#just because someone likes the story of a group of teenagers with magic wands doesn't mean they're gonna attack you for being trans wtf

[hard--headed--woman]

?? isn’t it a bit dramatic. isn’t it fucking dramatic. like is it really what oppression, discrimination and systemic violence are for you? wow you're lucky.

[missnight0wl]

Imagine Rakepick is in love with Jacob and is helping MC's out love for him because she also wants to find him ??? Imagine she doesn't want anyone to know that's why she's so mysterious about their relationship and keeps saying she doesn't know him. They probably bonded when they searched for the cursed vaults. It would be an amazing plot twist lol

Thank you so much for this ask! I hope it’s all right that I’m answering this publicly, but I have so many feelings and thoughts when it comes to Rakepick and Jacob that it’s just a great opportunity to talk about it. Also, I apologize in advance that I might take it more seriously than you intended. To the point though.

To be honest, it’s not that far from how I imagine their relationship. I wouldn’t say she’s in love, mostly due to the age difference. We don’t really know how old was our brother when they met, or even WHEN they met, but I assume that the most fitting option for the whole story is Jacob being born in 1966. That would mean that he’s ten years younger than Patricia. And you know, it’s not a tragedy (heck, my own mother is nine years older than my father), however, in our situation, Jacob was likely 16-17 and Patricia was 26-27 when they met, which is sort of… yeah. Still, I do strongly believe that they were close and that it has a huge impact on the relationship between Rakepick and MC. And it feels so important and interesting to me, yet it’s just so underappreciated by the players.

To begin with, I think they were both intrigued by each other. We know Patricia has a keen eye for talented people, and we hear all the time how skilled Jacob was. Also, some time ago I wrote the analysis of Rakepick comparing MC to herself. If I’m right and “one person before” was indeed Jacob, it’d mean that she also acknowledged his potential – and it really says something coming from her. Jacob, on the other hand, was probably fascinated by all the things he could learn from Rakepick. She’s powerful, she already knew a lot about the Cursed Vaults, possibly also about R. Maybe he had a teenage crush on her as well – because c’mon, who hasn’t, right? (Just kidding… or am I?)

Anyway, I imagine they’ve become attached to each other, they started trusting each other. I do believe that one of the reasons Patricia cares about MC now is because she cared about Jacob before. Moreover, I think she sees it as her mistake, and that’s why her behaviour towards us is sometimes inconsistent. On the one hand, she saves our life. But then, she sends us to the Forbidden Forest to face the Chimaera. She lends us her Niffler, then she uses us to steal from Filch. She mentors us, she breaks our wand etc. She both cares and pushes us away. Perhaps she didn’t push Jacob away enough, and it made them both weaker. Rakepick definitely doesn’t look like a person who feels comfortable with an emotional attachment to anyone.

This isn’t actually the idea I got after finding the notebook revealing their partnership. I had similar thoughts already after learning that our favourite Curse-Breaker had a young assistant in the past. You can get this information in Y4Ch3. I didn’t choose it myself, but when I’ve heard about it, it really intrigued me. I was assuming for a long time that this person had to have a bigger role, and now with Jacob’s news, it makes even more sense, in my opinion.

If you keep in mind that Patricia and Jacob knew each other, some things really start to look differently. For example, MC’s relationship with Sickleworth. Sure, it is said that Jacob’s sibling is good with creatures, but isn’t it peculiar that we get so well with this adorable Niffler basically right away? Like, MC literally has dialogues with him, they understand each other without words. It really makes more sense to me if Sickleworth recognised Jacob in MC and continued the close bond they had. And Patricia loves Sickleworth, so of course, she’d be more willing to get closer to someone accepted by her child. Or maybe it was the other way around.

Another thing involving Rakepick and Sickleworth: on the map of the Forbidden Forest we found in the Vault of Fear, there was written R. You know, like our main antagonist. But during the fourth year we also found this note about the arrowhead:

Why it had to be buried, in the magical world with so many possibilities of hiding? Perhaps so it had to be discovered by a Niffler? And not any Niffler, a trained one and particularly obedient to its owner. So, could R on the map be for “Rakepick” as a clue to who will help us…?

(And no, I don’t think Jacob was hiding it from Rakepick, as it was fairly easy for Sickleworth to find it.)

There’s also “The Letter From No One” theory. In short, it’s possible that Rakepick came back to Hogwarts in our year 4 because at some point during year 3 Jacob got into captivity and couldn’t protect MC any longer. This would mean they were still working together, in a way, all that time. And you know, Patricia had one interesting line after spotting Pettigrew on the Marauders’ Map:

Notice the expression “under my watch”. Sure, she might’ve been talking about being our teacher and/or mentor, yet I can’t help but feel it’s not the only “obligation” to protect us she has.

I’m still not certain why she keeps denying the things we found in Jacob’s notebook; however, the best explanation that comes to my mind is that Jacob asked her for it and/or she does it to protect him somehow. I mean, she could be hiding her own dirt, but then again, she could just ignore us – like she usually does, it won’t be the first time for her to say “I’m not telling you anything” – instead of actively assuring us it’s not true.

All of the above being said, I have to admit that I enjoy the idea of them getting together eventually, like during the Second Wizarding War – romantically or not. It just seems to me like a good ending for their stories. Because look:

They’re (almost) equally powerful, and Rakepick acknowledges that.

They have a similar experience with the Cursed Vaults (and probably both were closely involved with R). They also lost the best years because of that experience.

They could practice curse-breaking together.

They could take over Knockturn Alley. I mean, this one was pretty much done already, if we want to believe those quotes from the game:

“Rakepick is the most frightening thing in Knockturn Alley…”

“From what the teachers say, your brother became one of the most feared wizards in Knockturn Alley.”

As I mentioned, Sickleworth is likely fond of Jacob. And hey, if a man is accepted by your beloved pet, he must be a keeper, right?

Imagine Rosmerta seeing sweet quiet Jacob with that Rakepick woman. In fact, imagine anyone’s reaction to that relationship. People keep telling us how Jacob was likeable and thoughtful and all – at least the ones who knew him better. But there’s no way he’ll be the same after the Vaults. He also apparently didn’t have a group of close friends to support him, unlike MC. As far as we know, Patricia might be the only person to understand the mess of his life.

I’m sorry it turned out to be so long, but I just feel it deserves attention (I put links to some of my other posts to not make it even longer). If you ask me, Jacob and Rakepick are probably the most important characters in the story. So yeah, I kind of hope my assumptions will turn out to be true, at least the part about their relationship before the current events. The hints are already in the game.