death to capslock

How did Dumbledore track down Slughorn?

2022-12-21T01:42:13Z

Posted by: sunnyskywalker

Slughorn lived on the run for a year, never staying anywhere more than a week. Voldemort and the Death Eaters weren't able to track him down.

But Dumbledore was.

How? Does he place undetectable tracking enchantments on outgoing staff just in case he ever needs to reel them in?

comments

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?

comments

How did the wizarding public know Voldemort's powers were broken on Halloween?

2021-10-20T19:37:00Z

Posted by: sunnyskywalker

I was trying to think of a reason for a rebounding Killing Curse to make Voldemort’s body disappear (no luck so far) when I thought of an entirely different question: with no body and no witnesses (other than Harry, who probably didn’t know more than a few words), why was the wizarding public so quick to believe Voldemort had been defeated?( Read more... )

comments

What Lucius Knew About the Diary

2021-06-14T11:17:00Z

Posted by: sunnyskywalker

...and when he knew it.

I was reading through the comments to one of Terri’s old fics, and got sucked back into the probably-irresolvable tangle of questions about what Lucius was really planning during Chamber of Secrets. Piecing together some of the comments and one or two of my old speculations, we might at least be able to come up with a mostly-coherent hypothesis for one of those questions: what exactly did Lucius think the Diary was, and what did he think it would do?
( Read more... )

comments

Dammit, Sirius!

2019-06-02T17:28:00Z

Posted by: sunnyskywalker

I was looking over the timeline of October 31/November 1, 1981, and ran into something I don't think we've discussed. Here's the sequence of events:

Voldemort attacks the Potters in the evening, early enough that trick-or-treaters are still out
Sirius discovers Peter missing and flies to Godric's Hollow to check on the Potters (this may have happened first, depending on how long it takes Sirius to fly to GH)
Hagrid pulls Harry from the "rubble" (of a mostly-intact house) sometime that night, before the Muggle emergency responders arrive (which could have been hours after the attack, depending on how noticeable a hole being blown in the roof of a house at the end of the lane was to the neighbors)
Sirius arrives, asks to take Harry, and gives him his motorcycle when Hagrid refuses
The next day, late enough that the street is "full" of Muggle witnesses (and victims), Sirius confronts Peter

So... what's missing here? Sirius sending a message about Peter's betrayal sometime during the hours between the time he discovered Peter missing and the time they blew up the street together, that's what. Or, you know, telling Hagrid when they met in person.( Read more... )

comments

Love in HP

2019-02-06T20:20:00Z

Posted by: torchedsong.livejournal.com

Since Valentine's Day is close by, I thought this topic would be fitting to bring up ~~and ramble about until I get it off my chest.~~

Here comes a few (potentially) silly questions I have about love as a reoccurring and major theme in the HP books: is love a redemptive and saving force? Is it a reflection of our inner nature and morals? Does it make us better or worse than we are? Is it proof we’re capable of good? Or is it simply a nice message to have in a children’s series i.e. love is more powerful than anything?

( Read more... )

comments

Revisiting the Boggart Lesson

2018-05-20T13:36:00Z

Posted by: sunnyskywalker

When I was a kid, I didn’t think too hard about Lupin’s boggart lesson. It was a cool creature, a DADA teacher finally taught them something useful, and we got a clue to Lupin’s fears and a segue into Lupin teaching Harry the Patronus Charm. Neat, right?

But now I’ve tried imagining myself as one of the students in that lesson. And as Lupin, for that matter. What the hell was Lupin thinking by making the students face the boggart in front of the entire class?( Read more... )

comments

Voldemort's Strange Logic

2015-12-06T16:25:00Z

Posted by: condwiramurs.livejournal.com

I promise I'm still chipping away at Indestructible - I'm just in the middle of a frantic effort to complete my dissertation draft before the end of the semester. I should have another Indestructible piece up over the holidays though. Thanks for being patient!

Until then, I have a little question to toss out for consideration. It's been occupying my mind for a bit.

Question: Why did Voldemort believe that it was necessary to kill to gain the Wand's mastery?

Because he, of all people, should have known that it wasn't. If it were true, Albus Dumbledore would never have had it.

And he did believe, quite firmly, that Albus did.

( Read more... )

comments

Harry Potter Abridged! DH Chapter 35

2015-08-29T22:41:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

Might as well continue this sequence.

( Read Chapter 35 )

comments

Harry Potter Abridged! DH Chapter 28

2015-08-20T10:51:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

Since Chapter 27 is so short, I decided to also post Chapter 28.

( Time for Dumbledore's backstory! Bum bum buuuuuuum! )

comments

Quick Poll RE Indestructible - which post do you want next?

2015-08-15T16:20:00Z

Posted by: condwiramurs.livejournal.com

So, I'm pulling together the concluding pieces of my "Indestructible" series, in order to lay out my two readings of Severus' arc in HBP and DH. And I'm not sure which one to finish up and post next - some of them are a bit like independent cards that can go in any order, though others need to stay together.

So I figured I'd toss the question out to all of you: which piece would you be most interested in seeing next?

The cards I have left to lay out are:

A - Occlumency - its nature and how Severus uses it (probably not a hugely long post)

B - Some assorted brief explorations of love, purity, and the Tower and Cave opposition, etc. (probably all in one post)

C - A three-card set that has to go up either in order or as one very long post (which will take a while to finish):

1 - Severus' fundamental values and character, and how he ended up a DE

2 - Severus' boggart

3 - Severus and Voldemort

D - Our necessarily final card, tracing out the exact course of Severus' arc in my dual readings

Thanks for reading, and being so patient everyone! I hope this is interesting to you all.

[Poll #2019681]

comments

Questions on the Sword

2015-08-10T20:18:00Z

Posted by: condwiramurs.livejournal.com

I'm working on a couple more essays for my "Indestructible" series, and a separate essay on Harry's moral education. But I thought I'd toss out here a couple of questions that have been nagging me on a mostly-unrelated topic.

The fabled Sword of Gryffindor.

Because as I was considering Severus' moral arc in DH I found myself asking questions about that little scene by the pond, and what he's doing with the sword there and why. And from there I started asking myself about the sword itself. And suddenly things that I had unreflectively accepted as making sense started to seem less so.

By which I mean: the Sword of Gryffindor?

The Sword of Gryffindor?

Godric Gryffindor, legendary wizard and co-founder of a magical school in which wands are the fundamental required tool for functionally any life skill, including combat, left behind as his most powerful and revered artifact a sword?

Blink.

Something feels just a little off, here. Help me unravel it?

( Read more... )

comments

GOF - What do we think Severus was doing the night of the third task?

2015-07-30T23:49:00Z

Posted by: condwiramurs.livejournal.com

This question's more just a bit of curiosity regarding what everyone thinks on an unclear aspect of canon than anything else (plotbunnies, I tell you - they're dangerous).

So, what do we think Severus might have been up in the time leading up to the night of the third task and on that night itself? I'm particularly curious about what he was doing while Harry was in the maze, while Karkaroff was fleeing, and the half-hour/hour between Voldemort summoning the DEs to his rebirthday party and Harry's reappearance with Cedric's body.

( Read more... )

comments

A question or two RE Greater Love and Severus' sacrifice

2015-07-30T21:05:00Z

Posted by: condwiramurs.livejournal.com

I've been doing a bit of a re-read-though of some meta here lately, and I find myself going back repeatedly to terri's excellent (but heartbreaking) piece "Greater Love." I've pretty much worked her theory there about doubled sacrifice and Dumbles' insistence on both Severus killing him and Severus being the one to break the news of the Harrycrux into my personal headcanon.

But I'm still left with one big nagging question - I posted it on the original piece the other day but thought I'd repost it here to open up some discussion. (Blame a nagging plotbunny for my entirely selfish motivation here.)

Why not tell Severus the reason for giving him both of these otherwise insanely-conflicting and emotionally devastating orders?

( Read more... )

comments

Harry Potter Abridged! DH Chapter 20

2015-07-29T14:36:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

( Read Chapter 20 )

comments

Harry Potter Abridged! DH Chapter 19

2015-07-26T22:15:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

[That night, Harry has a very strange dream]

Harry: Oooh, yes, Nagini—let me stroke your mighty head! Aaaaaaaaaah….

( Read Chapter 19 )

comments

Harry Potter Abridged! DH Chapter 15

2015-07-12T18:35:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

[The next morning, Harry buries Mad-Eye Moody’s magical eye]

Harry: Better there than in the clutches of that evil Umbridge, after all.

( Read Chapter 15 )

comments

Prompt about the Hogwarts Houses' colors

2015-06-28T19:36:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

So, we all know that the colors of Slytherin are green and silver. Green, to my knowledge, is in some circles an unsavory color because it's associated with the sin of envy. And in a way, this does come through from the portrayal of Slytherins in the books--Draco is understood (at least by JKR) to be envious of Harry's fame and success; and the house is associated with cunning and ambition, both of which could be used to indulge envy by attempting to outpace rivals or potential rivals.

Now, the other Houses also have colors associated with them: Gryffindor has red, Hufflepuff yellow, and Ravenclaw blue. Interestingly, each one of those colors corresponds to one of the Seven Deadly Sins: red is associated with wrath, yellow with greed, and blue with lust.

So...could there be a pattern, here? In a way, equating Gryffindor with wrath does work (they're certainly the most likely to act on their anger in destructive ways), but what about the other two? If anyone can take these ideas to their logical conclusion, in a fan work or essay, or whatever, I will be a very happy woman.

comments

Harry Potter Abridged! HBP Chapter 23

2015-06-13T18:17:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

( See Dumbledore show his nihilistic true colors! )

comments

A response to Terri_Testing and Swythyv: Just how much DID Voldemort change...

2015-06-07T22:24:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

...about the Birdbath of Doom?

I remember a little while ago, Terri_Testing wrote an article about the true nature of the Birdbath, building on another article written by Swythyv, where they theorized that it was initially put there as a test by Merlin, in the hopes of weeding out those unworthy of attaining his level of wisdom and skill. Having just finished the Abridged version of the chapter in which it appears, I have to wonder just how much Voldemort changed when he commandeered the setup to hide his Horcrux.

Think about it: if the ritual Merlin created involved an initiate sailing to the island on a magical boat (often accompanied by a squire or servant to administer the potion) and drinking the potion in the Birdbath, that's pretty much what Harry and Dumbledore do anyway. The only components Voldemort seems to have added are the Horcrux and, possibly, the Inferi. However, we don't actually know Voldemort put the Inferi there. It's entirely possible that they've always been there, and are the bodies of those who failed the test set for them in the Birdbath. Terri_Testing, and maybe also Swythyv, seem to be under the impression that failing the test results in death--but, per Terri_Testing, both Dumbledore and Kreacher failed the test, and they didn't die automatically (Kreacher doesn't even die by the end of the series). What they did do, was attempt to get a drink of water and disturb the surface, causing the Inferi to emerge and try to grab them. Maybe everyone who attempts the ritual must drink from the water, and those who have failed arouse the Inferi, which drag them under water to their deaths.

So really, the Horcrux is the only thing we KNOW Voldemort added. The big question is, is this an act of sacrilege, and does it merit punishment? On the one hand, tampering with ancient magic, especially by incorporating an evil object, seems like the sort of thing that would be taboo--but on the other, Merlin was a Slytherin, and so he might have been perfectly okay with the locket being returned to his personal Birdbath. There is the fact that the locket was a Horcrux, of course--but here's the thing: most of the characters we meet in the series think Horcruxes are ultimate evil, but there's no reason to think the same thing would have been true in Merlin's time. It's hard to say how a Horcrux could ever be "good" per se, but in the past it might have simply been another bad thing people did, rather than the most awful thing in the history of ever. The days of King Arthur would have most likely been a lot more violent than modern times, after all, and so killing someone without remorse to save yourself, the essential component of a Horcrux, might not have looked quite as bad back then as it does today.

If, on the other hand, it is sarcilegious to tamper with the Birdbath in this way, what might a suitable punishment be? Do we ever see Voldemort suffer any such punishment?

comments

Harry Potter Abridged! HBP Chapter 17

2015-06-07T18:04:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

[Harry and his friends take the Floo back to Hogwarts]

( Read Chapter 17 )
*A/N: So basically Terri_Testing’s theory about the Reasonable Restrictions on Underage Magic is canon (or as good as canon)

comments

Harry Potter Abridged! HBP Chapter 13

2015-06-02T09:40:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

( Tom Riddle is back!! )

comments

Knave or Fool?

2014-11-14T18:59:00Z

Posted by: terri-testing.livejournal.com

“Tell me honestly . . . do you think me most a knave or a fool ?’” asked John Willoughby of Miss Dashwood, and I think it’s time we addressed that question directly with regards to our friend and mentor Albus.

( Read more... )

comments

Snape's original defection, a question

2013-10-21T21:07:00Z

Posted by: terri-testing.livejournal.com

Something I think canon is silent on--I'd like opinions, informed or otherwise.

When we saw Albus send a white-faced Severus to Tom's side at the end of GoF with that "if you are prepared" comment, it was as a double-triple-quadruple-(to the nth) agent. Snape's life then balanced on his persuading a paranoid and enraged Dark Lord that he was really still loyal (or loyal again) to the Death Eater cause, but that Albus falsely believed Snape to have turned his loyalty irrevocably to him, and to now be only pretending to be a Death Eater in order to spy for Albus.

A very perilous position, particularly when both masters are expert Legilimens and know the other to be the same. The more one master trusts Snape, the less the other ought to, eh?

What does he see in your mind that I do not? What do you show him, and hide from me?

So--was this fiendishly difficult and demanding position the same as the one Severus was placed in when he originally obtained a place at Dumbledore's right hand as a supposedly repentant DE?

Or was the original assignment a little less complicated: that Severus was to approach Dumbledore as a remorseful Death Eater begging him for sanctuary at Hogwarts, the only stronghold still firm against Voldemort? In exchange for a pre-agreed--with the Dark Lord--flood of information on the Death Eaters?

And then stay there as a sleeper until Tom activated him?

If Tom had ordered Severus to do nothing but cement Dumbledore's trust until he explicitly told him otherwise, if Severus didn't regularly have to face Tom's interrogations and report satisfactorily on Dumbledore's doings, his position (both then and in GoF) was, while precarious, not as immediately lethal as we had thought.

Opinions?

comments

Harry Potter Abridged! OotP Chapter 7

2013-08-24T21:19:00Z

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

[The next day, Harry wakes up super early to get to his hearing.]
( Read Chapter 7 )

comments