry begins using the Prince-altered potions book in 6th year she adamantly won't use any of its advice even while commenting on how good Harry's potion is currently looking. She won't even concede to thoroughly "un-evil" advice like using the flat of the blade to crush out the juice rather than cutting. She even has moments of being put out when it's revealed that Harry continually bests her at Defense Against The Dark Arts. The less said about her jealousy at Ron with Lavender Brown the better as well. These failings bring her back down to earth and make her far more relatable, however, they are still failings.

NEXT: Harry Potter: 10 Hysterical Ron Weasley Logic Memes

source https://screenrant.com/harry-potter-hermione-granger-havent-aged-well/

[hogwartswelcomesyou]

For all the mods, but especially the Slytherins, how do you feel about the animosity towards Slytherins?And why was it there in the first place? What do you find to be the worst part of the Snake Hate?

Tori (Ravenclaw Mod): ooo nothing’s gonna get me heated more than this. I absolutely love JK and her writing style, but I think she let the HP series fall victim to the far-too easy trope of a completely black and white story in some aspects. In order to have a black/white story of good and bad, you have to have someone/something/a group to demonize. For HP, it was the Slytherins. Her interpretation, I’m guessing, is that ambition leads to corruption which leads to evilllll. While I don’t agree with this at all, I do think this is what she did for the Slytherin characters for the majority of the series. With nearly every character we saw their desire for power overcome their moral senses, which I don’t think is fair. I think Slytherins get an unfair reputation bc people like to paint them as the villains. I think the worst part is how LITERALLY EVERY BAD GUY gets sorted Slytherin. There are so many different motivators that cause someone to turn dark, not just power. Do better. (@ everyone who thinks If someone’s evil they gotta b a snake)

Jinxy (Hufflepuff Mod): (This is more of an analysis of the fandom’s role in the problem instead of the author’s role…I’m sorry if I hurt any feelings! That is not my intention.)

I hate the animosity towards Slytherins. It’s very unfair and very unjustified. A lot of people feel that there needs to be some sort of villain whenever they read a book/watch a tv show/watch a movie/e.t.c. so that they can have a place to vent their angers and frustrations. In the Harry Potter fandom, a lot of people have decided Slytherin house is that villain (despite the plethora of clear villains like Umbridge, Voldemort, or Rita Skeeter that they could go after instead.) Slytherin is treated poorly because people need a place to show their anger/annoyance/misgivings/whatever, and they think that Slytherin is the perfect place to do so (“Hey,” they think, “Someone else is being hateful to Slytherin. That means that I can too!”)

I think that this is ridiculous because, though a group of people can be villains, there is no reason for all of Slytherin to be treated as such. Yes, there were some villains in Slytherin. Yes, the main villain of the series was a Slytherin. But guess what? So was Peter Pettigrew, and without him, Harry’s parents never would have died. Peter was a villain, and he was a Gryffindor…but you never see Gryffindor getting the hate. Plenty of Slytherins were good guys, but they’re always overlooked. The worst part about this hate (besides everything that I’ve already mentioned) is the way that many people seem to think that Slytherin is dark, edgy, and nothing more. This alienates Slytherin from the other houses, who are often portrayed in nicer lights: as being calm, and warm, and flowery. I want Slytherins who dance in pretty flowy skirts, Slytherins who pick flowers, Slytherins who name their cats after food items. I want people to stop treating them like villains and instead write sweet aesthetic posts about how Slytherins smell like citrus and lilac, decorate skinned knees with too many bandaids, and like to read mystery novels late into the night.

Tory (Slytherin Mod): I think Jinxy and Tori have tackled the wrongness of Slytherin’s reputation pretty well, so I think I’m just going to put forward my own theory as to why it is there, at least partially.

Harry, our POV character, is a Gryffindor…and so is J.K. She’s said this on record. Therefore we have a Gryffindor writing mainly about Gryffindors – yes, J.K. created the whole universe and its rules and houses, but she will still clearly and perhaps involuntarily have the most favorable view of characters like her. When you have a writing perspective that’s this narrow, it is almost inevitable that things will be seen in a slanted, narrow way. It’s the same reason why it is often discouraged to write “self-insert” characters in fiction – because not only does it make it harder for you as an author to write this character as being in the wrong, but you are less likely to see opposing points of view with clarity and show good counterarguments, thus you will never be a truly omniscient narrator. This is not an inherently bad thing, but it can make for, in Tori’s words, a very black-and-white approach…which is tragic, because the books themselves embrace shades of gray with characters like Dumbledore, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin!

So, honestly, it’s no surprise that J.K., in the beginning, showed little interest in exploring Slytherin characters (or Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw characters, tbh) – she was most attached to and interested in characters that were like her. As the book series went on, I would argue she suddenly realized how negatively the Slytherins had been depicted and tried to throw some bread crumbs our way (”See? Regulus found Voldemort’s Horcrux! And then died before we could actually meet him in canon…”, “See, Andromeda’s cool! Even though we barely see her…”, ”See, Snape was the bravest man Harry ever knew and named his son after him! Even though he was also a petty, immature bully who tormented Neville for years and loathed his one true love’s child because it resembled the other parent…”). But even in the case of “good Slytherins,” there can still be some shade thrown; Dumbledore comments that perhaps they Sorted Snape too early (because CLEARLY if he’s brave he can’t be in Slytherin, and if he’d be Sorted now he’d be in Gryffindor, the “RIGHT” house). Yes, this could hint to bias on Dumbledore’s part as he’s also a Gryffindor, but it’s not framed that way, as we never get a counterargument to the sentiment.

I don’t think anyone can deny J.K.’s disapproving attitude of Slytherin is all over the books and especially her Pottermore quiz (almost all the “negative” answers give you Slytherin points, for Christ sake) – and I wholeheartedly point to the fact that it can be very, very difficult to jump into another person’s shoes. J.K. is not a Slytherin, and as a Gryffindor (a house that can be known for solely looking inward for their code of honor and seeing things in a very black-and-white manner), it’s unsurprising that she might look at Slytherin‘s values – which in some ways are opposite to Gryffindor’s – and see them as at best  “not as important” and at worst somehow “incorrect.”

As much as we can debate Slytherin’s reputation in the books, though, I think the thing that irritates me the most is when HP fans insult and degrade RL Slytherins by comparing them to the Slytherins in the books. Guys: just because someone was sorted into Slytherin on Pottermore DOES NOT MAKE THEM RACISTS OR DEATH EATERS OR WHATEVER ELSE. Seriously. Even just being aligned with Slytherin does not mean that the person is aligning himself/herself with Death Eaters. If they’re wearing Dark Marks and crud, that’s one thing…but Slytherins =/= Death Eaters. There may be some overlap and correlation, but they are not and have never been synonyms.

Star (Hufflepuff Mod): Just gonna put it out there, Tory, one of the Slytherin mods, was my first (and one of my best) friends on tumblr. She defended me after I made a confession to a Disney blog saying I didn’t like the Lion King, and after loads of attacks from people, she told them all to shut up, and offered me her friendship. I took it, and we’ve been tight ever since. She has bought some merch from Disneyland on my behalf (and sent it to Australia!!) and I’ve bought her some Slytherin shoes! I have met and know some awful Slytherins (my cousins are mostly snakes and they’re awful people, though it’s not because they are from the snake house), but I’ve also met a couple rude and awful Hufflepuffs. Every house has its bad eggs, and JK definitely didn’t do Slytherin any favours by putting most of the bad people in it, but not every bad person is in Slytherin.

Abigail (Ravenclaw Mod): Since I sorta feel like my opinion has already been spoken by Tori, Jinxy and Tory, I just wanna say that any house can become evil, not just Slytherin. I’ve known Gryffindors that are absolutely terrible human beings, extremely mean Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws that I just do not enjoy the company of. I have also met Slytherins who have become my best friends and are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. So it can go all around, your house doesn’t mean you’re mean or evil: it’s the person.

[kikistiel]

Hi I love you let hp au! Question, what do you think about the sortings rap mon did? I'm pretty much fine with all of them except Jimin in slytherin. He seems more like a hufflepuff to me..

Hi thanks! Glad you like it! I agree with Namjoon’s sorting 100%. He knows the movies, he know the members better than I ever will, and I trust his judgement so…

About Jimin. I have some thoughts on Slytherin!Jimin and why I think he fits there so perfectly. These are just my personal opinions, coming from a die-hard Hufflepuff and someone who has been a Harry Potter fan since the second book came out when I was in the second grade and if you don’t agree that’s totally cool, but I really really think 

Jimin is a perfect Slytherin.

First, I think I’ve finally pinpointed the reason why so many people are against Slytherin Jimin. I’ve seen it in arguments on other mediums and all of the social platforms when the post-it first came to light and I’ve seen it only being reinforced in the tags on my HP AU. And a lot of this blame lies on how JK herself wrote Slytherins in the series: 

A lot of people still think Slytherins are inherently mean, cold people.

Or that they only look out for themselves, are too cut-throat, step on the little people to get to the top, and the like. In the books, save for like… a handful of characters, they are portrayed this way. I mean… in the battle of hogwarts the entirety of the school was like ‘NAUGHTY SLYTHERINS GET THE DUNGEON TREATMENT!’ bc a small portion had family members who were death eaters. People assumed they were the bad guys. Even in the first book, Ron says “There wasn’t a wizard who went bad who wasn’t in Slytherin”, reinforcing the idea that Slytherins are, at heart, ticking time bombs waiting to go evil.

The fact that people think Jimin is ‘too nice’ or ‘too kind’ or ‘too sweet’ to be in Slytherin is really… worrisome. It makes me wonder – people are really quick to sort Yoongi in to Slytherin and have next to no problems with it, but suddenly Jimin is too nice to be there? What are you trying to say about poor Yoongi here??? omg 

It’s true that some characteristics Slytherins tend to share are personality traits seen in typical villain characters, but I think we tend to take Hogwarts houses’ traits a little too black and white. People can be in one house and still share traits with other houses, or be in a house and not represent it at all:

Hermione, she was considered the brightest witch of her age. She got top marks and was incredibly intelligent. But she wasn’t in Ravenclaw?

Harry was SUPPOSED to be in Slytherin, and the biggest damn reason he wasn���t was because he specifically asked the hat not to put him there. Dumbledore even told Harry that he possesses all the characteristics of a Slytherin.

Peter Pettigrew was put in Gryffindor – but he was a coward who ratted out his friends, causing their horrific murder and really like the whole plot of HP

Lockehart was a Ravenclaw, but the only thing he was exceptionally skilled in were memory charms, other than that he’s shown as being kind of an idiot

Horace Slughorn, a Slytherin, who on the surface displayed many traits of Slytherins like “collecting” students to further his reputation – actually deeply, deeply cared for those students. He cared especially for Lily Potter, a muggleborn. And he fought in the Battle of Hogwarts!

All those asshole Hufflepuffs, who are supposed to show kindness and fairness to those even outside their house, bullying Harry when he ‘took’ the spotlight away from Cedric in the Triwizard Tournament?

Not all Slytherins are assholes. Not even most of them are. Why would people put up with an entire house of asswipes? They wouldn’t. omg

okay cool thanks for the lore lesson but what does this have to do with Jimin

Slytherins, by definition,

tend to be ambitious, shrewd, cunning, strong leaders, and achievement-oriented. They also have highly developed senses of self-preservation. This means that Slytherins tend to hesitate before acting, so as to weigh all possible outcomes before deciding exactly what should be done.

So like, looking at it closer:

ambitious, shrewd, cunning

Jimin pursued a career as an idol, he trained as a dancer, he’s a natural born performer on stage. I mean you can see his drive and ambition in every performance he does. He’s a perfectionist, and he doesn’t settle for anything less than that. Who else do we know is a perfectionist when it comes to their craft who is also in Slytherin? Also, trainee days are a cut-throat business. He was in a group where people were getting added and cut left and right. He had to have some cunning and sense of self-preservation to keep himself around and not get eaten alive/walked all over.

They also have highly developed senses of self-preservation. This means that Slytherins tend to hesitate before acting, so as to weigh all possible outcomes before deciding exactly what should be done.

Jimin is an extremely calculating guy, much like his Slytherin-brethren Yoongi. He’s extremely socially conscious, look at how upset and flustered he was on King of Masked Singer when he fucked up with properly addressing his sunbae. He’s grown up a lot since his debut days and he doesn’t do or say anything without thinking it through VERY HARD first. He isn’t really known for doing or saying anything problematic. He’s got a pretty squeaky clean history. Unlike other members who sometimes don’t always think as much as they should before they say something, Jimin (and Yoongi to an extent, save for one pre-debut tweet that got him in trouble) knows when to keep things to himself.

achievement-oriented

JIMIN IS A GOD DAMN HECKIN SHOW OFF. And the most Slytherin aspect of it all is that when he does do something, he expects you to damn well recognize it. Yeah, Jimin having a praise kink is a joke but…. is it? I mean really…. is it?

“Jimin you’re cute!” “Yeah I’m aware.”

“You’re so pretty!” “I’ve always been pretty, tell me something I don’t know”

lsdkfjlsdjkfl HE’S A SLYTHERIN GUYS

(Never forget that time on ASC when that girl said Jimin was his favorite and he literally got up from his seat to show how smug he was. Funny how his understanding of English suddenly becomes second to none when someone is praising him.)

Even when something isn’t about him, you better damn well make it about him. He sees someone else getting complimented and he’s like, wait – what about me?

you still think pure, innocent, sweet Jimin is too adorable and cute to be in Slytherin? Uhh:

every man for him fuckin self

will not play along with your childish antics

not afraid to correct you in front of cameras and laugh at you while doing so

will also make fun of you in front of cameras relentlessly LET HIM LIVE

is tiny but will still fite u

???? jimin is a monster

whatever this was

seriously jimin can be an asshole and i live for it (look at that last gif he’s so proud of himself??)

judgey mcjudgepants

look at who was the last to make himself look stupid for food (and look at who was the first! it’s that mean, cold, emotionally constipated old slytherin yoongi)

and here you can see a true slytherin and hufflepuff in their natural habitat

there’s so much more but i’m tired and this is too long already. Never get me started on Harry Potter house drama, I could go on and on and on.

also people say that we shouldn’t trust namjoon’s sorting bc he said he chose slytherin for jimin because of his eyes like… it’s a well known joke in the fandom that namjoon says some needlessly deep things for no reason at all and we give him so much grief for it and we’re just now giving his weird musings the time of day lol (I love you and your beautiful brain namjoon)

TL;DR?

if this gif set doesn’t convince you of the hufflepuff and slytherin kids idk what will

EDIT:

Here is why Namjoon is a Gryffindor and And here is why Jungkook is a Ravenclaw!

[archetypal-conte-blog]

[SPOILER ALERT!] Archetypical chatterbox: Harry Potter and The Cursed Child

Different from my other review posts, Archetypical chatterbox will going to be a specially customized segment for casual reaction or discussion about movies or novels. By any means, it won’t be as well-researched, well-written and well-thought as the other reviews (not that my other reviews fall under all those categories, but you know what I mean. If not, just give it a shot - it’s free, who cares).

               Speaking of which, I just finished reading the hottest newborn baby by J.K Rowling, The Cursed Child and now I decide to write my thoughts about the play script (I haven’t watched the play because I live in a continent miles and miles away, so it is impossible, plus I’m broke, nah - scratch that, I’m poor). And just as precautions, this thought does not justify anything nor does it necessarily true since it is purely my own opinion and I believe that there are many Potterheads out there who probably have different view. Should you peeps have different thoughts, please feel free to share but no hate please.

               I’ve been a Potterhead my whole life, starting when I was pre-teen till now (I’m practically ancient) and I can confidently say. Always. And to say that I am ecstatic to know about this new project JK Rowling has is an understatement, I am SHOOK, especially with the release of Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them, I feel like I was swept away by the warmth from a full blown Patronus after a nearly-Dementor kiss.

               Speaking of The Cursed Child, I could not really say that I love it, but I don’t despise it either so it’s pretty much a mixed feelings here. I could say that the scenes are always in between a swoon-worthy moments, depressing teenage vibe from Albus (which annoys me SO much, I don’t think I’ve ever felt this annoyed reading Harry Potter after Umbridge, but she’s a villain so it’s understandable) and well, nostalgic of course. But most of the time questions, questions, questions – there’s just too many questions but too limited pages to turn. I am in DESPERATE NEED of a full novel. At this point, I have decided that a play script just wouldn’t cut it, just like the movies wouldn’t ever do justice to the novel.

               Maybe, the fact that I haven’t seen the play contributed enormously to my reaction because it was supposed to be for a play, so I should’ve seen the play before chirping about what I feel. But, I think it could’ve been more, could’ve been better that this. I felt incredibly bad to write this and BEWARE OF SPOILER but this seems to me like it revolves around one teenage guy (NOT SCORPIUS, HE’S A LIVING AND BREATHING FUZZY UNICORN, SO DON’T TOUCH HIM) thinking the world was unfair and decided to play hero to justify himself, and hey there’s this old man who lost their son because of his dad in a Triwizard Tournament and apparently he knew there’s this time turner, how convenient is that? I believe by now you know who did what to save who because of what. Plus, parents chasing around their kids and somehow always fall behind, too much, it’s weird considering they are the smartest bunch around. Also let’s just have a moment to think about how bad is Harry’s parenting. AND more importantly, he shouted at Professor McGonagal to SPY on his kid so that he won’t hang around Scorpius. I mean, dude, she’s your professor, have some respect :(

               Don’t even let me talk about Albus. I don’t hate him, I swear I don’t, I just feel immensely annoyed by his guts and impulse. He NEVER thinks before he does something. At first, I thought, is it because he is a Potter so he thinks that doing big things and having an urge to save the world is in his path? BUT HEY, no, Harry is the furthest thing from that, it was all those miserable things that’s always harshly shoved to his way. I could not justify his action in any way, I mean, I know it’s hard to have a famous dad, and to be the only one sorted in Slytherin and all that regular outcast thingy but what’s so hard to talk. It’s not like your parents ignore the shit out of you, they care and they tried. This complicated relationship Albus and Harry is unbelievable but what I understand is that sometimes one ends up saying things they don’t mean or saying nothing at all because they just don’t know how to act. That is understandable and I don’t blame how the dynamic of their relationship is narrated. I swear the only good thing Albus did was to stay with Scorpius in Hogwarts Express despite knowing he’s a Malfoy. He’s a good kid, Albus, he doesn’t judge others based on their parents’ past but his impulse though.

               The story is almost very predictable it hurts, I couldn’t feel the usual suspense I’ve always felt when I read Harry Potter novels. I mean, shouldn’t he at least think that when people use a time turner, it will create a butterfly effect to the present time? THE PAST IS OBDURATE, IT DOES NOT WANT TO BE CHANGED! So, look at what hits you, chaos. Pretty much expected, but I would be lying if I don’t feel things in the midst of these series of unfortunate events rippled by one wave of one guy’s action. I do feel things because at some moments I was pulled back by memories and feel fortunate enough to encounter some small valuable information that I could not get from the previous novel series. During the second try of the time turner, I got to meet Snape again because one of the alternate universe portrayed the time when Voldemort triumphed. So that’s the moment where I tear a little, a little too much. When I hear what he said about knowing that Harry named his son Albus Severus, I feel like I’m in cloud nine. I’ve missed Snape, and Alan more than I know.

               The highlight of it all, I think, is the Malfoys. I got to know deeper about what Draco thinks and feels the whole time. It is a very exhilarating revelation because I’ve always had the soft spot for Draco especially when he shows a glimpse of himself starting from the Half-Blood Prince. That private but rather heated conversation he had with Harry sent me reeling, I crave for this and I’m happy it happened. Now, now, don’t even let me begin on how amazing Draco’s son turned out to be. The brief encounter the Potters and Malfoys had during the first Hogwarts Express boarding for both Albus and Scorpius on the epilogue of Deathly Hollow had sparked a lot of prediction about the Malfoy family and I’m happy it came true. Better than what I’ve ever imagined, actually. Scorpius is the most adorable geek who ever lived in the current wizarding world - very smart, reasonable and loyal. I feel like I want to squeeze him because he’s just too darn cute. He becomes the voice of consciousness for Albus most of the time but sadly he is not powerful enough to take lead, so his opinion always ended up being ignored.

               The role and characterization seems to reverse and I’m happy for some of the change but somewhat angered by some others. I especially saddened by the fact that there is almost no meaningful interaction between Ron and other characters. All in all, It feels like there is not much to it than just a brief nostalgic trip to the wizarding world of Harry Potter, but then again, I will always down to drown myself among those wizards and witches again. I know that no matter what, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home. ALWAYS.

[wrockingwriter]

To Be, or Not to Be: Canon

Before we dive into everything, I want to be sure that we’re all on the same page when we discuss what is and is not Canon. So, a couple definitions:

Fanon is the collection of widely agreed upon information that has little, if any, supporting evidence in the source material. Think things like Hermione’s Parents’ names, or calling Harry, Ron and Hermione the Golden Trio.

Canon is the collection of information found in the source material or from the author/scriptwriter directly. Character names, romantic pairs seen in the books/films, etc.

This panel comes from there being too many different sources of information (original books,  film adaptations, side books (Beedle the Bard, interviews (pre 2009, post 2016, etc) twitter, Pottermore, video games, the Play (which is a debate all its own), the new film franchise) where not all the information adds up. There is conflict, or a character acts in a wholly different way between mediums (Ron) and if you haven’t interacted with all of the material (or sometimes just not enough, or in the same order, as someone else) you could have an entirely different opinion of a character or situation. SOmetimes to the point that you could be having two entirely different conversations at the same time about a single subject and BOTH  be correct.

So I’m going to use a few character examples, and a couple object examples of things that vary wildly between the various pieces of the Wizarding World we all know and love; then I’ll turn the floor over to you guys!

---

I think there are two examples of film-to-book differences that make me the most angry when it comes to characters. First, easily, is Regulus Black, and through him Kreacher. These I’m counting as my first example, as you can’t have one without the other- they’re too connected. 

Regulus Black is often referred to as a more acceptable example of a Slytherin who became a Death Eater and regretted it than Severus Snape (though honestly I don’t see them as particularly similar outside of that). In the films, Regulus is barely a footnote in a conversation, but in the books (despite how similarly brief his story really is) there is so much more depth.

In the film, Kreacher says Regulus ordered ordered him to destroy the locket and he couldn’t. That’s it. I watched that scene a dozen times. What a disservice.

In the books there’s more to it than that. We get a picture painted for us. Sirius had told Harry that Regulus had joined up young, gotten cold feet, and been killed for it. We’re brought into his bedroom, still obviously done in the style of a kid- and one trying to emphasise just how much he was a ‘proper’ Black compared to Sirius. Regulus’ room is entirely done in Slytherin colours, a mural of the Black family crest and motto above his bed, a collection of Daily Prophet clippings about Voldemort… a fanatic.

Kreacher, under duress from Harry’s orders to answer everything truthfully, reveals that Regulus joined Voldemort at 16 and tells the story of the locket. 17 year old Regulus telling Kreacher that he’d volunteered him for a special task, and he was to come home after. We, as readers, know what happened in the Cave- and Kreacher told Regulus all that transpired, and Regulus’ reaction was to be worried for Kreacher, order him to stay hidden/not leave the house, and then go research. Some small time later, Regulus came to see Kreacher while ‘strange, disturbed in the mind’ and ordered him to bring him to the Cave.

Kreacher tells the trio that Regulus sacrificed himself in the Cave. He drank the potion himself, has Kreacher switch the lockets, and ordered Kreacher to leave without him and to never tell his mother what happened.

Regulus Black learned of the Horcrux, and made the choice to not only take what he thought was the ONLY Horcrux and replace it with a fake, or simply ensure (or so he thought) its destruction, or just save his elf from having to endure the potion twice, but he ensured that Voldemort would never discover what he had done via legilimency of himself or his family by dying in the act and ordering Kreacher to never tell his family what had happened.

And, because of all these actions on Regulus’ part, at the battle of Hogwarts Kreacher rallies the House Elves of Hogwarts in Regulus’ name.

---

In the same vein, I’m going to talk about Severus Snape. The films did a great amount of lightening of Snape’s horrid actions- and also did a great disservice to his character with their adaptation of The Prince’s Tale.

So let’s start with the ugly.

Snape is a childish, surly, bully; he took the awful things of his youth and instead of acting against them he allowed himself the awful actuality of becoming that which had so tormented his youth. Instead of refuting, or rising about the bullying, he went to the opposite extreme: make others suffer as I have suffered. He’s worse to some characters- the easiest to name are Harry, Neville, and Hermione. Harry, the (seeming) spitting image of his his bully father; Neville, the other choice for Voldemort that may have spared Lily’s life (though, as we know, the fate of the Longbottoms was no less gruesome, and in some ways more tragic); and Hermione, a brilliant muggleborn witch that likely reminds him very much of Lily.

There is no excusing the deplorable way he treats children. There are reasons, but no excuses, and certainly to forgiveness. The films took great care to not portray some of the worst actions Snape takes with these characters: telling Hermione that he ‘sees no difference’ from the effects of Draco’s curse, telling/instructing Neville to test his Shrinking Solution on Trevor while saying it would likely be poisonous if improperly made; honestly, he was a child’s BOGGART for fuck’s sake. The films made light of these things.

I’ve held lots of Snape panels about Snape’s character; how his morals and emotional maturity (or lack thereof) were shaped by his past, but that’s an entirely different talk. But what makes me most angry is how they handled The Prince’s Tale. The film pretty much erases all of his growing up with Lily, the ways he interacted with Petunia- it gave the very bare bones and then interspersed it with these bits of him cradling Lily’s dead body. Let’s ignore the moments before, of Lily telling infant Harry that he’s loved, as they literally make no sense as he wasn’t there.

Actually, the whole sequence makes no sense. But the memories they chose to keep tell a fraction of the story. They shift the viewer’s opinions from being based upon his actions with the kids/sacrifices in the wake of the Potters’ death to being about his ignoring a crying infant child to cradle the body of his dead ex-friend which didn’t actually happen.

Yes, I have some strong opinions about this.

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We also, going by the films, know literally none of the essential information about Tom Riddle. We’re also robbed of the moment the Wizarding World sees the monster they’ve feared all this time was only a man all along. There is no explanation of the Defense Against the Dark Arts curse, or how the Horcruxes were chosen. 

By this point in the films, they assume that the viewer has read all the books and can fill in the (copious) holes they’ve left themselves. Merope who? Morfin? Mrs. Cole? Hepzibah Smith? Hokey?

The films made Voldemort into an inhuman monster, which completely derailed so much of the series’ messages about growth, humanity, choice, and change. From Dumbledore to Harry to Voldemort, we are shown all these moments that shape them and those just don’t exist in the films.

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What about items? 

I’m skipping over the Horcruxes entirely to jump to the item whose entire existence in the films frustrates the crap out of me: the Mirror. Sirius’ mirror, the ‘small, square, old-looking mirror’ that Sirius and James would use to talk to one another while in separate detentions. The one that’s supposedly the size of a book. 

What the hell is the serving tray that’s hanging on Aberforth’s wall in the Hog’s Head?? Even more importantly, where did movie!Harry even get the Mirror shard in the first place?

Time Turners! Let’s not forget the Time Turners that were all destroyed FOR A REASON in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. If we go by Pottermore information, (which I do so lightly) the Hour-Reversal Charm that’s encased in the sand is an incredibly unstable bit of magic. Realistically, how could 19 years not only stabilise the Charm but amplify it exponentially to the point we see in The Play? We don’t know how long it took to develop the Charm in the first place, but with Croaker’s Law forming the 5-hour limit, why/how could someone have developed a device that went that much farther back without notice if the 5-hour limit is due to serious harm befalling both the traveller and time itself?

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Though not items, the repeatedly Ghosts and House Elves are entirely ignored by the films until they were needed in a way that couldn’t just be passed on to another character (cough, Neville having all of Dobby’s important moments, cough) and Peeves is erased entirely. These characters were important and helped shape out characters into people. Dobby and Winky’s lives brought forth Hermione’s anger at perceived injustices; Harry’s talks and overall odd relationship with Nearly Headless Nick display his wanting to be as kind and helpful as he can be; Peeves’ relationship with the Weasley Twins was just… so much.

It’s understandable that things got cut, it’s natural, there is no way to tell both a complete narrative from a book-perspective in a film and have a decent film. It’s just not possible to have it all in there. But the problem is WHAT got cut- Helena Ravenclaw was important. Hokey the House Elf, Merope- they were important. Why didn’t they just ask JK more often what was important to keep??

Any gravitas and heartbreak you’re supposed to feel for Dobby when he dies just isn’t there because we don’t know him.

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But enough on that end- let’s get to the other layers of this talk.

How many kinds of informational sources are there for the Wizarding World?

*This is MY breakdown:

Tier 1: Word of God (circa early-2009 and before), books 1-7, Quidditch Through the Ages, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them textbook, Tales of Beedle the Bard, JK site reveals (WOMBAT, family trees, etc) and the current Fantastic Beasts films.

Tier 2: HP film adaptations, Pottermore, JK interviews post-2009, video game information

Tier 3: Cursed Child, JK Twitter, deleted scenes from the films that were not in the books.

FOR ME this works, because I feel like things like interviews and such depend so much on the context and timing of being said. Is the author in that headspace, where they know all the extraneous information that never made it into print? Or are they making snap decisions without research into their own world? Even Philip Pullman (Golden Compass) needed to refer to an outside compendium of information while writing the newest books in the series.

As a writer I know that it’s hard to keep track of everything in my universe at whim, so I take timing into account. Especially when things conflict- like Minerva McGonagall in Crimes of Grindelwald but I’m hoping there’s a better explanation for her presence than JK not knowing how time works a la Prisoner of Azkaban.

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The question, from what I can see, becomes less of a ‘what’s true’ and far more of a ‘what counts.’ Do we go by what was said, or what she’s saying? Where do we, the community that’s taken the World and made it ur own, draw the line between Canon facts and Fanon fiction? And how can we bridge the gap between people whose core Canon understandings differ hugely from our own?

In a circumstance like this, where the universe is still an ever-expanding thing, to know Canon from Fanon is incredibly difficult. Adaptations alone are both blessing and curse, but at least there one can say that there is a definitive source material- or make very clear that one is vastly different from the other (like Walking Dead, by having the series take a different choice at a crossroads).

But with a creator who continuously expands the world, and reimagines the things that we know (or assume to know) as true, there seems to e no way to say that something is 100% true- even once it’s been recorded in black and white.

It seems, to me at least, that the only real solution is for each of us to make the decision for ourselves- and that isn’t really a solution at all. But until a least the things we could consider to be common knowledge stop changing, I don’t see another solution.

But do you?

[kikistiel]

Holy shit I love your analysis' of Jimin and Namjoon!! Would you mind doing one for Jungkook as well? I know a lot of people were confused as to why Namjoon put him in Ravenclaw over Gryffindor/Slytherin.

Hello~

It’s really weird for me that you guys actually care about and value my opinions  on this whole business so thank you so much for giving my ramblings the time of day omg

for those who are wondering about my thoughts on gryffindor!namjoon and slytherin!jimin here’s the links to those:

Namjoon as a Gryffindor || Jimin as a Slytherin

So like, I really. really. really. love the idea of Ravenclaw Jeon. (But listen… I used to be a hardcore Slytherin!Jeon person okay, so I understand your feels on this. I do.) 

 here goes nothing

Ravenclaw Jungkook confused a lot of people. And I really get it because Ravenclaw was so fucking shafted in the books. 

We had so many Gryffindors and Slytherins to relate to, and we had a fair share of badass Hufflepuffs (TONKS) to base our opinions off of. But there were only a few Ravenclaws that were given the time of day in the books, and only one of those was a major character. We had Luna, Trelawney, Lockehart, and Cho. Cho’s amazing character was wasted by JK – she was written with the personality of a dish rag and didn’t really get the spotlight she deserved. Trelawney was presented as a crazy old lady who sometimes ?? served a purpose. Lockehart was an idiot. All we really had was Luna.

But it wasn’t just the characters. Ravenclaw has a really weird reputation. Before I wrote this, I asked a bunch of my casual and hardcore HP fan friends to tell me the characteristics they associated with each house. And I got pretty much what I expected:

Gryffindor: Leaders, brave, courageous, brash, strong

Slytherin: Cunning, resourceful, calculating, perfectionists

Hufflepuff: Loyal, kind, hard-working, determination, cheerful

Ravenclaw: Smart…?? they are… smart people?? They do things…….smartly……

Like for real. Whenever I asked people what traits they associated with Ravenclaw, all anyone was ever able to tell me was that Ravenclaws were supposedly smart. And that’s got a lot to do with the fact that when the sorting hat sings off about all the houses, it lists all these great traits for the other houses, but when it comes to Ravenclaw it says this:

“Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,If you’ve a ready mind,Where those of wit and learning,Will always find their kind.”

And then the books go on to say that Ravenclaws are,

characterised by their wit, intelligence, and wisdom.

So maybe you’re like me, and I am REALLY guilty of this, but when I first read this in the books I kinda just thought these all meant the same thing. So maybe that’s where we got this idea that all Ravenclaws are good for are being smart.

But it wasn’t until I looked up the actual definition of each word that I realized these were all saying really different things:

Intelligence - the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills.Wit - a natural aptitude for using words and ideas in a quick and inventive way to create humor.Wisdom - the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment; the quality of being wise.

^^^^this is just webster dictionary definitions here. The bolded words are the ones I want to focus on.

Skill. See – Ravenclaws are supposedly smart. But this doesn’t always have to mean BOOKSMART, and I think that’s where we had a lot of trouble with Jeon. No one is saying he is dumb or anything, but he’s no Namjoon.

Notable examples of this trait include Lockehart, who was pretty shitty at a lot of things, but had the street smarts enough to pass off his big whole scam for years and years, and was especially gifted in certain charms.

Then there’s Luna, who while shown to be really good at solving riddles, was also portrayed as really physically skilled. In Dumbledore’s Army, while being taught how to conjure a Patronus by Harry, Luna was the first to get it right. She was fourteen at the time, and was such a skilled witch that she was able to perform an incredibly difficult charm - that even adults had trouble with - after like…….mere minutes of teaching.

Does this sound like someone you know?? I’ll give you an example: Observe this VERY determined Hufflepuff not give up on his dreams and finally have all his hard work pay off… only for someone to come in and get it right almost instantly.

Or maybe… “Hey guys, this dance move you made up looks pretty cool – mind if I watch you do it like once and a half and then nail it instantly?”

And if you’re ever in doubt about just how skilled Jungkook is… remember that he turned down seven other agencies to join BigHit. That’s how many people were after him and recognized his talent. (This also ties in to my thoughts on the part about good judgement – Jungkook obviously saw a lot of potential in Namjoon and BigHit in general, so much so that he turned down tons of other companies to be there. He saw something a lot of other people did not… and it ended up being the best decision he ever made.)

But I think another really telling aspect of Jungkook’s Ravenclaw personality is that he isn’t always perfect at everything. He’s not always good at something right away – but that won’t stop him working really hard to get good. 

In Rookie King he was shown to be at the most pretty average at bowling. He wasn’t terrible, but he was about as good as you and I would be after playing a few rounds with a little luck. Well, Golden Maknae Jungkook could not stand to not be the best at something, so he mentions sometime later (13:10) that he’s hired a coach to teach him how to bowl…. and then just a few months later uploads a video of himself getting a strike like it’s no god damn big deal at all. And he looks pretty proud of himself too.

But all the major Ravenclaws were also shown time and time and time again as being a little…. scatterbrained. Luna, Lockehart, and Trelawney especially, and to an extent even Cho. And Jungkook is no exception. He’s… pretty gullible. And DEFINITELY scatterbrained.

But wit, intelligence, and wisdom are not the only three traits associated with Ravenclaw. There are a lot of other traits you may not really know about, because again – Ravenclaws were woefully under-represented in the series. There’s quite a few others listed for this house:

Creative

Individuality

Eccentric

Quirky

Jealousy/Envy

Competitive

So imma just go down the list because I’m really tired and I can’t made good word things rn

Creative

it’s no secret that Jungkook is a pretty talented artist. He’s a pretty damn good photographer too. (This will always be one of my favorite photos ever of Jimin – and Jungkook took it.) And he’s a talented lyricist as well. He’s an extremely good dancer and has a beautiful voice too – but you guys know this already.

Individuality

Take a look at how he expresses his individuality through his song covers.

Eccentric & Quirky

You guys thought the fact that Lockehart, Trelawney, and even heckin Luna were all in the same house was a coincidence? Ravenclaws are NOTORIOUS for being Extra™. I’m not kidding! This is literally a personality trait of Ravenclaws that we overlook so often from these weirdos. And Jeon fuckin Jungkook invented the word eccentric:

too busy doing THE MOST to care about personal space

O______O

the name is bond…. jeon bond.

meme child

sometimes he does it on purpose…

sometimes he doesn’t…

sometimes he doesn’t realize he’s being a ditz

sometimes he pulls a loony lovegood and says the most socially inept shit

meme child pt 2

all around me are familiar faces…

yall remember how luna was like literally afraid of nothing, including creepy/weird creatures? yeah so is this hell child

worryingly eccentric

alien language

can’t you interact with even insects like a normal human being?

you’d be here forever if i kept going so… you get the point. eccentric is jungkook’s middle name.

Jealousy/Envy

Jeonlous exists in this god forsaken fandom, and I ain’t gonna link it and open THAT can of worms, but if you’re feeling so inclined and care to enter the seventh circle of hell, feel free to look it up… but tread carefully.

Competitive

When I got the first ask about Ravenclaw Kook I had woken up at 3am and sleepily looked at my emails. I saw the ask and immediately had to jot down my ideas to keep for the next day, and all I managed to write in my sleep stupor was this

and then i promptly fell back asleep.

I was referring to this, and if you don’t feel bad for poor Jin in this situation I don’t know what to tell you. Jungkook is intensely competitive, even over small things like board games. He was so intent on winning that game that he literally assaulted someone five years his senior to sabotage them.

And then this is him trying to win a dance-off… doing the most, as usual.

And also?? He was literally banned from the gym because he was getting too buff. And look at him take out that guy in wrestling… and then demolish poor Jimin, the smallest member of BTS in arm wrestling when he could have… you know… let him win or something……

It’s a pretty well known meme within the fandom that Jungkook is competitive and always trying to outdo the others.

But when it comes down to it, Ravenclaws are still known for being smart, right? We can take all these other traits and apply them to Jeon but what about his brain?

He’s actually kinda smart. He is able to cover a song in perfect English even though he doesn’t speak the language all that well (but well enough to constantly correct others’ English and he’s good enough to tell you he’s really not all that interested in participating in English Time anyways)

And I mean…. he can outsmart the other members pretty well…………..

But I think one of the most important things to note about Jungkook being in Ravenclaw is to look at who sorted him, Namjoon: Namjoon himself gave Jungkook the nickname “Golden Maknae”. He is constantly saying that Jungkook can do anything, or watch this Jungkook can do this, or wow look at him go, or he’s so talented this and that. Is it really any surprise that Namjoon would put Jungkook in to a house known for being highly skilled when he believes no less of the kid?

Jungkook has some pretty Slytherin-like qualities – but tons of canon HP characters and the BTS members themselves have traits that are shared by all four houses. It’s just a matter of where he fits best.

I mean TL;DR, Jeon says it best himself:

gif credit: bwiskook