#also Snape is SO not the vengeful kind...

[limetimo]

Rab Fics I read This Week (12-5 Sept)

Rock 'N' Roll, Baby! by queerdeadwizards Marauders as a band feat Wolfstar and Jegulus (to be)

The Secrets of Regulus Black by Josiem Regulus has secrets (he doesn't hate his disowned brother, he doesn't want to join DEs, he wants to be a healer, he is very very gay) and keeps secrets (Lupin is a werewolf, ect ect), James Potter's sudden interest threatens to reveal them all

Keys To My Heart by marshland04 Secret identity my babes, Regulus takes advantage of the freedom planning his father's funeral offers him and does all kinds of things his mother wouldn't approve of if she found out, like playing baseball, reconnecting with his disowned brother and dating James Potter. Harry is born from James/Lily but Lily is engaged to Mary :D

For Queen & Country by Quietlemonhush ABO verse, Regulus has HAD it with Wolfstars being pining idiots. When Sirius (supressed for years) heat hits, he calls Remus to the rescue.

Vengeful Love by Quietlemonhush Regulus is holding a Christmas party and wants Sirius there to woo the crowds, and as a good boyfriend Remus has to tag along. Also Regulus is the king of petty revenge :D

constellations inked in blood by The_Duchess_of_Fiction ugh I LOVE when the Blacks bunk together and set on kicking some serious ass. When they're kids Regulus, Sirius, Narcissa Andromeda and Bellatrix get matching constellation tattoos that can act as an SOS signal. None of them uses it until Regulus is drowning in the cave. Sirius Andy and Narcissa save him (Bella had her tattoo covered by the Dark Mark and didn't feel the distress signal) and from then on it's the entire House of Black on bloodpath. Sirius slays one of the Lestranges with a sword levels of badassery. also slowburn Narcissa/Sirius

can't even run, can't even walk by ScreamingFae Regulus is hiding BArty in his room for a summer :D

Snakes and Lions by Moony_Reggie Remus is in Slytherin and REgulus is a smart cookie who got bumped up a year ahead. Jegulus and Wolfstar, very enjoyable to me.

Family on the Mend by heartofspells, TracingPatterns Remus and Sirius are struggling, raising 14 yo teenager Harry and 2yo Teddy. It's just a lot, and they have unresolved issues (esp Sirius and his inability to not give Teddy comfort whenever the toddler cries). Mary suggests they join a muggle TV show that helps struggling families like them. Ft. baby whisperer Regulus. I really enjoyed it!

Castle by the Sea (The End of All Days Remix) by ignipes Remus/Regulus, Regulus goes to the cave

Disciple of Time by BlueSundayCake another Hermione Time Travels to 1978 BUT this time she recruits Snape first thing and makes friends with the Marauders second, a little bit of Lily villification to make space for future Hermione/James but I wouldn't classify it as Lily bashing. Protective older brother Sirius

to the dark lord by justwhatialwayswanted Regulus playing 5D chess also recommend Ancient Dreams in the Modern Land by MARINA is fits im telling you. Also Evan Rosier my beloved ♥

Burning Doves by TowardTheStars Regulus makes friends with Severus Snape, develops a major crush on him that's very much unrequired but also Sev keeps saving REgulus' skin whenever he's in danger from the death eaters

Regulus Black, Potions Master by CuteSunnyDayDreamer6 what it says on the tin ♥

The Highest Form of Betrayal by star boy Lyn (LyncisLikeTheStar) Regulus gets kidnapped by his well-meaning friends and boyfriend. He's not mad about leaving home - he planned on doing that himself - but for fuck's sake they could've asked

career goals: tyrant by justwhatialwayswanted Regulus is the most audacious bitch in the room, every room. Voldy doesn't stand a chance

Trials and Tribulations by lemon_drps Regulus is straight up not having a good time, that with Sirius running away, the responsiiblities shifted on his shoulders, the brewing war, oh and lets not forget the self-medication overdose (I love this one)

Open Season by avidita It's Cursed Child Era (post-cursed child era? Delfi's there but the baby Potters are graduated) and Regulus Black claws his way out of the lake. It's a lot to comprehend but Regulus puts his entire pussy in being on top

Once Upon A Wish by wynnebat !!!!!!!!!!!! Ginny made a wish on a candle - to make the team on Holyhead Harpies - but the wish goes a little wonky and has her joining the team in 1979! Well. Since she's there, and she has all the names, Ginny decides to kick some ass. LOVED IT.

Mark of the Beast by disillusionist9 for ibuzoo I- -um -- excuse the fuck tou of me but this is BRILLIANT Ginny with a cybernetic arm forced to work for turned-cyborg Tom Riddle to keep her tech up to date and being a partner in murder with Regulus 'the drama king' Black aklehuhflaisf

Seeing Red by TheLestrangeMistress no context just Regulus admitting he cheated on Ginny

Cutting Strings by TheLestrangeMistress again no context just Ginny realsising her boyfriend Regulus was a manipulative bitch isolating her from her family and friends

Back To The Old House by Gigix There's um. A very unhealthly, obsessive love between James and Regulus, There is a strange obsession with Regulus being "good" and therefore worth of saving, the saviour James vibes are strong with this one but it's also very intriguing, and his obsession with Regulus does put pretty big strain on his friendships. Regulus for his part gives big 'religious suffering' vibes. This summary sounds so dark

#regulus black #fic rec

[evilbeanghost]

The fact that there are some people firmly believing that Severus Snape knew all along that Peter Pettigrew was the secret keeper and didn’t say anything out of a sense of vengeance towards Sirius Black is baffling to me... and quite telling when it comes to how much people don’t get Severus Snape as a character. 

#severus snape #peter pettigrew #if Snape had know you dumbos #Lily would not be dead #and even so #it's so not what Severus snape is about as a character #he wouldn't have withdrawn something like this from Dumbledore #his own life had been given to Dumbledore to do as he saw fit #you just don't understand #sigh #also Snape is SO not the vengeful kind... #he put Sirius on a stretcher and was planning to deliver him to the authorities for God's sake #and he believed at the time that Sirius was responsible for the Potter's death #he had to live with Peter Pettigrew in his home and he didn't kill him either #because his role as a spy was more important that getting petty vengeance against Peter at the time #sorry I'm rambling #but I feel strongly about this one #and people reading skills are so abysmal sometimes #snapedom #pro severus snape

[fedonciadale]

What's fans obsession with proving Sansa classist, racist and sexist when every character share those traits including their faves. The westroes society harbour those traits. It's not like she is committing hate crimes or punishing people who don't confirm. Also fans needs to learn they themselves are not perfect as the world we living is still had those problems.

I think it has to do with the weird concept that you need a moral reason for liking or disliking certain characters or ships.

So, if I say I like Sansa and someone else dislikes her they tell me : she's classist - which implies how dare you like a character that is classist. That must mean you're classist as well. This kind of reasoning is doubly a 'non sequitur'. It implies that being classist is Sansa's only characteristic and it implies that l condone what I like.

I had this discussion with a R0mione fan who told me that supporting a 'toxic' ship like Dramione (regardless of how I ship them) is damaging to me and that I should ship healthy relationships.

Characters who are perfect are incredibly boring and to be quite honest I hate stories with a blatant moral.

There is this one story about two kings who wanted to wage war but at their border was a nice little house with a happy couple in it and the kings saw this couple and decided that they could not disturb their happiness. It always made me roll my eyes. As if that is in any way realistic.

The thing is that sometimes moral does come into liking or not liking a character. I mean I think Ramsay Bolton is so disgusting that I hate reading about him even in this 'horror' way, you know where a story is full of horror and you are slightly horrified but at the same time you feel safe because you're at home and it's warm and cosy. And Ramsay is just so bad (to me) that I skip the parts where he is mentioned.

But most of the times? We like characters for some things. I for example like characters who are witty and intelligent and maybe even a bit vengeful. That is one of the reasons I like Hermione Granger, Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy - even though I know they are flawed. This is also the reason why I liked Tyrion for quite a long time until finally something happened that soured the character for me forever - he killed Shae and that was just too much for me.

So, the question is while we just like who we like at the same time moral does come into it. Happens in real life as well. Sometimes we have friends we like and something happens that makes us fall out of friendship. A line is crossed.

So, when people tell us and try to prove that Sansa is classist etc. They want us to fall out of liking her and they do this with moral reasoning. In a way they want to persuade us to cancel her.

But moral is only a part. We like who we like. And no one is perfect including ourselves. If we could only like people who are perfect we would end up hating ourselves and all of humanity - present and past.

I'm a historian, I know that the perfect society does not exist and it probably will never exist (which does not mean that we shouldn't try). Ancient Greece had freedom of speech but they had slaves. Women in ancient Egypt were almost equal but the Pharaohs still waged war and captured enemies and exploited them. Rome had an incredible system of law but they thought that adding a new province to their Empire was bringing peace ('pacare').

I think people should relearn that no one is perfect and they should also relearn that liking someone does not mean that we condone all their actions. Liking is not blindly following.

Literature can teach us that. We see fictional characters in a flawed fictional world and they are influenced by the moral of their world and at the same time they might go beyond that. That Sansa is a classist is no surprise. She was raised like that. But her empathy goes beyond that. That Huck Finn uses racist language is not surprising either. That he befriends Jim despite people telling him that this shouldn't be possible. That is the surprise.

Still, even if Sansa were as classist as antis claim we could still say we like her regardless - or we could still like aspects of her.

I still like Tyrion's wit for example even though I've come to dislike him in general.

In a way all of these discussions about characters usually lead nowhere. Because it usually goes that way : people like a ship or a character for whatever reasons and then they try to give moral justifications for it, maybe because they are attacked for liking this character or that ship. And I would say of course moral comes into it. But that's not the only thing. It's also about what we relate to. It's also about what we find interesting.

Well written fictional characters like Sansa have so many aspects that the readers find different things to hate or to love and maybe we all should just try to just accept that there is nuance and that we aren't completely consistent in our likes and dislikes.

And while we can discuss the morals of the characters and we should try to understand them, we should try to differentiate more between the moral judgement of an action in the timeline of the character and our own as well as the between explanation and excuse.

Sorry I went on such a detour but your last sentence really hit me: we need to learn that we are not perfect. Indeed. And we won't become more perfect ourselves by telling other people how they can become more perfect - e.g. by policing what they like or dislike.

Thanks for the ask!

#anon ask #sansa stark #how to tag #fandom discourse #ship and let ship

[missnight0wl]

Why Penny is cunning? She brew those Potions to help MC find the vault. Why did you say that she brew those Potion for her own ambition?

I mean… none of the Potions I mentioned in my analysis was really brewed to help MC or had much to do with the Cursed Vaults.

The Forgetfulness Potion was brewed in the “Penny For Your Thought” SQ because Penny couldn’t deal with the death of her friend. The Draught of Peace was brewed in Y5 because Penny couldn’t deal with Beatrice being trapped in the portrait. Sure, she had her own personal reasons to do that. Still, it doesn’t change the fact that she sent MC on a chase for the ingredients, including stealing some of those ingredients from Snape, and she didn’t even say MC what’s it about until the very end.

If you didn’t see or play through the “Polyjuice Potion” SQ from Y4, I recommend checking it on YouTube because it really shows Penny’s cunning (and kind of vengeful) side. Yes, Merula stealing her Potion was a dick move, but Penny didn’t even think about talking to Snape. No, she immediately was like: “Let’s make Merula confess in front of the whole school, but also, I’ll make MC do most of the work by impersonating Snape – who’s A TEACHER”. Yes, Snape didn’t want to listen to MC when we tried to reason with him, but Penny is his favourite student, so she’d have better chances. And as I said, she didn’t even consider it. She wasn’t like: “I’d talk to Snape, but I’m worried he wouldn’t listen.”

Also, cunning doesn’t have to mean malicious. When Penny lied to Snape in the Bauxbatons TLSQ that she was the one who wanted to learn alchemy, she did it because she knows Snapes likes her, and he wouldn’t be as mad at her as at MC and Aurelie. She did it to help us, but technically, it was cunning behaviour.

I also think you misunderstood me about Penny being ambitious about her Potion-making. I didn’t mean to imply that Penny brews Potions for MC only for her ambition. I talked about Penny being ambitious about it in general. Showing the attitude like this scene in the “Scaredy-cats” SQ:

I’m fairly certain Penny had more moments like this, and even MC was sometimes using similar arguments to encourage Penny to help them. She also talks quite often about using various plants in Potions during Herbology classes etc.

The only situation when I suggested that Penny might’ve been motivated mainly by her ambition was about the Animagus TLSQ. As I explained in my previous analysis, it seems like Penny provoked the situation where MC got interested in becoming an Animagus. And yes, it was said that it might be useful with the Cursed Vaults, but we had no specific reason to suspect HOW could it be useful. And now we even know that it indeed WASN’T useful at all. So, I’m sorry, but to me, it seems like Penny just wanted to brew that Potion, and she found a person the most likely to believe that it might be useful.

#hogwarts mystery #hphm #penny haywood #about characters #ask #anonymous

[galesh]

Wish fulfillment au of Severus who was born in Albus' Dumbledore's time. I just wanted to post it as a reply on a discord server but then it got out of hand. So

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

- Two clever swots duking it out... in academics!

- Debating each other of old spells and whether or not they're dark and the librarian jinxing them out of the library with hexes for being too loud

- Albus and Sev rubbing their stung bums and arguing about the hexes the librarian used

- Albus and Sev both discovering they're poor halfbloods and railing against the arswholes in charge who think they can sting their bums and get away with it

- Them stinging each other's bums because it's a fascinating body part and maybe rubbing them with a different set of hands because maybe it'll help, and they're experimental

-Albus viewing the fascinating kid with so much dark potential with new eyes.

-Sev keeping an eye out for the twinkly eyed twit because it's unnerving, really, and because he always found the goodness in others fascinating. He doesn't believe he can emulate it, but maybe some would seep through him in osmosis. That's what that muggle book said anyway

- His ma always said he had a thing for redheads. He's starting to suspect her of practicing black magic

- Albus and Sev working on potions and transfig together because none of them can tell the other they're bloody brilliant and that they're fascinated, and could we just get to stinging bums and rubbing out the soreness please

- Sev visiting the Dumbledore's on summer break because his father is dead and his mother as good as, meeting the creepy girl creature because he's nosy and of course he'd look at the one room Kendra told him not to

- Abe running to Ariana's room because she screams bloody murder. It's only when he gets there that he realises that that bloody snake they let into their house is being accosted by a happily shrieking Arianna who wants to meet this strange new black haired scarecrow her brother likes

- The older one

- Sometimes, Arianna suspects

- Sev being horrified by Ariana's sad tale, and not wanting her to waste away, working with Albus to make sure she can get out

- Abe (begging to) help them because he really wants to, and because he doesn't trust the snake

- Sev learns Abe can't bloody spell after the third time.he has to squint if the bottle has fluxweed or filchweed (Dyslexia is not recognised yet, but it will be, in the muggle world) amd tries to help. It's more insulting than helpful, but he tries!

- Albus feverishly searching for a way to fix what those muggle boys and their mother's imprisonment and his neglect have wrought. Searching in the darkest grimoires, because really, what is honor and goodness if it can't even help his sister?

- Ariana getting her father's silver signet, carved with the runes of protection, family, forgiveness and renewal. They can't fix her magic, but the magic she once loved has caused her loved ones only harm, and really, it's time to stop listening to the voice inside her, who wants to rip her mother to shreds and burn the whole world down

- In the end it's abe, who comforted her when her mum looked at her with hate and Albus ashamed who puts her ring on as she says the words the runes describe. It's hard to forgive her mother and those muggle boys, but Arianna thinks they've suffered enough (it'll be years later that she realises that she left one person, but as she watches her daughter's delightful coo as she Dan's her nose with a glowing goden finger, she is only thankful that her lack of forgiveness didn't take all her magic away).

- She kisses her brother-in-law to be on the cheek, as is only proper for a member of family.

(Ariana has a very feeble grasp on social niceties. She tries, okay! You try learning everything from books while trapped in a cottage like a demented princess, with a brother who even she knows has an unhealthy fascination with goats who'd talk to her normally)

(Arianna's husband and her daughter, who she names Severus --because every universe must have a second child with a severusly controversial name -- would really come to fear her social skills, or lack thereof. Severus blames her godfather and her uncle with a the raging hate of a 10 year old who's been denied Uncle Sev's sweets)

- Sev and Albus competing for the top spot in the classes with professors and the bottom in the classes without

- Albus meeting Gellert in the evening he's supposed to leave for France and noticing the same dark charm. Severus noticing, but wanting to taint it than emulate it

- A black owl pooping on Gellert's golden hair because he Does Not Share!

- Albus sharing his plans to Change The World which would kill a girl with beautiful, uncontrolled magic and put a vengeful father in a prison of his own despair

- Sev agreeing to them and adding some rather inventive and cruel revenges he'd have on the Wankers who disowned his mother for following her heart

- Albus crossing out those points with eyes that twinkle in gentle admonishment, because really Severus, where would you even get a fully grown basilisk, and ignoring the calculating glitter he gets in return

- Abe following the idiots because Ari orders him to help the idiots and he can deny her nothing

- Gellert becoming a Light wizard after being at the wand end of a particularly dark spell (they teach *that* at Hogwarts, the light school!?!?!?!?) By a vengeful gargoyle after he drunkenly kisses*Bruder* Dumbledore

(years later, Headmaster Dippet can't figure out why his newest Dada teacher is so militant about students knowing everything about Dark magic and why some magics should never be studied, or why flinches everytime he sees a mistletoe. He has enough experience at 300 Not To Ask)

- Albus learning the most beautiful healing spell at the hands of a scowling-dark-phoenix with moist, angry black eyes after the 12th use of a dragon's claw soon after he discovered the 12th use of their blood

(Fawkes could never forgive Severus Snape for stealing it's thunder. Also he smells owl. They're the worst!)

-Severus stealing the Flamels' thunder by creating a philosophers stone after being at their home for a month.

(Perenelle suspects it's because Nicholas, who can be really old fashioned about these things, forbade their apprentice and that brilliant boy with no thoughts from rooming together)

- Severus lacing Albus' lemon drops with the elixir of life because clearly, that imbecilic martyr thinks dragon claw wounds are amusing

- Albus lacing Severus' tea with it because it would be such a horrible thing to live alone

(or without the one person who matters, no offence to his family. Oh, alright Abe, you're definitely not it!)

(the elixir of life prepared yearly mysteriously dissappears into tea and lemon drops. Albus stops worrying over Severus getting killed by vampires while he gets their teeth in exchange of galleons like a demented tooth fairy, and Severus stops worrying about Albus getting nicked by antsy Dragons or Phoenixes or Nifflers, or whoever Albus scraps with in his spare time)

- Albus putting his demented convoluted plans in motion by destroying wizarding currency through inflation. It somehow leads to a goblin revolution, equal rights for magical creatures, and the adoption of muggle currency. Don't ask

(Rumour has it that Gellert, Wizarding Britain's champion one look at the the scowling face of a Severus Snape and proposes negotiations.

Muggle currency was great, really. Made mathematical sense, easier to handle, and twinkly eyed not quite evil overlords can't dependably reproduce all the identifiers. They hope

Quite coincidentally, as Severus will assure you, all the pureblood families --including the Princes, coincidentally-- lose all their accumulated money in the resulting changeover.)

- Albus rules everything from behind the iron curtain with gentle fists and an open smile. Everyone learns to agree with him because behind him stands the spectre of DEATHOMgWatdidyoudo that you want to always keep happy)

- An excited Tom Riddle learns about magic from a charming Professor who's really interested in how he speaks, and who agrees that muggles are awful but keep it down will you?

- Tom Riddle learns to confide in and trust the person who introduced him to the magical world; and tells him when he accidentally discovers the chamber of secrets while hissing open at one of the taps in the girls loo that just wouldn't dispense water (he was under a lot of pressure okay! No, he's not a creep!)

- Tom Riddle grows up to be a politician with a particularly hard view on those muggles. Being backed by the Headmaster of Hogwarts helps. The society has made great strides in the concept of equality and democracy however, and most creatures really don't like him for some insane reason. Albus Dumbledore wins the elections by a landslide again. Tom is tenacious, and plots for when he'd get the position after the old man dies

(On his deathbed, Professor Emeritus of Hogwarts, Professor Tom, curses todgy old men with unnaturally long lifespans)

-Harry Potter, who grew up loved and a headmaster who didn't want to train him in any way, shape, or form (Harry was glad. Headmaster Grindenwald was nice and all, but he really didn't want to know all about the Dark arts and why not to use them kplzthnx). He went on to work at the ministry because his mother instilled in him values of fairness, kindness, and Get Out The House And Go To Work You Bum!

(He named

- Ariana's first kid is named after Abe. Her second is called Severus. Severus being a girl, never forgives her, and years later, when her son is born, names him Ariana with a vindictive gleam in her eyes.

(Ariana never really learned a the social niceties. They're horribly ineffective, and Abe tells her she's always charming in any case)

(Severus Smith is comforted by the fact that her godfather is a immortal wizard who gives her the best sweets)

- Severus and Albus never really fall out of love, even though they fall out of bed many times. They are a different breed of men, really. Eternal devotion means eternal devotion, as they find out. The Flamels' are happy they finally get to go on what the muggles call double dates.

- They also never stop stinging each other on the bum, but that is a rather more mature tale.

#pls ignore #severus snape #albus dumbledore #snumbledore #for spider #discord has a 2000 character limit #how rude

[snapeaddict]

I was thinking... one with Mcgonagall and her being incredibly disappointed in him but then learning of everything since I know that Snape and Mcgonagall/Dumbledore is your speciality although I would also like it if it was with Hagrid.

Detention for Severus

"I am very disappointed in you, Mister Snape. I thought a student as gifted as you would not resort to physical violence when you find yourself in a disagreement with your classmates. Mister Lupin, take your friends to the hospital Wing."

Severus watched as Potter and Black departed, pinching their nose so that blood would not fall on their robes. They gave him a vengeful look, and he felt his heart drop: it would get worst... So much worst, and yet, it could never be as worse as what had already happened.

McGonagall spoke again.

"You will serve detention with Hagrid tonight. He needs help with some of the animals. Please be in my office at 6pm."

Severus nodded, glad she finally seemed willing to let him go. He was relieved of his punishment, as Hagrid was kind and he liked animals - he tried hard not to look too relieved. But it was easy in the end, as he felt so angry and humiliated his nails started to dig in his arms' skin: she would never understand.

---

Minerva watched as the 16 years old Slytherin sat on the floor, cleaning a cage Hagrid had been using to keep a litter of hedgehogs he had cared for the whole winter and had recently set free just behind his house. Hedgehogs were adorable animals, but definitely not clean ones unless domesticated. Severus slightly rolled up his sleeves as he reached the bottom, worried he would get his only set of robes dirty.

Minerva was about to turn away, but something caught her eyes; red, thin scares on the boy's skin.

"Yeh are doin' a great job at this, Mister Snape", Hagrid told him, kneeling beside him. "Look what I've got here."

He carefully took something out of his pocket, which Minerva did not recognise at first; it was a small, ginger kitten which Severus slowly put down on his lap. She observed as the boy gently stroke his fur, looking more gentle and vulnerable she had ever seen him before. After ten minutes, she took a few steps forward, interrupting them.

"Hagrid, may I have word with Mister Snape for a moment, if you don't mind?"

Severus looked surprised. The half-giant just smiled.

"O' course, professor," he replied warmly. "You can go into the house if yeh want".

Minerva nodded, waiting for the Slytherin boy to follow her. He looked hesitant.

"Come on, Mister Snape. I'm not going to eat you."

She closed the door behind her, inviting Severus to sit at the big table in the center of the room. The student looked uncomfortable, looking away, absent-mindedly bitting his lower lip.

"Mister Snape", she said gently, "would you... Would you show me your arms?"

She had done it before. She still did not know how it should be done. She had done it with students from her own house and Filius' house; but it was her first time with a Slytherin, and not any Slytherin.

The boy froze.

"No." He told her firmly, taking her by surprise.

It wasn't his refusal that startle her, of course; but his gaze. It had hardened, and his tone was suddenly so cold she thought for a second she was talking to a different person.

She nodded.

"I understand."

It was Severus' turn to look surprised. He was not used to be listened to.

"Would you like to tell me why you are doing this, Mister Snape?" Minerva tried again, her voice softer. "Anything you need to tell me."

The boy blinked. He did not understand what was happening. It was surreal.

He did not know what seemed the most astonishing, that she seemed to care for what he had to say, or that she was genuinely wondering why he felt so... So desperate for relief?

He hated himself. He should have been more careful. He did not need her pity nor did he want to spend one more second in her presence, a presence he had grown to resent.

"I don't want your help", he told her, with so much hate it was as if he had spat in her face.

Despite his behaviour, Minerva did not give up. Her facial expression did not change.

"Why not?" she asked in a neutral voice, watching as the boy grew more and more agitated.

"I thought I was here to serve detention", he replied, his gaze evasive.

"Things have changed", Minerva answered simply. "I am here to help you, Severus."

It was the first time she called him by his first name. Severus could not help but look up. But he did not speak. Minerva could tell by his body language he was anxious - she pursed her lips as the feeling was communicative.

"I am just human, Severus", she said on a defeated tone, looking for any change in his posture. "I make mistakes and there are some things I don't see."

Something in the boy's chest broke. It was anger that came out - fury as he stood there, looking at this woman who had protected his bullies for fives years, turning a blind eye on the daily humiliations and Dumbledore's favoritism and everything - of course she knew. Of course.

"DON'T LIE!" he shouted suddenly, getting up. Minerva did not move. Severus looked straight into her eyes.

"You know everything. You watch them doing it and you don't care. Why would you care after all?! You only have eyes for your precious Gryffindors. Only them! Always them!"

He was out of breath. He felt disgusting and ashamed. He wanted to shout at her, to force her to look away, anywhere else so that her calculating eyes would stop watching him. She had no right to do this.

Minerva wondered how Albus would have reacted had he been her, confronted to this disheveled student shouting at her. But would he... Would he really find a better way to respond to this boy?

She looked at him again.

He would not.

A lump formed in her throat as she felt a terrible feeling of failure spreading in her chest. What had she missed?

It was funny, James and Sirius taught Snape a good lesson. You should have seen him!

She had heard it. She had thought it was another boy fight. No one had came to complain. So she had forgotten about it.

"Tell me what they did to you", she said firmly, hiding her hands under the table. She was nervous.

Severus was trembling, standing beside his chair, his eyes on his feet. He looked at her.

"Tell me", she repeated in a more gentle manner.

She scrutinised his face. Was it... Shame she was reading there? Shame that prevented him from looking right into her eyes and swallow properly?

"You don't have to be ashamed, Severus." She hesitated. "If someone should be, it's certainly me. I have obviously failed to fulfil my duty as your teacher."

All of them had failed to see the despair on that boy's face and the self harm. She had not seen it only a few hours before, and yet some of the scares she had seen were faded; they were not new.

She decided to go on.

"I apologise for not helping your earlier. But if you tell me what's wrong - or what you think is wrong, I will help you. I promise."

There were students she was more fond of than others, she had to admit it. Severus had never been one of them, on the contrary; but no child would suffer under her watch.

The boy swallowed with some difficulty.

"I don't trust you", he told her coldly. There was venom in his voice. "I don't want your promises. Let me go."

"You do not have to trust me. You just have to know that as your teacher I will do anything in my power to help you get better."

It was too much.

"Then EXPELL THEM!" Severus screamed, heading toward the door. "PROTECT US!"

He was almost crying. He felt humiliated yet again,by none other than the head of Gryffindor -

How logical.

"Tell me why you need protection, Severus. I need to hear it from you."

"Oh, I don't know", Severus sneered, feeling out of control. "Because they have been bullying me and others for five years? Because they--they took my clothes off? Because they tried to KILL me?"

Kill?

He opened the door violently. Minerva made a movement, she wanted to stop him; but she decided otherwise. He wasn't finished.

"Slytherins, younger students, poorer students like me... What chance do we have against the golden, rich pureblood from Gryffindors? None. None!"

Severus breathed. He had said it. Finally.

"I hate you", he whispered. "You and all of those who have been protecting them. Being expelled from this hell of a place will be the greatest relief of my life."

He did not care. He did not care anymore. Not after what had happened. Not after Lily had left. Not after Dumbledore had told him to be silent. Not after the student who had tried to murder him was still mercilessly bullying him everyday, while he was the one punished, again, again.

He did not care anymore.

"Anywhere's better than here."

He stormed out.

The tears finally fell on his young face, he wanted to escape - but Hagrid was there. He stopped him, gripping his shoulder firmly: Severus turned to look at him, furious.

"Never be ashamed,’ my ol’ dad used ter sad", he told him. "Never."

Severus tried to stifle his sobs.

Minerva was standing in the doorframe, trembling slightly.

"I am going to talk with professor Dumbledore. I am going to talk with the administration board. I'm going to make things right", she said in a toneless voice, searching for Severus' eyes in the declining light of the evening. "Right now."

And she would.

At Severus' feet, a cat started purring.

---

"It is a beautiful spell", Severus said quietly, watching as the bubble like animals floated around them, glimmering in the afternoon light. He frowned in concentration and a cat appeared at the bottom of his wand, leaving him with a feeling of relief he welcomed with opened arms.

It was Hagrid's ginger kitten.

"Do you promise you will use it if you feel the urge to harm yourself, Severus?" Minerva asked gently. "I know it takes time."

The boy did not look at her, his eyes still following the cat until he disappeared in the window light.

"I'll try", he whispered.

#Okay #This may be a little angry but I don't see it in any other way #In this hc she takes him under her wing #And Sirius is expelled! #James #Peter and Lupin are suspended for two months #And closely watched #Tw self arm #Self arm #Pro Snape #Young Snape #Severus Snape #Snapedom #snape community #Snape headcanons #Severus and Minerva #Minerva mcgonagall #Dumbledore was not allowed to give his opinion #Yess #I meant angsty

[wreckofawriter]

Never Forget

Pairing: Sirius Black x reader

Word Count: 3,406

Warnings: None? Swearing?

Request: hello~ thank you so much for responding to my request, its amazing and i dont mind at att that u responded a little later. so, if u dont mind too, could you pretty please do a sirius x reader when sirius escapes from Azkaban and when Remus come to see him brings y/n with him (they were fiances) and he wanted to hug her or somethin’ she looks werid at him and ask “ dude, i know you from somewhere? “ and sirius is shock that she forget him after all and y/n starts laughing and hugs him so tight and tells him how much he missed him and that she could never forget him. bassicaly a lot of fluff? thank you 🥺❤️

A/n: Sorry this took so long to come out! I hope you like it!

  You had never considered yourself a vengeful person. In fact you found yourself quite the opposite. You had always been kind, kind to those who were kind to you and kind to those who weren’t. You had never insulted someone back or got someone in trouble on purpose, you had helped with some pranks, but nothing too harsh, you never, ever helped pull one on Snape, no matter how many names he called you or dirty tricks he pulled. You knew he was only doing because of your boyfriend anyway.

         Yes you the sweetheart of hogwarts was dating the Sirius Black. You weren't quite sure how it happened, it was like you were suddenly submerged in a pool of minty breath, leather jackets and musky cologne. And you loved it. By age 14 you were madly in love with him, but unlike every other girl in hogwarts Sirius actually began to return your feelings. Not to say he admitted it right away, hell it took Sirius two years of denial and eleven months of fear before he finally asked you out. You had accepted, but not without hesitation, he had after all been rumored to have slept with half the school. 

Surprisingly to everyone, even the gryffindor's best friends, Sirius had stayed completely and utterly loyal. He barely even looked at other girls, becoming oblivious to the flirtatious attempts they threw at him. 

Sirius became the best boyfriend you could ask for. He did everything for you. He would buy you gifts that were far too expensive, showering you affection, help you with anything and everything, for the first time in his life he truly felt love and he wouldn't have given it away for anything, let alone risk it with his own mistakes. 

It was no surprise to anyone when you moved in together after Hogwarts, your parents complained about it being too early but you managed to keep them docile. You also joined the Order of the Phoenix and was the maid of honor at James and Lily's wedding. You even received a ring of your own from a blushing nervous wreck of Sirius, a ring which you happily accepted. 

Your seemingly perfect life was shattered only a month before your wedding. 

You remembered the day clearer than you remembered most. You had been cooking, your y/h/c hair was put up in a disgusting excuse for a bun, the short blue skirt you were wearing paired with an oversized david bowie t-shirt that wasn't yours was covered by an already stained white apron that read ‘kiss the chef’ in red looping letters. The room had been full of steam, the scent of curry and cumin thick in your nose. You had a bad habit of eating dinner late at night, something developed because of the wacky schedule your job held. You had been waiting for Sirius to come back. 

You jumped a bit at the sound of your door slamming open. Harsh footsteps echoed through the hall, your eyes widened slightly. 

"Siri? Are you a-" your sentence dropped to the floor when he stumbled into your view. His hair was a tangled mess, his creamy skin broken in a harsh cut on his left cheek. His lips were parted slightly, he was breathing heavily. But the thing that struck you most were his eyes. The stormy grey was rimmed with red, irises tinted pink, a supernatural gloss making them shine unnaturally. The looked broken. They hold an impossibly heavy weight, like the world had suddenly crashed upon them. 

"James is dead." He croaked, his voice raged and breaking.

You dropped the pan that you were holding, its contents scattering the ground. "W-what?" 

"Lily too." Silver drops shimmered lightly down his face. 

You felt tears sting your eyes, your vision blurring, "What about-" your voice fell short in a broken cry.

"He's alive, but I don't know what's going to happen." He sobbed rushing towards you and collapsing into your arms. 

"We'll get him, right?" You spoke so softly and delicately, Sirius found the need to stop his breathing to keep you from shattering. 

"Y/n, they were sold out." He clutched you desperately shaking. 

"What?" Your brain simply couldn't process all this information. 

"They think I did it. Everyone thinks I told him where they were." His voice was so raw with fear it was unrecognizable. 

You just stood there stunned tears clinging to the inside of your eyelids as you felt your heart smash to pieces. 

"They think I did it, but I didn't." He sobbed, "Peter did, I tried to fight him b-b-but now everyone thinks I killed him too, and he-he's alive and they are coming to get me." Tears began to wet your shoulder. 

You were too stunned to speak. The feeling of absolute terror and rage swept you. 

"They're gonna take me to Azkaban y/n/n." He looked up at you and your heart shattered. He was broken, utterly and bitterly broken. 

You felt your already shattered heart clench in protest, begging you to look away from this train wreck of a man before it was hurt anymore. You let out a choked sigh. Before grabbing Sirius neck and slamming your lips roughly on to yours.

His lips were chapped and salty, tasting of blood and tears. You felt his shaking hands wrap around your waist as his tongue slipped past your lips. 

You reluctantly pulled away from the kiss, lungs burning dully. You felt your heart stop when you looked at him. Even completely destroyed in front of you it was impossible to ignore his beauty. His cheeks dusted a light pin, eyes blotchy and red, making the grey storms that lurked there brighten with a melancholy light. He remind you of autumn leaves, he was so pretty just before he fell. You pulled him back into your secure embrace, your heart thumping loudly. You led your hands up his back resting them on his shoulders and tugging him towards you. You felt him nuzzle into your neck, inhaling sharply, attempting to engrave the scent of your shampoo in his head. His hands slid to your lower back, resting on the helm of your skirt as he shook violently. 

“I love you.” You whispered through a thick wave of silent tears. You didn't let your voice break, too many things in that room had already been broken. “I love you so much, and everything is going to be okay. Its gonna be okay.” 

And that's how you stayed, standing in the middle of a steamy kitchen, in the smell of curry and cumin, sauce burning in a saucepan on the stove, half sauteed vegetables littered around you like strange confetti. You repeated the last four words you spoke over and over again until you weren't sure who you were trying to convince. You stood like that when you heard loud rumbling footsteps come crashing to your door. You stayed like that as the chant of your impending doom continued up the stairs. The door bursting open. Four Arours came into the small room. 

“Ma’m step away from him.” Spoke one of them.

“Sirius Orin Black you are under the arrest for the murder of Peter Pettigrew.” A young woman said. 

You could no longer hide your tears as you shook with wails, tugging him closer to you. “I love you y/n.” He spoke quietly into your ear. “I love you so much.” 

“I know,” You cried, “I love you too.” 

Just as you finished your sentence you were ripped from his grasp. You struggled, delivering a harsh kick to the crotch of the man who held you. He fell to the ground with a groan as you scrambled back towards Sirius. Your wrist was snatched by a different Arour when you just millimeters from him. You spun towards the ground at the sudden gasp and landed with a harsh thump, as soft whimper escaping your throat. 

“Don’t you dare touch her!” Sirius hollard Struggling with the two men holding him as he glared at the women who had dragged you to the ground, were she now also lay. One of the men raised his wand whispering ‘crusio’ Sirius let out a painful scream as he began to write in their grip,

Your vision went red. You landed your foot harshly onto the women Aruors face with a crunch. She shrieked as you darted towards the man holding his wand with a fiery rage. When you reached him you slammed your fist into his face with such force you felt your nails price the skin of your palm. He stumbled backward hand instinctively flying to his jaw, dropping his wand. You snatched the wand from the air and aimed it at second man prepared to unleash hell but before you could utter a spell. You heard a loud yell.

“Stupify!” 

You flew across the room; flying straight in to your china cabinet. You felt your head thunk loudly on something as glass shattered around you. Your back felt like a pincushion, the needles of glass lodged into it. Your vision danced as you felt blood seep down your cheek.

“You fuckers!” The voice sounded so distant, like it was deep underwater, “She didn't do anything, you worthless sacks of shit!” 

“Siri?” you quietly mumbled quietly and suddenly your vision went black. 

You had awoken in a hospital, eyes fluttering open to fluorescent lights. The strong smell of medication and sickness made you want to gag. Suddenly the moments before your world fell, came rushing back to you in a sick wave. You sat up quickly gasping as you felt a searing pain in your lower back.

“Be careful, wouldn't want you to rip out those stitches.” 

“Sirius?’ You asked excitedly. But soon your vision straightened and your eyes locked with a pair of hazel.

“Hey y/n/n.” Remus sighed, his voice strained. He looked terrible, his eyes bloodshot. Dark circles making his face appear sunken. The bright scars on his face blending with his pale complexion. 

“Remus where's Sirius?” you asked. Maybe it was all a dream.

Remus felt tears climb slowly up to his eyes, he gasped for air as if he was being strangled, “None of us saw it coming y/n. I didn't expect you to.” 

You let out a throttle whimper, “He didn't do it Re. I know he didn't. He would never hurt Peter orJames or Lily or Harry.” You gasped. “Harry?”

“You’re getting him,” Remus spoke attempting a smile that turned to a grimace. 

“Where is he now?” You could feel tears seeping down your right cheek but, but not your left. 

“Your house with your parents.” Remus respond as he watched you slowly raise your hand to the bandage just below your lf eye, now damp with salt. “From the china cabinet, your lucky you didn't lose your eye.” 

“Who were those Arours. I’m going to get them fired.” You growled lowly.

“I don’t know y/n but-”

“They used an unforgivable curse on Sirius."  You explained urgently to the man sitting beside you.

Remus cringed as you spoke his name. “Y/n. He was being arrested for murder, they can use whatever force necessary.”

“But it wasn’t necessary!” you cried out suddenly.

“Y/n/n, I don’t really think that’s gonna hold up in court. I mean it would be the word of four respectable Aurors, three of which you banged up pretty bad apparently, verses the confused and delirious fiance of a murderer.” Remus explained slowly as if he were talking to a child. 

You felt blood rush to your cheeks as a dull ache that reminded you slightly of hunger, lodged into your heart. “Stop calling him that.” Your voice was dark and dangerous, for a split second, Remus was completely and utterly terrified of you. 

“Y/n you’re going to have to come to terms with it eventually.” He sighed, his voice holding the disappointment of a mother scolding her child. 

“He didn’t do it, Remus!” You shouted, “How can you possibly believe that-that Sirius would do anything to ever hurt James, hurt Lily, hut Harry? Do you really think that he would do that. Do you truly think that low of him?” 

Each word you spoke was like a knife thrusting into his heart, “Y/n, you know how his parents were, how his brother was, how his whole family was. They had a stronger hold on him than he would ever care to admit, he was a lost cause.” 

“Fuck you, Remus.” You spat, “He changed and you know it. He wasn’t like them. And if you truly believe that he did it, you clearly didn’t know him at all.”

“Y/n-”

“No. You are just using your brain. Your stupid logical brain and you only looked at the evidence. Your not looking at the fact that Sirius loved James. He was like a brother to him. No, he was a brother to him. He saved him. And if you think that Sirius would ever do anything to hurt James, Lily or their son, get the fuck away from me.” 

The werewolf opened his mouth to speak but before he could utter a word you cut in. 

“I said get out.” 

He didn’t bother arguing with you. He could see the pain and misery that had consumed you. You were going to need time. You would come around eventually. 

You never did. 

The first year was the worst. The glances, the whispers, the points, the overwhelming sense of pity that made you just about want to drown. The only thing that kept you going was Harry. You had to stay sane, for him. If Harry wasn’t yours you would have gone crazy for sure, maybe ending up in Azkaban right next to your fiance. But you kept a straight face. And you pretended to accept what everyone else seemed to believe to be a fact. 

You continued in the Order but it soon trickled out as Voldemort became less and less relevant. Once you were done with the Oder you got a job as a lawyer in a small law firm. No one at the firm was quite sure how, but you almost had a magical way of getting witnesses to confess directly on the stand. 

You detach yourself from the magical world, know that soon you would have to plunge back into it with Harry soon enough. The years sped by, and soon enough you were taking Harry to platform 9 ¾. You damn near through up as you watched Harry walk onto that platform, images of a boy who had pulled your braids and helped you with Defense Against the Dark Arts years before flashed through your mind. It didn’t help that a young girl who impeccably resembled Lily kept looking your way. 

By Harry’s third year you were heading to Hogwarts every other weekend to watch his quidditch matches. He was better than James. You thought of James and Lily often. Harry looked like James, but his eyes. His eyes would always be Lily. You only dared to think of Sirius in the deep of the night. When it was so dark that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. So late you could convince yourself it was a dream. There was only one person who you kept in your mind constantly. 

Peter Pettigrew.

You knew he was alive. You knew he was somewhere out there. You knew that he had murdered his best friends. You knew he was the reason Sirius was in jail. And you knew you were going to kill him. 

You never spoke of Peter but your mind was clouded by red visions of him. 

You had developed an unexplainable rage towards rats though. Well unexplainable to most. 

But you had finally figured you how to live your life. You had finally mastered the act of pretending when the headline broke. 

When you heard Sirius had escaped you fainted. Harry had shown you the paper and you had crashed straight to the ground. Not but a day later your house was swarming with Aurors. Another thing you seemed to hate beyond a reasonable amount. 

After the people you referred to as vultures left you had met up with Remus, who seemed convinced that Sirius was attempting to kill Harry. You had wanted to slap him. But you swallowed the ever-growing ball of hate and nodded along like a simple-minded bobblehead someone had just flicked. 

You knew you were being watched, you could see their eyes everywhere, following your every move. You kept quiet silently praying Sirius has lost his dumbass energy in jail and had enough sense to stay away from you. He did. 

Reus had called you at 8:00 at night. “Y/n. You need to come here right now.” his voice was so desperate that you couldn’t refuse.

“Where to?” Your voice was a hushed whisper. 

“You know the place we used to camp as kids? James would always try to scare you and always end up getting punched in the face.” 

“Of course. How could I forget?” You giggled slightly the memory of campfires and smores, the feeling a leather jacket that was always wrapped around your shoulder. “I’ll see you in five.”

You once again filled your head with images of that small clearing, the large tree to the right side that you would always try (and fail) to climb. The circle of stumps you had dragged over as James harassed Lily. The scent of pine always so strong and fresh.  And then you opened your eyes and you were there. 

The stumps were decaying into the ground, moss covering them like a blanket of green. Dusk was setting in and the world was growing dark. You could see the lights of Hogwarts in the distance. You glanced up your eyes landing on the one star that shone brightly in the heavy grey sky. 

“Sirius.” You mumbled to yourself. The name rolling off you tongue so easily it hurt. 

“Y/n!” Remis ran towards you his eyes wide with a mixture of panic and excitement.

You turned towards him whipping your hair around. For a second you could have sworn your name had fallen out of someone else’s lips. 

“We have to go. Come on.” 

You followed obediently until you reached the outskirts of the forest. 

Remus stopped suddenly running back to face you. “You have to change.” 

“Change?” you asked. He nodded expectantly. Suddenly you remembered. “But Re I haven’t-” 

“You need to.” 

You sighed closing your eyes and intaking a sharp breath. You felt yourself shrink and grow a fur coat until when you opened your eyes you were looking at Remus’ knees. 

The werewolf smiled down at the pretty black dog below him. You smiled wolfishly at him flashing a pair of sharp k-9 fangs. He just chuckled before sprinting through the grounds. 

You followed easily jogging beside the man. When you reached the whomping willow you wait for Rums to pull his trick before darting into the small cave at its trunk. 

As the cavern began to open up you switched back, happy to be walking on two legs again. Remus soon caught up with you as you entered the shrieking shack. 

There he was, his back turned, hair a frizzy mess you almost giggled childishly at. You felt your heart soar to your throat.

“Ah, Moony, took you lon-” His sentence dropped. As he turned. His eyes locking with yours as you struggled to keep a straight face. Sirius’ eyes widened mouth dropping. “Oh my god.” 

He took two steps toward you, so hesitant and careful, as if moving any faster would cause you to bolt. “Y/n?” his voice was broken. 

“I’m sorry?” You spoke holding back a shit-eating grin, “Do I know you from somewhere?”

His face crumpled and you felt a wave of guilt was over you. He stumbled backward stuttering for words. His mind spinning.

Finally, you broke into a smile, “I’m only kidding Siri.” you giggled, only seconds after you finished your sentence you felt your body collide with his.

His arms wrapped around you so tight you felt your breath squeezed form you lungs. Your heart raced as you nuzzled closer to the man, you felt tears prick your eyes, “I could never forget you.”

Taglist: @accio-rogers @roslea @k3nz-doodl3 @songforhema

#sirius black x reader #sirius #sirius x reader #sirius black #sirius black imagines #sirius black imagine #sirius black x oc #sirius black x you #sirius black x y/n #harry potter imagine #harry potter imagines #harry potter au #harry potter #james potter x oc #james potter imagines #james #james potter x reader #james potter imagine #james x lily #jily fic #jily #marauders imagines #marauders au #marauders roleplay #marauders era #remus lupin imagine #remus lupin x oc #remus #remus lupin

[carewyncromwell]

Ficlet: This’ll Be the Day That I Die [Part 1]

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...Okay, this is all @dat-silvers-girl​’s fault. XD She wrote some good!Rakepick fic, and...well, I got inspired!

I really don’t see Rakepick as someone who could conceivably be “good” exactly, but I still wouldn’t put it past Jam City to try to turn her into the game’s Snape where she was “really on the side of good all along” (and we ALL know how well the fandom has accepted that rationale for why Snape’s actually a noble hero *snort*). But yeah, so this ficlet will explore a quasi-sympathetic Rakepick -- a gray interpretation that people could find some pity or sympathy for, but not really a hero. This story is set at the end of year 6, around and in the Sunken Vault. Just like that...other Sunken Vault-centric sixth-year AU ficlet I wrote...heh...

A few things to keep in mind about year 6 for my MC Carewyn Cromwell’s story, since I haven’t fully written all this yet --

Post-Redacted, Ben, Merula, and Carewyn have all started their journeys back from their respective extremes and grown from their bad experiences. Ben has realized that he and his friends aren’t invincible and, although he’s still reckless and determined to protect, he feels the need to atone for his past mistakes. Merula, although still stubborn, angry, and vengeful, has realized that she doesn’t want any more of her friends to die, and so has sort of gotten over the whole “I don’t need you” thing. Carewyn has realized that she can’t take the burden of fighting R squarely on her shoulders and that shutting her friends out makes them less safe, as well as started to open up and rely on her friends more. And the three of them, Charlie, and Bill (the other two people who were present in the Portrait Vault) all have a hand in founding the Circle of Khanna, with the other four all rallying around Carewyn as leader. As shown in Carewyn’s previous gameplays, Carewyn and Rakepick also have a running “foil” dynamic in my storyline, with both having a lot in common in how they behave and attract others to them, and you’d best believe that’s going to be touched on here.

I would also like to credit @missnight0wl​ for developing the concept of both a Fake and Real!Jacob, which I reference briefly in this, even if I sort of took it in a slightly different direction (you can read more about my thoughts on that theory applied to Jacob and Carewyn Cromwell’s storyline here, if you want). You're awesome, hon! <3

Hope you enjoy!

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

It had been a struggle for Carewyn, Jae, and Tonks to escape R in Knockturn Alley. With help from Jacob, who’d swooped in at the last minute, they’d managed to escape and take the Floo Network back to Hogwarts.

As soon as the two Cromwells, Jae, and Tonks arrived back at school, they rushed out onto the grounds to find the others.

“Carey!”

Bill rushed over, Diego and Chiara at his heels.

The eldest Weasley swooped down on Carewyn (still disguised as Patricia Rakepick) and snatched her up in a relieved hug. Chiara and Diego halted on either side of Bill, both of them hovering around Carewyn too.

“Carewyn, are you hurt?” Chiara asked at once, her gray eyes sweeping over Carewyn and searching for injuries.

“I’m alright,” Carewyn assured her with Rakepick’s voice, squeezing Bill’s back in return. “We’re all alright...”

“Thank goodness!” breathed Diego. His face was unusually pale as he gave Carewyn’s shoulder a light squeeze. “You gave us a scare, sweet General!”

“Your hour was almost up, and you hadn’t gotten back yet,” said Chiara, her voice much quieter than Diego’s, but no less anxious. “We thought you might run out of time...”

As Bill pulled out of the hug at last, he blinked at the sight of his best friend’s red-robed brother, whose blue eyes were narrowed critically on Bill’s face.

“Jacob?” he said in surprise.

“Rakepick ended up crashing the meeting while I was still there,” Carewyn explained. The Polyjuice Potion she’d taken was wearing off, making her slowly shrink as she shed her Rakepick disguise. “R cornered me, but Tonks and Jae came and got me, and we were able to escape. Jacob helped us fend off Rakepick.”

“And that weirdo fake Jacob,” said Tonks with a deep frown. “Who was that guy, Carey?”

“Blaise Cromwell,” Jacob answered for Carewyn, his voice a very cold murmur. “He’s Mum’s younger brother -- prospective heir of the Cromwell clan.”

“Mum’s brother?” said Carewyn, startled. Her voice still sounded like Rakepick’s, but the lines on her face had faded and her bangs were growing back now.

Jacob nodded. “He’s been using Polyjuice Potion for months now, stalking around Hogwarts, pretending to be me. Through Ashe I’d heard something about Pince and Filch having seen me near the library a while back -- I haven’t entered the castle since I was expelled, so I knew something was up. I’d only just figured out what was going on when I found you.”

Carewyn’s eyes widened in realization.

“A while ago, I met someone who looked like you in your old room with Sickleworth, who had a White Quill from R. At the time I’d assumed it was you -- but if that was Mum’s brother...is that why he tried to convince me to join, when R captured me? Because we’re family?”

Jacob nodded again, his blue eyes darkening with a bitter, almost demonic kind of anger. “Old Grandpops Cromwell knew you’d never join R of your own free will -- but they knew you’d do anything to try to help me. Originally they’d thought to blackmail me into their ranks, and then, through me, coax you to join. Once they had both of us trapped, they could also snag Mum. But, well, then I ‘went rogue,’ so they had to get crafty.”

“Then you were with R?” said Jae, raising his eyebrows suspiciously.

Jacob’s eyes fell to the ground in shame. He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down in his throat.

“...Yes,” he said at last, his voice barely more than a murmur.

Carewyn had finally finished transforming back into herself. With a flick of her wand, she quickly adjusted the sizing of the Rakepick-inspired ensemble Andre had made for her, and took hold of Jacob’s shoulder, squeezing it tightly.

“None of that matters now,” she said very firmly, her gaze moving over the others. “I was able to pinch this, while everyone in R still thought I was Rakepick.”

She held up the greenish coral key. Jacob’s eyes widened at the sight of it.

“The key to the Sunken Vault!”

“It looks just like one I took from Sickleworth last year,” Carewyn assented, as she took out the other key from the inside of her robes with the same hand, holding them both up so the others could see. “They’re a matched set. The one I found unlocks the outside door: this one -- ”

“Unlocks the inside door!” finished Jacob, looking excited and relieved beyond belief. “The one to the chamber that contains the final pillar -- Pip, you’re brilliant!”

Everyone turned to look at Jacob, their eyebrows all furrowed with interest.

“You know what the inside of the Vault looks like?” said Tonks.

“Then you’ve been there before,” surmised Chiara softly.

Jacob’s excitement and relief ebbed from his face, making him look much more grim.

“When I was still at school, trying to unlock the secret of the Vaults, and break the curses...my friends and I reached the Sunken Vault pretty early on,” he explained. “We had reason to believe that it was the real one, with the others all being decoys -- so we thought to bypass the fakes and break any and all curses they could inflict by going straight to the real one. But...”

Jacob’s voice quieted noticeably. His head fell, obscuring his eyes in the shadow of his bangs.

“...we miscalculated.”

Carewyn shifted to rest her shoulder against her brother’s. Jacob gave her a soft, grateful smile.

“The leader said,” Carewyn plowed on, “that the final pillar contains the Vaults’ so-called ‘treasure’ -- and that once we get inside, all we have to do is touch the pillar to open it, just like the others.”

“And once we open the pillar, that should break the Statue Curse,” said Bill, “just like with the other Vaults.”

“One could deduce that, yes,” said Jacob dryly, before turning to Carewyn with much more visible concern in his face. “We’ll have to move fast, Pip – once R discovers their key is missing, they’ll no doubt be right behind us, to try to get it back...”

Carewyn nodded solemnly.

“We don’t have any time to lose,” she agreed. She turned to Bill. “Are the others all assembled?”

“We split into teams around the Lake’s perimeter,” said Bill with a nod. “Ben’s with Tulip, Andre, Fred, and George on the left side, closest to the school – Merula’s with Ismelda, Beatrice, Penny, and Cedric at the back, closest to the Willow – and Charlie’s with Barnaby, Liz, Talbott, and Badeea on the right side, by the Forest.”

“Ben and Merula decided that, once you got back, we would gather together, if anyone shoots up gold sparks – return to the school, if they shoot up red – and prepare to enter the Vault, if they shoot up green,” said Diego, as his lips spread into a roguish smile. “We await your orders, General.”

Biting back an amused smile at Diego’s usual “charmer” air, Carewyn turned to Jae and Tonks, who both looked determined, and then to Chiara, who gave her a soft, encouraging smile. Carewyn then gave Jacob and Bill a small smile before she very purposefully took ten paces toward the Lake.

With a deep breath, she raised her laurel wand in a high arc over her head.

“Verdimillious!”

A green flare shot out of Carewyn’s wand before bursting apart into a dozen little green sparkles that rained through the air.

~*~

“Here, Pip – take a sip of this.”

Still struggling to breathe, Carewyn took the potion bottle Jacob offered her and took a quick swig. She gasped for air as her gills sealed up and oxygen once again flooded her lungs.

“Thanks,” she breathed.

Jacob passed the bottle next to Merula, then to Ben, and Charlie. He let Charlie pass it to Bill.

Charlie clutched his throat as he took a large gulp of air.

“Whew – that’s not pleasant. Maybe we should’ve gone with the Bubble Head Charm, like the others...”

“Aw, but that’d be too easy!” said Jacob with a grin. “Besides, gillyweed gives you flippers as well as gills – you saw how much faster we were able to swim, compared to the others...”

“Jacob’s right,” said Bill as he cleared his throat. “I’m glad Penny thought to collect some from Snape’s storeroom, even just for a few of us.”

Carewyn straightened up, holding her wand aloft, as she looked at where they’d arrived.

Through the free-standing set of doors at the center of the underwater stone garden at the bottom of the lake was the Sunken Vault. It was a massive chamber, one larger than any of the others, with a very high ceiling and walls made of sea-green-tinted glass. It was also filled with countless clusters of stone statues – dozens upon dozens of petrified witches and wizards, frozen in time.

Little by little, the rest of the Circle of Khanna entered in clumps behind their ringleaders. Andre and Carewyn exchanged a look as he came up beside her and looked out over the mass of statues.

“There’s got to be over a hundred of them...” the Style Wizard murmured, half awed and half intimidated by the sight.

“I notice they’re all facing the door,” said Talbott grimly. He indicated the statues and then the double doors behind them with a nod of his head.

“And a lot of them look like they’re running, look,” Badeea pointed out softly, “as if they're trying to escape...”

Ben cast his gaze over the green-tinted glass ceiling, his eyes narrowing critically. “That’s got to mean there’s some sort of trap in here – something that could petrify you if you get too close, or make a wrong move – ”

“Guess I should’ve expected fighting a couple dozen grindylows and a giant monster squid would be the easy part,” said Ismelda sardonically.

“His name is Toby, thank you very much,” said Fred airily.

“Tobias Tentacalino the Third,” added George.

“You named the Giant Squid?” Cedric asked, stuck somewhere between gawking and laughing.

“Well, it would've been rude to keep yelling 'Hey, you ugly brute!' at him, wouldn't it?”

Carewyn looked up at Jacob, ready to ask him what he thought should be their next move, but he’d already walked a good five paces in front of them, stopping in front of one of the statues. His wand arm had gone slack at his side as he studied its face.

Carewyn came up beside her brother to look at the statue too.

It was of a very pretty girl who only looked about a year older than Percy, with the largest, most striking eyes Carewyn had ever seen. Her short hair seemed to flap behind her despite being made of stone and she had her mouth open and a hand out in front of her, as if she was yelling at someone to get back. Most notably, this statue -- unlike the others in the room -- wasn’t wearing robes, but slightly outdated bell-bottoms, jellies, and an open vest over a collared shirt with a Hogwarts tie tied loosely around the neck.

This one was newer than the others – and as Carewyn looked over the statue’s anxiously exclaiming face and then her brother’s miserable, shame-filled expression, her eyes widened.

“Olivia Green,” she breathed.

“Who’s Olivia Green?” asked Merula in rather blunt confusion.

Jacob bowed his head, his lips curling up in an odd, haunted smile.

“The most unassuming, yet soothing presence you could find anywhere in the world,” he said softly. “A talented writer – a stellar guitarist...a free spirit with a laugh like a fairy’s and an appetite like a Puffskein’s...who never felt the need to show off her intelligence, even if she’d likely read even more books than me and she was wiser than witches five times her age. Never the most popular girl at school in a social sense – but admired by just about everyone for her sensibility, her patience...her unapologetic individuality...”

His blue eyes grew a little smaller as he brought a hand up to the statue’s extended, warning hand and placed his open palm against hers.

“...She was...one of the only friends I’ve ever had.”

He managed to keep his voice from cracking, but Carewyn could tell it was a struggle. She immediately reached out and wrapped both of her arms around her brother’s wand arm at his side, squeezing it to show support. Jacob glanced at her, his eyes rippling with pain even as he attempted a weak smile.

“When Ashe, Olivia, and I arrived here, back in our fifth year,” he murmured, his eyes once again drifting to Olivia’s anxious stone face, “we tried to open the interior door without the second key -- Alohomora – Bombarda – I even tried Transfiguring it so there’d be a big enough hole that we could walk through. But all our efforts did...was activate the Petrification Curse in full. The door shot spells in all directions. We tried to duck and cover at first – but once one of the spells grazed Olivia’s wand and turned it to stone, we realized it was too dangerous to stay, and we tried to retreat. We almost made it...but just before Olivia could reach the door...one of the spells hit her square in the back.”

Jacob closed his eyes, his eyebrows knitting tightly over them as if he was trying to block out the memory from his mind’s eye.

“I tried to pick her up, to carry her out, but she was turning to stone too fast. Her feet were already locked to the ground. She pushed me off her and told Ashe and me to go...to save ourselves...”

His fist holding his wand clenched at his side, shaking visibly.

Penny came up on Jacob's other side, looking from him to the statue of Olivia with pity in her eyes.

“So you and Duncan kept going after the other Vaults...because you wanted to break the curse on Olivia,” she whispered. “To save your friend.”

Jacob gave a single, ashamed nod.

“It’s my fault Olivia’s parents have lost their daughter all these years. If I hadn’t suggested opening the Vaults out of order – if I hadn’t suggested mucking around with the door...none of it would’ve happened. I couldn’t not try to make it right. But then of course R tangled Ashe and me up in their web trying to get to the Vaults themselves, and...well, you know what happened after that.”

Carewyn nodded sadly. After that, Duncan had died while working on a dangerous potion for R, presumably to deal with the Cursed Vaults...and, of course, Jacob had been expelled, only to then end up trapped in a portrait and being left in the Portrait Vault for seven years by Rakepick.

'After everything Jacob already went through, for Rakepick to use and betray him like that...'

She felt another stab of resentment toward the ex-Professor.

Ben came up on Carewyn's other side, his brown eyes solemn.

“We'd better get moving.”

Carewyn exhaled through her nose, but nodded, releasing Jacob's arm gently.

“Yes,” she agreed, her tone becoming much more authoritative as she turned back to the others. “We don't have much time – R is going to figure out that their key is missing, and when they do, they'll be heading for Hogwarts looking for us. I don't know if they know we have the other key – but I don't want to wait to find out how long it'll take for them to figure out we've come down here. I'll need some volunteers to stay here at the perimeter, so that they can warn us if anyone's coming.”

“Leave that to us, Carewyn Cromwell,” said Tulip, sharing a broad grin with Tonks. “You know we can give any 'unwanted guests' a proper welcome.”

“Maybe I should stand guard too,” said Liz, “just outside the doors. “That way I can keep an eye on the creatures in the Lake – if they're acting strangely, it'll tell us someone's coming.”

Carewyn nodded to Liz. “That's a good idea.”

“I'll help you keep an eye out, Liz,” Barnaby said with a determined smile. “And if anyone does come, I can help hold them off – with my wand and these!”

He punched his palm with a light clap to make his point. Carewyn gave him a large, proud smile.

“You can always send up red sparks, if there's trouble,” said Charlie. “Then we can come help.”

“Might take a bit of time for you to go help them, if there is,” Jacob pointed out grimly. “This chamber's a good hundred feet long...and these statues are spaced so close together, it's not easy to navigate quickly.”

Carewyn's eyes drifted across the field of stone statues and the doors as she considered this.

“Any thoughts, Badeea?” she asked. Badeea was very good at thinking outside the box.

“Hmm...” murmured Badeea, resting a fist over her lips thoughtfully. “It seems what we need...is a way to communicate with each other and assist each other over a long distance. We'd need something that could be both a telephone and Apparition, simultaneously.”

“But we can't Apparate here,” grumbled Merula. “This Vault isn't like the Portrait Vault – it might be under the Lake, but we're still on school grounds.”

“And Muggle items don't work near Hogwarts,” Andre pointed out, “so I don't reckon a – what was it, 'tell-a-phone?' – would work very well down here, either.”

Beatrice's eyes suddenly lit up excitedly.

“Not a real telephone...but maybe a human one! When we were little – ” she indicated Penny and herself, “ – we used to play a game with the Muggle kids in our neighborhood called 'Telephone!' You sit in a circle and whisper a sentence in someone else's ear, then that person whispers it into the next person's ear, and so on, until you're right back where you started.”

Penny suddenly looked excited too. “So we can make a chain! And if someone's in trouble, then there'll be someone else close enough that they can come and help!”

“Brilliant!” said Bill.

He looked at Carewyn and the two exchanged a broad smile.

“Then that's what we'll do,” said Carewyn. “As we walk along, we'll break off one by one. Space yourselves about ten feet apart. If this room's about a hundred feet long, and there's – ” she did a quick head-count, “ – twenty-two of us...and Barnaby and Liz are outside the double doors, with Tulip and Tonks inside...then that will still leave us with a team of eight, once we reach the inside door. Let's go!”

~*~

After a lot of walking, Carewyn finally reached the Vault. With most of her friends having peeled off to create their chain, the only ones still with her were Jacob, who stayed consistently on his sister's left side; Bill, who stayed consistently on her right; Charlie; Ben; Merula; Penny; and Talbott.

The inside double doors of the Portrait Vault were nearly identical to the outside ones, being a mile high and made of aged, but beautifully sculpted white marble with silvery veins – and just under the braided marble knocker on the right door was another intricately carved keyhole.

Carewyn approached the door, her hand brushing away the cobwebs that had crusted over the keyhole.

'Moment of truth...'

She glanced at Jacob. His blue eyes softened noticeably as he gave her an encouraging nod.

Smiling back, Carewyn reached a hand into her “Fakepick” robes and withdrew the second coral key.

As soon as the key had come within a foot of the keyhole, however, it suddenly started to shake violently in Carewyn's hand.

“Huh!?”

“Carewyn!”

Ben immediately dashed over to her side, his shoulders tensed in visible concern. The door started to vibrate too, humming lowly in response to the key's presence. Then, little by little, a little pinprick of light appeared over the left knocker, cutting into the doors as it started etch glowing silvery-white words into the marble.

Lôcian reccendôm:

Cetus mæðelcwide dêaðian sîn fyrdwerod.

Læccan sîn hêahstrengðu, ongifan êower ferhð.

Hearra wan−hafolnes canne simble ðurhwunian sigelêas fore môdlufu:

âbredwian micellic ge sê milde râd sê time.

Ben glanced from Carewyn up at to the door, his eyebrows knitting together tightly over his eyes.

“What is that?”

“It looks like some kind of warning,” said Talbott, his hawk-like eyes narrowing upon the shining words. “A 'Beware, All Ye Who Enter Here' sort of message.”

Carewyn nodded in agreement. She'd thought the same thing.

“What language is that, though?” asked Penny with a frown. “It looks...like Welsh, or something...”

“It's not Welsh,” said Jacob firmly. “It's Old English.”

“Can you read it?” asked Carewyn.

“I can try – but I admit, my Old English isn't half as good as my Latin. Or my Greek, or my Runes...hell, even my French is probably better, and I only...”

Noticing the faintly critical look on his sister's face, he brushed off the end of his sentence quickly.

“...Right, then. Let's see...”

He took a step forward, rolling up the sleeves of his scarlet dress robes. Once he'd angled his hand over the letters to cast a shadow over them, he found it easier to read the first line.

“...Lôcian reccendôm...lôcian means 'to look'...so that'd be something like 'look at this,' or 'read this' – 'take heed'...”

“'Beware, all ye who enter here,'” Talbott recurred dryly, shooting a smirk over at Carewyn, who couldn't completely bite back an amused grin.

Jacob's frown deepened, dipping into the creases of his face. “The next line, I'm not quite sure. 'Dêaðian' means 'to kill' and 'fyrdwerod' can either mean 'host' or 'army'...but this first word, I have no clue. It's not Old English – if anything, I'd say 'Cetus' sounds more like Latin...”

Carewyn stiffened. She barreled over to her brother's side to better read the inscription.

“Cetus,” she breathed. “Like the constellation! Firenze suggested I study it, after I consulted him about Trelawney's supposed 'prophecy.' In Astronomy terms, the constellation lives in an area of the night sky called 'the Sea' – it's named after a sea monster from Greek mythology, which Perseus slew in order to save the princess Andromeda.”

Jacob suddenly looked very excited. “Perseus! The hero who killed the Medusa, yes! He'd taken Medusa's head after slaying her, allowing him to use her magical gaze to turn his enemies to stone!”

“Just like the Statue Curse!” realized Bill, his mouth spreading into a huge grin too.

“But what does it mean?” asked Merula impatiently. “Is there some ancient monster inside that's going to try to kill us?”

“There could be – there was a Hungarian Horntail in the last Vault,” Charlie pointed out.

“Don't remind me,” groaned Bill.

All of a sudden, the group was interrupted by a strange crackling sound behind them. Carewyn turned, and her breath stilled her throat.

Back in the direction of the doors came a burst of red distress sparks. Then another came right after, knocking into the first set and making a slightly larger firework-like explosion.

“Tulip and Tonks must be in trouble!” said Ben, his voice hard with concern. “We have to go and help them – ”

“No,” said Merula sharply, throwing an arm up in front of Ben to try to physically stop him. “Diego and Ismelda are closest – they'll be able to get to them faster than we can!”

“If they sent up more than one flare, it's got to be urgent!” argued Ben, shoving Merula's arm out of his way. “We can't just do nothing!”

“We're not doing nothing!” Merula snapped back. “The whole reason we set up that human chain...thing...is to make it so there's someone close by to help them, while we deal with the Vault!”

“Merula's right,” said Jacob. “The best way to help them, at least right now, would be to break the curse and get the treasure first. If R has caught up already, then we're nearly out of time to stop them.”

“And if R has caught up already, then I don't intend to stand by and not protect my friends!” snarled Ben, using his height to get right up in the shorter Jacob's face, who looked noticeably irritated at the younger Gryffindor lording over him. “I am not going to let anyone else die!”

“Enough,” Bill reproached them both with a tone of great finality. “This is no time for fighting.” He turned to Carewyn and added a bit more lowly, “What do you want to do, Carey?”

Carewyn looked up at Bill. The eldest Weasley glanced from her to up at the red sparks, visibly concerned. She could tell he, at least, felt for Ben's position.

She pursed her lips solemnly, thinking. It took her a moment to figure out how to articulate her thoughts properly.

“...Merula and Jacob are right: the reason we set up the human chain was to give us time. But if R is here, then we should have some of the Circle's leadership there to meet them – to lead the charge against them.”

“Then you should go, Carey,” said Charlie.

Carewyn looked up at Charlie in surprise. Her fellow Fireball looked more serious than she'd ever seen him as he reached out with both hands and took hold of her shoulders, his brown eyes more blazing than dragon fire.

“You, Ben, and Bill go,” he said firmly. “I'll stay here with Merula and Jacob.”

Carewyn felt as though he was saying,“I'll protect your brother, while you protect mine.” Her blue eyes softened visibly even as her face grew more solemn, and she inclined her head in a single nod, took his hand holding her right shoulder, and gave it a squeeze, as if silently returning the promise.

Jacob looked stricken.

“No,” he said sharply, as he rose to his feet. “I'm coming with you, Pip – ”

“You are not,” said Carewyn very softly.

“Pip – !”

“You need to translate that message!” she shot him down coldly. “You're the only one who can. And as you said, if R's here, we need to open that Vault and break the curse properly before it's too late. We can't afford the door going crazy like it did the last time you were here – we have to do everything the right way this time. No short-cuts.”

Jacob looked incredibly tense, almost terrified. It made his face look so much younger than before – the dark, haunted shadows around his eyes all the more opaque and stark.

Compassion flooding her chest, Carewyn reached out to take a hold of her brother's face in both hands, trying to comfort him.

“Jacob...I know...neither of us is very good at trusting others to help again, just yet...but right now, that's what I need from you – to trust me. ...Please.”

The two Cromwell siblings held eye contact for a long moment, Carewyn's gaze very gentle and Jacob's incredibly turbulent. Then, at long last, Jacob's face spread into a very weak, watery smile and he reached out, grabbing the back of Carewyn's head so he could pull her into a tight, almost suffocating hug.

“You've grown up so much, Carewyn,” he murmured in her ear.

The Slytherin Prefect's face broke into a soft smile as she wrapped her arms around his chest and hugged him back.

“Well, I was able to catch up to you a bit while you were gone,” she teased as lightly as she could.

Jacob gave a tiny, tear-soaked chuckle. He clutched at the back of his sister's head, trailing a hand through her loose red hair; even though his hand was trembling with emotion, his grip was steady.

“If there's anyone I have absolute faith in,” he said, his voice even softer than before as he shut his eyes and tried to fight back his tears, “it's you.”

Once the two Cromwells had broken apart, Carewyn turned to Merula.

“Take this,” she said, handing Merula the coral key. “Open the Vault once it's safe to do so.”

Merula gave her a dry smirk. “Hn! You might be leader, Cromwell, but you don't have to tell me what to do.”

Her pink eyes then grew a bit more serious.

“Just...don't get yourself killed, all right?” she said a little more lowly.

Carewyn nodded reassuringly. “You too.”

A third and fourth set of red sparks shot up into the air on the other side of the chamber.

“It must be serious, if they're sending up even more sparks,” said Carewyn, her eyes narrowing in concern and urgency. “I'll  fly ahead in my Animagus form – ”

“We'll fly ahead,” said Talbott firmly.

Carewyn looked at Talbott, taken aback.

“Seems like there's not much point in keeping secrets when we're in the middle of a life-and-death situation like this,” he said, smiling wryly.

He immediately transformed into an eagle, spreading his wings and doing a quick loop around her head in the air. Carewyn just as quickly transformed into a robin, and the two flew off toward the doors.

Bill glanced at the other members of the Circle of Khanna, dumbstruck.

“...Did any of you know Talbott was an Animagus?”

“Nope,” said Charlie.

Ben and Penny shook their heads.

“I did,” said Merula, smiling a bit guiltily. “But I found out by accident; Cromwell and Winger made me swear not to tell.”

Bill blinked. “...Well, I guess that explains all the bird puns.”

Brushing this revelation off, he charged off back through the field of stone statues toward the front doors, Ben at his heels.

~*~

As she and Talbott flew overhead, Carewyn caught sight of her friends down below passing messages of what was going on back up toward the interior doors. She even caught sight of some of them – Fred, George, and Andre – turning to face Ben and Bill as they ran after her and Talbott, trying to quickly brief them on what was going on without stopping their advance.

Talbott as an eagle, who with his wider wingspan kept overtaking Carewyn, looped back around in his flight pattern so that he was once again next to her. He gave a shrill cry to get her attention – once he'd caught her eye, he indicated something below them with a pointed nod of his head.

When she looked down, Carewyn saw what had delayed the “telephone” call about what was going on in reaching the interior doors before they left – Chiara, who had been positioned between Badeea and Jae near the center of the room, had left her position and was now quickly darting and weaving through the statues back toward the front doors, past the others.

'Someone's hurt,' Carewyn realized immediately. It was the only reason Healing expert Chiara would've abandoned her post – and why she would've looked that scared.

She flapped her wings harder, trying to follow Chiara toward the doors. When she and Talbott arrived, Carewyn felt her breath still in her throat.

Collapsed in front of the double doors were Barnaby, Liz, and Tulip, their motionless bodies splayed limply on the stone floor. Tonks stood in front of the other three, conjuring shields to protect them, as Ismelda and Diego struck out in turns against the red-haired, cloaked woman who had arrived.

It was Patricia Rakepick.

Chiara reached Ismelda and Diego just before Carewyn and Talbott did. After sharing some words with Ismelda, Chiara took a deep breath and then bravely plowed through the fray, trying to reach Tonks. Rakepick, spying Chiara's divided attention, lashed a spell at her, throwing Chiara off of her feet and knocking her backwards to the ground.

'NO!'

Fear pulsed through Carewyn as she and Talbott both dove for the ground. Talbott went straight for Rakepick, swooping down on her with his sharp talons out.

“AUGH!”

Talbott's talons slashed at Rakepick's wand arm, drawing blood. He didn't stay long, though – within seconds, he swooped up, just barely dodging Rakepick's counterattack, as he returned to the air, doubling back to urge on Bill and Ben.

Carewyn transformed back into a human while still mid-air, pointing her wand at the ground.

“Spongify!”

She bounced back down to the ground safely, dashing over to Chiara's side.

“Chiara – are you all right?”

“Carewyn,” breathed Chiara, her face betraying a soft smile at the sight of her for a fleeting moment, before she immediately became more urgent. “I'm fine...but Barnaby isn't – Rakepick shot him with something after he tried to put her in a choke-hold, and he's bleeding badly – ”

“Then we need to get you over to him now,” Carewyn cut her off, her voice hardening in an attempt to hide her anxiety.

Hoisting Chiara back up onto her feet, Carewyn dashed across the floor alongside her. As they ran, Diego and Ismelda lashed out in turns against Rakepick – Rakepick blocked both of their spells with one magical shield before chucking an lightning-like violet spell straight at Ismelda's chest.

“GAH!”

Ismelda crumpled up on the ground, hunching in on herself and clutching at her chest. Diego charged forward, his dark eyes narrowed in righteous fury.

“You vile – !”

The Dueling Champion lobbed several silent hexes at Rakepick, which she blocked one at a time.

“Mastered non-verbal magic, then, Mr. Caplan?” said Rakepick coolly, her lips curled up in a small smirk. “I suppose I should expect nothing less from the 'best duelist at Hogwarts.' I wonder if the same can be said for you, Miss Cromwell?”

Without warning, Rakepick had whirled on Chiara and Carewyn, who had darted behind her, and blasted a black flare at them. Carewyn quickly summoned a silent Shield Charm to block it.

“Chiara, go!” she yelled over her shoulder. “Go help Barnaby! Venio Saggita!”

A hail of red-feathered arrows shot through the air at Rakepick, which the older witch disintegrated with white light from her wand.

“Learned that trick from Jacob, I assume?” said Rakepick.

“Among others,” Carewyn said icily.

“Impressive. Allow me to show you a few of mine – ”

Diego, anticipating Rakepick was going to attack, had wordlessly summoned ropes from his wand, which he sent flying at Rakepick. The ex-professor, however, seemed to have likewise anticipated Diego's move, for she raised her wand, grabbing hold of the ropes in mid-air, and transfigured them into a single, whip-like cord that she then lashed back at Diego. Diego tried to block it, but the magical rope wound around his legs, arms and neck like some inky black snake. It squeezed, making him unable to move – and then within seconds, it flared a horrible, fiery blood-red, and Diego began to scream in agony.

“AUUUUUGGGGGGGHH!”

Carewyn's heart clenched in terror. “Diego!”

“Diego!” cried Tonks and Chiara.

“Venenum Ardere, Miss Cromwell,” said Rakepick, her gaze rather cold upon the writhing Diego. “Otherwise known as the Flaming Venom Curse, or simply the 'Snake's Bite.' An old favorite of Grindelwald's, back in the day, when he wanted to play with his food.”

“You cack-head twat!” swore Tonks furiously. “Petrificus Totalus!”

Rakepick blocked Tonks's attack effortlessly, before raising her wand up to her lips and breathing a stream of blue flame at her. Tonks also tried to block it with a Shield Charm, but the fire wasn't attacking her – instead it latched itself onto the floor, winding around in a tight noose-like shape around Tonks, Chiara, and the wounded Barnaby, Tulip, and Liz.

“Tonks!” screamed Carewyn. “Chiara!”

“Carewyn!” cried Chiara, visibly terrified.

Tonks tried to put the flames out with a stream of water from her wand, but instead of going out, the flames lashed out at them in retaliation.

“Protego Totalum!” cried Chiara.

Golden-white light sprang from the end of her wand and formed a large bubble-like barrier between them and the blueish fire.

“Protego Diabolica,” said Rakepick, her gaze colder than ever upon Tonks. “A Shield that incinerates any enemies of its castor, while leaving their allies unharmed. I'd suggest you stay put, Ms. Tonks.”

“Stupefy!”

Rakepick quickly dived to the right as the red Stunning spell just barely whizzed past her ear.

Bill and Ben had finally arrived, Talbott flying overhead in eagle form. Talbott immediately flew over toward the blue flames – he tried to fly down close enough to reach Tonks, Chiara, Barnaby, Liz, and Tulip, but the flames lunged out at his talons and tail feathers, forcing him to withdraw.

“The only way out of those flames is by going through them, Mr. Winger!” Rakepick called up to the large eagle, almost tauntingly. “Though, as I said – I wouldn't try it unless you knew I didn't consider you an enemy!”

Diego's shoulders shook violently as he struggled against the flaming red bonds in a vain attempt to break them. His struggle only seemed to make the bonds around his limbs and neck tighten and burn hotter – he couldn't hold in the horrible chokes of agony erupting out of his throat.

“I'm impressed you're still standing, Mr. Caplan,” said Rakepick coolly. “But I wouldn't struggle too much. The more you fight, the tighter the bonds get.”

“Help Diego,” Ben told Bill urgently. “I'll handle Rakepick!”

He barreled over to Carewyn's side, standing shoulder to shoulder with her. Rakepick's eyes flickered at Ben, losing most of their amusement.

“You'll handle me, will you?” she said very lowly. “You mean like you did back in the Forest?”

Ben's brown eyes flared with hatred. “Bombarda!”

Rakepick wordlessly blocked Ben's spell, lashing out her arm at him. Ben and Rakepick once again traded blows, but this time Ben wasn't fighting Rakepick alone. Carewyn attacked Rakepick from the other side, making the ex-professor dodge her spells while simultaneously blocking Ben's.

“You're going to need stronger spells than that, Mr. Copper – Miss Cromwell!” Rakepick called over the blasting and popping of their spells. “I can keep blocking and dodging all day, I'm more than used to it...”

Talbott transformed back into a human in mid-air, leaping down to the ground next to Carewyn too.

“Confringo!”

Rakepick blocked the Ravenclaw's Blasting Curse without looking at him. Her eyes merely flickering over her shoulder in Talbott's direction, she flung out her arm, pointing her wand at one of the rows of stone statues lined up near the door.

“Piertotum Locomotor!”

All of a sudden, a row of six statues lurched to life. One of the tallest, a middle-aged wizard with a short goatee and long flowing robes, seized Talbott around the neck with one hand, hoisting him off the ground as it strangled him. Talbott choked for air, struggling to breathe well enough to cast a counter-spell, but he couldn't take in enough oxygen to properly verbalize any incantation.

“Talbott, hold on!”

Ben dashed forward, raising his wand.

“Red – !”

Before he could finish casting his Reductor Charm, however, Ben's wrist had been seized tightly by the statue of Olivia Green. She twisted it behind his back with an awful snap – Carewyn couldn't hold back a small scream when Ben gasped out in pain.

“BEN!”

“I might think twice before fighting too hard against your new opponents, you two,” said Rakepick, as the remaining statues surrounded Talbott and Ben and grabbed their other limbs to restrain them, “considering they're currently fighting you against their will. I daresay Jacob in particular would be rather unhappy if you damaged Miss Green, Mr. Copper.”

Hatred lashed at Carewyn's insides. “Rakepick, you – !”

Bill abandoned the restrained Diego at last to join Carewyn's side. His handsome, freckled face was contorted with a kind of righteous fury Carewyn had never seen before – like a lion protecting his pride.

“Rakepick!” he snarled. “This ends NOW!”

Standing shoulder to shoulder, Bill and Carewyn attacked with ferocity. Rakepick did have to put in a bit more effort fighting the two of them than she had most of the others. Carewyn had always been a proficient duelist in her own right, and Bill – being the adult member of the Circle of Khanna and having also trained under Rakepick – was a credible threat. Plus, considering how well Bill and Carewyn knew each other's respective dueling styles, they could bounce spells off each other.

“Incendio!”

“Immobulus!”

“DEPULSO!”

Rakepick had been able to block Bill and Carewyn's individual spells, but their combined Banishing Charm was enough to rock her Shield to its core. Carewyn then took advantage of Rakepick's weakened center of balance to point her wand at the ground under her feet.

'Bombarda!' Carewyn thought fiercely.

Rakepick stumbled backward with a cry, landing on the ground – Bill barreled forward.

“STUPEFY!”

Rakepick had to roll out of the way to avoid Bill's spell, but she suddenly found him on top of her. She wouldn't be able to block him with him that close –

“Demitto!” Rakepick bellowed, pointing her wand at Bill's feet.

All of a sudden, Bill felt the ground collapse under him – he was thrown forward, his chest and chin slamming hard into the ground.

“AH!”

Rakepick had conjured a sinkhole in the floor, one that sucked Bill's legs down into the marble like quicksand. Bill quickly tried to raise his wand, but it was no use: the ground had swallowed up his wand arm when it had collided with the stone.

“Hold on!” cried Carewyn, pointing her wand at the floor ensnaring Bill. “Ascendio! Impedimenta! Finite Incanctum!”

But the light of Carewyn's spells was swallowed up by the stone. Bill struggled to yank himself out, but it only served to make the stone pull him down further.

“Sorry, Miss Cromwell, but those spells won't work,” said Rakepick. “No Charm will work.”

Carewyn blocked Rakepick out fiercely. She was lying – just like she always lied –

“Reparifarge! Restituo Maxima!”

Untransfiguration didn't seem to have any effect either. Bill only seemed to sink faster – his chest was now half-submerged in stone.

Her heart slamming against her ribcage, Carewyn desperately ran over to her best friend, seizing his only free arm and pulling with all of her strength.

“Hold on – I'll get you – ”

“Carey, no!” rasped Bill. “Get back – !”

BAM.

Carewyn was slammed into the floor face-first with the force of Rakepick's Blasting Curse.

“Carey!”

“Carewyn!”

“General!”

Carewyn could hear the terrified cries of her friends behind her. She looked up, terror pounding in her chest – Talbott was completely trapped in the hold of the three statues holding him; Ben had been beaten within an inch of his life by the statues trying to restrain him and was now nursing not just a broken arm but several horrible bruises on his face; Diego had finally collapsed to the ground in a heap, his shoulders quaking as he struggled to stay conscious; Ismelda was shuddering uncontrollably in pain on the floor; the noose of blue flames was slowly tightening around the others, making Tonks and Chiara huddle over the injured Barnaby, Liz, and Tulip so they could maintain their own golden-white Shield Charm around them; and Bill was now almost completely submerged, struggling to keep his head above the quicksand-like stone.

“The only way you can save all of them is through stopping me, Miss Cromwell,” Rakepick said, her voice rising. “If you even can.”

Her eyes flashing with rage, Carewyn smacked the air with her wand, hurtling a cutting spell right at Rakepick's face. Just like before, though, Rakepick blocked it. Carewyn silently lashed out again and again – shooting ice and fire and scarlet bursts of light – but nothing she used got through Rakepick's Shield Charm.

“I told you, Miss Cromwell!” cried Rakepick, her voice suddenly much harsher than before. “You'll need a stronger spell to get through my Shields! You know there are a select few spells that a Shield Charm can't block – ”

Carewyn halted in her attacks, her eyes going very wide.

A select few – yes. Carewyn knew what those were – those three Curses, that even a Shield Charm couldn't block...

Her wide blue eyes suddenly grew very dark, flooding with a colder, harsher emotion than she'd ever known before. It felt like poison coursing through her veins.

“NO!”

'Levicorpus! Incendio! AVERTE SACTUM! REDUCTO!'

One by one, her non-verbal spells bounced off Rakepick's Shield Charm. The ex-professor seemed to be getting impatient – her eyes widened with a strange, almost frustrated glint upon Carewyn's face as she raised her own wand.

“Crucio.”

Her Cruciatus Curse hit Carewyn straight on in the chest.

Never before had Carewyn ever experienced such blinding, white-hot pain. It was as though a thousand tiny needles were stabbing her from all directions, into her skin, into her head, into her eyes, into every single nerve in her body. It made her fall back and crumple up in on herself, as if subconsciously trying to shield herself from the pain, but there was no use – no defense –

That scream she heard – it wasn't hers, was it? That terrible, agonizing cry, like that of a dying animal...

Suddenly, all at once, the pain ceased. Carewyn slumped forward, gasping for air. She could feel tears and sweat streaming down her face.

“That is what I will do to every single one of your friends, when they come to aid you, Miss Cromwell!” Rakepick shouted. “I will torture them all, just like I did with Miss Snyde – and then I will kill them, just like I did Miss Khanna!”

The memory of Rowan's empty, lifeless black eyes was a knife in Carewyn's heart: one that almost physically injured her, making her hunch in on herself.

Rakepick stood over Carewyn, her eyes gleaming. But there was no triumph there – it was a fierce emotion, whatever it was, but it didn't seem happy in the slightest.

“If you want you and your friends to live,” she said softly, “you'll have to kill me.”

“No.”

Rakepick was so taken aback by the fierceness of Carewyn's voice that she nearly flinched. “What?”

The Slytherin Prefect was still hunched in on herself with her eyes downcast, and she was careful not to step on her “Fakepick” robes as she precariously stumbled back to her feet. She lifted her head, her blue eyes flaring with pure hatred upon Rakepick's despite the lingering pain trembling through her shoulders, as she raised her wand again.

“I said...” she said very quietly and coldly, “...no.”

Rakepick's expression was oddly stricken for a moment: disbelieving and horrified, and almost...moved. Then her blue eyes narrowed to slits.

“You – !”

As she raised up her wand arm as if to back-hand Carewyn with another curse, however, Rakepick suddenly found her arm engulfed in throbbing black-colored light. Then her arm was twisted painfully behind her, dislocating the limb with a terrible CRACK before it flung her violently to the ground.

Carewyn stared from the badly injured, gasping Rakepick to where the spell had originated.

Jacob Cromwell plowed out of the field of statues. His teeth were bared and lightning-like electric blue sparks crackled dangerously from his raised Aspen wand. His almond-shaped blue eyes were also darker and scarier than Carewyn had ever seen them – they were so devoid of light or humanity, they resembled a demon's.

“Jacob!” gasped Carewyn.

Jacob barreled forward, snatching Rakepick up the ground by her broken wrist and sticking his still crackling wand in her face. Rakepick gave a choked grunt of pain as her gold-tipped wand clattered to the stone floor.

“You want to die so badly, Rakepick?” the elder Cromwell snarled. “For pointing your wand ANYWHERE near Pip, I'll more than oblige that request – ”

“Jacob, NO,” Carewyn cut him off with ferocity.

Jacob looked at his sister, the demonic gleam still clinging to his eyes – but the light flickered back into being upon seeing Carewyn rushing over to Bill. With Rakepick being Disarmed, the cursed rope binding Diego and the circle of blue flames had vanished, the statues holding Talbott and Ben had gone still, and the floor had stopped inhaling Bill and froze back into place – and so Carewyn could now blast apart the stone with relative ease.

“Bombarda! Ascendio!”

She levitated Bill out of the wrecked stone and back down onto the floor. As soon as his feet touched the ground, the eldest Weasley lunged forward and enveloped Carewyn in a big, relieved hug.

“Thank Merlin, Carey!” he breathed, squeezing her for dear life.

“Ismelda!”

“Diego!?”

Merula, Charlie, and Penny led the rest of the Circle of Khanna onto the field, over to their comrades.

“Carey -- Bill, are you okay?” said Charlie, his forehead crinkled with anxiety.

“We’re all right,” Bill reassured him.

Carewyn brought an arm around Charlie’s shoulders and gave him a comforting squeeze. Charlie leaned his head beside hers, smiling in relief.

“Through the ‘tell-a-phone’ we’d made, we heard that Rakepick was the one at the front,” he explained. “Jacob wanted to drop everything immediately, and I reckon Merula did too, but we tried to stay focused on the Vault. Once we got the message that you and Bill were fighting Rakepick alone, though, we decided we had to cut our losses and come help you...”

“I’m glad you did,” said Bill.

Penny rushed over to Ben with a Wiggenweld Potion, while George helped Ben hold his broken arm still so Badeea could properly mend it. Cedric was able to wrap Diego's arm over his shoulders and help him to his feet, but Ismelda seemed unable to stand.

“Ow! No, no – don't help me up, no!” she hissed in pain, still clutching at her chest and fighting back tears of pain as Beatrice tried to support her. “I can't – every time I move, it feels like I'm being stabbed – ”

“The Heart Shard Curse,” said Jacob. His voice had abruptly shifted back to his usual, over-confident, “scholarly” tone. “Makes you feel like there's broken glass in your chest. A Wiggenweld Potion should help with that.”

Penny pulled out another bottle of Wiggenweld Potion from the inside of her robes and coaxed Ismelda into taking a sip.

“I'm fine, Cedric,” Diego grumbled stubbornly, as he tried to support himself on his own. “Chiara – the others, are they – ?”

“We're fine, Diego Caplan.”

Tulip straightened up, holding her forehead as if she'd been clubbed over the back of the head. Liz shook her head lightly too and adjusted her glasses so she could look everyone over.

“Tulip,” breathed Carewyn. “Liz, thank goodness...”

“They were just Stunned,” said Chiara gently. “And Barnaby's doing better already, aren't you, Barnaby?”

“Ow,” mumbled Barnaby, but he gave Carewyn a smile too. “Yeah – I'm all right, Carewyn...you don't need to be afraid anymore. At least – not about me, anyway – this place is still really creepy and all.”

Carewyn's eyes softened slightly. Merula came up beside Carewyn and Bill, her pink eyes boring into Rakepick still in Jacob's grip.

“So it was you,” she sneered. “Not so tough now, are you, Rakepick? Now we can finally make you pay, for what you did to Khanna – to all of us – ”

“I told Jacob no, Merula, and the same goes for you,” said Carewyn very harshly, her eyebrows knitting together impatiently as she shut her eyes. “I don't want Rakepick to die.”

Merula whirled on Carewyn, completely flabbergasted.

“Cromwell, she killed Khanna! She just finished torturing you! She was about ready to kill all of us – she even said she planned on killing all of us! If your brother hadn't shown up – ”

“But he did,” said Carewyn firmly. “And he overpowered her. And now – Incarcerous – ”

She bound Rakepick's limbs very tightly with a set of black ropes from her wand. Rakepick struggled slightly, her face very white as she stared down at her bindings.

“ – when we're finished with the Vaults, we can turn her over to the Aurors, and she can go to Azkaban for the rest of her life.”

“Maybe you're satisfied with that, Cromwell, but I'm not!”

Merula shoved herself right up into Carewyn's personal space, her pink eyes flaring with anger.

“Rakepick betrayed us – all of us, back in the Portrait Vault! She stole seven years of your brother's life – of your life – and she has made everyone at Hogwarts less safe! You aren't the only person with an opinion that matters here! Rakepick deserves to die!”

“She does,” Carewyn said quietly.

“Then why are you protecting her!?”

Carewyn glanced from Merula to down at Rakepick. The ex-professor was still not looking at any of them – her eyes were locked on the floor, while barely seeing it – but her lips were pursed and she'd gone very still. She was listening intently to the conversation.

Carewyn was silent for a long moment, contemplating how best to articulate what she was feeling. Then she took a deep breath.

“...Rakepick...is not someone whose opinion should be listened to...but for everything she's said that wasn't true, she was right about one thing.”

She swallowed.

“...She and I...are very similar.”

Jacob roughly seized Carewyn's shoulder. “Pip, you're nothing like – ”

“Jacob, please,” Carewyn cut him off with a forceful attempt at calm.

Her eyes drifted away, landing absently on the open air over Rakepick's head.

“You said it yourself, Merula – for someone who hated her so much...I did sound a lot like her. I did think a lot like her. At the time I pushed it away, not wanting to think about it – but it's true. We're both people who...gather others around us...who put on this caring mask, and encourage and inspire others...while never truly trusting them with the truth of who we are...or what we think. We both have done anything we had to, in order to get at the Vaults. We both have manipulated the people who relied on us and led them into danger for our own benefit. ...We both...are liars, through and through.”

Her eyes flickered to Bill, who likewise had opened his mouth to argue, but the words stilled in his throat when she shook her head.

“But for all the things we have in common...I have no intention of following her path. I told her once that I didn't need to use the Cruciatus Curse, or any other Unforgivable Curse, in order to save Jacob, and I meant it. I will not let her prove me wrong in that. I will not treat her life as disposable, the way she did Rowan's. And I will not give her the satisfaction of escaping the consequences of her actions – not even by dying.”

Carewyn's eyes flashed with steely determination.

“I want her to live a very long, lonely life – locked up where she can never hurt anyone again, with only her own failure as company. Just as I want Rowan to always be remembered...I want her to be completely forgotten...for no one to speak her name, with hatred or admiration. At least in Azkaban, her life can be a reminder. A reminder...that there is no glory for people like Patricia Rakepick.”

There was an echoing silence. Carewyn was aware of Rakepick breathing rather heavily, but she didn't look at her. Instead she looked at Merula out the side of her eye.

Her old rival's eyes were downcast as she took in what Carewyn had said. After a long moment, she exhaled through her nose quietly.

“...You really think anyone could forget what she did?”

Carewyn's eyes softened. “Maybe not right away. But hopefully someday.”

Merula looked up at Carewyn, her pink eyes boring into her face. “I won't forget. I won't forgive.”

“I understand,” said Carewyn softly. Her eyes drifted down to Merula's right shoulder. “...I just don't want you to throw everything away – all the growth you've gone through, all the potential you have...everything you've become, and the brilliant future you're owed, because of that.”

Although Carewyn wasn't looking her in the face anymore, she could see a shift in Merula's expression out the side of her eye. She felt an arm loop over her shoulders – Carewyn looked up to see Jacob resting his head against hers, his solemn frown buried in her hair as he closed his eyes.

“Pip is right,” Jacob said lowly. “As much as I don't think Rakepick deserves to live...hell, as much as I would still love to rip her limb from limb, slowly and painfully...”

He opened his eyes and looked down at his younger sister with a sad smile.

“...A future...a real future...is something worth sacrificing for.”

Bill nodded, smiling a little more fully. “It's something worth fighting for.”

“Something worth working for,” said Penny earnestly.

“Something worth living for,” said Ben at last. He glanced at Carewyn, offering her a supportive smile. 

At long, long last, Merula gave in. She inclined her head in a single, halfhearted nod.

“All right, Cromwell,” she said lowly. “We'll turn her over to the Aurors.”

Her lips spread into a much cockier smile. “Now let's go break that Statue Curse, shall we?”

The other members of the Circle of Khanna shared smiles.

Rakepick, however, reacted in a way no one expected.

“NO!”

In an instant, she'd thrown herself against the black ropes binding her, trying to hurl herself to her feet.

“Carey – !”

“Watch out – ”

Bill, Charlie, Merula, and Ben all moved forward, prepared to restrain her, but Rakepick managed to get right up in Carewyn's face. She was whiter and filled with a kind of visible panic that no one had ever seen on her face before.

“Miss Cromwell, listen to me – you must not break the curse!”

[To be continued...]

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #fanfiction #my writing #this'll be the day that i die #good!rakepick AU #or at least...gray!rakepick AU #patricia rakepick #carewyn cromwell #jacob cromwell #jacob's sibling #jacob #the circle of khanna #bill weasley #jae kim #chiara lobosca #ben copper #nymphadora tonks #merula snyde #charlie weasley #beatrice haywood #penny haywood #liz tuttle #barnaby lee #diego caplan #andre egwu #cedric diggory #fred weasley #george weasley #tulip karasu

[catherinestark-hphm]

The template belongs to @hogwartsmysterystory​

IDENTITY

Updated for Year 3 (NEW INFO ABOUT ADRIEN’S FAMILY ADDED)

Name: Adrien Isidore Marius Reyes

Gender: Cisgender Male

Age:  13/14 [currently]

Birth Date: February 11th, 1972

Species: Human

Blood Status: Half-Blood

Sexuality: Bisexual

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Ethnicity: Caucasian

Nationality: British

Residence: Alfriston, East Sussex, UK

Myer Briggs Personality Type: ESTJ-A (The Executive)

THE MAGE

1st Wand: Alder Wood | Phoenix Feather Core | 12 ¼" | Surprisingly Swishy Flexibility

Whilst Alder makes for an unyielding wood, its ideal owner is not stubborn or obstinate, but often helpful, considerate and most likeable, which is strange since Adrien can be the most stubborn person ever.

Whereas most wand woods seek similarity in the characters of those they will best serve, alder is unusual in that it seems to desire a nature that is, if not precisely opposite to its own, then certainly of a markedly different type. When an alder wand is happily placed, it becomes a magnificent, loyal helpmate. Of all wand types, alder is best suited to non-verbal spell work, whence comes its reputation for being suitable only for the most advanced witches and wizards. Alder is also excellent for protection against outside forces, and, when combined with phoenix feather, is a suitable match for a wizard who will "make their mark on this world".

It is most suitable for Defense Against the Dark Arts and will most often choose Light Wizards, especially Gryffindors, but is not uncommon among Ravenclaws.

Alder is extremely rare, as many wandmakers will refuse to take wood from alder wood. The ‘bleeding’, turning from white to red, is considered to be inauspicious.

Phoenix Feather is one of the rarest core types. They are capable of the greatest range of magic, though they may take longer than either unicorn hair or dragon heartstring cores to reveal this. They show the most initiative, sometimes acting of their own accord, a quality that many witches and wizards dislike. Phoenix wands are always the pickiest when it comes to potential owners, for the creature from which they are taken is one of the most independent and detached in the world. These wands are the hardest to tame and to personalize, and their allegiance is usually hard-won.

Animagus: Brown Dog

Misc Magical Abilities: (TBA)

Boggart Form: His parents with their backs on him, whispering about how amazing and talented Jacob was and wishing Adrien never existed.  

Riddikulus Form: His parents dressed with clown outfits and shoving a pie in each other’s faces.

Amortentia (What do they smell like?): Burning logs and dark chocolate being melted.

Amortentia (What do they smell?): The sweet scent of chocolate and caramel, the fruity smell of freshly cut oranges, and peppermint.

Patronus: Lince. 

Patronus Memory: When he got his Hogwarts letter and finally began having his own life. 

Mirror of Erised: Adrien surrounded by a crowd that is cheering him. Even his parents are there, looking at him as if they were looking at Jacob instead.

Specialized/Favourite Spells:

- Flipendo

- Lumus

- Depulso

- Rictusempra

- Expelliarmus

- Alohomora

APPEARANCE

Faceclaim: (I don’t have one lmao)

Game Appearance: 

Height: 5ft 4.5in (163.8 cm) Weight: 7st 14lb  (50.8 kg) Physique:

- Ever since he started Quidditch, there as been more muscle in his arms and Adrien was shook when he noticed it after showering.

Eyes:

- Baby blue coloured.

- Almond-shaped, just like his mother’s and Jacob’s.

Hair:

- Dark brown

- Short and lazily brushed sideways

- The only time his mom pays attention to him is when she takes him out to cut his hair — she hates long hair on men. Which is ironic, because Jacob has now long hair.

Skin Tone:

- Fair.

- But it gets tanned during summer because Adrien spends his summer days outside. Scarring: N/A Fashion Choices:

Adrien is a casual boy that also leans into sporty wear. But sometimes he likes to dress up just for the compliments.

- His colours of choice are red, golden, blue, white and brown.

Inventory:

- His wand

- Dumbombs

- Peppermint Imps

- Connor (his toad sometimes sleeps inside his robe’s pocket)

ALLEGIANCES

Hogwarts House:

- Gryffindor

Affiliations/Organizations: - Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

- Gryffindor House

- Gryffindor Quidditch Team

- Reyes Family

Professions: (TBA)

HOGWARTS INFORMATION:

Class Proficiency:

Charms: ★★★★★☆☆��☆☆ Flying: ★★★★★★★★★☆ Herbology: ★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ Potions: ★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆ Transfiguration: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

Electives:

- Care of Magical Creatures

- Muggle Studies

Quidditch:

- Currently a Chaser

- Trying out to be a seeker.

Extra Curricular: - Duelling Club Member

- Ghoul Studies

Favourite Professors:

- Madam Hooch: Adrien likes the way she hurries her students to learn how to fly and he actually likes how strict she sometimes is — it helps him concentrate more on his flying and become a better student during her classes. He knows that she can be caring and gentle as well, and during his process of trying out for Quidditch she gave him lots of advice and encouraged Adrien to challenge himself with his broom. Adrien loves seeing her smiling approvingly at him whenever his team wins a friendly, it’s one of the reasons why he has never lost a friendly to this day.

- Professor McGonagall: Adrien has immense respect for the head of his house. The only time he actually studied for a subject was for Transfiguration. He wanted to prove himself that he could be better at it than Jacob, but then he started doing just to make her proud. She (and Hooch) is the only one that can truly make him feel nervous when he’s caught pranking and even though Adrien tries to ignore her disappointed expression, he feels bad and always ends up apologizing, even when he knows he can’t get out of detention.

Least Favourite Professors:

- Professor Snape: Adrien dislikes him because of how unfair he is towards Gryffindors sometimes. That’s all. Adrien actually likes his dry, sarcastic jabs and when Snape is impatient with Adrien, the brunette purposely puts the wrong ingredients in the cauldron just to peeve him further.  

RELATIONSHIPS

Brother: Jacob Reyes. Father: Archibald Reyes. Mother: Matilda Reyes. (neé Longbottom) Other Household Member: (Ezekiel, Lilith, Jacov, and Corbyn belong to @caustic-curses​)

- Lawrence Reyes: Adrien’s deceased paternal grandfather. He never met him so Adrien doesn’t have an opinion about him.

- Gustava Reyes (neé Sheridan): Adrien’s deceased paternal grandmother. She died when Adrien was six years old, he doesn’t remember much about her but all he has are memories of him waking up in her house and smelling freshly baked goods. He knows she loved him, and sometimes Adrien finds himself crying whenever he holds on to that memory.

- Ezekiel Reyes: Adrien’s paternal uncle. Adrien really likes his uncle and thinks he doesn’t deserve the wife he has. Ezekiel has always been nice and kind to Adrien and he truly respects and looks up to his uncle more than he does to his own father. 

- Lilith Roandre: Hates her. Adrien has never disliked someone so much like his aunt. She doesn’t deserve her kind husband or Corbyn. Adrien thinks she’s just so... shady. He feels like that this mean, awful woman is hiding a dark secret from everyone. Whenever he visits Corbyn, he always stands up to her when she starts showing her hatred towards his cousin--he’s not afraid of her. And he completely hopes she disappears one day to allow his uncle and cousin to be happy.

- Jacov Reyes: Adrien’s cousin. He and Jacov were never close. There was a joke between Archibald and Ezekiel when naming their firstborn sons, but Adrien always thought it was stupid. However, he did like whenever Jacov kept his mom away from Corbyn and him when he was visiting. 

- Corbyn Reyes: Adrien’s favourite cousin. The two were always close because of their equal personality to cause mischief and pranks. Even when they were sorted in conflicting houses, the two remained close and always had each other’s backs. Corbyn sees Adrien as a bit of a good mess so to speak. But his cousin’s loyalty and good nature would be what keeps him in good graces. Adrien helps him with the scamming but makes Corbyn promise to never tell anyone, and Corbyn, of course, wouldn't say a word about him helping. He doesn't want anyone to know he needed help in the first place. Adrien is a dog Animagi and Corbyn is a cat. They are Gryffindor and Slytherin. But the two are very close, much like brothers could be. That’s what Adrien sees in Corbyn instead of Jacob, a brother. 

- Bernard Longbottom: Adrien’s maternal uncle. Adrien was saddened when he heard that his only uncle passed away. He taught Adrien how to swim and even gave him his first broom on his seventh birthday. Adrien loved his uncle so much that he kept the photo that they took on the lake near his house when Adrien was four years old.

- Augusta Longbottom: Adrien’s maternal aunt. Adrien likes the way she gives mutual attention to both him and Jacob. She can be a little strict and Adrien is always annoyed when she scolds him, telling him to arch his back straighter, but he knows she does it out of love. He does like to see what kind of hat she’ll bring to family lunches – but never makes fun of her. Augusta may be a little severe with her words but Adrien feels wanted around her, so he just sits and listens to whatever she has to complain about – either is the dirt on his shoes or about his messy hair.

- Frank Longbottom: Adrien’s cousin. Not only Adrien was shocked and saddened by what happened to his cousin, but he was also angry and vengeful at the dark wizards and witch who did it. The two might have an age-gap between but that never stopped them from getting along. Frank was always there to give him advice and comfort him through kind words in their exchange of letters. Adrien dutifully visits his cousin and his wife every week during his summer vacation and spends at least two hours with them, talking aimlessly and telling them about his school year.

- Alice Longbottom: Frank’s wife. Adrien liked Alice the moment she met her. She was brave and full of life and Adrien was happy that his cousin had found someone like her. He was saddened by the news of what happened to her, and he always brings a bouquet of flowers for her to keep whenever he visits them in St. Mungus. He has been noticing that Alice does keep the flowers, on a vase near the window. Some of them are already dead but she never allows anyone to trash them.

- Neville Longbottom: Adrien’s second cousin. He hasn’t seen him much, but Adrien promised himself to go visit his aunt Augusta this summer to properly meet the little guy.

Love Interest(s):

- While Adrien technically doesn’t fancy anyone, he has been thinking about Merula a lot nowadays, like how pretty she looked with her usual smug expression or her stupid (not adorable) orange part of her hair.

- He thinks Penny Haywood is very beautiful. Sometimes he has to concentrate not to stutter around her.

- He certainly was caught by Rowan staring at Murphy for too long, Adrien just thinks Murphy’s blabbering is brilliant—and also that his hair is so cool and soft.

Best Friends:

- Rowan Khanna

- Ben Copper

- Penny Haywood

- Tulip Karasu

- Jae Kim

Rival:

- Merula Snyde

- Ismelda Munk

- Jacob Reyes

Enemy: (TBA)

Pets:

- Connor (toad)

- Turner (Cat)

Closest Canon Friends:

- Rowan Khanna

- Ben Copper

- Tulip Karasu

- Nymphadora Tonks

- Penny Haywood

- Bill Weasley

- Skye Parkin

Closest OC Friends:

Closest MC Friends:

- Corbyn Reyes

#adrien reyes #hphm #hphm template #hogwarts mystery #hogwarts mystery mc #harry potter: hogwarts mystery #corbyn reyes #hphm corbyn reyes

[bcdaily]

"If your argument is Snape putting himself at risk to be a mole is what makes him a hero, I’m gonna call bullshit.". Then what do you call continuing to be a spy AFTER Lily died then (which by that point he has NO reason to stay a spy)? What do you call Snape's "Lately those I cannot save" in reply to Dumbledore's "How many people you seen die?". What do you call him allowing his own image to be destroyed by killing Dumbledore on Dumbledore's order?

Let’s take this point by point. (And, I’m sorry, I am not brief.)

“Then what do you call continuing to be a spy AFTER Lilydied then (which by that point he has NO reason to stay a spy)?”

Okay. Hold up. Before I get to the actual idea of Snapespying and what that does/doesn’t mean…why on earth would you think he has no reason to stay a spy??

Let’s assess Snape’s position post-GOF, okay? Voldemort hasnow returned. Half the ol’ Death Eater squad has immediately flocked to hisside. The ones that haven’t because they’re no longer believers (?), or feellike they’ve been disloyal enough in the interim not to be welcome, have fledfor their lives because Voldemort is one vengeful bastard. So here we haveSnape: still unrevealed as an old mole. A teacher inside Hogwarts, Dumbledore’sturf. What are Snape’s options?

Flee into the night and live as a fugitive, hoping no one finds him.

Go join back up with Voldemort

Turn in a blaze of glory, joining Dumbledore’s side in the open

Play his old game as a spy

It’s bad opinions all around, self-preservation-wise. That’swhat happens when you’re a shady ass motherfucker. (1) would likely be veryunappealing for many reasons, and leaves everyone wanting to kill him. (2) isalso unappealing–because you know who elseis a vengeful bastard? Severus damn Snape. And from the second Voldemort wentafter (and then killed) Lily, Snape wuzdone. He had no ties to the Death Eater cause, except for the personal power and validation it seemedto give him. His ties have always been to his own self-interest. Voldemortsevered that self-interest by threatening Lily, and Snape called it dunzo. Thereis no reason for him to change his mind about that now. We know he’s still hung up on Lily. It’s his sick raison d'être. And added bonus: Dumbledore would be after him likea fiend, and likely would straight-uptell Voldie that Snape once spied, and then it’s bye-bye Snape. (3) See abovere: vengeful bastards, where Voldemort would hunt Snape down as a traitor likewhoah. (4) No one wants to kill him. Unless he gets caught. Then Voldemort definitely wants to kill him. But Voldemortalso wants to kill him in basically every other scenario, too. And this way, hegets to remain at Hogwarts, living life as he does, being miserable andbullying students, the great joys of his life.

Now…look. I’m being glib here, and likely I think in realitySnape’s decision had more complexity than just “what’s the best way to save myown hide”…but the idea that there was no reason for him to spy after Lily diedis laughhhhabbbbblllleeeee. Voldemorthad done him wrong. Snape is UNDENIABLY a very selfish, vengeful person. Hewanted that dude destroyed. Moreover,his life was in danger no matter what route he chose, and he found power in hisposition at Hogwarts. I don’t see any reason why he would want to give that up.And even if you’re giving his decision a terribly rosy-eyed view, claiming heturned spy because it was the right thing and he wanted good to prevail overevil…I’m side-eyeing you for that, but even so, I’m back to my originalargument from the last post: Shitty people do good things all the time. Evengood things for the right reasons. That doesn’t make THEM good.

Honestly, that’s the hill I’m really going to live and dieon. I have high doubts that Snape’s motivations for spying were pure and for thecause, because it was the right thing to do, but even if they were: that does not erase the previoustwo decades of being a generally horrible, selfish, abusive motherfucker, who only got on this side of the fight because he was personally manipulated and betrayed. Itjust doesn’t. And so a “heroic”action does not make a hero. It doesn’t even make an anti-hero. It makes…aninteresting character in which to look at the themes of good vs. evil that are prevalentin the book, but which should ultimately leave you at the same point: Snape isnot a hero.

What do you call Snape’s “Lately those I cannot save” inreply to Dumbledore’s “How many people have you seen die?”

I really like this quote because of “lately”. Oohhh, you know, lately. It emphasizes the fact that,once upon a time, Snape was DeathEater who blithely watched men and women die from the wrong side of the goodvs. evil war line and didn’t raise a hand to stop it until it affected himpersonally. Just as, you know, a reminder.

But here we are now, inside the “lately”. And the thing is,I’m actually more inclined to believe this line is a more general reference toHarry, the primary person Snape has been trying to save and has just learned,lol, jokes, Dumbly needs him dead. But to be generous about it, in the courseof his spying throughout OoTP/HBP, I’m sure Snape’s information saved people. Maybethat’s what he means here. Not tugging people out of the way of a ravenous werewolf(lol who did dat?), but saving with his espionage. And I’m sure he did that,not because he valiantly wanted to save these people as individuals, butbecause their lives were bodies on his side in the fight to defeat Voldemort.Snape wanted to defeat Voldemort. Voldemort killed Lily. Snape hated him for killing Lily. Even laterin that EXACT SAME CONVERSATION, when Snape is so horrified about whatDumbledore has done to Harry, when Dumbledore asks if his anger is because hecares for Harry, Snape’s response is LITERALLY “For him?” ACTIVE SCOFF. Then heproduces his patronus. Even Harry, the single person Snape has ACTIVELY BEENATTEMPTING TO SAVE THE MOST, has not come to affect Snape personally. He’s ameans to an end. For Snape, this is ALL ABOUT LILY–or really, this selfish,more-about-him-than-her, tunnel-vision, unhealthy obsession with avenging her. THAT’Shis motivation for everything, his love that’s not even really love because he’s a broken man who doesn’t know what thatmeans. (BUT THAT’S ANOTHER STORY FOR ANOTHER DAY.)

So…what’s the argument? That Snape’s spying may have saved lives, and that makes him a hero? Again, I go back to: motivation,motivation, motivation. His actions may be good, but Snape is not. He can givetwo shits about the collateral damage or collateral victories that go on here.It’s all about him and what isimportant to him.

Selfish, Selfish, Selfish:An Autobiography by Severus Snape.

What do you call him allowing his own image to be destroyedby killing Dumbledore on Dumbledore’s order?

LOL, YO, WHAT IMAGE??

My darling, no one hada good image of Snape. Nooooo onnnnne. If you’re talking about the members ofthe Order of the Phoenix and their ilk believing that Snape betrayed them…like,it wasn’t a far jump. Most of them never trusted him in the first place. So hejust kind of cemented his spot as a dubious character. It was prettyuniversally acknowledged that Snape is a miserable son of a bitch. After Dumbledore’s death, he’sa murderous traitor, miserable son of a bitch. If Snape ever once cared aboutany of these people’s opinions, maybe this would be a valid argument. ExceptSnape cares about no one. So…what?

I think it’s important to remember that even in his timeduring OoTP/HBP where we see Snape as an active member of the Order…this isn’tsomeone who’s looking for community or redemption or even camaraderie-in-a-joint-causefrom the group around him. Snape seemed to give fuck-all about every one of them. He’dbeen living his miserable, isolated life exactly the same way and wasn’tlooking to change it. He was on a mission to defeat Voldemort for his ownreasons. That. Is. Fact.

Sooo…I don’t know. Where does this leave us? I’m back to mysame Hill Point, really: Bad people do good things. That doesn’t automaticallymake them good people. Snape is not a good person.

#I literally logged on to tumblr at work in order to make this post #that's how dedicated I am to my Snape arguments #Snape is no hero my love

[yeats-infection]

here is an evil, angst-laden prank story for kindly philanthropist, lovely @megisla. i am sorry, but also thank you, and thanks too to @ababelofprose for inspiring much of this. 

--

When he woke up he didn’t remember what had happened. It started hurting in waves like it normally did but then it kept coming. Eventually he realized something was wrong. When he tried to sit up, it became clear that the chief thing that was wrong was that he could not feel his hands, which looked as though they had been put through a thresher.

He wondered if he was dreaming. He was alone in the room and he wondered where they were. Perhaps they had gone for help. He tried to call out for them but it was as though he had swallowed something that had burned his entire mouth and throat and chest in the night.

It was the worst it had been in his memory. Eventually he could feel it hammering a red-hot stake down through the back of his neck just beside his spine blow by blow like a dull nail into solid drywall. And yet even in this state his bruised mind wrapped around this uncertainty like an oyster around a bit of sand and in so doing it began to harden and calcify: Something very bad had happened.

Pomfrey came scampering in after about nine thousand eternities of helpless suffering and knocked him out pretty much instantly with magic which dissolved the rough tearing fabric of reality into a soft velvet darkness in which untold evil things moved silently.

--

The next thing was, it was full dark again in the high window above his customary bed in the far back corner of the hospital wing, and James’s untamed hair was manifesting frizzily from the folds of his Invisibility Cloak. The curtains, which were equipped with powerful silencing charms, had been pulled tightly around the bed and so James was sitting cross-legged at the end of it. He looked as though he had not slept in days and had spent 90% of his waking time engaged in weeping out of anger. “Don’t try to talk,” he whispered before Remus could say anything. “When old girl was talking about your throat she said shredded.”

It took Remus a minute to disentangle his hands from the blankets. They were bound in a quantity of bandages that may have struck him as comical if they were on anyone else, and they felt like clubs.

“Don’t try to move your fingers either,” said James. “In fact it’s probably best if you just lie still and don’t do anything at all.”

Remus tried to point his nose toward the cup of water at the bedside, which Pomfrey had stuck a multicolor twirly straw in out of some charming motherly attempt to distract him from whatever would soon be obvious. James leaned over him and brought the cup close to his mouth and angled the straw so Remus could reach it. There was something in the water which soothed his throat. James smelled like something charred and his eyes were red and wet in the corners. What happened, Remus mouthed at him when he’d sat back down again.

“I hardly want — Jesus. Of course it bloody has to be me.”

So Sirius had done something. This, Remus thought, should have been altogether obvious from the beginning.

James took a deep breath and sighed dramatically.

In the same manner that the whole thing happened on November 1, 1981, Remus did not think it would be as bad as it was, and he had not even considered the actuality as something that might be remotely possible.

“He told,” James said. Then he stopped. He looked up into the window above the bed as though seeking strength. Remus painfully swatted him with the club hand he had freed from the blankets. “He told Snape,” said James.

Remus thought nothing at first. Then he thought, I am dreaming.

“Luckily he told me about it. So I went running after him but he’d got, you know, he’d got to the door. So.”

He tried a word. He wasn’t even sure what the word was but it felt like he’d swallowed a razor.

“Don’t try to talk,” James said again. “He saw. But I got him. It was all just fine.”

The razor had a sentence carved on it which was: I’M NOT ALL JUST FINE.

“The problem is,” James went on, pointedly looking at the headboard of the bed past Remus’s ear, “you — well, it. It got ideas. You know like, when a dog sees you’re eating food… and it just — ”

His stomach twisted and he pressed the club fist over his mouth. The acid was like about twenty more razors. James had leant over him again to clasp his shoulder manfully in some display of sympathy or shared strength. For a moment they attempted nonverbal communication which resulted in not much gained, except that James’s eyes had welled up a little again.

“They’ve talked to him,” James said, “to Snape. He won’t tell anyone.” A choking kind of breath escaped Remus’s mouth as a farce of laughter. “And Sirius has got detention for the rest of his life. The only reason he’s not expelled is because Dumbledore knows if they sent him home he’d probably be vivisected by his French cousins. Or worse, join them.”

Remus looked up past James into the high window where the waning moon cast an itchy silver light through the frosted glass. Perhaps it was good that he could not speak or write because if he could he might’ve said something extremely regrettable. Chiefly: I fucking hope he gets vivisected, and/or, your making bullshit excuses for him is potentially your tragic flaw.

James sat with him for a while and eventually fell asleep lying at the end of the bed like a dog with the invisibility cloak uncannily covering his entire body except for his head. Remus didn’t sleep again and at dawn he was obliged to wake James with his foot so that he would not be caught and subjected to detention with Sirius.

--

The man himself visited the evening following. He looked, as was customary under pressure, like some feral child mystic consulted for augury by the ancient Celtic tribes on the eve of battle with the Romans. He looked as though he had been running for hours and like perhaps he had thrown up very recently. Remus hated him with the heat of a thousand suns. A few hours previous Pomfrey had taken the bandages off his hands, because most of the bones had healed. A few others would take longer, and all the skin would take longest of all, because he had literally chewed it off. She had replaced the bandages with lighter ones and as such Remus folded his arms across his chest so that the damage was more visible. Go away, he mouthed.

“What?”

This was so powerfully stupid, completely ridiculous, and overwhelmingly Sirius that Remus was suddenly certain he had the faculties to get to his feet, forego magic entirely, and deliver a powerful right hook directly to the jaw. “Go,” he croaked instead, like an animate corpse through the blood-slaked wasteland of his throat, “away.”

“Jesus,” said Sirius. He sat down at the edge of the bed entirely uninvited and scrubbed a hand over his face. The invisibility cloak slipped over his shoulders to reveal he was in rumpled Muggle clothes, connoting the obvious reality that it had perhaps been days since he had gone to class or showered. “Jesus fuck,” Sirius went on.

“What in heaven’s name did you think would happen.”

“Stop bloody talking,” Sirius said, “you sound like death.” This of course made Remus want to scream at the top of his lungs until it woke up everyone in the castle. “I wasn’t really thinking, if you must know,” Sirius went on.

It was so obvious, and in fact so applicable to just about everything Sirius did, that Remus refused to address it.

“I would’ve been sentenced to death,” Remus told him.

“No you wouldn’t’ve.”

“Says you.”

“No, I looked it up. Azkaban, actually.”

“Worse then.”

“Yeah.” Sirius sighed. “Maybe different ‘cause you’re underage.”

This was a pretty lie. Remus coughed to clear something disgusting from his throat. Sirius watched him have a sip of the water at the bedside through the twisty straw. “It isn’t you,” Sirius said, “in my mind. That’s why.”

“What?”

“That thing. It isn’t you.”

He could feel his voice cut his throat. “It bloody well fucking is me!”

“Well I know that, like, I know that now,” Sirius said. “I just. Well I thought it would be funny.”

No one, Remus didn’t say, tried to say, couldn’t say, in fact would never say (because he himself was potentially one of the worst culprits), though he’d wanted to say it for years and would want to say it for many more years, no one ever did you the favor of telling you no. And what a fucking massive tragedy for us all. He lay back upon the ecstasy of fluffed pillows thinking if perhaps he ignored the rest of it from here on out Sirius might just go away.

“I didn’t mean for. Well I didn’t know you’d — ”

He was looking at the limp bloody mess of Remus’s left hand which appeared against the pristine white blankets like some terrible roadkill. At first Remus felt sort of vengeful about it but then it all faded into embarrassment and he tucked it around his side to hide it from view.

“I thought it might just scare him,” Sirius said. “Take him down a notch you know. So he might leave us alone.”

“Well he won’t now.”

“He said — ”

Sirius seemed to realize for the first time, somehow, that it didn’t quite matter what Severus had said. He scuffed a bare foot against the floor. “Have you been sleeping in the kitchens,” Remus asked him. This was what had happened last time Sirius and James had had a fight, though that time it had been about which of them would do the Arithmancy homework and which of them would copy it. In the end, of course, they had both copied Remus’s Arithmancy homework.

“The house elves kicked me out.”

“Wise. Wise creatures.”

“James will kill me if I go back there without you forgiving me.”

So this, unsurprisingly, was the crux of the motivation. “You want me to sign an excused absence note or something for you to give him?”

“A what?”

“A — they had them at Muggle school. An excused absence — never mind. Go up to the room of requirement then.”

“I tried. I think the old man’s done something. It was like a greenhouse full of yellow roses. I’ve gotten thorns all in the cloak.”

Sirius showed Remus one, which was embedded in the fine silvery fabric. It had scratched a mess of runic patterns beading blood at his elbow. Probably he had gone in the dorm when James wasn’t there to dig it out from wherever he was hiding it these days.

“What are you supposed to say when you hurt your friend,” Remus hinted after a while.

Sirius looked up like a dog having smelt something on the draught through the high window. “Oh — well I won’t do it again. I won’t do anything like it again. Like I said I know now, I know — ”

“But what — Jesus Christ. There’s a bloody word for it.”

Sirius was watching him now very closely and the silver in his eye was like the moon upon the floor. Remus had the feeling, which he customarily did in circumstances at all familiar, that he was doing himself some kind of disservice he could not yet name and that one day he would regret this and indeed this entire relationship with a consuming hellfire fierceness. Which of course was true. And that as such at the end of it more than a fraction of the complete endeavor would be his own fault. His father, a sometime criminal prosecutor who worked closely with the Wizengamot, was very fond of the idiom it takes two to tango. “Sorry,” Sirius said, “I’m sorry.”

He might’ve said, how could you. Never speak to me again. You spoiled evil brat. You equivalent monster. Or any number of similar invectives. He would’ve meant, he thought, all of them, to the core of his bones; of course he said nothing, or rather he said, “Go get me those flowers.”

“What?”

“Go get me like a bouquet of the bloody yellow roses.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Go on. And a treacle tart.”

Sirius got up and scrubbed a hand over his face again. Remus did not doubt that this was a fiction so as he might pretend to have been crying. As a kind of impulsive afterthought he leant over the bed and embraced Remus so tightly it hurt all the jostled pieces, and for some reason kissed his cheek. His hair was soft and smelled unwashed and like a cookfire. Why Remus returned this embrace he could not be sure. Or rather he thought later he could be sure and this was the worst part of it. Sirius pressed his face against Remus’s neck. His heartbeat was swift and shattering in the back of his shirt against Remus’s palm. Then he pulled away and covered himself with the cloak and disappeared.

Remus lay back in the bed against the pillows and tested one by one the functioning of the bending of his knees. He watched through the gap in the curtains the door to the hospital wing open and shut around nothing. Already he had begun as was customary to question everything that he had said. And already one of the several wounds had begun to fester, but he would not understand how badly for several years, by which point it would be too far gone to heal.

#my fic #wolfstar #rs #occ

[snapedefender]

:/ at acting like mentally ill people who harm those around them are good rep. that's what makes people think we're abusive and makes mentally ill ppl self-isolate bc they don't want to hurt others and be an abuser. we don't want to justify being seen as inhuman. how about a character who has negative symptoms but isn't abusive?

lmao okay

a) i don’t think snape is abusive, first of all. if you do, that’s your dice to throw my man, but while i think snape’s treatment of his students (particularly neville and harry) is reprehensible and bullying, i don’t think it’s abuse. so. there’s that, for me. 

b) the thing is, you’re right that snape can be bad representation…. when one focuses solely on his negative traits. if you only look at snape & see his bullying, then yeah, obviously he’s going to be neg representation lmao. but the important part of snape is that he hasn’t recovered from his own abuse, that he’s very likely mentally ill…. and that he is capable of doing good, great, and even kind things. that’s what makes him good representation. he’s capable of doing those things even though he is also nasty, petty, vengeful, and not recovering in the “right” way from his own history of abuse. that’s so, so important and it boggles me that you’re overlooking that.

b.5) as a mentally ill person myself, snape was hugely important to me growing up and a figure of inspiration when i fell to my lowest points - precisely bc i felt that if snape was still capable of goodness, of doing heroic or hard or brave things even tho he was clearly still recovering, even tho he was also nasty and petty and morally ambiguous… then i not only had the ability but the responsibility to do so as well. 

c) more to the point, your interpretation of how snape is percieved - that he would be seen as pushing mentally ill readers to self-isolate and retreat so they don’t turn into abusers - is subjective. not every mentally ill person is going to read him like that (i obviously don’t) and pretending that we all have the same feelings and interpretations of characters is kind of limiting to me. we don’t all feel the same way about things just bc we’re mentally ill…?

d) if you don’t like snape, that’s fine. if you feel he’s bad rep, that’s your bridge to walk on. but there are fans of his that are mentally ill, that are abuse survivors, who see themselves in him so it’d be real cool if you could like… not invalidate their support for him bc you personally feel he’s terrible thanks.

e) the problem isn’t that snape is bad rep; it’s that fandom has decided he’s inhuman and does nothing but evil. maybe you should try pointing your skepticism at the fandom that throws a coded mentally ill character under the bus for actions that other (non-coded mentally ill) characters get away with….? 

#hey dude im mentally ill & snape personally helped me thru a lot so pls um.... piss off thnks #Anonymous #anti snape response

[chicoryandbananas]

Now I Get It

Harry was a terrible Occlumens. So we think Occlumency looks like sitting, prepared, across the table from an enemy who has announced his strike during a designated practice time.

In actuality, skilled Occlumency means Snape’s entire life was Occlumency. He had to be able to do Occlumency so well that the most terrifying Dark Wizard in history not only couldn’t break in but also never suspected it was happening. Snape HAD to be awful, not just to Harry, but to every non-Pureblood child for the 10 years before Harry, the 10 years when no one knew if or when Voldemort was coming back. Because, when pressed at any time unannounced, Snape had to yield to Voldemort 10 years worth of that behavior to protect any whiff of a memory of his mission. I mean, the man couldn’t even wash his damn hair because his long standing reason for wanting to join up was to punish those who mocked him. If he cleaned up and people stopped mocking him and distrusting him…well.

On the other side, I found it kind of bizarre that Snape never moved on from an unrequited love. Frankly, that’s too creepy.

But he couldn’t do that either. Because his “love” of Lily is what convinced Dumbledore which side he was on.

Basically, the dude has to stay horrible. If he decided to be a good teacher, get a haircut, and find a nice redhead he hadn’t had on a pedestal since age 8, he’d have been A) totally useless and B) probably killed by both sides.

I mean, even down to bickering with Sirius. Voldemort thought Snape was HIS spy but for the reasons above (teasing et). So in memories of Order meetings Snape is “spying on” he can distract from holes with high emotions memories of the hated Sirius.

And it’s easiest and best the closer it all is to truth. So, while normal people strive to grow better throughout life, great Occlumemcy, for Snape, meant all energy going into nursing a robust version of himself that never grew up from the hurt, angry, vengeful little boy.

Moral: Don’t join a Death Cult at 17, you have to keep that hair, that tattoo, and that rap sheet forever.

#occlumency #severus snape #now i get it #harry potter #dumbledore #voldemort #tom riddle #pottermore #sirius black

[killing-for-candy]

What do you think of villainous characters who, actually, are victims, though? Such as characters who are villains because of things outside of their hands, but they cannot stop it? They are the villain solely because of what an outside forced caused.

Not sure if I am prepared to answer this, but I will give it a go. Hopefully I don’t offend anybody by my point of view.

My favorite “villains” of all time are Severus Snape, Sylar from Heroes, and Scar from Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood.

Severus Snape? Abusive father, he was bullied by James and Sirius, and Voldemort’s cause was very strong in the Slytherin house when he was growing up at Hogwarts. And he paid the ultimate price of his selfish nature with his life, and despite being a bully to children, he remained the bravest man Harry ever knew.

Does that mean I don’t sympathize with him? No, I do, but I don’t apologize for his actions or pretend they were okay. Just because you were bullied and tormented, that is not grounds to kill people, especially as Lily Evans was his best friend until their fifth year at Hogwarts. Murder is still murder, even if you are a mere accomplice.

Now onto Sylar. Sylar, also abused – his ability made him susceptible to being a murderer, and he was mentally ill. But he also repeatedly chose to kill people, even his own adoptive mother; albeit more accidentally. He faced many instances of wanting to be a hero and a villain throughout the series, but repeatedly chose his own desire for power over respecting innocence. Unfortunately Heroes was cancelled, so we never knew his eventual demise and fate. I adored him as a villain but it was a shame the writers could never decide what to do with him. It hindered the plot, which deterred their writing, as he was the most popular character by far.

Do I forgive him for all of the murders he was capable of? No.

Scar from FMA:B had his family and heritage killed in front of him during a war that blamed his people for the battalion chaos. Scar chose his victims as a raging serial killer to all state alchemists for what they did to Ishval. He attempts time and time again to kill Edward Elric, but only begins to realize his merciless revenge was wrong when he meets Winry Rockwell, whose parents he killed out of disorientation.

Scar is kind of my favorite out of this parallel, because the manga-ka chose not to kill him. In the end, he joined the very Amestrian military that he had loathed for so long. He devoted the rest of his life to saving his heritage and rebuilding his country.

I myself have a mental illness and there is nothing wrong with connecting with villains who share similarities to yourself.

But nothing justifies senseless, vengeful murder, and I really don’t care what anybody says otherwise. There are plenty of good characters out there with representation of mental illness. Not healthy, but still a representation of that gray area in mostly positive lights. Will Graham from Hannibal, Eleven from Stranger Things, I have heard that Newt Scamander from FBAWTFT was also reliable candidate. (I haven’t watched it fully yet out of stubborn pride.)

You wanna talk Disney via characters with most likely mental illnesses? Elsa was clearly a sufferer of depression. Look at Quasimodo and how much hell he had been through but came out faithful and adoring. Dory from Finding Nemo? Jack Skellington? Maleficent?

Connecting and caring about any character is fine with me, but the fans who pretend they are flawless after murdering a bunch of people is really difficult for me personally to swallow. I had an older sister who was murdered via gunshot at two-years-old; my mother is now a severe sufferer of PTSD for life. My brother in law was shot and killed last year by police officers after a suicide attempt.

Being personally connected to such a heinous crimes, I don’t forgive any person who kills someone out of sheer ability to do so. Let alone fictional characters. Sorry for getting personal near the end there. Hope this answered your question.

[lavellenchanted]

What do you see as Lily's possiblw flaws? How do you view her overall personality? Do you agree that she and Ginny seem like more or less the same character?

It’s difficult to say with any certainty because we really so little of her in canon. Most of what we get are second-hand reports from people who were incredibly fond of her after she’s died, and often speaking to the son she died to protect, so narratively there’s no real space, or need, to examine the character flaws she might have had.

Personally, judging from what we do see, I’ve always thought it a strong possibility that the loyalty she demonstrates is a flaw as much as a virtue. She seems to hang on to her relationships to both Snape and Petunia long after it’s become obvious that they’re toxic. In the aftermath of Snape’s Worst Memory she tells him that her friends don’t understand why she still associates with him as by that point he is already hanging out with Death Eaters (or people who have made clear their intention to become Death Eaters, at least) and at best condoning, at worst participating in, the use of dark magic to torment muggleborns. But Lily tries to maintain their friendship and not to give up on him, even though at point it might well be dangerous for her to do so.

Petunia pretty clearly turns her back on her early on - and I think we can pretty safely assume that Vernon was never nice to Lily - but according to J.K. Rowling, Lily took James to dinner with her and Vernon, apparently still trying to mend the relationship, and maintain contact, and was going to be in Petunia’s wedding until Petunia uninvited her when Vernon found out she was a witch. 

So clearly when Lily loves someone it’s wholeheartedly, but it could be argued it crosses the line into unhealthiness in that she will continue to maintain a relationship with them even after they’ve hurt her or shown a lack of consideration for her personal wellbeing, when it would be better for her to take a step back. Which is a very understandable flaw, but a flaw nonetheless.

In Snape’s worst memory, there’s also the fact that when James uses the levicorpus jinx on Snape and he and Sirius start laughing at him, according to the text: ‘Lily, whose furious expression had twitched for an instant as though she was going to smile, said, “Let him down!’

So ... clearly she finds something amusing about the situation if she almost smiles. It may be the fact that her friendship with Snape has become so toxic at this point that affects the situations, but it does suggest a rather wicked sense of humour with echoes of schadenfreude to it. Maybe it’s a kind of satisfaction because she knows what Snape and his friends have been up to, which could suggest that’s a vengefulness to her. Maybe it’s the hint of a bit of a mean streak that Lily tries not to indulge, finding things funny she knows she shouldn’t, but is there. 

There’s also definitely a sense of righteous fury in the way she confronts James and the others, and James and Sirius look at her “warily” when she gets out her wand, so chances are she can be pretty ruthless when she sets her mind to it and if she thinks she’s in the right. 

Slughorn also tells Harry that Lily would give him “cheeky answers” when he told her she ought to be in Slytherin - so maybe she’s a bit mouthy herself at times, and that’s where Harry gets his snark from. Which is a fun character trait, but can cause a lot of trouble in the wrong situation.

Overall, I tend to see her a very bright, clever, fun person who drew people to her, who had a strong sense of wrong and right, and who when she loved someone, she loved them - right or wrong, no matter how much they hurt her, she would fight tooth and nail for them until she had nothing left to give. I thinks she was kind and caring, headstrong, willful and defiant. But I’m aware that a lot of that is my headcanoning gaps and filling in myself what’s missing, so how ‘canon’ it is I can’t say.

As for the Ginny thing ... I’ve see that a lot. And I get where people are coming from because a lot of the canon traits that Lily is said to have are also traits that Ginny shares, which is probably compounded by the similar physical descriptions. And the fact that there are so many gaps in what we really know about Lily means people will fill them differently, so my Lily is likely to be very different from someone else’s. But for what it’s worth no, I wouldn’t say they’re basically the same character, in large part because I don’t think we really see enough of either of them to say that definitively.

#harry potter #lily evans #lily potter #to be honest james and lily are both about 80% headcanon #so I think it's really up to you to interpret them how you want #Anonymous