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shownusgfayoooo · 6 months

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A Significant Night

Pairing: Slytherin!Seonghwa x Ravenclaw! f! reader ft. Ravenclaw! bestfriend! Hongjoong

Summary: Set the night Sirius Black attempts to break into Gryffindor Tower in Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban, but Y/N, HongJoong, and SeongHwa are 7th years, the 99 line is in 6th, and Jongho is in 5th year

T/W: perceived danger

Words: ~5k almost

A/N: I LOVE SIRIUS MORE THAN ANYTHING ik he's not a murderer but this is the point in the canon where we don't know that yet so that's the info that the characters (ateez and you) in this fic have to go off of ok

my masterlist

The rain was especially thunderous tonight. You tossed restlessly your bed for the fifth time and stuffed another pillow above your head. Still, sleep was evading you. The water hit the window of your dorm in Ravenclaw tower like shards of ice, and the lighting that briefly illuminated the room cracked against the back of your eyelids in bright white flashes.

You had barely managed to slip into some halfway place between consciousness and unconsciousness when raised voices could be heard from the common room, five flights below you. The sudden unexpectedness of people talking so loud at 1 in the morning set your heart racing, but you tried to ignore it. This became impossible however when the sounds of footsteps started echoing down the stairs and doors opening up and down the tower woke you up completely.

Your friend Hongjoong grumbled some gibberish and turned over one of the four empty beds in your dorm. You were lucky enough to only have two roommates this semester, making only three girls to the dorm that could house five, but one of them had snuck into the Hufflepuff dorms to stay with her boyfriend like she usually did and the other had gone home for the weekend due to some family emergency.

You didn’t mind him crashing because Hongjoong was the ideal roommate. He was usually in the library all night, and whenever he was actually in the room, he was mostly organized and quiet. It wasn’t allowed of course, so the rule breaking aspect of the whole situation did stress you out sometimes, but honestly, Hongjoong was smart enough to not be caught, and by extension, he was smart enough to not get you caught either. Hell, he had even managed to counteract the charm that made the stairs turn into a slide whenever a boy tried to climb them. It still made you laugh when you thought about the reason why he had been pushed to break a thousand-year-old enchantment like it was child’s play. Usually, he had his best friend Seonghwa from Slytherin give him a broom ride up to Gryffindor Tower to crash with San and Wooyoung Seonghwa and Jongho absolutely refused to put up with Hongjoong’s manic hours and general chaos, and Yeosang, Mingi, and Yunho in Hufflepuff always felt a little bit too far out of the way to your friend. But, Gryffindor had beat Slytherin in Quidditch two weeks ago, and ever since then, Seonghwa had refused to take Hongjoong up, lest he suffer more of San and Wooyoung’s bullying. You had the whole room to yourself most of the time, so you were quick to oblige your best friend. Catching a glimpse of Seonghwa on the few occasions he would bring Hongjoong up before he broke the charm that impeded his entry into the Tower was also the highlight of your life.

Hongjoong barely slept, but when he did, it was like the dead. You tossed him a worried glance as the voices outside got louder, before quickly rushing to the door and peeping your head out. You looked about in bewilderment as everyone from the girls’ tower seemed to be leaving their rooms.

“What’s going on?” Nobody seemed to have an answer, “I have no idea,” “Can’t be anything good this time of night,” “I hope we’re not in danger? Quick, let’s run through some defensive spells just to be on our toes-” You turned to the left to see the prefect was making her way back up the stairs against the throng of traffic moving down. “Everyone, please make their way to the common room! No running, please. Stay calm. I’m just making sure we didn’t miss anybody; please continue to the common room. Professor Flitwick will be here in a few minutes to explain what’s going on!”

Your heart started to pound again, as you rushed back into your room. Why would she tell everyone to stay calm unless there was a very real reason to panic? You threw Hongjoong’s discarded niffler plush at his head as you rushed to put on some shoes. He gasped, sitting up. “What was that for?” He was glaring at you, pushing hair out of her eyes.

“Get up; we have to go, right now.” His eyes fully opened at the restrained tension in your voice. He turned to the door to see the rest of your Housemates rushing past and quickly got up. “I assume the situation at hand is not us getting in trouble for breaking some antiquated patriarchal rules,” he smiled at you weakly, trying to ease the tension.

“No,” you responded wryly. “I really don’t think they’d evacuate all the Ravenclaw girls to give them a lecture about you and I breaking one teeny tiny rule. That everyone breaks anyways!” You had joined the throng going down the stairs as you finished your sentence, sounding almost hysterical. Hongjoong just linked his elbow through yours, as his eyes flashed with worry but also to keep a hold of you in the crowd. It wasn’t just the girls that had been rushed out of bed, you saw, as you ducked under the archway into the common room, only to see it full of boys. Everyone was lining up by year, and you saw Hongjoong nod to his roommates (Snore #1 and Snore #2 you called them in your head) who had been looking worried at not having been able to account for him. Just at that moment, the door to the Tower opened. A hush descended over the crowd.

“Ah, hello students, I apologize for the interruption this evening, or should I say morning?” Weak chuckles answered his question. Usually, you were all a very inquisitive bunch, but everyone could sense that something was significantly amiss, and that this was a time to listen, not ask. His squeaky voice and short stature should have logically done nothing to put your mind at ease a bit, but it did. The presence of an adult and a very talented wizard at that, a professor who was supposed to and did protect his students, calmed your heart down a little.

“Don’t be alarmed, but please be cautious and take what I am about to say seriously. We have reason to believe that Sirius Black entered the castle tonight. He attempted to break into Gryffindor Tower but was unsuccessful. Nobody was hurt, but he remains at large. We have Aurors and Professors alike investigating the Castle, floor by floor. We are also relocating all students to the Great Hall for the time being. Myself, and a few Aurors waiting outside, will escort you through there now. I implore you to remain calm and quiet. Please arrange yourselves with years below you at the center of the crowd and line, alright? You are safe with us, but wands out.”

You looked at Hongjoong, panic full blown on your face. You were both in Year 7, so it fell to you to take up the periphery of Ravenclaw House as you made your way to the Great Hall. He nodded at you in reassurance but kept his grip on your hand tight.

As everyone arranged themselves to make an exit from the Tower, you gave into your anxiety. “I’m really worried about the guys, Joong. What if something happened to them? What if they’re not okay?”

“Relax, Y/N. Flitwick just said that nobody was hurt. I’m sure they’re fine.”

“What if they didn’t evacuate everyone? What if they missed someone?”

“You saw the measures they’re taking. They wouldn’t have missed anyone. Don’t worry.”

You bit your lip. “What about the Slytherins? You know the undue prejudice they deal with. You know it. Just two years ago, they told them to go BACK to their House which is in the dungeons when there was a troll. A living, breathing troll! In. the. dungeons.”

Hongjoong’s features softened on his face, finally understanding where your unusual irrationality was stemming from when you were usually the calm and collected one out of the group. He squeezed your shoulder. “Seonghwa will be fine, Y/N.”

“What- why, I mean-” you spluttered. The panic was blurring your logic and your normal tendency to be secretive or aloof, especially about your feelings. How did Hongjoong know about you and Seonghwa? Or was the better question how much he knew about you and Seonghwa? You had both harbored feelings for each other for a long time but had only just confessed and become a couple. It was still so new, but the friendship wasn’t. And because you didn’t want to jeopardize your friendships with the group, you had been keeping it a secret until you both felt more comfortable to share and that you were on stable ground.

“You know he can take care of himself. He’s gonna be fine. I bet you Trelawney’s hat that he’s already in the Great Hall, practicing that little charm he invented to make his moss grow faster.”

Your breath came easier at the imagery. “You sure?”

“Positive.” He gave you another reassuring pat on the back as you both turned to face forward as Flitwick called for the Tower doors to be opened.

You took in a deep breath to prepare yourself to protect yourself, your friends, and the younger kids of your House as you stepped out into the castle. It was eerily quiet and immensely dark. The only sound that could be heard was the breathing of several dozens of students and the scuffling of shoes on stone. Even the portraits were quiet as you made your way through the castle. You held your body rigidly, looking for danger at every corner, in every sound.

When you finally reached the Great Hall, all the energy sagged out of your body, and you felt so drained that you couldn’t even carry the squashy purple sleeping bags Madame Pomfrey was handing out. Hongjoong grabbed both of yours and started to steer you further into the room. You didn’t even notice because you were counting everyone who was in the room. It made you feel safer, especially when you saw that there had to be at least three dozen Aurors guarding the students and room alone, along with most of the Professors, not to mention the rest of the upper years who also had if not a vast then adequate knowledge of magic.

“Noona!”

Your attention suddenly came back to your immediate surrounding as you were suddenly hugged. You gasped and lightly laughed at the head of red hair that was currently grabbing you.

“Hey, Wooyoung. You ok?” Your gaze landed past his shoulder you were patting to see the rest of your friends gathered, looking worried but otherwise unhurt. You barely had time to let your eyes scan over Seonghwa who was lingering at the back of the half circle you all had formed under the window. Because you couldn’t see him properly or disentangle yourself, you asked, “Everyone ok?” Yunho nodded at your question as Wooyoung not only refused to let go of you, but also dragged San and Yeosang into the hug, too. It was doing wonders for your nerves, so you couldn’t complain.

“Yeah, we’re all okay.”

“We were worried because your House took the longest to get down here. We were first obviously, but we were hoping it was just taking that long because your Tower is the farthest from here,” Mingi added.

“And not because something bad happened to you!” San wailed. His head was nestled firmly into the crook of your neck, despite being a whole head taller than you.

Hongjoong took his chance to swat him off of you. “Ya, what would happen to us? Between me and Y/N, we have at least half the library memorized and the whole curriculum down pat, especially Defense against the Dark Arts.”

Jongho clenched his fists in his hand menacingly, “Well, we could have come for you if you weren’t gonna show in the next ten minutes.”

Hongjoong cooed at him, “Really? Aw, my baby. You’re my favorite.”

Jongho started him dead in the face, “Just for noona. Not you. Have your duel with a mass murder. I think you’d do great, you know, with your Hogwarts level education. Maybe we should let the Aurors go home because Hongjoong Hyung read some books in the library!”

You laughed as everyone started bickering, feeling even more tension release from your chest at being together with everyone. As you did, you made eye contact with Seonghwa. His eyes were smoldering. He pushed off from where he was leaning against the wall behind Mingi and Yunho to come stand next to you. His eyes stayed on the squabble that was starting to brew between Hongjoong San and Jongho, as Wooyoung stirred the pot gleefully. His fingers brushed against yours. A pinky to yours.

“Are you alright?” His voice was a deep whisper, strife with the worry.

You looked down at your toes, pale blue nail polish peeking out from your bunny slippers. “Yes, are you?”

He turned to look at you. He looked at you, so earnestly it brought tears to your eyes. It stirred everything in your heart. It seemed as if he was asking questions with his eyes and trying to pick out the answers from yours. So many emotions flitted across his face that you could barely keep up. Worry, despair, fear, hurt, care, relief, affection, maybe even love. The loud sounds of the room lowered to a din as blood rushed to your head, roaring in your ears and flooding your cheeks. His hand raised, seeming to come up to almost brush against your cheek before he dropped it again as a Sonorous enhanced voice started echoing around the room. The chatter of hundreds of students immediately dropped to a hush.

Professor Dumbledore stood near the doors of the Great Hall which were now barred and warded. “Good evening to all! We find ourselves in a situation strife with high energies and excitement. Trust that you are in safe hands and that we will soon make the whole of the Castle just so, as well! I know the adrenaline must be pumping through your bodies right now at the hasty retreat and thought of a break in to the castle. You must also be wanting to check on the welfare of your friends. For that, we will allow another half hour of free time before its lights out and to bed with all of you! No need to segregate by House or gender, but please behave appropriately! The professors will be patrolling through the Hall until dawn when we will release you back to your dormitories and the Aurors will be guarding the doors from inside and out! I thank you for your cooperation! It’ll be points and detention if you fail to adhere to these rules and impede everyone’s safety in any way!”

“I wonder if the old bat even knows what the word expulsion means,” Hongjoong mused.

You turned to him, aghast. He knew better than to voice such opinions in such a public place! “Ya!”

He shrugged. “You know we’re all thinking it.”

Jongho nodded, “Yeah, if someone opened the doors to the castle tonight to let Black in, or left the room right now to go coordinate with him, they’d just get points off? Please.”

You scrunched your nose. It wasn’t the first time you had all discussed the hypocrisy, inadequacy, and flat-out discrimination that the people in authority had displayed on many occasions, but it seemed more out of place to add that kind of commentary to an already tension-fraught situation and such a long night. As if Seonghwa could read your mind, he replied, “Let’s just talk about it later, guys. Now’s hardly the time, let alone the place.”

Everyone nodded and turned to start setting up their sleeping mats. You watched them go about in a daze, still overwhelmed from all that had happened and all the many conversations flowing around you right now. You didn’t even notice that Seonghwa had left your side; you only noticed when he came back to it.

“Hey, Y/N. What’s wrong?”

You shook your head, noticing everyone else had already sat down on their mats and started playing a game of Exploding Snap. They were so engrossed in their game; they noticed nothing else.

Seonghwa leaned his head down so he could be at eye level with you. His eyebrows were raised, waiting for your answer. You smiled weakly at him. “Oh, nothing…wow, the guys set everything up so fast, I don’t even know where my sleeping bag went.” You made to push past him when he caught your arm lightly with his hand.

He indicated with his head at the end of the row where two empty sleeping bags could be seen just beyond Yeosang was sitting. “Relax, I already put yours out.”

You blushed at the thought of lying down next to him. And the fact that his hand was on you right now. You felt hot all over. Could he feel it?

“Thank you! You didn’t have to. I don’t know where my head is at, honestly.”

His hand on your forearm slipped down to hold your hand. Your heart spluttered in your chest. “It’s okay. It’s been a stressful night.” His brown eyes bore deep into yours, knowing everything that you were feeling but not saying.

You nodded, the feeling of danger and the worry for everyone’s wellbeing rushed back to you. You looked up at him, tears in your eyes. “Yea, it was really scary.”

His finger brushed at the single tear trapped in your eyelashes. “I know. But we’re here. We’re okay. You’re safe.”

Whatever little control you had been struggling to maintain over your stress was lost. Your feelings burst through, and your tears started to fall in earnest. “I was just so scared,” you blubbered. “That something had happened to you. Any of you, but, you down in the dungeons- You were so far away from me- I .. I couldn’t get to you-”

He pulled you into his arms quickly and tucked your head against his shoulder. “I wouldn’t let anything happen to me, ok? Just for your sake. And I wouldn’t let anything happen to you either. I will always protect you. And I will always come for you. You’re safe with me, ok? Don’t be afraid anymore.”

You just nodded and cried against his chest, hoping no one would notice. “You know why Dumbledore threatened points and detention for disobedience?”

You pulled back to look him in the face, both his hands and yours coming up to wipe your tears. “No, why?”

He smirked at you. “It’s because I already tried breaking the rules tonight.”

You gasped in horror. “What did you do?”

He shrugged, smirk still on his lips. “I said I would come for you, didn’t I? I wasn’t lying. I did actually try to come to you. Twice. The first time I just snuck away from the common room right before we were to be escorted out by Snape. I tried to run up to the Tower, but an Auror caught me and took me back to Slytherin before I barely made it 20 yards. Then, I went back to my room to grab my broom and fly to you, but that damn Mrs. Norris blocked me when I tried to escape and started mewing up a racket. So, Snape just kept me at his flank and forced me here.” He smiled at you sheepishly now. “Sorry.”

You stared at him in shock. How could he say sorry? “Don’t you ever ever put yourself in danger for me, Hwa. Please. I mean it.”

His eyes hardened, but his tone was still soft. “Don’t ask that of me, Y/N.” He put his forehead against yours, his arms tightening around your waist. “Please don’t ask me for promises I can’t keep. I will never let harm come to you if I can prevent it. I will never stand by and let you be in danger if I could take you out of it. I will always come for you,” he whispered.

You sighed, sinking further into his embrace. You really couldn’t sway him when he set his mind or heart on something, and honestly, you felt the same. It would be hypocritical of you to ask him for this. “Ok, ok. But, please don’t let me worry then. Promise me you will always be careful. I don’t want to see you hurt either.”

You could hear the smile in his voice as he answered. “Yes, ma’am. Whatever you want.”

“Ya, you two are really pushing old Dumbley’s rule on appropriate behavior.”

You jumped apart to see all the guys looking at you, with expressions varying from deadpan (Hongjoong and Yeosang) to too smiley (Jongho, Yunho, and Mingi) to borderline maniacal smiley (San and Wooyoung).

“You better knock it off before we all in trouble, hyung. Or worse- separated!” Mingi turned in horror to Yunho, as if they weren’t both in Hufflepuff and roommates for the past six years.

“NO! I wanna sleep with Hongjoong Hyung. We haven’t had a sleepover in ages.” San pouted.

“And why do you think that is?”

“Don’t punish me for Wooyoungie’s behavior!”

“Hey, you know you love it.” Wooyoung proceeded to drape himself all over the Ravenclaw, and you started laughing as yet another squabble broke out as he attempted to push the Gryffindor off. How WooSan still had energy in the middle of the night to harass Joong, you would never know. You turned to Seonghwa, the laughter still on your lips, to see him looking at you with a more open expression than he had all night.

“There’s that smile.” His thumb was at the corner of your lip. “I was worried when I didn’t see it.”

You smiled at him even more fully. If he had the presence of mind to flirt with you right now, then surely you weren’t in that much danger. And even if you were, he was here to storm it together with you. You let out a big breath as the last of the tension left your body. “I’m sorry,” you intertwined your fingers with his and he pulled you to where your sleeping mats were. “Won’t happen again.”

And it wouldn’t. You had faced real danger tonight. For the first time, but perhaps not for the last. You knew there were Dark Wizards and that the world was a cruel place, but you would never let your fear paralyze you again. You had strong people at your side to carry you through it, like Honjoong and Seonghwa had tonight, and you could draw strength from theirs, just like you were doing right now from their company and comfort and overzealous hugs.

Seonghwa smiled at you. You felt like he could read your mind, but in reality, he just saw the look of fear melt off your face to be replaced with one of confidence and determination. He couldn’t help himself; he leaned in and placed a sweet kiss on your lips. You kissed him back in earnest, the relief surging through your body almost making you euphoric. Everyone you loved was safe, and there were people you could count on in times of danger. As Seonghwa’s hand twisted in your hair, obnoxious coughing and whistles broke your reverie. You broke apart in surprise to turn to the guys.

Nobody looked particularly surprised, but they had just seen two of their best friends almost make out in front of them for the first time. They deserved an explanation, or an announcement at least. Seonghwa squeezed his hand in yours, and even though you had no idea what to say, you opened your mouth to start somewhere, when Wooyoung interrupted you.

“Save it; we already know.”

You shut your mouth again and looked at them all, head cocked to the side in confusion. “You.. already know?”

At this, San laughed. “Please, do you think we’re stupid?”

Seonghwa sighed, mockingly, “Well-”

“Hey!” “Please! You two have been so obviously in love with each other for years, it was sickening,” Mingi said.

“I thought it was sweet!” Yeosang was your favorite, and here was the reason.

“You know what’s not sweet? Having to hear both of your best friends pining over each other nonstop. For years. I haven’t caught a break since basically the day we were sorted!”

You blushed and peeked a glance at Seonghwa who you were surprised to see was acting shy and raising his fist towards Hongjoong in tiny. You two hadn’t had that conversation yet where you shared when you had started liking the other, partly because you were embarrassed to share the true longevity of your crush. You could barely believe Hwa liked you back- you couldn’t even imagine that he had liked you as long as you had liked him! It warmed your heart though that it had been the same for the both of you.

“No, but seriously,” Jongho piped up, eyes not straying from the game he was still playing with Yunho. “You guys are so obvious. We were just waiting for it to happen.”

“Yeah, we had a bet going and everything,” Yunho added.

“Oh, speaking of, can you tell us your first official day as a couple? I’ve got 10 Galleons riding on this,” Yeosang said.

“You what?”

“Wow, only 10?”

You and Seonghwa turned to each other, mock outraged over two totally separate things. You pursed your lips at him, and he raised his brow before you both burst into laughter. You two had been worrying about how to break the news for seemingly nothing. It wasn’t awkward and the dynamic hadn’t changed one bit with everyone knowing.

You both seeed to have the same realization at the same time. The contentment in his eyes mirrored your own. He wrapped his arm around your shoulder, and you leaned into him, more at peace than you had felt in a long time. It was ironic because there was a literal mass murderer likely still on the loose in the very building you and all your loved ones were in, but you felt more secure in yourself and your relationships than you ever had.

It was at that moment that the lights went out and the professors started herding people to their makeshift beds. You joined everyone else and laid yourself down into your sleeping bag. You were so exhausted that you didn’t even have the energy to be embarrassed at the heat of Seonghwa’s body laying right next to you. His hand found yours, and you smiled, staring at the stars of the Scottish Highlands reflected in the ceiling of the Great Hall above you.

Hongjoong was already face down in his bed on your other side. You were just about to lose the fight with sleep when he whispered your name.

You opened your eyes and turned to him. “What?”

He smiled lightly at you. “I just wanted to say I’m really happy for you. For both of you. Congrats.”

You pressed your lips together and pouted at him. “Thanks Joongie.”

He smiled back and shifted to his side before adding in a louder whisper that could carry across to both of you. “And you better not hurt each other. I expect you to take care of each other and be in love and happy together forever, ok?”

Seonghwa chuckled lightly, “Yes, Dad.”

“Ok, ok. That’s all I had to say,” the rest of the guys were giggling when he added in a harsher tone, “Goodnight, everyone!”

All the boys sleepily wished the same. Ten minutes later when everyone’s breaths had evened out in slumber, your thoughts were still rattling around in your head. Joong thought you would last forever, and your boyfriend hadn’t refuted it or been embarrassed. Did he feel as deeply for you as you did him? Not to mention the thought of Hwa’s husky chuckle was still sending shivers down your spine, before they transformed into lightning bolts as he suddenly wrapped his arm around your waist and pulled you to his chest.

Your heartbeat spluttered before you could ask him in a choked whisper, “Ya, what are you doing?”

His eyes stayed closed, and he replied calmly. “Getting some sleep. You should, too.”

You could feel the blush emanating from your face and warming the scant space between you. You stared at the line of this throat, inches from your nose, wondering if you should be embarrassed or give into the comfort of his arms. Even though you two had never done anything like this, you couldn’t deny that it felt so right. It felt like home. Your brain wanted to react uncomfortably just because it was something new, but your heart was already calm, and the rest of your body was following as you melted into his heavenly embrace.

His arm at your back rubbed up and down twice before stilling around your waist as his other hand came to cradle your head. “There, just relax, my love. I’m right here, and you’re safe with me.”

You hummed blissfully against his heart. “Thanks, you too, Hwa.” Your words came out jumbled as sleep finally crashed over you.

“Sleep well, Y/N.”

A press of his lips at your hairline was the last thing you remembered from one of the most significant nights of your life.

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ashesandhackles · 2 years

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Nearly Always Right: Remus and Harry

By @thecat-isblogging-blog , me, featuring inputs from @dragonlordette

I have talked about Harry and Remus' relationship before in Resurrection Stone meta, where Harry sees Remus as a mentor. A mentor who consistently equips him with tools - his favourite subject (DADA), his strongest spell (Patronus), a connection to his father and godfather. But there are themes in their conversations in POA that sets off seeds in Harry's arc. This conversation for example:

Harry sat stunned for a moment at the idea of someone having their soul sucked out through their mouth. But then he thought of Black.

"He deserves it," he said suddenly.

"You think so?" said Lupin lightly. "Do you really think anyone deserves that?"

From the beginning of Prisoner of Azkaban, the moral theme is "do bad people deserve bad things done to them". It starts with Uncle Vernon saying Sirius deserves the death penalty:

"When will they learn," said Uncle Vernon, pounding the table with his large purple fist, "that hanging's the only way to deal with these people?"

And, of course, the delightful Aunt Marge about Harry's case in "St. Brutus' Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys":

"Do they use the cane at St Brutus' boy?" she barked across the table.

"Er-"

Uncle Vernon nodded curtly behind Aunt Marge's back.

"Yes," said Harry. Then, feeling he might as well do the thing properly, he added, "All the time."

"Excellent," said Aunt Marge. "I won't have this namby-pamby wishy-washy nonsense about not hitting people who deserve it. A good thrashing is what's needed in 99 cases out of hundred. Have you been beaten often?"

[ Quick note, because I can't resist pointing out more connections the book sets up between Harry and Sirius from the beginning, apart from them being in innocents in these instances:

"No need to tell us he's no good," snorted Uncle Vernon, staring over the top of his newspaper at the prisoner. "Look at the state of him, the filthy layabout! Look at his hair!"

He shot a nasty look sideways at Harry, whose untidy hair has been a source of great annoyance to Uncle Vernon]

Justice and Mercy

Harry completely rejects the Dursleys as caregivers in this book by running away and he gains a mentor figure and a godfather in this book. The mentor, asks him a moral question that sets up an arc: "Do you really believe anyone deserves that?"

The question sets up seeds of mercy that Harry grants not only Peter, but also makes him the deliverer of justice to innocents: Sirius and Buckbeak. He drives the Dementors away from Sirius with a powerful Patronus, a spell Remus taught him and frees Buckbeak, delivering the justice promised at the beginning of the book.

Another notable factor is that Remus didn't answer the question for Harry (although it's clear he has his own feelings about it, especially since he brought up the idea of Sirius getting the Dementors' Kiss unprompted - a first for him in a book). He is opening space for Harry to process what he is thinking and feeling by asking the right questions, and trusting that Harry will make the right decision.

In the Shrieking Shack scene, both Remus and Sirius defer to Harry's judgement on what must be done with Peter. Harry also similarly rejects Remus' stance in Deathly Hallows about using Expelliarmus on Stan Shunpike - "I won't blast people out of the way. That's Voldemort's job."

In the final book of the series, Harry will come to a position where he will grant mercy to many: Draco, Snape, and even Voldemort. Have a look at how he reacts to Voldemort's mutilated soul:

He was afraid of it. Small and fragile and wounded though it was, he did not want to approach it. Nevertheless, he drew slowly nearer, ready to jump back at any moment. Soon he stood near enough to touch it, yet he could not bring himself to do it.

And Harry does not believe that Voldemort deserves it, a mutilated soul, stuck helplessly in a limbo and unable to go on. He offers Voldemort a chance to heal his soul:

"But before you try to kill me, I'd advise you to think about what you've done... think, and try for some remorse, Riddle..."

"What is this?"

Of all the things Harry had said to him, beyond any revelation or taunt, nothing had shocked Voldemort like this. Harry saw his pupils contract to thin slits, saw the skin around his eyes whiten.

"It's your one last chance," said Harry, "it's all you've got left...I've seen what you'll be otherwise...be a man.. try...try for some remorse..."

[Another note: a soul is sacrosanct in the series. That specifically Voldemort's mutilated soul being stuck and unable to move on, and the question of whether Sirius "deserves" to be rendered soulless - it is a strong thread in the series, and as @artemisia-black pointed out to me, in keeping with ideas of annihilationism: "hell is not existing"]

The Idea of Shame

Another theme that comes up prominently in conversation between Remus and Harry are the ideas of shame (and self loathing).

"Why? Why do they affect me like that? Am I just-?"

"It has nothing to do with weakness," said Professor Lupin sharply, as though he had read Harry's mind. "The Dementors affect you worse than the others because there are horrors in your past that the others don't have. (...) The worst that has happened to you Harry is enough to make anyone fall off their broom. You have nothing to feel ashamed of. " - POA

Remus picks up on Harry's feelings of embarrassment and insecurity and just like how Remus plants the seed of justice and mercy in Harry's mind, he also starts it with getting Harry to be kind to himself. Harry feels really vulnerable and insecure about "weakness", and Remus gets him to forgive himself for it before he even fully articulates that he shouldn't feel that way.

The roles reverse in Deathly Hallows, and Remus runs to Harry with his deep rooted shame and self-loathing:

"How can I forgive myself, when I knowingly risked passing on my own condition to an innocent child? And if, by some miracle, it is not like me, then it will be better off, a hundred times so, without a father of whom it must always be ashamed!"

(...)

"If the new regime thinks Muggle-borns are bad," Harry said, "what will they do to a half-werewolf whose father's in the Order? My father died trying to protect my mother and me, and you reckon he'd tell you to abandon your kid to go an adventure with us?"

Harry, of course, can't solve Remus' problems or his own internalised shame and self-loathing due to the stigma he faces as a werewolf in the wizarding society. But Harry can remind him what's important - the feelings of the child that will be left behind ("Parents shouldn't leave their kids unless they've got to").

And Remus gets the message, and is grateful for it - and he names Harry godfather to Teddy in honour of it.

Like many mentor figures and fathers Harry surpasses in the series as part of his arc (James, Sirius, Dumbledore), Harry surpasses Remus as well and Remus chooses to display trust in Harry's moral compass and instincts:

"I'd tell him to follow his instincts, which are good and nearly always right," - Remus Lupin, Deathly Hallows

#harry james potter #remus lupin #hp meta #harry potter

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padfootswhiskers · 1 month

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How about 7 for Harry and 14 for Sirius?

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

While I read the books ages ago, I’ve only recently joined the fandom so my apologies if this is wildly wrong 😂 but what I’ve noticed in the corners of fandom I’ve interacted with so far is that for the most part, people genuinely love Harry! No matter how much they might differ on other, er, more controversial characters. Which is great, because Harry is extremely lovable!

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

Okay this one’s interesting! When we actually meet Sirius, he’s just escaped from Azkaban so he’s wearing prison robes. In both gof and ootp, he’s wearing robes again, which I imagine must be plain af because Harry never describes their colour/pattern (but this doesn’t really mean he prefers wizarding robes since at this point in canon he’s got like, 99 other, more pressing problems than what to wear, xD.) We also know Sirius can dress convincingly as a Muggle (unlike several other witches and wizards we see in the series). As can James, apparently, since we have this from the Elvendork prequel:

Both were dressed in T-shirts emblazoned with a large golden bird; the emblem, no doubt, of some deafening, tuneless rock band.

The only firm headcanon I have of his fashion aesthetic is…it’s really low effort. It’s careless.

Whether it’s wizarding robes or Muggle jeans, Sirius is the type of guy who’d look drop dead gorgeous rolling out of bed in his bedcovers. I can’t see him wearing carefully embroidered robes like Yaxley or wacky colours like Dumbledore, and jeans and a simple tee are pretty much the only Muggle clothing I can see him in. I don’t get the impression that Sirius particularly cares about his appearance. He just doesn’t have to.

So basically, my answer is…the aesthetic wherein you get the sense that he hasn’t tried at all, and that makes it sexier, somehow 😂

#character ask game #sirius black #harry potter #hannahyesss

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jialoves · 2 months

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if you get this, answer with three random facts about yourself and send it to the last seven blogs in your notifs! anon or not, doesn’t matter, let’s get to know the person behind the blog <3 (absolutely no pressure)

heyyy thank you for asking<333

I really really like maths now that doesn't mean I am good at it i just really really like learning about/solving wierd ass questions

I am really into recycling paper at home ,but I really suck at binding books

Prisoner of azkaban is my comfort book mostly because of nostalgic reasons but if I am with a bag there is a 99% chance I have it with me

#jia ki bak bak #mutuals 🫶🏼

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thecasualauthor · 3 months

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#20 - Harry Potter (consider both ron & hermione his best friends for this exercise)

20: Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter?

@jamesunderwater Buckle up for an essay.

So, I'm not super vocal about this (though i should be omg), but the golden trio is my favorite fictional platonic friend group of all time. They are absolutely perfect for each other. They balance each other out so well in their personalities and actions, and Ron and Hermione are Harry's ideal best friends, and vice versa, and I'm going to tell you why.

Let’s start with Ron

First and foremost, Ron is one of Harry's strongest emotional anchors. He’s honest, and he has a type of humor that perfectly balances Harry’s slightly pessimistic outlook on life, (which is totally valid, my poor boy has been through everything) and he manages to keep things real and light in the face of danger.

He’s also incredibly, completely loyal. He isn’t perfect at this, obviously, the two main examples being those two fights in GoF and DH when their relationship became a bit rocky. But most of the time, Ron’s loyalty is completely unwavering. He jumps at the chance to defend and support people he loves, (which is a trait that Harry shares as well.) Here’s a few of my favorite examples:

"If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill us, too!" – Prisoner of Azkaban, pg. 361

“...You’ve got to make some sacrifices! I’ll make my move and she’ll take me, that leaves you free to check the king…Do you want to stop Snape or not?” – Philosopher’s Stone, pg. 304

“He must have known I'd run out on you…No, he must have known you would always want to come back.” – Deathly Hallows, pg. 318

“You can have me! Keep me” In reference to Hermione being tortured by Bellatrix – Deathly Hallows, pg. 376

Another reason: the fact that they both share a sense of being outcasts. Though Ron’s experience is much less intense as Harry’s, he too feels not good enough. He’s constantly overshadowed by his siblings, and feels like he can’t measure up. Harry feels an outcast 99% of the time, either by the Dursleys or else by the wizarding population as a whole. Despite their circumstances being incredibly different, that underlying feeling of not belonging really just makes them all the more compatible.

Okay, now for Hermione (aka the love of my life)

She's brilliant. She's resourceful, and honestly pretty ruthless. She's an intellectual powerhouse, using (to quote Dumbledore) "cool logic in the face of fire." One of the most fascinating aspects of Hermione's character, and one of the ways she balances Ron's and Harry's personalities is the way she balances a sense of justice with empathy. I already said she was ruthless, and she is, but she also serves as a critical moral compass, providing insight into others that Ron and Harry don't notice.

Here are a couple of my favorite examples of that dynamic. An amalgamation of quotes and other instances.

"Hermione pulled a small sealed glass jar out of her bag...I caught her on the windowsill in the hospital wing." - Goblet of Fire, pg. 612

She was competent enough to use a memory charm, not once, but twice

Her insights into people and their feelings was essential in helping Harry overcome various problems. again, that logic coming in clutch.

She was there for Harry when Ron wasn't, and vice versa.

Sorry for the unwarranted essay, haha, (and I was very tempted to go on and on) but these three have my whole heart. Their loyalty to each other and the cause of defeating Voldemort is just perfection, and their dynamic is perfect.

TLDR Ron and Hermione were the perfect best friends for Harry to have, and I will die on this hill.

#hermione granger #ron weasley #harry potter #these guys are the pinnacle of friendship #ask games #casual convos

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existingtm · 1 year

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Dumbledore and House Favoritism (Or Lack Thereof)

Contrary to popular belief, Dumbledore doesn’t actually seem to have much bias for Gryffindor over Slytherin and the other two houses. At least not to the point of affecting his major decisions regarding students. Let me give some examples of why popular arguments to the contrary are flawed.

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House Cup: “Gryffindors have never gone so long without winning. Slytherins have got the cup six years in a row!” - Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, pg. 99

In all the years Harry attended Hogwarts, we only know of Gryffindor winning the cup in books one, two, and three. That means that in the text, Slytherin is confirmed to have won the house cup more times than Gryffindor has been confirmed to (in recent years). Before Harry came along, Slytherin was having the time of its life.

And while Dumbledore’s decision to change the winner so abruptly at the end of book one is a dick move, it was one more for the benefit of story payoff than serious character development, and it wasn’t because of house favoritism. I mean, if a group of kids got through a dangerous set of security measures, and one of them ended up having to kill their evil teacher who was hosting a dark lord, I too would give them a lot of points regardless of house. Especially if I knew that one of them, currently eleven, was going to die soon. Also, Neville deserved the recognition he got.

The largest number of points Dumbledore awards to Gryffindor are 200 points each to Harry and Ron after they rescue Ginny from the Chamber of Secrets. I mean seriously, that amount of points has nothing to do with house affiliation. If a couple of twelve-year-olds took out a gross con artist teacher, saved an eleven-year-old’s life, killed a basilisk, destroyed a dark object, and nearly DIED, I would also have given them a lot of points.

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Sirius Black’s “Prank” Involving Lupin and Snape: All the text says about Dumbledore’s handling of it is, “[Snape] was forbidden by Dumbledore to tell anybody,” - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, pg. 229.

There’s no mention of house favoritism playing into this. The most likely reason for why Snape was forbidden from telling anyone, was to protect Lupin. Lupin had no voluntary part in this situation. He should not have had to fear being exposed as a werewolf because Sirius decided to do something fucked up as a joke.

The text never says if/how Sirius was disciplined for his behavior, so I can’t make any judgements on Dumbledore’s actions in that regard.

It feels weird that this incident is used as an example of house favoritism since it seems to be more about the individuals in question. There’s not really enough information about the Marauders Era to determine what kind of biases Dumbledore did or did not have back then.

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Gryffindor Characters Getting Away with Stuff in General: They do. However, other houses, including Slytherin, get away with stuff they shouldn’t as well. It’s less of a house problem and more of a this-school-is-under-regulated problem. I mean, think of all the shit Malfoy gets away with for one. The Wizarding World has ridiculous safety standards. It’s good for plot reasons, just not for practical reasons, lol.

In addition, most of the examples of letting Gryffindor students get away with things center around Harry. It’s kind of necessary to let him get away with some stuff considering the role he has to play in the story and in defeating Voldemort. These instances are personal issues rather than house issues.

We don’t see Dumbledore dish out punishments to students very often; that’s more the role of McGonagall and Snape when it comes to their respective houses. So, again, it’s hard to tell if Dumbledore has a general house bias in this area.

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Influencing Harry to have House Bias: I would like to remind everyone that Hagrid is the first to impart a biased perspective about Hogwarts houses and the Weasleys continue to reinforce these beliefs. Dumbledore, on the other hand, encourages the houses to stand together against evil. He advocates for house unity. He shows compassion to Slytherin students, most notably wanting to save Malfoy from a terrible fate, regardless of any wrong he’s done, because he recognizes that Malfoy is a child who should have the chance to turn away from evil.

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Tom Riddle: I can’t recall Dumbledore acting out of any malicious intent toward Slytherin students either. Even with Tom Riddle, their beef is about each other, and Dumbledore doesn't act out of cruelty.

Dumbledore made honest mistakes with handling Tom’s mentality, which a lot of people would have made, and dare I say, he was more patient than a lot of people would be when someone displays the traits that Tom did. Regarding not letting Tom stay over the summer, there are two main things: 1) Dumbledore wasn’t headmaster and wouldn’t have been able to make that choice. 2) We don’t know whether or not he approached Dippet regarding the matter. Again, there’s not enough information to make a call on this.

Tom’s parseltongue unsettling Dumbledore isn’t because of the Slytherin house, it’s because of the Slytherin family lineage and their history. That’s more of a personal bias, and yes, Dumbledore did have some bias toward Tom. Again, I would say that he was remarkably patient with Tom, though, and he let his bias influence him far less negatively than it would influence other people. Sadly, we know how that patience paid off (it didn’t). The main thing is that Dumbledore didn’t let that bias carry over to the entire house of Slytherin.

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The only bits of Gryffindor favoritism I can think of are regarding competitions such as quidditch, which Dumbledore isn’t involved in regulating or scheduling, nor does he allow those biases to influence any decisions. It’s all friendly competition to him because he has no serious stake in it.

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In summary, Dumbledore seems to have slight biases for specific characters rather than houses as a whole. The magical world is horribly underregulated (for fun plot reasons rather than anything realistic). And Dumbledore is all for house unity rather than tearing one house down when it comes to anything important.

#albus dumbledore #harry potter #bias #favoritism #slytherin #gryffindor #house #houses #hogwarts #analysis #meta #(not jkr friendly)

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