#shcs

[wooyoungisbaby]

:(

[hronstairs]

it’s always about them.

🎨: larisa rusina

[seawaveleo]

happy (lil late) trans day of visibility!

[caleod]

27-8-24

[hawksheadcanonblog]

Headcanon - While it's not official by any means, there's a fourth trial of sorts for switching clans. Simply, correctly name as many of your new clanmates as you can in one sitting (preferably with a chance to point to who's who instead of rattling off names heard in passing). It holds no actual baring on being allowed to stay since it's held just before being welcomed into the clan, but the more you get right, the more respect typically gained from the leader. It's a show of how much care is being put into fitting into the clan as a whole and not just for a mate.

[wisteria-lodge]

Have you sorted Dumbledore before? He seems like a great candidate for this framework, especially with how divisive he is and with how much about him is open to interpretation. I really love your thoughts on this!

I think he's a Snake Bird, like Voldemort.

Albus has a pretty clear Bird secondary. He loves collecting (trinkets, artifacts, interesting memories.) His first step when fighting Voldemort is doing a big research deep-dive into his past. He loves a complex multi-step plan - the chain of events caused by the specific wording in his will is probably the clearest example of that. Voldemort once describes him as "omniscient" and that is the goal - Albus wants all the information, all the time. He also loves his Wacky!Dumbledore persona. It's fun, and it's great for throwing off suspicion. Very Actor Bird of him.

I do think his confrontation with Barty Junior at the end of Book 4 is interesting, because that's the most *pissed* and out-of-control we ever see him. There, the energy is very kick-down-the-door Lion secondary. Burst in with his guys at his back, stun him, physically kick him over, and give Barty Veritaserum so he tells you everything. (And then lose track of him in the aftermath, resulting in him getting Kissed.) I think a Snake secondary could have finessed that a little better. Maybe come at him a little softer, used Legilimency, gotten more info out of him, used him as a hostage... but Dumbledore is a Bird secondary who was missing a MASSIVE piece of information, he needed time to re-calibrate. Bird secondaries who have been very wrong-footed or are put in very unfamiliar situations often start looking like Lions.

In terms of Primary... I think he's a very, VERY Burned Snake who models "For the Greater Good" Bird because it doesn't feel safe to trust people (and 'people' does include himself.) Like he'll talk a good game, but when it comes down to it:

"What did I care if numbers of nameless and faceless people and creatures were slaughtered in the vague future, if in the here and now you [Harry] were alive, and well, and happy?"

The thing with Grindelwald hit him with the intensity of a Snake just really connecting with a Person for the very first time. Because like... young Albus just didn't have any connections like that. Elphias Doge worshiped him - which isn't an equal relationship. Ariana preferred Aberforth, his mother was entirely focused on Ariana, his dad was in prison. And Aberforth... is important, and I think Albus actually really did want and continues to want his "rough, unlettered, infinitely more admirable" brother's approval. But at that point, Aberforth thinks that Albus is a selfish, irresponsible jerk.

But then Grindelwald betrays Albus, which shatters him for a while. Grindelwald's running around Europe, Albus is hiding at Hogwarts because he's too Burnt to do anything else. He fundamentally does not trust himself anymore, he doesn't trust the instincts of his Snake primary. I'm not sure he ever does again, until maybe Harry. Albus thinks he's right about Snape, but he doesn't know, which is why he likes that visual check-in that Snape's Patronus provides. Albus starts modeling Bird primary, hard, because it hurts a lot less to live in that space.

But like he can't cut that Snake primary out of him completely. It's too core to who he is, he'll die. The Drink of Despair (and the Mirror of Erised) takes him right back to his People. He needs these connections, but those connections don't feel safe. Enter Hagrid, clearly very important to Albus - despite being not especially useful and often kind of a liability. But what he IS is someone very Aberforth coded... who will never leave or betray him. (Because Albus has just so much power over him.) I've written about Dumbledore's habit of collecting strays before, but I think it's a Burnt/Exploded Snake thing. He wants connection, but also sees connection as dangerous, so this is his (subconscious) solution.

Generally, when Albus does dumb things, it's for Snake reasons. Putting on the Resurrection Stone? Trying to talk down Draco when he should have just stunned him (and died Master of the Elder Wand?) In that moment Draco is one of his students (who he IS loyal to.) But he's also kind of Aberforth - totally outclassed, shouldn't be here at all, just trying to protect his family.

The house-matching helps explain why Dumbledore and Voldemort just... get under each other's skin to the extent that they do. They have a very emotionally charged relationship, considering that they prefer to keep each other at a distance and only interact through proxies. Albus has a deep distrust of Tom from the word go, even when Tom hasn't actually done much apart from be a creepy ten-year-old. (Tom probably reminded him of Grindelwald ngl. Or himself.) Albus has his collection of Voldemort's most important memories, and Voldemort is uniquely afraid of him. Diary!Tom frames the Basilisk vs Phoenix battle as a conflict between himself and *Dumbledore.* Like these two are wrapped up in each other, and I think it's because they're actually very alike.

[the-phoenix-heart]

Sorting Hat Chats - The Malfoys

Since the Malfoys have been a bit of a hot topic lately, I decided to give them their sorting post similar to what I did with the Weasleys...3 years ago??? Where does the time go??

Anyway, this is an explanation of the system I am using by @wisteria-lodge.

LUCIUS MALFOY is blatantly a Badger secondary. His methods are to make donations to people, goad Arthur Weasley into a fight so he can slip Ginny the diary, he uses blackmail against the other members of the Board of Governors, calling in favors, and when in the hall of prophecies with Harry and his gang his strategy is to talk him into giving the prophecy over. It's what makes him so effective in the first five books, but is also why once everyone knows the truth about him he is in a constant state of free fall.

As for his primary, I think it's fairly obvious that he's a Snake. He can look like a Badger, dehumanizing muggleborns and joining the Death Eaters, but that's a performance. When the chips are down, what Lucius really cares about himself, his wife, and his son. Snake Lucius is willing to get rid of every association to the Death Eaters he had, and in the Second Wizarding War is not enjoying himself at ALL. He's also clearly got that Snake hedonism to him.

NARCISSA MALFOY née BLACK is an equally blatant Snake primary, although she doesn't appear to even play the part of a Badger. Everything to her is her son and her husband (and her husband takes a backseat to her son usually). Narcissa doesn't even appear to like Bellatrix all that much anymore since Bella is a threat to her family. Down to the end her motivation is always to keep Draco safe, damn the consequences.

As for her secondary, since she's such a minor character you can probably make an argument for any of them. But I personally think she's a Snake secondary, making her a Double Snake. This is a woman who lies to Voldemort's face and doesn't get caught. Who is willing to go behind his back and make back-alley deals with someone like Snape.

I've sorted DRACO MALFOY once before with @awinterrain which you can read right here, but I would like to reiterate it and expand on it.

Draco may be the epitome of Slytherin in the books, and he may hate Hufflepuffs and think of them as "duffers," but this boy is Double Badger down to his bones. This is a boy who cares deeply about communities. He defines himself by them, first as a Malfoy, then as a Slytherin, then as a Seeker on the quidditch team, then as part of the Inquisitorial Squad, then as a death eater (which he doesn't care for). I think at the beginning of the series he's a good case for an Immature Badger primary, where he just IS the group he's into and nothing outside of this.

His Badger primary can look very insular and Snake-like, partially because pureblood culture alienates everyone outside of it, and partially because his family is so Snakey that it colors the look of his Badger primary. Idk if I would even call it a performance or a model, it's more like a flavor.

But he does start to look like a Snake primary in his Sixth Year, where he's single-mindedly focused on saving his family. That's because in Sixth Year he burns after joining the Death Eaters. And it's honestly really sad, but it's because Draco has realized his communities are toxic and not good for him. The Death Eaters aren't good, they're the reason his father is in prison and his mother is in danger. This is the year where he really stops engaging with his peers and is sort of just coasting on his former reputation.

But that Badger shine is still there, and it's in the fact that Draco Malfoy has to kill Dumbledore and cannot do it. A true Snake Draco Malfoy would probably have gone through with it, even if it he felt bad about it. Badger Draco, who spent books 1-5 shit talking Dumbledore at any opportunity, cannot do it. I think it's because 1. He isn't ready for casual murder, and 2. I think Dumbledore for Draco represents one more community that he identifies with-Hogwarts. And clearly he does care about Hogwarts (I don't think the Room of Requirement would reveal itself to him if he did).

As for his secondary, Draco is his father in miniature. Draco is a tattle tail, he has bodyguards that follow him around, he usually goads Harry into confrontations so Harry gets into trouble and Draco can have plausible deniability. What's most interesting to me though is Draco's proclivity for elaborate smear campaigns. The "Potter Stinks" badges are HIS work as is the "Weasley is Our King" song, which is very...mean badgery. Like this is his community building with Slytherin (arguably all of Hogwarts with the badges), and using his powers to bully Harry. It's funny, despite everything. He does perform Snake though, to make everything look quicker or look like his mother.

Even his methods when he has to kill Dumbledore are Badger powered. Working on the Vanishing Cabinet all year, poisoning Professor Slughorn's mead he intended to give Dumbledore, and charming Rosmerta to imperious Katie Bell. But, he still has that influence from his mom where he can lie to someone's face (though not as convincingly).

I think Draco looks at his father's Badger performance, and thus thinks they house match. And it explains why he is so wary of his father after the Death Eater reveal, since Draco has realized he does not enjoy that sort of Badger primary.

As a bonus I decided to sort BELLATRIX LESTRANGE née BLACK as well. Since for some reason the movies always advertised her as part of the Malfoys. No doubt about it she is a Lion secondary. I don't think Bellatrix has every learned the meaning of the word subtle. She never lies in the series, just blasts the truth out whenever, and is always an attack first think never character.

As for her primary, can she be anything other than exploded snake primary? Her everything is Voldemort. She doesn't really care for anyone outside of him, with the exception of Narcissa, who stopped liking Bellatrix when she became a danger to her son. I think at one point she had a Badger performance or model that allowed her to willingly marry someone like Rodolphus who she doesn't appear to like, but by the time she's going to Azkaban she doesn't care. It's honestly such a Black Family sorting. Sirius was a Snake Lion as well, and the culture of the "Noble and Most Ancient House of Black" seems to just be Snake coded in general.

So...

Lucius Malfoy - Snake primary, Badger performance/Badger secondary

Narcissa Malfoy nee Black - Snake primary/Snake secondary

Draco Malfoy - Badger primary, Immature at the start, burns in his Sixth Year, has a Snake performance or flavor/Badger secondary, Snake performance

Bonus:

Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black - Exploded Snake primary, Badger performance/model long discarded/Lion secondary

Sirius Black - Snake primary/Lion secondary

[artaintfartwarriors]

Mudclaw but not THAT mudclaw

[amber-tortoiseshell]

[elegantsaltedpeanut]

36/36 SHC All Sylus Teams.

[wooyoungisbaby]

Hwa and his little problems boys.

More ateez memes uwu

[alix-in-july]

I absolutely love Snake primary characters but it honestly rubs me the wrong way when *all* the women in a work of fiction are Snakes. It often ends up with them just serving as the men's love interests and not having their own compelling storyline. Or with their storyline essentially coming to an end as soon as they get together with a guy because now they're the mom/wife/etc character and relegated to the background.

[seawaveleo]

world’s #1 (angus) and #2 (windsor) detectives

[lemnnshark]

"Mudclaw is a gray tom with brown legs."

[transhetanybodys]

Foxheart x Lizardstripe AU, Lizardstripe starts to believe Shadowclan's rumors that Foxheart is the mother of Brokenkit and gave him up to be deputy and goes to confront her and she says that's not true and they get to talking and eventually realize how dirty they've been done by their mates Raggedstar and Mudclaw and break up with them and start dating each other and Foxheart becomes the primary parent of Lizardstripe's bio kits because Lizardstripe never wanted kits while Foxheart did and Mudclaw is useless. Lizardstripe becomes more of the fun wine aunt. Foxheart tries to parent Brokenkit too but Raggedstar isolates him from his moms once he's old enough to not need milk and poisons him against them and radicalizes him into the killing machine he later becomes.

[wisteria-lodge]

you've mentioned your sorting of remus, but how would you sort the other marauders? maybe snape and lily too?

Remus I think you could plausibly sort multiple ways, because that primary is super Burnt. But I do think he's probably a Lion Badger, and that's how I write him. Partly because I think it's interesting if he house-matches Peter (that's an old sorting that uses the old terminology, but I stand by it.) Who is definitely a Lion Badger.

Sirius is so obviously a Snake Lion, do I even need to explain it? James (and then Harry) is his Person. Remus, Lily, Peter... they're important but they're not JAMES. Regulus - that relationship is written ambiguously enough that it could fit multiple places, in regards to Sirius' loyalty. James himself seems like an immature Glory Hound Lion who matures into a Paragon Lion. You can see his Lion secondary in how he deals with Voldemort, how much he hates being cooped up, and how attached-at-the-hip he is with Sirius.

Lily... is another one I think you could argue multiple ways. Probably not a Double Lion, romantic couples usually don't match exactly. I do get Snake primary energy from the way she stays friends with Severus even after none of her friends like him and he starts going off into the political deep end. She waits for something pretty extreme to happen before she cuts him off... and then she does cut him off pretty dramatically. She's certainly not afraid of confrontation... so maybe Lion secondary, like James and Sirius? I guess James likes Lion Snakes.

Severus... for ages I thought he was a Snake Bird. I do think the Bird secondary is fairly obvious: he collects skills and knowledge, he's an inventor, a happy Snape is an info-dumping Snape, his spying ability is framed in terms of a learned skill (occlumency.) And I was like, the Lily thing = Snake. Done.

But now I don't think so. Lily isn't a person to him, at least not during the main timeline of the books. She's the symbolic corner stone of his constructed morality system. Like we see him start to build it, that's what the the conversation Dumbledore is all about, and we see the first step of the process, where "Protect Lily" is expanded into "Protect Lily, James, and Harry." If you build a moral framework to facilitate the core concept "Protect Lily" and then it stays in place after Lily is dead... well, that's a very rigid, not very healthy Bird primary, but that is a Bird primary.

tl;dr

Remus - Burnt Lion / Badger

Peter - Lion / Badger

James - Lion / Lion

Sirius - Snake / Lion

Lily - Snake / Lion

Severus - Bird / Bird