#anti marauders prequel | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ottogatto · 9 months

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I would like to submit two ideas because I think I'm poking something but not going in fully, so I would very much like your opinions and additions about it (of course, as long as they remain in good faith *side eyes possible antis viewing my post*).

Marauders and surface-level rebellion

I've finally put to words something that really bothered me with the Marauders, though I don't know the name for it.

It started when I read a reblog that said:

I remember Brennan saying “laws are just structured threats made by the ruling socioeconomic class” during an episode of D20 and we truly just had to stan immediately

This is something dear privileged white woman Rowling didn't realize/understand well, since she held a high socioeconomical status even during her """poverty""" stage. It's known that, despite seeming to be defending ideas of fighting against fascism and "pureblood" supremacy in favor of acceptance of the other, her books reek of colonialism/imperalism. The story of the Marauders, a gang of privileged boys like her, is an in-world replica of that problem where Rowling betrays yet again her actual mindset.

The Marauders adopt the "bad boys who break rules" to get style, while completely losing/staining the moral sense in it.

Let's take piracy.

Some people pirate stuff because they consider that the stuff they'd like to get comes from unethical companies that abuse their employees or use modern slavery, or people who spread harm against certain minorities (like Rowling against trans people and thus the LGBT+ community), so while they may want to access the content, they don't want to give them money and might even encourage pirating their stuff to make them lose money.

Some pirate stuff because otherwise it's lost due to unfortunate "terms of use" -- see video games companies like Ubisoft (deletes gaming account after a while), Nintendo (does not bring back old games), etc.

Others pirate stuff because they just don't have the money but they still want to try the stuff that might make them happy and forget that they're poor -- reasoning that the company isn't losing any money anyway, or not much, since they wouldn't have been able to pay for it in any case.

Others pirate stuff because they consider the price ridiculously high or they consider it shouldn't be something to pay for at all. (Like education stuff -- isn't education supposed to be free for all, so that it can actually uphold everyone's fundamental and unconditional ( = not conditioned by wealth...) right to have an education? Oh and before anyone asks: I've DEFINITELY bought the ~15 expensive books that's roughly worth 500€ in total and that my uni asked I buy to study and get my degree...)

Rowling's Marauders is a group that would pirate stuff just because they'd think it would give them an edge, because they'd think it would make them cool to be seen as "talented" hackers who "defy" companies. Companies... that their own friends and families would own, and as such, would find that kind of behavior funny and entertaining (while they would trash other people around for considering it).

Another example. In society, in history, it's been proven time and again that breaking rules -- going against the law -- is an eventuality that's important for everyone to consider, if they want to defend their rights. Anti-racism, feminism, LGBT Pride, etc, advanced because people broke rules. In USA states where abortion is currently being banned, women and minors (+ their close ones) must now consider breaking the rules to get an abortion. (Privileged people don't give a fuck about those people, and if they suddenly decide that (moral) rules don't apply to them and they will get an abortion, they will just take a plane ticket to a country where abortion is legal, fiddling with legal stuff if necessary thanks to the lawyers their fortunes can afford and the lobbies that they're instituting.)

Revolutions happened because people broke rules too. I particularly like the 1793 Constitution in France Because it asserts that the people have the right to break rules and riot if the power in place threatens their fundamental rights:

Article 35. - Quand le gouvernement viole les droits du peuple, l'insurrection est, pour le peuple et pour chaque portion du peuple, le plus sacré des droits et le plus indispensable des devoirs. Article 35. - When the government violates the people's rights, insurrection is, for the people and for each portion of the people, the most sacred of rights and the most essential of duties.

(Of course the power in place would state and enforce and make use of propaganda to say that it's completely illegal and illegetimate and that those who riot for legitimate rights are terrorists!)

Breaking rules is at the core of anti-fascism, anti-dictatorship, anti-totalitarianism. Breaking rules is essential when those rules are abusive. Too often, those who put those rules in place really are only setting their rules of the game to establish their power over the others. Or as the reblog says: "laws are just structured threats made by the ruling socioeconomic class".

Rowling's Marauders break rules because they are the socioeconomical class in power. As such, no one can do anything about it, no one will really tell them down for it. They get excused and justified and romanticized by their peers, just like billionaires & politicians are excused by their peers and notably mainstream media (which is owned... by other billionaires). They break rules -- not because they think it's necessary and the morally right thing to do despite the dangers it puts them in -- but because it makes them feel powerful, important, invincible, which for them is very fun. As Snape says: James and his cronies broke rules because they thought themselves above them:

“Your father didn’t set much store by rules either,” Snape went on, pressing his advantage, his thin face full of malice. “Rules were for lesser mortals, not Quidditch Cup-winners. [...]”

They break rules because they're allowed to.

Which is why, in reality, the Marauders aren't really breaking rules or defying anything or opposing an actual big threat. They're a bunch of jocks who are having fun in the playground that's been attributed to them thanks to their status and family heritage (others wouldn't get the same indulgence because they don't get that privilege).

They break rules because they want to look cool, to be the "bad boys". The message has been compleyely botched. Especially with Lily actually finding this hot.

Because Rowling finds this hot:

[...] I shook hands with a woman who leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, 'Sirius Black is sexy, right?' And yes, of course she was right, as the Immeritus club know. The best-looking, most rebellious, most dangerous of the four marauders... and to answer one burning question on the discussion boards, his eyes are grey.

(Anyone has an eyes washing station?)

Another quote:

"Sirius was too busy being a big rebel to get married."

(Nevermind the eyes washing, anyone's got some bleach instead?)

Stanning James Potter for being the leader of a gang that prides itself on breaking rules and always getting away with it -- it feels like stanning Elon Musk for being "innovative" and "a daring entrepreneur" despite being a manchild who exploits workers and modern-world slavery to play with his billions while always getting away with it.

They're not being "rebels" -- they're being bullies and flexing the fact they can get away with it thanks to abundance of privilege. Those are the tastes of a posh British white woman. She wanted the facade -- not the substance (that is, if she ever understood it).

You might say that they did oppose a big threat, the Death Eaters, but again, it's botched because:

they target a lonely, unpopular boy who's best friends with a Muggleborn Gryffindor, rather than baby Death Eaters like Mulciber, Lucius, Rosier, Avery, Regulus, etc.

The leader sexually harasses the Muggleborn Gryffindor because he's sexually jealous of the unpopular boy who dared not take the insult about his chosen House and shut up. Lily is treated as an object, they don't listen to her, and they barely speak about her later. (Lots to say to show that, which I won't do here because this is not the main subject.)

When the Marauders do join the Order, they do it... because they primarily want to adopt a rock-n-roll style and play the "bad boys" again. Or at least that's the message that's given to the reader:

They seemed to be in their late teens. The one who had been driving had long black hair; his insolent good looks reminded Fisher unpleasantly of his daughter's guitar-playing, layabout boyfriend. The second boy also had black hair, though his was short and stuck up in all directions; he wore glasses and a broad grin. Both were dressed in T-shirts emblazoned with a large golden bird; the emblem, no doubt, of some deafening, tuneless rock band.

(God, the Prequel is so cringy.)

They don't choose Dumbledore as the Secret Keeper, they don't tell him they changed to Pettigrew -- even though he literally was their war leader -- James uses the Cape to fuck around even though he was supposed to be hiding with Lily and then Harry (until Dumbledore takes the Cape from him)... and eventually, their group exploded, with James killed off, Sirius thrown to Azkaban, Peter (the traitor) hiding as a rat and Lupin going off to find jobs to survive.

Why did that happen? Because they thought of playing their part in the Order like going on a teenage adventure rather than engaging in a resistance organization. It was, first and foremost, about playing "the bad boys" and having fun.

(Harry half-inherits this. While he doesn't break rules just to look cool, and actually has several moments where he does break rules because it's the right thing to do -- like under Umbridge or, of course, when Voldemort takes power -- he does often get pampered when he breaks them in his earlier years. By Dumbledore, but also McGonagall, however much Rowling tries to sell her as a "strict but fair" teacher. Or by Slughorn, now that I think about it. That's something that enraged Snape, as it brought up memories of Harry's father -- Snape's own bully -- getting the same treatment.)

It's not a coincidence that Rowling not only failed to properly convey through the Marauders the true value of breaking rules, but also lusted over them for adopting that "bad boys" trope. It speaks to her own privilege -- she who never had to put herself in danger and go against the law in a risky attempt to protect herself or other less privileged people.

(Here's a useful read to expand on those worldbuilding issues.)

2. Dark Magic, obscurantism and conservatism

For context: Opinion: The Dark Magic/Light Magic Dichotomy is Nonsense (by pet_genius).

The idea of "Dark Magic" as something that's repeatedly told to be "evil" magic and where you cross the line of the forbidden, while hardly putting in question that notion that was (for some reason) enforced by wizard society, is another blatant example of Rowling betraying her mindset of privileged British white woman.

Rowling couldn't put herself in the minds of a society of "outcasts (witches & wizards) deeply enough to consider they would not see any magic as "Dark" at all (being a ""Muggle"" concept), or that Dark magic is only magic that requires something unvaluable to be traded off -- like one's soul or health or life or sanity. Instead, she has Dark Magic defined as "evil" magic, even though her own books show that you can do evil stuff with normal magic, and that you can do morally good stuff with Dark magic. This thing happened because Rowling could not think past her own little world and instead she poured a conservatist mentality (+ typical "Muggle", anti-witch prejudice) into the HP (wizard society) worldbuilding without considering that there could, in fact, be fundamental differences between the two worlds that include thinking of magic differently. (This has a lot to do with Rowling's wizard world being a pro-imperalism fest.)

"Dark Magic" feels like a lazy, badly-executed plot device to tell the reader who's a good guy and who is not. Because of course, that's how things work in real-life, huh… (Did she ever hear of "don't tell, show"?) It's used as an excuse to define who's evil (teen Severus) or not (James), who's worthy or not -- not how their magic was used. Which is a BIG problem:

“I’m just trying to show you they’re not as wonderful as everyone seems to think they are.” The intensity of his gaze made her blush. “They don’t use Dark Magic, though.” / “Scourgify!” Pink soap bubbles streamed from Snape’s mouth at once; the froth was covering his lips, making him gag, choking him —

Even worse, Rowling doesn't follow her own in-world moral framework. Dark magic is acceptable for some people (Rowling's partial self-inserts: Dumbledore, Harry, Hermione to Marietta...) but not for those that Rowling hates (Snape, who ironically represents the closest thing to rebelling by unapologetically obsessing over the Dark Arts). Again, this is at best unadressed in-world hypocrisy, at worst an expression of in-world and out-universe privilege (I get to do this and stay a good guy, but you don't).

There could have easily been rightful criticism of whatever could be defined as "Dark Magic". What if Dark magic was just something defined as "Dark" usually because the power in place doesn't want the people to touch it? Is abortion or contraception or a sex-altering or a goverment-threatening spell, Dark Magic? Is foreign or ethnicity-specific or female-centered or queer-centered magic, "Dark"? How about showing why (Muggle-raised but also neurodivergent) Severus thought Dark magic was so great, showing his point of view, while also establishing where the true limits are? If Lily can't be the one who sees past the "fear-mongering anti-intellectualism/propaganda", how about Harry being the one who does, thanks to him relating to Snape on a personal level? How about making Hermione go from someone who condems Dark Magic, to someone who entirely changes her point of view and understands that this is all bullshit -- effectively showing the dangers of only following what the books say, without putting them into question or thinking by yourself? How about a nuanced view of Dark magic as something that requires a significant sacrifice, which is conceivable for something they see as equally or even more important [Lily's life for Harry; Snape's soul integrity for Dumbledore]? How about making the Death Eaters, people who deviate that legitimate interest, rather than just evil guys who thrive in Dark magic for its supposed added evilness? How about showing that Dark magic was just a notion invented by Muggles to throw "witches" (real or not) to the burning stakes -- later taken by the witches and wizards in power to define, in the magical community, what was okay or definitely forbidden because it's the trademark of those who represent a threat to the magical community (understand: people who riot or strike or protest against the ruling socioeconomical class' politics)?

But there was none of that.

"Dark" magic in HP merely seems to be a weird concept that at best accidentally takes the form of an in-world obscurantism, at worst is just the trademark of someone who cannot imagine a "hunted, ostracized" community with a different culture and mindset than her own. Aggravating is the fact that she used "Dark magic" as a plot device to magically cast some people as good and others as never bad – again, probably reflecting her own questionable mentality.

The fact Rowlnig invented the notion of Dark Magic and had her world consider it seriously as an evil thing instead of being open-minded seems to be less telling of her wishes to show a wizard society that can be as prejudiced as the muggle one, and more of her own bizarre world where you must be evil if you are knowledgeable in or interested in certain "taboo" things (RIP neurodivergents).

Rowling glorifies the Trio and the Marauders for breaking rules. Yet when it comes to actually breaking expectations and norms, notably in the wizarding society -- like the use of another magical species as slaves, or the blatant anti-Muggle prejudice held by everyone including "good guys" (or anti-centaur while we're at it), or stupid anti-knowledge prejudice like "Dark magic is evil" -- there is none of that. At best, it's surface-level opposition that comes out as white savior syndrome. At worst, the protagonists make it their noble code to enforce those norms, and "sinful" characters (Snape, for one) are punished for not conforming. Too often, those sinful characters are punished by the "good guys" with the very thing that they apparently oppose so fervently.

Without ever adressing the fact that those characters were ("morally") allowed to do that because it was just, in the end, a matter of who gets the privilege to do that, and who does not.

There.

Do you have anything to say to develop on those ideas? I feel like I'm reaching my knowledge limit and I'd like to see if those ideas can be expanded.

#pro snape #severus snape #harry potter #dark magic #sectumsempra #anti marauders #anti jkr #fuck jkr #classism #imperalism #colonialism #hp #hp books #hp prequel #obscurantism #bad boys #piracy #virtue signaling

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blitheringmcgonagall · 7 months

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Thanks for tagging me @enbysiriusblack @squintclover and @mppmaraudergirl 💕💕💕!

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

33 (I had more, but every few months I delete 1-2 things I’m not mad about so it doesn’t grow?)

2. what's your total ao3 word count?

612,715 🥰🥰🥰

3. what fandoms do you write for?

Only the marauders era HP

4. what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1 - We Can Be Heroes : my canon marauders fic (Jily and Wolfstar) with the ending they bloody well deserved

2 - it was A Little Risk which is a 1930s murder mystery/Anti-fascist AU but I’ve taken it down!

3 - Boys Don’t Cry: the prequel to We Can Be Heroes. A prank fic mostly from Sirius Black’s POV (pre relationships).

4 - Maybe I Waited Too Long - a doctors!marauders AU with Wolfstar and Jily. I had a laugh writing this one.

5 - This Is The Way The World Ends - it’s heartbreaking and a canon divergent Wolfstar AU about Remus getting bad news…

5. do you respond to comments? why or why not?

I always usually do, it’s one of the main reasons I love writing fics!! Without the interaction I wouldn’t bother posting istg!! People can be so kind and generous 🥺❤️

6. what is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably number 5 because it has MCD and apparently made people cry? But equally, I did write 3 short fics about 31st October 1981 from Jily, Sirius and Remus’ POV and that was pretty heartbreaking/ ugly crying stuff.

7. what is a fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Most of my fics have happy endings it’s probably a toss-up between We Can Be Heroes and Have Yourself a Merry Little Wolfenoot

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

Nope! All mine are either T rated or fade to black

10. do you write crossovers? what's the craziest one you've written?

I’ve only ever written one, a LOTR/Marauders crossover, and I actually had great fun trying to write it in LOTR style? Wolfstar are Éowyn and Faramir. It’s called Ithilin and Silmë (only wrote it because @therealrjlupin wanted it 💙)

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not as far as I know!

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

I did! It was a Jily celebrity AU translated into Chinese that I thought wasn’t any good and have since deleted 😂😂!

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

Once. It’s a WIP crackfic called One Line At A Time written with @mppmaraudergirl @theresthesnitch @missgryffin @mabeltothknows and @maraudersftw and it still makes me laugh, it’s bonkers I love them <3333

14. what's your all time favourite ship?

I’m sorry it’s so weird but I insist on putting Wolfstar and Jily/ Jily and Wolfstar tied for top spot, I just love these two couples so much <3333

15. what's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I don’t keep WIPs that I’m not planning on finishing (I delete or orphan those), but the one I’d like to finish is BLAME (a what if…? First war AU)

16. what are your writing strengths?

I have zero clue sorry you’d have to ask someone who likes my writing. I mean I’ve made people cry so there’s that?? 😬🤣

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

Again, v hard to be objective aside from vague “it’s not great” stuff? I think it has improved with writing practice and with time.

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I’ve done it in We Can Be Heroes - James speaks fluent Italian and Sirius speaks fluent French. As I can speak the languages it was ok, but I had to check with @constancezin to be sure the written French was ok!

19. first fandom you wrote for?

HP marauders

20. favourite fic you've written?

A Little Risk is the favourite thing I’ve written but I’ve taken it down, so my favourite marauders fic I’ve written and is still up is We Can Be Heroes or This Is The Way The World Ends.

Tagging @engie-ivy @mabeltothknows @therealrjlupin @annabtg @maraudersftw @greyeyedmonster-18 and anyone else who wants to <33

#tag games #marauders fics #jily and wolfstar #Wolfstar and Jily #loveliest tumblr friends #💕💕💕💕

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inthenameofallthingsholy · 1 year

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My fandoms, rated based on toxicity.

None of my opinions on shipping or anything will be shown here, for fear of my own life. Also please do not fight in the reblogs or comments.

Marvel- It’s so big that each different section could have it’s own rating, but honestly 9/10 we argue 24/7 lets be real

DCAU- 3/10 I haven’t seen much arguing, but that may be because I’m only part of the Justice League Unlimited section and I fall off the map around Batman Beyond

Star Wars- 8/10 Original Trilogy and prequels are fine but once you get to sequels it’s a dumpster fire of fighting.

Star Trek- 2/10 like Marvel there are a lot of different sections, and I usually land around the Voyager section but I have not seen much fighting at all

Hamilton- 8/10 I’m barely in this fandom anymore but Hamilton is a great example of how fanon can take something and go running with it, turning it into something it was not in the first place. Also, shipping wars everywhere.

SanderSides- 1/10 it’s really chill we really respect each other’s opinions over here. Except for RemRom arguments, nothing really goes on over here.

Glee- 9/10 *just screaming* She-Ra- 4/10 pretty chill Except for some fighting on the morality of some characters.

Owl House- 5/10 This fandom is pretty chill but there are some arguments when it came to the theories about what was gonna happen in the finale, and about who to ship Hunter with

HP Marauders- 6/10 Some arguing over fancasts maybe and some shipping stuff over Jegulus vs Jily, but honestly not as bad as the main fandom

HP Golden Trio- 9/10 Sooo many arguments over ships, wether the characters are minorities, headcanons, JK Rowling, transphobia, racism, homophobia, pedophelia, Anti Semitism, the games, etc. The fact that shipping only covers like 15% of the fighting is terrifying.

Amphibia- 4/10 I don’t know if there is much fighting about the shipping of the girls, but there is a lot of potential for arguing. And i’m pretty sure there is some arguing over morality of a few of the characters

Stranger Things- 8/10 There is a huge shipping war, and a couple of side shipping arguments.

Agents of Shield- 5/10 I think we’re fine but I could be wrong. There is a bit of arguing over who Daisy should’ve been with but eh it’s fine.

Marauders, Elizabeth’s Version- 1/10 We are sooo chill over here you have no idea lol

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judesghafa · 3 months

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welcome to my blog ๋࣭ ⭑

main dr: fame dr

my dr's: hogwarts (golden trio era), hogwarts (marauders era), mcu, star wars (prequels era), pjo, stranger things & hotd

dni: anti-shifters, racist, transphobic, homophobic and any assholeness

my dms and ask box are open for questions or if you want someone to talk to 🤍

#shiftblr #reality shift #shifters #shiftinconsciousness #shifting #shifting realities #anti shifters dni #reality shifting #desired reality

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nerdyfangirlmel · 2 years

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Ok fam someone confirm for because I’m seeing rumors but I can’t find any real info... is hbo making a a Harry Potter prequel AND is it gonna be Snape centric? Because if it is I don’t want it. If it’s Marauders centric then continue I guess

#unless jk is involved then ugh #harry potter series #hp marauders #hbo prequel #hbo #marauders #anti snape #its 3 am i dont need sleep i need answers

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severousse · 5 years

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I don't want a prequel story about the marauders. What purpose would it serve ?

Romanticizing a gang of popular bullies ?

Confirming Snape's incapacity to get over Lily after she cut off ties with him ?

Yeah no. Sorry. It's the only blank in the books that i don't want to be filled. At least not by JK Rowling.

#marauders prequel #anti-marauders #severus snape #snape #hp #harry potter #snapedom #marauders era

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chdarling · 3 years

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So, I’m constantly checking this tumblr nowadays because I’m a mountain troll who is desperate for all TLE content. Anyway, I have been having #thoughts on why JKR didn’t share any Jily further details for the past 14 years, and so because I don’t want to work, I thought I’d present them here (- sorry!): (1/?)

1. Immediately after DH, I thought we were obviously getting a First War prequel. I mean Jily, Snape, Regulus, the Marauders, heck even Barty Crouch Jnr. - It felt like so much could be further explored. (2/?)

2. In the intermittent years, I’d (almost) accepted as a fan that romance was definitely not JKR’s forte and that actually she probably saved Jily in many ways by not writing about it. (3/?)

3. Wonder if it’s because the Marauders fandom is so big that that’s the actual reason whether she never wrote a prequel/more info. She knew it would never satisfy us all, especially as so many of us are Wolfstar fans — and we know she’s adamant not to include that. (4/?)

4. Return to the fandom in lockdown and see all the JP hate on Quora. Worry a little bit that that they’ve convinced me that Snape was meant to her true love and JP was just the guy who she married for *plot reasons*. (*Obviously and thankfully I’ve moved on from this!*) (5/?)

5. Me, now, an intellectual: I think you’re right. JKR didn’t know what she had and maybe if she did by DH, she didn’t know how to write it convincingly. Snape’s love story needed to happen - it was his redemption arc. And, although The Prince’s Tale is of course an excellent chapter, unrequited love is *I feel* always a lot easier to write. I also wonder maybe we don’t hear more about Jily because she felt it would detract from Snape’s redemption/the focus on *his* love…. (6/7)

… I personally don’t think it would have done but… you know. Maybe she was expecting everyone to ship Snily at the end, or at least it be a 50:50 split, but we all know that never happened. I do find it weird that she never gave us more info on them though, so I do wonder if she intended their love to be ambiguous (giving hope to both the Snily and Jily shippers), but if so… she did a poor job. lol… (oops… actually 7/ 8)

She stated herself that their patronuses are meant to match because they’re the love of each other’s lives. And I think Lily’s letter to Sirius really subtly shows how she clearly loves James. (And don’t get me started on how “Nah, she didn’t” is absolutely awkward British man who has been imprisoned for 13 years speak for “She loved him with all her soul.”) (oops… I meant 8/9)

…Anyway, some days I still hope for a single line of “Yes, Jily were end game, silly goats. CH_Darling is writing their story exactly as I imagined it on Ao3. Oh and #transrightsarehumanrights.” …This was the top long. I’m so so sorry. I have felt this rage too long. Aha. TLE absolutely soothes it. Also, Margaret Atwood speaks greatly about how authors (including her) accidentally write things. It’s one of the core aspects of Historicist theory, Death of the Author, etc. too. (9/10 sorry again)

[Absolute final one I promise!] It’s one of the core aspects of Historicist theory, Death of the Author, etc. too. Saying that you don’t think an author intended something to happen isn’t anti-feminist. It isn’t even a negative criticism – and people absolutely say it about men too. (I loved your response to that!) [Finished! Apologies that I had so so much to say! This has all just been a really fascinating topic for me!]

——

Okay so I’m late responding to this (what’s new), but I absolutely loved reading this and agree with so much! (Also you are very sweet, I’m so happy you’re enjoying TLE! ❤️❤️❤️)

I was always a little surprised she never capitalized on the marauders love for a prequel but, to the surprise of no one, I am so so glad that she didn’t haha. I truly don’t want any official Marauders story because a) I suspect I would aggressively disagree with most of it and b) I love that it’s so open and there are so many different interpretations of that era. I would sort of hate for a “canon” version to come along and shut everything down. I mean, we all know it wouldn’t actually shut things down, but still.

So while I like to rag on the HP novels treatment of James, I’m actually not all that sad in practice that we didn’t get more info on Jily. I think narratively it was a missed opportunity in the books, but now I get to have fun. 😈

Also, I so rarely venture out from my happy Tumblr bubble so the words “JP hate on Quora” immediately made me go “who the HECK hates James Potter?!” But then I remember that, tragically, a large portion of the fandom does, in fact, hate James Potter. *clasps hands over ears* LA LA LA I CAN’T HEAR YOUUUU

Also also:

And don’t get me started on how “Nah, she didn’t” is absolutely awkward British man who has been imprisoned for 13 years speak for “She loved him with all her soul.”

Truer words have never been spoken. 😘

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts with me anon!! ❤️

#ch answers

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mariekavanagh · 3 years

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Re your post about the new Harry Potter series, considering you're such a Sirius Black fan would you not want a Marauders series?

lol nope.

You'd think I would want this, and I'm aware that there are many many people who do want a "Marauders" era prequel. But there are many reasons as to why it wouldn't work. Here are some.

This fandom is hella divisive and argumentative at the best of times. This can be a good thing, don't get me wrong. Different opinions are a good thing. But so often this fandom fails to discuss them respectfully, often resorting to just insulting the other side or shouting insults. The fandom surrounding MWPP has so many sides with people very devoted to their side - whichever side a potential TV show decides to portray, there will only be a small amount of the fandom satisfied by it.

Now lets get into the more detailed issues with a MWPP series.

1) James Potter vs Severus Snape.

If we end up with a show that outright depicts James + his friends bullying Snape (or other students), we'll have an argument about whether or not Snape deserved it, whether it's bias against Snape, MWPP fans complaining about showing their shady side, and arguments on posts that I can already see myself hastily scrolling past in which both sides are shouting at each other over who is right. It's exhausting enough already, without an official on-screen depiction to squabble over.

2) Wolfstar

Ships are great. Ships are fine. Ship who you want. You have that freedom. But there are people who like to declare their ship as canon simply because they like it so much or because there is a slither of canon "evidence". Wolfstar is one of those ships. If a prospective TV show decides to stick with canon and not confirm wolfstar, or worst still, give either character a potential love interest other than each other, there will be uproar from some areas of the wolfstar ship. Likewise, if they do push the boat out and decide to go for wolfstar, or perhaps just hint at it, there will be uproar from the anti-wolfstar community. Once again, it just comes down to the fact that this fandom so often fails to have a polite debate or conversation.

3) Casting

The lack of official on-screen material on the MWPP era means that there is a lot of fancasting for characters from that era. Which is a good thing! I do it myself, sometimes. It's a great feeling when you find an actor/person and think "Omg it's *insert name here*!" There are some very popular fancasts for the MWPP characters (Off the top of my head, Ben Barnes for Sirius, Andrew Garfield for Remus, Timothee Chalamet for Regulus and that other guy who is always shown as James in the same group whose name I cannot remember), but the reality is that these actors are extremely unlikely to be cast in these roles in any official movie/series. Aside from the people in charge perhaps just not seeing them as the right fit, the images and clips that people use for these actors as their characters are from films that are about a decade old. The actors are not young 20-somethings who can get away with playing teenagers anymore. This is perfectly logical, but I can already see it fuelling criticism about whoever is cast in the roles that fans are so loyal to seeing their fancasts playing. Endless "This actor isn't right, THIS actor should have been cast instead!" posts incoming.

4) Abusive Blacks

Oh boy. The cherry on the cake. You all know how much I dislike the headcanon that Sirius's parents were physically abusive towards him. That's just my persona preference. If a potential show or film decided to roll with this angle then I would not be the biggest fan for sure, but oh well. But this is just yet another example of an area of the MWPP fandom which is so divisive. If they show the Blacks as beating Sirius or cursing him til he's almost dead, then there will be people in favour and people against. Likewise if they don't show this, there will be people either saying this is a good thing or saying they're "going against canon" (abusive Blacks isn't canon, deal with it). Posts on the matter will quickly dissolve into name calling and shouts of "abuse apologist". Fun times.

5) Peter

I personally have a bit of a thing about people who deliberately erase Peter from works on MWPP. Yes he turned out to be a traitor and a bad guy, but you can't deny he was there all together. He was there, he was their friend, and he was very much a part of the story. But that's just me. Ultimately, Peter's divisiveness means that any characterisation in any prequel movie/series will surely be judged harshly depending on how people choose to view him, regardless of canon. The writers will have a nightmare of a time trying to satisfy an audience which all share very differing opinions as to how a younger Peter should be portrayed on screen. I would not envy their task of trying to get the balance right.

In summary, there are so many reasons as to why a MWPP would just be far too divisive to be successful, in my view. Too many topics that the fandom can never agree over, too much potential for outcries of "This angle/actor/storyline is wrong", "The writers are being disloyal to canon", "This is basically canon why are you refusing to acknowledge it?", the list goes on. I feel like any potential enjoyment to be gained from a show would ultimately be tainted by how much arguing every little aspect would trigger. And for that reason, I feel like we never will get any official on-screen prequel from this era. What production company/producer/writer/actor/literally anyone involved would want to take on such a project?

*drops mic* *sips tea* *stands up* *leaves room* *closes door*

#harry potter #MWPP #harry potter prequel #not tagging characters to avoid too much backlash #because that's the sort of fandom this is #responses welcome however

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thequibblah · 3 years

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⭐️ technically, but any small, hidden nuggets in CT that aren’t ‘relevant in the plot’ but you’re very proud of!

anon please accept my hand in marriage for asking the greatest question, as you all know i am obsessed with details that aren't relevant to the plot

i've learned a new tactic while writing this fic in which i take throwaway details i like and make them plot-relevant, so i'll try to skirt around anything that will end up being relevant in the future LOL without further ado:

1. this one combines my daily beef with jk/r — when i first wrote james and lily running into each other in diagon alley in 33, i went back and read that prequel story she wrote in which sirius and james get away from muggle cops. of course it was like, a story she handwrote for charity or something so one cant expect it to have a ton of consistency, but GOD does it piss me off that james and sirius are wearing shirts with "a large golden bird" on them. i'm going to try and say this nicely

DOES THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX, A SECRET ANTI-TERRORIST ORGANISATION, HAVE FUCKING T-SHIRTS

the marauders would probably think it's really funny to make some, actually, but in the timeline it's too early for them to even know about the order, i'd think. so i decided to resolve my anger in a healthy way, by turning it into a random t-shirt james buys off this guy in diagon alley in ch. 37. take that, joanne

2. damocles belby, who goes on to invent wolfsbane potion, is in diagon alley in 39 for this:

He had a prestigious apprenticeship with an Irish potioneer who was very particular about her ingredients. And he couldn’t blame her; brewing potions was a delicate business. Stale ingredients had ruined their research last week — he and his mentor studied potions of transformation, ways of counteracting Transfiguration through draughts instead of counterspells.

3. blishen's and ogden's being different in composition, and sirius being bad enough at potions that he didn't stop to consider if that would affect the marauder mix in 37. idiot <3

4. speaking of potions, i had lily and snape paired to brew philiatonic, a potion that "inspires friendly devotion." LOL. and then i had slughorn commend them on adding something called "essence of verite," and verite obviously implies truth...... considering how much dishonesty there was in their friendship, one has to laugh about that being snape's idea!

5. also speaking of potions, one could argue this is a throwaway detail that still establishes character, but:

“If you ask me, it’s stupid that we learn to brew these,” Sirius said, merrily stirring his potion in the wrong direction. “They’re literally banned. They’re dangerous substances. And they teach us how to make them? That’s just a recipe for trouble.” “You’d think that’d make you more enthusiastic about it,” said James as he counted stirs under his breath. “You can’t even use this for entertainment. It’s cheap and below-the-belt.” On that count, James agreed. What was the point of Amortentia? It was fake, anyway, and veered too close to compulsion for his liking. [...] “Dad thinks love potions are rot,” said James by way of agreement.

and

“What is it, pray tell?” “Ah, sir, you’re the one who told us about Felix Felicis. Surely you know what it looks like.” [...] “And why did you feel this was the answer to the problem I posed to you at the start of class?” “Well, Felix does solve your problem,” James said, sounding absolutely earnest. “I reckon if you wanted to slip someone a love potion — a pretty shit choice, pardon me, sir—” a twittering wave went around the classroom; Slughorn only hummed “—what you really need is the courage to ask them the right way. So, Felix Felicis for luck.”

in point of fact, i'm sure you all think that whole amortentia scene fakeout was horribly rude of me but it ALSO has tons of little flower language easter eggs that i will leave to those interested :)

6. james's owl being named loki — this will have a fun little callback in ch. 41!

i bet there's more but i'm at risk of stopping work to reread my own gd fic so i'll stop there LOL thank you so much for the ask!!!

#feeling so seen #ask me #anon #director's cuts

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plotwhatplotcast · 3 years

Conversation

Zodiac as Fanfics

ARIES: Straight up zombie apocalypse, love of adventure, fearless leader. They're living their best zombie life all up in that fic.

TAURUS: Their dislike of change mean they are for sure a canon accurate prequel. Think marauders era Harry Potter with none of the wolfstar or fun ships. It might kill them inside, but they know deep down, they are sturdy and dependable canon.

GEMINI: We could take the easy route here and say Twin AU. But we won't. Gemini are a never-ending list of ideas, so as a trope...they are a bunch of one shots shoved together on AO3 and labelled as 'headcanons'.

CANCER: With a deep rooted need to be needed that really shines through. You my friends, are a Family AU. You're Harry Potter if he had a family AU, you're the Twilight prequel where we watch Esme mothering her 'children'. We didn't make you this way, the trope spoke.

LEO: We all know where this is going. Leo, my charismatic, attention seeking love. You are the epitome of a Gary-Stu or Mary-Sue. You are the centre of your own fic, a choose your own adventure starring you.

VIRGO: You are the wildly detailed dystopian AU that is more world building than plot. You're the fic that had promise, but got caught in the details and then abandoned when perfection wasn't reached. You still reply to reviews to correct misconceptions.

LIBRA: You've probably guessed, but your need for balance & harmony has led us to the enemies to lovers trope. You're the Hades/Persephone fic nobody asked for, you're the villain who's 'misunderstood' & his angel faced love. You are fake harmony.

SCORPIO: Classic misunderstood scorpio. You're the re-write of the book/series from the 'villain' pov. You're the Dexter trope, where we're sympathising & justifying a typically 'bad' character. You're our complex anti-hero.

SAGITTARIUS: You are the classic high school au. You're the will they/won't they of rom coms. The best friend with commitment issues who sleeps with everyone but their ride or die. You're the small town jock with big dreams who just can't commit.

CAPRICORN: You're the police procedural au. The fic with all the details, researched meticulously for this grand AU until it no longer resembles the canon. You're the long, sweeping novel of a fanfic that gets deleted to try and publish.

AQUARIUS: You are the episodic Friends AU. You're the quirky characters and short fast storylines with a passage of time every chapter. You're the fic that doesn't end but when it gets abandoned it's okay, because there was never an ongoing plot line.

PISCES: You are the fantasy au. Your fic is filled with wonder & magic. You're the fic that creates a fantasy world out of a fantasy canon and the only resemblance is that the characters share the same name.

#hp fic #destiel #sterek #jily #wolfstar

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isidar-mithrim · 5 years

Text

Muggle clothing in the Wizarding World

Hello everybody!

This week I happened to read this post on tumblr about how the Marauders should have really looked considering they lived in the 70s, and that made me think a lot about if/how much Muggle clothing influenced wizards and witches, and I chatted about the topic also with several people on the Hinny discord (thanks for the help, guys! ^^)

I’m not a fashion expert so that won’t be the real prospective of my considerations: I just searched several key words about Muggle clothing in the seven books and drew some conclusions, and as such I got far from the main topic of that tumblr post, even if I’ll share few thoughts about that as well.

NA: I haven’t take into account TCC not the Fantastic Beast movie saga.

There will be some objective informations and some subjective considerations: please feel free to share your opinions and suggestions, to point out missing informations (I’ll forget something for sure!) or key words I should implement, to make additions etcetera ^^ I won’t mind in the least! Consider it an open conversation ;)

NA I didn’t address the topic of the Hogwarts uniform, unless it wasn’t strictly related to other considerations.

Ps: it’s a very long post but most of it are quotes! Nonetheless… brace yourself :P

Let’s start from few general informations/considerations:

“By and large, wizard clothing has remained outside of fashion, although small alterations have been made to such garments as dress robes. Standard wizard clothing comprises plain robes, worn with or without the traditional pointed hat, and will always be worn on such formal occasions as christenings, weddings and funerals. Women’s dresses tend to be long. Wizard clothing might be said to be frozen in time, harking back to the seventeenth century, when they went into hiding. Their nostalgic adherence to this old-fashioned form of dress may be seen as a clinging to old ways and old times; a matter of cultural pride.

Day to day, however, even those who detest Muggles wear a version of Muggle clothing, which is undeniably practical compared with robes. Anti-Muggles will often attempt to demonstrate their superiority by adopting a deliberately flamboyant, out-of-date or dandyish style in public.” [Pottermore]

EDIT: this is actually just an extract of a larger article (a quite amusing one, I may add!) that also thouches more about respecting the Muggle fashion of the time and children being more at ease in wearing Muggle stuff, you can find it here. I’ll quote the most inetresting bits in the conclusions ^^ Thanks @glisseowrites for the input!!

About that, there’s also an interesting thought I found in this beautiful one shot by keepcalmsmile:

“Since most wizards as a rule didn’t need to engage in manual labor, pants never became useful nor, by extension, fashionable.”

It’s a very interesting concept, imho, even if we have to consider that robes may not be the most comfortable clothe to ride a broom. It doesn’t appear as wizards and witches use brooms that much outside of Quidditch, though, so broom riding it’s probably not a good enough reason to implement trousers daily. (We’ll come back on the topic ‘wizards wearing trousers’.)

We should also point out that even in normal circumstances it seems wizards and witches aren’t that careful about wearing Muggle clothing.

“A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word.” [HP1]

Another important bit is this one:

“He [Harry] had rarely seen Mr. or Mrs. Weasley wearing anything that the Dursleys would call “normal.” Their children might do Muggle clothing during the holidays, but Mr. and Mrs. Weasley usually wore long robes in varying states of shabbiness.” [HP4]

We’ll see several proofs that the Weasley kids wears Muggle clothing during the summer (and on the Hogwarts Express).

Now, going deeper in the matter, these are the key words I looked for:

T-shirt, shirt, sweatshirt - Trousers - Jeans - Jacket & Coat – Sneakers & Trainers – Jumper & Sweater – Skirt (spoiler: there are none!) – Dress – Suit

I will make a general consideration about each, focusing on in what circumstances they are used.

I’ll copy the quotes from the books where I found them and some specific considerations (it’s up to you if read the all or not), but please be aware I have NOT included:

⁃ quotes about Harry wearing Muggle clothes when he’s not at Hogwarts or in formal wizard situations (basically, Bill’s wedding and the hiring) – so, I won’t include quotes about his clothes at home, at the Burrow, in the Hogwarts Express before changing

⁃ quotes about Muggles (like the Dursley)

⁃ quotes about sweaters, since we know Molly knitted them, and jumpers when the word was used to mention Weasley’s sweaters

⁃ quotes about dressing gown, nightshirt, nightdress, pajama and similar items (there’s an awful amount of mention of dressing gown!)

⁃ quotes very similar to a quote I’ve already shared (like, the Fat Lady wearing a pink dress)

⁃ multiple quotes from the same scene (if referred to the same piece of clothing)

I might repeat a quote if it mentions different piece of clothing (there’s a high chance I’ll forgot to do that, though XD)

Ps I wanted to put all the quote in Italic but I’m writing from my note app (where I have the automatic spell corrector, which unfortunately I really need) and I can’t do that here, and I don’t want to lose hours to do that on tumblr ^^’

T-SHIRT, SHIRT, SWEATSHIRT

These seems to be piece of clothing ‘adopted’ from the Muggles world, since they’re mostly used in informal situations (and with that I basically mean outside-Hogwarts situations).

On the other hand:

⁃ Tonks has a Weird Sisters T-shirt, so proper T-shirt were produced and sold in the Wizarding World as well. Unless Tonks made it on her own, without caring about copyright :P

⁃ Fudge uses a shirt while acting as Minister of Magic

⁃ Ron is mentioned to have an untucked shirt in a circumstance where he’s actually supposed to be wearing school robes.

⁃ Hagrid uses a shirt

⁃ James and Sirius wear a T-shirt emblazoned with a golden bird in the ‘prequel’ (the motorbike chase with the police)

All these details make me think that shirt were if not common at least embraced by the Wizarding population, so I’d presume they were sold in Wizarding shops as well, even if it’s not necessarily like that.

HP2

⁃ He and Ron had pulled off their sweaters, but Harry’s T-shirt was sticking to the back of his seat and his glasses kept sliding down to the end of his sweaty nose. [Notice that they’re not at Hogwarts]

HP3

⁃ Hagrid was sitting in his shirtsleeves at his scrubbed wooden table; his boarhound, Fang, had his head in Hagrid's lap

⁃ Harry took off his black school robes, removed his wand from his pocket, and stuck it inside the T-shirt he was going to wear under his Quidditch robes. [Harry is using a T-shirt at Hogwarts, but it seems like an extra misure he adopted to keep the wand close, and anyway he wears it under his Quidditch robes]

HP4

⁃ Charlie had a large rip in his shirt, and Percy was sporting a bloody nose. [Notice that this is set during the World Cup, where they were supposed to dress as Muggle]

HP5

⁃ Tonks stood just behind him, her bright bubble-gum-pink hair gleaming in the sunlight filtering through the dirty glass station ceiling, wearing heavily patched jeans and a bright purple T-shirt bearing the legend the weird sisters.

⁃ Their trunks arrived from Hogwarts while they were eating lunch, so that they could dress as Muggles for the trip to St. Mungo’s. Everybody except Harry was riotously happy and talkative as they changed out of their robes into jeans and sweatshirts. [This is a confirmation that the Weasley kids used jeans and sweatshirt out of school too]

⁃ Harry going at the hiring: Mrs. Weasley had laid out his freshly laundered jeans and T-shirt at the foot of his bed. [This is how Harry is going to dress for the hiring]

⁃ “Well, Minerva,” said Fudge nastily, straightening his torn shirtsleeve, “I’m afraid this is the end of your friend Dumbledore.”

⁃ Weasley, your shirt’s untucked, so I’ll have another five for that. . . [This is one of the very rare case when we see students wearing supposedly Muggle clothing at Hogwarts, but they’ve actually just left Herbology class, so they theoretically they were wearing their school robes!]

HP6

⁃ “Blimey, no,” said Hagrid, wiping his streaming eyes on the bottom of his shirt. [Hagrid wearing a shirt again]

HP7

General consideration: the trio seems to be wearing Muggle clothes all the time.

⁃ Harry watched, horrified, as she tore open Ron’s shirt.

⁃ she placed it [the horcrux] around her own neck and tucked it out of sight down the front of her shirt.

⁃ His black hair was overlong and his clothes were so mismatched that it looked deliberate: too short jeans, a shabby, overlarge coat that might have belonged to a grown man, an odd smocklike shirt. [Snape in Spinner End, dressed as Muggle]

EXTRA

⁃ Both were dressed in T-shirts emblazoned with a large golden bird [James and Sirius in the ‘prequel’]

TROUSERS

There are few mentions of ‘normal’ trousers in the books, but they seems to be both Muggle and Wizarding clothing. As for the shirts, so, I’d assumed you can find this piece of clothing in the Wizarding world as well, even if they’re not that common and not all kind of Muggle trousers are used. Again, we see Hagrid and Fudge using trousers (as they used shirts).

Also the troll and Grawp have trousers.

There’s also an additional consideration to make: it’s at least plausible that wizards and witches wear trousers (or not robes, at least) when they’re wearing a sweater (but we’ll see later it doesn’t happen very often in a wizarding environment).

HP1

⁃ He wiped it on the troll's trousers.

⁃ Hagrid was sitting in an armchair outside his house; his trousers and sleeves were rolled up, and he was shelling peas into a large bowl.

⁃ Fudge took off his pinstriped cloak and tossed it aside, then hitched up the trousers of his bottle-green suit and sat down opposite Harry. [Fudge has a cloak, so he’s dressed as a Wizard, but has a suit beneath it.]

HP4

⁃ One of them was a very old wizard who was wearing a long flowery nightgown. The other was clearly a Ministry wizard; he was holding out a pair of pinstriped trousers and almost crying with exasperation. // “Just put them on, Archie, there’s a good chap. You can’t walk around like that, the Muggle at the gate’s already getting suspicious —” [At the World Cup]

HP5

⁃ “It was my father’s,” said Sirius, throwing the ring into the sack. “Kreacher wasn’t quite as devoted to him as to my mother, but I still caught him snogging a pair of my father’s old trousers last week.” [So, a proud Pureblood used trousers too]

⁃ Mr. Weasley was not wearing wizard’s robes but a pair of pinstriped trousers and an old bomber jacket. [Mr Weasley going to the hiring dressed as a Muggle – the pinstriped trousers are mentioned again as ‘Muggle’]*

⁃ Next to Tonks was Lupin, his face pale, his hair graying, a long and threadbare overcoat covering a shabby jumper and trousers. [This is outside the platform, so presumably in a Muggle attire]**

HP6

⁃ dressed in a jacket and trousers each the size of a small marquee, was the giant Grawp,

*“No, I usually Apparate,” said Mr. Weasley, “but obviously you can’t, and I think it’s best we arrive in a thoroughly non-magical fashion . . . makes a better impression, given what you’re being disciplined for. . . .”

**At the front of the group stood Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, dressed in their Muggle best

JEANS

Jeans seems to be a piece of clothing used exclusively in ‘outside-Hogwarts’ and Muggle situations, with a single exception (as far as I found out). Harry is the one to use them the most, but presumably also all the Weasleys (I’d guess Molly excluded) seem to have a pair, as does Tonks.

HP4

⁃ He [Arthur] was wearing what appeared to be a golfing sweater and a very old pair of jeans, slightly too big for him and held up with a thick leather belt. // “What d’you think?” he asked anxiously. “We’re supposed to go incognito — do I look like a Muggle, Harry?” [Getting ready for the World Cup]

⁃ “Accio! Accio! Accio!” she shouted, and toffees zoomed from all sorts of unlikely places, including the lining of George’s jacket and the turn-ups of Fred’s jeans. [heading to the World Cup]

⁃ He slipped down from the bunk and reached for his clothes, but Mr. Weasley, who had pulled on his jeans over his own pajamas [World Cup]

HP5

⁃ Harry noticed that Ron kept moving his prefect’s badge around, first placing it on his bedside table, then putting it into his jeans pocket, then taking it out and laying it on his folded robes, as though to see the effect of the red on the black. [Ron packing for Hogwarts – he’s going to wear jeans on the Hogwarts Express]

⁃ Mrs. Weasley had laid out his freshly laundered jeans and T-shirt at the foot of his bed. [Again, Harry going to the hiring]

HP6

⁃ It took Harry a few moments to realize what McLaggen was talking about. // “Oh . . . right . . . Quidditch,” he said, putting his wand back into the belt of his jeans and running a hand wearily through his hair. “Yeah . . . he might not make it.” [This is the only time jeans are mentioned while the boys are at Hogwarts! – For context, it’s the evening and Harry is in the Gryffindor common room]

HP7

Notice that the book where jeans are mentioned the most (not counting when Harry’s wearing them) is the one where the trio doesn’t go to Hogwarts. Notice also that Hermione is never mentioned to wear jeans.

⁃ “Yes, they’re here,” said Hermione, and to Harry and Ron’s utter astonishment, she pulled out a pair of jeans, a sweatshirt, some maroon socks, and finally the silvery Invisibility Cloak. [Notice that Hermione doesn’t need new clothes – she is presumably dressed with a Muggle dress for the wedding, but we’ll come back to that]

⁃ Ron bounded off the bed and got there first. One arm around Hermione, he fished in his jeans pocket

⁃ “D-diffindo,” she said, pointing her wand at Ron, who roared in pain as she slashed open the knee of his jeans, leaving a deep cut.

⁃ “It’s no wonder I can’t get it out, Hermione, you packed my old jeans, they’re tight.” [Ron has had at least another pair before this one]

⁃ Ron glared at her, then pulled a small silver object from his jeans pocket.

⁃ “Serves him right,” said Ron, examining his torn jeans and the cuts to his leg.

JACKET & COAT

This is a piece of clothing mentioned quite often, and jacket are available in the Wizarding World as well (for example, Fred and George buy dragon leather jackets).

Notice, though, that jackets and coats are never mentioned to be worn by students while at Hogwarts. However, Hagrid (who seems to use a jacket/coat regularly), Grawp, Slughorn and Flich do (but of course they don’t wear school robes).

HP1

⁃ Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat gray rat, which was asleep.

⁃ Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle.

⁃ “Neville, you can look!" Ron said. Neville had been sobbing into Hagrid's jacket for the last five minutes.

⁃ pulling off their wizard robes and putting on jackets and coats; pulling into platform nine and three-quarters at King's Cross Station.

⁃ A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word.

⁃ From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box [Hagrid – many mentions of his coat in all the books. It’s moleskin]

⁃

HP2

⁃ He [Ron] dropped his books into the cauldron, too, and started toward Malfoy, but Harry and Hermione grabbed the back of his jacket.

⁃ After a quick half a dozen bacon sandwiches each, they pulled on their coats and Mrs. Weasley took a flowerpot off the kitchen mantel- piece and peered inside.

HP3

⁃ Filch, the caretaker, who had taken off his usual brown coat and was wearing a very old and rather moldy- looking tailcoat. [Filch dressing up for Christmas]

⁃ Fudge consulted the large gold pocket watch dangling from his waistcoat. [Again, Fudge seems to dress differently than most wizards]

HP4

Jackets are mentioned several times during the World Cup.

⁃ “Accio! Accio! Accio!” she shouted, and toffees zoomed from all sorts of unlikely places, including the lining of George’s jacket and the turn-ups of Fred’s jeans.

⁃ He slipped down from the bunk and reached for his clothes, but Mr. Weasley, who had pulled on his jeans over his own pajamas, said, “No time, Harry — just grab a jacket and get outside — quickly!”

⁃ Harry dug in the pockets of his jacket for his own wand — but it wasn’t there. The only thing he could find was his Omnioculars. // “Harry, come on, move!” Hermione had seized the collar of his jacket and was tugging him backward.

⁃ Up at the staff table, Filch, the caretaker, was adding chairs. He was wearing his moldy old tailcoat in honor of the occasion. [Again, Filch is dressing up for Durmstrang and Beauxbatons]

HP5

⁃ Mr. Weasley was not wearing wizard’s robes but a pair of pinstriped trousers and an old bomber jacket. [Again, going to the hiring dressed as a Muggle]

⁃ “I came on the Knight Bus,” said Hermione airily, pulling off her jacket before Harry had time to speak.

⁃ After a hurried breakfast they pulled on jackets and scarves against the chilly gray January morning. Harry had an unpleasant constricted sensation in his chest; he did not want to say goodbye to Sirius.

⁃ …unshaven man in a tattered over- coat materialized right in front of them. [Mundungus – it’s mentioned more than once]

⁃ Harry was relieved to hear her say this; his hands were growing numb on the Firebolt’s handle. He wished he had thought to put on a coat; he was starting to shiver.

⁃ Professor McGonagall, looking very odd in a Muggle dress and coat, though she also seemed too busy to linger.

⁃ Her eyes traveled over Hagrid’s discolored and swollen face; dragon blood dripped gently onto his waistcoat in the silence.

⁃ They all followed her up the escalator, Moody clunking along at the back of the group, his bowler tilted low and one gnarled hand stuck in between the buttons of his coat, clutching his wand.

⁃ Rita blotted the front of her grubby raincoat, still staring at Hermione.

⁃ Next to Tonks was Lupin, his face pale, his hair graying, a long and threadbare overcoat covering a shabby jumper and trousers. [At the platform, to greet Harry]

⁃ Fred and George, who were both wearing brand-new jackets in some lurid green, scaly material. [At the platform, to greet Harry]**

HP6

⁃ “The Minister of Magic only reveals him- or herself to the Muggle Prime Minister of the day,” said Fudge, poking his wand back inside his jacket.

⁃ The wandlight sparkled on his shiny pate, his prominent eyes, his enormous, silver, walruslike mustache, and the highly polished buttons on the maroon velvet jacket he was wearing over a pair of lilac silk pajamas. [Slughorn description]

⁃ Slughorn was wearing a tasseled velvet hat to match his smoking jacket.

⁃ dressed in a jacket and trousers each the size of a small marquee, was the giant Grawp,

⁃ Dumbledore drew his wand from an inside pocket of his suit jacket, pointed it at the shabby wardrobe in the corner, and gave the wand a casual flick. [Dumbledore in the pensive at Tom’s orphanage]

⁃ “I didn’t put it in!” said Harry, grinning broadly. He slipped his hand inside his jacket pocket and drew out the tiny bottle that Hermione had seen in his hand that morning. [This is the one time a student is mentioned wearing a jacket at Hogwarts – this is after the Quidditch match]

⁃ Fred and George, who were wearing jackets of black dragon skin.

⁃ Harry knew this must be Ogden; he was the only person in sight, and he was also wearing the strange assortment of clothes so often chosen by inexperienced wizards trying to look like Muggles: in this case, a frock coat and spats over a striped one-piece bathing costume. [mentioned several times]

HP7

⁃ Slughorn stood up, his bald head gleaming in the candlelight, his big waistcoated belly casting the table below into shadow [mentioned several times]

⁃ said Dedalus, pulling an immense pocket watch out of his waistcoat and examining it.

⁃ The beaded bag containing all of their possessions (…) was tucked into an inside pocket of Hermione’s buttoned-up coat.

⁃ Luna, who was huddled in one of Fleur’s coats,

⁃ Draco Malfoy was standing there with his wife and son, a dark coat but- toned up to his throat.

**they have dragon jackets, as Moody has his cloak, but “At the front of the group stood Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, dressed in their Muggle best”

SNEAKERS & TRAINERS

Among the wizard (beside Harry) only Ron is mentioned to have them. They both used them at Hogwarts too.

HP1

⁃ Ron's were a bit short for him, you could see his sneakers underneath them.

⁃ Drenched and sputtering, Ron staggered sideways into Harry, just as a second water bomb dropped — narrowly missing Hermione, it burst at Harry’s feet, sending a wave of cold water over his sneakers into his socks. // “Says who?” said Harry, taking off his sneakers and emptying them of water.

HP5

⁃ Harry pulled some crumpled robes out of the very bottom of his trunk to make way for folded ones and, as he did so, noticed a badly wrapped package lying in a corner of it. He could not think what it was doing there. He bent down, pulled it out from underneath his trainers, and examined it.

HP6

⁃ “I thought so,” he said jubilantly. “I heard Goyle’s trunk hit you. And I thought I saw something white flash through the air after Zabini came back. . . .” // His eyes lingered for a moment upon Harry’s trainers. [Harry on the Hogwarts Express]

⁃ “I expect your trainers are too small, Won-Won,” said a voice behind them, and Hermione stalked past, smirking.

⁃ He [Harry] skidded around the corner, his trainers slippery with blood; Snape had an immense head start.

HP7

⁃ “And that one,” she pointed at an ancient sneaker, “should have been Dad and Fred’s, they were supposed to be second.

JUMPER & SWEATER

It seems to be a Wizard things as well since Molly made several of them. I’ve only included quotes where someone is actually wearing a sweater in a ‘magical’ environments (and I didn’t include Dobby). Only once Harry is actually said to having worn the sweater at Hogwarts, and during the Christmas morning.

HP1

⁃ Fred and George were wearing blue sweaters, one with a large yellow F on it, the other a G. [It’s unclear if they’re wearing them on they’re pajamas, they went into Ron and Harry’s dorm very early]

HP2

⁃ He [Percy] was already dressed, his Hogwarts prefect badge pinned to his sweater vest. [?? Not sure what this is…]

⁃ Harry didn’t even care that Draco Malfoy was making loud, snide remarks about his new sweater from the Slytherin table. [That’s the only clear evidence that Harry wore a sweater at Hogwarts@]

HP3

⁃ Not a quote: Harry and Ron unwrap their sweater, but it’s never said if they also wore it (Hermione comes in with Crookshanks)

HP4

⁃ Not a quote: again, Harry and Ron unwrap their sweater, but it’s never said if they also wore it

HP5

⁃ Lupin, his face pale, his hair graying, a long and threadbare overcoat covering a shabby jumper and trousers.

HP6

⁃ Everybody was wearing new sweaters when they all sat down for Christmas lunch, everyone except Fleur [At the Burrow]

⁃ By the time they had got dressed, padding themselves out with several of Mrs. Weasley’s hand-knitted sweaters and carrying cloaks, scarves, and gloves, Ron’s shock had subsided and he had decided that Harry’s new spell was highly amusing; [the trio going at Hogsmeade]

HP7

The trio is mentioned to wear sweaters several times

SKIRT

There’s only one mention, but it doesn’t seem like it’s a proper skirt – just the bottom of a robe.

⁃ “Urgh,” said Hermione, holding up the skirts of her robe to avoid the puddles of sick. [Hermione as Mafalda before entering in the Minister to detail the Horcrux]

DRESS

This is a very generic word, and it’s not always clear if a ‘dress’ is a ‘dress robe’ (and also wizards uses them, not only witches – they are the formal wear I’d say) or a ‘normal dress’ (as the one we would wear). Notice that it’s very plausible that ‘normal dresses’ are sold in the Wizarding World as well. The only time ti’s specified that a dress is a ‘Muggle dress’ it’s when Harry saw MgGonagall wearing one for and Order mission.

We should highlight that, as mentioned before, “Women’s dresses tend to be long.” [Pottermore]

HP1

⁃ At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress. [Since it’s made of silk, it seems likely it’s a normal dress]

HP3

⁃ Snape stumbled; he was wearing a long, lace-trimmed dress and a towering hat topped with a moth-eaten vulture, and he was swinging a huge crimson handbag. [Snape dressed as Augusta: since she’s a very old witch, I’d assume that’s a dress robe. but being lace-trimmed it could be a normal dress as well]

⁃ It was Professor Trelawney, gliding toward them as though on wheels. She had put on a green sequined dress in honor of the occasion, making her look more than ever like a glittering, oversized dragonfly. [Again, the material may suggest it’s a ‘normal dress’]

HP5

⁃ he also caught sight of his Transfiguration teacher, Professor McGonagall, looking very odd in a Muggle dress and coat [I think that’s the only time it’s actually specified!]

⁃ a formidable-looking old witch wearing a long green dress [Again, Augusta wearing a non better defined ‘dress’]

HP6

⁃ I think we’d better do Madam Malkin’s first, Hermione wants new dress robes, and Ron’s showing much too much ankle in his school robes

⁃ they heard a familiar voice issuing from behind a rack of dress robes in spangled green and blue. [Draco Malfoy buying dress robes]

⁃ a girl whose ragged gray dress [Merope – would she use Muggle dress with such a father…?]

⁃ Lavender that took in everything from precisely what Ron had said about her new dress robes

⁃ Everybody was wearing their dress robes and no one seemed very hungry. [Before Dumbledore’s funeral]

HP7

⁃ his dress robes felt hot and tight in the full glare of a summer’s day. [Harry at the wedding – all the men are wearing dress robes, and Fred complains about it]

⁃ She was wearing a floaty, lilac-colored dress with matching high heels; [Hermione at the wedding – since she’s using heels and later on after the attach in London she doesn’t take clothes for herself from the bag, I’d say it’s a Muggle dress]

⁃ Fleur was wearing a very simple white dresses and seemed to be emitting a strong, silvery glow [I’d assume it’s a normal dresses]

⁃ Ginny and Gabrielle, both wearing golden dresses, looked even prettier than usual [as above]

⁃ Harry and Ron joined a number of oddly dressed men descending into what appeared to be an ordinary underground public toilet, tiled in grimy black and white. [sneaking in the Ministry]

SUIT

Again, we have a few wizards using them: Fudge, Hagrid, Filch, Tom Riddle/Voldemort

HP2

⁃ The stranger had rumpled gray hair and an anxious expression, and was wearing a strange mixture of clothes: a pinstriped suit, a scarlet tie, a long black cloak, and pointed purple boots. Under his arm he carried a lime-green bowler. [Fudge]

HP3

⁃ Fudge took off his pinstriped cloak and tossed it aside, then hitched up the trousers of his bottle-green suit and sat down opposite Harry.

⁃ Mr. Weasley marched Harry across the short stretch of pavement toward the first of two old-fashioned dark green cars, each of which was driven by a furtive-looking wizard wearing a suit of emerald velvet.

⁃ Averting his eyes from this unpleasant sight, Harry saw a gigantic, hairy brown suit and a very horrible yellow-and-orange tie hanging from the top of Hagrid's wardrobe door. [Hagrid wearing is horrible brown hairy ’best suit’, mentioned more than once]

HP4

⁃ Both were dressed as Muggles, though very inexpertly: The man with the watch wore a tweed suit with thigh-length galoshes; his colleague, a kilt and a poncho. [World Cup]

⁃ Barty Crouch was a stiff, upright, el- derly man, dressed in an impeccably crisp suit and tie. [World Cup]

⁃ A harassed-looking wizard was holding his small daughter tightly by the ankle while she flapped around his head using the immensely large, feathery wings that had sprouted right out the back of her romper suit. [Saint Mungo’s]

HP6

⁃ The house-elf returned within minutes, followed by a tall young man Harry had no difficulty whatsoever in recognizing as Voldemort. He was plainly dressed in a black suit; [Voldemort at Miss Hepzibah’s house]

⁃ This younger Albus Dumbledore’s long hair and beard were auburn. Having reached their side of the street, he strode off along the pavement, drawing many curious glances due to the flamboyantly cut suit of plum velvet that he was wearing. [Dumbledore going at the orphanage – mentioned more than once]

⁃ Madam Pince standing be- side Filch, she in a thick black veil that fell to her knees, he in an ancient black suit and tie reeking of mothballs.

EXTRA (for no real reasons :P)

HP2

A few of Gilderoy Lockhart’ robes:

⁃ Gilderoy Lockhart came slowly into view, seated at a table surrounded by large pictures of his own face, all winking and flashing dazzlingly white teeth at the crowd. The real Lockhart was wearing robes of forget-me-not blue that exactly matched his eyes; his pointed wizard’s hat was set at a jaunty angle on his wavy hair.

⁃ Several seats along, Harry saw Gilderoy Lockhart, dressed in robes of aquamarine.

⁃ Gilderoy Lockhart, however, was immaculate in sweeping robes of turquoise, his golden hair shining under a perfectly posi- tioned turquoise hat with gold trimming.

HP4

Rita Skeeter

⁃ This is Rita Skeeter,” he added, gesturing toward the witch in magenta robes.

HP5

Harry dressing up for his date: Harry had had very little time to spare on conversations with Cho since they had agreed to visit the village together, but suddenly found himself facing a Valentine’s Day spent entirely in her company. // On the morning of the fourteenth he dressed particularly carefully.

HP6

Luna for the Christmas party: She was wearing a set of spangled silver robes that were attracting a certain amount of giggles from the onlookers, but otherwise she looked quite nice.

Dumbledore funeral:

⁃ Everybody was wearing their dress robes and no one seemed very hungry.

⁃ Harry glimpsed Slughorn at the head of the Slytherin column, wearing magnificent, long, emerald green robes embroidered with silver. He had never seen Professor Sprout, Head of the Hufflepuffs, look- ing so clean; there was not a single patch on her hat, and when they reached the entrance hall, they found Madam Pince standing be- side Filch, she in a thick black veil that fell to her knees, he in an ancient black suit and tie reeking of mothballs.

CONSIDERATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

⁃ Hogwarts informal wear

Personally, at least until watching the movies I’ve always imagined the students wearing the school robes all the time, with whatever shoes they liked.

In general, I feel like until HP6 there aren’t clear evidence of the contrary beside the mention of Draco mocking Harry for his new sweater in HB2, so my first impression seems at least legit.

In HP6 we have Harry wearing jeans one evening and a jacket after a Quidditch match, and Ron wearing a shirt (but in a moment where he should have had school robes, so it would be legit to assume shirts were part of the uniform.). To be honest, I can’t help wondering if JKR had been partially influenced by the movies at that point, or if she’s always imagined it that way and didn’t specified.

It’s also possible that Harry never ‘registered’ these things because everybody dressed in jeans and T-shirt after the classes or on the Hogwarts Express, and that was totally normal for him.

Anyway, the lack of informations about other kids clothing beside the Weasley makes hard to imagine what the kids wear outside the school and – especially – what they wear in the informal moment at Hogwarts, if it’s indeed allowed to wear other things beside the uniform.

My guess would be that more open wizards and witches as the Weasleys wear also proper Muggle pieces, like jeans, but that more conservative wizards and witches as the Malfoys or the Blacks might prefer the usual robes to trousers, sweaters, jackets, shirts coming from the Wizarding World.

⁃ Did the Marauders embraced the fashion of the 70s?

Even if this was the topic that originated all my thoughts, I believe I haven’t grabbed any really useful information to help me understanding that.

Because, yes, we know the Weasleys kids used Muggle clothing, but that’s basically the extend of it. It’s not clear how many kids do the same (many, probably), it’s not clear if they bought these clothes in the Muggle world or in Wizarding shops, it’s not clear if they were fashionable clothes for their times (I assume that at least in partial they had to be, if they bought them in the Muggle world).

Personally, while I can imagine Sirius and Remus buying stuff in the Muggles world (for different reasons: the first out of spite/taste, the second because he’s mother is a Muggle), I have a harder time imagining James doing the same at least until he lived at home, if not to ‘emulate’ Sirius. And in general I’d say that probably only Sirius could have been really interested in being ‘cool’ in the Muggle way…

Still, we know they wore T-shirt in the little ‘prequel’ JKR wrote (while they’re clothes while they are in the Hogwarts Express with Lily and Severus aren’t described.)

Anyway, imho buying clothes from a Muggle shops doesn’t automatically means embracing the Muggle fashion of the time in other aspect, like the hair cut; I think that about that it’s also important to consider how the Marauders are presented in the narration: Harry doesn’t ‘register’ them as having odd hair or things like that – on the contrary, James has the same hair, for example, and I’d consider that as a clue that wizards didn’t necessarily follow the Muggle fashion of the time.

There’s also to say, though, that I’m biased on the matter, because I read the books for the first time when I was a kid, and as such I didn’t even know what the 70s were, so I’ve obviously imagined them as looking ‘contemporary’, despite the robes.

Actually, for a long while I’ve took for granted the HP saga in general was contemporary: I’m not sure when I found out it wasn’t the case. May be JKR did some statements about? I believe I knew it before reading James and Lily’s date of birth and death…

That’s to say that in general she probable hasn’t put that much attention in setting the story in a specific time/fashion: after all, I’m not sure it’s that likable, even for the very spoiled Dudley, that he had a personal computer in his room at least since 1991… But may be in Italy computers arrived later in the houses, who knows.

EDIT1: see below

Young vs Old wizard and witches

Last consideration!

Assuming that almost every kid wears Muggle clothes during the summer (or Hogwarts informal moments) as the Weasley do (which is quite likely, despite the lack of proofs), we still have to ponder if that’s:

⁃ a new thing, a sign of the progress of time in the Wizarding World, and as such those kids will kept wearing Muggle clothing in informal situation even when they’ll get older [so, the Marauders may have not do it – again, Sirius could have been the exception]

⁃ a constant that repeats itself in each generation, with kids wearing Muggle clothes when young but normally switching to robes when older (or when they start working, for example)

Personally I’d like to imagine it’s the first option, since I believe the Wizarding World should be more open about that ;)

EDIT 2: There’s actually a third option I had’t consider at the beginning: both statements could be true! So, we can imagine that while until the 90s only the kids were at ease with Muggle clothing, after the second Wizarding War vs Voldemort those who are kids/teens in the 90s will keep using Muggle clothing outside the office, at least from time to time ^^

EDIT1: “Younger generations have always tended to be better informed about Muggle culture in general; as children, they mingle freely with their Muggle counterparts; later, when they enter magical careers, it becomes more difficult to keep in touch with normal Muggle dress. Older witches and wizards are often hopelessly out of touch with how quickly fashions in the Muggle world change; having purchased a pair of psychedelic loon pants in their youth, they are indignant to be hauled up in front of the Wizengamot fifty years later for arousing widespread offence at a Muggle funeral.” [Pottermore]

So basically I was wrong about both LOL :P

Ok, I think I said it all, or at least I hope so ;) Thanks for getting that far!!

Again, feel free to share your thoughts!

#harry potter #muggle fashion #muggle clothing #wizarding world #wizarding fashion #essay #i know it's very long #I'll pretend it's because of the quotes #i'm very nerdy #and yet the soothing hat doesn't think I'm a Ravenclaw #which may be is a good thing #who knows #70s #marauders #wealsey #harry #jeans #robes

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ao3feed-jily · 4 years

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The Marauders: Book One

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/33v7HGJ

by ironshields

Join James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter as they begin their first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Words: 1297, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M

Characters: James Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Severus Snape, Minerva McGonagall, Regulus Black, Walburga Black, Orion Black, Fleamont Potter, Charlus Potter, Lyall Lupin, Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, Lucius Malfoy, Narcissa Black Malfoy, Bellatrix Black Lestrange, Andromeda Black Tonks, Druella Rosier Black, Gideon Prewett (Harry Potter), Fabian Prewett, Molly Weasley, Arthur Weasley, Bilius (Harry Potter), Frank Longbottom, Alice Longbottom, Voldemort (Harry Potter), Tom Riddle

Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Marlene McKinnon/Dorcas Meadowes, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & Peter Pettigrew & James Potter, Remus Lupin & Lily Evans Potter, Minerva McGonagall & James Potter, Lucius Malfoy/Narcissa Black Malfoy

Additional Tags: book-length fic, previews on here, wolfstar, jily, Anti-Snape, can have hints of sexual abuse later on, first year, Hogwarts, Harry Potter - Freeform, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Comedy, prequel to harry potter, ships, Fun, School, Kisses, Angst, baby Marauders

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/33v7HGJ

#ao3feed #fanfic #Harry Potter #Jily #James Potter #Lily Evans #Lily Potter #Lily Evans Potter

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blitheringmcgonagall · 3 years

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The Prank - Boys Don’t Cry

Happy Birthday @constancezin!!! I hope you have a fantastic day and thank you for spoiling us with your Jily and Marauders art all year! This chapter is the final one of this fic and a bit angsty but hopefully you still enjoy it!

🥳🥳🎂🎂🥰🥰🎁🎁💖💖😘😘

Chapter 5: Boys Don't Cry

“Is that…?” Peter pointed out of the tall common room window.

In the shadow of the rising moon, a thin, slightly hunched figure, head bent down to avoid the heavy downpour, with shoulder length dark hair, walking in the direction of-

“Sirius, what the fuck did you do?” he seized his friend’s arm and swung him around, grabbing him by his shirt collar, hazel eyes blazing, blood pounding in his ears.

“It’s Snivellus,” Wormy said, nervous blue eyes flickering between James’ flushed face and Sirius’ expressionless white one.

“ANSWER ME YOU BASTARD! WHY DID YOU TELL HIM?” a vice-like grip on his shirt, practically lifting Sirius into the air.

Sirius stayed silent.

“Get McGonagall,” he turned to Peter. “Tell her Snape found out, get her to the shack, now!”

Before Peter could reply, he was already gone, hurtling down the stairs, running faster than he had ever run in his entire life.

Don’t think, just run, don’t think, just run…

Over and over, relentlessly pushing away any thoughts about why or how or what.

Don’t think, just run, don’t think, just run…

#boys don’t cry #we can be heroes prequel #canon marauders #the prank #angsty obv #marauders #sirius black #remus lupin #james potter #lily evans #Peter pettigrew #sneep #anti Snape

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prongsmydeer · 6 years

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I’ve previously stated that when people say “Why have James and Harry as POC?” it’s fair enough to respond, “Why not?” but there are also some reasons that specifically drive me towards representing them that way. So, without further ado, here’s why I tend to view James Potter as a person of colour.

(Please note that this isn’t about authorial intent, since I’m more than aware that JKR doesn’t exactly write with the purpose of people reading her main characters as POC. It’s more about how the narrative connects as a reader, as well as some personal preferences.)

Racially-Coded Language Directed At James

[...] Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be. The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that. (PS1)

and, after Vernon claims James had been unemployed in POA:

“As I expected!” said Aunt Marge, taking a huge swig of brandy and wiping her chin on her sleeve. “A no-account, good-for-nothing, lazy scrounger who —” (POA2)

There’s a very specific trend in the way that the Dursleys speak about James. “Good-for-nothing,” as soon as he’s introduced, a sentiment repeated by Marge. “Wastrel” in that same chapter of POA. And the way that Marge reacts to James being “unemployed” is very much akin to anti-immigrant rhetoric, i.e. considering them a drain of public resources. It’s classist too, certainly, but that’s not divorced from racial dynamics. The greatest employment disparities in Britain occur among ethnic minorities. And that’s in recent reports. I can guarantee it was worse approximately 30 years ago, during the setting of HP. On top of that, the idea that the Harry’s “otherness” can be identified on sight also reads like an allusion to race.

Harry’s Appearance

He shot a nasty look sideways at Harry, whose untidy hair had always been a source of great annoyance to Uncle Vernon. (POA2)

and

Professor Flitwick was walking past a boy with untidy black hair . . . very untidy black hair. . . (OOTP28)

James and Harry share most of their features. The most prominent of these is by far James’s hair, which is consistently described as both “black” and “untidy.” Neither is a trait exclusive to people of colour, but there certainly is a tendency for people of colour to face greater scrutiny for the state of their hair. The Dursleys’ view that having “improper” hair somehow equates lacking societal worth is much along those lines. It’s not at all unreasonable to relate Harry’s struggle with his hair as partly the product of his heritage.

Dynamic Balance Between James and Lily

This one is a point of personal preference. Since we know so little about either James or Lily, it’s hard to gauge what exactly their relationship was like. But I absolutely love the idea of James as a person of colour and a pure-blood while Lily is white and Muggle-born. Although there’s a claim that there’s no racism in the wizarding world (I’d question that, but that’s a different post), there certainly would be in 1970s Muggle UK. It’s an interesting dynamic to engage with — James, completely unaware of why people would look askew his relationship with Lily even in the Muggle world. Lily, turning indignant protector for James, while people dislike him for his heritage. It’s all the appeal of a role reversal AU but built into canon-compliance.

Presumption of Delinquency

For the space of a heartbeat both policemen imagined guns gleaming at them, but a second later they saw that the motorcyclists had drawn nothing more than —

“Drumsticks?” jeered Anderson. “Right pair of jokers, aren’t you? Right, we’re arresting you on a charge of —” (Prequel)

and

Harry preferred Little Whinging by night, when the curtained windows made patches of jewel-bright colors in the darkness and he ran no danger of hearing disapproving mutters about his “delinquent” appearance when he passed the householders. (OOTP1)

This one’s a bit more depressing, but it’s something that I think holds true for many people of colour in places where they aren’t the majority. Whether in a local neighbourhood, with a police officer, or at an airport, it’s easy enough to think of an instance of racial profiling. Being treated as a threat by people who don’t really know you. In James and Sirius’s interaction with the police, up until that point they’re smarmy, sure, but have made no indication that they’re any kind of threat. They reach back in their pockets and immediately the assumption is that they have guns. Harry experiences similar profiling. In that same chapter, he talks about how some of the neighbourhood kids are afraid of him. Admittedly, he’s got the Dursleys’ badmouthing and the state of his clothing going against him, but James is well-dressed and cared-for and still treated as if he might become violent.

Nuanced Representation Through James

This point is less about the text itself, and more about how interpreting James as a person of colour is beneficial to readers of colour. Although he sort of gets the least physical presence in the series, the things we do see inform us that he’s got quite the story. He’s described, along with Sirius, as “the cleverest [student] in school,” in POA, he becomes an animagus at the age of fifteen, and he saves the life of his worst enemy (who later sells him out to Voldemort). He dedicates his life to a war that his blood status exempts him from. And he’s got obvious flaws as well! He’s arrogant, sometimes rude, and loyal to the point of being blind to the possibility of betrayal. Of all of the Marauders’ era characters, James has some of the most interesting characterization. In a series where people of colour barely feature, the idea that someone like James (and subsequently Harry) could be men of colour is very exciting.

And, for what it’s worth, I actually think it’s kind of cool that James is so well-off financially. It’s not only a reversal of expectations with the earlier point of racially-coded insults, but also offers a version of an ethnic minority who doesn’t necessarily have a class disadvantage. And, if you’re on the Desi James train, it actually plays into a specific narrative of migration and employment for Indians in the UK prior to 1981. Racial discrimination and class do not always follow each other, and I think that disconnect can be jarring for those who consider themselves relatively privileged. Again, it’s something I think is interesting to explore.

Diverse Magical Heritage

Again, this idea comes down to personal preference. Since James comes from a long line of mostly pure-bloods, that means that if he is interpreted as a person of colour, there’s an entire magical tradition that can come with that. All of the HP spells are Latin-based, but if you read James as Desi (as I do) then there’s the potential for Sanskrit-based spells! Indian wizard holidays! If Christian wizards celebrate Christmas, surely Hindu wizards celebrate Diwali? Or Muslim wizards celebrate Eid? Not to mention the cool idea of life-cycle rites coming into play. I’d love to see a wizard version of annaprashan, where instead of reaching for just books or toys, you could have Harry reaching for a wand for power, or the Mahabharata for courage. Not to mention that James’ family has a long history in potions, which actually seems closer to Ayurvedic medicine than chemistry. There are so many possibilities that come from seeing James as a person of colour. These are only a few examples.

#ayesha says things #james potter #preemptively included links for your perusal #normally i'd use a read more but THEY'RE BROKEN #long post #racism #also this isn't me trying 2 convince u it's just a long ramble about my feelings #popular #potters of colour

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tisthenightofthewitch · 6 years

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Ghost interview: the masked metal band on their new “positive” record about The Plague

To begin, a horror story…

It’s chilling to think how The Black Death arrived in Ghost’s native Sweden. In fact, there’s a deeply upsetting story on the website Gizmodo that can be summarised thus. After marauding through Asia, by the late 1340’s, the plague arrived in England. A decade of horror followed. Then a ship left England for Scandinavia; it’s cargo, a shipment of wool. The plague killed every man aboard. The ship then drifted for a few years or so, the disease feasting on the rotting corpses of the crew, until it ultimately ran aground near Bergen, Norway.

From then the plague spread into Sweden. Then into Russia. By 1353, one in three Europeans had lost their lives. It would take two hundred years for Europe’s population to return to pre-plague numbers.

“I think this record might be the first positive record ever written about the plague,” says Tobias Forge of Ghost, describing his fourth studio album ‘Prequelle’ with just enough levity in his voice to acknowledge the ridiculousness of that statement. “Essentially, it’s a record about survival, start to finish. The record takes you through the idea of mortality, before ending on the question, ‘if you could circumvent death… would you?’ I come from the metal underground, and the subject of The Black Death has been excavated many times. But those records are about the decimation of everything, and little light is shown to the survivors. There’s an argument that mankind learned a lot of good from what happened…”

This talk of the Bubonic Plague is almost certainly allegory. ‘Prequelle’, see, is the follow up to 2015’s ‘Meliora’, the record that dug Ghost out of the metal underground, and anointed them a pretty big deal. This meant tours with Iron Maiden and Slayer, Avenged Sevenfold and Deftones. It meant acclaim from the fuzzy lips of Dave Grohl – not in itself especially impressive; like an alt-rock Bono, Grohl knows the cool bands he needs to anoint and when – the masked Foo Fighter being rumoured to have sat in on drums for the band on a variety of occasions (as we’ll get to, you wouldn’t know otherwise), as well as producing their ‘If You Have Ghost EP’ in 2013. ‘Meliora’’s stand-out song, ‘Circice’, even won a Grammy for Best Metal Performance in 2016. ‘Prequelle’ arrives with much expectation. It also arrives with Tobias bruised and battered by its creation.

‘Prequelle’ is a record about looking forward. But first, a look back. Early 2017 saw Tobias sued by former Ghost personnel, claiming the frontman had, “in an underhanded and shameless way, attempted to transform Ghost from a band into a solo project with hired musicians”. Tobias responded that “no legal partnership” ever existed between him and the other members, that they were paid a fixed salary to perform as his wont, that they were essentially session musicians. Like everything does now, this all played out in public, with opinion welcome from anyone. Where this gets really messy, is that unless you had an in, nobody really knew who any of Ghost were. Tobias performed as a variety of masked cardinals; three iterations of the demonic anti-pope Papa Emeritus, changing each record. The band performed in masks as the Nameless Ghouls. They were sort of like KISS if that band sang about Satanic scripture instead of shagging. Legal proceedings forced Tobias out of the shadows and shot mystique in the head”

“All things considered, a year down the line, having been through so much turmoil,” says Tobias, with acceptance that he now only has to pretend to be an actual ghoul onstage, not off it, “I’ve come to realise that what happened needed to happen. Also, I’m a big fan of rock, of rock history, and I’ve read every classic rock biography of every band I’m a fan of. You know what? The same shit takes place in every single one. A friend of mine, a very successful songwriter, said to me, ‘you’re not really in the game until you’ve been sued, so welcome in!’ and I think he’s got a point. I’ve been in lots of situations in my life where I’ve managed to turn pain into growing pains. Really, what happened was a receipt that things are going well.”

Tobias takes a deep breath.

“It’s fine. It’ll be over…”

It is unquestionable this experience shaped the record’s DNA, even if, with the lengthy process of litigation dragging along in the background, there is a limit to how much Tobias can say. Freely, that is. It’s all there on ‘Prequelle’. “The song ‘See The Light’ (a stormer of a power pop metal song, it should be said) sounds like it’s about people who’ve crossed you,” we say, thinking of lines such as, “Many a rat I’ve befriended” and “Of all of the demons I’ve known, none can compare to you”. There is a pause so pregnant, metaphysical wet towels are piling up all around us, before Tobias responds, “Yes”. We ask if it’s a song that relates to his current situation. He replies, diplomatically, “I think it’s a song that can apply to any situation in which you’re surrounded by enemies. Really, it’s a song about redistributing anger and negativity.”

As of writing, ‘Prequelle’ isn’t released for another couple of weeks, but you will most likely have already heard its lead-off single, ‘Rats’, which also debuts Tobias’ new rubber faced persona, Cardinal Copia, sort of the midpoint between a deranged Satanic preacher and a used car salesman. If you’ve seen the video, it turns out that the Cardinal can bust a move (Tobias: “Have I ever had dance lessons? I’m mobile, but not nearly as much as our promotional videos lead people to believe…”). ‘Rats’ is also, perhaps, the most direct comment on what Tobias, and the Ghost that’s now been repositioned as a vessel for his self-expression (he prefers ‘project’ to ‘solo’ by the way) have been through during its parent albums creation.

“It’s a song about public trials,” says Tobias. “Rats traditionally were what carried the plague. But they’re also a good analogy for something that’s all around you. I mean, one thing that’s annoying about rats, is they can hide in your walls. They can come up through your toilet. They sort of eat their way into your life. And so I think about the kid getting bullied, and how in the past, the bullies were just at school, or on the way to school. Now they’re there all the time. Online.”

“We look back on ancient times,” he continues, “and we like to think about how sophisticated we are now, whereas in the past we were barbaric. But in the last ten years, I think we’ve regressed back to such a stone throwing, stupid, superstitious, nincompoop way of thinking. It’s fucking horrible…”

So you’re referring to social media? I’m thinking of the line in Rats, “they’re still coming after you, and there’s nothing you can do…”

“Well, as much as I’m an advocate for whistleblowing culture in the modern era – and of course I’m for that, things that are bad for the world should be exposed – I’m not sure that’s the forum for it. All those people just… shouting…”

Does this relate to your personal experience in wake of the lawsuit? When that story broke, it felt like everyone had an opinion on you…

Another pause. Then finally, “Yes”.

“So many people have opinions based, not on fact, but spite,” Tobias continues. “There are people who just love to destroy other people. It saddens me to admit, that I think at whatever state of human civilisation we arrive at, the will to destroy other people, is something that is innate in some people.”

There are of course moments on ‘Prequelle’ that are filled with joy too. A kind of dark, sticky, oily joy, yes. But joy none-the-less. There’s a reason Ghost’s aesthetic riffs off the ecclesiastical after all. All their best songs are big, bold, searching. Take Dance Macabre. Far closer to Duran Duran in their pomp than it is Carcass, if there is a death disco somewhere, an actual one with skeletons and tasty alcoholic beverages that are slime green and taste of formaldehyde – the best night of your death, so to speak – it’ll surely be the most requested song all night.

“I really wanted to explore the use of piano on this record,” says Tobias. “Take the song, Life Eternal, the last song on the record. I wanted it be very ambitious, almost classical, and the piano gives that song air and clarity…”

He concludes. “Like I say, I wanted this to be a positive record, a record about survival…”

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#Ghost #The Band Ghost #Cardinal Copia #Tobias Forge #Ghost BC #Interview

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