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expectopatronum81 · 11 months

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Lily's dynamic with the marauders (unpopular opinion)

Am I the only one who feels that lily wasn't as close to the marauders as the fandom makes her out to be?

Now before u jump at me, it's obviously fun to explore the dynamics btw different characters thru hcs and fanfics. However, i m only considering canon facts in this post.

First off, we never hear sirius or remus speak about lily when james isn't involved in the conversation. James was obviously a close friend, more lyk a brother, so its only natural that they reminisce him often. Both of them remark on harry's resemblance to james pretty often. It's literally the first thing sirius mentions when he sees harry for the first time in poa, saying james would have taken risks for him the same way harry came for ron. Remus compares harry's humor and unflinching belief in his friends to james aswell. There are constant little mentions post gof of james by both of them.

But lily? Absolutely nothing. We obviously can't expect her to be mentioned as many times as james coz she wasn't in their original friend group, but she isn't mentioned at all. The only time she's spoken about is post swm, and that's still in relation to her getting together with james. We learn more about lily from snape, someone she cut ties with when she was 15, than from her supposed besties. Heck, we learn more about her from Slughorn, her school teacher, than we ever did from sirius and remus.

Ik lily addresses sirius and peter by their nicknames in that letter, but i honestly always saw it as a casual thing, obvs in a fond way but not an indicator of their relationship.

There is obviously potential for a close friendship, there's often potential for a lot of things in fiction, but that doesn't make it canon. Apart from fighting the same war these characters don't seem to have anything in common. Yeah, both lily and sirius have complicated relationships with their siblings, but I would hardly compare a failed relation to having your sibling be brainwashed by your abusive family into following a cult that's trying to get u and ur friends killed.... Besides, lily is portrayed as this pure, perfect mother in canon while sirius and remus are both massively flawed characters, and that leaves little room for understanding between these characters.

Now, this isn't to say that the didn't like each other ofc, but the way lily's only mentioned with respect to james, they probably liked and respected her as their best friend's wife. There's no way I'm believing that they were super close when she isn't mentioned on her own even once after she's dead, it makes it pretty clear that the relationship was only because of james. There's nothing wrong with that ofc, it happens in plenty of friend groups and families, i just wish there were more fics representing their relationship the way it was originally written( although fanfics exploring their relationship are LIT in their own fanon way).

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blitheringmcgonagall · 1 year

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WHY DID PETER PETTIGREW RESCUE VOLDEMORT WHEN NOBODY ELSE WENT LOOKING FOR HIM?

Just had a great discussion on discord about this.

Firstly, Peter becoming a spy and traitor was completely unexpected. I think we have to remember that Peter in Hogwarts was always a true marauder. Sirius literally says they would have died to protect him - “I would have died! I would have died rather than betray my friends, as we would have done for you!” - He was such a good friend that James trusted him with not just his life, but his wife and baby’s too!!! He wasn’t just some vaguely tolerated sidekick. He risked Azkaban every month to support Remus. He volunteered to join the Order. He was one of them. That’s why I think the story is so tragic. And Yes he was scared. But that doesn’t explain it all. Why did he do it? Maybe because he craved having stronger friends who protected him and made him feel safe and important and popular. We know in school that was the marauders. We know after school, the Order were outnumbered 20 to 1 by the Death Eaters. But it had to be more than that. I have my own theories about why he does it in my canon fic We Can Be Heroes.

But, here’s the thing - WHY DOES PETER PETTIGREW GO TO SUCH LENGTHS TO BRING BACK VOLDEMORT?

He specifically goes on a scary quest to Albania alone to try to find Voldy and bring him back when he was a weak, pathetic, barely alive thing. Something none of Voldemort’s followers do. Why? He’s so fascinating! I don’t think it’s just that he was scared and worried that Voldemort could probably become stronger and was somehow invincible (although there was that).

No.

I think it was more than that.

I think part of him knows he supremely fucked up becoming a traitor, and must have regretted it (given how he dies in canon). But that may have also led him to want to try to get Voldemort back at all costs because then he can convince himself it was worth it - killing James and Lily, blaming Sirius, being a miserable rat for 12 years??

If only he can become Voldemort’s right hand man, and finally, FINALLY win….

Maybe it will all have been worth it… it has to have been worth it, it wasn’t a mistake, the worst mistake ever. It wasn’t…

#Peter pettigrew meta #marauders meta #love these convos #why did he do it #and why did he bring back Voldy?

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celestemagnoliathewriter · 9 months

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What do you think was the immediate aftermath to the “Prank”? I actually do think Sirius was remorseful for what he did at the time(I think his attitude in PoA could be explained by how he was in Azkaban all those years, had to survive on very little, and was just not in a good place to process his past properly at the time. And he does acknowledge that he acted poorly during SWM, so I feel like with time he would realize that he could’ve handled those situations better- even if Snape could be a dick lol. At a certain point someone has to take the high road XD), but I think it still would have taken a while for Remus to forgive him or for the group to go back to the way it was. But if I’m being honest, I feel like the group never really went back to the way it was when we consider how both Remus and Sirius thought the other was a spy :/. I also think that James would have been put in a hard spot, because he’s incredibly loyal to his friends, and Sirius is(let’s face it lol) his favorite, but this “prank” could have gone very wrong in so many different ways and I feel that James may have been able to recognize more than Sirius at first.

(I also don’t understand why JKR would place SWM after “The Prank” because why on earth would James and Sirius continue to antagonize Snape to that extent when he now knows one of their best friend’s deepest and darkest secret(and there couldn’t have been anything magical keeping Snape from saying anything, seeing as he gives away the secret in Book 3)? But I digress lol(although I will say that one minor change I make for myself is imagining the Prank as happening after SWM since that makes more sense to me)

I have so many thoughts on “The Prank” mainly because while I love Sirius(and I do think his good qualities outweigh his bad ones), this situation showcases one of his biggest flaws(he can be reckless to the point where other people can/are at the risk of getting seriously hurt or worse) and I just find it really interesting to explore that and how it would have affected the Marauders and their dynamic at the time

Oooh boy do I have THOUGHTS about the Prank and SWM. I'm actually very okay with SWM happening after the Prank. It shows that James and Sirius took a LONG time to grow and were still dicks late into their fifth year. But let's get to the fun!

Immediate aftermath of the Prank:

I wholeheartedly agree that the group was never the same after the Prank. I think the Marauders were always on thin ice or precarious ground, and it was only because of James that they were all together. Sirius and James were like magnets for each other. James picked up the underdog, Remus, and Remus brought in the super underdog, Peter. That's not to say that Sirius didn't care for Remus and Peter, but everything in canon suggests that Sirius was a Prongs fangirl, not a Moony or Wormtail fangirl.

But let's get to the Prank. Snape thought something was up with Lupin. I believe Sirius thought one of two things: 1) fuck around and find out, and 2) he's not actually stupid enough to go whomping willow/werewolf hunting. There is definitely some blame on Severus for following through, but it's more on Sirius for underestimating Severus and potentially ruining Remus's life. Because it was James who pulled Severus back, Sirius probably felt more remorse than had it been someone else.

I believe that after the Prank, Remus's trust in Sirius was irrevocably changed. I think that Remus implicitly trusted Sirius before, but after the Prank, the nature of the friendship changed. I imagine that Remus didn't change much outwardly. He's a coward at heart and didn't want to rock the boat. But the thing is, Sirius isn't stupid. He almost certainly noticed a change in Remus's behavior. Remus probably went more passive-aggressive, and that laid the foundation for Sirius believing Remus to be the spy later, because of his behavior change. For Remus, it's the same thing, because of Sirius's capacity to use him for a cruel prank.

I do think that they were friends and remained friendly. James was the foundation for their friendship, and as long as James was alive and friendly with both, they would remain friends. However, with more people dying, Remus off with werewolves and Sirius doing who-knows-what, it would make sense for Sirius to think that Remus was a spy and vice versa. When Halloween '81 happened and the Potters were killed, Remus was probably shocked but not surprised. Sirius was capable of darkness.

And THIS is why I'm very okay with the Prank happening before SWM. Imagine Remus thinking the same thing during SWM - 'guys, please stop antagonizing him' - and James and Sirius continue antagonizing Severus for fun, because they're bored. This is abundant proof that Sirius still had a lot of growing up to do, as did James. Imagine Remus after the Potters die, thinking how Sirius could do this?, but then being reminded of SWM, where Sirius continued to play with his food, so to speak. Imagine Remus thinking it impossible for Sirius to turn his back on his friends, but after Peter is 'killed', and Remus was almost exposed in the Prank, that means the only person left for Sirius to betray was James. With that track record, Remus could've very well thought Sirius was the traitor.

I love Sirius as well. My man, like Remus, has layers. Their friendship in later years - post-Azkaban - was cobbled together by shared memories of James and years of trauma/betrayal by one another and Peter. At this point I imagine a friendship of convenience - they're friends because few people understand the trauma they went through, but they're never going to be BFFs the way that James and Sirius were. If Sirius is fire, James is the sunshine that fuels him, while Remus is a moldy wet log of a human being.

As always @puppyduckster you've given me tremendous food for thought and provided excellent insight on the characters we so love.

#remus lupin #sirius black #severus snape #james potter #the marauders #marauders era #peter pettigrew #the prank #snape's worst memory #marauders meta #hp meta #hp marauders #asks #send asks

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amphorographia · 1 year

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Unpopular Opinion: I'm convinced that after The Prank, Sirius didn't regret pushing Snape into a situation where his curiosity (and animosity towards the Marauders) would get him killed. We get plenty of evidence that Sirius had a malicious streak and it makes sense that his home life would also leave him desensitised to violence, cruelty, and manipulation (and what crosses the line). I think if anyone asked him why he did it, his response would be something dismissive like, "he had it coming" or "it's Snape's own fault."

If he felt any remorse, I feel like it came from realising - probably for the first time - that Remus and the wolf were not actually different beings; that the wolf wasn't some foreign, feral thing which regularly possessed and hurt his friend, it was Remus, and Remus would bear the consequences of its actions.

Essentially, Sirius's only regret was that his choice of murder weapon lacked the plausible deniability he expected himself and the rest of the Marauders to have. At the time, he genuinely thought none of them could be held responsible for Snape's or the wolf's actions and any consequences of his/their involvement would be relatively minor.

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in-flvx · 7 months

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I guess I'm just asking, but has Sirius always been written in the ballpark of the missing stair phenomenon?

Yk, the missing stair aka the person in a friend group you warn newcomers about, especially if they start to become closer? Where the actual question should be why you don't just repair the stair, aka throw the person out of the group?

Bc I keep seeing fics etc, in which Remus is new in the group and starts to become involved with Sirius, and people from all sides tell him that sirius is damaged, can be horrible when he lashes out, uses people for his own enjoyment, better for Remus not to hope for smth meaningful bc he'd get burned, he'd be better off with literally anyone else...

Has this always been a thing?

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soopsiedaisies · 4 months

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bonjour soopsie ♡

Today I'm here to ask you about your Slytherin James. [ or a Slytherin James mentality in general ]

guten tag, sadi 🥰 I love Slytherin James, you have come to the right place. This got very long because I wanted to explain why I think a Slytherin!James can work based on canon before I even got to the ‘Slytherin!James’ part lol. I hope you enjoy reading it 😅

So, first of all: I’d like to start by saying that I kind of resent the idea that children (eleven year old children, to be specific) belong to one House in particular—that children like Harry and Hermione, fitting in multiple Houses, are outliers. The sorting is of course based on the traits you value most, not the trait that’s most powerful within you, but a child who is still developing can value, say, bravery and ambition equally. I’m of the opinion that limiting your personality to one House is not very productive for your growth as a person.

That being said, I don’t think eleven-year-old Harry got his Slytherin traits from a stranger.

James and becoming a Slytherin

For someone who’s muggleborn and doesn’t have any familial pressure to be in any particular house (except her friendly loyalty to Severus), Lily got sorted into Gryffindor remarkably quickly. It’s somewhat reminiscent of how quickly Draco got sorted:

He watched his mother walk forward on trembling legs and sit down upon the rickety stool. Professor McGonagall dropped the Sorting Hat onto her head, and barely a second after it had touched the dark red hair, the hat cried, “Gryffindor!” (Deathly Hallows; The Prince’s Tale)

and,

Malfoy swaggered forward when his name was called and got his wish at once: the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed, “SLYTHERIN!” (Philosopher’s Stone; The Sorting Hat)

Draco is put down as being very ‘quintessentially’ Slytherin. He’s ambitious and determined about climbing up the ranks in Slytherin House, he’s quite clever (proficient in at least Potions), and he’s resourceful (the broken Vanishing Cabinets). He’s also a prick, which is a state of being that’s quite common with the canon Slytherin characters. Draco is one or The Characters who embody Slytherin, most likely because of the values his parents instilled in him and the way they shaped his personality.

I’ve interpreted this parallel as a way for She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to establish that Lily’s very ‘quintessentially’ Gryffindor. It’s a way to show that she’s brave, daring, and chivalrous without having to develop her personality a whole lot. JKR can sprinkle in some hints in the flashbacks and lets Lily’s house (and sorting) do the rest of the work. The hat spots the Gryffindor-ish traits and values within Lily in less than a second, sorts her without offering her a chance at rebuttal, and she’s happy to go—funny, when her only friend is so certain about Slytherin, and one of the two annoying boys on the train has already been sorted into Gryffindor.

So who does Harry get his Slytherin traits from, if Lily’s so wholly and fully Gryffindor? I’d say it’s partially caused by his upbringing (the need to prove himself worthy in a home that doesn’t see him as such is ambition, the way he needs to adapt to not stand out is resourcefulness, etc.), but I also think a part comes from James, who is not only physically almost Harry’s (louder and prouder) twin.

We don’t get to really see James’ sorting; though it’s in Snape’s memory, Harry sort of skips over it by noting that James (and Remus and Peter) join Lily and Sirius (whose sorting we also don’t witness) at the Gryffindor table. This tells me that James’ sorting was neither very long nor very quick and likely took about 30 seconds maximum (depending on how distracted Harry was whilst watching Lily or Severus or any of the Professors): long enough to discuss his placement with the Hat (which could mean there were multiple options), and short enough to imply that James and the Hat wouldn’t have been arguing about where James would go.

And James, too, is very obviously Gryffindor based on what we know of him: he’s brave in spite of fear (standing up to Voldemort without a wand is not very cowardly, even if it’s a big Parental moment. Any parent worth their salt would die for their kid), he’s very loyal (the Marauders, the Order), and he’s bold (the very public bullying of Snape and his quick rebuttals; asking Lily out in front of a crowd whilst likely knowing full-well he’s gonna get shot down).

So, James acts upon his Gryffindor traits a lot. He also seems to just value the traits in general: the way he looks up to his (at that point nameless) dad who was a Gryffindor tells the reader that James, in a Draco-ish way, wishes to embody the daring and the chivalry of Godric like his father is implied to do. But some of James’ traits — his exceptional cleverness, his suggested ambition and determination to help Remus (figuring out in their second year they can become animagi to be with Remus during the full moons and nailing the transformation three years later—and thus cementing him, Sirius, and probably Peter as transfiguration prodigies), and the resourcefulness of creating a self-updating map to help their shenanigans by using his Invisibility Cloak… well, those are a tad Slytherin, aren’t they? It all depends on how much he values these traits, and how important he considers any underlying reasons for achieving those feats.

With how little we know about James (we sure don’t know him as intimately as Harry, who would’ve made as great of a Slytherin as he did a Gryffindor) it’s very easy to headcanon that James’ Slytherin-like actions and decisions happen out of a Slytherin-like ambition. He could’ve decided to become an animagus solely out of his love and loyalty for Remus; he also could’ve done it for that reason in addition to doing it because he wanted to prove how intelligent and talented he is to himself and to his friends. An elevation in status, so to speak. I could see James deciding to become an underage, possibly illegal animagus without the need and urge to keep Remus company during the full moon too (and Sirius as well, to be honest).

We get hints that James enjoys being seen as clever and superior. He wants to be looked at, and ideally also revered. He’ll show off his reflexes and tries to stay casual about it, lest someone notice how excited he is to be looked up to; he antagonises Severus to show everybody, but especially girls, how much better he is than Severus, how much more talented. He doesn’t speak in hushed tones how easy he found their DADA exam, he says it out loud and for all to hear. He feels the need to be seen as superior to most of his peers and does so through being loud and obvious about his many talents — that he practiced at length, no doubt — and keeps going even after he gets shot down. That’s ambition, that’s determination, that’s quick-thinking intelligence. Purposeful ambition and determination, mind.

James at fifteen strongly reminds Harry of Draco: the arrogance and confidence, the urge to be the centre of attention at all times, the showing off. But James is both shown and said to be very talented (he’s almost right in his arrogance, and his confidence is not unfounded), whilst Draco’s talents get a little less screen time. The books do vaguely suggest that these actions are quite Slytherin-like in behaviour (if not in the talent, like with Riddle, then the ambition-based confidence of being able to do anything).

James is the perfect Gryffindor (faults and all), but he would’ve made a great Slytherin as well.

James in Slytherin

So. You’ve got your James Potter in Slytherin. How did that even happen?

The most sensible way that I think James would end up getting sorted into Slytherin is if Sirius, with he and James having bonded very strongly on the train, was sorted into Slytherin too.

The fanon-based hatred James has for Slytherins specifically isn’t canon. James dislikes bigots; I think he would’ve hexed a Hufflepuff, a Ravenclaw, or another Gryffindor for being a bigot just as hard as he would’ve hexed a Slytherin for being a bigot. Lily says in SWM that he hexes anyone he doesn’t like; she doesn’t specify which House, which is, imo, enough of a confirmation that James’ hexing wasn’t house-based. Still, James getting sorted into Slytherin is unlikely without him having a link to Slytherin House: he very, very much wants to be “just like [his] dad”, and Mr Potter wasn’t a Slytherin, so he wouldn’t go there if nothing before that changes.

HOWEVER. If Sirius got sorted into Slytherin, I do think James could argue at least a little bit with the Hat to be sorted there as well… and he might win that argument, if he plays his cards right.

There is a Black in the Potter family, canonically. A Black who did not get disowned by Walburga or Arcturus or Pollux or whomever, despite Dorea Black Potter being Walburga’s actual, literal auntie and despite the Potters allegedly being blood-traitors because they supported muggles and muggleborns during WW1. The Black who married a Weasley got burnt off; the Blacks who married a Potter and a Longbottom did not. What does that tell us? Were the Potters and the Longbottoms worthy pureblood families, in spite of their Gryffindor-inclination? Do or did houses even matter as much back then as fanon believes?

(Why would fanon claim that O&W were so bothered by Sirius sorting Gryffindor and becoming friends with James, if the Longbottoms and Potters were fine marriage prospects? I think they weren’t that bothered, but that’s a post for another day)

James could’ve been sorted into Slytherin and his parents probably wouldn’t have really minded that one bit. It’s only a house in secondary school, and as long as he’s true to himself, they probably believe he’ll be fine. Especially if he tells them that he forced the Hat’s hand (?), because he saw the boy he met on the train briefly look so devastatingly forlorn. That’s the instant loyalty, isn’t it? Something to be proud of for their kid to portray.

Slytherin encourages different traits than Gryffindor, but I’d say there’s still a fair bit of courage attached to ambition. Doing/working towards something in spite of hesitance and fear, and pushing the latter two emotions away: that’s true for both traits. Cleverly using situations to your advantage vs being chivalrous regardless can overlap as well; boldness and resourcefulness often go hand in hand. The main difference between the two is, I’d say, the value of honesty, but it’s not like James can’t lie to save his and his friend’s sorry arses (see illegal animagus thing).

I also think both James and Sirius would be quite adept at navigating Slytherin, especially because they’re both the pureblooded heirs of important-ish families. A Potter would be slightly less welcome than a Black, but I do believe James would easily climb the ranks and settle in comfortably somewhere at the top of the pecking order together with Sirius. He’d have a harder time being as ‘progressive’ (if you could call it that) as he would’ve been in Gryffindor, but I’m going to guess he would’ve learnt how to subtly speak up against the use of slurs and the rampant bigotry that permeates the dungeons.

There’s a possibility he would’ve gotten along far better with Snape as well, despite their crushes on Lily (though I doubt James was crushing hard prior to his fourth or fifth year). I’ve mentioned this before, but the Snape we know and love/despise is quite similar to Sirius and therefore perhaps also James: he’s fiercely intelligent and very snarky, just significantly less outgoing and purposefully impressive. The intellectual rivalry between Snape and James (and Sirius) wouldn’t present in bullying, but more a mutual teasing and antagonism that could easily and quickly morph into friendship. James is implied to have a tendency to pick up strays who can keep up with him; Severus fits that description perfectly. I think Severus also wouldn’t have betrayed James or Lily, or would’ve even become a DE in the first place: he’s not alone, he’s among protective Big Boys who he can verbally spar with and who encourage his inventiveness because they’re inventive themselves as well. He’d be a lot more comfortable I think. Still a massive prick, but James (and Sirius) are canonically pricks as well so that doesn’t really matter.

(I also like to think that Slytherin!James would’ve given Prefect/Head Boy Lucius Malfoy many, many, many horrible headaches, which is honestly already enough for me to be sold on the whole Slytherin!James idea. James would also still be a Head Boy, and still, with Sirius, be a favourite of McGonagall—even if he belongs to Horace. He’s just so charming and clever. She can’t help it)

And as to whether Slytherin!James joins the Order… well, I’m not too sure of that. It’s certainly a way for him to show how talented he is and it may help him in getting a job he really wants (with Dumbledore’s backing), but it’s also very, very dangerous. Then again, tons of Slytherins became DE’s (equally as dangerous as being a member of the Order) so who’s to say 🤷

Either way, I’m 100% of the belief that Slytherin!James can work canonically. Especially since the Peverell brothers sprouted two families who were very stereotypical reps of Gryffindor and Slytherin, but also because… everybody can fit anywhere, in any house. Elevating values James is already suggested to have makes it very easy to stuff him wherever you like. And I also think a Slytherin!James is very, very funny (and interesting) in the context of orphaned BWL Harry, who knows his Good dad was a Slytherin. That’s fun fic material, I think hehe

#james fleamont potter #mwpp #marauders era #james potter headcanons #slytherin james potter #hp meta #ish #long post #roalinda #marauders meta #harry potter #i hope this makes sense

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st-clements-steps · 2 months

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Yeah, yeah, there’s a character called Wolfboy Wolfish but also there’s a character called Honourable Son Crucifix

And his dad sacrifices him and then he kills his dad.

Also, there’s that time he introduces all the unforgivable curses, including Crucio from the Latin to torture or to crucify.

Oh and it’s a kids book.

And at the end, his soul gets sucked into non existence.

But it’s still a kids book.

#barty crouch jr #honourable son crucifix the younger #marauders #marauders meta #harry potter #harry potter meta #baby deatheaters #baby deatheaters meta #kinda maybe #I tagged jr but if we’re britpicking a wizard born in early 60s Britain then Junior can fuck off

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narcissa-black-supermacy · 1 year

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Ohh elaborate on the Mena house of Black :D

ok so. I think after all the time i spent ranting about this, it's time for the official dissertation. If someone reads this and is still not convinced that the Blacks are mena-coded, talk to me (that's a threat). @soloorganaas feel free to add on if i missed something

Note: MENA is short for the geographical region of Middle East-North Africa which includes a variety of ethnicities and cultures that share certain traits and stereotypes I'll be addressing here.

Disclaimer: I have lived my entire life in the Levant. I am speaking from my own experience with these cultures not within British diaspora. If anybody can provide input on that, it will be great.

my main points (going from the more superficial things to the more niche topics)

Very obvious non-white features and appearance among the majority of the members

French being used as a second native language in many mena regions ("toujours pur")

Big, multi-sibling families in comparison to most pure-bloods in canon

Cousin intermarriage (is second cousin marriage incest?)

Frequent reuse of names

The tapestry

Pure-blood mania as a parallel to mena religious Sectarianism

12GP being located at the heart of muggle London

Family values, betrayal and "all or nothing" approach (= mena blood feud culture)

JKR's tendency to let her internal biases seep through her writing unintentionally

Let's tackle these one by one, I will try to be short (HA that's funny. under the cut):

(I will highlight the main points in bold for those of you who don't want to read through all of my ramblings)

Very obvious non-white features and appearance. I think this one is self-explanatory. Sirius, Bellatrix, Regulus, Walburga - except for Narcissa, who is intentionally altered to resemble the Malfoys since page one, all of the Black are described to have very non-white features and appearance. Black curly hair and grey eyes are extremely common in the NA + Levant region, regardless of skin colour.

The most wide-spread fanon ethnicity for the Blacks appears to be French. Genuinely no idea where that came from. I am guessing that some of it stems from the "toujours pur" line, to which, I must point out: tons of regions in MENA have been French colonies. French is taught at schools (I learned French at school before English), spoken alongside Arabic/Hebrew/etc within the family, used for things like slogans and mottos. Kill the idea that French is only spoke in France and if a character speaks French it gives us a clear idea of where they come from.

This is something I don't see talked about, but the Blacks have very abnormally large families in comparison to the rest of the pure-bloods we are presented with in canon. Most are only children (James, Remus, Peter, Draco, Lucius, so on) and the only exception to the rule is the Weasleys, who are constantly ridiculed for it by others. Cygnus and Druella have 3 daughters. Walburga has 2 sons and she comes from a family of 3 siblings. Orion's parents are 3 siblings, Walburga's parents are 3. The generation before their parents are 4 siblings. The one before it is 4 as well. Anyway. There's a pattern. See? The average number of children for the Blacks appears to be 3, while for most pure-blood families, even 2 is way above the average.

Cousin intermarriage - also pretty self explanatory? Might be a bit of a harmful stereotype here, but it's true - second cousin intermarriage is not seen as a big deal in most MENA cultures, to this day, and definitely not back then. It is much more widespread than in most European cultures, I believe.

Reuse of names - another very common trait in all MENA cultures. My husband has 7 Mordechai's and 8 Moris'es just in the last 3 generations of his family. Half of my cousins are called Muhammad. Typical.

The tapestry - another example of something that's portrayed as strange in canon, but is actually typical MENA culture. I don't think I know a single Arab or Jewish family that does not have some kind of equivalent of the Black family tapestry showing off their lineage generations back. And the disowned family members get taken off, yes, that's a thing.

Pure-blood mania as a parallel to MENA religious sectarianism Now, THIS is something I want to focus on. Most MENA cultures are very sectarian. Not in a "well, duh, it's the middle east" kind of way - I am talking about the most progressive regions and cities. People will consider themselves progressive, support women's and LGBT rights, but still view intermarriage as a dirty thing. Religious intermarriage between the different sects of Christians, Jews, Shias, Sunnis etc is strictly forbidden and frowned upon almost everywhere. Now, you might say - well, isn't this just a general pure-blood thing? No. The Blacks are NOT modal pure-bloods. They are a very radical, extreme version of it. I would argue that the average pure-bloods look like the Malfoys - who are stated to be rather moderate, not accepting muggle-borns, but having no problem with half-bloods. The Blacks' pure-blood mania dates back to before Voldemort's rise, it's a family trait passed through generations, and it goes beyond the regular pure-blood snobbism. This is typical, by-the-book sectarianism.

12GP being located at the heart of muggle London This is an interesting one, I think, because it might not be as obvious as the others. The Blacks are very known bigots and muggle-haters, but surprisingly, unlike most pure-bloods we know (even the muggle friendly ones!), their house is located at the HEART of muggle London. Why the hell is that? This actually makes PERFECT SENSE if you understand how Sectarianism works, which ties back to point N 7. Typical religious sectarianism does NOT look like western racism or bigotry. Sectarianism is NOT hatred or fear. Different sects across MENA work together, study together, even make friends on occasion, but they make this very strict separation between accepting the presence of someone different in their immediate surroundings, and actually letting them into their circle. In other words: we can work with muggle-borns and blood-traitors. We can study with them. They are allowed to exist. Actually, we will go out of our way to live among them, state our existence, remind them who is the boss, but we will not engage. We will not marry them, we will not let them into our house. This is sectarianism. It's a behaviour VERY specific to the Blacks in the HP universe, not pure-bloods in general.

Family values, betrayal and "all or nothing" approach (= mena blood feud culture) Blood feud culture is a strong thing in all MENA cultures, even to this day. Blood feud can be used to mean revenge on someone who hurt a member of your family, OR it can also mean "honour killing" within the family itself. If a member of the family is considered to be a disgrace and brings shame with a certain type of their behaviour (that is typically a young unmarried woman who slept with a man outside of a permitted relationship, an openly LGBT individual, someone who speaks against the political stance of the family). Reminds you of something? Yep. Disownment, disinheritance, the only thing we do not see here is the Blacks actively seeking to kill the members who have left. Again, this is NOT typical pure-bloods behaviour, this is something we see specifically within their family. Just like with Sectarianism, this is classic, by-the-book Blood Feud culture and honour killing.

JKR's tendency to let her internal biases seep through her writing unintentionally Do I think JKR consciously sat down and said "let's write the Blacks as mena-coded characters"? Of course not. Just like she did not intend for many things to come off the way they did (like wolfstar, desi potters, etc), but that happened. I think it's natural that when you are raised with certain biases and stereotypes towards a certain group, it will seep through when you're writing characters that are meant to be "evil" and "bad". Again, maybe it's just me. But there are simply way too many similarities and coincidences. I remember reading and watching HP with my siblings when the books/movies were just coming out, and we were all 100% convinced that the Blacks being Arab is just... common knowledge. It wasn't until I started engaging with the Western fandom that I realised it wasn't.

This is all, I think. Well, not nearly all, but these are my main points. It's been long overdue. Feel free to shoot me an ask if you want me to elaborate on something.

#is anyone going to read this?#probably no #but this makes me feel calmer lmao #mena house of black #hp meta #marauders meta #house of black #asks #dani talks

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