soup-of-the-daisies - Tumblr blog

soup-of-the-daisies · 1 day

Note

What are your favorite harry ships??

I am SO glad you asked. Harry is my fandom bicycle and the reason I count myself as a multi-shipper.

In general, I like my Harry-ships to be relatively ‘equal’, if that makes sense. Harry or the other character should be capable of holding their own; big power differences are not my cup of tea (though they can be intriguing and, dare I say it, hot). They can kick each other’s arses, is what I mean by that.

I also don’t mind a male Harry, female Harry, or NB Harry. I like ‘em all, just for clarification.

For the basics: both Drarry and Harmione are near and dear to my heart. Rivals-to-lovers and friends-to-lovers, my beloved. These ships feel comfortable and familiar, and they’re usually my go-to for post-canon fluff or hurt/comfort. (I also like Dramione and Romione btw. I know that’s not what you asked about but I’m just putting it out there.)

I’m also known to have indulged in Ronarry and Sirry (Sirius/Harry) on occasion. And with smaller characters: Harry/Theo Nott, Harry/Blaise Zabini, Harry/Daphne Greengrass, Harry/Viktor Krum, Harry/Cedric Diggory… yeah. Harry/Cho and Hinny are fine, but not ones I’d purposefully seek out. In time travel AUs, I genuinely, really like Harry/Orion Black—possibly because it reminds me of Prongsfoot.

Most importantly: my absolute favourite at the moment is Tomarry/Harrymort. I don’t know why—it just appeals to me. Harry’s my boy, and I actually quite like Voldemort’s character as a fully-rounded villain or annoying, emotionally constipated teenager. Christian Coulson as Tom Riddle had me (like many others) in a chokehold when I was little so Diary!Tom is Voldy-version I absolutely adore, but Silver Fox!Voldemort and Snakeymort I love as well. And again, this is as long as the power dynamics aren’t too fucked up (purely for my personal taste): other aspects can be Morally Wrong or Really Fucked Up and I’ll lick the plate clean lmao. I like it when Voldemort becomes ‘better’, I like it when Harry becomes ‘worse’… cleansing or corruption, both are good.

It’s something something soulmates, I suppose!! Their inherent connection, their similarities. Harry has the potential (!!!) to become an ‘equal’ in power to Voldemort eventually (provided he trains and studies) (the detail that Voldemort canonically has more magical power is why a lot of fix-it fics add that Harry had a ‘binding’ on his ‘magical core’ which limits the power he can put into something; either to prevent the horcrux from holding on too tightly or to make him easier to kill). Harry has, canonically, power over Voldemort in the way that he’s part of Voldemort. Their wand cores match as much as they can possibly match (feathers given by the same phoenix at the same time). Voldemort accidentally damned Harry to have a similar childhood as he did. They both see Hogwarts as their first home; they’re both half-bloods; they both didn’t feel like they truly belonged in both the muggle and magical world, though for varying reasons. Harry can understand Voldemort on a level that lies the latter bare and open, which is not something that Voldemort would ever want or appreciate. And the dichotomy between core parts of their personalities — Harry’s kindness, Voldemort’s cruelty — is delicious.

#harry potter #shipping #harry james potter #ask #anon #harry’s such a fandom bicycle i swear #but also #a BI-cycle #:)))#bisexual harry my beloved

6 notes · View notes

soup-of-the-daisies · 1 day

Text

But Daddy I Love Him will never be Sirius’s song, because when has Sirius ever tried to reason with his family about something he wants??? He does not care!!!!! No, that is Regulus Black trying to defend his Voldemort collages and joining a cult instead of taking up a safe boring ministry position

#regulus black #orion black

93 notes · View notes

soup-of-the-daisies · 1 day

Text

I think that Sirius was much more upset about losing the last hope that his parents would ever learn to love him than losing his brother tbh

#yes #i also like the addition that they did love him—just not the way a child deserves to and should be loved by their parents #sirius black

25 notes · View notes

soup-of-the-daisies · 2 days

Text

"Harry described how the figures that had emerged from the wand had prowled the edges of the golden web, how Voldemort had seemed to fear them, how the shadow of Harry's father had told him what to do, how Cedric's had made its final request. At this point, harry found he could not continue." - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

#might cry on the bus lmao #harry potter #sirius black

261 notes · View notes

soup-of-the-daisies · 2 days

Note

How does the protection magic that Lily's sacrifice placed on Harry work? On that note- how do the blood wards placed on the Dursley household operate?

Like- does the latter act as a notice me not/ fidelius of its own? Protecting Harry's location from other magicals? (It would have been easy for another Longbottom tragedy to occur after all) from what I remember the blood wards have no affect on the protection cast by Lily's sacrifice, and instead sort of extend the effect to the household???

Also on the topic of the protection- we saw the end Quirrel met. And... I just wondered- why didn't this sort of reaction extend to all the people - the Dursleys included- who laid their hands + spells on Harry with the intent to harm? By all means the blood wards should have fallen the moment The Dursleys tried to physically harm Harry. Can't see a protection powered by Lily's intent, extending to people who mean her son harm.

Unless of course the magic and the wards are targetted at Riddle specifically. Which brings the question- why didn't it set on fire/ harm anything considering even the traces of Riddle's presence/ influence. Eg. The people with the death Eater brands, the horcruxes, the soul shard inside Harry himself??

Ugh. Just so many questions.

Ps. Could the blood wards have been transferred/ worked in a residence comprising of the people Harry considered as his family and who reciprocated this sentiment? (based on the importance of intent to keep the spell going)

Wow, @ana-lyz, just like with the veil and death asks, I just started drafting a post about Lily's blood protections and what Dumbledore says about them. So...

Lily's Love Protection and Dumbledore's Blood Wards

Alright, strap in...

Okay, so let's start by seeing what we're told about the blood protections and whether we can gather something cohesive that makes magical sense out of it.

We have Voldemort's statement on this piece of magic:

“...I wanted Harry Potter’s blood. I wanted the blood of the one who had stripped me of power thirteen years ago . . . for the lingering protection his mother once gave him would then reside in my veins too. . . . “But how to get at Harry Potter? For he has been better protected than I think even he knows, protected in ways devised by Dumbledore long ago, when it fell to him to arrange the boy’s future. Dumbledore invoked an ancient magic, to ensure the boy’s protection as long as he is in his relations’ care. Not even I can touch him there. . . .

(GoF, 657)

Notice there is the lingering protection from Lily's magic and the ancient magic Dumbledore invoked. These are, I believe separate spells.

Dumbledore's statements:

“But why couldn’t Quirrell touch me?” “Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn’t realize that love as powerful as your mother’s for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign…to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever. It is in your very skin. Quirrell, full of hatred, greed, and ambition, sharing his soul with Voldemort, could not touch you for this reason. It was agony to touch a person marked by something so good.”

(PS, 215)

“But I knew too where Voldemort was weak. And so I made my decision. You would be protected by an ancient magic of which he knows, which he despises, and which he has always, therefore, underestimated — to his cost. I am speaking, of course, of the fact that your mother died to save you. She gave you a lingering protection he never expected, a protection that flows in your veins to this day. I put my trust, therefore, in your mother’s blood. I delivered you to her sister, her only remaining relative.” “She doesn’t love me,” said Harry at once. “She doesn’t give a damn —” “But she took you,” Dumbledore cut across him. “She may have taken you grudgingly, furiously, unwillingly, bitterly, yet still she took you, and in doing so, she sealed the charm I placed upon you. Your mother’s sacrifice made the bond of blood the strongest shield I could give you.” “I still don’t —” “While you can still call home the place where your mother’s blood dwells, there you cannot be touched or harmed by Voldemort. He shed her blood, but it lives on in you and her sister. Her blood became your refuge. You need return there only once a year, but as long as you can still call it home, there he cannot hurt you. Your aunt knows this. I explained what I had done in the letter I left, with you, on her doorstep. She knows that allowing you houseroom may well have kept you alive for the past fifteen years.”

(OotP, 835-836)

Here again, Dumbledore mentions the ancient magic he made the decision to protect Harry with as a separate thing from the lingering protection from Lily.

And (as per this post) the Dumbledore Harry hallucinates statement:

“He took my blood.” said Harry. “Precisely!” said Dumbledore. “He took your blood and rebuilt his living body with it! Your blood in his veins, Harry, Lily’s protection inside both of you! He tethered you to life while he lives!”

(DH, 598)

And then we have what happened to Quirrell:

Quirrell raised his hand to perform a deadly curse, but Harry, by instinct, reached up and grabbed Quirrell’s face — “AAAARGH!” Quirrell rolled off him, his face blistering, too, and then Harry knew: Quirrell couldn’t touch his bare skin, not without suffering terrible pain — his only chance was to keep hold of Quirrell, keep him in enough pain to stop him from doing a curse. Harry jumped to his feet, caught Quirrell by the arm, and hung on as tight as he could. Quirrell screamed and tried to throw Harry off — the pain in Harry’s head was building — he couldn’t see — he could only hear Quirrell’s terrible shrieks and Voldemort’s yells of, “KILL HIM! KILL HIM!”

(PS, 212)

What we know from this

Well, from the above quotes we can divide the magical protections on Harry into 2 different spells as I mentioned above:

Lily's sacrificial love protection - the intention magic Lily cast by protecting her son. This is the magic that blocked the Killing Curse and killed Quirrell.

Dumbledore's blood ward - this is the spell Dumbledore cast that (supposedly) protects Harry in his relatives' home. Voldemort says Dumbledore invoked this magic, and Dumbledore also mentions it's a ward he left that built upon Lily's protection, but it's not a spell Lily left.

So, what can Lil'y Sacrificial Love Protection do:

Makes the Killing Curse not kill Harry.

Returns the Killing Curse back to the sender.

Continues to hurt that initial "sender" whenever he tries to kill Harry.

What about Dumbledore's Blood Wards what do they do:

Nothing.

Dumbledore and Voldemort say this magic exists but it never does anything. We never see it active, it never protects Harry from anyone, neither his relatives nor Death Eaters. So, we don't know what it's supposed to be doing since it doesn't do anything in the books.

Voldemort says it won't allow him to touch Harry in his relatives' house.

How I think these spells actually work

I'll start with Dumbledore's Blood Wards:

I simply don't think this ward actually exists.

Dumbledore isn't very consistent with how this protection works. He says Harry needs to return for a bit to live with Petunia for the magic to work, but if that's all the requirement, why long weeks? Couldn't he return for a shorter time? And each year he spends a different amount of time at Private Drive? Couldn't he always be sent back just for the minimal required time? At first, the ward was about love but then it isn't, he says this: "While you can still call home the place where your mother’s blood dwells, there you cannot be touched or harmed by Voldemort."

Harry didn't think of Private Drive as a home:

Harry could hardly believe it when he realized that he’d already been at Hogwarts two months. The castle felt more like home than Privet Drive ever had.

(PS, 123)

“I believe he had several reasons, though he confided none of them to Professor Dippet,” said Dumbledore. “Firstly, and very importantly, Voldemort was, I believe, more attached to this school than he has ever been to a person. Hogwarts was where he had been happiest; the first and only place he had felt at home.” Harry felt slightly uncomfortable at these words, for this was exactly how he felt about Hogwarts too.

(HBP, 431)

Harry never considered Private Drive and the Dursleys his home. Hogwarts was his first home.

If there is no love and it isn't a home, even if Dumbledore did cast a blood ward based on Petunia and Lily's sacrifice it won't actually be active. But personally, I don't think this ward actually exists.

Dumbledore needs a reason to keep Harry with his relatives.

Dumbledore needs Harry malleable, low on self-esteem, and lacking in a support network. Because he knew since October 1981 (but probably before) that he'd likely need Harry to die. He suspected Harry was a Horcrux from practically day 1:

Under a tuft of jetblack hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning. “Is that where —?” whispered Professor McGonagall. “Yes,” said Dumbledore. “He’ll have that scar forever.” “Couldn’t you do something about it, Dumbledore?” “Even if I could, I wouldn’t. Scars can come in handy...

(PS, 13-14)

And being raised by the Dursleys ensured that when the time came, when Dumbledore needed Harry to die to destroy Voldemort, Harry would be willing. Because Harry would not put much worth in his own life. Because of that, I think it's not outside the realm of possibility Dumbledore would lie about this ward to have an excuse to keep sending Harry to the Dursleys.

(Sure, Dumbledore would've preferred not to kill Harry if it could be avoided, but he had been preparing for the situation since October 1981)

It's not like he did anything to better their treatment of Harry until book 6, when he needed Harry to start trusting him more...

And like I mentioned above, even if the ward was there, it would not be active because Private Drive was never a home for Harry. And after year 4, when Voldemort took his blood, any protection from any blood-related magic would be moot. Because Voldemort would not be counted as a threat by the ward.

So Dumbledore sending Harry back to the Dursleys after he knew the wards he left (if they were there at all) were gone, proves to me Harry's placement at the Dursleys was never about the wards to begin with. Because if the blood wards are gone, literally anywhere else around wizards who could protect Harry would be safer than at the Dursleys, even when thinking of Death Eaters and Voldemort as the only threat. If they came to find Harry at Private Drive, nothing would've stopped them (except Harry himself).

I could guess wards like this, if they actually were active, would have been an extension of Lily's protection and stopped Voldemrot from being able to enter the Dursleys' residence. From what's said, it seems this ward seems to target Voldemrot specifically, and no one else. But, as I mentioned, I don't think it's really there.

Lil'y Sacrificial Love Protection:

I mentioned in the past how intention and emotion mean a lot for magic in the HP universe. Lily, a witch who we are told repeatedly was powerful, intelligent, and talented, could very well cast a powerful protection out of her love and intention to protect her son. That is 100% possible with what we see magic is capable of and how magic seems to work.

That being said, the fact this never happened before suggests to me Lily did something different than just having a very strong wish for her son to survive. Dumbledore says it's because she had a choice, and in a way it is, but not because Voldemort gave her the option not to die, but because she chose to die instead of Harry.

I'll try to explain it, bear with me.

“Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!” “Stand aside, you silly girl. . . stand aside now.” “Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead—” “This is my last warning—” “Not Harry! Please . . . have mercy. . . have mercy. . . . Not Harry! Not Harry! Please—I’ll do anything—” “Stand aside. Stand aside, girl!”

(DH, 297)

This is the "spell" Lily casts — the incantation. This is her wish moments before her death: "Not Harry, kill me instead," that's what she says, that's her promise, that's her wish, that's the magic.

Lily's protection only works on Voldemort because her spell essentially made a bargain with Voldemort (that he didn't agree to). that he'd kill her instead of Harry. Once he killed Lily, he couldn't kill Harry because that was the protection she left him, and Voldemort won't be able to kill him because she died in his stead.

That's why we don't see the same thing happen after James dies to buy Lily and Harry time, why when others die to protect someone they aren't protected from the killing curse. What Lily did is a combination of a few extraordinary circumstances coming together:

She's an incredibly powerful witch (shown by her childhood magic that was very controlled and advanced (not unlike Tom Riddle) and Slughorn's boasting)

She loved Harry dearly. Loved him enough to power an accidental spell.

Chose and intended to die instead of her son. She had intent when making her plea, intent required for any spell.

So what essentially happened is that Lily created a situation where Voldemort physically can't kill Harry because Lily died in his stead. If, for example, Quirrell touched Harry without intending to kill him (like he did when they shook hands in Diagon Alley or when he pulled Harry to stand in front of the mirror) the protection won't activate. All it does is stop Voldemort from killing Harry because he already killed Lily in Harry's stead.

So, Voldemort, as I mentioned in the past, wants to kill Harry, this is his only ambition in the 2nd war. So he takes Harry's blood into himself so the protection won't work anymore. And we see it doesn't in the woods when Voldemort casts the killing curse and it doesn't rebound back on him (which would've happened otherwise).

This love protection from Lily doesn't require anything to stay active. It was cast because Voldemort killed her and Harry doesn't need to do anything to keep it active. Staying with the Dursleys wasn't for the sake of Lily's spell but for Dumbledore's ward.

As for Lily's spell not protecting Hary from anything else, like I mentioned, the bargain was that Voldemort would kill her instead of Harry, it would only protect Harry from being killed by Voldemort. If Voldemort just asked a random Death Eater to kill Harry it still wouldn't have worked, but that won't be because of Lily's love magic, but because of Harry pretty much always being the Master of Death.

Basically, Voldemort was doomed because he had no chance of killing Harry. Ever.

But what about when Harry died in book 7 and said he cast the same sacrificial love?

Well, I don't think Harry cast the same sacrificial love. His feelings and intentions were completely different. In his case, I think he just took the mastership of the Elder Wand so it wasn't performing as well for Voldemort afterward.

Conclusions

There are actually two different and distinct spells referred to by the characters when it comes to the protections Lily left for Harry.

The first is Lily's Sacrificial Love Spell which worked like a bargain. She pleaded with Voldemort to kill her instead of Harry and after he killed her, he could no longer kill Harry because he was protected.

Voldemort taking Harry's blood does indeed circumvent this spell and allows him to kill Harry in the woods (if temporarily).

The second is the Blood Ward Dumbledore talks about that is supposedly placed on the Dursleys' home. This spell was invoked by Dumbledore and is not part of Lily's spell.

It's supposed to build on and strengthen Lily's protection from what's implied.

this second spell would've stopped its activity the moment Harry stopped considering number 4, Private Drive his home (which happened quite young, as he doesn't remember ever considering it a home)

Personally, I don't think this blood ward ever existed, but even if it did, it was moot from the get-go and never done anything.

Voldemort taking Harry's blood in year 4, circumvented this ward too.

Basically, Dumbledore kept Harry at the Durselys less because of the wards and more because it suited him to ensure Harry would become the martyr he needed him to be (something I should write a full post about eventually).

#hp meta

35 notes · View notes

soup-of-the-daisies · 3 days

Note

yes omg it’s like. yeah, harry’s accidental magic is massive. he changes the colour of hair, he vanishes glass, he grows his own hair back without a potion, he ‘apparates’ when he needs to get away. he picks magic up really quickly when he puts in the effort. his power just doesn’t get honed (because he’s too busy Not Dying through and Feeling Responsible for Voldemort Related Things to put the majority of his time into studying; and also, it’s not like Hogwarts encourages/provides a good environment for additional studying??). his grades are, in spite of all of the Various Issues he is Busy With, really quite decent—it’s not secret he’s bright. Harry just isn’t left alone to busy himself with studying, and he also very much doesn’t want to stand out.

but then voldemort. he’s presented/described to be basically a genius. immensely powerful, unbelievably talented. i’m sure part of it was necessity (his purposeful, pre-hogwarts magic is implied to have kept him safe and solitary) but he’s also thirsty for knowledge and desperate to prove himself Above. putting 7th year tom riddle up against 17 yr old harry would not even be a draw: maybe he’d be initially surprised by harry’s speed and raw power, but he’d find weaknesses soon enough (not to mention his own speed and raw power). he’d triumph, 100%.

harry getting marked as an equal should (per my interpretation) at most refer to their similar childhoods and potential. the text doesn’t allow harry more. the difference in experience, the difference in learning-ethic, those are just too much.

the funniest part of all of those asks screaming bloody murder in your inbox is that none of them (or perhaps it’s just one person lmao) seem to WANT to realise that we’re all just playing in the sandbox that is canon, and sometimes haul sand from a different sandbox to add to it. additionally, their morality policing is gross ♥️

like?? sometimes i disagree with what you’re saying, but that’s a normal fandom experience. i have my own interpretations and preferences and that’s fine. that’s the way it’s supposed to be. blocking is so easy. scrolling past a post is so easy. idk what they’re complaining about.

(and of course i do think that harry’s naturally powerful, but he’s also very untrained. his power has not been fine-tuned. he’s coursing by on luck and through outside forces. it could’ve gone so horribly wrong at any point and that’s purely because harry could Not have fought his way out!!! he could’ve been trained to at least present a good challenge, but then we’re reaching AU territory—plus, he’s like 11-17 to voldemort’s 60+.)

anyway. you are a fellow prongsfooter and tomarrymorter and i shall defend you til my dying breath. bless.

the thing is, i literally AGREE WITH YOU. YES, harry is naturally powerful, he was the chosen one for a Reason, he was the only one who could produce patronuses so early on, like, he is powerful. yes, the reason he would lose is because he is not fully trained.

all i meant to say was that the fact that they are equals is never Truly portryed. harry could have GROWN to be as powerful as voldemort but we will never know because jkr's setup was just.. not it. the age disparity is one of the, if not THE biggest reason why it's laughable to me when people say they are equals. no matter how much older harry gets, harry would never truly catch up to voldemort because voldemort himself would get older, learn more, have more tricks etc. and yes, one day voldemort will be past his prime, and that is maybe the one time harry can beat voldemort in a fair duel.

do you see how bad the setup is now? PLUS, she NERFED voldemort and made him irrational, so now he's just stupid and harry being his equal is not the flex you might think it is. like, wow, you're an equal with the guy who got killed by a baby? lmao.

i have had so many stupid anon hate asks in my inbox today i am exhausted and astounded that people could ever be this obtuse.

but yeah, thank you so much for this ahhaha hope i clarified if anything was unclear.

i, too, shall defend you if the time comes XD ❤️❤️❤️❤️ thank youuuu 💕💕

#harry potter #tom riddle #voldemort #i really really like them as equals. but their personalities are too different for their childhoods to result in the same thirst for power

7 notes · View notes

soup-of-the-daisies · 3 days

Text

sirius was never actually disowned and i will die on that hill. walburga only burnt him off the tapestry bc she was a bit of a pyromaniac and liked burning things. regulus (supremacist, doesn’t want ppl to touch his property) would not have died so willingly if there was no fella left to easily carry on the last name. orion and walburga were 100% like “ugh. the child will come back eventually” and then he did

#sirius orion black #the noble and most ancient house of black #sirius: i was disowned. kicked out. and i went gladly #like no my dude you ran away and refused to come back (valid) and ur parents were like FINE and burnt you off symbolically #because the entire family is dramatic

60 notes · View notes

soup-of-the-daisies · 4 days

Text

The Noble and most Ancient House of Black discord celebrates 25 years of PoA

Prisoner of Azkaban, aka the Book of the Fave, is coming up to its 25-year anniversary.

To celebrate, The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black Discord will be holding a small fest.

From the 23rd-25th May, either share in the discord, send me an ask or tag me (and I will reblog) in any Sirius-related stuff you want to share:

PoA microfics

Moodboards

Art

Headcannons

Anything else you want to share to celebrate.

Rules: No character or ship bashing.

39 notes · View notes

soup-of-the-daisies · 4 days

Text

Since Snape Discourse has been officially cancelled for 2019, I would like to see more discourse surrounding Ginny being rude to Fleur for her accent. HOW MANY LANGUAGES DO YOU SPEAK, GINEVRA???

#never forgive never forget molly believing rita skeeter's trash about hermione in gof or her bullshit take on sirius's relationship w harry #liiiiiike molly was never going to be my fave from early on but each subsequent book made me dislike her more whoops #<- yes

584 notes · View notes

soup-of-the-daisies · 4 days

Note

#that one fic where he gets the job because the marauders (minus peter but sorta with peter) are SO bored they’ve run off every teacher ever

You can't just leave this in the tags and not tell us the fic!

The fic is Professor Tommy. It’s amazing.

This answer elaborates on it a bit more!!

#fic rec #ask #anon

0 notes

soup-of-the-daisies · 5 days

Note

🔥🔥 voldyyyy

I'll go with two unpopular opinions for this.

He isn't disdainful of love

I've talked about how he's capable of love, so elaborating on that he doesn't think himself above love or attachment either/isn't contemptuous of the idea of Love. Like he maybe puts it all under a veneer of "I hate people and am godlike and above everyone", but he acknowledges to himself that he's attached to the few people he's genuinely attached to, esp. given he openly confides his rage about his parents etc to Harry/others and calls his followers his true family. Idk if he explicitly uses the word Love, but tbf plenty of emotionally constipated people who aren't Lord Voldemort also have a hard time using That Word specifically.

Though, possible he very occasionally does, since he casually uses sentimental phrasing for his mother's feelings for his father, that she "fell in love with him" and his father abandoned her, without any disdain at her, and likely having only seen a few memories with minimal info on the relationship (in his uncle and father's head). And he calls Nagini "my dear Nagini" and refers to Hogwarts as his "beloved castle", so likely that acknowledgement extends to people at some point.

Iirc, there's a handful of other times LV explicitly refers to "Love" as a concept. Briefly while mocking Ginny ("But I was patient. I wrote back. I was sympathetic, I was kind. Ginny simply loved me."), then:

“Certainly,” said Voldemort, and his eyes seemed to burn red. “I have experimented; I have pushed the boundaries of magic further, perhaps, than they have ever been pushed —” “Of some kinds of magic,” Dumbledore corrected him quietly. “Of some. Of others, you remain... forgive me... woefully ignorant.” For the first time, Voldemort smiled. It was a taut leer, an evil thing, more threatening than a look of rage. “The old argument,” he said softly. “But nothing I have seen in the world has supported your famous pronouncements that love is more powerful than my kind of magic, Dumbledore.” (HBP)

Now, LV being annoyed at Dumbledore giving him obnoxious philosophical speeches about Love (apparently dating back to his teen years) in response to Tom practicing Dark Arts doesn't suggest contempt of the concept of Love in general. Undoubtedly, a decent chunk of that magic is horrific and involves life sacrifices and unethical human experimentation, especially by the time of that interview, but The Power Of Love Can Defeat It is not a helpful response to that, and it's clearly a society wide problem and not limited to Tom (and Dumbledore obviously projects shit and has issues with Dark Arts that isn't harmful too, see: his reaction to a harmless "blood ward" in the locket cave, mistrust of Sirius, etc).

The other time is during the final duel in DH, but notable that LV contradicts himself repeatedly (as he does in most scenes) i.e. first praises Dumbledore and Lily to make Harry seem weak (he'd be speaking the same way regardless of his real opinion on Harry, as Harry's the main threat). In fact, Snape appears to have learned this method of insulting Harry from LV:

"But I want there to be no mistake in anybody’s mind. Harry Potter escaped me by a lucky chance. And I am now going to prove my power by killing him, here and now, in front of you all, when there is no Dumbledore to help him, and no mother to die for him." (The Death Eaters, GoF) "Of course, it became apparent to me very quickly that he had no extraordinary talent at all. He has fought his way out of a number of tight corners by a simple combination of sheer luck and more talented friends." (Spinner’s End, HBP) "You think it will be you, do you, the boy who has survived by accident, and because Dumbledore was pulling the strings?" "Accident, was it, when my mother died to save me? [...] Accident, when I decided to fight in that graveyard? Accident, that I didn’t defend myself tonight, and still survived, and returned to fight again?" "Accidents!" screamed Voldemort [...] "Accident and chance and the fact that you crouched and sniveled behind the skirts of greater men and women, and permitted me to kill them for you!" (The Flaw in the Plan, DH)

Then LV just as quickly zeroes in on their weaknesses to insult them - Dumbledore's age and proclamations about love, Lily's blood status:

"I know things you don’t know, Tom Riddle. I know lots of important things that you don’t. Want to hear some, before you make another big mistake?" [...] "Is it love again?" said Voldemort, his snake’s face jeering. "Dumbledore’s favorite solution, love, which he claimed conquered death, though love did not stop him falling from the tower and breaking like an old waxwork? Love, which did not prevent me stamping out your Mudblood mother like a cockroach, Potter — and nobody seems to love you enough to run forward this time and take my curse. So what will stop you dying now when I strike?" [...] "If it is not love that will save you this time," said Voldemort, "you must believe that you have magic that I do not [...] (The Flaw in the Plan, DH)

(Likewise in Spinner's End, Snape uses Dumbledore's age as a perceived weakness to get DEs to underestimate him. LV uses a similar tactic with himself - "That Potter lives is due more to my errors than to his triumphs." etc. etc.)

Not sure who told LV that Dumbledore was giving Harry similar speeches about (Mother's) Love having saved him and the "power he knows not" being Love - given Harry's claim about understanding things LV doesn't etc, Harry's likely thinking about Dumbledore's afterlife speech, and probably LV's using Legilimency on Harry in that moment since they're staring into each other's eyes, and/or got that info in previous confrontations (or via Snape). But imo both Voldemort and Dumbledore know that it wasn't Love that vanquished him and know it was Lily’s intentional work (and by then LV's confused and terrified, as this resurrection was either due to Dumbledore leaving Harry the Hallows or Lily's lingering spellwork, but either way LV doesn't entirely get how it happened). In any case, the priority is mocking his enemies here.

(Given LV refers to "famous pronouncements", it's possible Dumbledore gives similar philosophical speeches as part of his image and actions as a public figure too, esp. if his political power meant he was involved in legislation around Dark Arts etc, so discrediting him via his words about Love may be referring to that too).

Lastly, there's LV's claim that he understands Snape's attachment to Lily as solely sexual:

"He desired her, that was all," sneered Voldemort, "but when she had gone, he agreed that there were other women, and of purer blood, worthier of him —" (DH)

But given that he's being informed that his favored DE who he made Headmaster of Hogwarts betrayed him for the woman who vanquished him - a betrayal he was warned about by other DEs - in a confrontation with the prophesized Chosen One who just came back to life yet again, it is just like, an all around embarrassing situation for him, and he's reacting accordingly (likely referring to something Snape said to prove loyalty to LV).

LV again weaponizes Lily's blood status as her "weakness", contradicting his claims at other points - he evidently understands Harry's attachment to his Muggleborn friend in CoS (per "From everything Ginny had told me about you, I knew you would go to any lengths to solve the mystery — particularly if one of your best friends was attacked" wrt Hermione's petrification) and Harry's attachment to Lily herself as his mother, and doesn't pretend otherwise in those cases, so there's little reason he wouldn't get Snape's (placing Peter in Spinner's End, to get them to spy on each other, and likely to punish Snape with the DE who betrayed Lily, and in their childhood town, also implies LV sees Snape's attachment as lasting).

LV's clearly at least somewhat affected by Snape's betrayal - when Harry first informs him LV has no response but stunned silence ("Voldemort did not answer. They continued to circle each other [...]"), when Harry goes on LV's "nostrils flare" at the words, and he's described as having "followed every word with rapt attention".

Yet in the next breath, LV proceeds to lump Snape in with Dumbledore and Lily and gloat about murdering all three of them anyway - the former the one he has emotional attachment to, and we saw him attempt to justify murdering Snape to both himself and to Snape earlier:

"It matters not whether Snape was mine or Dumbledore’s, or what petty obstacles they tried to put in my path! I crushed them as I crushed your mother, Snape’s supposed great love!" (DH)

Contradicting what he said like a line earlier. Tl;dr I wouldn't really trust his words here, given that he changes them every other sentence based on whatever's convenient to assert his own power and manipulate or mock whoever's the immediate threat.

True he calls it a weakness and a flaw - but he’s also fascinated by Harry’s loyalty and immense, desperate craving for family, as we know he sees himself in that. He mocks Lily and James for putting their "trust in friends" instead of weapons - and yet he did the same thing, entrusting two horcruxes to his followers, when he could've built elaborate protections for them instead, and berates himself for trusting them afterward. Etc. Etc.

He doesn't think his mother chose to die/abandon him

(I've already given the main evidence for this here, but to elaborate) That's a common interpretation, but imo everything in canon indicates the opposite - he sees his mother as someone who loved him and would've raised him had she lived.

For one, it makes no sense. His fear stems from his mother's death in childbirth and knowing the process was slow and painful/being in proximity to other women dying similarly in the orphanage (who I doubt gave the impression they chose it either), he thinks there's nothing worse than death, but he... thinks his mother chose to die? What? (You can say it's not meant to be rational, but tbh it's not like his fear is really irrational in general)

His fear of death is just that - an intense fear. He doesn't really see it as a "shameful weakness", he views his mother as a victim of it.

Even Dumbledore and Harry's conclusions come from knowing Merope was a witch and assumptions re: her home life/affair with Riddle Sr., info Tom didn't have as a kid. When he was first told the story about her death, he may not even have started controlling his powers or controlled only a bit, and didn't know magic is inherited anyway. He says "my mother can't have been magic or she wouldn't have died" having only just learned of the magical world (not knowing about variations in power, etc.) and has abilities that could've helped a homeless woman not starve/etc, if he's assuming that had a role (and he searches for his father first because that's the parent who may be alive, and he only has his maternal grandfather's first name vs. his father's full name).

I wonder about the details of Merope's death, since Tom likely got more info from Mrs. Cole and viewed the memory via Legilimency. Dumbledore asks about the father, so Mrs. Cole's words to him were catered to that and she's likely omitting stuff. I assume Merope said other things since Mrs. Cole says Merope "had the baby within the hour. And she was dead in another hour", but idk how literal that is. I also wonder if Merope held Tom before she died (if he saw that, it may explain things about Nagini lol).

His reaction to Peter vs. Nagini (symbolic father and mother) is revealing - telling Peter "You are regretting that you ever returned to me. I revolt you. I see you flinch when you look at me, feel you shudder when you touch me" vs. wrapping Nagini around his shoulders and constantly touching her (vs. his not giving a shit while that poor basilisk is having his eyes gouged out by Fawkes).

He refuses to blame Merope for quite literally anything, so I'd be surprised if he blamed her for dying i.e. hates his name and yet blames his father "I revenged myself upon him, that fool who gave me his name... Tom Riddle", despite acknowledging they were Merope's last words:

“Half-blood, sir,” said Riddle. “Muggle father, witch mother.” “And are both your parents — ?” “My mother died just after I was born, sir. They told me at the orphanage she lived just long enough to name me — Tom after my father, Marvolo after my grandfather.” (CoS)

Tom sharply responding "What Muggle?" to Morfin saying "You look mighty like that Muggle" also hints at his dwelling on his mother's last words ("I hope he looks like his papa") since he only just got the info that his dad's a Muggle, so the gut reaction might've been to the former and/or having seen his mother's face in Mrs. Cole's head and knowing he doesn't look like her. Later he finds out Merope sold the locket a week before dying, and that in combo with Merope's dying words would be somewhat like how Harry feels about Lily's letter (her warm hand had once moved across this parchment, tracing ink into these letters, these words, words about him, Harry, her son).

Like, maybe there's bits that can be read that way if you really stretch i.e. in the GoF graveyard scene, while pressing Peter's Mark whispering "How many will be brave enough to return when they feel it?" with his "eyes fixed upon the stars", and then "she died giving birth to me, leaving me to be raised in a Muggle orphanage" vs. "my true family returns" but in the context of everything else, imo it's clear he's not blaming her and is blaming his father.

And in the graveyard monologue, the fact that LV first speaks of his father and Lily, phrasing it as "your mother died to defend you as a child... and I killed my father" despite comparing them and him killing Lily too, and below that of his father and Merope as "she died giving birth to me", also may indicate he sees Merope and Lily's affection for their sons as similar, in contrast to the narrative.

Voldemort's enraged at his father for abandoning him, and his pureblood family for disowning him, and just murders them all in one go. If he thought his mother abandoned him too, then like... he wouldn't be talking about her like that lol, and his extreme attachment to her in comparison doesn't make sense.

Tl;dr he's a Mama's Boy, but not because he's just like, intrinsically predisposed to being one, but because he thinks of Merope as the only family who didn't abandon him, and thinks of her as abandoned and unclaimed by both his father and their pureblood family, just like he was.

I hate the "Harry can love because he knows his parents loved him" take JKR intended - and if anything Tom got more concrete info that a parent/his mother loved him even a bit younger than Harry. But of course, knowing your dead mother loved you doesn't exactly do much to help you in a miserable childhood.

#tom riddle #long post #voldemort

24 notes · View notes

soup-of-the-daisies · 5 days

Note

you said “the eleven-year-old riddle, for example, is written in a way which suggests he has an accent and uses words and expression which would be understood as working class”. Can you elaborate on what you mean? I love your meta btw. You are brilliant

thank you for two tmr-related follow-up questions to the slughorn/snape bonanza meta, anons!

[and thank you for calling me "brilliant", anon no. 1. picture me kicking my little feet in the air and chirping like a cat which has just seen a bird outside.]

how is the eleven-year-old riddle shown to be common as muck?

besides the fact he lives in an orphanage.

it's things like this:

“You can’t kid me! The asylum, that’s where you’re from, isn’t it? ‘Professor,’ yes, of course — well, I’m not going, see? That old cat’s the one who should be in the asylum. I never did anything to little Amy Benson or Dennis Bishop, and you can ask them, they’ll tell you!”

while none of this is in a demonstrably non-standard dialect of british english [i.e. riddle doesn't use contractions like "ain't" or "innit", or say "i never did nothing to little amy benson..."] it's definitely a way of phrasing his speech - especially when coupled with the fact that this quote reads like he's speaking really quickly, and he's described as looking "furious" - which would be considered uncouth, especially in the 1930s. [not big fans of emotional volatility, the posh].

his refusal to speak deferentially to dumbledore - and the fact that when he's eventually induced to call him sir he is described as being "unrecognisably polite" - is a similar indication that he doesn't exist as a child in the sort of context where he's forced to perform more refined manners in order to get what he wants.

[the sixteen-year-old riddle is considerably more obsequious, because he recognises that the way to get things out of e.g. slughorn is to comport himself like his upper-class peers.]

and he also - which is iconic of him - calls mrs cole a bitch here. "cat" is a slang term for a gossipy or meddling woman - and while it doesn't quite have the full heft of "bitch" [you find it used with impunity by middle-class women in pretty much every piece of literature written pre-1950...], it's incredibly rude for a child to say it to a stranger who he assumes is a doctor.

riddle does also use non-standard english - for example, when he says of dumbledore's wand:

“Where can I get one of them?”

[the correct form would be "one of those".]

it's this which really hammers home - beyond the ways in which it can be inferred from the context of the setting and the scansion of his [and mrs cole's, they speak fairly similarly] speech - that he has a london accent which would be understood, especially when combined with his second-hand possessions and his general rowdiness, as working-class by the sort of people who otherwise seem to end up in slytherin.

exactly what accent this would be depends on where we think the orphanage is. the closest we come to locating it in canon is that riddle buys [or, let's be real, steals] his diary from a shop on "vauxhall road". this isn't a real place, but vauxhall is an area of south london.

but most people - including me - usually place it in east london [i like, as i've said elsewhere, to put it on dorset street in spitalfields, which is the site of one of jack the ripper's most brutal murders]. this would have him born within the sound of bow bells, meaning he'd have every right to call himself a cockney and would undoubtedly speak with a cockney accent.

the south london and east london accents are recognisably distinct from one another [and from north and west london accents], but they would both be understood as common in the time period, when both anyone born into an upper-class or upper-middle-class background and anyone who aspired to be thought of as having done so would speak with [something as close as they could to] received pronunciation.

why do i think slughorn remains chill until after riddle refuses his job offers?

riddle's conversation with slughorn about horcruxes happens at some point in his sixth year - the academic year 1943-1944. we know this because he's a prefect - but not yet head boy, because he's killed his father [his second victim - the riddles are killed in the summer of 1943, after myrtle is killed at the end of the 1942-1943 school year], and because it just makes sense from a narrative standpoint for this pivotal moment in his life to take place at the same time harry's own life is transforming.

my presumption is that the chat happens during the first term, and that riddle doesn't actually create the diary horcrux until afterwards - so let's say the conversation happens c. november 1943 [when riddle would still be sixteen - the age the diary tells us he is]. slughorn then spends a full eighteen months continuing to support and favour him - advocating for him to be head boy, attempting to set him up in prestigious jobs, presumably being willing to support his application to teach defence against the dark arts - after he's aware that he's not opposed to a bit of splitting the soul.

i don't imagine for a second slughorn would ever have turned him in - he is, after all, fundamentally a coward, and he's clearly worried that he'd get in trouble himself for discussing horcruxes with a pupil - but if he were properly troubled by the discussion i think his behaviour would resemble how he treats harry while he's trying to collect the memory: unfailingly polite and unflappably jolly, but still mysteriously unable to be cornered alone.

and - actually - i think this is the specific source of slughorn's shame over the incident, and it's why i really don't like the memory acquisition scene - "you have no idea how frightening he was" - in the half-blood prince film. slughorn is clearly rattled by the conversation, but he then seems to manage to convince himself that everything's fine and riddle was just being a teen show-off with a morbid streak.

[and the adult voldemort - for his part - evidently has no suspicion at all that slughorn took the conversation seriously enough to waver in his cowardice and admit what he'd told him.]

but riddle refusing to accept his help in securing a job - and, therefore, refusing to enter into the sort of patron-client relationship slughorn canonically establishes with pupils from non-elite backgrounds - is riddle indicating that he refuses to be restrained by the norms of wizarding society.

it's a big "fuck you" to slughorn from the perspective of social convention notwithstanding the other context - a presumed-to-be-muggleborn orphan asserting that he can make it in the world on his own terms without tugging his forelock to the pureblood elite - but it's also evidence that he has no intention of finding himself in a situation where slughorn can control him personally.

it means that slughorn finds himself in a position in which he can't dangle the threat of reporting him to the aurors for [conspiracy to commit] murder/taking an interest in dark magic we can presume is illegal unless riddle does something he wants. and it makes it impossible for slughorn to continue convincing himself their conversation was purely macabre curiosity.

slughorn can convince himself that the eighteen-year-old riddle - the polite and brilliant head boy who undoubtedly continued to attend slug club meetings without incident in the period 1943-1945 [since him being barred from such occasions would have tipped him off that slughorn was worried] - can still be treated in a way which has served him well since he started teaching, and can have his... odder aspects constrained by the pressure of wizarding social convention.

the twenty-year-old riddle - on his own in his knockturn alley shop, with its dark reputation, and apparently uninterested in settling down nicely under the thumb of a respectable patron - cannot be.

and slughorn is terrified of this - and the repercussions it has the potential to bring upon him - but he's also going to be offended by it -and i think it's really interesting to skewer his canonical dislike of being associated with death eaters a little by playing with that offence: i.e. that he's not only unimpressed because lucius malfoy's in azkaban, but because of the whole bending-and-scraping-and-saying-my-lord act.

#tom riddle

75 notes · View notes