death to capslock

Why did the Order only threaten the Dursleys after Harry's fifth year?

2025-03-08T19:28:13Z

Posted by: sunnyskywalker

Many readers have wondered why none of the adults who care about Harry confronted the Dursleys during his first five years at Hogwarts. What suddenly made them take action in 1996 when they hadn’t seen a need before? ( Read more... )

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Peter's flight to Albania

2022-11-05T01:34:15Z

Posted by: sunnyskywalker

Why did Peter go to Albania and restore Voldemort to power instead of, you know, running away? Why not find a distant corner of the globe where no one would recognize him and where the long arm of Dumbledore didn’t reach and live in relative peace?

Well. Remember what Remus said while literally rolling up his sleeves to murder Peter?

“You should have realized, Peter […] If Voldemort didn’t kill you, we would.”

What would Peter be thinking once he got far enough away to catch his breath?

“Uh-oh, Dumbledore might actually believe Moony and Padfoot and the kids when they tell him I’m still alive and the real traitor. What if he clears Padfoot’s name, or at least helps him escape? Won’t that leave Padfoot at liberty to hunt me down? And it’s almost the summer holiday—Moony will be able to join the hunt in a couple of weeks. And no one’s taught DADA two years in a row in my lifetime, and where else is he going to get a job now? I’m going to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder for those two. If I’m lucky. They might actually find me! What options does that leave me?”

You’d think that working for Voldemort is such a terrible job that living on the run while fearing every shadow is a big black dog doesn’t sound that bad by comparison. There’s no Cruciatus, as long as he doesn’t get caught. On the other hand, Sirius is the guy who tricked a fellow student he didn’t like into entering a tunnel with a werewolf. And none of the Marauders ever actually confirmed that Remus wasn’t a willing participant in that plan. Why was he rolling up his sleeves in the Shrieking Shack if he was only planning a quick, clean death? Maybe Peter sincerely believed that whatever Sirius and Remus would do to him was so terrible, and living in fear of it so unbearable, that Voldemort didn’t automatically look like the worst choice.

And why didn’t Dumbledore send Sirius after Peter? Um. I’m sure we would all like to think that Sirius, unlike Quirrell, would be protected by plot armor if he ended up in Albania and would never return to Britain with a spiffy new turban. Or a motorcycle helmet and a sudden obsession with traffic safety. But…well, would you want a Voldemort with all of Sirius’s cleverness and skill at nasty curses to draw on? Me neither.

How he convinced Sirius not to hunt Peter is another question. Though did Sirius know Voldemort was in Albania? Maybe Dumbledore, ah, neglected to mention that, and Sirius was grimly hunting tropical islands for rats between replying to Harry’s letter and drinking rum.

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Who pays Frank Bryce?

2022-04-08T21:07:17Z

Posted by: sunnyskywalker

I somehow forgot that the omniscient narrator in the first chapter of Goblet of Fire explicitly tells us that the mysterious rich man who now owns the Riddle House pays Frank Bryce to stay on as gardener. Why bother with the gardening, if Voldemort is otherwise happy to let the house fall to ruins? Does he want Frank around just in case he needs a scapegoat again someday? Seems like he could find one easily enough without paying for decades of unappreciated gardening.

And what funds is he using, exactly? Did he open a Muggle bank account and use it to launder money from stuff he's stolen over the decades, and Frank's wages are peanuts compared to how much Voldemort has accrued by now? Or does he make one of his followers do it?

Hey, maybe that's how Lucius really made the connection between Tom Riddle and Voldemort. What Dobby overheard was Lucius telling Narcissa that he finally figured out how to look up Muggle property records and he's got this horrible suspicion all of a sudden... I was coming around to the idea that Lucius actually didn't know until Dumbledore told him, and Dobby overheard that years ago when Lucius's father-in-law Cygnus was talking about it to one of Narcissa's other relatives, the elder Rosier, while everyone was over for a house party. (Separately from the conversation about "terrible things" he overheard the summer of 1992.) Dobby would have loved knowing that, and knowing that Lucius didn't know. But Voldemort underestimating a Malfoy's practical skills once again works too.

But back to the original question: why? Is Voldemort just obsessed with having the perfect lawn?

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Lucius at the Quidditch World Cup

2020-10-03T12:37:00Z

Posted by: sunnyskywalker

What was Lucius doing when masked, hooded figures were torturing the Roberts family? Harry asks Draco if his parents are out there in masks, and Draco smirks and says he wouldn’t say if they were. He could be winding Harry up, but we get confirmation from Voldemort, who announces that Lucius is “always ready to take the lead in a spot of Muggle-torture” and refers to the riot as “your exploits.” So Lucius was definitely one of the rioters.

Or was he?

( Read more... )

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deathtocapslock @ 2019-03-20T21:08:00

2019-03-20T21:08:00Z

Posted by: merrymelody.livejournal.com

First half is shamefully old, but I've finally completed a two-part Goblet of Fire movie recap at my lj, if anyone's interested. Part One and Part Two.

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Harry Potter Abridged! GOF Chapter 37

2013-01-18T23:36:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

The home stretch!

( Read Chapter 37 )

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Harry Potter Abridged! GOF Chapter 36

2013-01-17T15:51:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

[Now that Crouch has finished his speech, Dumbledore binds him to keep him still and takes Harry upstairs with him.]

( Read Chapter 36 )

*A/N: Yes this is actually a line from the book, and... really, Rowling? Were you high when you wrote that? It's clearly not supported by anything else in these books!

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Harry Potter Abridged! GOF Chapter 35

2013-01-14T16:40:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

Harry: I'm back, everyone!

( Read Chapter 35 )

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Harry Potter Abridged! GOF Chapter 33

2013-01-10T18:05:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

OH YEAH!! I've been looking forward to this scene all book!

( Read Chapter 33 )

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Harry Potter Abridged! GOF Chapter 32

2013-01-09T16:56:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

( Read Chapter 32 )

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Harry Potter Abridged! GOF Chapter 31

2013-01-07T22:45:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

[So Harry relates all he has learned to Ron and Hermione]

( Read Chapter 31 )

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Harry Potter Abridged! GOF Chapter 30

2012-11-24T21:21:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

Hey, it's been awhile since I did one of these, so here we go.

( Read Chapter 30 )

A/N: In other news, I took a trip to Scotland with my mom just a couple weeks ago. Although, I didn't see the pub where Rowling supposedly wrote Harry Potter.

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Harry Potter Abridged! GOF Chapter 29

2012-10-21T22:11:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

[The next day, Harry discusses the Crouch situation with Ron and Hermione.]

( Read Chapter 29 )

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Harry Potter Abridged! GOF Chapter 28

2012-10-01T15:28:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

Thought I'd post another one of these, since I haven't for awhile :)

( Read Chapter 28 )

*A/N: Is it me or is this scene entirely pointless? It seems like it exists only to bluntly force the point that Snape is mean and that Harry would rather relay a message to Dumbledore than deal with him.

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Harry Potter Abridged! GOF Chapter 27

2012-09-05T20:25:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

[The second task is over, and Harry has been trying to relax.]

Harry: At least Ron’s version of things will distract people so I won’t have to tell them about my life as Eridan Ampora….

( Read Chapter 27 )

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Magical Magic Creature Spotlight: Merpeople

2012-08-25T19:56:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

So, in honor of the Second Task in GoF, we get to look at these guys!

( Merpeople )

I wasn't quite sure how to draw merpeople; I ended up drawing one that looks like the Greek version and one that looks like the British Isles version, according to Rowling.

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Harry Potter Abridged! GOF Chapter 26

2012-08-25T19:52:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

THE [drumroll] SECOND TASK!!

( Read Chapter 26 )

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Harry Potter Abridged! GOF Chapter 25

2012-08-16T15:28:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

[That night, Harry sneaks into the prefects' bathroom!!]

( Read Chapter 25 )

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Harry Potter Abridged! GOF Chapter 24

2012-08-13T23:17:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

[After the ball, Ron and Hermione seem to have reached a truce.]

( Read Chapter 24 )

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Harry Potter Abridged! GOF Chapter 23

2012-08-10T12:01:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

[Life goes on, and the winter holidays draw near. Fred and George have sold out of canary creams, and are now working on something else.]

( Read Chapter 23 )A/N: Obviously I don't own the video used in this thing.

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Harry Potter Abridged! GOF Chapter 22

2012-08-08T23:09:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

[It all starts one day in Transfiguration class]

( Read Chapter 22 )

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Harry Potter Abridged! GOF Chapter 21

2012-08-07T15:01:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

( Read Chapter 21 )

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Harry Potter Abridged! GOF Chapter 20

2012-08-04T15:11:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

First task is here, OOOOOOH YEEEAAAAAAAAHHH!!

If you want a recap straight from the horse's mouth about the four types of dragons featured in the tournament, you can find what I've written on them earlier (complete with pictures) below:

Welsh Green, Chinese Fireball, Swedish Short-snout, Hungarian Horntail

Incidentally, it seems as though this book predated Fantastic Beasts, which suggests that Rowling created these four dragons first and then filled in the rest later.

( Read Chapter 20 )

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Harry Potter Abridged! GOF Chapter 19

2012-08-02T20:58:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

In this chapter, we've got DRAGONS!! @-@

( Read Chapter 19 )

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Harry Potter Abridged! GOF Chapter 18

2012-07-31T21:30:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

Hey you guys, Rita Skeeter gets introduced in this chapter! This'll be fun, this'll be fun, this'll be fun, this'll be FUN!!!
( Read Chapter 18 )

*A/N: This is an actual thing Hagrid says!

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