Hi, I'm Sorry I Don't Know If You've Already Answered This, But I Was Wondering Why You Made Bletchley

Hi, I'm sorry I don't know if you've already answered this, but I was wondering why you made Bletchley the Slytherin captain instead of Montague? Also, was Millicent in the Inquisitorial Squad like she was in the books? I don't think so because she's in the Parlor, but I wanted to ask you anyway. I love your writing, but please don't feel pressured and take your time. Have a good day :)

The short answer is that Montague was the Chaser whose spot Ginny took. So he was no longer on the team, meaning Bletchley got the badge instead. (Which also allowed me to sidestep Montague, who JKR clearly made a kind of nasty dude. It was my way of trying to humanize the Slytherin I could while working around the already-established-as-horrid Slytherin.) Of course, in the process of answering this I am realizing a mistake I made in chapter 2 of The Changeling. I specifically mentioned Terrance Higgs as a kind of mean Chaser, which should have been Montague, seeing as how Higgs was the Seeker that Draco replaced. So whoops, my bad.

Millicent in the Inquisitorial Squad is another one of those moments. It was a matter of giving greater depth to Slytherin characters. Where I could, I just tried to explain why Harry’s perception was what it was. I couldn’t work around Crabbe and Goyle and Draco being nasty. And I left Pansy as the sort of coldly nasty character too. But I felt Millicent, of all of them, even though she had very specific, nasty run ins with Hermione, might have been really misunderstood. I also don’t like the way she is specifically pointed out in the text as being unattractive and more than likely fat and a physically mean and nasty bully. (Which boy, the ink I could spill on JKRs depiction of fatness as a negative trait, even Molly is just ‘plump’ like there has to be some distinction to tie to moral lines–like looking down on someone who is frumpy is classist, but being wary of fat people is just good sense. Come on, JKR, you’re better than this.) So I decided that of all the Slytherin that were established in the narrative that I could give an alternate approach to, I wanted it to be her. So I thought about who she could be, not to completely change her. I was happy to leave her aloofness, her prickly approach (which, if the text is any indication, she probably herself was probably the recipient of some nasty treatment due to her looks). She doesn’t owe anyone smiles and pleasantness. She can be exactly who she is and still be three-dimensional and pivotal and important. So was she still an Inquisitorial Squad member? No, I don’t think so. I could maybe buy her working for Umbridge, but definitely not the Carrows. I’m not sure if we read that as a change I made to her character or a change that came about because of Ginny’s leadership in The Parlor. I like to think it’s the latter. As much as The Parlor girls expanded Ginny’s idea of who people can be, she also impacted her sisters’ understanding and approach to class lines and pureblood culture and the war in general.

Thanks for the ask!

Ginny Weasley’s Social Life

There’s a huge idea in the fandom that Ginny Weasley is popular. And this isn’t exactly incorrect.

By HBP, she’s well-liked and appears to have friends in a variety of circles. Boys find her attractive. She’s a member of the Quidditch team. People laugh at her jokes.

But before anyone imagines that Ginny’s Hogwarts years were a cakewalk, let’s look back on how she got there.

First year (CS)

Ginny starts out a bit nervous, but hopefully makes some fledgling friendships with her dormitory mates. But before those friendships could get off the ground, Ginny is drawn in by Riddle. Her dormitory mates/classmates (hopefully) continue to be friendly to her, but she’s becoming more and more moody and withdrawn. Her dormitory mates, who barely had a chance to get to know her, shrug and let her be.

She establishes a friendship with Colin Creevy, but he’s petrified two months into the year. She’s distraught, and it’s hinted that this is when she starts to suspect her own involvement. Ginny withdraws further into herself.

Those who’ve had classes with her see her as quiet and slightly odd. Her class performance is spotty and her confidence has never been lower.

Second year (PA)

Ginny’s starting from scratch. She almost certainly has no friends.

The alliances within her dormitory have already been established, and she’s the odd one out. Her dormitory mates probably see her as the moody secretive unfriendly girl with whom they share a room. She’s the Neville of her dorm, and has had her confidence dashed by her past experience. Hogwarts was where she was violated, and it takes time to be comfortable again.

But instead of wallowing, she starts slowly building friendships and building a social network for herself.

Among the Gryffindor second years who had shared all of their classes with her the previous year, she’s quiet Ginny Weasley. And she never really feels like she can escape that first impression.

But to a Gryffindor third year or a Ravenclaw second year, she’s largely a blank slate. So she gravitates toward people that are not in her year, not in her house, or both. People that are less likely to have known Ginny Weasley circa first year.

Third year (GF)

By third year, she’s doing significantly better. She’s probably still the odd one out in her dormitory, but she’s got the twins, Ron, Hermione, and (probably) Colin. She’s also establishing friendships with people like Neville, who is similarly isolated from his year mates. She doesn’t view herself as having particularly high social currency and she’s probably right, but she’s happier and that’s what’s important.

You’ll notice that Ginny tends to have a higher than average number of male friends. This is partially opportunity (she meets male friends like Neville via her brothers), but it’s mostly a matter of comfort level. Ginny is neither a complete tomboy nor a girly-girl. She’s comfortable interacting with boys, but she’s also comfortable with being the only girl in a pack of boys and doesn’t feel the need to give up her identity as a girl just to fit in.

She continues to broaden her circle during third year, and by the end of the year she has a bonafide boyfriend, Michael Corner. This transition also coincides with the beginning of her transition from a cute young girl to a beautiful young woman.

Fourth year (OP)

She’s still getting her feet wet with her relationship with Michael Corner. She quickly establishes herself as friends with Michael’s friends Terry Boot and Anthony Goldstein. Through Michael, she’s strengthened her social network in Ravenclaw.

When the first meeting of the D.A. takes place, it’s pretty clear that her invited guests were Michael, his friends, and probably Luna as well. She might have been the one to invite the Creeveys, if they didn’t find out on their own.

She also starts playing Quidditch for Gryffindor, which raises her profile further. And like Luna and the others, she benefits from the cross-house interaction the D.A. provided. The D.A. also provides her with a major confidence boost.

By this point, she’s starting to resemble HBP Ginny. She’s comfortable speaking in front of large groups, has a variety of friends across houses, and people see her as someone who’s fun/vivacious.

Fifth year (HBP)

Ginny comes back onto the scene full force.

She’s still on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and has quickly become one of the most talented members of the team. She’s struck up a few new friendships with people like Demelza Robbins. At this point, she’s also dating Dean Thomas. Dean is a better fit than Michael, and she’s much more public/official about the relationship. She doesn’t bother hiding it from Ron or anyone else. She also seems to become friends with Seamus via Dean.

And this is where Harry (and therefore the reader) takes notice. He sees a vivacious, talented, clever, funny, confident 16-year-old girl. But Ginny’s social journey has actually been a step behind everyone else.

Ravenclaw: Are you two fighting ot flirting?

Slytherin and Gryffindor: Yes

Here it is, canon evidence that Salazar Slytherin was NOT a racist bigot. He was concerned for the well-being and safety of the magical community, which could have been compromised by letting the “common people” know that wizards and witches existed.

datvikingtho

🤭

So I read your thoughts on whether Harry and Ginny argue or not, and I was wondering what you meant by it would be different whether Ginny was in Slytherin?

I think the main difference with Slytherin Ginny is that her fuse is quite a bit longer. She’s mastered her temper, more or less. (The less being when she’s around Harry. He tends to shorten her temper more than anyone else, which is not just a sign of how he affects her, but also a sign of her trust and comfort around him, that she feels she can indulge that weakness around him.) Slytherin Ginny is also a bit more self-reflective, meaning she often needs time post-fight to process, which is not that great for Harry, because it gives him time to fume and stew and, worse, catastrophize. It’s an early hurdle in their relationship, one which gets better the longer they are together, Ginny both adapting to Harry’s need for quicker resolution, and Harry developing more and more faith in their relationship, in understanding that just because they’ve had a fight doesn’t mean everything is over. I think those are the main differences. Otherwise the dynamic is the same.