The whole “Lucius was abusive with Draco” thing has always been so funny to me. Really, I don’t get how people are able to believe something so silly.
Seriously, guys, wake the fuck up, if Lucius had been abusive with his son, he wouldn’t have been a part of the series. You know why? Because Narcissa “If you attack my son again I shall ensure that is the last thing you ever do” Malfoy would have killed him ten times in a row.
okay, i do realize that all students from durmstrang delegation were probably 17-18 years old (to be able to participate in the tournament), but also i love this au too much to care
I’m not even sure where I wrote that line (maybe in my about?) but here I am to talk about it get ready:
Harry’s anger in OotP is important because it’s a response to a violation of his boundaries, a breach of trust—and in many ways, a response to boundary violations that began during his abusive childhood.
the way the Dursleys treated Harry early in the series? massive boundary violation. they didn’t respect him as a person, didn’t acknowledge his needs, didn’t allow him belongings, restricted his access to food, took away correspondence that belonged to him, denied him important information not just about his family but also about his personal safety.
the way they’re treating him in OotP? still a massive boundary violation. again, denying him access to information (he has to lie under the window to hear the news), restricting his access to food, and also physically abusing him on at least one occasion (Vernon grabs him around the throat, and Harry doesn’t even seem surprised).
Harry has had a right to anger for a long time. but the only time he really expressed that, even inadvertently, (the incident with Marge in PoA), he was punished for it by the people he trusted. overall, it’s made very clear to Harry that he’s not supposed to express anger at the Dursleys.
at the end of GoF and the beginning of OotP, however, Harry experiences some massive boundary violations within the wizarding world: the discovery that a teacher he trusts is actually a Death Eater working to kill him, the loss of meaningful contact with his friends over the summer as he deals with what’s probably PTSD, and the threat of losing all access to Hogwarts because he defended himself and Dudley. the wizarding world, despite its physical dangers, has been Harry’s emotional haven. he has so far been safer there than with his abusers, because he receives validation, is allowed to have human needs, and can trust others to have some concern for his well-being. however, with these three violations, things begin to change. Barty Crouch pretend to care about Harry, then leads him to Voldemort. Dumbledore forbids anyone to give him information over the summer, which sends the message that the struggle he’s experiencing isn’t important. and the Ministry tries to expel him from Hogwarts for self-defense, which is a clear indication that his needs (even in life-or-death situations) aren’t important to them.
by this point, Harry is already really angry. it’s a valid reaction. in fact, it’s a warning sign. he’s being told his safety and happiness don’t matter, and that’s a dangerous position to be in.
and then Umbridge comes into the picture.
Umbridge doesn’t just deny him access to information; she imposes her will over the information he already has. she displays open favoritism. she’s physically abusive, and in fact forces Harry to enact that harm on himself. she punishes the students for learning how to defend themselves, despite the fact that this is supposed to be part of their curriculum. everything she does sends the same message to Harry that the Dursleys have been sending him since he was a kid: what he has to say doesn’t matter, his safety isn’t important, and he should never stand up for himself. the difference is, she’s communicating all these things in the very place Harry has come to associate with safety, so it’s an even greater violation.
(in addition, Harry’s trust is betrayed by Dumbledore, who consistently denies him information and is absent when Harry needs him, such that Harry gets the impression he needs to handle everything alone, and isn’t willing to tell Dumbledore about Umbridge’s abuse. and then there’s Snape, with the Occlumency lessons, literally forcing his way into Harry’s mind and mocking him for being unable to stop it, and I could write another whole post on that.)
basically, Harry’s anger in OotP is important to me because it validates that emotional response to abusive boundary violations. does he always use that anger wisely? no. but he tries, and he grows, and he’s a person and he’s been massively betrayed and that matters, it matters to me because I’ve been abused and it matters just in general because the world needs to know anger doesn’t necessarily mean people are evil or dark. sometimes, it just means they need to be listened to.
OoftP is when I started to get viscerally angry while reading the HP books. I was gettin’ there, but that book cinched it.
Ron Weasley: Wait a minute! We don’t go TOWARDS the weird scary sound!
Harry Potter: Yeah, we do. We always do.
Ron Weasley: I really hate that about us.
the most iconic harry potter character is easily blaise zabini’s mother who was so beautiful she got away with murdering each of her seven husbands, all of whom had left her their fortunes when they died. by the time husband #3 died, it was probably really obvious she had a hand in their deaths and yet! four more men decided she was worth it! four more dudes decided dying was an ok sacrifice for her! lmao she is just as iconic as helen of troy, perhaps even more so
one thing that doesn’t come up nearly enough in harry potter fanfic is that hermione granger is especially good at conjuring fire. it says so repeatedly in the books. the girl entered the wizarding world and they were like ‘you can do anything! you can turn teacups into mice! you can unlock doors! you can float shit!’ and she specialized in FIRE.
Bright blue flames shot from her wand onto the
hem of Snape’s robes.
“Oh, right!” said Hermione, and she whipped out her wand, waved it,
muttered something, and sent a jet of the same bluebell flames she had
used on Snape at the plant.
and book two:
Conjuring up portable, waterproof
fires was a speciality of Hermione’s.
book seven:
They spent most
of the day inside the tent, huddled for warmth around the useful
bright blue flames that Hermione was so adept at producing, and
which could be scooped up and carried around in a jar.
It was gloriously warm after the pool and the forest, the only
illumination the bluebell flames still shimmering in a bowl on the
floor.
My favorite thing ever is how Ron just sent Charlie a random letter like “hey yo there’s an illegal dragon at hogwarts, could you come and smuggle it out of here, please?” and Charlie was just like “yeah sure, I’ll trespass into the castle and steal a dangerous magical creature, of course, lemme just hit up my friends”
It’s better if you imagine Charlie and co as a group of Grad Students trying to avoid their other responsibilities.
Charlie is drunkenly revising the third draft of his thesis on proper care and feeding of greenhorns when his family owl slams into the window.
Three of his friends jump and look around. Glinda doesn’t raise her head from her folded arms; only groans, “Is that Baines coming to do me in?”
Charlie totters to the window and fetches Errol from the window pane. “No such luck,” he says. “You’re still going to have to take the exam.” After some consideration, Charlie lays him on a clear patch of floor to recover. “Do owls take firewhiskey?” he asks the room at large.
“It’s not fair,” Glinda wails into the tabletop. “I swear he didn’t say anything about Bridgewort’s handling practices when we did the review in class.”
“Oh, Merlin,” says Ali, freezing over their notes like a Medusa wyvern had bitten them. “Oh, Merlin’s sweet saggy socks. Is he covering Bridgewort?”
“That’s what he said when I went to his office hours.” Glinda sits up. “You know his lapdragon singed my new sweater?!”
Charlie decides not to give Errol a nip of whiskey. Flying under the influence is really not done. He unties the letter from Errol’s leg. Ron’s childish spiky handwriting spells out Charlie’s name on the front. Inside is a hastily scrawled message.
“Yes, we know it ruined your sweater,” snaps Ysabelle. “You told us twenty times. Why didn’t you tell us Baines told you we’re going to be tested on Bridgewort?”
“I meant to,” says Glinda. “Sorry.” She flicks her pile of notes. “I was lost in the miasma of gloom and desperation.”
Ali puts their head back and groans. “I’m gonna die. I’m gonna say ‘fuck it’ and just fucking walk into a dragon’s mouth so I don’t have to do this.”
“Hey,” says Charlie. They don’t hear him.
“How much is this worth again?” Glinda asks her bottle of butterbeer.
“Twenty-five percent,” Ali and Ysabelle chorus. Ysabelle adds, “and the thesis is fifty percent of our total grade.”
“Hey!” Charlie repeats. They look at him. He waves Ron’s letter. “My littlest brother at Hogwarts has an illegal dragon he needs to get off campus. Anybody up for a midnight flight?”
Ali slams their hands down on the table and stands up. “Fuck yes,” they say decisively. “Maybe I’ll fly into the Whomping Willow and die a quick death.”
Cheloneuniverse 