#petunia says she was constantly doing magic when she came back from hogwarts

[jegulily-stuff]

Lily Evans has the national record for illegal use of underage magic, the Ministry was just too busy with the war to bother stopping her

[lilytakeharryandgo]

STOP ROMANTICISING SEVERUS SNAPE - A MANIFESTO

“Albus Severus Potter, you were named after two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a great strategist, the other one was a racist, hateful, bitter, scary bastard. Voldemort must have damaged some brain cells when killing the Horcrux inside of me.”

Now that I have Snape fans raging and screaming for blood, here’s my show of evidence:

If the boring, same argument brought up by Marauders stans is Snape being a Death Eater, I know it’s basic, but it’s basic for a reason: it’s true. Supporting Voldemort doesn’t mean you support his ideas? I’m sorry, what did he support? The Dark Lord’s contouring skills? It is a truth universally acknowledged that joining a group of racists and following them in perpetrating crimes does make you a racist and a criminal.

JK Rowling herself said that Death Eaters are an analogy to Nazis, Marauders stans are not making this up. Are you questioning what JK ROWLING said? Because you know, she is JK ROWLING.

We know it was Snivellus that created the Levicorpus. He must have used it against the Marauders in order for them to learn it. And let’s just remember that “Snape’s worst memory” takes place after the Shrieking Shack’s incident, when dear, lovely Severus tried to unmask Remus so that he could be expelled for being a Werewolf. He went down to the Whomping Willow of his own free will, no one forced him, and he supposedly knew what was happening there: he risked his own life only to get Remus expelled. Yes, it was Sirius who thought it would have been funny to lure him to the Shrieking Shack where Lupin was due for his transformation, and that was wrong. However, why did he do that? Because Snape was constantly spying on them. Was it wrong? Definitely, no one is trying to get Sirius out of this one. Still, James saved Snape in time. Did James do that just because he wanted to protect Remus? Most likely: James gave them all a family and he loved his friends and would have done everything for them, and he did. But also, he wouldn’t have let an “innocent” (if we want to call him that) die. So James saved Snape’s life, which dear Half Blood Price seemed deeply ungrateful for later, and yet, Snape constantly tried to get the Marauders expelled from Hogwarts time and time again while using Dark Magic and creating his own dark spells (see the irony?). Stop saying that the Marauders’ actions pushed him to become a Death Eater. As if “Snape never missed an opportunity to curse James” was a lie. As if Snape wasn’t on his way to being a buddying Death Eater by his 5th year. As if Snape hadn’t came up with a curse that slices your body open by his 6th year. As if the Marauders had nothing to do but ruthlessly bully Snape all day and all night, when they actually are described as the brightest as some of the brightest students of their year despite being engaged in loads of other things like the creation of the Marauders Map, becoming Animagus, dealing with Remus’ monthly transformations (because those demonic guys didn’t leave him alone and didn’t report him to get him expelled as someone else was willing to do), James and Remus being responsible enough to be Head Boy and Prefect. Oh, and training for a war and joining the Order once they graduated. Minor things, right? Things they were busy doing in their personal lives such as surviving, living and being happy? Nah, that never happened, their entire life consisted of bullying innocent, poor service teenagers, that was their goal. Snape experienced one side of the Marauders (and we read that from his own pov, so it’s a little biased too): that is not a deciding factor of whether or not they (and especially James) are good people. He was so fascinated with the Dark Arts, even after Lily’s death and hence his presumed redemption, that Dumbledore did not appoint him as Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. Snape’s apologetics make it sound like the Marauders made Snape’s life hell every minute of everyday and he was the poor victim who was not capable of standing up to himself against those horrible demonic creatures, but he was the one inventing the Sectumsempra and using it against James, against George. Only a truly tormented person could have invented such a bloody spell. 

So now let’s talk about Remus. Remus, a hero who fought against Voldemort and joined an anti-terrorist resistance organisation when he was just 18 years old, who fought alongside Frank and Alice Longbottom in the Order, is about to start his first class with the third years. Neville is there, of course, Remus knows his parents’ fate, how they were tortured into madness, and probably guessed that Neville’s biggest fear would be similar to what he guessed Harry’s would be. He’s probably planning on stepping in before Bellatrix Lestrange shows up, but then it’s not her, it’s Snape. Snape who insults him in front of his class, Snape who tries to shame him. Can you imagine how he must have felt? Yes, they bullied him, but his best friend James grew up, and what did he get in return? Death. Instead, Snape hasn’t gotten over himself a little and most importantly he does not realise that being a teacher also means being responsible for those children. Snape never changes: he is the same petty, angry, bitter child that he had been in school, except now he’s bullying children half his age instead of yelling racial slurs at his classmates. While Snape is one of his students’ greatest fear, Remus starts off the year by letting his pupils confront their biggest fears. Remus truly, deeply cared about his students, and wait… what did Snape do? He got him fired! But even most achingly than that, just imagine… it’s 1993, Remus is coming back after a rough full moon. He’s feeling down, he’s weak, both physically and emotionally, he’s one more time without his friends by his side, one more time alone as he was before the Marauders became Animaguses to be alongside him to support him during the roughest times (horrible people, isn’t it?). So Remus is coming back to his class of Defense Against the Dark Arts, and his best friend’s son is writing an essay on how to kill him. But Snape didn’t stop there, no, he told the whole Wizarding World that a man who had struggled to keep his condition secret all his life was a Werewolf. He had to withdraw from his position as a professor because of that, and straight after that the Ministry issued a law against Werewolves which made it impossible for Remus to have a job. So, to sum it up, not only he exposed him as a Werewolf, he also condemned him to live in poverty and be persecuted for that reason. Also, quoting, when Remus was trying to explain things in PoA he attacked him and said “I’ll drag the Werewolf, perhaps the Dementors will have a kiss for him too.” James and Sirius were the kind of persons, the kind of friends and brothers, who risked their own life every month for one of his best friends. Think about this: they found out about Remus’ situation when they were just boys in their first years of school, and they didn’t leave him, they decided to help him embarking in something much bigger than themselves. Whereas dear lovely 33 year old Necrophilus told everyone about Remus’ secret and basically had him fired. Sounds angelic, why haven’t I thought about doing something like that before? That would most certainly secure me a spot in heaven!

Do we want to talk about an abusive person? Well, Snape was not just abusive as a person, he abused and took advantage of his position as a teacher (and Head of House too, to reward extra points from the other Houses) to bully his own students (even after his presumed “redemption”). He told Neville he would have given his failed potion to his toad, Trevor, so that the fatal effects of the potion would teach him a lesson. He bullied Neville to the point that he was literally his greatest fear - Neville’s parents were tortured to the point of insanity by Bellatrix, yet Snape was his greatest fear. He also condoned and took part in bullying when Draco cursed Hermione’s teeth to grow. He said he didn’t see any difference, then watched as she ran off crying. From the very start he starts bullying Harry: he perfectly knew he was raised by muggles, he knew how Petunia was and still went on to ask questions that he wouldn’t be able to answer. And after calling Neville and idiot for a mistake that anyone could have made he took points from Gryffindor because Harry didn’t tell him how to do it right - great teaching strategy, let’s nominate him for Most Valuable Teacher. Harry had nothing to do with what went on during Snape’s school years, but he physically resembled James and he was his son, so let’s bully him from the very first second! And honestly, asking an 11 years old Muggle-raised kid the difference between monskshood and wolfsbane in front of everyone on the first day? There is no difference! They are colloquial terms for the same plant. He just wanted the intellectual upper hand over a goddamn little kid. But he didn’t stop there: that resentful git always tried to blame Harry for something even without proof (as most of the time), and he physically abused Harry because he was angry (“Snape threw Harry from him with all his might. Harry fell hard onto the dungeon floor.”). He knew how important it was for Harry to learn Occlumency and he stopped giving him classes and later ignored when Lupin asked him to start them again even when he knew how poorly Harry’s progressed. And he was cruel: he knew Harry was sad about Sirius’ death, and gave him a detention in which he was going to see his and his father’s names multiple times while copying out old detention records. Yes, Harry’s deeds should have called for expulsion, as McGonagall states, but Snape chose something more painful than that. Not only he punished Harry (don’t get me wrong, he almost killed Draco, he deserved detention if not expulsion), but he chose to inflict him more pain and at the same time tried to ruin the memory of Harry’s father figures. Ordinarily, copying out old detention records wouldn’t be worse than writing lines, but Snape vindictively tailored that detention to inflict pain.�� In addition to this, he could have been an awesome teacher if he wasn’t a disgusting waste of a human being. He knew from his teen years that the instructions that the textbooks were giving were not as goos as they could be so he improved the potions and recorded his own methods at 16. Harry himself states what an amazing teacher “the Prince” is. If Snape were not such a horrible person, he could have either written the entire textbooks himself, or taught his students his own alternate methods. Instead he spent his time bullying children. He could have been great and become everything a Slytherin should have been

Snape also saw his friends perform Dark Magic on Mary Macdonald and when confronted by Lily, literally didn’t see any problem with it and compared it with the Marauders’ pranks.

He called Lily, his supposed best friend, a Mudblood. Then he tried to get away with it by saying he didn’t mean it and that she (and only she) was different from the other Muggleborns. And Lily tried, she tried to tell him he was not on the right path, she tried, and she got called a racial slur from the person she trusted the most at the time. And, for the extremist Snape apologetics in the back, who even hate Lily (how can they hate on Lily I don’t know, but apparently these people exist too): Lily Evans did not owe anyone anything. She had the right to cut ties with her friends for any reason she pleased, whatever that’s because she was sick of them or because they were hanging out with a group of terrorists wannabe. She did not owe anyone her love, loyalty or energy. She tried to be Snape’s friend despite his other group of friends (“but Mulciber’s and Avery’s idea of humor is just evil. Evil, Sev. I don’t understand how you can be friends with them”), but there’s canon evidence that Snape chose his Death Eaters friends over Lily’s friendship and safety. It was her choice to cut ties with him after what he and his friends had done (and the racial slur of course, truly a touch of class), and it’s not like he was a good friend to begin with: he called all other Muggleborns “Mudblood” and was canon friends with the people who wanted Lily and other Muggleborns killed, and he even still wanted to be a Death Eater while being her friend. Like, wait here while I go out and slaughter your people, Lils! And if Snape stans are still arguing that he was suffering because he got dumped, that’s another no: he did not get dumped, she just didn’t have romantic feelings for him but was trying so hard to be his friend and he was just a whiny baby about it. Is that a crime? No, it isn’t. Is not getting over it and taking it out on countless kids who weren’t even born instead a crime? Yes, it is.

Also, from the get-go we see him drop a tree branch on Petunia. That shows that he didn’t see a problem in hurting the people Lily loved (seen later in a larger proportion, that’s his tag line). Lily loved her sister, but Petunia was an obstacle between her and Snape, hence, Snape hurt her. And no, that was not accidental underage magic, just as Lily performs magic on the flower, Snape uses magic to cause a tree branch to fall on Petunia. Even as a child he had no qualms about hurting someone Lily loved, this really serves to underscore the idea that Snape, with his so called love for Lily, was not invested in her happiness or wellbeing because he didn’t care about the people she loved. As a child he didn’t care about hurting her sister and at 20 he didn’t care about the imminent deaths of her husband and son. If he truly loved and cared for her, he would have wanted to see her happy. Not even considering how crushed she would have been if her husband and only child were dead, and she was left alone and pregnant in the middle of a war.

Okay so now let’s talk about James. Yes, James was a spoiled brat, and Lily hated him for that, then guess what? He matured, he started protecting the weaker ones and joined the Order along with Sirius, Remus and Lily to fight for a better world. He didn’t hold it against her nor did he sulk for days, he grew up and matured because he was a well adjusted human, unlike some. James Potter was many things other than an “arrogant bullying toerag” (hey, also, well done for trying to destroy a 15-year-old orphan’s memory of his heroic father): he was a friend who risked his life every month for Remus’s safety and comfort. A brother who took Sirius in and was “the best friend he ever had.” An adored friend of half-giant Hagrid, in an age when all “half-breeds” were looked upon with suspicion during the war. An all time “favourite student” of Minerva McGonagall, so much that she waited all day at his son’s future home and wept at his death. A savior of his enemies even when they were trying to expose his friends’ secrets. An activist protecting the right of existence for Muggles, Muggleborns and hybrids right out of school. A soldier who faced Voldemort three times and lived to tell about it. A caring father who went into hiding to protect his son. A loving husband who sacrificed his life for his family. A faded trace of magic still trying to guide his son when the man that killed him returned to life. A young man that inspired so much loyalty in his friends that Remus Lupin, who so feared the idea of harming people because of his condition, was 100% willing to abandon those morals to avenge his death, and would have done so, had Harry not reminded him and Sirius that James would not have wanted them to murder anyone for him. A Patronus helping Harry through his darkest moments until the very end.  James had a friend facing bigotry and he became an illegal animagus to help make that friend’s life better. Snape had a friend facing bigotry and he joined up with the bigots. No one is trying to pretend that James was an angel, but he got better and better until his last breath. And again, that spoiled brat and the love of his life joined the resistance and were martyrs. James, Lily, Sirius and Remus all died for Harry. Are you trying to blame James and Lily for sacrificing their own lives to save their infant son? What terrible parents they were! Their sacrifice was an act of love and wait… actually ended up saving the Wizarding World. The only thing James and Snape had in common was that they would have both sacrificed James’s life in order to save Lily’s. James was the hero, he was the one who faced Voldemort without his wand (pretty dumb thing but he was a Gryffindor, hence no surprise) in order to give his wife and son more time to flee. When he opened that door on Halloween, he thought he was sacrificing his life so that they could live. He literally died wandless perfectly knowing he wouldn’t survive, but facing death for those he loved, hoping he would be able to stall enough time so they could escape. He was never more dedicated in anything in his short life than he was to the loves of his life: he died for Lily and Harry, and would have happily died for Sirius, Remus and Peter. And this is absolutely canon, of course it is: we might not have some explicit description of him but all we know comes from the lives he touched, how they talked / not talked about him, the pain they felt - the seven books are a testament of James and Lily’s love. James Potter was the kind of person that would have been happy to die for love, he would have taken pride in that. How do we know that? Are we making this up? No, we are not: all we have are the words of people who knew him, from his best friends to McGonagall, and who remembered him as a hero. This, albeit indirectly, speaks volume about the kind of person he was. He might have been obnoxious and arrogant as a teenager, but at 21 he died a hero - wandless, alone, betrayed, hopeless, but also bravely and out of love - and nothing can change either of those. Yes, he bullied Snape (let’s be clear here even though I highly doubt Snape did not retaliate) and that is a disgusting attitude. But how can you forgive a 31 year old man for bullying his kids and not a 15 year old boy who bullied one of his definitely not innocent classmates? Who matured and who later died, at the young age of 21, for his wife and son? How can you hate James Potter when as soon as he graduated, he was ready to fight a war against the most powerful wizard of his age? Yes, he had a big head and I am fairly certain he did actually strut - and let’s just take a moment to remember why Harry doesn’t know anything about him… oh, right, Snape went to Voldemort and told him about the prophecy - but he was a caring person, who stood up to what he thought and stood up for his friends and his family. The spoilt boy Snape’s apologetics hate, who grew up to be a great man, who died fighting and protecting, not some emo with a crush and an ego the size of the Great Lake!  Wait, I hear somebody trying to bring up the “we have no real evidence of him becoming a better person” thing. Let me get this straight: James was mentioned to have jinxed other students, not to have bullied them. He did not pick out targets, it was implied to be done at random as it is explicitly stated that he jinxed random people in the corridors. Fred and George pranked other students in the same way, and they would have often have more disastrous effects, but no one calls them bullies. We know that on one known occasion attacks Snape with Sirius at his side and almost pantsed him with a spell of Snape’s own invention. James and Snape had a rivalry, and it was two-sided. It wasn’t James relentlessly hexing poor, innocent Snape, so if you still want to call James Potter a bully, okay, do it, he was a bully bullying a bully. The evidence speaks for itself: he was Head Boy in 7th year (hence I don’t think Dumbledore despised him that much), he was unapologetically a blood traitor, he dated Lily Evans (who hated him for how he was and would have never fallen in love with such a brat, so it’s pretty evident he did actually change), he joined the Order of the Phoenix (an anti-terrorist organisation, at the peak of the war, as a teenager, whereas someone else joins a racist dark cult), he died protecting his wife and child! And if we really, really want to bring the ‘evidence’ thing up… well, we have no evidence he bullied Snape, except for one little incident - I’m fairly certain he did, but let’s play it literally now. And since we are there, we may not have been blessed with more about the Marauders, but Sirius and Remus both tell Harry Lily changed his mind about James because he became a better person, why don’t Snape stans consider that an evidence pro James but “Snape’s worst memory” is their pro Snape pamphlet? That chapter showed us an incident where both Sirius and James were assholes but everyone that was there supported it but Lily. All the other Students supported it because of what the fandom conveniently forgets that Snape loved Dark Arts, disparagingly called Lily a Muggle twice, tried to expose Remus and run around with a group of Death Eater wannabes tormenting Muggleborns all through his school years (he literally says that torturing Mary Macdonald was funny - “That was nothing, it was a laugh, that’s all”), to the point where Lily’s friends and herself questioned their friendship: “none of my friends can understand why I even talk to you. I’ve made excuses for you for years.” And eventually, when questioned by Lily if he wanted to join Voldemort, he couldn’t find any way to lie to her: “you and your precious little Death Eater friends— you see, you don’t even deny it! You don’t even deny that’s what you’re all aiming to be! You can’t wait to join You Know Who can you?”. He literally didn’t find anything wrong with Voldemort’s political position (only the fact that he wanted to kill his obsession, he only had that so called change of heart when it personally affected him as his beloved Dark Lord wanted to kill the object of his lust). So yes, he did join the Death Eaters because he wanted to and was everything he’d always desired. Does this make him a bad person? HELL YES.  

And wait, can somebody remind me why the Potters were forced to hide? Wow, it must have been because Snivellus dearest spilled the tea to his master. So basically it went like this: “Hey Dark Lord! Our adorable group of racists kills Mudbloods for fun, but there’s this filthy Muggle born I fancy, can you please kill her husband and baby so that I can have her?” How the hell could he think Lily could have ever forgiven him? He was totally fine with Dumbledore saving Lily but not her husband and infant son (see how deeply he cared about Lily’s happiness?) and only cared for him being the rebound. James and Harry were totally expendable but hey, bravest man ever known!  

So yes, he protected Harry (in his very own and questionable way, he did), but I’m sorry, that’s not enough. However, before someone says “in the end he cared about Harry” let me say a big, important fact: NAH HE DIDN’T. And not only he didn’t, but he also openly states that: in the Deathly Hallows chapter with the Pensieve, Snape describes Harry as selfish, self-important and arrogant - does it matter than all the other teachers like him and see none of those things? Of course not. And he’s not talking about sassy 4th-6th year Harry (who I really thank for that “there's no need to call me "sir" Professor” gem): Snape is tasing about an 11 year old who was picked on his whole life, who never had a family of his own and who lived in a cupboard under the stairs. He’s a child, an orphan (now tell me what’s that heroic about tormenting an orphan). However, Snape had decided that Harry must be bad news from the start, so he reasonably spends six years making his life as difficult as possible. That’s a great way to honour Lily’s memory, right? Do Snape stans remember what their hero answered when Dumbledore asked if he had grown to care for the boy, after all? He literally shouted “for him?” before casting a Patronus (a little over obsessive too). He felt he owed it to Lily to make sure Harry survives, and for Merlin’s sake, he did! He went to Voldemort and basically condemned the Potters. I’m not saying he is THE reason why they died, that honour goes to the lurid latrine rat, but he is one of them. Protecting Harry was the least he could do. Switching allegiances doesn’t cancel the awful actions before Lily’s death, as much as taking advantage of his position can’t be justified by his loyalty to Dumbledore. And most importantly, he cannot be redeemed by his stalkerish obsession for Lily (or by the creepy ‘look at me I want to die looking into your mother’s eyes,’ ew). All he did was made out of selfishness, even in his quest to redeem himself. Snape had a chance to honour Lily's memory, and disregarded it every single day. He claimed to regret his past, yet his cruelty to Harry was persistent and immature. Plus, loving someone doesn’t redeem terrible deeds. He aligned himself with a terrorist organisation who murdered for sport entirely of his own volition, endorsed the torture of Muggleborns, but of course, what a hero! I will never understand how people continue to use Snape’s obsession with Lily and ‘protecting’ Harry thing as an excuse for all the pain and terror that he inflicted upon small children. Does that mean you’ll excuse a father who continuously hit and emotionally abused his child and made their life a living hell if his excuse was “well I was still protecting them they had their dead mother’s eyes”? This is SICK.

And if you can still argue that “he had a terrible childhood,” that is inarguable, however, it just cannot justify him. Remus was bitten when he was 4, he had no friends until he was 11, lived in constant fear that he was going to be outed as a Werewolf, was forced to turn into a monster every month, lost everyone he loved and lived in poverty for 14 years and still managed to be a decent person. Luna watched her mother die, was picked on by almost everyone, was treated as a freak and only had one friend until she was 14 and still managed to be a decent person. Ginny was literally possessed by Voldemort himself for almost a year, guess what? Decent person too. Neville was constantly told how worthless he was, lived knowing his parents were tortured to insanity and was bullied and belittled by everyone. Decent person? Yes, right again. And do we want to talk about THE lonely kid who was abused his entire life? Sirius was raised and abused by blood supremacists, was disowned by his family, framed for murder (of his best friends, for Merlin’s sake!) and literally lost almost everyone he loved and still managed to be a decent person. He couldn't help the way he was? The environment around him conditioned him to be that way? If I remember correctly, Harry was raised by neglectful relatives, wore ill-fitting clothes, felt inadequate among his peers… Harry is proof that a terrible childhood doesn’t excuse despicable behaviour.

So, Snape hated Neville because he could have been the Chosen One instead of Harry (but it’s definitely on him for going to Voldemort and condemning the Potters), he hated Harry because he was James’s copy and he hated Hermione because she was a Mudblood and brilliant as Lily was. Makes sense, again, and again, it stresses how much of a beautiful person and teacher he was, don’t you think so? Also, had Voldemort picked Neville to kill instead of Harry, Snape would still be a Death Eater. It’s not like he thought being part of a group of supremacists and terrorists was wrong. It wasn’t until something directly affected him that he turned his back to his master - so brave, right? Snape may have done some good for the Wizarding World when he joined the Order, but while he was alive, he was horrible. He wasn't fighting the good fight because he couldn't possibly imagine a world where Voldemort was in charge (honestly, he couldn't have cared less), he was doing it to spare Lily’s life and get her for himself. James and Lily fought for the light because they believed in the light. Snape fought against the dark because the dark had offended him. Had Voldemort gone after the Longbottoms instead, Snape would have lived and died as the most loyal Death Eater in history.

Wait, I hear a “there’s no evidence that Snape voluntarily murdered anyone in his entire life” over there! He joined a group whose aim was genocide and was actually one of the few members which were part of the inner circle of Death Eaters, he didn’t get there by throwing kisses and rose petals around. It is explicitly said that not all Death Eaters actually bore the mark. Only selected wizards can be part of Voldemort’s circle, and not only Snape was part of that circle during the First Wizarding War, but it is also heavily implied that he passed messages from Voldemort more than once. Plus, he was also able to speak directly to Voldemort and even ask him to spare Lily’s life. Voldemort actually told Lily to move over three times before killing her, and he didn’t do that because he had such a kind heart and wanted to spare a Muggleborn’s life, he did that because Snape begged him. And maybe we haven’t read the same books, but it’s not like Voldemort strolled along Diagon Alley offering favours to random people. In addition to this, Snape did most certainly kill someone since Dumbledore compares Draco’s soul to his, meaning he has done remorseless acts of great evil before, hence his soul was already damaged, unlike Draco’s. So please, stop saying Snape was somehow influenced into joining the Death Eaters and never committed any crime: he fully believed in what they pledged and actually longed about being one of them for years (according to Lily). No one manipulated him into joining said group nor into perpetrating crimes. And no one manipulated him into being a horrible person even after he “switched sides.” He’s the one who willingly decides to be a terrorist, he’s the one who willingly decides to abuse children half his age, and he’s the one having the nerve to be awful to Harry when he’s the reason why Harry doesn’t have any parents.

And he was so childish and cruel! He threw a tantrum after discovered he was getting an Order of Merlin and wasn’t going to see Remus and Sirius in jail (even though he knew they were innocent).

There we go: HE KNEW SIRIUS WAS INNOCENT (don’t try to deny it, he was part of the inner circle of Death Eaters, he perfectly knew Sirius was not the one selling the Potters to Voldemort)! Did this matter for him? Of course not! And was Snape cruel and abusive to Harry because he blamed himself for Lily’s death and Harry was a constant reminder of his guilt? Yes, he was. But you know who else blamed himself for the Potters’ deaths and also was constantly reminded of them by Harry, and yet, did not abuse him because of his guilt? That’s right, Sirius. Sirius whose death was indirectly caused by Snape who kept making fun of him for being locked in Grimmauld Place. Sirius who had no problems breaking out of Azkaban, all he had to do was turn into a dog and leave. He could have left anytime he wanted to over those twelve years but he didn’t. You know why? Because he thought he deserved to be there. It was his fault his friends were dead. Everyone could blame him all they wanted with false accusations and it didn’t matter, since to him, changing Peter to the Secret Keeper, he was guilty for his friends’ death and deserved to be in Azkaban. He only broke out when he knew Harry was in danger after seeing that filthy rat on the newspaper. And when he broke into Hogwarts? Do people remember those lines: Hermione said “It’s very lucky he picked tonight, you know,” to which Ron responded “I reckon he’s lost track of time, being on the run. Didn’t realise it was Halloween.” Please, of course he realised it was Halloween, he perfectly knew that. He went after Peter on the anniversary of James and Lily’s death to revenge them and to save his godson. Sirius might have strut as much as James during his teens but again, he turned out to be a decent person.

And think about Harry, a 17-year-old grown up in an abused “family” (and still managed to be a decent person too): he has no memories of his parents, the only thing remained is a photograph. A photograph of a happy little family, showing James and Lily in love with the fruit of their love. Snape found it and ripped off and stole the half with Lily smiling so he could pretend her happiness and love were directed at him and not at her husband and son (yes, people, that disgusting moment actually existed, and it was so creepy Yates couldn’t put it in the movies). He stole Lily’s picture and Lily’s last words from Sirius, a friend she loved, the Potters’ best man, James’ brother. How nasty. What can I say, at least he waited until after Sirius’ death to go to Grimmauld Place and raid his bedroom?

Lovely Snivellus, such a cupcake, also laughed and mocked Tonks when her Patronus changed when she fell in love with Remus (let’s also remember that Tonks’s one was not the same as Remus’s, as stated by Rowling, before Snape stans can accuse me of applying double standards: Remus’s Patronus was a regular wolf, and okay Harry is oblivious at times, but he would have recognised a regular wolf) despite the fact that his own changed to match Lily’s - let’s just remember that THIS is obsessive behaviour, whilst James and Lily’s Patroni represent them being soulmates. Snape’s Patronus does not honour Lily, stop considering this the greatest romantic moment of all times, it does not show virtue nor morality, it’s just the representation of his creepy fascination with necrophilia. It’s disgusting, not noble. His so called love for Lily is creepy. She found happiness with another man, yet Snape was possessive, manipulative, and inarguably obsessive. And let’s remember that J.K. Rowling said that “he thought Lily would find him impressive if he became a real Death Eater”… was he really her best friend or was he just completely blinded by his attraction to the dark side? This is not a redemptive love, this is problematic, toxic, abusive, emotionally-stunted, obsessive.

This is because there was never a love triangle and that’s why there is simply NO Team Snape! Not winning at the genetic lottery doesn’t justify being such an awful person! Also, THIS is why the tag line should be changed from “always” to “Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! I'll hold him off!” or to “until the very end” because a father’s eternal love for his son is much more important than a racist’s obsession of a dead woman (dead because he contributed to her death, to be precise). His always and doe patrons can’t get him out of this one. Eventually, let’s remember J.K. Rowling’s dedication in Deathly Hallows: “[…] to you, if you have stuck with Harry until the very end.” Not “always” nor creepy moaning, just the pure words of a hero, of a loving father who died protecting the ones he loved most. 

Now, I don’t get why we should celebrate Snivellus as the hero of Slytherin and an example of the “not all Slytherins are evil” when Regulus Black died in a cave, drowned by reanimated corpses to bring about the downfall of Voldemort, and Narcissa Black straight up lied to Voldemort because she’s first and foremost a mother, ruthless in doing whatever it took to save her beloved son. Regulus and Narcissa were brave: despite their flaws they knew what mattered the most and they were two big key factor in Harry’s survival and Voldemort’s demise. Sure, Snape was among the three that deceived the Dark Lord, but whilst Regulus did it because he realised what was right and what wasn’t, and Narcissa did it because of love, putting her family first (plus, she wasn’t even a Death Eater, and this tells a lot about her, as her loyalties solely lie with her family), Snape did it because resentfulness. Sure, Regulus joined the Dark Eaters of his own free will and Narcissa did what she did only after having her family threatened, but since one of Snape stans’ major point in his defence is his family being abused, let’s take their family into consideration too. The Blacks were pureblood supremacist, they grew up within that establishment and yes, some members of the family rejected those arguable ‘values’ but not everyone has the courage to do that (also, every Black family member is indisputably a badass, don’t get me started on that). On the contrary, Snape was a half-blood, and still, ended up hating muggleborns - yes, don’t try to say he didn’t, he joined the Death Eaters because he believed in Voldemort’s cause. He disparages mud bloods, he joins in on their massacre as a Death Eater after having idolised them for years in school before actually joining them. Read this again: he idolised a group of pureblood supremacist, he actively helps orchestrate genocide against the muggleborns. And what is his Freudian excuse? He believed that, in so far as Halfblood, he had to ‘prove’ that he was magical and capable enough (does this remind you of somebody else who hated muggles albeit being a half-blood and eradicates his whole Muggle family?), you can see that in how he strived to highlight his maternal Prince lineage in his stupid nickname. And no, now don’t try to blame the Marauders’ behaviour for this: Severus Snape, the man you glorify, hated muggleborns and went out of his way to commit genocide against them. So, in the end, if you still deny that, despite it being clear in the books, you are being dishonest. If, on the contrary, you fully realise it and still glamorise Snape despite how horrible of a person he was, well Snape stans, you have sunk to a new low. I’m not trying to justify anyone who supported said supremacist beliefs, but at least Regulus and Narcissa were born and bred within one of the Sacred 28, those beliefs were instilled in them from the very beginning, Snape reached them all on his own (well done for embracing your nazi self Snivellus). Regulus turned his back on Voldemort as soon as he realised how wrong he had been: at age 18, he literally sacrificed himself to try and stop his master. Narcissa, on the other hand, never sworn loyalty to Voldemort: she was a pureblood elitist, yes, she was guided by pride, but she was also calm, rational and restrained where her sister was crazed and her husband was reckless. So… Regulus faced death in the hope that when when the time had come, Voldemort would have met his match and would have been mortal once more, and Cissy only wanted best for her family and did everything she could to protect her son. She perfectly knew that Voldemort could have easily killed her in a second, but she wanted to find Draco, kept a straight face as the strong woman she was and fooled the Dark Lord. And why did Snape deceive Voldemort? Oh, right, he told him the prophecy that eventually led to the killing of the woman he was obsessed with (and no, again, he did not care at all about her husband and baby), this, of course after asking him to spare her life so that he could have had her (so this is, once again, classic Snivellus holding grudges). Regulus and Narcissa are pretty much the epitome of Slytherin, and still, let’s celebrate Snape! As a Slytherin myself, I am utterly disgusted by Snape’s behaviour. He could have been an amazing teacher, he had the talent to be one of the greatest Potions masters ever, and he willingly chose to throw it away in favour of being awful for the sake of bullying his own pupils. If we have to pick characters who proved that not all Slytherins are evil, let’s look at Regulus, let’s look at Narcissa, let’s look at Slughorn and Andromeda. Slughorn fought against Voldemort during the Battle of Hogwarts and refused to become a Death Eater, Andromeda married a Muggleborn. And guess what? None of them bullied children for 15 years.

Then, for the “I sometimes think we Sort too soon” thing… no, just no. Before you can start yelling at me, I am not, I repeat, I am absolutely not saying this because I endorse the whole Gryffindor being saints thing. I am a Slytherin, and a proud one. I just don’t agree that Snape was brave. Is being a resentful, childish and abusive man being brave? Wow, I’ll have to refresh my vocabulary!  It is not brave to bully your pupils for years because you lost your loved one, it is not brave to refuse to accept a woman loves somebody else and moves on, it is not brave to keep a childhood grudge against that someone because they ‘stole’ the so called love of your life, it is not brave to try to destroy an orphan’s image of their heroic father. Snape was burned Lily had chosen James over him, so burned that, fuelled by jealousy and envy (and by his pretty questionable ideals too, because it’s too convenient to forget he is 100% a Death Eater and hence a supporter of Voldemort’s lovely view for the Wizarding World), he struck out and ended up getting Lily killed. I don’t consider playing the martyr by “teaching” (if we really want to call that teaching instead of child abuse) and being an occasional spy being brave. I call it feeling guilty, I call it ‘I deserve to suffer for hurting Lily but I still choose to bully her own son instead of honouring her,’ I call it ‘I keep on tormenting an orphan because I hated his father and he looks too much like him, plus, he has his mother’s eyes so I’m constantly remembered of 1) Lily choosing James over me and 2) Lily dying because of me telling my beloved Dark Lord the prophecy.’ Any protection Snape offered Harry, he did it because of his penance, not because protecting him (and hence stopping Voldemort) was the right choice. Wow, how brave of him. I don’t think Snape could have been a Gryffindor at all, and I hated how David Yates (again, very conveniently for his martyr business) placed the Gryffindor scarf hanging up in the background in Snape’s death scene as a nod to his supposed bravery. Like, really?! Even if you really want to call him brave, he’s still an awful person who shouldn’t have been allowed to teach because of how abusive he was, an awful person who was a member and supporter of a supremacist, racist and violent sect, an awful person who caused the death of innocent people - and I could go on and on. You can’t let a few good deeds outweigh all the bad! It’s not like some potion or Imperius Curse made him join the Death Eaters, spill the tea about the prophecy and terrorise those children. He willingly chooses to do that because he was an awful person until the very end. And still, Snape apologists be like “the conclusion of his arc is that abusing your position of power over children is forgivable if you stalked one of their parents when you were a teen.” Again, sick.

Snape’s portrayal in the movies is entirely fan-service throughout the whole series of films, but especially in DH part 2: they never showed Sirius arriving at the Potters the night Lily and James died, they never showed the moment his whole world collapsed when he saw the corpses of his best friends, the moment he blamed himself for what had happened. No, we got an entirely made-up (and creepy) scene of Snape getting there, holding Lily’s body and crying when that never happened! We also never got a scene with Sirius and Remus evidently struggling to hold it together while they tell Harry about James, how he changed and how Lily fell in love with him. Their pain would have shown how much James had an impact on their lives, for the better, but of course, we only got a partial rendition of Snape’s worst memory, with careful cuts of course, they couldn’t say he didn’t find anything wrong with the torture of Muggleborns, right?

You can like Snape, sure, he’s a flawed character with an interesting past, but he’s not a hero, stop portraying him as such instead of what he really was: an abusive, creepy, racist man. You are allowed to like villains (who doesn’t?) but stop praising him! You don’t have to justify his actions because you like him: he was awful, recognise it.

Do we (still) need to talk about double standards? Well, there we go: people hate Lavender Brown and Cho Chang. Fair enough, pretty annoying girls if you want to hear me, but why do they get hate? They get hate for how they handle their feelings: Lavender gets hate for how she handles her unrequited romantic feelings, and Cho gets hate for crying and grieving over the death of her boyfriend. Does this sound like a thread to you? With the sole difference that they get more hate than Snape and this is disturbing and honestly just sick. He is a terrorist, he literally moans the entire series and abuses and terrorises children because he couldn’t have Lily but hey, misunderstood hero!

Stop romanticising Snape: the only reason why people love him is Alan Rickman, and all of this hatred is just a pathetic way of trying to cover up that James grew up while Snape didn’t. How can people glorify and stand up for a man who canonically is a vindictive bully? To be honest, I’m genuinely concerned for people who over romanticise such a man. Correct me if I’m wrong: do you see anyone sticking up for the Dursley’s or Umbridge, when they do basically the same stuff to Harry as Snape? How is Necrophilus any different? I will never regard him as a hero for as long as I am alive, however, the movies conveniently cut those parts where Snivellus was the half princey of baddies, right? Also, I really wish Sirius could have found out about this lovely nickname Snape gave himself as a teenager, that alone would have cured his depression, post traumatic stress disorder and alcoholism, this is a real tragedy.

Severus Snape did not die for love. He died because Voldemort thought hew was the true Elder Wand owner. I repeat: he did not die for love. Period.

He raised a wand to McGonagall!

Avada

Kedavra

[bush-viper-cutie]

“Happy Thirteenth Birthday” || YEAR 3 – Ch.1 (HP au)

                              Chapter List

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Day posted: 7/10/2020

Word count: 3,409

Relationship: EVENTUAL severus X oc (slow burn)

Rating: E for everyone

Warnings: none

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A/N: This is my first fan fic I’m writing mainly as a way to practice. This is a retelling of the hp books with an inserted character. Although most every character will be written about, this is mostly for the pro snape fandom. Please do not fear, although this is a severus x oc story, it is an incredibly slow burn as I do not intend for them to get together at all until after the final book events. Chapters will be posted twice a week.

This derivative work follows the events of the Harry Potter books by Jk Rowling and is intended as a fun way to practice my writing. Thank you for reading :D

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It was blazing hot inside and outside the house, under every tree and bush, and sometimes even the cold tap water came out warm. There was no escaping the summer heat and the best Heather could do to cool off, was shower with one of Dudley’s old shirts – the stupid ones with the sleeves torn off – and sit in the empty tub waiting for the water to evaporate off her body.

Her arm and head hung off the tub’s rim as she waited a bit longer to dry off. Her wand sat on the counter next to the sink, and her old toothbrush a few feet away on Aunt Petunia’s nice lime green bath rug. Heather extended her arm and curled her fingers, willing the toothbrush over to her.

She used the same techniques as she would moving a spider from one place to another without touching it. She thought and thought and imagined the toothbrush sliding over to her. There was a jiggle, but that was all.

She wasn’t sure if she plainly couldn’t do it or if she was just too afraid to. Moving spiders was one thing, after all she had been moving spider without touching them since first year, and she suspected that when she was younger and saw them crawling above her head, they did not actually jump to Harry’s side on their own.

She dried off and put the toothbrush under the sink, in the only area her and Harry were allowed to keep their things. She walked into her shared room and fell onto the mattress on the floor, listening to Harry groan and complain about their history of magic homework.

“This is taking forever and it’s so boring,” he poked his head over the edge, “Let me read yours.”

She flicked his ear, “Do. Your. Work.”

He rubbed his ear and went back to reading, “You know the longer I take on my homework, the higher the chance they’ll catch us with our books.”

Heather sat up, “Then do your work faster.”

She was afraid Harry was developing a nasty habit of having Hermione do his work for him. They had picked the locks and gotten their books within the first week of being back, which by now would have been plenty of time to finish most essays, but Harry had only managed to finish their potions one and only out of pure fear.

It was late now, passed late dinners for most normal families, and they prepared for their nightly inspection before sleep. Heather helped Harry pop a floorboard out and stuffed all their magical everything inside it before patting it shut. It was the only place they could hide their things without the Dursleys snooping around – especially Dudley who loved getting them into trouble.

They stood up and leaned against the wall as Uncle Vernon’s heavy footsteps came up the stairs, thunderous and slow. Without knocking – as if trying to catch them by surprise – he swung the door open and gave them disappointed looks when he saw they were already in their places. He stepped in, looked around the room for anything out of place and ‘odd’, eyed them carefully, and stepped back out, locking them in for the night.

They groaned and sat back down on the bed hearing the Durley’s nightly routine of saying goodnight to Dudley. Uncle Vernon always gave him the usual one-time goodnight, while Aunt Petunia kept coming back to say goodnight every time she crossed his bedroom door. Heather wasn’t sure how Dudley could stand constantly being interrupted by her as he tried to get settled into bed.

Her footsteps sounded closer as she approached their bedroom door, banging on it hard with the palm of her hand, “BREAKFAST NEEDS TO BE DONE BY EIGHT TOMORROW,” and walked back, giving Dudley her final goodnight and shut her bedroom door closed.

That was their cue to let Hedwig out of her cage for the night. There weren’t any bars on their bedroom window this time and they had promised not to do any magic in the house – not that they’d be willing to risk getting expelled – so for five weeks now, things were only slightly better than their last summer.

“I’m calling her,” Harry got off the bed and took out his parchment and quill again from the floorboard.

“Do you want them punishing us AGAIN for calling wizards? I like our window just fine without bars up and – ” Heather tapped her foot, knowing Harry’s ankle was still hurting from all the extra yard work they had to do the last time Ron called. “You’ll get caught and I’ll make you do MY HALF of the punishment.”

Harry shook his head and pushed past her, kneeling down and picking the locks to their bedroom door, freeing them from their enclosure. They crept down the stairs together – recently she had started to feel she should be keeping a closer eye on him – and sat down at the counter’s swivel stools next to the phone.

Harry picked up the phone quietly and dialed Hermione’s number from memory. He waited a few minutes and then, “Hermione? Yeah, will you read me your history of magic essay? …Well don’t you have any time before you leave?”

Heather rolled her eyes, “Harry you need to do the essay yourself. She isn’t gonna – ”

“Oh, hold on,” he dipped his quill in ink and held it to the parchment, “Can you start from the beginning again?”

Heather smacked her face quietly.

“Oh?” Harry looked up at the time, “Thanks. Hold on,” he handed the phone to Heather.

“Hermione?”

“I CAN’T believe you’ve forgotten your own birthday! Happy birthday!” Hermione clapped into the phone.

“Oh?” Heather squinted at the glowing time on the stove.

It was ten minutes after twelve which meant they were officially thirteen now.

“Thanks for remembering. No one else did,” she laughed quietly.

“That’s not true! Go hang up right now and be at your window. They should be arriving by now. Happy birthday and talk to you soon! Oh and tell Harry if he calls I won’t be here. Bye!” Hermione hung up.

She handed the phone back and dragged Harry away, who still needed eleven more inches to his essay. They crept back up the stairs and relocked the door behind them. The window was open and a nice cool breeze was drifting in but there was still not one sign of Hedwig, who had been gone for three days now.

“D’you see anything?” Harry leaned further out the window, looking in all directions over the roofs of the other houses.

Heather squinted up at the moon, noticing a weird lumpy flying spec, “Uh, what’s that?”

Harry pulled her back away from the window as the lumpy object got closer and closer, heading right in their direction. Whatever creature it was, it must be magical, there was no doubt in Heather’s mind about that. No muggle bird was that jittery in the sky. It swooped in through the window and crashed on the bed.

Heather snorted and covered her mouth, afraid to have laughed too loud, “I thought it was some beast.”

Hedwig, Errol, and a third owl stood on their parcels – Errol was collapsed over his – and gave small hoots of triumph. Heather thought it was funny that the other two owls had to help Errol with his parcel and even funnier because Errol’s was given the largest package of the three.

They took the packages and the new owl stretched and flew out the window. Hedwig and Errol left to rest in Hedwig’s cage, watching Heather and Harry sit on the bed to read what was from who. They opened the larger parcel, reading that it was from the Weasleys.

There were several birthday cards, one from each Weasley member and for each of them. To Heather, Percy wrote that he hoped her studying was going well while to Harry he wrote that he hoped he was studying. Fred and George sent over stinky leaves for the both of them to put under Dudley’s pillows, Ginny had written a very neat “Happy Birthday, Harry. From, Ginny Weasley” and to Heather she wrote:

‘To: Happy Birthday

From: Ginny

Heather.’

Heather laughed and tucked the card under her pillow. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had sent them a birthday card as well with several pieces of Egyptian candy stuck on somehow, and two newspaper clippings, one of a family picture of them in Egypt – Ron was now taller than Mrs. Weasley, and was holding up Scabbers, and Ginny was just as tall as her, though to be fair all the Weasleys were much taller than the average student at Hogwarts – and the other clipping Harry took.

He scanned it, “Lucky them. I guess Mr. Weasley won the Daily Prophet Galleon Draw.”

Heather took the clipping, “Wow… Oh I didn’t know Bill was a curse breaker… is that… Dark Arts stuff?”

Harry shrugged, “You know… We have all that money sitting in our vault – ”

Heather shushed him, “I know what you’re thinking and NO. Absolutely not we aren’t spending that money for anything other than school! And that’s final.”

Harry scoffed but didn’t argue. They read the last two cards from Ron, which they could barely read with his scribbly handwriting.

Heather took it and tried her best, “‘Happy Birthday’ … ‘ Sorry I shouted when I called and got you guys in trouble’ … ‘Getting a new wand in London last week of summer, hope to see you two there’ … ‘Percy’s Head Boy’ … ‘ Enjoy your gift. Sorry I could only get one’ … and then I think it says ‘Pocket Sneakoscope. If there’s anyone untrustworthy around, it’ll spin and glow.’”

Harry unwrapped the last Weasley gift from Ron and pulled out the Pocket Sneakoscope. It didn’t glow or spin, which they supposed was good and hoped it wasn’t just broken or anything. Next, they moved on to the parcel Hedwig had brought in, reading that it was from Hermione.

Heather opened the letter, “She says… She’ll be in France soon and won’t be able to answer the phone for a month.” Heather ignored Harry’s groans, “And that the presents are by ‘owl-order’ and… That she hopes to see us last week of holidays too.”

They opened the presents which were two Broomstick Servicing Kits and gasped.

“Ok, we need to get Hermione a good birthday present this year. These are – ”

“Wow,” Harry opened it up and started going through it.

“We still have this one.” Heather cut the twine holding two rectangle packages and a note from Hagrid. “‘Happy Birthdays! You’ll be needing this for next year, you’ll see. Your friend, Hagrid.’”

Harry took a package and dropped it as soon as it growled, “Heather… Hagrid knows not to send us anything dangerous… right?”

Heather shook her head. She picked up the other package and felt it move slightly and growl like the other one had, “Harry you open yours. We shouldn’t open them both.”

Harry nodded and tore at the top, ripping the brown paper apart and sliding the object out. It was a book, with fur all around it, except for the shiny green letters spelling ‘The Monster Book of Monsters’. Heather and Harry tilted their heads to read the title when two eyes on the front popped up and stared at them evil-y.

It lunged at Heather’s knees and she jumped from the bed, allowing the book to scuttle under the pillowcase. Harry picked their pillow up and swatted the book creature off the bed, hearing it growl and bite at something under the dresser.

“Surround it with boxes!” Heather pointed at Aunt Petunia’s storage boxes taking up part of their room.

Together they pushed and trapped it under the drawer where it would stay until they could write to Hagrid to ask him what on earth he was thinking sending them that thing. She couldn’t imagine what people could actually read it without having their fingers and noses bit clean off.

They sat on the bed panting and gathering up their things. They shoved all the scrap paper in their drawer and opened up the floorboard again to put their presents in where Uncle Vernon would never look.

“Well, happy birthday and goodnight,” Heather collapsed on the mattress.

“Happy thirteenth and night.”

She yawned and went straight to sleep, dreaming of going back to Hogwarts where she could practice all the magic she wanted, far away from the Dursleys. That night not even the owl’s hoots woke them up and they slept soundly until Aunt Petunia unlocked the door in the morning and told them to get going on breakfast while she showered.

They took out all the normal stuff the Dursleys liked to eat: eggs, bacon, sausage links, waffles, and toast. She didn’t know why or how they could manage to eat so much for breakfast, even Harry and her didn’t have an appetite so early in the morning and they were always hungry when they were here. One or two sausages went missing from the pan to the table but overall, they managed to stack several plates high for Uncle Vernon and Dudley – Petunia liked just toast.

There was tapping on the kitchen window and Harry pulled back the curtains to greet an owl with two letters in its beak. Harry took them and handed one to Heather, seeing it was addressed to each of them with a Hogwarts seal.

Heather opened hers, eagerly anticipating the class materials list, and took out a permission slip of some sort with a letter from Professor McGonagall. “We can visit Hogsmeade this year?”

Harry groaned, “But only if we get Vernon or Petunia to sign this… How’re we going to get them to do that?”

“We can fake their signatures?” Heather leaned in closer to whisper, “I don’t think the teachers would be able to tell, do you?”

He shook his head. Aunt Petunia came down and they both hid the letters under their clothes, having to keep up the pretenses that Hogwarts and all things magical never existed. They would never sign a permission slip form for them to go to a wizards only village, not in a million years would they allow it. Heather sat down next to Harry to share a plate of their pre-cooked breakfast that Aunt Petunia always makes for them the night before.

Uncle Vernon came down next, sitting in his usual seat, followed by Dudley who went straight to turning on his new tv that sat on the counter. None of them looked at the twins, nor acknowledged their existence, let alone the fact that they were now technically thirteen years old.

Heather began eating the terribly cooked oatmeal and joined Harry in taking some toast since all three Dursleys were transfixed on the morning news reports on the tv. The reporter was sitting at his desk, shuffling papers, and pointing at a picture of a deranged man.

“A convict has escaped, believed to be armed and dangerous, last week. If you have any information, please call this number,” the numbers flashed on the screen and the reporter went on with other news.

“He should be fairly easy to spot,” Uncle Vernon laughed, “A filthy criminal with a rat’s nest on his head walking around town,” he chuckled, “Yes, I should think they’ll catch him in no time.”

“That’s what happens to lazy good-for-nothings who never bothered to even go to school,” Aunt Petunia scooped out some grapefruit and made a face, “They have nowhere else to turn to but petty crime. They’re useless to society – ”

“I couldn’t agree more, dear,” Uncle Vernon eyed Heather and Harry over his newspaper.

“Where did he escape from?” Heather risked the question, seeing as it was her and Harry always tasked with taking out the trash at night and early mornings.

Uncle Vernon rolled his eyes at her and opened his mouth but nothing came out. He looked at his wife who was looking wide-eyed at him and Dudley. “Son, did you hear where that lunatic escaped from?”

Dudley shoved a whole bacon slice in his mouth and shook his head, his eyes still transfixed on the television.

“Vernon! He could be anywhere!”

“Maybe he’s hiding on our street,” Harry hid a smile.

Heather kicked him under the table, seeing how nastily Uncle Vernon looked at him. Aunt Petunia looked over out the window, as if the man really could be walking up their street that second, not that she’d mind calling the number herself. She’d finally make it on the news and have gossip for all her neighborhood friends.

Uncle Vernon looked at his watch and finished his tea, folding up the newspaper and stood. “Well, I’ll be back with Marge in thirty minutes.”

Heather and Harry looked at each other suddenly.

“Aunt Marge? She’s-She’s staying? Here?” Harry tried to keep his face looking as unemotional as possible, but his bouncing leg gave him away.

“For a week or is that a problem?” he growled. “Think you have a say on what goes on around in my house, do you?”

Aunt Petunia put her hands to her hips and Dudley finally looked away from the tv, hoping to see the twins get yelled at. Heather and Harry shook they heads and looked away.

“Let me remind you both,” he pointed his finger at them, “You will not talk to Marge unless spoken to. And WHEN speaking to her, you will be nothing short of civilized!” He came closer, “And no funny business, understand?”

Heather nodded and expected Harry to do the same, but he didn’t.

Instead he looked back at Uncle Vernon, “I’ll be civil if she is.”

If it hadn’t been for the time, Harry would have had an earful. Uncle Vernon huffed and continued, “You go to St. Brutus’s Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys,” he said to Harry, “and you go to St. Mary’s Etiquette Academy for Disorderly Girls,” he said to Heather.

She bit back her tongue and nodded, pushing oatmeal with her spoon. She wanted nothing more than to leave this house and go straight to Hogwarts. Why couldn’t they stay summers there? Surely Hogwarts would be able to accommodate two students and Hagrid would be happy for the company.

Uncle Vernon walked to the door and looked for the correct car keys. Harry had been glaring at his food when he suddenly looked at Heather and bolted out of his chair, running to the door. Heather turned and watched with dread at what Harry was attempting.

“There’s a permission slip Heather and I need signed,” he motioned for Heather to approach. “To visit a village near our school.”

Uncle Vernon laughed, “Why would I sign that?”

“To make sure we follow your rules.”

Uncle Vernon was about to yell at Harry’s audacity to take control when Heather quickly interjected.

“What he means is… It can get hard for us to remember so many details… Maybe with this incentive… What was the name of my school again?”

“St. Brutus’s and St. Mary’s,” he snarled.

“We might accidently let something slip,” Harry shrugged.

Heather almost smacked her head, thinking Harry was laying it on too thick for their good.

“Then you might accidently get the stuffing knocked out of you both!” he grabbed the doorknob and twisted it open.

“And hope Aunt Marge just forgets what we say?”

Heather gave him wide eyes, warning him to quit and abort mission while he could.

Uncle Vernon closed the door slowly, “If you two act like normal children for ONCE… I will sign your ruddy slips. But,” he growled, “I will be monitoring your behavior and if ANYTHING odd happens even slightly, no matter how miniscule, you’ll BOTH be sleeping outside for the rest of summer AND your slips won’t be signed.” He opened the door once more and slammed it shut behind him.

Harry smiled at Heather, “Well that solves it.”

She frowned at him, “Yeah, and now if anything happens we’ll be camping outside until school starts!”

“What could happen,” he grinned and ran upstairs.

She couldn’t believe he had already forgotten last summer with Dobby, or the one before that with the snake. His optimism was dangerous… but contagious. She sighed and ran after him, sparing him a much needed lecture on life and unfortunate events.

~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~

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[breaniebree]

Can you share your journey as a writer? How the idea of writing fanfics came into your mind? Do you have other own fiction too? Also how do start a particular fanfic? As in do you make notes, timeline or character sketches and stuff or do you just go ahead and write and then make notes on facts?

What an interesting question -- thank you for asking!  This is literally going to be a novel response (letting you know in advance LOL)

My journey as a writer... I guess I always wrote things down, started as a child when I wrote in a diary and then as I got older I wrote a little poetry, none of it very good (though I wrote a poem when I was twelve to describe the loss I felt when my Nana, my great-grandmother died, and my aunt read it aloud at her funeral).  I wrote a few short stories, just little things, prompts from teachers in school and such and then one day I decided I wanted to write my own story.  But funnily enough, it actually came about through fan fiction.  

I used to love this book series back when I was ten called Trash by Cherie Bennett, and I was completely in love with the characters Chelsey and Nick, and when Jazz claimed that she was pregnant and Nick was the father and it did ended on a cliffhanger and I didn’t have the next book, I remember writing my own version of what happened next -- God, looking back, it was probably terrible, I definitely don’t have it anymore.  Pretty sure the book series isn’t that great looking back at it now, but when I was ten, it was great! LOL.  I also wrote a side story for Demetrius and Karma, so even then I guess I branched off into subplots.  When I was fourteen, I started my own original series, which I am still currently working on and probably will be for the rest of my life if I’m honest -- it’s changed over the years, but the characters and my ultimate goal have stayed the same.

How did writing fanfiction come into mind?  

Well, with Harry Potter, it was because of my friend Chris.  We used to talk on the phone every single night after school for hours on end and after HBP came out and Harry and Ginny were FINALLY together only for him break up with her, I was so livid that I had to wait to find out what happened!  I remember Chris and I debated what would happen in the last book for ages and one day I must have ranted too much because he told me to go write my own story if I didn’t want to wait, so I did.  

I was seventeen and it was Harry Potter and the Prophecy Fulfilled: Which looking back at it now, I think it’s not exactly the greatest story lol and you can definitely see where I’ve improved since then.  After finishing HPPH, I ended up still having different ideas, all Hinny, and went on to write a few one-shots: Almost Too Late and Beautiful Mess.  Then I started writing A Different Beginning, which turned into my Beginning series: A Different Beginning, A New Beginning, Why Don’t We Just Dance?, Life Is Fickle Like That, Graduation Party, and The Reunion.  Those of you who have been reading my fanfiction since the beginning know that I originally posted the above stories on SIYE between 2005 and 2007 and had then completed (except for the second half of Life is Fickle onwards before Deathly Hallows was published).  I didn’t start posting on fanfiction.net until 2008 and only recently on Ao3.  Somewhere in between writing the Beginning Series, I also wrote a few other Hinny one-shots including The Greatest Gift, She Never Lets It Get To Her Heart, I Loved Her First (actually Arthur POV, which I later incorporated into the Beginning Series), The River (which is a standalone but also can be read as part of the Beginning Series), When the Sand Runs Out, and then the mini-series Padfoot’s Advice (Late Night Talks with Padfoot 1 & 2, Padfoot’s Advice, and Secrets from the Past).  Then I wrote the short Hinny/Romione story: The Trouble With Secrets and was inspired to write a Jily series, which I did with Crazy Little Thing Called Love, which could technically be a prequel to the Beginning Series as I kept some of the story similar.  I also wrote a Jily one-shot called Flowers and another Hinny one-shot called I Don’t Like Your Girlfriend.

I didn’t plan on writing any more fanfiction as university became busy, but then in 2017 I started writing these little Missing Moments for Harry and Ginny both before HBP and then during, and then after.  I just sort of compiled them on my computer for a while, wondering if it would turn into a story or not and then the idea came to me one day for A Second Chance after seeing some fan art of a five-year-old-Harry in sunshades and a leather jacket while riding a child’s motorbike next to Sirius in the same outfit and the next thing I knew, this story just pored out of me in February of 2018, I had the first twelve chapters written by March and another five by April.  I started posting the Missing Moments compilation, added a few more things including the Remus and Petunia scene from ASC and kept writing A Second Chance and in May, decided it was time to share it and uploaded the first twelve chapters.  

By the time I realized it was going to be a long one, I knew which characters I would sacrifice and how it would end, but how I was going to get there I still have no idea.  I’m not a writer who methodically plots.  I have a few general bullet points at the end of my current WIP chapter and that’s really it.  I add to it occasionally as I go, but mostly, I just write as I go along. ��I can’t tell you how many chapters it will be or how long it will take me to get to the next section because frankly, it’s constantly changes.  I do not write in chronological order, which means I am often writing anywhere between 2-6 chapters at the same time depending on what scene has drawn my attention.  I might write something today that fits in the chapter I am currently working on and then by the time I finish writing other stuff, I realize that it doesn’t really fit there and stick it ahead into the next chapter or ten chapters from now.  I write where my heart takes me and where my creativity flows.  

I rarely ever work on more than one story at the same time, though I did write the short Newtina one-shot for my friend Heather as a Christmas present in 2018.  She requested it and I couldn’t write it, I found it so hard as I like them but it’s not characters I loved enough to write so I did it with a Luna spin-in, which I found helped.  I never take writing requests so this was very different for me, but I think it turned out cute: Say Love, ‘Cause We Got All the Time in the World.  I only recently uploaded it a month or so ago because I found it on my computer LOL.

Do you make notes, timeline or character sketches and stuff or do you just go ahead and write and then make notes on facts?

Once I am into the story, my notes are EXTREMELY detailed.  I do have a time line and separate documents for the following:

Character lists and family trees

General notes on: Political stuff, bills I’ve written, the sacred 28 document I wrote, tattoos mentioned, important dates, moon cycle dates of Remus’ life, classes I’ve invented (what they are about, who teaches them etc), textbook list per school year, notes on each Animagus form and information about their animals, actual time tables I wrote up Monday to Friday for Harry’s third/fourth, and fifth year, details of Zee and Tonks’ engagement rings, history and outline of Dante’s circles of hell with notes on how to incorporate into story, notes on pregnancy, character’s wands, geographic locations of characters, and any other little notes I think are important but don’t belong in the bullet points at the end of my current WIP chapter

History and ancestry of each family (from Harry Potter Lexicon, Pottermore, Harry Potter wiki, and my own personal creations).  This also includes manor information for Potter, Black, Longbottom, Nott, and Malfoy.

Hogwarts lay-out including stuff I’ve added or made up

Ministry of Magic departments and people (known and created)

List of spells (including ones I’ve made up and which chapter and which character introduced it to who)

List and pictures of Sirius’ motorbikes with information on each one

List of Pensieve memories and marauder moments (crossed out which ones I’ve shared already, some are written and waiting to be used and others just a general idea)

Terms and phrases from different languages I’ve used in the past

My playlist of songs I have mentioned in the story

An entire document dedicated to Operation FUVP including a Voldemort timeline which I have now shared in the story itself (also includes when and where each character found the Horcruxes)

A list of some of the recipes I mentioned, and 

I have a 72 page document that is literally just detailed chapter summaries to help me remember what the hell I’ve written LOL (also highlights introductions to new characters in a different font colour to help me find out when people were introduced).

Hope this answers your question -- thank you again for asking!

[closetfanfictionauthor]

i got this idea one evening and decided to go with it. i know petunia is a terrible character in the series but i thought i would lend her some humanity (or at least try) and came up with this. i don’t think i did her grief justice but i did try my best. anyways i hope you guys enjoy and i love hearing back from everyone

Petunia Dursley hadn’t spoken to her sister in months, years even. She had no idea what was going on in Lily’s life or what she was doing. Petunia didn’t even know if her sister was still alive, although she assumed that Lily was. It never occurred to her that Lily would ever be dead. She was far too young and healthy for such a thing to ever concern Petunia.

Until the morning she woke up and found a baby on her doorstep.

The moment Petunia read the letter that was left with the child, it was as if the world had gone silent around her. The only thing she could hear was white noise.

She was in the kitchen, the baby, Harry was his name, asleep somewhere in the house although she wasn’t sure who had him or where he was being put. Her face paper white, eyes staring down at the paper in her hands, uncomprehending, as time seemed to slow down around her.

Her sister was dead. 

Dead.

Murdered in the middle of the night along with her husband. Her beautiful, vivacious, magical sister, whom she had always been jealous of but secretly aspired to be, was gone. Taken from this world in a split second by a monster.

Her sister, who she had thought would have years ahead of her, gone. Just like that.

It sounded almost fake, like something she would imagine in a nightmare. It could not possibly be real life. Her sister couldn’t be dead. She was only twenty-one, for crying out loud. It just didn’t make any sense. Who would want to kill her sister? Everyone loved Lily, Petunia had met no one who could resist Lily’s charm.

“Well, I must say, I think good riddance to the both of them,” Vernon’s booming voice split through the silence in the house. Petunia couldn’t help but flinch at the sound. Petunia stared at her husband blankly for a moment, before pulling herself together and putting on an expression of disinterest as was expected of her, despite the burning rage the words caused.

“Who knows what those kinds of folk are involved in, I mean, really, murdered in their own homes. This isn’t some melodrama on the telly. If you want to know what I think,” Petunia could not think of anything less she wanted to know at the moment, “they probably had it coming,” Vernon continued on, oblivious to the stilted behaviour of his wife who looked at him unseeing.

Had it coming. Good riddance. 

The words were ringing in Petunia’s head as she followed the movement of Vernon’s sizable frame around their kitchen as he prepared coffee. She was overwhelmed with the sudden urge to wrap her hands around his throat.

Her sister was dead, and he stood in her kitchen disparaging her. Petunia had her own gripes with Lily, almost all of them stemming from her own insecurity, but Lily was her sister. Vernon was in absolutely no shape or form to be speaking about her sister in this way, her dead sister.

All the years he had spent slandering Lily to her face, when his own, Marjorie, was nothing but an abominable hag was almost too much to bear now. Petunia had done nothing but grit her teeth and tolerate Marjorie’s presence, and here stood her husband dragging her dead sister through the mad.

Every time Vernon turned to look at her, she was quick to rearrange her face into an expression of disinterest, her thoughts racing a mile a minute. Between maintaining a facade around Vernon, her shock, her growing anger, and now the regret that she felt in her heart, Petunia didn’t know what to do with herself.

She wanted to be alone. She wanted to process her emotions in the privacy of her own room, away from Vernon and any other prying eyes.

“Darling, I believe I’m coming down with some sort of cold, I’m going to be in our room, would you mind looking after Dudley for the day, I’ll take care of the boy,” Petunia said listlessly, and before Vernon could say anything else, she had drifted out of her kitchen, silent as a ghost, and gone up the stairs to her room.

Vernon had placed the sleeping Harry in their room where he continued to dose undisturbed. 

It had become violently apparent that Petunia had known nothing about her sister. She thought she had some clue, after all Lily was constantly going on about how wonderful Hogwarts was and her friends, and even the occasional politics. But to find out that her darling sister had been hunted and killed by some sociopath was almost too much.

What had her sister been involved in, and why? What was Lily hiding from all of them, all of those years about her magical world? 

Even in her numb state, Petunia had some idea of what it likely was. Lily, who was always defending the neighborhood kid who got picked on all the time. Lily, who had befriended Severus Snape and believed the best of him even when Petunia could see the cruelty in his eyes. Lily, who constantly had letters being sent home from Hogwarts for giving another student a thrashing if she found them bullying someone. Lily, who was probably trying to save the world.

And Petunia hadn’t known about any of it because she’d constantly pushed Lily away and told her she didn’t care (even though it was obvious to everyone how desperately she did).

And the realization that Petunia had done this to herself brought the first debilitating wave of grief. Year after year of sniping at Lily and making snide remarks because she was so angry and jealous that, once again, it was Lily who was the special one and not her. Going out of her way to put Lily down and make her miserable about her newfound life, the distance that had grown between them as a result. Making her feel that she was a freak for being different, constantly trying to humiliate her.

She couldn’t breathe, the tears kept coming, her vision blurring, and all Petunia could manage was great heaving sobs. She tried to be quiet, there was a baby sleeping in the room.

Lily, who might have hidden things from their parents to avoid worrying them, hadn’t even told Petunia because Petunia had made it so very clear that she wanted nothing to do with her sister, that she hated Lily until the very end. 

In hindsight, she hadn’t really known anything about Lily’s life at school. She always seized speaking about it the minute Petunia walked into the room. And the few things she did know, were little snippets about her friends or her grades. Never anything about Lily struggling with the workload, never anything about Lily being bullied (if she was at all). 

She wished she had not been so cruel. She wished that she had let go of the resentment in her and apologized to her sister. She wished that this had not been the way that she found out about Lily. She wished her sister had some sense of self-preservation instead of trying to save the world. She wished her husband wasn’t so cold and unfeeling in a time like this.

Petunia wished for a great many things.

Good riddance. Probably deserved it.

They kept replaying over and over in her head. It sounded so cold and heartless, had she said something similar to Lily? It felt like the worst punishment in the world.

Eventually the heaving died down and Petunia sat staring at the walls, unseeing. She wasn’t aware of the hours passing by. She didn’t know what time of day it was. When Vernon opened the door, no doubt to ask her to cook lunch or dinner, she simply closed her eyes and pretended she was asleep. She guessed the exhaustion must’ve shown on her face because Vernon closed the door and left her alone. 

At some point, she must’ve actually fallen asleep for when Petunia opened her eyes next, a bottle of warm milk had been set on the nightstand next to her, and Harry had awoken and was making tiny noises. 

She picked up the bottle and moved towards him and when the baby looked up at her, Petunia almost started at the bright green eyes that looked exactly like Lily’s. Harry stared up at her quietly for a moment before his face broke into a gummy smile and he giggled up at her. Petunia could not help but soften towards him and his innocence. 

She fed him, changed his diaper and kept herself occupied by playing with him, always aware that if she let herself think for even a moment, she would lose it all over again. 

Petunia passed her days by fussing over Harry and her son. It kept her distracted enough to keep the grief at bay. Vernon said nothing the first week after the boy had been dropped on their doorstep. He knew well enough not to broach the subject with Petunia, understood enough to keep quiet.

And Petunia found herself unable to look her husband in the eye. Every time she saw him, all she could hear and remember was the coldness with which he condemned her sister. She found that she could not control the rage it triggered inside of her or the total lack of emotion that she experienced instead at the site of the man, and so she spoke as little as possible without being rude.

And when Vernon said, “Reckon we should find somewhere to put the boy, can’t have him staying with us in the house,” newspaper in hand while she cooked breakfast in the kitchen, Petunia found herself putting her foot down in a way that she never had before in their marriage.

“No,” she said stonily, her back to Vernon as she moved around the kitchen.

“But-but he can’t stay,” Vernon sputtered indignantly, turning purple in the face, newspaper forgotten.

“Vernon, my darling, the politics of the Wizarding World are the one area in which you know nothing about. You don’t know what these people are capable of. You don’t know the rules. You read the letter. The boy stays. That is the end of it,” Petunia said and shut the cupboard door closed with finality.

[who-is-this-nerd]

To Belong Somewhere

Chapter 1: The Heir Of Slytherin Ruins Harry’s Holidays

Most people consider the Christmas and New Year holidays to be the best, most joyful time of year. But the Boy-Who-Lived wouldn’t consider himself most people.

His parents had been murdered when he was barely a year old, and ever since he’d been living with his rich, spoiled relatives, The Dursleys-Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon and their son, Dudley. They treated him like a servant. Or, worse than a servant-like a house elf, punishments included. If a job wasn’t done according to their idea of perfect, he was beaten senseless. If he got better marks than his cousin at school, he was thrown into his tiny cupboard, and forgotten as he bled half to death. In fact, If weren’t for his accidental magic, he supposed he would have died ages ago.

It was for this reason that Harry James Potter hated the holidays. Spending his entire childhood confined to the Dursley’s abuse-with exception of the hours of the day spent at Primary school, where he was bullied by all of the other kids who were scared of Dudley and his gang-ruined his entire outlook on anything that was supposed to be joyful and fun.

And then things changed for the better on his 11th birthday last year when a giant of a man with wild, curly brown hair and the tangled mess of a beard knocked down the front door. He could not believe it when he learned he was a Wizard, and on top of all that, he got to escape from the Dursleys for ten whole months out of the year!

His first year at the magic school he’d been invited to-Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry-had been the best year of his entire life. He got to eat three full meals a day (at his relatives he was constantly denied meals), he got to learn without having to worry about being punished if he was better than Dudley (since of course, his cousin wasn’t a Wizard), and best of all, he made friends!

Not only that, but he recieved Christmas gifts from said friends at the Holiday the previous year. That Christmas had been the best of his life. He’d even been able to buy presents for those friends, which left him ecstatic beyond measure.

Now it was his second year, and the Holidays were fast approaching. As grim as things had been, with random students and even a ghost being Petrified, and everyone thinking he was the ���Heir of Slytherin”, he was sure nothing could cheer him up more than a Christmas at the Hogwarts castle. Everything about it was glorious, from the inch of snow that always dusted the grounds on the first of December, to the beautiful holiday decorations that coated the school inside and out.

For the first time since the moment he’d won the House Cup for Gryffindor last year, he felt excited. Today, the school would be decked out in Christmas trees, holly wreaths, mistletoe, and they even had Menorahs set out for the jewish students who celebrate Hanakkah.

“Morning, Harry!” His best friend Ron Weasley said on that Thursday morning as Harry entered the Gryffindor common room from his dorm.

“Hey Ron! Where’s Hermione?” Harry asked ask they climbed through the Portrait hole and made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast.

“You didn’t hear?-Oh, wait,” He spoke quickly, realizing before Harry could answer. “You were in detention with Lockhart when it happened yesterday. Malfoy hexed her and she ended up needing to go to the Hospital wing.”

Harry winced. “He must have done something bad for her to have to stay there overnight.”

“Yeah. Bloody git.”

“I’m glad he’ll be going home for the holidays next week so I won’t have deal with him over Christmas.”

“And his goons will be gone too!” Ron fist pumped in the air.

“So I take it that means you’re not going home this year?”

“Nope. Mum and Dad are visiting Charlie in Romania again.”

Harry was going to respond, but he got distracted by the loud, excited chatter-no doubt about the upcoming holidays-that suddenly came from the Great Hall before them. The two boys made their way to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Neville, Dean, and Seamus, and across from Fred, George, their best mate, Lee Jordan, and Ginny.

“Ello Harry! Ickle Ronniekins.” George nodded his head once as he spoke to each boy.

“Shut up! You know I don’t like that nickname.”

The twins laughed.

George looked like he was about to speak, but then Professor Dumbledore stood up, and immediatley the Hall fell silent.

“Good morning to all!” He said in a cheerful

voice. “I admire each of you for for your bright spirits and positive attitude during this bleak and trying period! Professor Sprout has informed me that the Mandrakes are halfway through their growing periods and we will be able to revive those who have been Petrified in a matter of months.”

Many of the subdued faces in the crowd brightend momentarily at his words.

“However,” He began, and it suddenly seemed as if the entire room was holding in one collective breath. “Due to the events that have transpired here at Hogwarts and have only seemed to have gotten worse in recent weeks, we as a staff feel as though it is for the best that all students go back to their homes for Christmas.”

Many different reactions played across the Great Hall at this news, creating utter chaos: some students cried out in voices that spewed utter nonsense, others widened their eyes. The Hufflepuffs (who were religously loyal to the school and always stayed over the Holidays) screamed their refusal to leave. The sports fanatic kids, like Wood, screamed, “First you cancel Quidditch, and now this?!” Harry saw a familliar young first year at the end of the table across from Ginny, repeatedly blinking her eyes open and shut, open and shut, and covered her ears as the noise level in the room grew steadly more deafening with each passing moment. As for Harry himself, he widened his eyes and paled considerably.

“Harry?!” Ron asked in alarm. “You okay? You’re white as a sheet!”

“Yeah...” Harry looked down. “Yeah, I-I’m fine.”

Ron schruntinized Harry as if he wasn’t so sure, but turned back to the old Headmaster as older wizard spoke again.

“We wish to take all caution that is necessary in protecting you, and because no learning is done during the holidays, we feel that this is how we must currently proceed. All parents have been informed of this. The Hogwarts train will be here on Monday morning to take you home.”

With that, he sat down.

It was at that moment, of course, that Hermione Granger flew into the Great Hall. Random heads looked up as the doors opened, but when they saw who it was they looked back down to their food, still protesting against going home for the holidays loudly.

“Madame Pomfrey just released me.” She said breathlessly when she found Harry and Ron. Then, hearing the vile protests and wails, she asked, “What did I miss?”

Harry and Ron took turns explaining, and at the end she immediately took a sheaf of parchment and a quill out of her bag, pushing away the plate in front of her.

“I know Professor Dumbledore said he wrote all the parents, but I want to write my parents with the news just in case he accidentally missed them.” She answered at the boys’ stares, not looking up.

A moment later, food appeared, and hundreds of owls flew into the Great Hall simultaneously. Distracted by letters from home or copies of that day’s Daily Prophet, the witches and wizards around the Great Hall slowly abandoned their cries about the holidays.

“Errol!” Ron cried out disgustedly, pulling four letters amd an old owl out of a bowl of porriage that sat in the center of the table.

“Who’s the letter from?”

“From Mum. She’s sent some for all of us, look...l Ron said, tossing two of the letters to Fred and George and one to Ginny, and held up another that said “Percy Weasley” in elegant cursive. “Where’s Percy?”

“Ickle Percy’s talking to Penelope Clearwater.” Fred snickered, taking the letter and passing it up to Percy, who was two seats away with the witch in question.

“He fancies her.” the other twin added, also sniggering.

Ron turned just a bit red turned to the letter from his mum.

A chime overhead sounded as Ron finished the letter, signalling that it was time for classes.

“Let’s go, we don’t want to be late for Professor Lockhart!” Hermione exclaimed, nearly knocking Ron from his seat as she rose too fast.

Harry and Ron rolled their eyes.

“It’s So obviosu that you fancy him, Hermione.”

She turned red. “Do not!” She criend defensivley.

Ron looked down at the books in her arms. “Then why are there little hearts by his name?”

She and Harry looked down at the books. Indeed, there were tiny hand-drawn pink hearts at the beginnings and ends of his name.

Her face went as pink as the hearts.

“Becasue-because...oh forget it, I’ll see you two in there!”

She ran away, and Harry and Ron laughed.

By the time they set themselves up in the Defense classroom, Hermione had stopped blushing, but still refused to talk to either of them.

“So Harry,” Ron began, “Looks like I’m going to Romania for Christmas. You’re invited too, of course, if you want to come.”

He opened his mouth intending to say yes, but then paused as a dark thought struck him.

“What if Voldemort finds me in Romania? Then Ron and his family-they’d all be in danger!” He thought.

“No, that’s okay.”

“But you hate living with those muggles!” Ron protested.

“Yeah, but Voldemort’s after me, remember? All of you guys would be in danger if he found me there.”

“If. Harry, that’s a BIG if.”

“I’m not willing to risk it, Ron.” He turned to Hermione on his other side, who had been listening quietly to the conversation. “I’m not changing my mind, so don’t try to talk me out of it. Besides, the Blood Wards at the Dursley’s that Dumbledore keeps talking about would keep me safe, remember?

Hermione, who decided they were worth speasking to again, opened her mouth to speak but closed it at Harry’s words as the rest of their class entered the room.

“Fine.” Ron muttered finally, and Lockhart entered the classroom moments later, ending their conversation once and for all.

The next day, the Golden Trio were headed to their last class of that week, and Harry was not looking forward to it. Potions was never fun, but adding the Slytherins and a Professor who loathed him to the mix and instead of being merely bad, it was terrible. He quietly sat down in a seat in the back row in the middle of Ron and Hermione.

“Mate, you okay? You haven’t spoken hardly at all since Dumbledore’s announcement this morning.”

“Yeah, I’m great.” He said tiredly.

Ron gave him a calculating look, but Snape swept into the room before he could say anything.

“WEASLEY! Five points from Gryffindor! Eyes to the front when I am in the classroom.”

Ron complied. “Git.” the redhead muttered

Snape tapped his wand to a chalkboard next to him.

“The instructions are on the board. You may begin.”

Potions went by agonizingly slow.

Still, thought Harry, he’d prefer to be here than the Dursleys. Having to spend a Christmas at the place he had never in his albeit short life considered home upset him. Until this morning, he believed he’d never have to spend a Christmas at the Dursley’s again. Now, all he had to look forward to for Christmas was a possibility of beatings and slaving Christmas day away over the stove.

A loud BOOM filled the room then, causing Harry to be pulled out of his thoughts to look for the source of the noise. His eyes landed on fellow Gryffindor Neville Longbottom’s cauldron, which was now melted, and both the pieces of the cauldron and Neville himself were covered in green goo.

“Idiot child!” Snape exclaimed, striding over. “Do you not know how to do ANYTHING?!” The unfinished green potion and liqified bits of the cauldron dissapeared from before the now trembling Gryffindor. “ZERO! Pack up and get out of my site!”

The young boy didn’t need to be told twice. He was packed up and out of the room faster than you could say quidditch.

Harry watched as the angry Potions Master stormed back to his seat.

Once class had finally ended-the way it usually did, with Snape declaring that Ron’s potion was “abysmal, as always”, informing Harry that he had gotten barely higher than a D (Dreadful) that day, and ignoring Hermione’s as always perfect potion-the three of them were among the first to leave the freezing and depressing classroom.

“What a git.” Ron grumbled. “Never catches his precious Slytherins doing anything wrong, but if anyone outside of his precious Snakes even look in the wrong direction, he’ll take away points!”

“Ron, calm down. The Slytherins didn’t even do anything today.”

“I doubt that’s true, Hermione. I wouldn’t put it past Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle or any of those other b-“

“Language, Ron!” Hermione warned.

-brats to have planted something in Neville’s cauldron!”

Harry laughed. “Even with Neville being as accident prone as he is? Come off it, mate.“

-

For the first time in a long time, he actually slept all night. Unfortunetly, that night was filled with nightmares, which consisted of Malfoy being his usual bully self, Uncle Vernon whipping him with a belt, Aunt Petunia verbally abusing him, and Dudley’s gang chasing him. The next morning, he somehow woke up more tired than he’d been the day before.

That saturday morning was spent doing homework by the Gryffindor fireplace and talking about the upcoming holidays with his friends. He didn’t mention the Dursleys, or why he was scared to go back. As long as Ron didn’t pester him into going with him instead of staying with his muggle relatives, he’d be fine.

“...Dumbledore’s annoucement yesterday at breakfast.” Hermione was saying, drawing Harry from his thoughts. “It will be quite lovely to see my parents again, of course, but I’ll miss you two quite terribly. I can’t believe they’re closing the school for the Holidays. You don’t think they’ll close it permanently because of people being Petrified, do you?”

“I hope not.” Harry muttered, so quiet that his friends only just barely heard him.

He imagined having to tell the Dursleys that the school

was closed permanently, and that he was back to staying there year-round. Yeah, he’d get a real good welcome home if that were to happen, he thought sarcastically, frowning.

“I wonder how we’d be able to continue learning magic, though, if that were to happen?” Ron pondered aloud.

“They might end up sending us to other Wizarding schools around the world, if that were to happen, of course.” Hermione answered absently as she worked on her Potions essay.

Harry scoffed. “Yeah, like my relatives would pay for an out of the country flight there and back every year.”

“Aren’t they, like...rich?” Hermione asked, genuinely confused.

He cursed silently. Of course Hermione would see through his words right away and be nosy about it. He’d have to be careful what he said for now on. “Well...yeah, but Dudley’s-my cousin’s-school tuition is apparentley extremely expensive. And you know how expensive flights are.” He shrugged, hoping it looked nonchalant and praying that his little white lies worked. He didn’t want to tell his friends the truth. It was too dark and he didn’t want to burden them.

Hermione studied him for what seemed like hours before speaking again. “I guess that makes sense.”

A brief silence passed between them before she broke it again only moments later. “I remember you saying that your relatives don’t like you, Harry-“

“The feeling is entirely mutual.” Harry muttered, too low for Hermione to hear.

“-and I know what you said about not wanting to us in danger, but...honestly Harry, I don’t care about that. Anyway, I wanted to offer-you’re welcome to come stay with me and my parents over the holidays.”

Ron smiled at Hermione, while Harry grimanced, and then masked it with a smile.

They were only trying to help, Harry reminded himself.

“Thanks, Hermione. But like I said before, I’m not willing to risk putting any of you in danger. I can’t afford to lose you guys, especially not to Volemort,” At the name, Ron whimpered but Harry ignored it, “and I’m not about to put you in harm’s way with me right there.”

“Okay, mate, but remember that you always have a place with us.” Ron sighed, and then they went back to their work in silence.

[lilxevans]

LILY EVANS is a GRYFFINDOR whose favorite subject is POTIONS, maybe because they are KINDHEARTED but also CONTROLLING. They might be so popular because they look like ZOEY DEUTCH, can you believe they are a SEVENTH YEAR? rumors say they support DUMBLEDORE’S ARMY. where do they go from here?

hi everyone! i originally had written here that i was gonna keep this short and sweet but it quickly got long so uh SORRY 

my name is char, i’m bringing the lovely lily evans to this lovely rp! 

a super fun fact is that i’ve actually never written lily before, so i’m super excited to bring this brand new character (to me, obviously, we’re all quite familiar with the lass on a basic level haha) to life!!!

intro:

lily joy evans was born to mark and denise evans on january 30th, almost exactly two years after her sister petunia. the word almost is something lily is quite thankful for -- if she had been born two days later, she would have shared her birthday with tuney, and her big sister would probably hate her even more than she presently does. 

with a college professor for a mother and a politician for a father, lily was absolutely raised to be a firecracker. she’s just as big into muggle politics and various movements as she is interested in wizarding politics. her mother raised her to be a strong, outspoken woman, and damn if she doesn’t listen to her mother.

finding out she was a witch was the best thing that ever happened to her, and she has severus to thank for that discovery, several years before they first came to hogwarts. magic was incredible - magic is incredible - and even now she’s constantly amazed at what it can do. 

magic also ruined her relationship with her sister. they were always so close, but things changed when lily did. they started to argue more, and petunia constantly had several choice nicknames for her. admittedly, lily did fire back. but tuney always started it! 

holidays at home are still a little weird. luckily, petunia started dating that awful vernon guy a couple years back, and now she spends most of her time with him. still, lily misses her old friendship with her sister. 

she is very good at all of her classes (with the exception of ancient runes but we DON’T talk about that), thanks to how very hard she works. lily spends an insane amount of time studying, because she’s fairly certain if she even misses one note she’ll start flunking everything. 

besides her own constant need for perfection, a large part of this is because she’s a muggleborn. she knows half the school believes people like her shouldn’t even perform magic, and she’s determined to prove that she’s able to do just as much as pureblood magicfolk and more. 

her fifth year she was made prefect, and held onto that title until she was named head girl this year. she’s very excited about this, glad to have one more thing to shove in the faces of those blood supremacist arseholes (and something that she can use to help better the school, suuuuure. ...but mostly that first thing) but at the same time, it’s just adding to the pile of stress that is seventh year at hogwarts. 

regarding the fall of voldemort, she isn’t convinced it’s fully over. just because one man dies, doesn’t mean his legions of prejudiced followers are going to stop what they’ve been doing for years. hearing that voldemort was dead, though, was like the biggest wave of relief washed over her. if they could stop him, they could stop the rest of them. 

but now... she has to think about what she’ll be doing after school. it was no question that after hogwarts she was going to do something for the cause, help where she could against the growing group of death eaters and their attacks, but if the troubles are truly over, what comes next? 

quick fun things:

big quidditch fan, catch her in the front row bleachers of every game, fully decked out in gryffindor gear, even some fun enchanted face paint to boot

the type of girl to try and befriend literally everyone, but she WILL hold an annoying grudge if the friendship falls out for whatever reason 

survives off of coffee, which she definitely enchants but will never admit to. it’s how she manages hardly ever sleeping

a very benevolent god when it comes to being head girl, she will fully look the other way as long as it isn’t hurting anyone and won’t also get her in trouble

...unless she thinks you’re an asshole

she found a way to get around the whole “no technology in the castle” thing (which, by the way, she is convinced was a rule put in place to stop the muggleborn students from being too powerful. just IMAGINE if they had access to technology at school), and has brought her full record collection to school. can be heard blasting muggle music on her record player regularly, and she’ll bring it down to the common room on weekends or for parties

 it’s her way or the highway ladies and gents, she will get very annoyed if things don’t go her way lol. she finds what she can control and she grabs on tight, and if something is out of control it bothers her to no end

she loves to argue, it’s one of her favorite hobbies. 

oh and her pet is a black cat named taffy! petunia pointed him out as a joke when they were shopping for pets before lily’s first year (”a freak black cat for a witch! wouldn’t that be perfect!”) but the idea quickly stuck. 

[hardheartd]

❝ BROKEN GIRLS BLOSSOM INTO WARRIORS. ❞ 

BARBIE FERRERIA? No, that’s actually ELIZA DURSLEY. A SIXTH YEAR student, this HUFFLEPUFF student is sided with MCGONAGALL’S ARMY. SHE identifies as a CIS-WOMAN and is a MUGGLEBORN who is known to be COMBATIVE, STUBBORN, and BLUNT but also PASSIONATE, OBSERVANT, and DYNAMIC. 

( pinterest. ) ( stats. ) 

FUN FACTS

Eliza has a black cat named Frances that she adopted as a kitten the summer before her third and fourth year. She refers to her cat as her child and the animal is frequently seen with Eliza whenever she’s not in an academic setting.

The moment Eliza came to Hogwarts, she was fascinated by quidditch. She didn’t make the team until her second year, the youngest player on the team by far and the youngest beater the team had seen in years. As much as she enjoys the game, that’s all it is to her - a game. She likes the rush she gets when she flies more than anything else though she does prefer to win - but who doesn’t? Upon entering her sixth year, she was elected captain and plans on keeping that title into her seventh year.

Eliza, unlike some in the wizarding community, has absolutely no problem resulting to muggle strategies. She has a mean right hook and anyone who’s ever messed with her friends can attest to that. She has always specialized in defensive spells and hexes but she has no problem punching someone if they somehow get her wand.

In addition to quidditch, Eliza is in the dueling club, for obvious reasons, and an active member of the Herbology club. Those who don’t always see her as a Hufflepuff can very much see her traditional ties to her house upon seeing her makeshift garden in the window sill of the girl’s dorms.  She has earned her title of plant mom several times over, though she far prefers the allusions to Persephone than to the joking title bestowed upon her by her fellow housemates.

Despite her combative personality, Eliza has no desire to become an auror, hit witch, or anything of the like after graduation; she wants to be a healer. She’s frighteningly protective of her friends and is always the one who heals their wounds when they get injured and she had learned how to heal her own wounds before she should have. In the coming war, Eliza knows that the side she’s aligned herself will need fighters but an army can’t win if they aren’t taken care of - she has no problems fighting and dying for something she believes in, but she knows the importance of healing in a war zone.

BACKGROUND

TRIGGER WARNINGS: (internal and external) fatphobia, parental abuse (physical and emotional)

Eliza was doomed from the start - a chubby little girl with magical blood bearing the name Dursley, synonymous with bigotry and the loathe of all things different, was never meant to come into the world at all. But here she was - still kicking and screaming if not more vehemently than she did as a baby.

Born Elizabeth Petunia Dursley to Dudley Dursley and Matilda Price, Eliza was the youngest of three and the only daughter in the family - she was also the only child with a drop of magical blood in her system.

Of course, that was never discovered until her Hogwarts letter came, which brought Dudley’s wrath down upon her with a vengeance. However, to say that her life up until that point was remotely easy would be incorrect.

Like her brothers, she had inherited her father’s temper and obsessive loyalty to family; unlike her brothers, she had also inherited her father’s chubby cheeks and round stomach. Her mother, a woman with a waifish figure that rivaled Petunia Dursley’s, put her on a diet before she reached the age of five.

With a mother who constantly poked and prodded her body at every turn, Eliza turned to her father for validation. His compliments were similar to her mothers - a backhanded slap with a sweet in the other hand, though his slaps were far more physical than Matilda’s. But like most children, she refused to see the bad in the people that raised her.

By the time she received her letter from Hogwarts, she was already well trained in obedience, undying loyalty to her family, self-hatred, and loathing of all things different; the letter came as a slap in the face, one that her father reiterated after reading it over her shoulder. Her mother was the one that saved her from Dudley’s wrath, only to look upon her with disgust. It was her mother that convinced her father to send her to Hogwarts, whispering “at least this way we won’t have to look our shame in the face.”

The months leading up to her departure to Hogwarts were miserable; one of the professors escorted her to Diagon Alley, her parents more than happy to pass her onto a stranger. Instead of being excited about the entire experience, she dreaded it. The world of magic was something that her family made damn sure she hated. The trip caused her to break down in tears more than once, seeing all those smiling families made her ache for her own and the hum of magic around them absolutely terrified her.

Her arrival at Hogwarts didn’t excite her anymore. When the Sorting Hat cried out the word “Hufflepuff” Eliza wasn’t sure if she should be excited or not. She didn’t understand which houses were bad and which were good; to be quite honest, she considered all of them to be pretty bad considering they took her away from her family.

The first few months of her schooling was pretty difficult, the young girl withdrawing into herself, still full of rage and loathing for herself and those around her. She struggled in all of her classes too scared of magic to fully allow herself to be immersed in the school work.

Eventually, she became friends with other Hufflepuffs and the odd friend from another house. She started to become herself again; or, rather, she started to find herself among those who didn’t look upon her with disgust and disdain.

As she grew more confident in as a witch, she started to pull herself away from her family’s interests. Her mother spewed hateful words at her during breaks and her father sent her back to Hogwarts with bruises.

It wasn’t until the summer before her fourth year that she refused to go back to her family’s home. She found a shop that would allow her to work and lived in the Leaky Cauldron during the summer, picking up odd jobs where she could.

Of course, she’d been planning it since her second year, after her father called her best friend damned freak and an awful influence on his disappointment of a daughter. She had taken his wrath for far too long, feeling like she deserved it, but when he turned on someone else, someone she loved and cared about like her own blood, she couldn’t accept that - she wouldn’t accept that.

It was during that time that she started to develop a much firmer sense of self. She didn’t need the love of her parents and brothers - she had another family, the one she found at Hogwarts, the one she bloody well chose. And she had herself. That was enough; or that’s what she told herself when she found herself missing the family that birthed her.

She felt the rage inside her start to quell, slowly but surely. She had people who loved her and she could deal with that. Sure, she would punch the odd boy who decided to put his hands on her or her friends and maybe she would occasionally go harder than she needed to during dueling club, but she working on it.

It wasn’t until the Death Eaters and their fascist ideals made a reappearance that the rage beneath the surface came back with a vengeance. There were hints of it before the attacks began. Mudblood started being thrown around whenever she passed by, though she quickly learned to smile back at the person tossing taunts her way. She was used to name calling, she’d been called fat and a bitch by her parents, and she wears both titles with pride now and mudblood was no different. She made herself crop tops with mudblood embroidered in bright pink and purple that she wears nearly every time she goes to Hogsmeade with her friends. She throws smirks over her shoulder at people look at her in disgust or confusion and hexes at those she suspects are Death Eaters or supporters of their cause.

If those people were going to hate her, she would give them a reason to. She fought back more than most people do. She’s mastered almost every hex and dreams of creating more. Unlike some in the Wizarding world, she had no problem resorting to “muggle” tactics, throwing punches when her wand was taken or hexed away. Because of this, she’s been targeted by death eaters, whom she politely calls “Britian’s Trump Supporters.” She meets their sneers with hexes and has gotten into physical fights with them several times over. She refuses to stop fighting or be intimidated by people who hide behind curses and masks.

A war is on the horizon and she’ll die in it before she allows someone she cares about it to hurt in the name of it. Of course, she can’t save everyone, even herself.

WANTED PLOTS AND CONNECTIONS

Note: These are just jumping off points; plz message me if you have any other ideas!

(Tr)eat your girl right - TAKEN BY NATALIA || They’re messing around and feelings are getting involved and oh boi, it’s gonna get ~complicated~

Ride or Die Babey!! - ONE SPOT TAKEN BY NATALIA, TWO OPEN SPOTS || Eliza is loyal to a fault and treats her friends as family, given her blood related family is far from perfect, but these are the people she would live and die for. This would probably work best with Hogwarts students who are involved in McGonagall’s Army.

‘Puff Pride - OPEN, UNLIMITED SPOTS || Eliza is a Hufflepuff through and through and loves her housemate more than anything. She’s the captain of their quidditch team and organizes makeshift tailgate parties in the common room. She’s also been known to comfort the lonely first years who are homesick and has created a running list of birthdays for her housemates so no one goes without acknowledgement. She’s become something of a den mother to her fellow ‘puffs and is fiercely protective of all of them.

Frequent Flyers - FIVE OPEN SPOTS || Eliza is an active member of McGonagall’s Army and hopes to become active in the Order after graduation. She’s got a mean right hook and a sharp tongue full of hexes  and she puts herself in the line of fire quite often, but she focuses a lot of her energy on healing other people involved in the war. She’s been known to be rather rash so she sympathizes with her fellow MA members who have difficulty controlling their anger; she often swaps stories with them while she patches them up. This is open to Hogwarts students who are involved in McGonagall’s Army.

Enemies and Lovers - ONE SPOT OPEN || This is someone she knows damn well is trouble but still falls into bed with. It’s very much a “fight and fuck” relationship that is never acknowledged once the two of them get dressed. This is open to any Hogwarts student, regardless of gender, and would work best with a Death Eater or DE sympathizer.

Ex-Partner - TAKEN BY MADDISON || It was stupid, teenage puppy love that ended in flames once the fighting really began. They ended up on opposite sides, or in Eliza’s mind they did - your muse could be neutral or DE or whatever. There’s still a lot of angst and pain that goes along with this relationship. They fluctuate between not making eye contact with each other and screaming at each other. This is open to any Hogwarts student, regardless of gender, and would work best with a Death Eater or DE sympathizer.

Keep Your Enemies Closer - ONE SPOT OPEN || Eliza is too blunt to con someone, she’s more of a slash and burn type of gal; but others aren’t, especially those on the other side. This is someone on the side of the Death Eaters that is attempting to use her for information or are trying to trap her to be tortured by one of the leaders of the Death Eaters. Eliza is very outspoken and observant so this would have to be someone who isn’t obviously affiliated with the DE and therefore likely isn’t in the inner circle.  This is open to any Hogwarts student and would work best with a Death Eater or DE sympathizer.

Mutually Assured Destruction - ONE SPOT OPEN || Eliza has 100% been attacked and tortured by someone involved with the Death Eaters before, most likely multiple times. She’s seen their faces and she’s more than willing to share that information with anyone who will listen to her, but perhaps they struck a deal. Eliza won’t say anything to anyone, provided her friends are protected from harm. It’s a risky deal and both of them know it won’t last, but it’s something to keep the peace for a while longer. This is open to any Hogwarts student and would work best with a Death Eater or DE sympathizer.

Tormentors - FOUR SPOTS OPEN || As the previous connection stated, Eliza is a target for the Death Eaters - she’s vocal about her hatred towards the group and has physically fought memebers before. These characters are the ones that are always at her throat, constantly looking for ways to fuck her up, and vice versa.

Parental Figures - TWO SPOTS OPEN || Eliza stopped going home for breaks around her fourth year and was essentially homeless until someone took her in. This character was either a Hogwarts Professor, a Diagon Alley employee who let her work for them, or one of her friend’s parents. She still works in Diagon Alley and/or Hogsmeade over breaks to make money so they could still work together or they might let her live with them when she has nowhere else to go. 

[vermiculus-incipiens]

OOC INFORMATION:

What’s your name? Kay

Preferred pronouns: she/her

Timezone: Arizona/MST

IC INFORMATION:

Character Name: Lily Josephine Potter, nee Evans. Lily was named for her father - both his favorite flower and his middle name. She was always proud of her first name, because she inherited his love of lilies and thought it a favorable comparison. She liked her middle name less; Joseph was a family middle name on his side, and she didn’t enjoy being saddled with it, until after she lost him and it was a tie that she appreciated.

What’s a hobby or pastime that your character enjoys? Lily has recently picked up knitting. She’s not good at it but determined to get better. She likes it because it provides something useful for her time (she already has one lumpy and lopsided baby blanket ready, and is working on a second). It also gives her an outlet for her frustration: no matter how difficult a problem she faces with her knitting, she can always solve it. (Sometimes the solution is to rip everything to pieces and start fresh but that’s still a viable solution.) Having problems she can actually take care of makes the war and her current reality a little less distressing.

Do you have any preferred ships or anti-ships? It has always been Lily and James for me, and always will be. Personally, I think they balance each other very well and James shows such amazing growth as a person that I just love him. From a character stand point, I see Lily as being committed to her relationship and unwilling to compromise it with anyone else. Once she made her promises to James (even before the wedding ceremony, for her personally, when she chose to be with him) then she was set for good (or until death separates them).

What do you think your character’s Boggart would be? If their greatest fear isn’t something that could easily take a solid form, what is it? Why? Her Boggart has taken different forms over the last few years but it’s currently Dumbledore, dead. It’s not so much that she’s most scared of losing Dumbledore but rather the representation. Dumbledore is (in her mind, currently) their greatest strength, their greatest hope in the war. Facing a world without him is terrifying to her.

What’s your character’s biggest pet peeve? She absolutely hates when someone tries to speak for her. On anything, whether it’s someone telling her she’s upset (whether she is or not is irrelevant) or someone trying to tell her to stay out of fighting. Lily knows her own mind and what she’s capable of.

What would you consider to be an eccentricity of your character? Lily almost always writes in pencils. When she was at Hogwarts, she dealt with quills and ink out of necessity but she never liked it and always thought it was ridiculous. She brought spiral bound notebooks and pencils with her and took notes in those whenever she could, using parchment and quill only for things she had to turn into her professors.

What is/was your character’s favorite subject in school? Why? Lily liked a lot of her classes but most notable among them were Potions and Herbology. She liked Potions because she was good at it; Potions was simple: follow the steps and you’ll have a successful potion. (Severus always helped her, of course, although she was good enough on her own that she didn’t need him.) It was logical and predictable, and she got on very well with Professor Slughorn. Herbology was enjoyable because she liked the process of working with her hands. Her father was a gardener and Lily had always loved spending time with him in the garden. When she came to Hogwarts and found out there were magical plants, she was ecstatic.

What time of day is your character’s favorite? What time of year? Ever since she was a little girl, Lily has been an early riser. She used to get up early and work with her dad in the garden and then at Hogwarts, she liked getting up early to work on her homework. There’s something about the world before it becomes busy that can be soothing and even now, Lily loves getting up and spending a little time alone. Lily has always been fond of the fall. There’s just something about the air getting crisper and cooler that gets her excited. She also likes wearing layers - scarves and hats and jumpers and tights. And the hot drinks - everything about the season makes her happy.

What’s your character’s Patronus? If they can’t conjure one, what would it be if they could? Why? Lily’s patronus is a doe. She’s been able to form it since it was introduced in class. Having had a relatively happy childhood, Lily had a whole host of happy memories to draw from and this particular spell never gave her any trouble.

What is your character’s biggest vice (bad habit or immoral craving)? Lily can be a liar. She wouldn’t say she lies all the time, or about the really big things, but she constantly lies on smaller issues. ‘How are you, Lily?’ ‘Just fine!’ She rarely tells the truth on her feelings, preferring to let people see what they want to see, and what she wants them to see as well. She doesn’t want to be a burden to her friends, and so she chooses instead to let them think the best and not worry about her.

Is your character an introvert or extrovert? How well do they handle social situations? Lily was always more an extrovert than an introvert in the past. She liked her group of friends and spending time with them made everything seem better. As time passed - or more accurately, as the war grew worse, she lost that tendency. Being around large crowds, even of people she likes and trusts, is no longer something she enjoys. Too much can go wrong in a crowd, there’s always the risk of an attack, and she can no longer relax the way she used to.

What is your character’s diet like? What’s his or her favorite food? Lily dutifully tries to keep her diet healthy (especially as she’s expecting) and usually has a variety of fruits and vegetables in the house as much as possible. It’s definitely out of a sense of duty though, and not because she enjoys it. Her favorite food is bread, any type she can get her hands on really. It’s not unusual to find her with a slice of bread in hand when she’s at home (Lily has always been big on snacks between meals). Her pregnancy cravings have been pretty wild and not always pleasant (the worst was the Cockroach Cluster cravings; she swore James to secrecy about those).

How do you think your character’s psychological issues have manifested and changed your character up to this point? Watching the world deteriorate has been hard for Lily. She’s an optimist at heart, a person who believes in good in others even when it seems hidden, who loves to give second (and third and fourth) chances, who wants to do good for her friends. But she’s seen such terrible things happen, and not least of all to her own family, and it just makes her insides shrivel. She hides it well, under a sunny smile and cheerful phrase, but it weighs on her more and more. Her close friends and family can probably start to see a change in her but Lily is still in denial about that. She’s starting to have other issues - problems sleeping, an even shorter temper. It isn’t so much that her kindness or love of others or goodness is gone but it’s hidden under an ever-increasing cynicism and anger.

Give us a headcanon for your character. Anything is acceptable. Lily has a notebook full of letters to Petunia. She doesn’t anticipate ever fixing their relationship; there’s been too much bad blood between them now to really go back to what they could have been. But she misses how close they used to be, and one night when she couldn’t sleep because of all the stress, she pulled out a spare notebook and scrawled a note to Petunia. It became habit after that, and now the notebook is nearly full. She keeps it hidden in her sock drawer, unwilling to explain it to anyone.

[abitoflit]

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Archetypes and Hero’s Journey

“‘It is our choices… that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities,’” (Rowling 333). J.K. Rowling’s novel entitled Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a novel shaped by the choices that its characters make. Do they choose to give into their fear of what is foreign and unknown, or do they take the time to explore it and understand it better? Do they choose to stand idly as their fellows are terrorized, or do they choose to try and stop it? Do they choose to fight for what is right, for good, or do they give into their own ambitions and fight for the forces of darkness? As each of Rowling’s characters follow their own paths, their archetypes emerge, further defining them. Perhaps most importantly, as Harry faces the obstacles presented to a novel’s hero, readers get the chance to experience his journey alongside him. As they develop a fondness for him because of his relatability, they can only hope that he makes the right choices and triumphs over evil at the end of the novel.

           Harry Potter embodies the Hero archetype in Rowling’s novel because his status as an individual “distinct from” the rest of the story’s characters makes him easy for readers to relate to, (Vogler 29). At the onset of the novel, Harry is depicted as being different from the Dursleys because of his past—he was adopted by his aunt and uncle. Harry’s status as an outsider is accentuated by the fact that he is a wizard and the Dursleys are Muggles who fear his power, especially when he makes empty threats. At school, Harry stands apart from the other students because of the fame he gained after defeating Voldemort and his ability to talk to snakes. As several of Hogwarts’ students begin to fear that he is the Heir of Slytherin on account of his being a Parselmouth, he is ostracized and even feared by more and more of the student body. As Harry begins to feel increasingly unwelcome at school, readers find it easier to relate to the boy wizard. Their ease stems from the fact that they’ve all been in Harry’s position before—they’ve all been unwelcome in social situations; they’ve all been outsiders.

           Harry is also the novel’s hero because he is “the most active person in the script,” (Vogler 31).  He is present in every chapter and every major event. Furthermore, the novel surrounds his experience during his second year at Hogwarts; it is driven by “his will and desire,” without him, the novel simply could not exist, (Vogler 31). Harry is also the individual “who learns or grows the most in the course of the story,” (Vogler 31). His instructors continue to teach him magic, his allies teach him about wizard culture—the meaning of words like “Mudblood” and “Squib,” the ingredients necessary to produce Polyjuice Potion and its use, etc. At the end of the novel, Harry sacrifices his own safety and well-being in order to ensure that no one else is attacked by the basilisk and that Ginny’s life doesn’t end prematurely. As he descends into the Chamber of Secrets, readers notice that Harry is riddled with both unease and self-doubt. Rowling writes “every nerve in Harry’s body was tingling unpleasantly. He wanted the tunnel to end, yet dreaded what he’d find when he did,” (304). His fears aren’t unfounded—without the help of Fawkes the phoenix and Gryffindor’s sword, Harry would have succumbed to the chamber’s horrors. With the basilisk blinded by Fawkes’ talons and the sword to replace his lost wand, Harry managed to defeat the basilisk, but it cost him. The basilisk bit him and its blood was poisonous. Slowly, his life ebbed away from him—he had sacrificed himself for his best friend’s sister. “Thick, pearly tears were trickling down [Fawkes’] glossy feathers,” falling into the wound the snake had inflicted, (Rowling 321). Knowing of the great lengths that Harry would go to protect his friends, that his heart was pure, Fawkes used the curative properties of his tears to resurrect Potter. He rewarded him for his sacrifice and Harry was born again, a newer, stronger wizard who would finish the task of bringing Ginny home.

           Three Mentors arise to help Harry on his quest. The first is his best friend Ronald Weasley, who continues “teaching [and] training” Harry in various aspects of wizard culture, (Vogler 40). For example, Ron shows Harry how to “de-gnome” a garden, explains that “Mudblood” is a derisive term, that a Squib “‘is someone who was born into a wizarding family but hasn’t got any magic powers,’” etc. (Rowling 145). Hermione Granger is the second of Harry’s Mentors. Hermione can be classified as a Mentor as well because she crafts a Polyjuice Potion and explains its use. She also realizes what monster lurks in the Chamber of Secrets before anyone else. Although she had been petrified and couldn’t tell Harry directly, she had torn a page out of a book and scrawled “pipes” beneath the entry on basilisks, (Rowling 290). As a result, she was able to express her thoughts to her friends upon their discovery of the paper she clutched in her hands. Finally, Dumbledore is the third of Harry’s three Mentors and he certainly looks the part. He is an elderly wizard with a long white beard and half-moon spectacles, but it is not his appearance alone that makes him a Mentor. Dumbledore may be classified as a mentor because he teaches Harry a valuable lesson—that it is one’s choices that define who they are. At the end of the novel, when Harry struggles to view himself as a Gryffindor because of his similarities to Salazar Slytherin, Dumbledore explains what differentiates them. Although Dumbledore admits that they do in fact possess some similarities like “‘his own very rare gift, Parseltongue — resourcefulness—determination — a certain disregard for rules,’” he also expresses the idea that Harry’s choice to ask the Sorting Hat not to be placed in Slytherin made him a different person, (Rowling 333). Harry’s decision to voice his desires is what separates him from Slytherin and Voldemort, who chose very different paths for themselves. Thus, Dumbledore satisfies another aspect of the Mentor archetype because “giving gifts is… an important function of this archetype,” (Vogler 40). Dumbledore provides Harry with peace of mind because he explained what made Harry a Hero and Voldemort a villain. By extension, he also explains how Ron and Hermione’s continued support made them both friends and Mentors.

           Threshold Guardians provide the hero with “obstacles,” which they must overcome in order to continue on their quest, (Vogler 49). Thus, “testing of the hero is the primary dramatic function” of this archetype, (Vogler 50). Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets contains two Threshold Guardians. The first is Dobby, the house elf. Upon their initial meeting, Dobby says “‘Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts,’” (Rowling 16). In order to make it easier to convince Harry to stay home, Dobby withholds Harry’s mail so that he will think that no one cares about him and the Special World will seem less inviting. By expressing his wishes and alluding to the reasons behind them, Dobby challenges Harry by forcing him to uncover the truth about why he hadn’t been receiving letters. He also forces Harry to find a way to defy his will. When Harry refuses to give in, Dobby bolsters the gateway leading to the Special World by making it more difficult for Harry to continue his journey. He accomplishes this feat by magically dropping Aunt Petunia’s pudding onto the floor, causing Harry to get into trouble with the Ministry of Magic for what they assumed was the underage use of magic outside of school. This put Harry at risk of expulsion. Dobby’s actions spur Vernon Dursley, Harry’s second Threshold Guardian, to tighten his grip. In addition to having all of his magical supplies locked away, Vernon “paid a man to fit bars on Harry’s window... [he] let Harry out to use the bathroom… Otherwise, he was locked in his room around the clock,” (Rowling 22). Thus, Vernon issued his challenge: if Harry could find a way out of his room, then he could go back to Hogwarts. To a Muggle, this was an impossible task, since Harry couldn’t use magic and had no way to communicate with the outside world. So, Vernon relaxed, knowing that Harry had no way of returning to the “accursed” school he and his family hated so much. Unfortunately, Ron sensed that something was wrong and came to the rescue with his two older brothers Fred and George, freeing Harry from his prison so that he could continue his journey.

           Dobby also serves another important function in Rowling’s story; he fills the Herald archetype. “Herald characters issue challenges and announce the coming of significant change,” (Vogler 55). When Dobby insists that Harry should not return to Hogwarts, he issues a challenge. He forces Harry to defy him in order to obtain what he wants—the chance to return to the Special World. When Dobby begins to betray his master, explaining why Harry should remain with the Dursleys, he carries out the latter portion of the Herald’s description. Dobby states that there is ‘“a plot to make most terrible things happen at Hogwarts… this year,’” (Rowling 16). He alludes to the danger that awaits in the Special World, suggesting that what Harry will find at Hogwarts is anything but peaceful. Although life isn’t pleasant for Harry at the Dursleys, readers can expect that his life will be just as unpleasant at school. Furthermore, they can expect a shift from a relatively safe world devoid of magic, to one filled with magic and mayhem. It is obvious that Harry’s life is about to change.

           Shapeshifters are “shifting and unstable… [making them] difficult for the hero and the audience to pin down,” (Vogler 59). Ginny Weasley wears this archetypal mask in Rowling’s novel because her personality is constantly changing before both Harry’s and reader’s eyes. When we are first reintroduced to her character at the Burrow, Ginny appears to be a shy individual who is infatuated with Harry. She constantly blushes around him and has a tendency to make a fool of herself in his presence. For example, during breakfast one morning, she “put her elbow in the butter dish,” after Harry asked her a question, (Rowling 44). At Flourish and Blotts, Ginny appears courageous when she defends Harry from Malfoy’s ridicule. After the basilisk’s first attack on Hogwarts, Mrs. Norris, Filch’s cat, is petrified. Most of the student body doesn’t care because they associate her with Filch and detention. However, Ginny’s softer side is expressed by her being “disturbed by Mrs. Norris’s fate” because it demonstrates her ability to sympathize and empathize with others, (Rowling 146). When the school begins to suspect Harry of being the Heir of Slytherin, Ginny’s brothers Fred and George begin to crack jokes about Harry’s affairs with his “fanged servant,” (Rowling 210). Ginny doesn’t find the jokes funny, suggesting that she is deeply upset by them and how Harry is viewed. Since she doesn’t want anyone she cares about to be viewed negatively, she can be described as both loyal and protective. On Valentine’s Day, Ginny reverts to the reader’s initial view of her—that of an adolescent girl infatuated with a boy she hardly knows, when she gives Harry a valentine. When Ginny tries to tell Harry and Ron about Riddle’s diary and the Chamber of Secrets, she appears both craven and uneasy. When she tried to talk, “no sound came out,” and when Percy appeared, she “jumped up as though her chair had just been electrified,” (Rowling 286).

Finally, when Ginny lies unconscious in the Chamber of Secrets, Tom Riddle explains how he fed on her secrets in order to grow stronger. When he reveals that Ginny stole the diary back in order to protect her secrets from being divulged, Ginny is humanized as she grows more and more relatable. Our ability to relate to Ginny is enhanced by the types of things she revealed to Tom: ‘“how her brothers tease her, how she had to come to school with secondhand robes and books… [and] how she didn’t think [the] famous… Harry Potter would ever like her…’” (Rowling 309). Ginny’s secrets make her more relatable because everyone has been teased or ridiculed, everyone has gone out in clothes that embarrass them, many people struggle with poverty, and many people have had fears that those they love don’t love them back. Thus, Ginny’s character and her secrets prove to be extremely profound because she speaks directly to Rowling’s target audience: children and adolescents, who are struggling with all of the same things as the young witch. With her last shift, she becomes “one of us,” an individual riddled with self-doubt and social problems. By having her act as the Shapeshifter, Rowling ensures that Ginny can speak to everyone, guaranteeing that they all feel as though they “belong” in her readership.

The Shadow archetype “challenge[s] the hero and give[s] her a worthy opponent in the struggle,” (Vogler 66). The Shadows in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets are Tom Riddle and the basilisk. The basilisk is a Shadow because it petrified several students with its gaze. One of these individuals was Hermione Granger, the intellectual in Harry’s trio. Without her help and guidance, Harry and Ron struggled in their classes, trying to uncover the truth about the Chamber of Secrets, etc. If it hadn’t been for the page they discovered clutched in her hand, they may not have realized what was going on and Harry may not have satisfied his role as the novel’s Hero. The basilisk also proved to be a physical threat when Harry was fighting it in the Chamber of Secrets. This is in part because of its size and brute strength, in part because of the powers of its gaze, and the poisonous properties of its blood. Although Harry managed to slay the beast with Gryffindor’s sword, the basilisk had bitten him, causing “white-hot pain [to] sprea[d] slowly and steadily from the wound,” (Rowling 320). It made his vision “foggy,” (Rowling 320). If Fawkes had not been present to heal Harry with his tears, then Harry would have died in the Chamber of Secrets.

Tom Riddle fills the Shadow archetype as well because he was the individual who orchestrated the attacks on Hogwarts. He was the individual who first opened the Chamber of Secrets, unleashing the basilisk, which killed Moaning Myrtle. He also led to Hagrid’s expulsion from school, because the attacks were blamed on Hagrid’s pet spider, Aragog. His second wave of attacks, which occurred fifty years later while Harry attended school, caused several more students to be petrified. Riddle also provided Harry with a mental and emotional challenge because he used Ginny Weasley, his best friend’s sister, to gain power and obtain a corporeal form. With Ginny as his unwilling puppet, Riddle managed to minimize the threats posed to the basilisk and his power because “‘she strangled the school roosters,’” whose crow has the capacity to kill it, (Rowling 310). As Riddle gained more and more control over Ginny, her own power waned, causing Harry to realize that Riddle held her life in his hands. Thus, Harry knew that he had to tread lightly because Ginny’s life hung in the balance—if he made one false step, each of them could die. Thus, he had to devise a way to stop Riddle quickly and without magic, not only because he wanted to live, but because he didn’t want Ron and his family, whom he considered friends, to suffer the pain of Ginny’s demise. Finally, Riddle writes “I am Lord Voldemort,” forcing Harry to push aside the pain of their past history together in order to triumph, (Rowling 314). Since Voldemort killed Harry’s parents and harmed several of the people he loved, this proved to be a challenge because Harry knew firsthand what Voldemort was capable of.

Allies are often “friendly figures who fight [at the hero’s] sid[e], advise and warn them, and sometimes challenge them,” (Vogler 71). Hermione Granger is one of Harry’s two allies. She may be characterized as an ally because she is Harry’s friend who often advises him on how to proceed. For example, when Harry begins to suspect that his rival, Draco Malfoy is the Heir of Slytherin, she devises a way to question him. She explains that Polyjuice Potion “‘transforms you into somebody else,’” which would allow them to turn into Draco’s closest friends, (Rowling 159). As a result, they would be able to convince Draco to confide in them, which in turn, would allow them to stop him from harming anyone else. Furthermore, Hermione realizes that a basilisk is the creature terrorizing the school. She also assumes that the beast is living in the pipes. When Harry and Ron discover her theory by uncovering a note she held when she was petrified, they become more capable of stopping Lord Voldemort.

Ronald Weasley is Harry’s second ally because he is a loyal friend who fights at Harry’s side. Ron demonstrates his loyalty when he chooses to put aside his fear of spiders and follow Harry into the Forbidden Forest. After following the trail of young spiders, they encounter Aragog, who explains what transpired fifty years prior when the Chamber of Secrets was first opened. When Aragog’s children attack them, Harry manages to escape with Ron’s help and Mr. Weasley’s enchanted car. Ronald Weasley proves his loyalty again at the end of the novel when he follows Harry into the Chamber of Secrets to rescue Ginny and destroy the basilisk. Following a cave-in, he becomes trapped behind a rock wall and cannot support Harry with his presence anymore. However, he agrees to “‘try and shift some of this rock…so [that Harry] can get back through,’” (Rowling 304). His words lend Harry strength—they demonstrate that Ron knows that Harry can succeed in rescuing Ginny and defeating the basilisk. They also demonstrate Ron’s willingness to help despite his limitations because they show that he will still be there for Harry when he returns and help ensure their return home.

The final archetype is the Trickster, which “embodies the energies of mischief and desire for change,” (Vogler 77). Often, the archetype provides “comic relief,” (Vogler 78). Peeves is one of the story’s Tricksters because he is always wreaking havoc. For example, he dropped a “vanishing cabinet… from a great height,” destroying the expensive piece of furniture and giving Filch more to clean up, (Rowling 128-129). He also calls attention to the individuals who had been petrified by screaming “‘ATTACK! ATTACK! NO MORTAL OR GHOST IS SAFE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! ATTAAAACK!’” (Rowling 203). Since Harry had been alone in the corridor, people began to suspect him of foul play. Thus, Peeves accomplished what he set out to do—he changed the calm atmosphere to one filled with fear and panic simply because he appreciated mischief. The Weasley Twins are also Tricksters because they do their level best to break rules and provide comic relief. An example of their comic interludes includes the time that Fred “bewitched [Percy’s] prefect badge so that it now read ‘Pinhead,’” (Rowling 212). An example of their mischief-making would be the time they fed fireworks to a salamander, causing a “spectacular display of tangerine stars [to] show[er] from [its] mouth,” (Rowling 131). As a result of their actions, readers can surmise that they strive to change dull or unpleasant moods to lighter and happier ones. Alternatively, when they make mischief, it would appear as though they strive to create a sense of unease because they derive pleasure from other’s discomfort.

The Ordinary World is the first stage of the Hero’s Journey. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the Ordinary World is the Dursley’s home. It sets “a baseline for comparison” to the Special World, which allows readers to view it as the author intended—as being special, (Vogler 87). The Dursley’s residence contrasts sharply with the Special World presented at Hogwarts for several reasons. First, Harry’s school supplies are locked up so that he has no access to magic. Second, Hedwig is locked in her cage for the entirety of the summer, so he has no contact with the outside world. Third, the Dursleys don’t appreciate Harry for several reasons, including the fact that he is a wizard. As a result, they treat him harshly and make his life as unpleasant as possible. Finally, being that Vernon Dursley “paid a man to fit bars on Harry’s window,” the boy wizard experienced limited mobility and a lack of freedom, which kept him from doing the things he wanted, (Rowling 22). By describing all of the things that make Harry’s life at the Dursley’s unbearable, Rowling establishes what the Hero “[is] lacking,” (Vogler 91). As a result, readers can surmise that Harry will find all of the things he is lacking in the Special World—the ability to perform magic and to communicate with others, a sense of love and acceptance, and freedom.

The Call to Adventure is designed “to get a story rolling,” (Vogler 99). This stage suggests “that it’s time for change,” (Vogler 100). In Rowling’s novel, this stage of the Hero’s Journey occurs when Dobby comes to warn Harry not to return to Hogwarts. When the house elf reveals “‘there is a plot… a plot to make most terrible things happen at Hogwarts,’” the plot begins to pick up and readers sense that the story’s mood will become even darker, (Rowling 16). Despite Dobby’s insistence that Harry should stay home, the Call is issued because Dobby’s words allude to both the horrors and the adventure that await Harry at Hogwarts. In addition, it clearly states that the safety he experiences at the Dursleys will not be found at Hogwarts. As a result, readers come to the conclusion that Harry’s life is about to change drastically.

The third stage of the Hero’s Journey is Refusal of the Call, which involves the Hero “trying to dodge the adventure,” (Vogler 108). This stage was not present in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets because Harry was eager to return to the Special World. He says, “‘but I’ve got to go back… It’s all that’s keeping me going. You don’t know what it’s like here. I don’t belong here. I belong in your world — at Hogwarts,’” (Rowling 16). He refuses to give in to Dobby’s wishes and insists on returning to the Special World for another adventure because he recognizes that the Ordinary World is no place for him and that it’s slowly stifling him. Furthermore, Harry wishes to return to the Special World in order to protect the individuals that may be imperiled by the insidious plot that is unfolding. In sum: this stage of the journey isn’t present in Rowling’s novel because Harry feels obligated to use the information Dobby provided him. He needs to play the role of the Hero again in order to protect the Special World, to keep it from becoming as dark and as miserable as the Ordinary World he longs to leave behind.

Sometimes, characters “refuse a Call until [they’ve] had time to prepare” for what lies ahead, (Vogler 117). Often, this involves meeting with their Mentor who may give them advice or some other form of assistance. This stage occurred when Ron and his twin brothers Fred and George came to rescue Harry from the Dursleys. Although Harry accepted the Call by insisting that he return to Hogwarts, he had no way of returning to the Special World because he had been locked in his room. As a result, he needed to devise a way to escape in order to continue on his quest. Although he could not communicate with Ron, Ron sensed that something was wrong when he failed to receive any owls from Harry. When he arrived at the Dursleys and realized what had transpired, Ron “pulled [the bars] clean out of the window” with the help of his older brothers and his father’s magical car, (Rowling 25). As a result, Harry was set free. Harry also gained the ability to prepare for the journey ahead because he gained access to both Hedwig and his school supplies. As a result, he could arm himself with magic and communicate with Hedwig’s assistance. Finally, he regained access to one of his three mentors: Ronald Weasley, who would continue to coach him in wizard culture.

The next stage in the Hero’s Journey, Crossing the First Threshold, “is an act of the will in which the hero commits wholeheartedly to the adventure,” (Vogler 127). It is the point at which Harry cannot turn back. This portion of his quest transpires when he and Ron take Mr. Weasley’s flying car to school because they missed the train. As “the Hogwarts Express… streak[ed] along below them,” the boys managed to follow until they arrived at Hogwarts, (Rowling 71). Upon their arrival, the boys finish Crossing the First Threshold because they’ve arrived in the Special World. With little chance of escape, both boys are now immersed in the world of adventure and the danger that Dobby promised. As a result, readers come to the conclusion that Harry’s next venture is about to begin.

Tests, Allies, Enemies is the next stage of the Hero’s Journey. It is a “period of adjustment to the Special World” known for “testing” the Hero, (Vogler 136). During this time lines are drawn as both friends and enemies reveal themselves. This step on Harry’s journey transpires while he is at Hogwarts. This is due to the fact that he is tested in many ways. First, he is tested by his teachers in various subjects as they help to prepare him for the upcoming Ordeal. Harry also strengthens his friendship with both Ron and Hermione, who help him to uncover information pertaining to the Chamber of Secrets. Hermione helps by suggesting that they use a Polyjuice Potion in order to question Draco Malfoy about the Heir of Slytherin. She explains that the recipe can be found ‘“in a book called Moste Potente Potions… in the Restricted Section of the library,’” (Rowling 160). After devising a plan to acquire a copy, she brews the potion, allowing their plan to gain information to unfold. Ron assists Harry by questioning Malfoy under the guise of the Polyjuice Potion. He also helps by following Harry into the Forbidden Forest so that they can question Aragog about the first time the Chamber was opened. As a result, the group’s ties are tested as they put themselves at risk of discovery and their lives on the line. The Hero and his Allies are also forced to race against time—they have to discover who the Shadows are and stop them before more people are hurt and the school is closed.

During this stage readers begin to see signs of the Shadow as well because the basilisk has begun to attack the people of Hogwarts, petrifying several individuals. Draco Malfoy, Harry’s rival and “competition in love, sports, business, or some other enterprise” reasserts himself during this stage of Harry’s journey, (Vogler 138). First, he challenges Harry in sports because he was named Slytherin’s “new Seeker,” (Rowling 111). As a result, he will be in direct competition with Harry, who is the Seeker for Gryffindor’s Quidditch team. Furthermore, Draco’s access to the latest model broomstick, the “Nimbus Two Thousand and One,” gives him an advantage over Harry who uses a slower model, (Rowling 111). As a result, Harry’s skill will be tested as he is forced to make up for the difference in speed between the two brooms. Second, Draco’s view on who should be able to attend Hogwarts differs from Harry’s. Harry wants the school to be a safe place where everyone can learn magic, while Malfoy wishes it was populated with only pureblood witches and wizards. As a result, when the basilisk begins its attacks on the school, Malfoy cheers it on and hopes that it kills Hermione. Malfoy’s support of the Shadow’s actions adds another degree of depth to Harry’s problem—if Draco discovers the Shadow’s identity, Harry will be forced to contest Draco in the dark arts as well.

The Approach to the Inmost Cave lies at the “heart” of the Special World. It is an “intermediate region between the border and the very center of the Hero’s Journey,” (Vogler 143). This stage transpires when Harry, Lockhart, and Ron open the Chamber of Secrets and make their way inside. I have made this characterization because the Chamber lies “miles under the school,” (Rowling 302). The Chamber’s physical location suggests that it rests at Hogwarts’ core, making it the school’s heart. Furthermore, the Chamber rests at the edge of the Special World and leads into a subset, where Harry will face his Ordeal. He is willingly leaving the relative safety of Hogwarts’ familiar halls behind in order to challenge the Shadow in a place that is both novel and unfamiliar to him.

The Ordeal involves “facing the greatest challenge and the most fearsome opponent yet,” (Vogler 155). This event transpires when Harry reaches the end of the Chamber of Secrets and encounters Tom Riddle because Riddle is Lord Voldemort’s living memory. He was the Shadow that arose in Harry’s first year at Hogwarts, and he is the Shadow that haunts him now. Furthermore, since Harry initially failed to realize the danger Tom posed, he lost his wand and his ability to use magic. As a result, Harry is forced to find another way to defeat him. In addition, Tom is the individual who controls the basilisk, which presents another set of dangers because the beast possesses brute strength and “a murderous stare… all who are fixed with the beam of its eye… suffer instant death,” (Rowling 290). Therefore, Harry is forced to fight a battle on two fronts—a physical battle with the basilisk and a mental battle with Riddle, who will not cease to taunt him. Eventually, Harry manages to slay the basilisk with Gryffindor’s sword and Fawkes’ help, but “one long, poisonous fang was sinking deeper and deeper into his arm,” (Rowling 320). As Harry’s life begins to ebb away, he carries out the latter portion of this stage: “heroes must die so that they can be reborn,” (Vogler 155). In Harry’s case, he is reborn in the Resurrection stage of his journey.

           Following the defeat of both Tom Riddle and the basilisk he controlled, Harry “lay[s] claim to [his] Reward” in the next leg of his journey, the Reward stage, (Vogler 175). Being that Harry walked away from the Ordeal with his life, he earned three rewards. Harry’s second reward was Ginny, who “stirr[ed]” following Riddle’s demise, (Rowling 322). As “they stepped over the motionless coils of the dead basilisk” and retraced their steps through the Chamber of Secrets, they returned to both Ron and Lockhart, leaving the horrors of the Ordeal behind, (Rowling 323). They had both survived and Harry was able to give the Weasleys a gift: the life of their family member. Harry’s final reward arose when the Weasleys discovered what Harry had done—they were beside themselves with appreciation. “‘You saved her! You saved her!’” Molly Weasley exclaimed, awarding Harry with the knowledge that he had brought peace and happiness to a distraught family, (Rowling 327).

           The tenth stage of the Hero’s Journey is the Road Back. It involves “returning to the starting point or continuing on the journey to a totally new locale or ultimate destination,” (Vogler 187). This leg of Harry’s journey transpires directly after he receives his reward for overcoming his Ordeal. It involves his return to the entrance of the tunnel with his rewards in hand and his escape from the Chamber of Secrets with both Professor Lockhart and the Weasleys. “In a rush of wings, they were flying upward through the pipe… [then] it was over — all four of them were hitting the wet floor of Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom,” (Rowling 325). The Road Back occurs during this time because Harry returns to two starting points. First, he returns to Ron and Lockhart, who were trapped by a cave-in at the onset of his Ordeal. Then, he finds his way back to the Special World where his adventure first began.

           The Resurrection “is the climax… the last and most dangerous meeting with death,” (Vogler 197). Since Tom Riddle stole his wand from him, Harry was forced to fight the basilisk with the help of Fawkes and the sword of Gryffindor. Despite the odds that were stacked against him, Harry managed to slay the Heir of Slytherin’s monster, but in so doing, acquired a fatal wound as the basilisk’s poisonous fang sank into his flesh. He could feel the poison burning him, “his vision went foggy,” but Fawkes saved Harry because he recognized him for what he was: a hero who was willing to sacrifice his own life for another, (Rowling 320). Fawkes cried into Harry’s wound, “thick, pearly tears” that reversed the adverse effects of the basilisk’s poison, (Rowling 321). Thus, Harry was “cleans[ed]… of the smell of death… and retain[ed] the lessons of the ordeal,” (Vogler 198). He cheated death and was purified by Fawkes’ tears as they washed the basilisk’s poison away. As he was resurrected, Harry was reborn into a new life where he possessed all of the knowledge he had learned on his journey—that phoenix tears had restorative properties, Ginny’s secrets, the events that transpired each time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, etc.

           The final stage of the Hero’s Journey is the Return with the Elixir, in which the hero “return[s] to their starting place, go[es] home, or continue[s] the journey,” (Vogler 215). At the end of the novel, Harry “walked back through the gateway to the Muggle world,” leaving the Special World behind, (Rowling 341). By choosing to go back to the Dursleys, Harry returned to the place where his journey began. He returned home, completing the cycle of his Hero’s Journey. He also set the stage for the onset of his next adventure in the third novel within Rowling’s series.

           Light vs. Darkness is the only symbolic archetype, “a representation of a specific person, act, deed, place, or conflict,” present within Rowling’s novel, (“Symbolic Archetypes”). This archetype manifests itself through the actions of the story’s Hero and its two Shadows. Harry represents the “light” aspect of this archetype because he fights against the forces of evil. He sets it upon himself to discover what is attacking the school and the significance of the Chamber of Secrets. He fights to find a way to keep the attacks from happening so that Hogwarts can remain open and everyone can feel safe. When Ginny is stolen, he descends into the Chamber and confronts the novel’s Shadows so that he can rescue her. He thrust Gryffindor’s sword “into the roof of the serpent’s mouth” and “plunged [the basilisk’s fang] straight into the heart of [Riddle’s diary],” destroying both Shadows, (Rowling 320 & 322). The novel’s Shadows—Tom Riddle, Heir of Slytherin, and the basilisk, represent the “darkness.” They are the embodiment of evil because Tom uses the basilisk in order to further his agenda. He uses the beast to petrify the students who lack pure blood, so that Hogwarts can be made to reflect the image of what Salazar Slytherin felt Hogwarts should be. The basilisk is evil because he is a tool: he inflicts harm upon the people of Hogwarts because he petrified several individuals and struck fear into their hearts; no one felt safe. Thus, within the context of Rowling’s novel, the “light vs. darkness” archetype can be viewed as the classic fight between good and evil, in which good always triumphs.

           The inclusion of the “light vs. darkness” symbolic archetype within J.K. Rowling’s novel entitled Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets enhanced the story by providing it with something that Rowling’s audience would find both familiar and easily recognizable. Being that the archetype embodied the fight between good and evil, it alluded to a comfortable pattern of occurrences and the story’s outcome where the “good guys” save the day. As a result, readers knew from the novel’s onset that they would not be disappointed or depressed by its ending because the darkness simply could not win.

I appreciated Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets for its nostalgic value, but didn’t enjoy it as much as the first novel in the series for a few reasons. First, this novel included a large amount of recap, which I don’t enjoy. Second, I wasn’t particularly fond of the new characters who were introduced into the story—individuals like Moaning Myrtle and Lucius Malfoy. Third, while I liked the idea behind Rowling’s story, I didn’t feel as though it was executed particularly well in part because of her writing style and poor use of grammar, and in part because there was too much going on. There were too many subplots detracting from the heart of the story. With that being said, I felt as though it was a good novel to analyze for archetypes because it possessed a strong representation of each of the eight archetypes described in Vogler’s book The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers.

In conclusion, J.K. Rowling’s novel entitled Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets contains at least one example of each of the major archetypes. Harry is the Hero because of his growth and the sacrifices he makes, Dobby and Vernon Dursley are Threshold Guardians because they try and keep Harry from returning to the Special World, Dumbledore, Ron, and Hermione are Mentors because they each teach Harry valuable lessons, Dobby is the Herald because he hints at impending change, Ginny is the Shapeshifter because our impression of her character is constantly changing, Tom Riddle and the basilisk are the Shadows because they embody evil, Ron and Hermione are allies because they help Harry on his journey, and the Weasley Twins and Peeves are the Tricksters because they provided mischievous energy and comic relief. Harry’s Hero’s Journey begins in the Ordinary World, where he is living with the Dursleys. It culminates in the Special World where he defeats the Heir of Slytherin and his monster before returning home.

Works Cited

Jamerson, Joyce. “Symbolic Archetypes.”

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. N.p.: Scholastic, 1999.

Vogler, Christopher. The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers. 3rd ed., Michael Wiese Productions, 2007.

[morsmordrehasbeensaved]

♔ MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, WE LIVE SOLELY TO TELL OUR STORY ♔

✤  Severus Snape. ✤  Slytherin / Seventh Year. ✤  Halfblood. ✤  Death Eaters. ✤  Taken character.

You never liked your father, hated being forced to wear his name. What you hated even more was your mother’s undying love for him, always allowing him to come back no matter what he had done. It made you think all Muggles were disgusting, like him. The only thing that colored up your life was moments spent with her. When you both went to school started out as the happiest day of your life, only to end as the worst. While you thrived at school, you and her were growing apart. It made you bitter and unkind. You lost the one light in your life, and fell into the darkness head-first.

BIOGRAPHY.

There was power in a name, just look at Lord Voldemort. Like the Dark Lord, Severus Snape had always hated his name. It was nothing, meant nothing. If there was power in a name, then Severus had none. He was born to Tobias and Eileen Snape on a viciously cold day in January and was unable to remember a time in his childhood where he truly ever felt happy. His mother was a pureblooded witch, hailing from the Prince family. Oh, how Severus longed to have her old last name. Now, that… that was a name that held command. It was the mark of an old, pureblooded family. It demanded respect, held authority. Severus longed for both of those things. His father, on the other hand, was a muggle– and an angry one at that. There was no power in his name. He couldn’t even do magic! Severus didn’t quite understand why his father was so irate all of the time, but it was a fact that he had to live with.

Severus didn’t like to compare himself to his father, but one day he would look back and realize that they had more in common than he had thought. Tobias, like Severus, also craved power, only he didn’t have the means to get it and this made him bitter. Tobias had loved having a witch for a wife, but as he grew up and was burdened with the responsibilities of marriage and fatherhood, he began to resent her, jealous of the freedoms she had to make life easier. The only way Tobias was able to feel in control was when he was tormenting his family. One of Severus’ earliest memories was seeing his father standing over his mother’s fallen form in the corridor of their shabby, two bedroom home. Tobias had asked Eileen to purchase milk before he was home from work and she had forgotten. Tobias considered it his husbandly duty to correct her mistake. Eileen tried to do better for him, she really did, but it wasn’t enough. It was never enough. Eileen finally realized this when Severus was approaching his fifth birthday, and from then, his mother had checked out for the most part. Eileen kept her head down, taking Tobias’s insults and fists in silence. Severus remembered her leaving once when he six, and then once again when he was eight, but she always came back. She took to alcohol to get through her life. Most of his later memories of his mother involved her being drunk. Tobias, to his credit, did not have alcoholism on his list of vices, but he did have gambling. Tobias already worked a job that didn’t pay much, and since he demanded that Eileen stay home, it was suffice to say that the Snape family was very poor.

It was because of his upbringing, that Severus grew to despise muggles the way that he did. His father was the one he knew best, and he was a terrible example. Severus found them weak and embittered because of that. Muggles had no means to achieve true power. They might not know that consciously, but somewhere deep inside, muggles knew that they weren’t powerful and this is why they were so awful. Everywhere he went in the muggle world, he encountered a high volume of unpleasant people. They judged him for his too shabby clothes, his hair that he wasn’t able to wash because Tobias had not paid the bill, and for the disheveled appearance of his constantly drunk mother. They made him feel small, and he hated feeling small.

One day, when he was nine years old, Severus met a girl that made him feel larger than life. He’d stumbled upon her one day, at a park near his house. She was with another girl and they seemed to be sisters. Severus didn’t spare her a glance upon first notice, thinking that she was a muggle. He went out of his way to avoid talking to muggles, he wasn’t about to make an exception, and he went back home. A few days later, Severus spotted the two girls again, only this time, she was doing something quite peculiar. Upon further inspection, he realized that it was magic! He would always remember that moment; the way his heart rate picked up and how his eyes widened. He’d never met another witch his own age. His father didn’t allow Eileen or Severus to be too involved in the magical world outside of their home. It was an out of body experience, almost, the way his legs brought him forward, away from the safety of the bush he had previously been hiding behind. It was the greatest decision he had ever made.

Lily Evans – he learned her name that day – quickly became Severus’ best, and only, friend. Her insufferable muggle sister, Petunia, was the bane of his existence back in those days, but he put up with her annoying muggle ways for Lily’s sake. At least, he tried to. There was that one time she was harping at him for explaining the ways of the wizard world to Lily, and he’d accidentally broken a tree branch over her head. It was an accident, truly, but he hadn’t been a bit sorry for it. Petunia Evans was a jealous, angry little girl. And that was coming from him. The moment he shared with Lily before they ever went to school are some of Severus’s most fond memories. It was, perhaps, the only time he felt at peace with himself. Lily Evans was his balm, to all of life’s wounds.

Each day of his life continued to flip away, like the pages of a book, until it was finally time to go to Hogwarts. Most of his school supplies were the same ones his mother had used when she herself was a child, but Severus was too excited to care. He would finally be going to school! He’d finally be away from his parents and the horrors of his home life. He would finally be at school, with Lily. Oh, he just couldn’t wait to be there with her. She didn’t know anybody there, except for him. He wouldn’t admit it if anyone asked, but he was happy about that. When he and Lily boarded the train, she was in a bad mood from a fight with her sister, and he desperately hoped he could find a way to make her smile again. After minutes of searching, they managed to find a compartment with two boys inside. Severus had preferred to sit alone, but it seemed that this was the best they could do. He’d begun to tell Lily all about Slytherin, clearly the greatest house of Hogwarts, and that was when he met James Potter. It only took one conversation for Severus to know that he didn’t, and would never, like this boy.

Later that night, when he was lying under the sheets of his new bed in the first year Slytherin boy’s dorm, Severus did not think about how happy he was to be there. He didn’t think of how nice his new bed felt compared to his old ones and he didn’t think about how peaceful it was to sleep without his father’s yelling making it hard. All he could think about, over and over on replay, was the sorting hall exclaiming “GRYFFINDOR” as soon as it was placed upon Lily Evans’ head. How could this be? Lily was no Gryffindor, she was better than that! She was Slytherin material, certainly. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do. Thankfully, he and Lily stayed close friends. Even more importantly, she seemed to dislike James Potter. He was so happy to have this in common with her.

School, though it wasn’t everything he had hoped it would be, was Severus’ safe haven, and he excelled. He quickly became the best Potions student of his year, and he wasn’t too far behind in his other classes. In his third year, he began to study Occlumency and Legilimency. These were extremelyadvanced areas of study for a boy his age, but that just goes to show how smart Severus Snape was. By his fourth year, he was moving steadily along in his training and decided to up the ante. He began to study magical theory, and the crafting of spells, hoping to one day create something of his own. By fifth year, he had done it. His first ever spell, Levicorpus, was a jinx that would hoist the victim up by their ankles. Somehow, through his nosy dorm mates no doubt, the spell was leaked to the other students in the school. This, inadvertently, led to the worst day of his entire life thus far. He’d been minding his own business, having just finished Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W., and was enjoying the nice weather underneath a shaded tree. All right, Snivellus? He knew the moment he heard those words that he needed to grab his wand, but he wasn’t quick enough. Potter beat him to the punch and the next thing he knew, he was being dangled in the air by a spell of his own invention, with pink soap bubbles coming from his mouth. It had all happened so fast, the entire thing, and then Lily was there trying to defend him.

The thing is, Severus didn’t want Lily to defend him. He wanted to be able to defend himself. Over the years, he had grown stronger and smarter, but Severus still, more than anything, wanted power. He’d aligned himself with people who sought the same thing– Mulciber, Dolohov, Black, Lestrange. They hated muggles too, and despite him being only a half-blood, he was still welcomed into the fold. His friends, they wanted to follow the Dark Lord, and Severus could see why. The Dark Lord held ultimate power, and if they followed him, perhaps it would trickle down to them too. This was very appealing to Severus, almost intoxicatingly so. He too, believed that the Dark Lord was the path to power, and his friends were his path to the Dark Lord. So, when Lily Evans stepped up to defend him, Severus lashed out. He didn’t mean to, but he’d been angry and upset and humiliated and it just tumbled out. He would give his life to take it back. He didn’t think that about her; that word. Mudblood. Lily Evans was no mudblood. She was beautiful, pure in every way. Nothing about her was muddy. He had made a mistake, choosing to save his reputation over his friendship. That night, he spent hours outside of the Gryffindor Common Room, hoping to fix things. When Lily emerged, she was still angry. When she asked if he would continue to spend time with the more sinister Slytherin boys, he’d remained quiet. Of course he was going to. It was his ticket to power. And that had been it. From that moment onward, Lily Evans was his friend no longer.

Severus slipped into a deep, dark depression. He’d been depressed for most of his life, really, but this was new… this was… terrifying. On more than one occasion, Severus had considered brewing a potion that would end it all. There was one time he had actually done it, but he had poured it out. Without Lily, his life was lonely. He had no one that knew him– that really knew him. He lived an entire year with this hopelessness, allowing it to nearly pull him under the surface. Somehow, he managed to not drown in it. The summer after his sixth year, more than a year since he’d lost Lily, Severus finally made the decision to join the Death Eaters. He isn’t a purist, per say. His only issue was with muggles themselves. The muggleborns weren’t a problem. What Severus wanted, was to be powerful. To make people feel the way he had been forced to feel for his entire life. The Dark Lord was the way for him to do that. Grindelwald's presence has sparked an interest within Severus. Grindelwald's beliefs line-up easily with Severus’, but he doesn’t have any clue how to even go about that side, but that’s fine. The Death Eaters were enough.

CONNECTIONS.

LILY EVANS ━ Former best friends, estranged, misses her company. JAMES POTTER ━ Blames him and the Marauders for losing Lily, despises. THORFINN ROWLE ━ Enjoys ridiculing him.

THIS CHARACTER’S FACECLAIM IS RICHARD HARMON.

[jimpotters]

i needed to hate someone and you’re the one i love the most, so it fell on you (james/lily)

“Shit, Evans, what the fuck is your problem?” Potter snaps and this feels different. He’s been mad at her before – she knows she’s frustrating for people she doesn’t insult regularly, let alone Potter who somehow seems to always know how to get at her, make her feel like she’s missing the mark and how does he do that? – but there’s something unhinged in this. The cage coming unlocked, the monster unleashed, and havoc about to be rained down on her with the fury of Avada Kedavra.

(except, even with all those metaphors about curses and monsters, she’s not scared. she’s not. potter would never hurt her; not intentionally. oh, he’ll call her on her shit. call her a daft cow and a stubborn prig and a royal pain in the arse and he’ll mean it. but hurt her? never. not potter.)

Lily rolls her eyes. “Don’t act—”

“No; shut up.” He cuts her off, marching forward until she’s backed herself against the railing. Around them the stairs are spinning but that’s maybe the least unsettling thing about this moment. “Don’t talk. You’re gonna listen to me, for once, Evans.”

She wants to say she has to listen to him constantly since he never fucking shuts up, but the words choke her. Instead, her mouth shuts with a click. Nervously, she licks her lips. Potter glances at her mouth, rocking forward as if he’s going to kiss her, before gaining control and clenching his jaw. It surprises her how badly she wishes he hadn’t restrained himself.

It isn’t that she hates Potter, really, it isn’t. She just hates the way he acts. Remus tells her it’s all an act, Peter tells her he’s just a lad being a lad, and even Black slings an arm around her, casually mentioning that his best mate is a really, very good guy and if she keeps acting uninterested then he’ll make sure his best mate moves on and she’s left in the dust.

It’s sort of sweet, in a twisted boy way.

But there’s no real trace of a ‘sweet Potter’ right now. She knows what Sweet Potter looks like, she’s seen it in the way he takes care of firsties and his mates. This is Serious Potter, with his hair sticking out like elbows, electricity in his voice singing against every nerve of hers.

“I’m so tired of this, Evans.” He starts angrily. “Why do you still hate me? Fuck’s sake, I’ve been pretty bloody well-behaved this year: very few pranks, only seventeen detentions, and I haven’t even fucking bothered a Slytherin since last year unless they started it. What more do you want from me, eh? What more can I give you before you stop hating me like your sodding life depends on it?”

“How about harmless pranks instead of only a few, no detentions, and you fought with Rosier last bloody week, you daft lunatic!” Lily snaps.

“I said shut up,” Potter snarls. “The pranks were fucking harmless and I said I’ve never started shit with the Slytherins! Can’t help it if they start it with me, prig.”

“I don’t ca—”

“I’ve done everything,” Potter continues as if she hasn’t spoken. “To get you to stop fucking hating me. Do you know how hard it is? How painful it is to have the person you love hate you?”

Lily thinks of Petunia’s flat voice telling her she’s out of the wedding. She stays silent.

(only black knows about petunia. only black whose family is more fucked up than anyone’s probably. who came very close last year to losing his new one for reasons lily still doesn’t know. but the common room is empty late that thursday night and she can’t very well leave him sitting there, cold and alone and looking so sad with those big grey eyes so hollow.

i heard you and the lads are on the outs

fuck off, evans

look, it doesn’t mean shit i know, but i get it. and if you need to talk…

you don’t understand shit

when she goes upstairs, she debates not going back down. he’s cruel when he wants to be, she thinks. he’s a prat and a prick. he’s mean. he’s bolstering.

he’s scared and he’s hurt. he’s her last year. what would have happened to her if she hadn’t had dorcas.

my sister hates me, she says sitting beside him, holding out a bag of sugar quills dorcas bought for o.w.l.s. she’ll make it up next hogsmeade but sirius looks far needier.

he looks at her, makes a judgment, and says so does my brother

piece by piece the marauders come back, first peter and sirius, then remus and sirius, then potter and black come to blows in the hall, by the end of which the marauders are back. very little changes with them, very little changes at all after those months, but black calls her marie now – i’m moving up to your first name, can’t do that without your middle name, evans – and every so often she’ll find a sugar quill on her bed after a particularly bad day)

“Don’t pretend you actually like me,” If her voice is wet, Potter doesn’t seem to notice. “Don’t pretend this all hasn’t been a big joke to you!”

Potter reels. “Is that—Is that what you think this has been? A joke?”

She scoffs as bitterly as she can manage. “Don’t lie to me, Potter.”

“You,” His face is pale with fury or shock or maybe both. Lily watches as everything about him tenses inch-by-inch; if she touches him he might shatter. She doesn’t even breathe. He shatters anyway. “You are the most frustrating, insane, ridiculous, mess of a human being in the whole sodding world!”

“I’m touched.” She snaps.

“In the head, maybe.” His voice is barely more than a snarl. “I mean, Merlin, Evans, can’t you fucking see that you’re everything to me? I don’t know how it fucking happened because you are the most singularly mad woman I’ve ever met but you’re goddamn everything. You’re the fucking castle and the magic and my family and my mates and my broom and my bones; you’re the reason I try so fucking hard, the reason my mates think I’m off my arse insane when the truth is I’m off my arse in love with a stubborn prig. Shut up.”

Her mouth clicks closed. She isn’t even sure what she would have said, honestly. What must it even be like to feel that way for someone? She’s had blokes before give her butterflies, for a few months at a time. She’s had Hogsmeade visits and snogs in the empty classrooms; the whole Hogwarts romance package.

She tries to tell herself it’s nothing like how she feels about Potter because she’s not floating with him, not at all. With him it feels like drowning. It feels desperate and crushing she wants to drag him down with her. She’s had dreams about it before. The two of them sinking in the ocean, sometimes they’re struggling, sometimes they’re not.

Sometimes she’s the ocean.

Sometimes he is.

“And the fact that you think I was fucking messing you about is baffling. Would anyone do what I’ve done if they didn’t genuinely want to hold your goddamn hand?”

“You mean hex every bloke that so much as glances at me? Or making enchanted balloons follow me around on my birthday? Or harassing me in class? You can fuck off, Potter.”

He’s in her face so quickly that she would have toppled over the railing if not for his arm around her. She hasn’t been oblivious to the fact that they have literally been toe-to-bloody-toe in this conversation, but every inch of him is practically pressed against her. Blood rushes in her ears and when did get so tall? He towers over her so badly she’d have to get on her tip-toes to even reach his eyes, so intense behind those ugly glasses.

“Evans,” He whispers.

His eyes have gold in them, she thinks dizzily as he gets closer. His eyes have gold and he smells like cologne and help, help, help

“Can’t shut your fucking mouth, can you?” He asks, almost laughing.

Lily rolls her eyes, gripping the stairway railing so hard her knuckles hurt. One billion points to Gryffindor for the way her voice doesn’t shake, “Why don’t you just use magic if you don’t want me to talk so badly? You clearly have no problem hexing other people.”

His hand comes up slowly, giving her the chance to bat it away. His fingers curl, four on the back of her neck, and his thumb delicately running over the hollow of her throat. He’s not applying any pressure but Lily’s throat closes all the same.

“I would never do that.” He murmurs, watching her pulse jump under his hand, she’s sure. “Not to you.”

“Not to anyone.” She fumbles over the words.

Potter meets her eyes, smiling. “Can’t promise that, Evans. Imagine how much better the world would be without Avery’s charming voice.”

She really can’t argue with that. “Or Black’s running commentary in class.”

Potter laughs. “Oh, come off it, Evans. Sirius isn’t so bad.”

“He’s not completely awful,” Lily concedes. “When he feels like it.”

“Don’t gush, Evans, it’s unbecoming.” Potter teases her. The laughter is completely involuntary but Potter’s face lights up so she can’t really regret it.

“Word will spread,” says Lily, grinning toothily despite herself. “And my reputation will be ruined.”

“The Harlot of Hogwarts.” Potter nods seriously.

“Oh dear. What will my mother think?”

“She’ll disown you, probably. Kick you right out of the house.”

“Of course, it’s the only logical solution. I’ll be the talk of the town.”

“You’ll be on all the newspapers, you know.”

“I’ll never be able to escape it, especially because I’ll probably have to use the newspapers to construct a dwelling of some kind.”

“Nah,” Potter smiles that stupid smile again. “You’ll come live with me.”

“You’d take in the Harlot of Hogwarts?” She asks cheekily.

Run away, she tells herself. Get away, this is too close, this is too much, you’re not friends, you have to go before it all comes undone.

“You’d have to put out, of course.” Potter nods seriously. “But yeah.”

“Of course.” Lily promises. “Every night.”

“Every night.” Potter repeats, looking off into the distance dreamily.

“Potter!” Lily laughs, hitting his arm. “Get your mind out of the gutter!”

“But then where would it live?” He asks, cocking his head at her. Lily stomps down on the urge to drag her fingers gently across his cheek and through his hair. It would probably send the wrong message.

“Maybe in the real world.” She suggests. “You know, where the rest of us live.”

“I like my dream world better.” Potter says and that’s when Lily realizes she’s been trapped in his arms for the past twenty minutes. In fact, she’s practically settled where she is; one hand even resting on his forearm. That stupid sincerity in his voice is back, “You’re there.”

“I’m here too.” She reminds him softly.

Potter shakes his head. “Not the same. Tomorrow we’ll be fighting in the real world. In my dream world we’re kissing instead.”

His hand moves up, thumb stroking over her bottom lip reverently. She reaches up to pull his hand down from her face and he suddenly can’t seem to look at her.

“We’d still fight, James.” His head jerks up at his first name. She doesn’t smile but it’s in her voice when she says, “Even if we were dating, we wouldn’t change. We’d fight and scream and all that rotten stuff as much as we do now because even if we’re dating, you’ll still drive me batty. And I’ll still be a stubborn prig. None of that changes.”

“Except you’d be mine.” He tells her, dropping his eyes again. “And I’d be yours. Really be yours. Not just this rotten situation where I’m yours but you don’t want me.”

Something stings inside her chest, along the struts of her ribs. She knows she doesn’t owe him anything; just because he loves her doesn’t mean she has to love him but she does, Merlin, she loves this stupid man. Maybe that’s why she’s hated him so much. All those shitty things he does infuriate her not just because she hates bullies (she does) but because she knows he can be good and kind and sweet but he doesn’t. She hates that he keeps failing her because if he would just stop acting like a prat because he thinks it looks cool then she could be with him. She would be with him.

She’s never admitted it to herself before.

The realization shakes her.

But it doesn’t change anything, she thinks fatally. James is still a prat, still a bully (better than before, true, but not enough), and until that changes Lily Evans will never give James Potter the time of day. It’s just how it has to be. Until he grows up, at least.

She just hopes him growing up doesn’t mean him growing out of her. Because she’ll wait for him, she knows. She’ll wait and scold and watch carefully for him to change of his own free will. She won’t make him change, won’t force him to change; his growth is not her job. But it is her dream.

(one day he’ll be ready for this. she’ll be ready too. steadily adjusting to this hungry, sick feeling in her chest that makes her want to crawl into his ribs and make a home. she’ll learn to be more open with him, to be less scared of the future. they both have some growing to do but lily is sure they’ll get there: they’re james&lily.)

Lily pushes his head back up to look him in the eye. Encouragingly, but not promising anything, she says, “Give it time, James. We both have growing up to do; it’d be a shame to waste something like this on stupid teenagers.”

He looks pained as he begs, “Lily, are you—”

“I’m not promising anything, James.” She says firmly. “First we have to get to mates.”

James grins so beautifully that Lily almost has to look away. “Just you wait; I’m gonna marry you.”

Lily sighs. “Yeah, see, mates don’t say that to each other.”

“Really? I say that to Remus all the time.” James replies with a smirk.

“Not Peter or Black?”

“I think Remus would make the best spouse of us all, honestly.” James explains. “Black and Peter can duel for the chance to be my mistress.”

“I will warn you, Potter, I don’t take lightly to people on the side.” Lily says, only half-joking.

He really needs to stop doing that thing with eyes or she’ll never gain feeling back in her knees. “Don’t be daft, Evans. What part of ‘everything’ do you not understand?”

“Goodbye, James.” She says, pushing him away from her gently. He steps back willingly, fingers lingering for a moment on her arm.

“Bye, Lily.” He responds. She can feel his eyes on her as she disappears finally up the stairs. When she turns, his staircase is moving but he’s walking down it as it turns. She thinks that might be the quintessential James Potter right there: a young man walking with confidence as the world changes around him, moving quickly without knowing where he’ll end up by the time it all settles.

Wherever it is, she hopes she’s there with him. 

[jbankai89]

Fic: The Stag and The Snake, Part I, Chapter One - The Boy

My good friend and braintwin @kuriquinn suggested I try posting my actual fics on Tumblr, rather than just linking them, so I'm giving it a try. For those of you following my work on AO3 or AFF, these will be reposts until I'm caught up and everything is posted. :)

Title: The Stag and the Snake

Author: JBankai89

Status: Complete, Part 1: 12/12 Part 2: 22/22

Rating: Part 1: PG-13, Part 2: NC-17 Fandom: Harry Potter

Pairing: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin

Achievements: None

Warnings: Violence and Gore, Violent Sexual Assault, Minor Character Death

Summary: Vernon Dursley is enraged with the prospect of raising a boy he never wanted. Petunia recalls something that might help them get the child out of their hair more quickly. Overcoming their recalcitrance for anything magical, they invoke The Rite of Betrothal. Who will Harry be forced to marry, and will he be able to cope with all the demands it will entail?

Word Count: Part 1: 46 772  Part 2: 85 442

Other Links: AO3, AFF, LJ

Notes: Please note that this fic also contains Evil!Snape, which is a trope I hate, because Sev is my favourite character, but for the purposes of this story, he worked best.

This fic is based on the story of The Swan Princess, which I will be following the canon of in conjunction with the HP canon. Canon divergences include Voldemort is definitely dead, Lucius Malfoy is a bit OOC, and Sirius did not go to Azkaban. Because most of the story takes place before and after Hogwarts, a lot of the Hogwarts years are glossed over. I tried to keep the links and stuff organized how they did it on the old LJ group MyChemicalSlash, so I hope this is clean enough for you guys to follow easily.

The Stag and The Snake

Part I: Coupling

Chapter 1 – The Boy

“I won't have one in the house Petunia! I won't!” Vernon Dursley raged as he stomped back and forth in the front room, his breath escaping him in sharp, enraged puffs. “Your—your sister's wedding was bad enough, but dumping their child on our doorstep is the last straw!” he took the yellowed parchment he had been holding and threw it down on the coffee table.

The child in question was curled in a makeshift highchair next to his cousin in the kitchen. He winced and vocalized gurgled whines of protest as Dudley reached out and prodded him sharply, before breaking into a fit of delighted giggles as though entirely unaware of his father's explosion of anger not ten feet from him.

“Vernon, dear,” Petunia said in an attempt to placate him, “you saw that letter, that—that oh, what's his name—wrote. I do not want those—those people coming round here and interrogating us if we dumped him in the nearest orphanage. What would the neighbours think? No. The safest option is to take in the boy.” Petunia was striding towards the kitchen where the boys were waiting, her fingers pressed against her temples as Harry continued to whine in discomfort, his cousin still prodding him like a ripe peach.

“There must be something we can do to be shot of him,” Vernon grumbled, sinking heavily into an armchair while he rubbed his hand across his jaw in frustration. His anger was already beginning to ebb, though it refused to fade completely. “Nothing from that—that sister of yours in how long? And now she dumps her good-for-nothing son on us.”

“Five years,” Petunia replied bitterly from the kitchen, sitting down and beginning to dole out the baby food, her movements jerky as though she was just barely able to keep her anger in check. “Of course, you would expect such a thing from those people. No sense of decorum. As if I hadn't made my feelings about her perfectly clear.” Vernon trudged into the kitchen and sat next to his wife as she spoke, nodding in agreement while she began to feed Dudley, completely ignoring her nephew, focusing intently on her own child, as though Harry was invisible.

“Although,” Petunia said after a few moments of tense silence, her lips pursed as though she had swallowed a lemon, “I believe I remember something she was telling that—that Potter about,” she sneered as though she was speaking of an escaped convict, and not her postmortem brother-in-law. Vernon looked up from his own dinner, the piece of steak hovering on the tines of his fork, halfway to his mouth. “Some sort of marriage ritual or something,” she winced as she said it, as did Vernon. “Of course, I wasn't listening very carefully—” Petunia continued in a tone that clearly indicated that she was loath to discuss anything that even came close to the Wizarding World, “—but if we can contact these—these Ministry people, we may be able to get rid of the boy a great deal sooner,”

~*~

It took Vernon Dursley a full four weeks to work up the nerve to contact the Ministry of Magic. This was not without an enormous amount of internal struggle on his and Petunia's part, battling with their feelings of having absolutely no desire whatsoever to associate with anything pertaining to their lot, also desperate for a loophole to get rid of the boy. Their desire to get rid of Harry proved to be the stronger impulse, and Vernon drafted a letter.

Vernon's letter was brief and to the point, though when it was completed he was uncertain where to send it. In the end, he had used the return address that had been left with the boy one month prior. Vernon and Petunia worked themselves into a state of panic, Petunia watching the front car park near-constantly with narrowed eyes, as though daring a wizard to stroll up Privet Drive in broad daylight.

It was another fortnight before they received an answer, though not in the way that they had expected.

Petunia finished putting the boys down for the night, Dudley in his nursery and the boy in a small manger in the cupboard under the stairs. It wasn't as if the boy needed space anyway, and if they were to be rid of him soon, why bother putting him up in anything to begin with?

She eased into the armchair next to her husband in their front room, cradling a cup of sweet tea in her hands. The light dusting of snow on the front garden outside twinkled merrily, and despite the festive decorations that adorned their own home, there was a distinctive chill in the air.

“You'd think these people would be prompt,” Petunia sniped after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence. This was hardly the first time she had voiced her frustrations, making it clear that taking care of her dead sister's son was as pleasurable to her as cleaning a chimney with a toothbrush.

“At least we now know why this bloody country's in such a state,” Vernon grumbled, “with people like them in government, taking their sweet bloody time responding to honest taxpayers—” his tirade was cut short by a soft knocking on their front door, which silenced him at once.

The couple exchanged a look of panic, and Vernon stood swiftly to see who it was, though they both had the same sinking feeling that they knew exactly who it would be. What decent person would come to call at such an hour? Petunia smoothed down her clothing, seemingly teetering between a burning desire to show whomever it was how normal, civilized people lived, and absolute disgust at the prospect of allowing people like them into her home.

“Ah, yes, good evening Mr Dursley,” a squat man with a childlike round face and thinning blond-grey hair stood between two taller figures just outside the front door. One of the men was tall and broad shouldered, with waves of dark hair cascading to his shoulders, the other a tired-looking man with light brown hair and sparse facial hair. Vernon was relieved to see that they were dressed normally, all in business-casual suits in varying shades of grey and black. “My name is Carvell Roper, I am with the Bloodlines and Bondings Office, I must say we were most surprised when we received your owl,” Mr Roper chortled merrily, though his companions remained stony-faced. “I had no idea Muggles like yourself even knew how to use owl post!”

Vernon was struck dumb. He gritted his teeth and felt his anger heat his face. How dare this man openly discuss his abnormality! In public! He made a step forward, debating whether to throttle the man or simply give him a piece of his mind, when one of the taller men intervened. “Perhaps,” said the dark haired one, resting a hand on Mr Roper's shoulder, “it would be best to continue our conversation out of plain sight?” Vernon felt himself relax, only barely. At least one of these people had a sense of propriety.

“Oh yes, Mr Black, of course,” he said, glancing briefly to the man apparently called Mr Black, then back to Vernon. “Mr Dursley, if you would be so kind, we can come in and discuss your request.” The little man seemed to be almost in a state of fits, his excitement coming off of him in waves. The sight made Vernon sick to his stomach. Unsure if he would be able to verbalize the invitation, he simply grunted and stepped aside to allow the men to pass.

“How kind of you to invite us into your lovely home,” Mr Roper continued as he stepped into the front room and sat himself at the end of the sofa, while the two other men sat side by side, close enough that it made Vernon's eyes narrow suspiciously. Certainly he hadn't unwittingly invited a couple of nancy boys into his home? He lowered himself into one of the armchairs opposite, and Petunia sat next to him, her fingers white-knuckling the upholstery.

“Some tea, perhaps?” The man with the scraggly facial hair said after several awkward moments of tense silence. Not waiting for an invitation, he whipped out a thin piece of wood that made both Petunia and Vernon tense. He flicked the wand once and a roving platter of cakes, tea, and china cups lowered itself onto the table. The three men helped themselves, but Vernon remained stock still. What had they been thinking, writing that letter and letting these people into their home?

Petunia had whipped her head wide-eyed to the front window at the same moment, and visibly relaxed when she could see none of the neighbours nearby. She refocused her attention upon the three strangers, though her eyes flitted back to the window more than once, as though she was debating whether or not to shut the curtains.

“Yes, to business then,” Mr Roper said with a small clearing of his throat, drawing his attention to the Dursleys once more. “What your dear sister may have been describing is the Rite of Betrothal, something precious few wizards practice in these modern times.” He sipped his tea, while Vernon exchanged a panicked glance with his wife. The thought of what the hell had they been thinking crossed his mind again, and he wondered whether it was too late to throw them out. No, he reminded himself with a little shake, they will get rid of the boy.

“However,” Mr Roper continued, “it is not unheard of, especially in Pureblood families. If you are intent to follow through with it, given Harry's Blood Status it may become rather complicated. As I said, most families that continue this practice do so to maintain blood purity, and given that Harry is not a Pureblood, that may prove to be something of a hindrance.”

Vernon and Petunia stared blankly at the little man; most of what he said had sounded downright barbaric to them. Blood status? What kind of heathens were these people?

“In layman's terms,” said one of the other men, presumably sensing the Dursleys confusion, “It means that wiz—er, people in all-magic families are reluctant to bond their son or daughter to someone with muggles—non magic folk—in their family.”

“But given Harry's special circumstances,” cut in the other man, in a tone that indicated that he wholly disagreed with what they were discussing, “I assume many wizards would love to pair their child with him. He is the saviour of our world, after all.” His tone was clipped and impatient. He shot Vernon and Petunia a look of deepest loathing, making them recoil in their seats.

“We're all aware of your view on the matter, Sirius,” the other man said in an even tone, not giving away his feelings one way or the other. “You are not his legal guardian, and it is up to Mr and Mrs Dursley to decide whether or not they wish to proceed.” The man called Sirius shifted his glare to the man, but after a tense moment he deflated, slumping backwards slightly.

“Fine, Remus, you win. Carry on,” he grumbled, shifting his angry stare from the Dursleys to Mr Roper, to the man called Remus, and back again.

“Now, Mr Dursley,” said Mr Roper, breaking the tense silence that the small squabble had caused, “it may take several weeks to get all the affairs in order. We will need to call upon you again and of course, see young Harry,” Mr Roper stopped himself for a moment, quivering in his chair with excited anticipation, as though he was about to meet the Queen. “After that you would be required to maintain full custody of the boy until his fifth birthday. After that, we would begin the first courtships with Harry's betrothed, meeting once a year for a few days to introduce the pair to one another. Given that Sirius is Harry's godfather, he's sportingly agreed to take the boy under his wing, at least until he goes off to Hogwarts.”

As he spoke, he had pulled a large wad of parchment from his pocket, and was shuffling through the various sheets absently, completely unaware of the blank stares he was receiving from the couple. “I don't know everything about the familial protection charms in place,” he said, extricating what appeared to be a form from the wad he had been rifling through, “security reasons and all that, no, Dumbledore would be the man to discuss that with. However, it would be required that you take Harry back in for a few weeks of each year after his fifth birthday.”

Mr Roper pressed down the form onto the table in an attempt to flatten it, “while we are quite certain He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is indeed vanquished, many of his followers are still at large, and the last thing we would want is to put Mr Potter in unnecessary danger.”

Vernon grunted, his eyes narrowed at the three men across from him as he tried to digest what he was being told.

“This—this thing,” he said, struggling to keep his voice level, “it takes more time than I'd like. Why is it I can't give you the boy now? We have our own family to look after, we've no time for taking in strays.” His breathing had taken on a heavy quality, but the sharp look Petunia gave him enabled him to keep his anger more or less in check.

“Strays?!” sputtered Black, standing up and throwing his hand into the inside pocket of the jacket he wore. Vernon and Petunia recoiled so sharply in their armchairs that they wobbled dangerously, their eyes bulging with shock and fear.

“Sirius, sit down,” snapped the man called Remus. Sirius froze, his hand still inside the coat, his features contorted with fury, but his gaze locked with Remus. Grumbling, he sat down heavily.

“To answer your question Mr Dursley,” Remus said in an even tone, though there was a distinct note of disapproval in the way his words had suddenly took on a sharper tone, “this evening we can go over the contract with you. Meaning, The Request for Betrothal. It simply states that you wish to marry Harry off to someone. This contract is magically binding, and there is no going back once you sign it.”

Remus paused, as though waiting for Vernon to protest, but with a nod and a gruff grunt, he continued. “We will contact you again, and we would need to meet with Harry, and conduct a—er—meeting, of sorts. This is to determine which child Harry is destined to bond with. Once that is complete, we will contact you and the prospective family, and work out any remaining details.”

“We assumed you would not be wholly comfortable meeting with too many of our kind, and Remus and I would be willing to be mediators. The official paperwork must be handled by yourself and your wife,” Sirius added stiffly, as though it took every ounce of self control to keep himself in some state of calm, and he was all but shaking with anger.

“Quite,” Vernon grumbled, “I haven't got time to drive all over God's creation meeting with you people. Give me the ruddy forms, I'll sign them now.” Remus and Sirius exchanged a look with the Ministry official, and he pushed the parchment across the table. Vernon looked down at the paper, his eyes narrowing at it as though it was throwing verbal insults at him.

Ministry of Magic

Bloodlines and Bondings Office

Betrothal Contract

I, Vernon Dursley, and I, Petunia Dursley, do hereby of our own free will wish to betroth Harry James Potter to an eligible suitor by way of the Coupling Charm.

I understand that this action is irreversible, and any breach of contract will be met with swift punishment.

I understand that the actions of Harry James Potter and his betrothed will be carefully monitored, and any unseemly action prior to the date of bonding will be met with swift punishment.

I understand that if Harry James Potter and his betrothed encounter one another outside the supervision of their parent or guardian, they are not permitted to speak or acknowledge each other.

I understand that Harry James Potter will be expected to meet with his betrothed under parental supervision for one week per year from the date of his fifth birthday (31 July) until the date of his seventeenth.

I understand that once Harry James Potter comes of age (17), he will be expected to perform the bonding with his betrothed. Failure to do so will result in swift punishment for all contractually involved parties. I acknowledge that Harry James Potter will receive a grace period of one (1) year and six (6) months to finalize his bonding.

I understand that the aforementioned punishment is unique to the parties in question, and may take many forms—magical, physical, emotional, etc. I acknowledge that I am incapable of choosing the form any punishment may take.

I understand that this contract is magically binding and irreversible.

I have read and understood the agreements as stated,

On the very bottom of the page was a small x above two thick black lines.

“What is this—this punishment this ruddy thing refers to?” Vernon asked, his words coming out in a sputter of frustration.

“In magical contracts, there are charms put in place to ensure that the terms are followed,” Mr Roper explained patiently, while he ignored Vernon's huff of anger. “As the contract states, the punishments are unique, and no two people will have the same reaction. This could mean, in the case of a wizard, that their power is bound, and they cannot use it until the terms of the agreement are fulfilled. Or, it could cause the undersigned—meaning yourself, your wife, Harry, and the family of his betrothed to suffer great pain of some kind. There is no way to be certain, and because of that it is generally best to follow the conditions to a T.” The man smiled in what he clearly assumed was a reassuring manner, but Vernon felt another flare of anger.

“This is madness. So, you're saying if we put one toe out of line, this—this contract will attack my family?” The idea was horrifying. Vernon exchanged a worried glance with his wife, to find that she appeared as disgusted as he felt.

“Which is why many wizards no longer practice this rite,” Sirius added tersely, easing back upon the sofa and eyeing the Dursleys with the same level of dislike as he had maintained throughout the evening. With great difficulty, Vernon forced his gaze away from the man, and to the government official.

“But this is certain, we'd only need to keep the boy for four years, and then he's out of our hair?” Petunia's words were clipped and impatient, and Vernon recognized it as her trying mask her alarm at what she was being told.

“It is iron-clad, yes,” said Mr Roper, his beady eyes darting from Vernon to Petunia, and back to Vernon.

The prospect of getting rid of his nephew a great deal earlier than he could have hoped was enough for him. He glanced briefly to his wife, and she gave him a small nod.

~*~

Another fortnight passed, and the Dursley household had settled into a state of normalcy once more. It was as though the three men had never come at all, though Vernon was unable to chase the memories of them from his mind, in particular the way the man called Sirius, the godfather—why he had not taken the boy was beyond his comprehending—expressed such vehement dislike for them. Later on, Petunia informed him that he had been chummy with the Potters.

“Yes he was at the wedding,” she had said in a snappish tone one evening, gripping her teacup with far more force than was necessary. “Close with that Potter. Mind, I was there because my parents would never forgive me if I had missed her wedding.” The subject was promptly closed, and he had not pressed his wife for more details. However, neither of them could quash their worry at knowing that these men intended to visit them at some point soon to meet the boy.

As if the boy could have a say in this anyway! Vernon had fumed to himself at the thought of it, he can't even talk! The concept utterly baffled Vernon, but then, their lot made precious little sense to him even on his best days.

It was a comfortable Friday evening when Vernon was roused from his armchair by a sharp tapping at the window. Petunia was upstairs with Dudley, the boy having been put away already. Vernon stood and lumbered to the window, where he jumped back with a start. Sitting on the window ledge was a barn owl, an overlarge envelope held in its beak. He recognized the crest on the wax seal, and it filled him with a mixture of relief and dread.

Grimacing as though he was bracing himself to walk across hot coals, he unlatched the window. The bird flew in, dropped the envelope neatly upon the coffee table, and took off again without so much as a moment's hesitation. Vernon closed the window and latched it hastily, then hurried back to the table and tore open the envelope.

Dear Mr and Mrs Dursley,

Your request for the betrothal of Harry James Potter has been accepted. (“About bloody time,” said Vernon.)

Please be advised that a ministry official will call upon you exactly one week from today in order to perform the Coupling Charm. We require your presence, as well as the presence of Harry James Potter. The chosen mediators (S. Black, R. Lupin) will be on hand to answer any questions you may have.

Expect the Ministry official promptly at 7pm. Should this time be inconvenient for any of the involved parties, please let us know as soon as possible via Muggle Return Address.

C. Roper

Bloodlines & Bondings Office

Ministry of Magic

At the bottom of the letter was a hastily scrawled address for an office building that Vernon had never heard of.

Vernon paced, letter in hand, half a mind to call the whole thing off. He knew he couldn't, having signed that bloody contract, but the idea of more of them coming to his home was almost more than he could take.

“Vernon?” Petunia's voice snapped him out of his panic-induced daze. “Everything all right?” Without speaking, he thrust the letter into her hands. Her eyes darted across the paper, her eyes narrowing and her lips pressing together into a thin line the further down she read. When she had finished the letter, she folded it along its creases with calm, slow movements.

~*~

Friday, at 6:55pm, Petunia was still cleaning.

Of course, they had no desire to impress these people by any means, but any intimidation Vernon could provide to show them where they stood in his home, he would take it. The sitting room was virtually unchanged from seven days prior, with one sizable difference: The boy, in a particularly foul brown and orange onesie given to Petunia by his secretary. It had been too small for Dudley, and Vernon would be damned if he'd waste his hard-earned money on the brat. He sat in a baby cage that usually housed his own son while his wife cleaned.

The cage was devoid of the usual baby toys, but the boy seemed happy and giggly, which significantly worsened Vernon's mood. However, he felt that if that Black fellow was returning this evening, anything that portrayed maltreatment of the boy would be a bad idea. As such, they bent their rule of keeping the boy as downtrodden as possible—just for tonight.

At exactly seven o'clock, Petunia hastened into the sitting room with Vernon, smoothing her hands over her dress as she went, looking as haggard as he felt at the prospect of more of their lot descending upon their home. At the same moment, a sharp knock sounded from the front door.

They exchanged a petrified look and froze momentarily. The gurgling vocalizations of their nephew brought them back to their senses, and Vernon walked stiffly to the door. On the other side of it, Vernon was relieved to see, were three people who had the decency to dress normally. He recognized Black and Lupin from their last encounter, but the man standing in front of them was different. He was barely a head shorter than Vernon, with a dark grey combover and a thin moustache. He wore a navy blue business suit, though under his arm he carried several thick scrolls of parchment and Vernon could see the indentation in his jacket where no doubt his wand was hidden.

Fighting the impulse to slam the door and lock it, he stepped aside, not bothering to greet them properly. Petunia, too, seemed to have lost her ability to speak, and instead led the trio mutely into the living room. The atmosphere seemed to change immediately as Vernon heard Black proclaim brightly, “ah, there's little Harry!” By the delighted infantile squeal, it did not surprise Vernon in the least when he followed them in and saw the man bouncing the boy on his knee.

The government official seemed wholly uninterested in Black's antics, though Vernon caught him flick his eyes to the boy's hairline. He wasn't sure what to make of it, but a moment later the man distracted him by clearing his throat loudly and turning his attention to the Dursleys.

“Yes, well, Mr Dursley, Mrs Dursley, my name is Arnold Pike, and I'm the official in charge of your betrothal request. It's a very simple procedure, we are here to cast a charm on Harry to determine who his ideal partner will be. After that, if you so wish, Mr Lupin and Mr Black will take over meetings with the family of Harry's prospective spouse. While Mr Black is not Harry's official guardian, being his godfather is close enough to keep all proceedings legal.”

“I've no time to drive the boy all over God's creation,” Vernon grunted, “Black may do as he likes with him.” There was a definite moment of shocked silence from Pike, but he shook himself off rather quickly and unrolled one of the scrolls of parchment he had carried inside.

Clearing his throat importantly, Mr Pike began to read off the scroll.

“Proclamation of Betrothal: We are gathered here, on 10th January, 1982, to enact the Rite of Betrothal for Harry James Potter. Here may Remus Lupin and Sirius Black bear witness to the Coupling, enacted willingly by request of his guardians, Vernon Dursley and Petunia Dursley. All assembled have entered into this contract willingly and of their own volition—” Black snorted and Lupin nudged him into silence, “—and now come before the Coupling with open mind and open heart.” Mr Pike looked up and pressed his index finger against a large purple crest etched into the bottom of the paper. The paper seemed to glisten for a moment, then Mr Pike's John Hancock appeared at the bottom of the proclamation.

Lupin and Black mimicked the official's actions, their signatures appearing below his. When the paper was turned towards Vernon, he tensed.

“Not to worry Mr Dursley,” Mr Pike said, in what he must have assumed was a reassuring tone, “it merely is to protect against forgery. It won't hurt you or your wife.” The couple exchanged another terrified look, then grudgingly did as they were told, adding their signatures to the proclamation.

“Right,” said Mr Pike, clapping his hands together. “Onto the Coupling! He rolled up the proclamation and it sealed itself into a perfect, smooth cylinder. He set it aside as he pulled out another scroll of parchment. This one looked significantly older, and thicker. The parchment was yellowed and burnt at the edges, though despite the obvious age it had no creases. Mr Pike pulled out his wand, making the Dursleys freeze with fright, but he simply set the scroll on the table, tapped it once, and it unrolled to lie flat and harmless upon the varnished wood.

“Now, this won't take long, but allow me to just give you some background information before we continue,” Mr Pike's voice took on a businesslike tone, but even then Vernon struggled to take the man completely seriously. “This parchment is called the Scroll of Coupling. It is a very ancient magical artifact, indeed at least a thousand years old. Unfortunately the magic it is imbibed with prevents us from accurately analyzing it—the age is a mere estimation. When a family chooses to have their child betrothed, they go through the official motions as you have done, and the name of the child is placed in a pool, of sorts.

“The child's name will remain there indefinitely until a suitable partner is selected by the Scroll. The chosen coupling is as real as any other contract, and it cannot be negotiated or reasoned with. The name of Harry's prospective partner cannot be altered.” He glanced sideways at Black, who was still holding the boy. Clearly this was in reference to some past disagreement, though Vernon had little interest in asking for the details.

Mr Pike cleared his throat again, though this time there was little call for it. “What will happen now is we will have Sirius place young Harry's hand upon the parchment. As the present official, I will incant it, and with some luck, we will have the name of Harry's bonding partner. If not, we will have to wait until a suitable partner has been put forth, but we shall discuss that further, should it be necessary.”

When the man fell silent, there was an awkward pause, punctuated by a string of delighted giggles from Harry, as Sirius continued to bounce him. Remus was staring across the ministry official at the other man, and the look made Vernon huff softly with disgust. It seemed to him his first nancy boy assumption had been correct. He decided, for now at least, to hold his tongue. They would be gone soon enough, and thankfully his own son was in bed, far from their potential influence.

“Erm, Sirius? It's time.” Mr Pike said timidly, though in this particular instance Vernon could hardly blame the man. This Black fellow was clearly not someone you wanted to be on the bad side of. Black seemed to snap out of his reverie, and looked down sadly at the toddler in his lap.

“Very well,” he said with a small sigh of defeat. He pulled out his wand and flicked it, the strange parchment sliding across the table and stopping directly in front of him. As the wand came out, the Dursleys had instinctively shrunk back, though the wizards completely ignored their reaction. Black, focused entirely on the boy, took his little arm and gently navigated it to the parchment. Harry giggled and pawed at the paper enthusiastically, his little eyes widening with delighted surprise as it began to glow faintly. Mr Pike waited, his wand poised over Harry's tiny hand.

“Vocare Copulare,” he muttered, and the little boy gasped with delight. The parchment flared brightly, as though it was suddenly flooded with starlight. A moment later it faded to an iridescent glow, and slowly something began to flicker in the centre of the parchment, two words that seemed to be written in light instead of ink.

The ministry official balked at the sight of it, and on either side of him both Black and Lupin exclaimed, “what?!” and “that can't be right!” simultaneously. Unable to stifle his own curiosity as to what had the men so riled up, Vernon leant forward to read two words.

Draco Malfoy.

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[morsmordrehasbeensaved]

CONGRATULATIONS HALEY, YOU HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED AS SEVERUS SNAPE WITH THE FACECLAIM OF RICHARD HARMON!

I normally try not to swear while I’m on the main, but holy fuck, Haley. This application literally left all of us on the admin team completely breathless, it was just that good. You managed to capture Snape so perfectly in a single biography, we were all completely blown away by it. We cannot wait to see him on the dash and plot with him!

Check out our acceptance checklist right here on what to do next!

♔ OUT OF CHARACTER INFO ♔

NAME/ALIAS:

Halsey

AGE:

20

PREFERRED PRONOUNS:

She/Her

TIMEZONE & ACTIVITY:

CST 9/10 lol, I’m here all day

TRIGGERS:

REMOVED.

ANYTHING ELSE:

REMOVED.

♔ IN CHARACTER INFO ♔

FULL NAME:

Severus Tobias Snape

BIRTHDAY AND AGE:

January 9th, 17

PRONOUNS:

He/Him

SEXUALITY/ROMANTIC ORIENTATION:

Heteromantic, Heterosexual

EXTRACURRICULARS:

Just Potions club is fine!

PERSONALITY TRAITS:

+ Intelligent, Logical, Independent

- Bitter, Depressed, Cynical

BIOGRAPHY:

There was power in a name, just look at Lord Voldemort. Like the Dark Lord, Severus Snape had always hated his name. It was nothing, meant nothing. If there was power in a name, then Severus had none. He was born to Tobias and Eileen Snape on a viciously cold day in January and was unable to remember a time in his childhood where he truly ever felt happy. His mother was a pureblooded witch, hailing from the Prince family. Oh, how Severus longed to have her old last name. Now, that… that was a name that held command. It was the mark of an old, pureblooded family. It demanded respect, held authority. Severus longed for both of those things. His father, on the other hand, was a muggle– and an angry one at that. There was no power in his name. He couldn’t even do magic! Severus didn’t quite understand why his father was so irate all of the time, but it was a fact that he had to live with.

Severus didn’t like to compare himself to his father, but one day he would look back and realize that they had more in common than he had thought. Tobias, like Severus, also craved power, only he didn’t have the means to get it and this made him bitter. Tobias had loved having a witch for a wife, but as he grew up and was burdened with the responsibilities of marriage and fatherhood, he began to resent her, jealous of the freedoms she had to make life easier. The only way Tobias was able to feel in control was when he was tormenting his family. One of Severus’ earliest memories was seeing his father standing over his mother’s fallen form in the corridor of their shabby, two bedroom home. Tobias had asked Eileen to purchase milk before he was home from work and she had forgotten. Tobias considered it his husbandly duty to correct her mistake. Eileen tried to do better for him, she really did, but it wasn’t enough. It was never enough. Eileen finally realized this when Severus was approaching his fifth birthday, and from then, his mother had checked out for the most part. Eileen kept her head down, taking Tobias’s insults and fists in silence. Severus remembered her leaving once when he six, and then once again when he was eight, but she always came back. She took to alcohol to get through her life. Most of his later memories of his mother involved her being drunk. Tobias, to his credit, did not have alcoholism on his list of vices, but he did have gambling. Tobias already worked a job that didn’t pay much, and since he demanded that Eileen stay home, it was suffice to say that the Snape family was very poor.

It was because of his upbringing, that Severus grew to despise muggles the way that he did. His father was the one he knew best, and he was a terrible example. Severus found them weak and embittered because of that. Muggles had no means to achieve true power. They might not know that consciously, but somewhere deep inside, muggles knew that they weren’t powerful and this is why they were so awful. Everywhere he went in the muggle world, he encountered a high volume of unpleasant people. They judged him for his too shabby clothes, his hair that he wasn’t able to wash because Tobias had not paid the bill, and for the disheveled appearance of his constantly drunk mother. They made him feel small, and he hated feeling small.

One day, when he was nine years old, Severus met a girl that made him feel larger than life. He’d stumbled upon her one day, at a park near his house. She was with another girl and they seemed to be sisters. Severus didn’t spare her a glance upon first notice, thinking that she was a muggle. He went out of his way to avoid talking to muggles, he wasn’t about to make an exception, and he went back home. A few days later, Severus spotted the two girls again, only this time, she was doing something quite peculiar. Upon further inspection, he realized that it was magic! He would always remember that moment; the way his heart rate picked up and how his eyes widened. He’d never met another witch his own age. His father didn’t allow Eileen or Severus to be too involved in the magical world outside of their home. It was an out of body experience, almost, the way his legs brought him forward, away from the safety of the bush he had previously been hiding behind. It was the greatest decision he had ever made.

Lily Evans – he learned her name that day – quickly became Severus’ best, and only, friend. Her insufferable muggle sister, Petunia, was the bane of his existence back in those days, but he put up with her annoying muggle ways for Lily’s sake. At least, he tried to. There was that one time she was harping at him for explaining the ways of the wizard world to Lily, and he’d accidentally broken a tree branch over her head. It was an accident, truly, but he hadn’t been a bit sorry for it. Petunia Evans was a jealous, angry little girl. And that was coming from him. The moment he shared with Lily before they ever went to school are some of Severus’s most fond memories. It was, perhaps, the only time he felt at peace with himself. Lily Evans was his balm, to all of life’s wounds.

Each day of his life continued to flip away, like the pages of a book, until it was finally time to go to Hogwarts. Most of his school supplies were the same ones his mother had used when she herself was a child, but Severus was too excited to care. He would finally be going to school! He’d finally be away from his parents and the horrors of his home life. He would finally be at school, with Lily. Oh, he just couldn’t wait to be there with her. She didn’t know anybody there, except for him. He wouldn’t admit it if anyone asked, but he was happy about that. When he and Lily boarded the train, she was in a bad mood from a fight with her sister, and he desperately hoped he could find a way to make her smile again. After minutes of searching, they managed to find a compartment with two boys inside. Severus had preferred to sit alone, but it seemed that this was the best they could do. He’d begun to tell Lily all about Slytherin, clearly the greatest house of Hogwarts, and that was when he met James Potter. It only took one conversation for Severus to know that he didn’t, and would never, like this boy.

Later that night, when he was lying under the sheets of his new bed in the first year Slytherin boy’s dorm, Severus did not think about how happy he was to be there. He didn’t think of how nice his new bed felt compared to his old ones and he didn’t think about how peaceful it was to sleep without his father’s yelling making it hard. All he could think about, over and over on replay, was the sorting hall exclaiming “GRYFFINDOR” as soon as it was placed upon Lily Evans’ head. How could this be? Lily was no Gryffindor, she was better than that! She was Slytherin material, certainly. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do. Thankfully, he and Lily stayed close friends. Even more importantly, she seemed to dislike James Potter. He was so happy to have this in common with her.

School, though it wasn’t everything he had hoped it would be, was Severus’ safe haven, and he excelled. He quickly became the best Potions student of his year, and he wasn’t too far behind in his other classes. In his third year, he began to study Occlumency and Legilimency. These were extremelyadvanced areas of study for a boy his age, but that just goes to show how smart Severus Snape was. By his fourth year, he was moving steadily along in his training and decided to up the ante. He began to study magical theory, and the crafting of spells, hoping to one day create something of his own. By fifth year, he had done it. His first ever spell, Levicorpus, was a jinx that would hoist the victim up by their ankles. Somehow, through his nosy dorm mates no doubt, the spell was leaked to the other students in the school. This, inadvertently, led to the worst day of his entire life thus far. He’d been minding his own business, having just finished Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W., and was enjoying the nice weather underneath a shaded tree. All right, Snivellus? He knew the moment he heard those words that he needed to grab his wand, but he wasn’t quick enough. Potter beat him to the punch and the next thing he knew, he was being dangled in the air by a spell of his own invention, with pink soap bubbles coming from his mouth. It had all happened so fast, the entire thing, and then Lily was there trying to defend him.

The thing is, Severus didn’t want Lily to defend him. He wanted to be able to defend himself. Over the years, he had grown stronger and smarter, but Severus still, more than anything, wanted power. He’d aligned himself with people who sought the same thing– Mulciber, Dolohov, Black, Lestrange. They hated muggles too, and despite him being only a half-blood, he was still welcomed into the fold. His friends, they wanted to follow the Dark Lord, and Severus could see why. The Dark Lord held ultimate power, and if they followed him, perhaps it would trickle down to them too. This was very appealing to Severus, almost intoxicatingly so. He too, believed that the Dark Lord was the path to power, and his friends were his path to the Dark Lord. So, when Lily Evans stepped up to defend him, Severus lashed out. He didn’t mean to, but he’d been angry and upset and humiliated and it just tumbled out. He would give his life to take it back. He didn’t think that about her; that word. Mudblood. Lily Evans was no mudblood. She was beautiful, pure in every way. Nothing about her was muddy. He had made a mistake, choosing to save his reputation over his friendship. That night, he spent hours outside of the Gryffindor Common Room, hoping to fix things. When Lily emerged, she was still angry. When she asked if he would continue to spend time with the more sinister Slytherin boys, he’d remained quiet. Of course he was going to. It was his ticket to power. And that had been it. From that moment onward, Lily Evans was his friend no longer.

Severus slipped into a deep, dark depression. He’d been depressed for most of his life, really, but this was new… this was… terrifying. On more than one occasion, Severus had considered brewing a potion that would end it all. There was one time he had actually done it, but he had poured it out. Without Lily, his life was lonely. He had no one that knew him– that really knew him. He lived an entire year with this hopelessness, allowing it to nearly pull him under the surface. Somehow, he managed to not drown in it. The summer after his sixth year, more than a year since he’d lost Lily, Severus finally made the decision to join the Death Eaters. He isn’t a purist, per say. His only issue was with muggles themselves. The muggleborns weren’t a problem. What Severus wanted, was to be powerful. To make people feel the way he had been forced to feel for his entire life. The Dark Lord was the way for him to do that. Grindewald’s presence has sparked an interest within Severus. Grindewald’s beliefs line-up easily with Severus’, but he doesn’t have any clue how to even go about that side, but that’s fine. The Death Eaters were enough.

ADDITIONAL INFO:

Severus is a Capricorn Sun, Aquarius Moon