#hphm mole

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

hello Blair 👋 I saw you mentioned Alanza and I’m showing up bc despite jc completely fumbling her, I still like her

I think the two biggest issues is when she’s introduced and that the game does not know what to do with her. She should have been introduced before Rowan’s death. That way we get to know her as her own character instead of “Rowan’s replacement.”

Since she’d be the new student for the year, I’m pretty sure people would still suspect her of being the mole. My guess is that jc dropped her because so many people seem to dislike her. There’s a whole can of worms on how hphm handles its numerous characters. I will have to save that for another day.

Alanza was set to be an interesting character and I do wish we had learned more about her days at Castelobruxo. I’m ignoring my own numerous headcanons to flesh her out. Main things that stick out to me is her time surviving in the rainforest as a first year. She has this very cheerful demeanor but surely that must have had an impact on her eleven year old self. Then she’s supposed to be from a prominent Brazilian wizarding family. What are they like? How do people treat her as a member of an at least somewhat famous family? She seems to enjoy adventuring so of all the characters to join the vault hunt, she should’ve been included. Then the wiki says she was part of a band back at Castelobruxo (it also says she can play nine instruments which I do not remember.) What if we saw her bonding with the Weird Sisters over music?

Jumping into headcanon territory: I’ve headcanoned that Alanza’s upbeat demeanor contrasts with her parents’ more serious selves. When her grandmother was alive, she was able to mediate between Alanza and her parents. However after she died, things became more tense at home. It also didn’t help that their fame meant Alanza was constantly being compared to her family. She decided to become an exchange student partly to get a fresh start where people will judge her as her own person and also bc like I mentioned earlier, she likes an adventure.

to be nice to hphm, Alanza’s design is my favorite from this game. I don’t have some deep analysis on it; I just think she’s cute. Plus I like the mole she has.

Oh, I like her too. She just...feels like a one-off, like a character introduced in a TLSQ who then slides into the background.

Instead, like you talked about, the story drops everything to introduce her - right after Rowan dies and The Circle is formed, no less - and not long before The Mole is first mentioned. They had to know, right? The writers had to realize the circumstances surrounding Alanza were suspicious, so I think she was a deliberate red herring. Especially giving her a loose connection to Rakepick. But she's a red herring who never gets herring'd, because the characters never outright suspect her.

I didn't even realize she was widely disliked, is that true? Because I liked her just fine. I was suspicious of her past and her motives, and it wasn't lost on me how the story tried to insert her into a "Rowan" like role (which it later did more directly with Corey) but hey, that wasn't exactly her fault, and assuming she was totally genuine in her nature, then she was a good person, right?

The Rain Forest Incident is so telling. I've always had the headcanon that Rakepick rescued her from that bit of trouble. Because despite what Alanza says, despite what the writers might want us to believe, there is no way she could have known Rakepick smelled like cinnamon without having gotten close to her. MC didn't even know that.

As far as her time in Castelobruxo, I'm getting...Weasley twin vibes. Popular with the students, nightmare for the staff. If she comes from a prominent family, that's already easy mode for popularity like it was for Draco. Not to mention she's in a band and is apparently multi-faceted? Nah, this girl had friends. But then again, none of them write to her when she moves out to the U.K, so maybe it was all just surface level? Sad to say...

Oh man. What you're describing is...so familiar. It reminds me a lot of Tulip and her situation with her own family, right down to having grandparents who mediate. The idea that Alanza joined the exchange program to get away from - at least part of - her family is devastating, but it makes sense. She chose to remain at Hogwarts for another year, and neglected to mention why. But she would have been 17 by that point, so, it would be her choice, right?

The Casteobruxo robes look superb, they really do. They're one of the few costumes that genuinely look like something people in this world would wear, because yes I'm still hung up on how none of them wear robes in the movies. As far as her face goes, she is adorable, that's for sure!

[bluerosesburnblue]

I know that I don’t have too many HPHM followers, but for those who enjoy that content I figured I’d do a little check-in now that I’ve finished up the rest of Year 6 just to give some assorted thoughts on the whole thing. And uh... since it took me so long to make this post in the first place, I’m also gonna talk a bit about the first five chapters of Year 7

Starting off with Year 6, I finally get the complaints about Ben and Merula now. I mean, I’ve always hated Merula, but ugh. Being forced to work with those two as MC’s closest companions is just... like, the exact opposite of what I’d actually do and it was insufferable to sit through. Those two are the people I’d trust the least to lead the Circle of Khanna. Ben is too reckless, Merula is obviously only in it for her own revenge, and both of them are so moody and abrasive all the way through it. Every scene where the “Circle of Khanna Leaders” were together just made me want to slap both of them

It also just drives me nuts like the game actually wants me to believe that Merula’s in it for Rowan. Really? The person she bullied relentlessly for years? You really think that Merula, who has never shown remorse for or apologized for her actions, actually gives a shit about Rowan and isn’t just using their death as an excuse? Why do they keep trying to convince me of this very obviously untrue thing?

And I actually don’t hate the idea of the Circle of Khanna, I just think, like most things in this game past early Y5 or so, that it’s executed terribly. Despite having three fucking leaders, no one’s actually calling the shots and everyone’s just off doing their own thing without any sense of cohesion. Someone TAKE CHARGE, please. That, and they keep meeting at the very public Hog’s Head or the DADA Classroom instead of... literally anywhere private. I don’t think that the Secret Clubhouse existed yet at this point, but if it were up to me to write this story in hindsight, I think I’d designate the Secret Clubhouse as the Circle of Khanna meeting room. It would make sense from a story perspective, since every character is in one of the three clubs so they could all access it, and it would give the room some actual purpose because it’s been just such a nothing area since it was introduced. You could even turn it into a hangout thing, like “Study With a Friend” in the library

And it would give a reason to write out the twins and Beatrice. Seriously, why are they here? Why are we letting literal children into the Circle? I’d seriously thin out the ranks. No Fred, George, or Beatrice, and definitely no Ben or Merula for me, good lord...

Alanza is... fine? I, personally, found her annoying but I kind of get why she’s here, at least. She’s just so... nothing that she’s entirely forgettable

And the pacing at the end is so funny for how bad it is. I have to wonder if they were writing this week-by-week because the whiplash from “let’s do an in-depth investigation of the mole” to “OH SHIT WE FORGOT ABOUT THE CURSE LET’S GO TO THE SUNKEN VAULT REAL FAST” is so unintentionally comical. Like it legitimately reads as though the Merula as the mole reveal was going to be the end of Year 6 and then someone remembered the statue curse and went “hey, wouldn’t it be fucked up if they were frozen all summer?” so they scrambled to fix it. And the end result is that the Sunken Vault feels more like a rushed detour than anything, when that’s supposed to be the big climax

But, moving on from the negative, I do really love the design of the Sunken Vault. Whoever their location designer is, they’re doing a great job.  I mean, just look at that:

It actually does have this nice, mystical, ancient feel to it that I can’t get enough of. It’s just so cool

And the way that the way that the vision upon touching the vault happens is fascinating as well. I do have to commend them on the presentation for it, because it’s so trippy and unsettling. The fact that it plays those scenes out in a black void, repeating endlessly, for an 8 hour timeslot is probably the most clever use of the game mechanics I’ve seen from them yet. You really do feel like you’re going crazy seeing Rakepick killing Rowan over and over while Merula taunts you

It’s just a shame that the confrontation afterwards with Rakepick is so generic. Oh no, everyone gets bodied except for MC who turns a spell Rakepick taught them back at her while Rakepick taunts like a cartoon villain about how she didn’t even know Rowan’s name, even though she was totally Rowan’s teacher for a fucking year and graded their essays. Wow. So cool. Very threatening

So, I guess that’s basically all I have to say about Y6. It’s kind of a mess, but I can appreciate how cool the presentation on the Sunken Vault was, at least, and I don’t hate the concept of the Circle as a whole, just a lot of the writing decisions involved in it

---------------------------------------------------

Now, for Y7...

Yeah, no. Hold on, lemme just...

Let’s see how that actually went, shall we?

Yeah, that’s what I fucking thought. One-Depulso Dwyn sent her flying into that damn fountain and no one can tell me otherwise. Get dunked, you insufferable wretch

Anyway, what was I talking about? Oh, yeah, Y7

So I hate Corey. Like, a lot. I find them so insufferably stupid and annoying. “Oh, I’ll cast FUCKING BOMBARDA in the Library and get us sent to detention so that you can learn wandless magic from the House Elves.” You colossal dumbass. You moron. My dorm is NEXT TO THE KITCHEN. Walking in to talk to the elves without being in detention has NEVER been a problem. Pitts likes me! You’d risk getting the Head Boy and Head Girl in trouble for NO REASON? This was so avoidable! Madam Pince doesn’t deserve this!

And then they don’t shut up about the Wizard Sherlock Holmes knockoff. It’s every word out of their mouth. “Oh, this is just like Detective Conebrush and Auror Persimmons!” No, actually, this is reality. Shut the fuck up. What gets me is Corey talking about how the first person you suspect in a mystery novel is always a red herring type stuff, so I had Seren respond that they should just stick to the facts rather than, you know, assume that reality will follow the rules of a mystery novel. Then later, Corey has the audacity to say “well, you didn’t want to follow what Conebrush and Persimmons do so you probably don’t want to review the facts, but...” NO DUMBASS. That is NOT what I said. Reviewing the facts is one thing, but acting like real life is going to follow fictional tropes is another

And I’m sure all of this is just getting to me so much because we literally just met Corey and the narrative is already acting like we’re best friends. We’re not. I do not like you. I do not understand why we are expected to trust you when we have literally never heard of you before and clearly your grasp of reality is dangerously weak. Leave me alone, let me go slam Merula into the fountain again and if you get in my way, you’re going in, too. I’m not obligated to be your friend just because Dumbledore decided we were Head Boy and Girl

The only thing Corey brings to the table for me is Conebrush and Persimmons, both because I had my Jacob be a huge mystery novel buff, but he was raised Muggle so he probably wouldn’t have heard about it, and if he did he’d probably either be ranting about how it’s just a wizard ripoff of Sherlock Holmes with the names changed around OR he’d be really into it and coming up with crossover fanfics, and because the Detective/Auror pairing is legit just future Jacob, Seren, Talbott, and Tonks

And as a final point, I’m so mixed on the internships thing they’re doing. It’s just like with the Circle of Khanna, I like the idea but the execution is just???

Why does it seem like only select students get picked for the internships rather than this being a thing open to the student body? Is this Dumbledore favoritism for the plot-important characters? The writers could have done whatever they wanted for Y7 since the books never covered what the typical year looks like, so I can’t understand why they decided to make this seem like a big exception thing rather than just dictating that all Y7 students get to do internships. And the students picked are so random, too, and it reads like they were picked regardless of what they wanted to do, necessarily? It’s so bizarre

This one actually stands out to me more in hindsight thanks to another game about teens/young adults in a magic school that I play, Twisted Wonderland. That game is set in a 4-year magic academy, but the 4th year students all go off-campus to do independent research/internships and only come back to campus for big events and presentations. I think the way that HPHM is handling it would have always bothered me, but it bothers me even more now that I have another game to compare it to doing basically the same thing but better

Canonically, students are encouraged to pick a career that they intend to work towards before Year 6 so that their class schedule can be tailored to what NEWTs they need for that profession. So, logically, most of the student body would have had to have locked in something (with those undecided and taking a general course list probably being the minority). Wouldn’t it make more sense, then, to have students automatically be signed up for internships for jobs that their class schedules would lead them towards (i.e. Charlie and Liz both have Magizoology class schedules, so they both get signed up for internships in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and the Magical Creature Reserve so they can try out different forms of Magizoology, like the hunting and containing aspect vs. the research and care aspect). Rather than, like... the Ministry randomly requesting specific students for no reason?

This would also solve the whole “why is Talbott, who has always claimed that he wanted to be an Auror, not in the Auror internships when he should have locked Auror into his class schedule, but IS in the St. Mungo’s internship when he’s never shown any inclination towards being a Healer” issue. All they’d have to do is say that, due to the significant overlap in needed classes, that he’s in both groups to try the careers out or something. Or they could just, like... have him be in the Auror group like he should be and if they really need the whole swan Patronus plot in St. Mungo’s they can make an excuse, like he was delivering something to Penny/Chiara when he saw it and keeps sneaking back in to investigate it

If this is a school-sponsored function, then why do MC and Tonks have to find their own Floo Powder and fireplace? If the faculty is shipping us off to be Hogwarts representatives, shouldn’t they be providing Floo Powder and letting us use one of the school fireplaces? Like, especially the one in Dumbledore’s office! Who the hell is like “good news, kids! I signed you up for this thing you have to go to! What? Transportation? Do it yourself, I can’t be bothered!”

And then there’s the whole introduction to it. Moody hold us up for, like, a minute and suddenly everyone’s gone and they’re nowhere to be seen? What??? Why didn’t the person in charge of the internship group wait? Take a head count and see if all of the listed students were there? Hello? Did you all just sprint off the second Tonks arrived like “haha funny prank, let’s ditch MC!”

And why did Moody feel the need to stop us before going to the Ministry if he’s our goddamned Ministry boss for the day? Like, dude, wait three minutes and they’ll drop me off in your office and you can take me aside and say what you need to then. We went through SO MUCH BULLSHIT because of you. And I get it, I get that it’s because the writers have no idea how to string sequences together and they needed an excuse for MC to get separated from the group so that they can find Impostor Amos Diggory and be introduced to Umbridge. There were way better ways to do that. Hell, all they’d have to do is have us get sent to the Auror office, Moody does his spiel about R agents in the Ministry, and then tells MC to deliver paperwork to Umbridge as a first task. Says to check the All-Purpose Room because she should be coming out of a meeting there soon. MC meets Not!Amos (and is actually suspicious of him because CHRIST, CHILD they are SO DUMB in canon when they meet him acting definitely off), but they have a job to do and can’t dwell on it. Not!Amos tells them they missed Umbridge, but gives them her office number, then we have the intro to Umbridge

There, problem solved.

Complaints aside, I do actually like how the internship stuff is structured from a gameplay perspective. The shorter tasks are a welcome reprieve and it feels like they’re all really unique. You basically get a mini story on the side. I dunno, I just think they’re a fun little break from the endless class grinding so far. Though maybe I only like it so much because these first few assignments have been for the Auror office and I find it unendingly hilarious that Moody personally trained Seren as an Auror only for her to immediately go “fuck the Ministry,” open up a private detective’s office with her brother, and use that training to make the Auror’s office look bad. And then she starts dating Auror Talbott. Can you imagine from Moody’s perspective? “She takes my secrets, she betrays my trust, and now she’s got one of my men wrapped around her finger!” The fucking drama, I love it

[missnight0wl]

The fact that the plot is so predictable that it was already said by the fans years before that happened. I've been saying for two years that MC's father would be R's leadrer. For two years. People laughed at me... They said "nah, too predictable". Wow. The writer's quality is one of the worst I have ever seen...

You know what this reminds me of? This post.

A plot should be predictable. This is why people like mystery stories: because predicting what will happen is fun. Complaining about being too predictable is what gave us the problem of “exceeding expectations” where the creators stopped caring about keeping their stories logical. It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t make sense; it only matters to shock the audience, right? Well, guess what. Most people actually hate this fucking trend.

I remember people claiming that Merula being the mole was something “too obvious” and “too predictable”. I still don’t agree with that, and I still love this reveal. I really don’t give a damn about it being "too obvious" if it works so well for so many things we learnt in the past: Merula suddenly being interested in the Cursed Vaults, claiming that she knows what happened to Jacob back in Y2, finding Jacob’s room, stealing something from his room… I said it in the past, but I’ll say it again: complaining about Merula being the mole as “too obvious” is like putting cocoa beans, sugar, and milk into a mug and complaining that you got some cocoa. Sure, getting some tea could be more exciting, but I’d also want to know what the hell happened with my other ingredients.

Of course, JC totally fucked up the execution of this reveal while moving on. But it’s a separate problem.

Also, we admittedly can have a problem of a plot being too predictable, but frankly, I don’t think it’s even that big problem in HPHM. I think we should keep in mind that it’s a mobile game and its main audience is young teenagers. A lot of the players treat it as a pretty casual distraction. Yes, I do enjoy analysing little details placed here and there, but I don’t expect everyone to notice them. And I don’t think it should be necessary to figure out the plot.

That being said, Peregrine is like… A TOTALLY different issue. I really can’t say it was “predictable” when there’s literally nothing in the plot to base such predictions on. The idea of MC’s father being the leader of R started circulating in the fandom only because people were like: “Well, they don’t talk about the father at all, so they have to have some big plans for him”. And while I can’t talk for people who laughed at you, I always found this reasoning ridiculous because… no, it didn’t mean that they HAD TO have some big plans for MC’s father. They had every right to end the game without ever mentioning his existence. And I didn’t believe that JC is stupid enough to try to pull this “plot twist” which is not even a plot twist. Because there was nothing in the plot to twist!

So, if you were so certain about MC’s father all this time, it means that you predicted JC’s actions, not the plot. Admittedly, it is some kind of predictability indeed, but it's not about the plot per se. Unless there is something in the plot I totally missed and that helped you with your conclusion. Then let me know, please. But if you ask me, we’d have to have at least two elements for that:

MC mentioning their father at any point,

any kind of hints of R knowing MC very closely, like references to their childhood dog or a favourite toy or something like that.

Also, let’s take a look at another example: Merula’s Unbreakable Vow. Merula being somehow manipulated by R is totally predictable, but I’m also perfectly fine with that because we have a solid basis to support this reveal:

we know from Duncan that he and Jacob were blackmailed into helping R, and R threatened all of Jacob’s loved ones,

we had Merula’s poor attempt at being “better” in Y5, yet we know that she continued to work for R, so we can conclude that it’s not related to her feelings about MC,

moreover, we know Merula continued working for R even after Rowan’s death, meaning that R had to have something really serious to control her.

However, the Unbreakable Vow is NOT predictable for the plot! Merula never implied that she knows anything about Unbreakable Vows, she didn’t really talk about being forced to do things you don’t want to, or about the danger of making promises or, I don’t know… that some people are at risk of death even if they’re avoiding dangerous situations. The Unbreakable Vow IS predictable for JC, though. Because JC loves to turn Merula into a victim to make her “redeemable”. And what's a better way to turn her into a victim than giving her a literal death sentence?

Well, it's not that great, because the Vow has a very obvious loophole, which is an excellent example of the plot being TOO predictable. And I’m not fine with that. But I digress. Back to MC’s father...

Just like JC could’ve used absolutely anything else other than an Unbreakable Vow to explain how R controls Merula, they could’ve used absolutely anything else to explain the father's absence in MC’s life. Hell, they could’ve left it unexplained at all! And it had no influence on the plot! So, again, I just don’t see how it’s a predictable plot.

Basically, a predictable plot means that the writers put “2+3” in their writing and leave it to you.

Too predictable plot is saying: “Here’s 2 and here’s 3. Here’s the equation: 2+3. Now, sum these two numbers and you might get something else… Like another number… But we didn’t tell you that!”.

Peregrine, on the other hand, is “2+a duck”. You might assume that “a duck” means 3 because it seems the easiest answer. But “a duck” can also mean 1, it can be a fraction, a root, or an irrational number. And you can’t predict that.

I’m sorry, but I just don’t think I can agree with you overall. You can say a lot about JC’s writing, but I don’t think that being too predictable is a problem here. In fact, I’d say the story is often not predictable enough because JC tends to ignore the most logical options of any development. And then, the only example you gave is not even really about the plot being predictable, at least in my opinion. It’s actually much closer to that damn “exceeding expectations” trend. And look at that! People hate it once again.

[rinamoe]

**** Hogwarts Mystery Year 6 Chapter 45+ Spoilers / Theories

I've got some theories on the whole Merula is the mole thing. I've been reading some on tumblr when I finished the chapter. But also thought of some I havent seen, so I wanted to compile a list of all my theories.

1. Merula is the mole but she isn't doing it for bad reasons.

• When you think about how Merula has always viewed the MC as competition, its a no brainer to think she would play the MC for a chance to become more powerful. BUT during the course of 6 years their relationship has grown closer and she was even able to be the MC love interest several times. She also flirted with the MC and becomes shy when talking about crushes. She was also struck with revenge in wanting to avenge Rowan. And even almost killed Rakepick during the last cursed vault but was stopped by Jacob. I think if she was willing to kill someone whos in an organization she's so called committed to she would've been put to death had they found out. Merula could easily be trying to use R as a way to gain more power then betray them. She also used the truth potion to try to convince MC she wasn't the mole.

2. Merula is actually the mole

• Merula although I love her could actually be the mole. She could have been faking her relationship with the MC this whole time as a way to get closer to her without seeming too desperate. Notice key things like the fact that R has to somehow convince MC to join them. R knows the MC is powerful, impressionable, and want to use her. What better way to get someone to pretend to be her friend. Someone the MC trusts enough but wouldn't be suspicious about. Because Merula over the years before R was mentioned has always disliked MC. So Merula being caught hanging around shady people or being mean to her sometimes wouldn't be suspicious. As well as even though we have known Merula, amd could date Merula since year 6. We still dont have a friendship with her in the tab to gain friendship. So even if in game MC says she thinks of Merula as a friend, it can be the game showing that Merula never thought of MC as a friend and probably never will because she was betraying the MC. This is my least favorite theorie I've thought about since the last chapter of year 6 but it may be the one the game pushes.

3. Merula is being framed

• The option Merula stans around the world are praying and begging for. I have seen this theory a lot as well as thought about it myself. Merula could be being framed two ways Ive thought of.

Sitaution 1 : Someone is using a polyjuice potion to pretend to be Merula in front of R. This obviously means it has to be someone close to her because they need to consistently be collecting her hair/dna. And I say consistently because the dark witch who met 'Merula' said, "Late as usual". Which means they have been meeting up a few other times in order for the dark witch to inquire that 'Merula' is always late. This can be due to the imposters bad puncture OR because they have to sneak around since they're pretending to be someone else and are careful they aren't seen, which can lead to them being late. In this case R doesn't know that this isn't the real Merula Snyde but someone pretending to be her because of her obvious reputation of wanting to be powerful and being mean to the MC.

Situation 2: Merula is being framed BUT only that time during the last chapter of year 6. What if the mole knew that Mundungus Fletcher is somewhat of a friend of MC and purposely leaked information where he could find it and warn the MC. This would have had to be planned because the only way to pretend to be someone else is through a polyjuice potion. It also has to be someone like Jae or Ben who have connections to him or was with MC when doing deals. Dont forget once Ben turned into a 'bad boy' he was said to be hanging around the shady parts to 'find Rakepick.' Also on the topic of Ben, he was one of the friends who said they should disband the circle of Khanna. Ben knows R is out to get MC and that Rakepick wasn't the only member involved. And he knows about the hostage too. Which makes Ben a big suspect.

OR the dark witch was specifically asking around to make the MC interested in tailing them so that the MC could PURPOSELY overhear them talking. This still requires a polyjuice potion so they planned this at least a month in advance. But the dark witch and the imposter knew that the MC would be at the meeting place (which even though no one was around still in the public). All they had to do was pretend as if they're Merula and leave. Which we all know ployjuice potion wears off pretty quickly, and their meeting was quick then they left together.

This last one is the one I'm hoping for the most of course since I am a huge Merula stan and she deserves better honestly. She had this character growth and development, as well as shes always been a lobe interest and personally involved in lots of side challenges. (Unlike Ben a big suspect) Basically throwing her progress away by making her be actually working for R would be such a bad decision on JC part.

Also adding: Ben personality change could be his real personality all along. He probably didnt plan for Rowan to die or maybe he did.... Rakepick was aiming for Ben but if Ben was working for R and is powerful like they're making it seem he probably would have doged that attack but Rowan got in the way. Unless he also knew Rowan was following them and suspected they would get involved.

As well as another personality change, Merula. This and her newly aquired skill, wandless magic is what makes her look like a suspect. Since the books on wandless magic are in the restricted section at school that would mean Merula would have had to have access to 'illegal' books. Although since her parents are in Azkaban they probably had owned 'illegal' books and such at her home already. But then that begs the question why did she just learn it now and not the previous summer's going home? Why now when she's being caught in cahoots with R members? As well as shes acting much more mature but as well as distant. She came to the new school year celebration late. And also according to the MC been hard to track down.

I hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts on what I think is happening with Merula in Hogwarts mystery! Id love to hear what you think. Ive been playing this game since it came out but this was so interesting i had to make a blog to talk about year 7

[furiouspancakethesequel]

I'm sorry Merula is what now

[zuulosdovah]

being a sea urchin would be a blessing at this point

[adellovesrowan]

D-dude... wh-What if... the only reason Rowan stopped being a dating option... was because... they were planned to die?

they stopped becoming a dating option and a FRIEND because they were planned to come out as a traitor later HA GOTTEM

[carewyncromwell]

[HPHM] Merula Snyde Playlist

suggested by @nikyiscreepy // featuring Camren Bicondova as Merula

   “Rotten to the Core” ~ Descendants

“Something For Nothing” ~ Rush

“What is This Feeling?” ~ Wicked the musical

“There Are Worst Things I Could Do” ~ Grease

“Someone Like You” ~ Jekyll and Hyde the musical

“Crossing the Line” ~ Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventures

“Please Don’t Leave Me” ~ P!nk

“(What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You) Stronger” ~ Kelly Clarkson

“I’m the Best (explicit)” ~ Nicki Minaj

Merula Snyde -- the self-proclaimed “most Powerful Witch at Hogwarts” in her day -- was Carewyn Cromwell’s main rival at school. From the moment they first collided, it was clear that the mean-spirited bully and the overly sensitive outcast were going to butt heads, regardless of them both being Sorted into Slytherin. Carewyn hated how cruel Merula could be and how she felt the need to put others down just to make herself feel strong. Merula hated Carewyn for how saintly she acted, and as they got older and Carewyn became more popular and put on more of a stoic, paragon affect, she only resented “Little Miss Perfect” all the more. To add insult to injury, Carewyn even ended up befriending Merula’s old friends, Tulip Karasu and Barnaby Lee, and they both looked happier in Carewyn’s company than they’d ever been in Merula’s previously. When Patricia Rakepick entered the picture, however, Merula thought she’d finally found someone she could look up to and who actually believed in her. Rakepick saw her potential and encouraged it, and for the first time in Merula’s life, she felt her bitterness and anger about how much life had always screwed her over starting to dissipate. She saw things more rationally and saw how letting her old rivalry with Carewyn was potentially preventing her from using her old rival’s knowledge to her advantage -- and so before going to the Portrait Vault, Merula approached Carewyn about what to expect. The two ended up finding some common ground half-way through -- wanting to break the Portrait Curse -- and even ended up coming to a truce. After Rakepick’s betrayal in the Portrait Vault, however, Merula was very badly hurt, and as was typical for the “Most Powerful Witch at Hogwarts,” when she was in pain, she shut down and lashed out. She didn’t need help and she didn’t need friendship -- all Merula wanted was to make Rakepick suffer for having actually made her think that someone might understand her and that they cared. But when Rakepick returned and ended up murdering Rowan Khanna, Merula once again was shaken to her core -- for at the deepest part of herself, however much she claimed she didn’t care about or need anyone else, she truly didn’t want anyone to die. She did care about them: even if what Rakepick said about her being “no one’s favorite” was true, it didn’t change the fact that Merula herself did have favorites...people she was terrified of losing. And one of those people -- amazingly -- was her old rival, Carewyn Cromwell, who after Rowan’s death had come very close to committing suicide by denying herself food and drink and eventually shutting herself up in a closet with no intention of ever leaving it again. Merula was one of those, alongside Ben Copper, Bill and Charlie Weasley, and Carewyn, who was most instrumental in the formation of the Circle of Khanna. Despite Merula and Carewyn’s baggage making it difficult for them to ever call each other their friend, the two Slytherin witches nonetheless learned how to work together toward a common goal, and they understand each other in some ways better than any friend could, as neither of them feels much of an urge to pull any punches around each other. Whenever Carewyn needs someone who can challenge or “check” her, Merula is the best person to do it, and of course Carewyn’s high standards and ideals push Merula in a similar way. They truly have become better people around each other, simply by having to interact at all. As adults, the two ex-rivals will even get together for a cup of coffee now and again, when Merula’s passing through London between Cursebreaking expeditions. 

[mizutoyama]

Merula?!

I have theories, but I’ll wait a bit.

[benscursedkid]

alr look,,, merula isnt my absolute fav but my mc was finally starting to like her and thot they were genuinely friends and now you wanna—you’re gonna tell me that she—merula really—i—no. no. just no.

*proceeds to splutter in tags*

[heleneplays]

y6c45 really gave me my rights

[hphm-elysia]

i’ll be damned

[missnight0wl]

Who do you think is the divebomber mentioned in year 6?

I read your message shortly after I woke up, and for some reason, I had a really hard time processing the word “divebomber”. But I assume you’re talking about a flier diving into the Black Lake, right?

Well, first of all, Y6 wasn’t the first time when something like that happened. There was a very similar situation in Y4. I actually made a rant post about it a while ago, so you can check it here.

Either way, it was suggested that this person was the mole, and I agree that it seems quite likely – which would mean that it was Merula. It also makes sense that it was her back in Y4.

Another candidate could be Ben. If you follow my theories, you might know that I believe that Ben knows about Merula being the mole at least since early Y6 and that they’re scheming something together. Ben diving into the Black Lake could be related to that. Let’s keep in mind that Merula forced us to take her to the Sunken Vault and to take Ben as the third person. So, it wouldn’t be surprising at all if he was involved more actively even earlier.

As for Y4, it could’ve also been Ben as we know he was controlled by R then. Though, would they really need someone under the Imperius Curse to do that? I dunno, personally, I think Merula still makes more sense. Perhaps it was Merula in Y4, but Ben in Y6?

Interestingly, in the “Wizarding World Famous” SQ, Madam Hooch said:

Though, to be completely honest, I’m not sure if we should view it as very meaningful in the context of the Black Lake incident as it was kind of the theme of the quest that MC was choosing between praising themselves or their friends. So, it might be a coincidence, an actual hint, or even a red herring.

Alternatively, the flier was Rakepick. She was at Hogwarts in Y4, and we don’t really know where was she in Y6. So technically, she could’ve snuck to the Black Lake. The thing is that I simply don’t really see Rakepick in this situation. I dunno, maybe it’s just me. Besides, I always believed that she already knew most things about the Cursed Vaults, so I’m not even sure if she had a reason to do it.

Also, can I just say that it always felt a bit odd to me, purely from a technical point of view? Like, what exactly the flier was trying to achieve here? I mean, you can’t really discover much by flying close to the surface of the Lake or even diving a bit into the water. So, were they actually trying to dive deeper? And then like… swim on a broom? Turning it into some kind of an underwater jet-ski? Seriously, while I like the mystery of this plotline and that it comes back after Y4… I just think the idea alone is a little bizzare 😅

[rose-vanderan]

Spoilers for year 6, chapter 30 and on

My money for the mole is on one of three friends:

•Tulip

I just don't really trust her right now, more a gut feeling than anything to be honest. It could be because they haven't really been doing anything with her. Never really made her a date option so maybe can use her as a fail safe "here's the mole you probably don't like her anyways" type of situation

•Ben

We still have yet to be really given any information on all of those letter swapping and writing he's been doing since what 2nd year? Him writing an "important" letter is why he was almost late for the portkey into the portrait vault. He kept having memory problems back in 5th year (because he was most likely oblivated by Peter) because he was probably being used for something. Not to mention his 180 personality switch.

•Talbott

I mean, they're making him more and more invested into the plot. I'm just throwing it out there we never know. Plus it'd be a shock if maybe he's been lying the whole time.

If they're gonna run the "friend betraying you" type of route that is of course, because otherwise they're gonna do some shit like Alanza (which is pretty cheap) or like obviously choice of Peter, considering he spent 70% of his time running away from Percy in year 5.

I'm really hoping Alanza is just a red herring because throwing in someone for the sole purpose of "betraying" us ain't gonna cut it. Especially when a lot of us are already sus about her

I know Talbott is a romance option which normally would take him out of the picture buuuuuuuut I'm leaving him on the list because I don't trust Jam City because I definitely wasn't expecting them to straight up kill a kid in front of me

As for Ben, if it is him I don't think it's a case of him doing it willingly let's be honest. If he's been working with "R" and he had his personality change in Year 6 like that, they might have threatened him and/or hurt his family.

If they do adults obviously Bilton, Peter ("look guys that's obviously the mole" "that's a rat MC" *everyone agrees MC is stupid*)

Merula could have potential been a Mole for Rakepick but after her betrayal in the Portrait Vault I doubt she'd be anymore if she was

YOU KNOW JAM CITY WE'RE A NATURAL BORN LEGILIMENS THAT'S A VERY USEFUL SKILL RIGHT ABOUT NOW!

[weirdcursedvaultkid]

Because my kid niece came up with that explanation? And she isn't the most clever cookie around...

i feel its too simple still! like yes that could be the explanation but its not as fUN

[cursebreaker-lilith]

honestly on the mole thing....it was foreshadowed enough in the very early years that i believe it was an original plot pt from when jam city first did their plot outline. its just that the execution was considerably lacking lol

for my fic...well ngl im probably rewriting the plot of yr 6 on the whole since i am NOT killing rowan off (i always planned a death in year 6 actually, but it was jacobs aha) but in regards to merula....

i dont think it was confirmed but i like the hc that her aunt was the dark witch she apparated away with. so back in yr 1 R had an interest in lili and merula was told by her aunt to befriend or otherwise get close to her to see if she'd go after the vaults. lili didnt want to, but merula planted the idea to in her head after being told to do so by her aunt (woohoo stuff that accidentally works with things you come up with later). after that, merulas orders were just to follow lili and note whatever she did. merula also went after the vaults herself bc shes merula lol

but the years go on. merula gains friends and people she doesnt hate who dont treat her awfully like her aunt. she knows she *has* to stay loyal to her aunt and R but she finds her loyalties shifting (this is where my hc that bill takes his duties as curse breaking apprentice seriosuly and takes the time to befriend her properly. also she reconnects with tulip and they get into a flirty type not-relationship). and then the portrait vault happens and she gets crucio'd

merula was not expecting that. she knew rakepick was a part of R. she expected to be safe, but rakepick went rogue (or whatever, im still figuring *her* story out lol) and merula got hurt. she was angry, but told to suck it up by her aunt. meanwhile the people she was supposedly against were the ones trying to comfort her. she has a whole crisis while being her prickly self and eventually outs herself as R's mole in hogwarts bc smthin smthin her friends are her family etc