#born to those who have thrice defied him | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

seriouslysam8 · 1 year

Text

2022 Wrapped

Tagged by @takearisk-ao3

Post the top 5 works you're most proud of that you released in 2022 (not necessarily your most popular)

1 Backstabber

It was by far my most angsty story. It was by far my most cherished story. I loved writing every single second of it as my heart broke over and over and over again.

2 Basorexia

It was just a fun one-shot where I got to explore so many POVs that I’ve never written before.

3 Effloresce

It was so borderline AU that it really gave me the courage and confidence to go full blown AU. It was such a fun Hinny story.

4 Scones

Because James Sirius is a little shit and Ginny would love her hectic Mother’s Days.

5 Brumous

I would put this higher but I legit just started it. It’s a pet project I’ve thought about for YEARS and now I’m finally writing it. It’s gone through a lot of drafts in my head of where I’d start the divergence and what would happen, but I’m rather pleased with it so far.

your top 4 current WIPs that you're excited to release in the new year

1 Precipice

This story is really going to tear my action-writing skills but I am so excited for it. It’s really unique and I haven’t read anything like it before. You know I strive for unique. I’m excited to show my new Horcrux traps and how Ginny falls off the deep end.

2 Bête Noire

This is such a self-indulgent story. It’s no secret Sirius is my favorite character and I haven’t been shy about how I hate how he’s portrayed a lot of the time. So I’m excited to really give him a strong trauma background with this story

3 Thrice

I have a few short stories planned in the first war. One of them is a short 4-chapter story about the three times Jily defied Voldemort. The last chapter is pure fluff of Harry being born and then the prophecy coming to light - so the consequences of defying him thrice

4 Lacuna

My year after the war story that went from canon compliant to AU compliant. I’m not sure if I’ll get to it next year, but here’s to hoping!

your top 3 biggest improvements in your writing over the past year

1 Better charts

I have finally found a way to organize my many charts so I can easily find information while writing to keep it all consistent from story-to-story

2 Branching Out on POVs

I started out just exclusively writing Harry and Ginny POVs. Over the last year, I’ve really juggled different POVs and converging those POVs together to tell cohesive stories where you see the action from multiple angles. That’s been hard yet fun

3 Getting better at writing action scenes

I still have panic attacks when I have to write an action scene but I don’t spend nearly as much time or agonize over them as much. I’m really trying not to freak out over them and I’m told I’m decent. But that might just be people being nice to me because they know I’m a weeper.

your top 2 resolutions (ways you wish to improve your writing/blog) for the new year

1 To write what I want to write and not be influenced by outside sources. I just need to tell the stories I want to tell and say fuck it to the haters and the people telling me they dislike my direction that I’m going. I need to stop listening to people who try to force me to write something I don’t want to write. I love prompts and people leaving their ideas in reviews as long as there is no pressure to write it. But I just felt a lot of pressure last year and writing became not so much fun.

2 Just to have my confidence in general. I worry sometimes my ideas aren’t good or I shouldn’t write certain plots because I’m worried people won’t like them. I almost deleted my Fleamont POV in Bête Noire and Bell basically said she’d disown me if I did. So yeah, just more confidence.

and your number 1 favorite line you've written this year

Uh… how about speech? Full quote? Sirius’ latest mental break in Brumous had me sobbing.

Sirius laughed, his head shaking. "Yeah, I could have my life back. That's fucking hilarious, you know that, right? I have a bounty over my head for thirteen murders I didn't commit. One of the victims isn't even ruddy dead! I'm stuck in a house I vowed to never return to. I've buried the only parents I ever knew, buried my only true brother and his wife, and have a godson who is wanted by a fucking psychopath! Nothing about my life right now is normal or easy and I certainly can't go back to the person I was fourteen years ago. That Sirius is dead. He died the summer his girlfriend was supposedly murdered. The nail in the coffin hit as soon as he saw his best mate cold on the fucking floor of his house. I can't have my life back, Andy, because that life doesn't fucking exist anymore." - Brumous, Chapter Eight: Occlumency

Tagging

@bellmel @ginwiz @curse-04

Ignore any and all spelling mistakes. I don’t want to be up this late. 😭😭😭

23 notes · View notes

siriuslystarbucks · 1 year

Note

Btw i always wondered... How much did Order and Sirius knew about what prophecy said? He knew occlumency was important and mb that Vold may try to lure Harry in Ministry (?) but did Sirius knew Harry has to kill Vold and/or is at risk of dying himself?

I'm gonna copy and paste the full prophecy to make sure I don't remember it wrong, and also to help anyone else that only remembers snippets

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."

Yeah... so the problem implicit with the prophecy is not just that it's self-fulfilling, but also it doesn't make sense. There's no reason that someone else can't kill Harry. Harry is very killable. It makes sense that Voldemort can't be killed because of the horcruxes but like... after all of those are taken out, it doesn't make sense why no one else can kill him. This is more like the prophecy is putting a power out in the universe to make it true rather than telling us something that is already true.

Also Harry doesn't have unknowable power unless you consider Voldemort's ignorance of the horcrux inside him to be a power... or they're talking about how he's the Master of Death, but since he doesn't have that for the vast majority of his life, I'm not sure it counts either.

I also don't think the scar counts as marking Harry as his equal, so if anyone knows what else that could refer to, let me know.

The specific phrase 'the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies' keeps tripping me up, because that makes it sound like Harry will be born with some sort of extraordinary power which simply isn't true.

Uhhh in other words, I hate the prophecy because it's self-fulfilling and also doesn't make any sense.

ANYWAYS to go to the question you actually asked, I don't think Dumbledore told them all of it. I actually have my doubts that he told them any of it, and I specifically think he didn't tell Sirius, James, or Lily what it said. I feel like he might've told them that Voldy was targeting them and not mentioned why? Someone can fact check me on that if they want, but I think it would make sense if Dumbledore kept all the details as locked down as he could.

Even if Sirius knew part of the prophecy before OotP, I don't think he was told more during that book. There's no way that he would've ever agreed to pit Harry directly against Voldemort. He supported occlumency because it was a good idea for Harry to know it.

Tl;dr the prophecy never has and never will make sense, and I think that Dumbledore compartmentalized the hell out of it so that Sirius would never find out what it said.

#hp meta #i guess it counts anyways lol

10 notes · View notes

jimblejamblewritings · 2 years

Text

yes, i’m a squib | part 30.

Summary: Y/N Black has always been a squib, to the dismay of her pureblood family. Cast out to the orphanage at a young age, she thought that was her life. Until her relative Sirius Black breaks out of Azkaban. Suddenly a letter to Hogwarts in thrusted into her hand and Y/N becomes a true part of the magical Wizarding World.

Warnings for the Series: violence, death, light smut, angst, fluff

Pairing: harry potter x black!reader, cedric diggory x black!reader

Word Count: 3.7k

Previous Part | (Series Masterlist)

Harry woke up before you. It was involuntarily when Padfoot smacked him in the face. Harry glared at the cat who jumped off the bed, seeming very satisfied with himself. He let his eyes close again so he could just hold you. You turned in his arms, burying your face in his chest. Harry almost smiled until you whimpered in pain. He wasn’t sure whether to wake you up or not, couldn’t tell if it was your dark senses or not.

You shouldn’t have been able to smell the ocean from the Astronomy Tower but the salty spray was hard to deny as it mixed with earl grey tea. The Hallows symbol burned into the floor causing you to jump. You watched the symbol separate itself into its three pieces. The triangle disappeared, leaving the circle and the line before the circle left. The line flew at you and you ducked. Standing back up, you looked at the window before you felt yourself get pushed out the tower. The scent of lemon drops followed you.

Your eyes flew open. You looked up at Harry to see a worried face staring back at you.

“I’m okay, I’m okay.”

You grabbed your notebook from your nightstand and flipped it open to the page with the Hallows symbol and the Philosopher’s Stone symbol right next to it. Harry sat up and pulled you into his arms, making sure not to get in your way. He watched you flip to a new page and start to redraw each symbol slowly and deliberately. You flipped back and forth between the old page with the scribbles and the new page with just the two symbols.

“(Y/N), when I went to get rid of the book. I ran into Professor Trelawney trying to get in.”

“What did she want? She keeps insisting I need to at least visit her classroom, always going on about banshees being some of the best Seers.”

“That’s what she was talking about or something about that. She pulled out a card and kept muttering about disaster coming because her cards showed a lightning-struck tower an—”

“What? Harry, I just saw a tower in my sleep. A dark dream, not a normal one.”

Your quill dropped from your hand. You wiggled out of Harry’s arms. He watched you rifle through your trunks. You opened a little deck of cards.

“She gave this to me last year after Christmas… I should’ve listened to her, instead of going with everyone else.”

You threw the deck on the floor and only held the major arcana cards. Harry listened to you recite the prophecy— that he had so much to tell you about— as you pulled cards. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. One, the magician. Born to those who have thrice defied him. Three, the empress. Born as the seventh month dies. Seven, The Chariot. And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not. Eleven, Justice. And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives. Sixteen, Death. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies. Eight, Strength.

You laughed. “She repeated herself because she saw a seven and an eight. Eight comes after the seven dies.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Trelawney. She’s terrible at interpretation but her prophecies are perfect. Magician. That’s you, Harry. The empress is your mum. The chariot is… well, I don’t know but Justice is the fight between you and Voldemort. Death is fairly obvious. And Strength. You’re going to need that to stop him.”

You grabbed the tower card and looked at it. It was the Astronomy Tower, no doubt about it. You were in the tower. You smelled the ocean. You saw the Hallows. The line fell out of the tower. You smelled lemon drops. You crawled back on the bed and into Harry’s arms. He looked at the cards with you but didn’t know what he was looking for. Harry figured Trelawney was right that a banshee was one of the best types of Seer because he saw absolutely nothing. You repeated the prophecy again to yourself. You huffed.

“What else were you going to say before I cut you off? I think I need help figuring this out.”

“Dumbledore thinks he found another horcrux and asked me to join him. We’re leaving tonight to get it. Somewhere in a cave off the coast miles from Hogwarts. He says he put extra protection on Hogwarts but he’s taken off the charm that stops you from apparating at Hogwarts. He thinks we’ll need to apparate back.”

Harry felt you stiffen up underneath his hold. You knew that the horcrux must have been the sea that you smelled. Extra protection meant danger or death in the Astronomy tower and you weren’t sure which one just yet. Harry’s fingers drummed against you. You felt him shift before he sighed.

“(Y/N), Professor Trelawney couldn’t get into the Room of Requirement because someone was already there and kicked her out. She says that it was—”

“Draco. I know.”

“You do?”

“He left the hospital wing when he thought I was asleep, he told me the truth when I caught him. I know about Snape and the poisons and the cabinets.”

You tilted your head back, staring at the ceiling. Harry watched your eyes close as you sighed. Tears slipped from your eyes. Harry tried to comfort you. He murmured it was alright as his hand tried to swipe at the tears that were falling too fast for him to make any progress.

“Even when they kicked me out, Draco always found a way to send me something. A Christmas present or a birthday present. I thought when I first got here, he might act like he didn’t know me but it was like we were six again. He wouldn’t be a Death Eater by choice, I swear. Draco’s not evil. He’s not, he can’t be.”

Harry didn’t say anything because he didn’t know what to say. You had so much faith in your cousin that he didn’t want to ruin it. Maybe you were right, maybe Malfoy didn’t have a choice. So he wasn’t going to tell you his opinion. But he wasn’t going to give you false hope either. You finally stopped shedding enough tears for him to wipe them away. You turned your head to look at him.

“I wanted to hate you because it meant you would be wrong about Draco,” you admitted.

“I know. I’m still sorry for hurting him.”

You looked back at the mess of cards and notebooks that sat on the bed in front of you and Harry. There wasn’t time left. You knew it. Snape’s lessons failed and now you were staring at a problem that you need to answer as quickly as possible.

“I’m technically a professor, would you stay with me in the Alchemy classroom if I wrote a note?”

Harry laughed. “Of course.”

You both slowly untangled yourselves from each other. Harry left to go back to Gryffindor and change as well as grab his stuff. You gave the note to Kreacher and took all your things to the Alchemy classroom. Harry locked the door at your instruction. You had written a note on the door telling all your classes that they were dismissed. Harry watched you erase the entire chalkboard and then draw the Philosopher’s Stone symbol and the Hallows symbol just like you did in the notebook. You wrote Harry’s prophecy above them and the cards they connected to below the symbols. On the side of the board you wrote what you had seen and smelled in your dark dream. You took a step back and looked.

“I thought that the Hallows were opposite the Philosopher’s Stone. One was the highest existence of life and one was the lowest but I was wrong. They’re equal. They’re both the highest existence. Voldemort tried to get the stone to come back, probably to live forever.”

“And now he wants the Hallows to do the same?”

You nodded. “Dumbledore has you hunting horcruxes, I think I’m supposed to hunt down these. Whatever the Hallows are.”

“But why can’t he just tell you?”

“Because he doesn’t know. I don’t think he knows for sure that his plan will work. Alright, what do we know?”

“That Trelawney’s not as crazy as everyone thinks. Voldemort has horcruxes that I have to destroy. He wants the Hallows that you have to find. The Hallows have something to do with avoiding death and you had a dark dream last night.”

“Why would Dumbledore want me to find them? He normally goes to you, Ron, and Hermione. What about this means only I can fi…”

“What is it?” Harry asked.

“I’m supposed to find them, nothing about destroying them… the old man’s insane.” You dropped to search your bag for the children’s book Dumbledore gave you.

“I’m not following.”

“I’m the only banshee known, the only death omen. The Hallows are equal but different to the Philosopher’s Stone. One created an elixir that speaks to life so the other must keep you alive by speaking directly to death.”

You pointed to the story in the book and Harry leaned over to see it. He repeated the title you were pointing to, “The Tale of Three Brothers”. You raced to the board and erased the Philosopher’s Stone symbol so you could separate the Hallows into its three parts.

“I’m a death omen. I speak directly to death and in that story so do the three brothers. That’s the Hallows, Harry. The wand, the stone, the cloak… I’d be a weapon of death if I had them and now that Voldemort is connected to be, he’d be a master of it if he gets them. That’s why they wanted me to learn how to block spells.”

“Did it work?”

“I’m a squib, of course it didn’t. We have one of them.”

“The cloak,” Harry realized. “Do you think mine is the one in the story?”

“Invisibility cloaks have never lasted as long as yours and taken such a beating. It has to be.”

“So we need the wand and the stone.”

“The wand. In my dream, it almost attacked me. Voldemort must be looking for that one.” You looked at the sunlight dwindling and the clock in the classroom. “I’ll worry about this with Ron and Hermione. You have to meet Dumbledore soon. We know what we need now, that’s all that matters.”

Harry nodded. You erased the chalkboard, fearing that someone who wasn’t supposed to might accidentally see it. The two of you left the classroom— Harry going to find Dumbledore and you going to find Ron and Hermione. Your friends weren’t too hard to find. They had been in the Gryffindor common room waiting for either you or Harry since they hadn’t seen you two all day. You didn’t know what mattered enough to explain to them so you only said the basics. There was no question that all of you were going to stay up and wait for Harry to come back. You thought you smelled salt water as you sat on the couch clutching one of the throw pillows. Ron and Hermione looked up when you suddenly jumped up. Earl grey tea and lemon drops flooded your nose and you knew that you needed to go to the Astronomy Tower. You heard the word Flitwick.

“Go find Professor Flitwick and maybe McGonagall. Something bad is going to happen tonight,” you told Ron and Hermione and began running to the Astronomy Tower.

You already heard voices when you got to the Tower. From the window, you could see the Dark Mark in the sky. You saw Dumbledore and Draco facing each other. Dumbledore’s wand was on the floor— your cousin’s wand was pointed at the old man. You had seen this. The triangle, Harry’s cloak, was nowhere to be seen and you knew it meant he was there underneath it. The circle was the stone that wasn’t in the tower as far as you knew. And there was the line on the floor. The Elder Wand from the story. A wand that was in the hands of your Headmaster. You screamed. Draco dropped his wand to cover his ears and Dumbledore merely winced— poor Harry, frozen by Dumbledore’s frozen spell, suffered in place. You ran to your cousin, placing hands on his shoulders.

“Draco, Draco, please. This isn’t you.”

He grabbed at your hands, shaking his head. “The Death Eaters are already here. He’ll kill me if I don’t. He’ll kill our whole family.”

“You can’t come back from this. You will never come back if you do this. Please.”

“Go back to Hufflepuff before they get here, (Y/N). Have Kreacher take you to Grimmauld.” Malfoy removed your hands from his shoulders.

“I’ll never forgive you if you do this.”

“As long as you’re alive.”

“Draco, we can hide you and Aunt Narcissa. The Order can come back to Grimmauld. You don’t n—”

The door burst open to the tower. Your head turned to see Death Eaters with the biggest grins on their faces. The grips on their wands loosened when they saw the sight in front of them, laughing. The two at the very front began a chant congratulating Draco on cornering Dumbledore without his wand. Draco pushed you behind him as the two others entered. You recognized Fenrir Greyback whose nails and sharp teeth were dripping with blood. He laughed at the action.

“I’m not in werewolf form, Malfoy. She wouldn’t turn if I had a little bite. I’ll leave her alive like the Dark Lord promised you.”

You looked at your cousin.

“Did you trade your life for mine?” you asked in a whisper.

The others started laughing. The one who you recognized as Alecto spoke.

“You should be dead anyway. Little Malfoy said he’d do it if the Dark Lord spared you, used you alive instead. He was the closest to the old man anyway. Well done, Draco. Now finish him. Go on!”

You pulled at your cousin’s arm. Draco didn’t have to push you off. A chill ran down your spine and you turned to see Snape with his wand aimed. You screamed but it was too late as you saw the green light jet out from his wand and hit Dumbledore. The Headmaster stumbled out of the window and the scent of lemon drops faded from around you.

Chaos erupted around you. Draco grabbed you and followed Snape. Now that Dumbledore was dead, Harry was free from the frozen spell that was placed on him. He ran to follow. The boy stopped when he saw Snape head one way while Draco took you another. Harry knew your cousin would never hurt you so he took his chances and left you to be taken wherever Malfoy was taking you.

Draco was trying to force you back to Hufflepuff. He knocked on the barrels— knowing the password because you told him every year. You finally got over the shock and screamed, making him let you go. You pushed him and hit him in the chest.

“Why didn’t you let us help you? You should have told me from the beginning!”

“AND HAVE HIM KILL YOU?! Get inside… (Y/N), get inside now!”

“Whose blood did Fenrir have on him tonight?”

Draco couldn’t answer you. He didn’t know that the Order would show up when he let the Death Eaters in. He thought everything would happen quickly and quietly. He was hoping it would because he already knew he had to deal with your banshee senses.

“Kreacher!” you called. The little elf appeared. “Make sure no one sees you and Draco go home, I want no one to think he’s responsible for anything that happened tonight. Lie to everyone. I’ve got to go make sure no one else is hurt.”

You ran to the hospital wing. Most of the Order was gone, probably fighting. You could hear some of the noise outside. But you recognized the redhead laying in a hospital bed. Madame Pomfrey was tending to Bill Weasley who looked so mangled that you only knew it was him by the longer red hair and lack of Hogwarts uniform. Madame Pomfrey was rubbing the thickest and most foul smelling ointment all over Bill, telling you that charms didn’t work on werewolf bites and she didn’t know what else to do.

You shook your head fiercely as the Burrow’s scent began to grace your nose. “He needs stronger.”

The others came running in. You immediately ran to Remus and Tonks and hugged them tightly. Everyone gathered around Bill’s bed. Their only comfort was Remus telling everyone that Bill wouldn’t be a true werewolf because he wasn’t bitten on a full moon. But he wouldn’t be the same. You pulled out your wand and grabbed Harry’s hand to cover yours.

“Accio vials and aloe.”

The last of your bubble lily nectar came zooming into the hospital. You abandoned the squib project anyway for the Hallows. It only seemed right to give up the nectar for something more important— you could always collect more later. You caught the vials in your free hand and went to Bill’s side.

“Can you hear me, Bill?”

He groaned something that you couldn’t identify but was enough for you. You grabbed a rag from Madame Pomfrey and wiped off the ointment. You poured each vial into visible wounds. Fresh blood leaked out of them as they closed up. You wiped off the blood and waited.

“It still smells… everyone cover your ears.”

You turned Bill’s head and screamed in his ear. His eyes flashed open briefly and you moved back, relieved at not smelling the Burrow anymore. You turned his head back, no longer worried that his eyes were closed. Everyone stopped watching you try to tear off a piece of your aloe plant so they could listen to Harry tell them everything. You nodded when asked questions to confirm his story— silently thanking your boyfriend that he never mentioned Draco’s name. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley came running in with Fleur. Mrs. Weasley was a mixture of sobs and thanking you.

“And he was going to be married,” she blubbered.

Fleur turned. “I still love him. It doesn’t matter, I will still love him!”

You stood up and handed the torn piece to Fleur. “Dab the gel over each wound, make sure it’s thick.”

She nodded and handed some to Mrs. Weasley. Both women began dabbing it all over Bill’s face. You felt your job was done and walked out of the hospital wing while the others discussed plans for Hogwarts. Students had heard the fighting. A bunch had gone outside and seen Dumbledore’s body before Flitwick had gotten a chance to move it. There was going to be a funeral and then everyone was going home. No one knew the future any more. Kids weren’t safe outside of Hogwarts but apparently they weren’t safe inside it either. Harry followed you as you went back to the Astrology Tower. You picked up Dumbledore’s wand that was still on the ground, so was your cousin’s.

“Kreacher! Give this back to Draco.”

You held the other wand— the Elder. Harry’s cloak was on the ground where it had been discarded. You kneeled down and folded it into the perfect triangle and placed the wand on top of it. Harry came up behind you, resting his hands on your shoulders.

“That’s two of them. They’re going to bury his wand with him,” you said.

“Shouldn’t you have it? If that’s what he wanted?”

You shook your head. “Voldemort knows Dumbledore had it. Why would he care about killing him before attacking all of us? He needs it. If I take it before he gets it, he’ll just kill me. Draco disarmed Dumbledore and I disarmed him when I screamed. It’s already mine and now we have to hand it over to Voldemort. He can’t disarm me if it’s simply laying somewhere. The wand is mine now.”

“Are you sure?”

You picked up the wand and stepped away from your boyfriend. “Accio stone.”

A golden snitch flew into the tower. You shook it, hearing something inside. You didn’t know how the stone got in there but you knew it was there. You set it down on the cloak with the wand.

“A weapon of death can find another weapon… this is it. When all the horcruxes are destroyed, we use this to stop him.”

“How can we stop him if you give him the wand?”

“As long as I’m alive, it shouldn’t work for him. Not properly… I’m not going to the funeral, I can’t. Not after my d—”

Harry hugged you. “I understand. You should go home completely.”

The two of you dropped off the wand and the snitch in Dumbledore— now McGonagall’s office. Harry continued walking with you to your room. He used his magic to pack up all your stuff. You opened the smallest trunk and pulled out two mirrors. A hand mirror and a small one that would hang on the wall. You stepped on the corner of it so a shard of glass broke off. Finding a cloth, you handed the covered shard to Harry.

“I know you’re not coming back to Hogwarts next year. My dad and I used these to talk while I was at school. I can’t go with you, Hermione, and Ron. I don’t have enough magic, it would be too dangerous. I should stay here anyway. Someone has to try and keep the younger ones safe. We can still see each other this way. Take it now before I don’t have a chance to give it to you.”

Harry took the covered shard and set it on top of the empty dresser so he wouldn’t forget to take it when you left.

“I’ll see you before we go.”

“You will?”

“Bill and Fleur’s wedding,” he said with a shrug.

You chuckled and nodded. Voldemort wouldn’t get a chance to kill you if Mrs. Weasley did first because you missed her eldest son’s wedding. Harry’s hands found your waist the same as yours found his shoulders. You two just looked at each other before hugging each other tightly. The night was too sad to end it with a kiss but you both knew that you needed each other.

(Part 31)...

#harry potter x reader #harry potter fic #harry potter x black!reader

29 notes · View notes

slytherinsnekxvii · 2 years

Text

let's say snape did ask voldemort to spare harry potter, and, by some miracle, doesn't get cursed on the spot. what then?

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches..." the hag hisses in Severus' memories, dragged to the forefront of his mind by the Dark Lord's consuming, imposing power. "Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies..."

He stumbles backward as the Dark Lord releases him, jabs a heel into the ground to force his body into stillness. The contact is good, grounding. He is here for a purpose, and he will not make a fool of himself before the Dark Lord.

"I know of the prophecy already, Severus," the Dark Lord says, patiently. Indulgently, really, and it is glorious. To be treated with this level of respect by the Dark Lord himself... Mulciber must be eating his hat, and Potter, Black and their little pets rolling in the graves that surely awaited them. "Your having delivered it to me is the reason I have deigned to offer you both my Mark and your choice of reward."

"Of course, my Lord," Severus says, "and I thank you for both."

He flexes his arm at his side, already branded by skull and snake, half scabbed-over, before bending at the waist in a deep bow.

"Rise," the Dark Lord tells him, and Severus catches the amusement in his tone. "Lucius tells me you have great potential, and I believe you will be... most useful to me."

"Thank you, my Lord," Severus says, reverently, and squashes any further daydreams of spitting on pureblood ponces and grinding headstones beneath his boots. He needs to be clear-headed for this. He hardly presumes to be indispensable, but the Dark Lord has named him useful, has promised him a reward. This opportunity, this sort of power, the sort of respect that he would be able to command as one of the Dark Lord's trusted and used... it cannot—must not—be squandered.

"Have you chosen, Severus? Money, glory? Women, perhaps... no. You look above such things, do you not?" The Dark Lord's face twisted at that, a fleeting smirk setting itself across his unsettling features. "Ah. Knowledge is what tempts you... yes. Unadulterated, uncensored knowledge. You could have the contents of the most coveted Dark Arts libraries in your hands. Power the likes of which most people could never dream of. What will you ask of me, Severus?"

His tongue itches to answer, but the Dark Lord continues.

"I do not make a habit of granting requests such as these. Your brethren who have earned the privilege have asked for banal, plebian things or they have pandered to me with silly trinkets and petty refusals. Will you follow in their footsteps? What will you ask of me, Severus?"

The Dark Lord lowers his gaze, ever-so-gentle, presses into Severus' mind once more. A smile flits across his face as he skims through each layer of thought, memory and consciousness, tugging and pulling as he chooses. He snags something, holds tight to it, and Severus is overcome by pure, blinding rage as his life, shown in flashes of humiliation, pain, anger, anger, embarrassment, injustice, so much anger, plays out before him.

"Revenge. Yes, that must be it. You want them to pay for what they've done," the Dark Lord. "That filthy Muggle father of yours, those disgusting blood traitors, yes, all of them will pay. Is that what you would ask of me, Severus?"

The Dark Lord holds his mind in a vice grip, tight, harsh, painful. Had it been a physical hold, Severus would no doubt have been nearly to his knees at this point, gasping for air, begging and prodding at his Lord's arms to allow him to go free. It is entirely within his own mind, however, and with regards to Occlumency, Severus is particularly resilient. As the Dark Lord pries and clutches, his eerie red gaze fixed on Severus' own black stare, he calls to his mouth the words he will answer with, but is silenced before he can speak them.

"No. Their blood would be wasted on you. I could make you—no. No matter," the Dark Lord says, releasing him once more with all the gentleness of a hard shove. "This, you may consider a gift. I will impart to you a secret, Severus, for you have granted me the information which makes this particular endeavour possible. I am going to Godric's Hollow tonight, and I will destroy the creature that Albus Dumbledore presumes will vanquish me."

"God—"

"Silence, Severus. This to to your benefit, you understand. The child must die, of course, but that filthy blood traitor Potter—I will kill him, and through me, you may have your revenge, and thus, you will be free to ask for what else your heart desires."

His head spins, and the Dark Lord cares not, fixing him with a burning red gaze that grows ever impatient.

"What will you ask of me, Severus?"

He can think of a million things he wants, a thousand things that would catapult him into the life he wanted, without having to claw his up from beneath everyone else's feet.

Power, for one. Respect, esteem, the Dark Lord's favour.

He could ask for any of them, he knows which of them he would choose.

The memories crowd his mind, though, unbidden, shaken free by the Dark Lord's rough handling of his innermost thoughts, his mentioning of Godric's Hollow. He doesn't even need to close his eyes to see her. Lily, laying on the grass beside him. Lily, sitting next to him in the Library, laughing over something or other as they breeze through their Potions homework. Lily, turning him away at the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room. Lily, turning her back on him for James fucking Potter and his band of assholes.

Another thought chases them, even more unwanted and unexpected than its predecessors—Lily, body broken and cold, dead on the floor of her home between her husband and child, because of course, of course, she would throw herself between her family—James bloody Potter and his fucking spawn—and the Dark Lord himself.

He cannot ask for her life.

It would be madness. Folly. An impossible request that would follow him for the rest of his time in the Dark Lord's service. He will not squander this opportunity, he will not ruin this for himself as so many things have been ruined before, he will not lose his only chance—

The Dark Lord looks at him, and Severus anticipates the rustling, the grip of thought on his mind and quickly, quietly buries it all, as he blurts, "Lily."

Severus Snape is a fool.

The Dark Lord knows this now. He must.

"You desire... the girl?" the Dark Lord asks.

Severus must be an imbecile. A thrice-damned, hellbound, cotton-brained dunderhead.

"Very well," the Dark Lord muses. "It would be a fitting addition to your revenge. From what I have been told, she was your Mudblood first, was she not?"

Severus nods, mute.

His?

Never. Not really.

"I shall spare her life, and you will have her."

"Thank you, my Lord," Severus rasps, the words bubbling up through a dry, dusty throat, and automatically falls into a bow. He is a fool. "You are too kind."

"Kind..." the Dark Lord rolls the word around his mouth, and spits it as though it is particularly vile. "Hardly. It is only what you deserve."

"Thank you, my Lord." Severus says, and turns to leave.

"You were not dismissed, Severus," he says, and Severus turns back, immediately.

"I'm so—"

"No matter, and straighten up. Tell me, Severus. You think me kind?"

He swallows. "My lord is most generous—"

The Dark Lord stops him, regards him with what little humanity remains in his gaze. Laughs.

Severus stiffens, the hairs on the back of his neck raising at the grating sound.

"Join me. Tonight. You will further prove your usefulness, and kill James Potter yourself. I will spare your precious Mudblood her life."

His stomach rolls in protest at the thought, conflicting thoughts flying through his mind, a cacophony of "She already thinks the worst of you," playing against a backdrop of Lily Potter cradling the bodies of her dead husband and son. Guilt wells up in his throat, swimming up his oesophagus just the same as bile, and he says, "Yes, my lord. Thank you, my Lord."

Petty refusal, the Dark Lord had said, but such was never an option. Severus had sold his soul, and the devil does not bargain. In exchange for Lily Potter's life, he must kill her husband and give up any hope of ever being a good man in her eyes, and the Dark Lord knows it.

Kind, Severus had said. A foolish notion.

They enter Godric's Hollow that night with a bang. Quite literally. The Dark Lord laughs in the face of their wards, and Severus surveys them with pity, and mild disgust. Were they meant to be found? Then, the Dark Lord crows about having their Secret Keeper under his thumb, and the Potters' lack of security becomes an afterthought to betrayal and lies and a sick sense of satisfaction that the Marauders had fallen apart, after all.

The Dark Lord gestures, and even through the smoke, Severus' aim is impeccable. His wand arm raises, and hatred is on his tongue, propelled by years of humiliation and pain, the memories of hanging pantsless above the Black Lake and watching Lily Evans on James Potter's arm, and then, dragging up truly Unforgivable magic behind them. He's already mouthing the Avada behind his mask when the green light floods the room and the Dark Lord finishes Severus' sentence for him.

James Potter's body drops to the ground and as Severus sees the Dark Lord standing triumphant, wand held high, he knows that Potter was never his to kill. The Dark Lord gave, and the Dark Lord took away. Generosity? A pathetic trait to attribute to him.

"Stand aside, girl," he rasps, and Severus' neck jerks. Lily stands between them and the crib, tears already welling in her eyes as she looks frantically between them and James fucking Potter.

The vision plays behind his eyes again, Lily, sobbing, crying, bereft.

Her husband has died and she will not stand aside. Severus knows it. If it will save her son's life, she will sacrifice herself over and over again.

"Stand aside," the Dark Lord commands, again, and he raises his wand to kill her, if not to toss her aside and Severus, because he is a fucking fool, who cannot stand to watch the girl who was once his best friend die, interrupts.

"The child, my Lord," he rasps, and hopes in his heart that if he does not succeed in convincing his master that they are both deserving of life, she will take the brat and run.

"It must die!" the Dark Lord screams, and Lily does not run, she scrambles to the crib, clutches the child to her breast.

"It has power—" he tries, but the Dark Lord will not be reasoned with.

"To vanquish me! It is—" the Dark Lord hisses, wand raised.

"A weapon!" Severus cries, and damns the boy as he has damned himself. "To use against Dumbledore, if he has power to vanquish you, he can be used against—"

"Dumbledore."

It is this that gets through to him, but he does not lower his wand. He flicks it, deliberately, as harshly as he does anything and the child comes speeding into his arms, wailing ever louder. Lily dashes after him, but a deliberate swish of the Dark Lord's wand sends her careening into Severus instead.

He looks into the brat's face, and Severus' breath catches in his throat as twin emerald gazes announce their upset.

Lily's is trained on him as she struggles in his grip, and he needs her to stop, stop fighting, stop kicking, stop making herself a fucking target, so he says, quickly, quietly, harshly, "He'll kill you both if you don't stop."

The baby stares defiantly at the Dark Lord, wailing and screaming as much as he dares. He lowers his wand. Lily stops struggling.

"Yes. You... you can be used. Dumbledore believes that you will be my downfall... but not if you are raised under my hand."

He laughs again, and the sound nearly sets Lily to fighting afresh. Severus clutches her tighter, and the Dark Lord turns to look at him again. "Come."

#severus snape #lord voldemort #a little bit of lily #a tiny bit of harry #even less james #very much au #and the consequences would be pretty insane tbh #yes ik i need to update my other fics but the idea was enticing okay #will i write said consequences?#mayhaps #fic #hp fic #death eater severus snape #harry potter #maybe i will write the consequences #or a version where james survives and that cancels out the life debt #hmmm

18 notes · View notes

hp-queer-villains-fest · 10 months

Text

The Graceful Lady Gaunt

“The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…” Sybill Trelawny’s shrill voice filled my ears, causing a frown to form on my face. Though, that wasn’t just because of how annoying she sounds. “Hmm.” I hummed to myself in thought as I put the prophecy back where it belonged. So, it was self-fulfilling then? Clicking my tongue in frustration, I turned on my heel in order to leave the hall. True, the prophecy was technically still in effect, but all I had to do from here on out is ignore the Potter boy.

Rating: Teen (& Up)

Arcive Warning: No Warnings Apply

Relationship: Harry Potter/Tom Riddle | Voldemort

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Divergence - Post-Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, trans female voldemort, Trans Female Character, Dubious Consent Due To Identity Issues, Falling In Love, Boss/Employee Relationship, And He was Her Assistant, Breaking and Entering, Inferi (Harry Potter), These Two Get Chaotic When Bored, Voldemort is Bad at Feelings, Harry Potter is Bad at Feelings, Harry Potter is a Himbo, They’re just trying their best, Revelations

Language: English

You can read this oneshot on AO3 now!

#harry potter fanworks fest #harry potter fest #harry potter queer villains #harry potter queer villains fanworks festival #harry potter fanfictions #hp queer villains #harry potter/tom riddle|voldemort #harrymort #trans female voldemort

4 notes · View notes

skywalkersolos-blog · 2 years

Text

Prophecy Writing

Prophecy- a message that is claimed by a person to have been communicated to them by a deity. Such messages usually involve inspiration, interpretation, or revelation of divine will concerning the prophet's social world and events to come.

How to make a good Prophecy?

1) Write down what your prophecy means in a simple, single sentence.

2) Replace the characters — or events — in the prophecy with symbols.

3) Mystify the events detailed in the prophecy — make it less clear what is going to happen.

4) Add some misleading elements to the prophecy. If it is too obvious, it will be unrealistic when your characters have trouble figuring the prophecy out.

5) Move wording around. Whilst it is certainly secretive, it still doesn’t sound prophecy-ish.

6) Make the prophecy more personalised — make it suit more to your character and their personalities, choices, or appearances.

Most Prophecies within story's always seems to have a double meaning behind them.

Example -Harry Potter

Breakdown-

The child that will be born are from the parents that defied him could mean anyone around that point in time.

Both the Longbottom's and Potter's have been against the dark lord. This lead to both families going into hiding after they discovered the prophecy

Then it says when the seventh month dies. Which means the end of July.

Keep in mind both Neville and Harry were born around this point in time.

The Dark Lord did mark Harry.

With the scar which ends but giving the boy some of his powers.

The power the Dark Lord doesn't know about is that he doesn't know he made Harry into a horcrux.

Which Harry discovers himself.

The only way for one to die is if they fight each other. But because of Voldemort's Horcrux the male's immortal which is why their is the words; Neither can live when the other survives.

Also Harry is connected to the Dark Lord because of the scar which means Harry will die but be brought back. Destroy the Horcruxs and they'll be on the same field.

Warrior Cats

(Oddly enough this book series has a lot of them)

The power of three

"There will be three, kin of your kin, who hold the power of the stars in their paws."

This is spoke to Firestar.

So when the cat Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Hollyleaf are born many believe they are the three cats. (cause they are siblings)

Only that is not the case.

Jay and Lion are two of the three. The third one is Dovewing (A cat that is born later on)

"The key word is Kin or your kin."- It does mean (His grandkids from Leafpool) from Firestar's bloodline, but their is also another meaning behind it.

Firestar does have siblings. Half-siblings. His sister Princess has a son name Cloudtail who needed up with Brightheart which lead their Whitewing to have kids with Birchfall-which brought forth Dovewing and Ivypool.

So this is a way to trick the reader in thinking one thing when it's actually another.

Star Wars

This fandom always seems to have the strangest forms of Prophecies because most of the time their words can mean a lot.

"A Chosen One shall come, born of no father, and through him will ultimate balance in the Force be restored." ―A Jedi prophecy

This is where the problem starts with thus saying; they say a child born of no father.

Which should mean by the will of the force, but others had also said it could be one of cloning since being a clone doesn't mean you a father, but a creator.

Plus, over the thousands of years the chosen One's saying had been rewritten or blacked out according to Star Wars Legend information which only left what is above to be shown.

But the main problem is that if Anakin is the chosen one as George Lucas did state in his movies. Why do people still keep on trying to replace Anakin with an oc or Rey. Many felt about the Rise of Skywalker that Rey basically stole Anakin's place within the story.

Another thing about Star Wars prophecy is that they happen in visions.

Most of the time once someone within the Star Wars galaxy has a vision they always end up misunderstanding what they have seen or have been shown.

Example-

In Last Jedi Kylo Ren say a vision of Rey's past. All he saw was that her parents sold the girl for money. Which he told Rey. Only he didn't understand the full context of the scene until Palpatine explained it;

"She is not who you think she is."

Ren's hold on his lightsaber quivered. Snoke had tole him much about the scavenger named Rey-and Ren had learned more himself when he had ripped memories from her mind. But was there something else about her? Something he had missed? Something she had hidden?

"Who is she?" he asked.

Palpatine chuckled and told Ren a secrets he would have never guessed. -Star Wars-The Rise of Skywalker A Junior Novel. (Pg. 23-24)

"But beware. The girl feels a stirring, that she is not who she thinks she is."

Kylo's eyes narrowed. Finally, he lowered his lightsaber.

He glimpsed her parents in a vision, a poor, frightened couple eking out a meager existence, surviving on the edge of desperation.

He hadn't been lying when he'd told her they were nothing, nobodies.

But Force visions were filled with tricky truths and potential realities. Maybe he had missed something.

Bringing all the power of the Force to bear, Kylo Ren demanded, "Who is She?"

The rotting remnant of Emperor Palpatine smiled. -Star Wars; The Rise of Skywalker by Rae Carson Pg. (28-29)

#writing notes #writing #writer things #notes

2 notes · View notes

regheart · 6 months

Text

just realized that i spent the past eleven years thinking that the prophecy implied one thing when it was another all along because of 1) loose translation 2) bad memory

the english original states "born of those who have thrice defied him" but on the translation i read, instead of defied there's a word that would be more closely related to the meaning of "challenge" so i spent all these years thinking that the potters and the longbottoms dueled against voldemort three times and escaped (i also have bad memory and thought the word was "defeated" which sounds alike to both words that are used in english and portuguese)

so imagine my surprise when i found out people interpret this line as voldemort tried and failed to recruit them... of course the meaning of "defy" is close to what i originally thought, but this specific interpretation would never occur to me, had i corrected the mistake about the precise vocabulary use, i would just assume they were going around bad mouthing voldemort

funny how such small details can completely change nuance and meaning

#harry potter books #but also #translation and linguistics stuff

0 notes

daenrl · 1 year

Text

Greetings!

This post is about my favorite HP fanfic, The Sacrifices Arc by Lightning on the Wave.

I will re-post the prophecies that appear during the series.

Hope you enjoy it!

The picture is NOT mine

1 2 3 4

Warning!:if you haven't finished the first part of the Sacrifices Arc, be aware that there are spoilers in this post.

IF YOU WANT TO READ ALL THE PROPHECIES PLEASE GO TO https://lightningwave.livejournal.com/189262.html

First Prophecy (Saving Connor, chapter 11)

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…

Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…

He is the younger of two, and he shall have the power the Dark Lord knows not…

For the elder is power, but the younger is power united with love…

O guard him, O shield him, for the darkness through which he passes otherwise is vicious and hideous, and love has but a scant chance of surviving…

The elder will stand at his right shoulder, loving him, but the younger will love the whole of the wizarding world…

The Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, and in so doing mark his heart…

The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches, born as the seventh month dies…"

There are also some interpretations that are worth to point out:

Dumbledore firmly believes that Connor and Harry are the two siblings that the prophecy talks about. Both born at the end of July and from parents that fought during the First War. Harry, being the older one, the powerful, has to love and protect Connor. Connor, as the younger, has to be protect and love unconditionally for the love inside of him can blossom and be able to defeat the enemy, because (as Dumbledore claims) love is the power that Voldemort doesn't know.

Others refute this because the prophecy does not say that they have to be brothers, or that both of them are born on the same month. And that the prophecy does not say that love is the power that the Dark Lord knows not.

I would like to point out some things that can be interesting.

"Born to those who have thrice defied him..."

This part does not mean that the younger's parents had once fought the Dark Lord. It can also be some kind of opposition or challenge; however, yes, it is more likely that it refers to a battle.

"He is the younger of two..."

That the prophecy does not say whether the "older" and the "younger" are siblings or not. Or even if they were born in the same month.

"and love has but a scant chance of surviving…"

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord..."

The power that the Dark Lord doesn't knows can not be love –at least in my point of view: because in one of the sentences it says that the youngest is love combined with power, and even if it takes both to destroy the Dark Lord –because power with out love would make them the same as the Dark Lord, and love alone can not face the enemy–, it talk about those two –power and love– as separate things, not synonymous.

However, that's just my opinion.

I would love to know your thoughts about this topic!

And before living, I am going to quote Draco Bloddy Malfoy, just 'cause I want to.

"Yes, but their color scheme deserves to be insulted."

#fanfic #slytherin harry #saving connor #harry potter #hogwarts #drarry

1 note · View note

wrockingwriter · 2 years

Text

Trelawney and Snape: Unwitting Accomplices

In the course of the series (books or films) Sybill Trelawney and Severus Snape never directly interact, and yet without Snape (yes, specifically Snape) neither of Trelawney’s True Prophesies would have come to fruition; the ones that the fates of Voldemort depend upon, though we have no real way of knowing if she made any others.

But let’s break this down from the beginning.

Prophesy 1 - Voldemort’s Initial (and eventually, final) Downfall (1980-1981) Death

Film Prophesy: The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches, and the Dark Lord shall mark him as his equal but he shall have power the Dark Lord knows not. For neither can live while the other survives.

(this is incredibly nonspecific; it could have been made at any time about any Dark Lord and any person beyond the whole ‘mark his as his equal’ bit which is not limited to physical marking, but perhaps metaphysical, or mental via trauma even. This is one of a thousand ways that the films did a great disservice to anyone who had not already read the books- but I digress)

Book Prophesy: The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies. And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not. And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies.

(this one is much more specific, but is still vague enough for multiple interpretations)

For the purposes of specificity, and that the film and book canons are difficult to reconcile without defaulting to the Book interpretations anyway, so I’ll be focusing there. So.

A basic breakdown:

Born to parents who defied Voldemort 3x

Born as the 7th month dies

Dark Lord will mark him as his equal

Will have power the Dark Lord knows not

One must die at the hands of the other

We know that Snape was eavesdropping and heard up until the first ‘born as the seventh month dies’ before being ousted, and he gave that incomplete prophesy to Voldemort.

From here we as readers and consumers of this series know that both Dumbledore and Voldemort interpret the first bit of the prophecy to apply to two families: the Longbottoms and the Potters. We know that Voldemort settles on it meaning the Potters. And we also know that at some point after learning this Snape asked Voldemort for Lily’s life to be spared before going to beg Dumbledore to keep her safe as he did not trust Voldemort’s word that he would spare her.

Based upon Snape’s report, Dumbledore has the Potters put under fidelius.

We know from information we get from Prisoner of Azkaban that Peter Pettigrew turned spy at some point between the prophesy being given and October of 1980 as he’d been spying for a year before the Potters’ deaths.

We as readers know that Voldemort fully intended to keep his word to Snape and spare Lily as he asks her to move 3x before killing her.

We also know that a parent dying for their child is not enough to cause an Avada Kedavra to rebound. (James’ death does nothing, and Molly says that ‘any mother would’)

I’d like to take a moment to point out plainly that Snape had no clue whatsoever that Voldemort would even attempt to keep his word. He has no clue that his actions and request are what facilitated Lily’s choice to sacrifice herself.

Because, yes, Lily’s actions are what give Harry his Power. Her love. But in order for it to work there had to be an actual choice to do otherwise or James’ death would have protected them both, if love was the only prerequisite.

Now we also cannot forget that Voldemort wouldn’t have known about the prophesy at all without Snape, but what would that mean as far as Voldemort’s first war?

When Sirius tries to explain what the last war was like to the trio he speaks of the fear, the unknown threat that could come from anywhere or anyone as they had no way of knowing who Voldemort’s supporters were. The chaos of the Ministry of Magic simultaneously trying to keep everything hidden from the Muggles while the war affected both sides of their worlds. Aurors being given the power to kill rather than capture. The fear. The chaos. The bloodshed.

Without Trelawney’s initial prophesy being overheard and reported, it never would have been put into motion. And, if Voldemort’s reign had continued in that fashion, who’s to say that he wouldn’t have succeeded entirely? Dumbledore himself asks Harry if he believes that every prophesy in the Hall of Prophesy has been fulfilled and goes on to emphasise ho it’s Voldemort’s choices in the wake of Snape’s report that sealed the means for his demise.

But let’s move on the Trelawney’s second prophesy, which is practically two entirely different prophesies between the film and book.

Prophesy 2 - Voldemort’s Rebirth (6 June 1994) Life

Film Prophesy: He will return tonight. Tonight he who had betrayed his friends, whose heart rots with murder, shall break free. Innocent blood shall be spilt and servant and master shall be reunited once more.

(I’m quite amused that the film prophesy OPENS with an absolutely inaccurate statement considering 1- Pettigrew isn’t really returning from anywhere and 2- Voldemort definitely didn’t return on this evening. Yet another reason I’ll pretty much be ignoring the film prophesy entirely)

Book Prophesy: The Dark Lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers. His servant has been chained these twelve years. Tonight, before midnight. The servant will break free and set out to rejoin his master. The Dark Lord will rise again with his servant’s aid, greater and more terrible than ever before. Tonight. Before midnight. The servant. Will set out. To rejoin. His master.

A basic breakdown:

Voldemort is alone, no other followers with him

Servant has been chained/contained for 12 years

This will happen before midnight on this specific day

Servant will break free and seek out his master

The Dark Lord will definitely rise again with this servant’s aid

Dark Lord will be greater and more terrible if this comes to fruition

We, as readers, know that Voldemort’s shade has been out in the world (Dumbledore says that he’s in Albania, but who knows how long that’s been the case) and that his followers either disavowed him to stay out of Azkaban, or are actually in Azkaban. There are, of course, people who have similar beliefs- or support them in political if not overt ways- but they aren’t the type of people to seek out the Dark Lord.

Even Quirrel was a teacher who went on a journey the year before changing subjects from Muggle Studies (which is notoriously out of date and likely prejudiced if the average wizard’s understanding of the muggle world is to be believed) to Defense Against the Dark Arts and just happened across the Dark Lord. He was likely a sympathiser prior to their encounter, but since the events of Philosopher’s Stone, Voldemort has been on his own once again.

We as readers know that Pettigrew has been a rat, and has been with the Weasley family, for years. He likely hasn’t been with the Weasley family for the full twelve years since that fateful Halloween as he sped down into the sewer after his confrontation with Sirius. But, that aside he’s definitely been a rat or at least in hiding for the last 12 years.

Luckily for us this prophesy is explicit as far as the timing of these events- before midnight- and we know that, time turner adventure included, everything is over and done with by 5 minutes ‘til midnight as that’s when Dumbledore locks them into the Hospital Wing.

We know that in the chaos of Lupin’s transformation Pettigrew grabs Lupin’s wand and breaks free from the bindings Lupin put on him, stuns Ron and Crokshanks, and runs off into the night.

We know that Pettigrew finds his way to Voldemort following information he gathers from rumour and rat alike.

We, in the context of the greater series at hand, know that without Pettigrew finding Bertha Jorkins, they wouldn’t have known about or found Barty Crouch Jr (though Barty would likely have found his way to Voldemort eventually, if the Imperius curse from his father continued degrading) and that, without Barty, the TriWizard Tournament would not have ended in Voldemort’s resurrection.

We also are privy to this prophesy when Snape absolutely was not. He was not present or eavesdropping when it was originally ive, and he was most definitely not told of it later on by Dumbledore as it was no longer relevant. He’s not in the business of sharing information for no reason.

Now, Snape’s influence on the fulfilment of this prophecy is just as tangential as the last one. Mostly centred on the Wolfsbane Potion, which must for a week be consumed once a day leading up to the full moon. There is nothing that states it must be consumed at a specific day- just once a day. In fact, we see Snape deliver a dose of the Potion in the middle of the day when Harry is unable to go to Hogsmeade and ends up in Lupin’s office.

If Snape had brought Lupin his dose earlier in the day, would Pettigrew have had an opportunity to escape?

Alternatively, if Snape had brought the Wolfsbane when Lupin had been watching the Map, would Lupin have gone to the shrieking shack in the first place? Would he have seen? Sirius would likely have killed Pettigrew, which would have stopped the resurrection- or at least delayed it for a long while.

So by delaying the delivery of the Wolfsbane Potion, most assuredly due to his distaste of Lupin (which was not at all curtailed by Dumbledore, and likely was made worse by his blatant favouritism which followed from their school days) Snape inadvertently provided the opportunity for this prophesy to come to pass.

Now let’s jump back to the first prophesy, which is still only half-fulfilled.

Prophesy 1 - Voldemort’s Final Defeat (Prophesy from 1980-1981, Completed 2 May 1998) Death

So what’s left?

The Power the Dark Lord knows not

One must die at the hands of the other

Now, we as readers know that the power the Dark Lord knows not is love, both the love others have for him (Lily’s sacrifice) and the love Harry has for others (the love shield Harry is able to give to Neville and the others at the Battle of Hogwarts after his trip to King’s Cross) because Voldemort may understand intellectually the concept of love, may claim to know it, but he has no true understanding of what it means to love someone or something.

This lack of true understanding is also why Narcissa is able to do what she does, and lie to his face.

If Voldemort actually understood how Lily’s sacrifice worked then he wouldn’t have killed Harry the way he did.

We know that without Snape giving his memories to Harry (which already barley happened) Harry would have continued trying to search for Horcruxes blindly, not making he connection about his scar which could have caused any number of problems. Let’s say that Voldemort was somehow defeated- he’d just have come back again later. Or Harry got killed by someone not Voldemort- we don’t know what would happen with the Horcrux in his scar in that case.

Another repercussion of Snape’s memories is that Harry knows not to fight back when he encounters Voldemort. Harry knows how his mother sacrificed herself and is able to emulate it. Harry doesn’t expect to survive the encounter, everything he knows of Horcruxes says that the vessel/receptacle must be damaged beyond repair. With a living being, this would logically mean dead. And Harry’s actions from The Prince’s Tale to King’s Cross are taken with this presumption.

There is also this interesting way of interpreting the last bits of the prophesy- that Voldemort exists in a schrodinger-esque state of neither life or death while there are Horcruxes in existence. He can neither live or die as long as there are Horcruxes, and thus only begins living once Neville has killed Nagini because Harry told him to, not knowing the significance of that action.

Harry is merely surviving as an object, the host to the fragment of Voldemot, and only starts living once Voldemort hits his body with a killing curse and accidentally destroys his own Horcrux.

When Harry and Voldemort face off after everything, that final duel is the first time that they are both truly alive- and thus the first time that one of them even could die at the hands of the other.

Now, could these prophesies have come to fruition without Snape? Maybe!

But how?

#leakycon 2022 #panel speeches

0 notes