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Who do we hate more!??

Okay so this is for The Magnus Archives fans and The Harry Potter fans… out of Elias Bouchard and Dolores Umbridge who do we hate more??? Cause I hate then both a LOT but like who do we hate more??? The guy who gaslit his employees, and then manipulated one of said employees into destroying the world, stole multiple people’s bodies, was sexist and was homophobic (while being gay)

or The woman who made a KID carve into his own skin, bullied everyone she ever came across and legit traumatised children

So, who do we hate more!? Cause I can’t figure it out, thoughts??

people denying that Remus is canonically disabled(or just forgetting/ignoring that lycanthropy in HP is a disability) is actually my villain origin story

Ok so Harry has a tendency to blatantly state out loud just how much the Dursleys don't give two shits about him (to the point that the people around him think it's just a typical teenager over exaggerating their complaints), but... Does he realise that the way he is being treated by them is wrong?

Also like, I know that the way the Dursleys treated him plays a huge part in the way Harry behaves and views himself- specifically him not thinking an adult is a reliable source of help and protection + his disastrouly low self esteem + how he doesn't respond to Snape's everything (which is the exact opposite of what James would have done) ... But what are the other ways in which he got affected and it shows? (Someone once mentioned that they hc that when feeling extreme emotions Harry tends to skip out on food and may have nearly wasted away in his second year had it not been for Ron and Hermione- which is also why they act so much like Harry's bodyguards)

Yep, Harry put no effort into hiding his abuse. He literally told anyone who would listen. By 5th year, he was making jokes about it to Ron and Hermione who seemed used to it.

Now, you've raised a few questions and I'll try to answer them to the best of my ability.

Does he realise that the way he is being treated by them is wrong?

I think he does. Most of his comments about his relatives' treatment definitely sound like Harry is very aware that he shouldn't be treated like that.

“I told you, I didn’t — but it’ll take too long to explain now — look, can you tell them at Hogwarts that the Dursleys have locked me up and won’t let me come back, and obviously I can’t magic myself out, because the Ministry’ll think that’s the second spell I’ve done in three days, so —” “Stop gibbering,” said Ron. “We’ve come to take you home with us.” “But you can’t magic me out either —” “We don’t need to,” said Ron, jerking his head toward the front seat and grinning. “You forget who I’ve got with me.” “Tie that around the bars,” said Fred, throwing the end of a rope to Harry. “If the Dursleys wake up, I’m dead,” said Harry as he tied the rope tightly around a bar and Fred revved up the car. “Don’t worry,” said Fred, “and stand back.”

(COS, page 31)

“It was cloudy, Mum!” said Fred. “You keep your mouth closed while you’re eating!” Mrs. Weasley snapped. “They were starving him, Mum!” said George. “And you!” said Mrs. Weasley, but it was with a slightly softened expression that she started cutting Harry bread and buttering it for him.

(COS, page 39)

But Harry wasn’t going to stand for this. Gone were the days when he had been forced to take every single one of the Dursleys’ stupid rules.

(GOF, page 33)

“Excellent,” said Lupin, looking up as Tonks and Harry entered. “We’ve got about a minute, I think. We should probably get out into the garden so we’re ready. Harry, I’ve left a letter telling your aunt and uncle not to worry —” “They won’t,” said Harry. “That you’re safe —” “That’ll just depress them.” “— and you’ll see them next summer.” “Do I have to?” Lupin smiled but made no answer.

(OOTP, page 54)

“You don’t seem to need many qualifications to liaise with Muggles. . . . All they want is an O.W.L. in Muggle Studies. . . . ‘Much more important is your enthusiasm, patience, and a good sense of fun!’ ” “You’d need more than a good sense of fun to liaise with my uncle,” said Harry darkly. “Good sense of when to duck, more like . . .”

(OOTP, page 657)

It seems Harry is very much aware that the way he is being treated is wrong. the younger Weasleys and Hermione are clearly aware of that too. Harry calls the Dursleys' rules stupid, he knows the Dursleys aren't treating him the way they should and that he doesn't have to take it. That he shouldn't have to take it.

Harry is kind of a best-case scenario of an abused kid and Dumbledore was so lucky Harry ended up functional enough for his plans. It could've so easily gone down differently.

Honestly, I'm enraged on Harry's behalf at how Arthur, Molly, and Lupin (and every other adult) just completely ignore his mistreatment. He really does just state plainly what's going on and has Ron, Fred, George, and Hermione backing up everything he says.

What are the other ways in which he got affected and it shows?

I do like when Harry's approach to food is affected by the Dursleys starving him, that being said, there isn't really any book evidence for it. It's an interesting headcanon to explore though. His low self-esteem, willingness to endanger himself, and his thinking that adults be counted on are definitely effects seen in the books. As for other things we do see in the books:

1. Harry is actually really quiet. He doesn't speak as much as Ron and Hermione and he's pretty awkward with social interaction. He mimics Ron in many ways since he never had any friends before him.

His approach to studying is one of the ways he mimics Ron socially. Harry actually read their school books before 1st year, he found Hedwig's name in a History of Magic. And he planned to study at the beginning of Philosopher's Stone. Then he meets Ron and realizes no one in Gryffindor except Hermione actually studies, and she is hated for it. So he didn't bother studying either, even though he planned to because he wanted to fit in.

2. Harry isn't great at emotional regulation, specifically anger. Harry is a pretty angry character and throughout the books, he actually has moments when he completely loses himself to a sense of anger.

A boiling hate erupted in Harry’s chest, leaving no place for fear. For the first time in his life, he wanted his wand back in his hand, not to defend himself, but to attack . . . to kill.

(POA, page 339)

“Madame Maxime!” said Fleur at once, striding over to her headmistress. “Zey are saying zat zis little boy is to compete also!” Somewhere under Harry’s numb disbelief he felt a ripple of anger. Little boy?

(GOF, page 275)

Harry sat there staring at Snape as the lesson began, picturing horrific things happening to him. . . . If only he knew how to do the Cruciatus Curse . . . he’d have Snape flat on his back like that spider, jerking and twitching. . . .

(GOF, page 300)

If Dudley’s friends saw him sitting here, they would be sure to make a beeline for him, and what would Dudley do then? He wouldn’t want to lose face in front of the gang, but he’d be terrified of provoking Harry. . . . It would be really fun to watch Dudley’s dilemma; to taunt him, watch him, with him powerless to respond . . . and if any of the others tried hitting Harry, Harry was ready — he had his wand . . . let them try . . . He’d love to vent some of his frustration on the boys who had once made his life hell —

(OOTP, page 11)

He does calm down the older he gets. But he definitely has a lot of anger in him.

3. Harry, in general, has a disrespect for authority. I assume this is an extension of his distrust of adults, in that no teacher or nurse ever helped him. Harry is so anti-authority and anti-orders, that he can resist the Imperius Curse decently from the first try.

Harry just doesn't do orders or authority. Actually in the earlier books, and even in books 6 and 7, Harry has his doubts about Dumbledore. He repeatedly tells people he's Dumbledore's man, but in his head, he has doubts. Like he has for any other adult with authority over him.

“Dumbledore’s been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me!” he hissed. “He’s not as gone as you might think!” Harry retorted. He was speaking at random, wanting to scare Riddle, wishing rather than believing it to be true —

(COS, page 282)

“Because the Ministry of Magic’s still after me, and Voldemort will know all about me being an Animagus by now, Wormtail will have told him, so my big disguise is useless. There’s not much I can do for the Order of the Phoenix . . . or so Dumbledore feels.” There was something about the slightly flattened tone of voice in which Sirius uttered Dumbledore’s name that told Harry that Sirius was not very happy with the headmaster either. Harry felt a sudden upsurge of affection for his godfather.

(OOTP, pages 82-83)

He's very distrusting of adults and authority, but also his peers. He doesn't tell Ron and Hermione everything in the earlier books because he is very slow to trust. Which, makes sense for someone who grew up like he did.

4. His occasional impulsiveness is an extension of his issues with emotional regulation, I think.

5. I think Harry's cunning Slytherin streak is a result of his abuse. The Dursleys' mistreatment taught him to sneak around, to lie, to be clever. It taught him to keep a blank face when being yelled at because if he reacted it'll make it worse.

He learned how to insult the Dursleys in ways that go over Dudley's head. His little way to rebel.

6. His response to pain as well. We see it with Umbridge and the blood quill for example:

He let out a gasp of pain. The words had appeared on the parchment in what appeared to be shining red ink. At the same time, the words had appeared on the back of Harry’s right hand, cut into his skin as though traced there by a scalpel — yet even as he stared at the shining cut, the skin healed over again, leaving the place where it had been slightly redder than before but quite smooth. Harry looked around at Umbridge. She was watching him, her wide, toadlike mouth stretched in a smile. “Yes?” “Nothing,” said Harry quietly. He looked back at the parchment, placed the quill upon it once more, wrote I must not tell lies, and felt the searing pain on the back of his hand for a second time

(OOTP, page 267)

Harry can hide his pain and not react to it, and he does it well. He learned from the Dursleys that she wants to see his pain, and he isn't going to give her what she wants. Instead, he grits his teeth through it and doesn't react externally.

Even later in the book when Umbridge threatens with the Crociatus Curse, Harry just braces himself for it, not planning to break (in later books too, Harry is very willing to get hurt and just deal with it). He is willing to take torture without reacting, and I think this is something he got from the Dursleys.

These are the some other things that came to mind regarding your question. There are probably more that I can't think of now that I might add later. Harry is who he is in part because of his nightmare of a childhood. So many facets of his personality just link back to it.

All this anti-Remus talk is making me like him even more 😂

I love that he’s a character who is so fixated on image and how he comes off. He’s such a cold person! Detached! Won’t form close bonds! Like…his loving parents fucked him up by keeping him away from all other children until Hogwarts. I love how this plays into his character again and again and again.

I put the rest under the cut because it gets a bit tangential, but whatever, I was feeling a bit heated.

I feel like Remus doesn’t actually know how to make friends—he has let everyone come to him. James and Sirius formed their little group, and Remus has always been in awe of what friends will do FOR him. What did Remus do for his friends? Maybe Remus learns how to accept love, but he is not very good at giving it back.

It’s so interesting to me that Remus doesn’t become Harry’s go-to even after they spent hours together. Harry allows Remus to see his most vulnerable side, and Remus doesn’t reciprocate even after the truth comes out. At the very least, he could write Harry. He could visit Harry in the summer.

But I actually LOVE this about Remus. I love that he’s written as a warm, inviting sort of person when he’s actually someone who is terrified of forming close bonds. No one is allowed to see the real Lupin, and once someone has seen a part of himself he doesn’t like, he immediately detaches himself and disappears. Remus wants to appear in control of himself because he is concerned more about his image than doing the right thing. At the end of PoA, I’m sure he’s upset that he nearly killed Harry and co, obviously, but more importantly, he’s embarrassed that he lost control. If he really cared about the safety of students, he would have revealed Sirius’s disguise to Dumbledore as soon as Sirius escaped Azkaban.

The point of his character is “what you see on the surface is not necessarily what lies below.” It’s one of the most salient themes of PoA.

Anyway, it’s uncomfortable! So many people want to make Remus a “model of marginalization” - who, depending on the fanon, falls on one end of the spectrum which is “ohhhh poor disabled guy :((( he can’t do anything because he’s a pathetic baby” or “look how hot and tall and rational and intelligent he is despite his poverty/disability!!!!”

It’s SO INFANTILIZING. I don’t think Remus is a bad guy or a good guy—I think that his particularly negative character traits are a result of prejudice towards his condition, his upbringing, and his internalized prejudice towards werewolves. So I am not saying he’s a complete asshole. Obviously. My point, though, is that he has friends who support him in school, particularly James, who break the law and risk torture prison (and bodily harm from a werewolf) to support him.* And Remus…he does not do much to reciprocate that sort of love. The very least he can do for James is to check in on Harry (he doesn’t even need to say hi—just literally see that he’s ok!). James risked his life for Remus, and Remus won’t risk Dumbledore’s disapproval to reciprocate.

He continually does the LEAST for Harry. Harry has to beg him to teach him the Patronus Charm. And when Harry is clearly craving his parents’ voices as they’re dying, Remus doesn’t even offer a nugget of “ohhhh, gosh, Harry, let’s give you some good stories about your dad, ok?”

This is a cold, broken man who has convinced himself that being alone is safe because you can never be rejected. This is Remus’s greatest fear. He’s the teacher that needs to be liked but he hides behind professionalism when it suits him. His “nice guy” traits are a fucking ACT. I want people to explore more about his negative traits! He blames his condition when people get too close, and when people manage to climb his walls to try to get close to him, he pushes them away.

Chronic illness does not make you a good person—it just makes life harder. Remus accepts love and support from his friends—and yes, they SHOULD give him love and support because this is what we owe each other, but Remus also owes his friends love and support. It’ll look different from how James, Sirius, and Peter can support him, but you don’t get to just take from your friends without giving back. Your friends are not there to be your mommy. Sometimes, you’ll go through periods where your friends are holding you up and you just need to accept that they don’t resent you for it, but if you’re willing to accept help, you’d better be willing to return it later. As someone who has a few people in their life who take and take and give little in return, I can tell you, it starts to feel like your only purpose is to carry them on your shoulders. And man, it’s fucking exhausting. Sometimes I need to be carried too.

I have no idea how Remus behaved at Hogwarts regarding his friends on a day to day basis because Harry never sees evidence of this, but we see him as an adult who is unwilling to support his friend’s orphaned kid in ANY meaningful way…unless Harry begs him. In the end, Remus is still an autonomous adult and Harry is a child in need. In this situation, at the bare minimum, Remus has the power to pick up a pen and write.

So why don’t we see this more in fic? You all know I’m a Sirius stan, but I am CONSTANTLY critiquing Sirius’s relationship with masculinity. Sirius is my favorite character, and I LOVE exploring the uncomfortable parts of him—he’s cold when he perceives that he has been emasculated, even belittling Harry when he’s insulted. He’ll put himself in danger to protect Harry when all Harry really wants is for Sirius to be there for him (which Sirius can’t do in OotP). These are the bits that make me queasy—and I love exploring them!

Why not explore the ugly parts of Remus? You say you want interesting, well-rounded characters with chronic illness/disabilities/neurodivergence? Then let them be interesting. Make them complicated and embrace the icky parts of them. If you want, explore how society has created a cold, sad, wet noodle Remus and then GIVE HIM A PATH TO GROWTH. Like… if you don’t like these parts, give him scenarios so he can grow and become a better person.

Anyway, stop fucking throwing around words like “ableism” when you hear something you don’t like about a character. You don’t know the real person behind their username. Most of us here have some sort of disability/neurodivergence/chronic illness, etc, so stop fucking assuming we’re Chad Abled-Bodied or Karen Neurotypical, ffs.

It’s fucking insulting and infantilizing that we can’t discuss complexity in characters who are marginalized in their society. By excusing all of their less than cute actions, you’re essentially saying, “This is not a full human being with a full range of emotion and flaws—they are a perfect little baby who doesn’t deserve reproach, who can do whatever he wants!”

But that’s just me, I guess.

—

* (Also, side note, Moony the werewolf could have very well killed any one of them. Additionally, the theory that Moony couldn’t hurt them in Animagus form was ONLY A THEORY. It might not have worked at ALL and they risked their lives to test it.)

Headcanon that an outraged 6-year-old Charlie Weasley writes to an elderly Newt Scamander wanting to know why Gringotts keeps a dragon locked up underground and begging him to fix it. Newt writes back saying that sadly he’s been fighting that fight for years and no one ever wants to listen to him because the powerful families whose money is being kept safe by the dragon always shut him down, and that Charlie is the first person he’s heard of who’s as angry as he is about it. Charlie decides that day to dedicate his life to finding out everything he can about dragons so that one day he can free the poor Gringotts dragon. After the war, when they hear that Harry, Ron and Hermione freed the dragon, they celebrate and immediately begin petitioning to have it made illegal to imprison dragons so that nothing like that ever happens again. It’s only when Hermione becomes Minister that it’s finally signed into law.

I always saw Hermione’s boggart to be much deeper than it was taken as: it’s not just fear of a bad grade, it’s loss. She was new to a world that almost no-one else was new to, and even her (also new) best friend, had a set place. Her intellect & intelligence was her niche. Her fear of losing that was a fear of losing her place. That she’d no longer truly belong in either world she’d known in her life. A fear of losing a place she’d learned & fought to belong in. Not just a need to be smartest.

Draco Malfoy hated Harry Potter so much that he...

Tried to befriend him in Madam Malkin’s even though he didn’t know who he was at the time, and Harry probably looked a bit raggedy

Tried to befriend him again on the train once he realized who he was

Was so upset that Harry take his hand when they were 11 that he spent most of the next 5 years holding a grudge

Constantly talked about Harry to his friends

Even when he didn’t know Harry was listening, so it’s not like he was just doing it to annoy him

Spent the entire summer between first and second year talking about Harry Potter, to the point that his father actually lost his temper with him because he was so sick of hearing about Harry Potter all the time

Knew a startling amount about Harry despite the fact that they are 1) in different Houses and 2) decidedly not friends

Remember when Rita Skeeter recruited him as a source about Harry Potter and he was actually pretty good at it because he knew so much about Harry’s life?

Remember when everyone thought Harry must be the Heir of Slytherin but Draco knew that couldn’t be the truth because he instantly understood Harry wouldn’t do that?

Started avoiding Harry as soon as he (albeit unwillingly) became a Death Eater, even though then he should’ve wanted to go after Harry more than ever

Failed to seriously harm Harry or deliver him to Voldemort when he had him paralyzed, defenseless, and completely at his mercy on the train at the beginning of 6th year, even though killing or capturing Harry Potter would certainly have saved him and his family from Voldemort’s wrath, and probably would have ensured they received a rich reward beside. 

Refused to identify Harry at Malfoy Manor, thus buying him enough time to escape, even though he knew that he was risking certain torture and quite possibly death for both himself and his family

He had Voldemort living in his house. He knew the price he was paying and he knew how valuable delivering Harry Potter could be for him and his family. And his still chose not to.

And he paid the price. Harry could feel Voldemort’s wrath and weeks later at the Battle of Hogwarts Lucius still bore visible marks from what Voldemort did despite the healing powers of magic in that world

Could not harm Harry in the Room of Requirement even though taking him in was probably the last chance he had for salvation for him and his family

Turned his back on the beliefs he had been raised with as soon as he was free to

Yeah. Seems legit. 

Listen, Harry shared classes with Crabbe and Goyle for 6 years and on top of that he and Ron even polyjuiced into them at one point and spent an HOUR impersonating them, and yet Harry never once mentions their eye or hair color. And in book 7 he’s surprised to hear what their voices sound like. BECAUSE HE NEVER NOTICED. In over 6 years. 

AND YET we know the exact color of Draco’s hair (white-blonde) and eyes (light grey) down to the specific shade because Harry will not stop waxing poetic about Draco’s features - from the way his white-blond hair gleams in the sunlight (yes that’s a real quote in book 5) to how his pale grey eyes narrow when he’s angry to the specific drawling cadence of his voice (which Harry can instantly recognize) to how his gait changes depending on his mood.

We know all that. And yet Harry doesn’t even know what Crabbe and Goyle, WHO ARE CONSTANTLY WITH DRACO AND WITH WHOM HE SHARES CLASSES, sound like. That’s how disinterested he is in them. That’s how laser focused he is on Draco. 

How very heterosexual. 

Do you think Lily Evans had a bullying kink? Can you please explain it?

Appearently, J.K Rowling said in an interview something along the lines that "Did she really? You're a woman, you know what I'm saying" when a fan asked why Lily married James if she hated him. I cannot find the original, because J.K. Rowling has been a little bit more discreet lately. (Found it on Accio Quotes). Which does implies that Lily was somewhat attracted to James even when he was a jerk. From what we see in canon, and from what we see from the little information J.K Rowling have given us about the Marauders, the sexual masochism\kinky aspect of the relationship become very easy to read into. Also, the fact Lily smiled when Snape got jumped and stripped was...It does seem to imply that Lily was naturally but mildly sado-masochistic in the clinical sense of the term. Now, unless we imply Lily is a gold-digger (which is not implied in the slightest, but not impossible), I don't really see why she would go for James the minute he seemed to improve. Like, seriously...What else. She wasn't blinded by his charm either...So what else beyond a certain fetish. That would also explain her drifting relationship with Snape, a certain masochistic envy that she wanted James' (questionable) attention for herself. If the marriage would have turned out abusive in a couple of years, well I have found a few online anonymous confessions of mostly women (or at least it was the vibe given) who have gotten into abusive relationship BECAUSE they were kinky and lacked the life experience to find a safe way of exploring that faced of their sexuality. Given Lily’s young age, she managed to control her more negative impulses quite well for someone this young and from such a violent culture. 

Why do you think James was so enamoured with Lily? He was a popular guy, what made him want to wait for Lily to agree to go on a date with him?

Lily Evans was a rather good-looking girl (pretty face, long red hair and vivid green eyes), and she was rather popular because of her charming personality.

The fact that Hagrid keeps werewolf pups under his bed is so fucking hilarious like you mean to tell me he kidnapped a bunch of children and just... stuffed all of them under his bed. Without anyone in his dorm noticing. Or maybe they did, they were just too afraid to say anything about it

Guys I think we just found out the real reason he was expelled

To give slight credit:

A) Entirely possible the diary was lying to Harry when it said this had happened. A bit of a strange thing to lie about given the Acromantula thing had occurred/there was no need to make Hagrid look worse or guiltier but it is possible.

B) JKR probably hadn't figured out werewolves yet/what she wanted to do with them as Remus shows up book 3. As much as JKR claims to have thought of things 20 years in advance she has a bad habit of retconning/convincing us a thing that existed last book works totally different now. Could be werewolves were going to be more wolves and then... they... weren't...

But yes, canonically, Tom Riddle noticed and chewed him out for it, but he wasn't expelled until Myrtle died. Could be the other dorm mates were too terrified and... it's telling that no one questioned that it was Hagrid who killed this girl except for Albus Dumbledore. I imagine Hagrid got a lot of side-eyeing from kids who had known him in school when he became groundskeeper.

Hello, I really wanted your opinion on how Harry anger and mildly obssesion with goodness balance out

I mean, our boy spared Peter, but strangled Mundungus. He more often then not uses harmless spells, but I genualy think that he's willing to kill someone if the situation asks for it, like you mentioned before

It is kinda contradictory to me, it woud be nice to know you take on it

Okay, so first thing first, as someone who used to have anger issues, I just want to say that being an angry person ≠ being a bad person. Like, how angry you are is completely separate from how good you are. Emotions aren't necessarily tied to your moral compass.

The thing about anger and anger issues is that it's not something you control oftentimes. When you get really angry, like, properly angry, you become a spectator in your own body. You move and act out of anger, but it's not something you chose to do consciously you didn't plan it or decide upon it at any point. It just kinda happens. And it's a lot of really hard work for it not to happen once the issue is there.

As such, it happens that once you calm down, you might regret things you did in that burst of anger, but it's already done.

Harry's anger is shown like this sometimes, like something not fully under his control:

Harry was not aware of releasing George, all he knew was that a second later both of them were sprinting at Malfoy. He had completely forgotten the fact that all the teachers were watching: All he wanted to do was cause Malfoy as much pain as possible. With no time to draw out his wand, he merely drew back the fist clutching the Snitch and sank it as hard as he could into Malfoy’s stomach — “Harry! HARRY! GEORGE! NO!” He could hear girls’ voices screaming, Malfoy yelling, George swearing, a whistle blowing, and the bellowing of the crowd around him, but he did not care, not until somebody in the vicinity yelled “IMPEDIMENTA!” and only when he was knocked over backward by the force of the spell did he abandon the attempt to punch every inch of Malfoy he could reach. . . .

(OotP)

Anger management issues are issues with emotional regulation at the end of the day. The issue is with management, control, and regulation, where your emotions quite literally take over you. That's where phrases like "seeing red" come from. It's that all-encompassing anger that takes over, and that's the only thing you can see.

But Harry's anger isn't always like this. Sometimes his anger just pushes him to act on something he wants anyway, even when calmer:

Hatred rose in Harry such as he had never known before. He flung himself out from behind the fountain and bellowed “Crucio!” Bellatrix screamed. The spell had knocked her off her feet, but she did not writhe and shriek with pain as Neville had — she was already on her feet again, breathless, no longer laughing. Harry dodged behind the golden fountain again — her counterspell hit the head of the handsome wizard, which was blown off and landed twenty feet away, gouging long scratches into the wooden floor. “Never used an Unforgivable Curse before, have you, boy?” she yelled. She had abandoned her baby voice now. “You need to mean them, Potter! You need to really want to cause pain — to enjoy it — righteous anger won’t hurt me for long...”

(OotP)

Even when Harry's calm he thinks Bellatrix deserves torture or death. His anger in the above scene is defined well by Bellatrix. It's righteous anger. It's anger that doesn't push him out of control but propels him to act on something he already wanted to do. It's like an injection of nerves and courage, and not that same out-of-control feeling I mentioned earlier.

Now, Harry's "obsession with goodness" is completely separate from his anger.

What's important to note is what is the definition of good. Good is defined by Harry and the HP books as a whole as good = Just. Good in the HP books and according to Harry, is not some vague idea where everyone deserves mercy, it's a good where everyone gets what they deserve. Bad people have bad things happen to them, and good people have good things happen to them. It's about justice and righteousness.

Quirrell helped Voldemort, so he deserved to die in Harry's opinion.

well, unless you count Quirrell, and he got what he deserved seeing as he was working with Voldemort.

(HBP)

Stan Shunpike was under the imperius. He didn't choose to help Voldemort, he was innocent, so he didn't deserve to die in Harry's opinion.

I saw Stan Shunpike. ... You know, the bloke who was the conductor on the Knight Bus? And I tried to Disarm him instead of — well, he doesn’t know what he’s doing, does he? He must be Imperiused!

(DH)

And it makes sense. I mean, is it good that murderers and rapists go to prison? Absolutely. You need to punish bad deeds to stop bad people from hurting people, how that should be done isn't something I want to get into, but righteousness and justice include punishments for evil acts, and that's good. It's good murderers and other criminals can't just walk around and hurt people without consequences. A good person won't let a bad one hurt others, and for that, said good person needs to be willing to fight, and yes, hurt in self-defense or in defense of others.

And Harry believes in this kind of good. A good that is righteous and just. Harry doesn't think everyone deserves the same treatment. He'll treat you well if you deserve it.

“...It’s time you learned some respect!” “It’s time you earned it.” said Harry

(DH)

Harry's respect and kindness need to be earned. You need to deserve it. His scorn and hate, are similarly earned through your actions and what you say.

That being said, most people don't deserve death in Harry's book. His starting point is that you should be kept alive, and helped, and treated well. You need to actively do something to get on Harry's shitlist. Even Snape only got on Harry's shitlist after Snape mocked and ridiculed Harry in that first potions class.

In the scene with Mundungus, Harry is angry. He doesn't actually think Mundungus deserves death, some punishment, yes, but not death. He stole from Sirius, and he did a horrible thing (for Harry he did an awful disrespect to Sirius whom Harry is still grieving at that point), so the good thing would be him getting his comeuppance. But in that scene, I think there is a bit of this out-of-control anger I mentioned earlier, as I don't think a calm Harry would've strangled him in this way. Harry acted in anger and instinct, he wasn't rationalizing anything in that moment.

And regarding Pettigrew, Harry did want to kill him, he wished for him to die, to be punished, but he:

Was calmer by that point, he wasn't angry anymore so he didn't have the push of anger

He is compassionate. While he wants Peter dead, he doesn't want Lupin and Sirius to become killers because he cares about them, he doesn't want them to have to suffer through killing their ex-freind. But he wouldn't mind if Peter died to the dementors.

He is practical. He wants to bring Peter back to the castle and have him sent to Azkaban — which would allow Sirius to be exonerated. It would serve justice, it would be righteous. As Harry mentioned in the following quote, it'll be what he thinks Peter deserves:

“NO!” Harry yelled. He ran forward, placing himself in front of Pettigrew, facing the wands. “You can’t kill him,” he said breathlessly. “You can’t.” Black and Lupin both looked staggered. “Harry, this piece of vermin is the reason you have no parents,” Black snarled. “This cringing bit of filth would have seen you die too, without turning a hair. You heard him. His own stinking skin meant more to him than your whole family.” “I know,” Harry panted. “We’ll take him up to the castle. We’ll hand him over to the dementors. . . . He can go to Azkaban . . . but don’t kill him.” “Harry!” gasped Pettigrew, and he flung his arms around Harry’s knees. “You — thank you — it’s more than I deserve — thank you —” “Get off me,” Harry spat, throwing Pettigrew’s hands off him in disgust. “I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing it because — I don’t reckon my dad would’ve wanted them to become killers — just for you.” No one moved or made a sound except Pettigrew, whose breath was coming in wheezes as he clutched his chest. Black and Lupin were looking at each other. Then, with one movement, they lowered their wands. “You’re the only person who has the right to decide, Harry,” said Black. “But think . . . think what he did. . . .” “He can go to Azkaban,” Harry repeated. “If anyone deserves that place, he does. . . .”

(PoA)

But that good Harry believes in does allow for reform. It allows for forgiveness. Harry is a very forgiving person, he believes people can regret their past actions and change. He doesn't, for the most part, believe people are evil from birth or that someone who did evil would necessarily always be evil. Specifically with Voldemort, Harry feels a connection to him, he understands him and that understanding leads him to deem Voldemort as redeemable. As someone who could be saved. It's sentimentality talking there, as, let's say, I don't see Harry making such offers to Umbridge.

What do you think about Hermione? Love her? Hate her? Any thoughts about her being given the time Turner? Because that's what made me dislike her. There's literally no way it makes sense for her to have that other than favouritism from Dumbledore. Because if they were really willing to give out time turners to any smart kid, Barty Crouch Jr. and Tom Riddle should also have gotten time turners.

Okay, there are two parts for this answer. The first part is that I got to defend Hermione on the Time Turner bit because it's not her fault Dumbledore plays favorites.

I'm pretty sure Dumbledore knew Sirius was innocent all along (or at least suspected it) and intended Harry and Hermione to have all the means to help him at their disposal.

“Dumbledore just said — just said we could save more than one innocent life. . . .” And then it hit him. “Hermione, we’re going to save Buckbeak!” “But — how will that help Sirius?” “Dumbledore said — he just told us where the window is — the window of Flitwick’s office! Where they’ve got Sirius locked up! We’ve got to fly Buckbeak up to the window and rescue Sirius! Sirius can escape on Buckbeak — they can escape together!”

(PoA, page 395)

They were still ten feet away from the forest, in plain view of Hagrid’s back door. “One moment, please, Macnair,” came Dumbledore’s voice. “You need to sign too.” The footsteps stopped.

(PoA, page 401)

The back in time Dumbledore, before he sent Harry and Hermione back in time, seems almost too aware of what's going on. Even though he hasn't sent them back in time yet. So, I'm suspicious he had a plan there.

“Where is it?” said the reedy voice of the Committee member. “Where is the beast?” “It was tied here!” said the executioner furiously. “I saw it! Just here!” “How extraordinary,” said Dumbledore. There was a note of amusement in his voice.

(PoA, page 402)

But even if Dumbledore didn't plan Sirius' escape and the Time Turner shenanigans, it's not Hermione's fault Dumbledore wanted her to have a Time Turner. Honestly, it's good she had it for Sirius' sake, but Dumbledore's favoritism isn't on her. I feel it's wrong to blame her for a decision that wasn't hers. It was Dumbledore's and McGonagall's decision to give Hermione a Time Turner and not to other students. We don't even know how common Time Turners are for students (my guess is not at all, and Hermione wasn't supposed to have one, but that's a different post), but it was still a decision completely out of Hermione's hands.

As for the second part, which is my opinion on Hermione:

I like Hermione, she isn't in my top favorite characters, but I do like her. She's interesting, adds contrast to Ron and Harry and I related to her a lot when I was younger.

I hate what the movies did to her. They stripped her of everything that made her interesting and made her this perfect figure who always knew what to do which Hermione just isn't. Hermione tends to panic and stress out in the books often. It's often Harry who comes up with last-minute plans under pressure.

And yes, she's smart, but she isn't always the cleverest or wisest (I'll say Ron has the most common sense in the Trio), and a lot of times she doesn't think her plans through (like with Umbridge, the centaurs, and Gwamp. She didn't plan anything other than not wanting to see Harry in pain). And that's an interesting character flaw for her to have. And she knows this about herself. I mean, she says herself there's more to magic than just reading books.

And book Hermione really loves Harry and Ron and appreciates their cleverness compared to movie Hermione who's just done with both of them and their idiocy constantly. Which is a disservice to the Golden Trio's friendship. All three are really smart in different ways. and the three of them know this (sorta, Harry has really low self-esteem so he doesn't think he's smart).

My biggest grief with Hermione's character in the books was always her complete faith in authority she trusts. Throughout the series, Hermione is the one of the Trio who always speaks up that they should trust Dumbledore and do what Dumbledore says because she respects him. Hermione, once she respects an authority figure, she tends to just have full faith in them and their judgment. And that really got on my nerves sometimes. But again, that's an interesting character flaw that contrasts Harry and Ron and creates an interesting dynamic. It's a character flaw that is an extension of Hermione's loyalty. I think her loyalty is a trait that is often downplayed too, but she is so loyal. Like, once she decides you have her loyalty you could do pretty much anything and she'll try to justify you. She'll make excuses and justifications so people she's loyal to are in the right.

And she does this justification with her own actions too. I like Hermione's ruthlessness that is so often ignored. She:

Set Snape on fire as a 1st year (but, yeah she loves all authority *sarcasm*)

Kept Rita Skeeter in a jar

Marietta Edgcomb (the curse on the DA parchment in general)

Came up with the DA coins and told Harry she got inspiration from the Dark Mark:

Harry looked sideways at Hermione. “You know what these remind me of?” “No, what’s that?” “The Death Eaters’ scars. Voldemort touches one of them, and all their scars burn, and they know they’ve got to join him.” “Well . . . yes,” said Hermione quietly. “That is where I got the idea . . . but you’ll notice I decided to engrave the date on bits of metal rather than on our members’ skin. . . .”

(OotP, 399)

6. Confounded Cormac McLaggen so Ron would get the Keeper position.

7. Basically everything she did in Deathly Hollows, I'm not listing all of it.

And there are more I'm probably forgetting!

The point is, Hermione is ruthless when she wants to be. She's not to be trifled with.

I think her loyalty, as I mentioned above, is a very distinctive trait of her character. She didn't have friends before Hogwarts (she was probably bullied for being a know-it-all. Like, it shows in her behavior) and she latched onto Harry and Ron and has been incredibly devoted to their friendship since. She's not only devoted to her friends but invested in keeping Harry and Ron as her friends (and each other's freinds).

And she actually is really smart. Yes, book smart, she can memorize books like a pro, but she's also a really good puzzle solver. From the riddle in the obstacle course in 1st year, figuring out the basilisk, finding out Lupin's a werewolf, figuring out Rita's Animagus form, etc... Hermione is really good at organizing information and putting the puzzle pieces together. And that's before I mentioned her magical talent, from brewing Pulyjuice Potion (a complex and advanced potion) in 2nd year in the girls' bathroom to usually being the first in class to get spells right.

Hermione's desire to know everything, as I mentioned in another post, I think is an extension of her desire to belong. She arrives in a new world as a muggleborn, and she takes each and every chance she gets to learn about the Wizarding World. To appear as if she was always there. Because she wants to be a witch so badly she doesn't mind Obliviating her parents and sending them to Australia.

I have more thoughts, but I'm just blabbering...

So, Hermione, while not in my top five, is an interesting and flawed character that I like a lot.

✨finding loopholes in fey magic to promote your terrorist agenda✨

i know we all hate jkr but JUST LISTEN because i’ve just had what must be the most galaxy brain thought of my scholarly career.

everyone was too afraid to say voldemort’s name, right? and it’s well established that that’s fuckin’ stupid, but what if it’s not just stupid? what if it’s actively detrimental? by fey rules giving someone your name gives them power over you. everyone in the wizarding world refuse to claim his name, and therefore forfeit that power.

but it goes deeper. voldemort is not his real name. his real name is tom riddle. so consider this: he not only created a freaky ass name to spark fear, but also to protect himself from the ancient magic associated with giving someone your name. he refuses to give anyone else the ability to name him, and therefore ensures that he enters every fight beholden to no one. 

words are magic. and, by magic rules, it’s true that the more people claim that word the more power they give it. but everyone got it wrong. saying his name wouldn’t have given voldemort power, it would have given them power. 

P.S. it’s worth noting that everyone who had the courage to say voldemort made a major difference in the war effort. additionally, everyone who knew his true name (and sincerely identified him with it) didn’t just make a difference, they fucked shit up.

P.P.S. this gives extra meaning to his dramatic name reveal in chamber of secrets. he’s basically saying, “i’m so confident that i’m gonna win, i’ll even give you my name.”

P.P.P.S. it also gives extra meaning to voldemort’s disdain for his father’s muggle last name. voldemort’s name holds his history, it identifies every aspect of who he is. His father’s name encapsulated that reality, the reality of his “impure blood,” and that’s why he tried to kill it. he wanted to kill that part of himself and absolve himself of his blood status. otherwise he could never be a god in his own eyes--only a bastard and a mudblood. 

The problems I have with HP's world building and the Wizarding World as a whole can be summed up perfectly with Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans. Sounds like a appropriately whimsical treat for a secret magical society. But, they beans flavoured like bodily fluids. We know there's ear wax and vomit flavoured beans, but I bet there are... other flavours.

And the question is, why? Why do that? Why sell something to children where there's a chance they might end up eating a bean that tastes and smells exactly like human shit.

Like, obviously, Rowling wrote it as a funny bit in a children's book that I doubt she expected people to dissect and nitpick over twenty years after she wrote it. But, in-universe, it shows that wizards just lack basic common sense. it's a wonder they made it to the 21st century without going extinct.

As weird as it sounds, I actually find the wizarding world fascinating in that it makes an eerie amount of sense: it's just not what JKR nor anyone else thinks it is/what it's supposed to be.

There's a larger post to be made but to me the wizarding world reeks of an extremely isolated and inbred society, complacent in their use of a technology they no longer understand and slowly forgetting aspects of that technology including the underlying fundamentals, neighbors to very different societies they feel threatened by for all they won't admit as much, and a society that has roots in western traditions but missed out on much of the Enlightenment/Post Enlightenment British history.

So, we see a world that's like Britain but... not...

The professors are there to teach, not go provide emotional guidance or emotional intervention of any kind with the students (read anti-bullying measures). There doesn't seem to be a child welfare or any kind of welfare system in place (orphans get a stipend to attend Hogwarts, but we see no mention of a wizarding orphanage/foster care system or money allotted to those like Ron Weasley who are poor but not Muggleborn). There are two historians ever mentioned and from what we see of Hogwarts a History it is not a modern western historical approach that's covered there. Everyone's extremely closely related and there are no actual positions beyond those a) made for yourself through entrepreneurship b) the ever bloated Ministry. They have no understanding of Muggles at all and those who claim to or wish to tend to be... grossly offensive is the only word I can think of.

It's a great satirical world of a decaying society and, most important, not quite one we'd be familiar with.

But this has nothing to do with your actual question (well, it does, but it's tangential).

To get back to the damned beans, from what we see, the wizarding world loves practical jokes and slapstick humor. Given they're wizards, serious injuries seem relatively easy to repair. If you start vomiting slugs all day, there's a potion for that. If you lose your bones, there's a potion for that. Blow off your hands, there's probably a potion for that.

What that means is that physical injuries in the wizarding world tend not to really matter. Unless you're using dark curses (see Bill's torn up face in HBP), you can probably get whatever it is fixed quickly. Which means that wizards find slapstick style practical jokes very funny.

Which gets us back to the candy.

The beans aren't alone, there are also the acid pops that actually burn through your tongue, blood pops that taste like blood, chocolate frogs which will jump away from you, ice mice that do... something I forget, but point being that we see wizards get very excited about the prospect of not only magic in their candies but some element of danger/just awfulness with it.

That's the exciting gamble of the beans. Sure, you might end up with a nice flavor, you might, but then you could end up with vomit or diarrhea flavored. When the latter happens, you can make a big show to your friends, "OH NO, I GOT THE VOMIT BEAN! OH HELLS, I GOT THE VOMIT BEAN! THIS IS THE WORST! I GOT THE VOMIT BEAN!" and everyone laughs at and with you over your terrible rotten luck over getting the vomit bean while Jimmy over there got strawberry.

It's kind of like a demented version of playing one of the first few editions of Mario Party: someone's going to be fucked over, that's just how the game goes, the delightful enjoyment of it is seeing who the loser is and lording it over them when you steal all their stars they eat the vomit bean.

Basically, you're kind of right about Bertie Botts Every Flavor Bean. They exist because it's funny, I just think the wizards find it funny too.

I must admit that I never liked Dudley originally because he was such a little shit to Harry, but my opinion of him is completely different now. Dumbledore was right in saying that his parents did a lot of damage to his psyche as well as Harry's; they taught him to be cruel and a bully.

Not only that, but after Harry saved him from the Dementors and Dudley realised how horrible he'd been to Harry and other kids, he tried to reconcile with Harry (even though it was rather clumsily-done) and showed a lot of remorse for what he'd done. I really would have liked to see more of his redemption arc. He often gets painted as being just as bad as his parents, but I think on the contrary that he had a lot of room for character growth.

I think it's kind of interesting how Hermione's Patronus is an otter. I mean, she's often portrayed and flanderized in fanon as the super uptight, by-the-books, ultra responsible friend, and yet the representation of her character is an animal known for its playfulness.

Actually, I think this tracks!

Hermione is genuinely one of the most out-of-pocket 'good' characters. Some of her greatest hits include:

setting a professor on fire

time travelling to take more classes

trapping Rita Skeeter in a jar

the SNEAK curse on the DA Galleons

confounding McLaggen during Quidditch tryouts

conjuring the birds to attack Ron

A lot of Hermione antis use these things to portray her as a 'psychopath' or 'abusive.' But I think this showed an interesting character trait of hers which people often forget -- Hermione is creative! Yes, she has a lot of 'book knowledge' but she also applies it in unexpected ways, like enchanting Harry's glasses to repel water. And yes, her creativity extends to her playful take on vengeance.

Can we just remind ourselves a little of the Horcruxes, and how much soul was in them?

With each split, the soul is divided into two, correct? Half goes into the Horcrux, half stays in the body? So by the Battle of Hogwarts, only 0.78 percent of Voldemort’s soul actually remains in Voldemort.

Yet he still manages to wreak all the havoc he does.

Voldemort was a monster of a man, his soul was twisted and sick and terrible, but it was strong. It had to be to survive the creation of so many Horcruxes. An awful awful soul, but a strong one, if 0.78 percent could still cause so much misery.

But that isn’t even the important thing. The important thing is that Harry was the last Horcrux. And just like every other Horcrux, half the soul was what remained of Voldemort that had to go into hiding after the night in Godric’s Hollow. 

But the other half? The other half went into Harry.

Harry was as much Voldemort as Voldemort was. 

Harry had the same amount of Voldemort in him that killed Cedric and so many others after his return. Who had Dumbledore killed and marked Draco Malfoy, a sixteen year old boy. Who did everything we see Voldemort do within the time period of the books. All that was done on 0.78 percent of a soul

The same amount of the same soul that was in Harry.

The Harry that wasn’t broken by Vernon and Petunia’s treatment of him. The Harry that rocked up to Hogwarts as one of the most famous individuals in the wizarding world and found his best friends in two children who were, in their own ways, sort of social outcasts. Who risked his life to save his best friend’s little sister, who wouldn’t allow his father’s best friends to become killers, who fell for a girl and still wanted to share the victory with the boy said girl was in love with. Who saw a bully and a tyrant and said no, it’s not ok, me and my friends won’t stand for this no matter how much you threaten us and punish me. Who tried so hard to save the one member of real family that was his and his alone (yes the Weasley’s were definitely his family, but they were Ron’s family first and foremost). Who managed despite the terror of what he’d just been through to offer some words of comfort to a mentor reliving the worst hell of his life. Who lost that mentor but refused to give up the loyalty he still had to him, even if it meant giving up his home, the girl he’d fallen in love with, his life. Who put it all aside to save the world when the other half of the soul that had taken up residence in him was causing all this chaos, destruction and pain.

Harry has just as much Voldemort in him as Voldemort, but not only did he eventually triumph over the Dark Lord—he fucking flourished on the way.

Now we’ve already established that Voldemort’s soul—even 0.78 percent of it—was pretty damn strong.

But Harry James Potter’s soul was a hell of a lot stronger.

Voldemort and the Riddle house

For a while, how conscious of class Voldemort appears to be, has utterly fascinated me. 

Particularly as he starts Hogwarts as a penniless, orphan who is ostensibly muggleborn and manages to secure the undying loyalty of monied, blood conscious purebloods. 

In my opinion, Voldemort’s subconscious class anxiety is best exemplified in GoF and is shown in two main ways: 

Through his relationship to the Riddle house

Throughout the book, Voldemort shows utter contempt for his muggle heritage, even stating to Harry that he: 

“ [...] revenged myself upon him, that fool who gave me his name . . . Tom Riddle” 

However, though not directly stated, it is implied that he both owns and pays for the house’s maintenance: 

“ The wealthy man who owned the Riddle House these days neither lived there nor put it to any use; they said in the village that he kept it for “tax reasons,” though nobody was very clear what these might be. The wealthy owner continued to pay Frank to do the gardening. “ 

Despite ashewing his muggle heritage by both murdering his family and changing his name, he retains the house. A house that is described as:

“…easily the largest and grandest building for miles around….” 

And is seen as a grand representation of the Riddle’s wealth and status within the local community. Although they are never mentioned to be titled (I’ll return to this in the next part), in Little Hangleton they are the upper echelons of society. 

So, while Voldemort is on the surface contemptuous of the Riddles, he clutches at their social status as symbolised through his purchase of and subsequent occupation of their manor. 

Through the use of language

In the opening chapter of the GoF (titled ‘the Riddle House), Voldemort is being served by Peter Pettigrew. 

In almost every sentence uttered by Peter to Voldemort, he addresses him as ‘ ‘My lord.’ 

And when Peter is being dressed down, he states: 

“No! My devotion to Your Lordship — ”

The use of the word ‘lordship’ instead of ‘lord’  is a subtle nuance that gives an insight into how Voldemort wants to be treated while he is staying in his family manner.

The word ‘lordship’ can be traced to the ‘feudal system’ where it conferred a set of manorial rights (land and territory). Whereas referring to someone as ‘My lord,’ or as a ‘lord’ implies Nobility, ‘lordship’ extends that to mean someone who is ‘landed’. 

This is particularly interesting as no wizarding families (even the Blacks and Malfoys) appear to be titled, so it can be surmised that the need to be referred to as ‘lord’ is something rooted in Voldemort’s muggle upbringing. An upbringing as a low-status orphan in  a very class conscious muggle society, who is then thrust into the very class-conscious Slytherin house.