#Voldemort: I grew up in an orphanage. I cannot believe this. WHY WAS THIS NOT INCLUDED IN OUR CURRICULUM AT SCHOOL?! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fernsandsunflowers · 4 years

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Your knowledge of Harry Potter is like a rotten apple with worms in it!

Expressive! thanks for voicing your opinion.

I really hope this is in regard to the Snape post (x) I made years and years ago and has resurfaced recently and not JKR is a terf and can fuck off this planet please and thank you posts I’ve reblogged.

If it’s about Snape, I’ve seen most of the comments, I haven’t taken the time to read it all but general opinion seems to be two-sided there are those who agree whole-heartedly with my post, and those who do not. Most in the do not agree category has pointed out that heroism is not a competition. This is absolutely right, the story itself should have taught me that long ago, like when little Neville stood up to the trio in book 1. I apologize, sincerely, for comparing their acts of bravery. They both did amazing things and I hope, if it ever comes down to it, god forbid, I find in myself the same strength and bravery. The post itself was poorly worded. My goal was to ask that we show the same love and respect to Lupin as we do for Snape. That clearly didn’t come across, instead I got carried away and had written a post that ended up elevating Lupin’s acts of bravery while putting down Snape’s. Regardless of their background they both did heroic things and in the end gave their lives to save others. These acts of bravery deserve to be honoured and respected.

However, I stand by my statement that Lupin is the better man. I have seen a lot of comments that admit to Snape’s wrongs but use the excuse of unprocessed childhood trauma and mental illness. I will not accept this ‘white man’ excuse. I will admit, again, here that Sirius, James and Remus were wrong to have bullied Snape. Sirius, in fact, was still a bit of a dick after he returned from Azkaban. But why can we excuse Snape’s faults as the product of childhood and later life trauma but not Sirius’? Why do you continue to condemn Sirius for his bullying while at Hogwarts but make up excuses for Snape’s reprehensible behaviour towards his students?

Yes there were no systems in place for Snape to process his trauma (he did have one positive influence, Lily, but this was clearly not enough), that is a grievous institutional error. This exists in our world and is something that needs to be rectified immediately, in every country. There were no systems in place for Harry, Neville, Remus, Sirius and Regulus to process theirs either. In Regulus’ case he didn’t have the benefit of a positive environment too. But your argument is that everyone processes differently. My argument is that, Snape’s trauma doesn’t negate his negative actions in the same way that Voldemort’s trauma doesn’t negate his. If you are excusing Snape for being complicit in the murder of so many muggles and muggleborns because he was abused as a child and grew up in poverty, then you must also excuse Voldemort for murdering people based on his trauma from growing up in a shit-hole orphanage, in poverty and being hated and rejected by his father. I genuinely don’t know if Snape has killed anyone before Dumbledore, I vaguely remember a scene in the Prince’s Tale chapter where Dumbledore says something along the lines, you must have done it before? and Snape implying that he has not. I don’t have my book with me or I would check. It does not matter, aiding and abetting is still a crime. Why do we say ACAB? Complicit is still guilty.

I have no patience or place in my heart for anyone that chooses to join the side of racists and fascists, knowing full well what it meant. That’s what he did. You cannot deny that Snape was extremely capable of critical thought and was intelligent enough to see plainly what Voldemort rising to power meant to his supposed love. Or to thousands of innocent people. But he joined anyway, for power. Do you think I will be forgiven by my friends, or even you all, if I actively supported Trump, or ISIS, or an example from my own country (Sri Lanka), the extremist ‘Buddhist’ organisation called BBS that stands against Tamil and Muslim people (I put Buddhist in quotation marks as people who believe these ideologies are no longer Buddhist), or even my own father in his anti-muslim stance? He had Lily, who he loved, yet still joined an organisation that was murdering her people and posed a fatal threat to her as well. I do not have patience for that and I will not be shamed for it. If you’ve chosen to forgive Snape for willingly joining the wizard equivalent of Nazi’s and Neo-Nazi’s then fine, that’s your prerogative. I have chosen to forgive James, Sirius and Remus for bullying Snape when they were kids. That’s my prerogative. If you’ve chosen to forgive Snape for bullying children under his care to the point of terror and psychological trauma, because he himself had experienced trauma, I guess that’s your right as well (though I admit it infuriates me).

Also because I’m on a roll now, I will not stand to be asked to care about and include Peter Pettigrew in anything related to the Marauders. I understand that he was a part of the Marauders and I understand he was afraid for his life. Amongst the countless things I don’t have patience for, is disloyalty. The fidelius charm cannot be forced out of you, or bewitched, or tortured out. It must be shared willingly. Peter was already working for Voldemort since before he was made secret keeper. The Order knew there was a spy in their midst. Systematic racism within the wizarding world led them to believe that Remus was the Spy. Sirius was probably the first to believe it. Peter obviously felt some regret over it, but eventually divulged the information to Voldemort the first chance he got. I cannot and will not forgive that. If Peter was really a good person and was afraid for his life or for the life of his parents, or whatever, he would not have run back and actively looked for and revived Voldemort after he was ousted. He could have just left the country and hidden somewhere else where he would probably not have been recognised. He had an ounce of regret over James’ death that led to his own death, but in the theme of this post, it doesn’t negate his crimes.

To better help you understand why I am against Snape but support several others who have done wrong in their lives here’s an example. Someone who joined the Death Eaters willingly that I do forgive is Regulus Black. I believe he didn’t know any better, he grew up in a household where the only voices and opinions he heard was that of his racist af parents who applauded Voldemort. The impact of this influence is reflected in the way that Kreacher responds to muggleborns and their allies. This is an intelligent species to whom blood status of wizards should not matter. In the same way that countries colonized by Europeans that should not have anything against black communities are racist towards them. Because all they’ve heard about Black People comes from our colonizers - also, the power of representation comes up here, after gaining independence, the racist concepts that European colonization left against ourselves, other poc’s and black people were reaffirmed by the negative stereotypes presented in white media, which unfortunately is broadcast worldwide. But that’s a whole other can of worms. Kreacher is later taught, and experiences differently. He begins to show respect to Hermione and fights against Voldemort - the man his masters supported so thoroughly. I forgive Kreacher too for the part he played in Sirius’ death, here is someone who’s trauma and upbringing really does excuse their actions. He comes to understand that he made a mistake, learns and changes. Regulus wanted to make his parents proud, they supported Voldemort. Sirius, I don’t believe, helped Regulus understand any differently and rebuffed and berated him for parroting their parents views (this is never the right thing to do), thereby pushing him away.

We of course also know that Regulus had a kind and understanding nature, this shows in the way he treated Kreacher. He joined the Death Eaters when he left Hogwarts thinking he was doing the right thing. And immediately realised his parents had been wrong to support Voldemort, he tried to leave and couldn’t. In the end he actively tried to bring down Voldemort and his movement. As soon as he gained some substantial information on Voldemort he acted, giving his life to do so. Snape remained with the Death Eaters even as they killed countless muggles and muggleborns. He reported to Voldemort the prophecy he heard - if Regulus had been in Snape’s place here what do you think he would have done? reported to Voldemort? No, he would have kept it to himself, or taken the opportunity even to tell Dumbledore he would like to join their side. Snape, on the other hand, would have seen to it that Voldemort succeeded in ending this threat if it weren’t for one thing: Lily. This is NOT a redeeming quality.

Do you understand what it is I’m trying to explain? I’m not as eloquent as most of you here, so I’m sorry if I’m botching this up. Snape’s childhood should not have stopped him from seeing what Voldemort was doing. It should have been enough that he had Lily, a ‘mudblood’, to show him that Voldemort targeting muggleborn’s and muggles was wrong. Regulus had no one he loved who was a muggleborn. Neither did Kreacher. Sirius didn’t either but learned before he met Lily or any muggleborns that Voldemort’s and his parents views were wrong. So did so many others. Shit, even a lot of you must have been taught racism and unlearned it later when you were exposed to the truth. I know I had to as a child. Harry Potter played a key role in my own unlearning. Snape, knowing all this, joined Voldemort. That is why I do not support or forgive him. He continued to stay in Voldemort’s employ, rising in rank to the point of being accepted into Voldemort’s inner circle and being granted the Dark Mark. May be he was uncomfortable, but this did not stop him from following orders and committing crimes against humanity. He only stopped when the one muggleborn he thought was actually OK was being hunted by Voldemort.

Some of you have said in the comments that Snape was working against Voldemort since before the prophecy and threat on Lily. Where do you get this idea? Please tell me I genuinely want to know how you know this. Because in the Half Blood Prince, Trelawney’s drunken rant let’s Harry know that it was Snape who had heard the prophecy and told Voldemort about it. When confronted, Dumbledore tells Harry,

‘Professor Snape made a terrible mistake, he was still in Lord Voldemort’s employ on the night he heard the first half of Professor Trelawney’s prophecy, naturally, he hastened to tell his master what he had heard for it concerned his master most deeply. But he did not know, he had no possibly way of knowing which boy Voldemort would hunt from then onward or that the parents he would destroy in his murderous quest were people that Professor Snape knew. That they were your mother and father.’

- HBP, Chapter 25: the Seer Overheard.

Harry goes on to laugh at this statement referring to Snape’s hate of his father. Dumbledore responds to this with,

‘you have no idea of the remorse Professor Snape felt when he realised how Lord Voldemort had interpreted the prophecy, Harry.

It’s pretty easy to read between the lines here. Snape only turned from Voldemort’s side when he realised that Voldemort had interpreted the prophecy to mean Lily and James’ son, meaning Voldemort now posed an undeniably direct threat to Lily herself. If I can go a little further here, I believe Dumbledore’s empathy towards Snape stems from the part he himself played in helping Grindelwald’s plans for world domination and his own attempts to reconcile with his guilt over the matter. For me, this choosing to turn only when Lily was threatened does not redeem him because he either did not understand or care for the damage he was inflicting to others. If he had not been in love with Lily, he would have just let it happen and continued supporting Voldemort, how is that right? ‘It is the thought that counts’, this thought doesn’t sit right with me.

He never tried to redeem himself for joining Voldemort, only the part he played in Lily’s death. In my eyes he acted out of guilt, he was sorry for Lily’s death but not for joining a side that murdered thousands of innocent lives. He later chastised anyone who used the word Mudblood in his (private) presence but I interpret this as a reaction to the word reminding him of his and Lily’s fallout. I don’t believe it had anything to do with him actually understanding the damage behind its use. In death, he may have felt he redeemed himself, and Harry apparently felt the same. Washing his hands of Lily’s blood may have been enough for him, Dumbledore, Harry and you but it is not for me. His actions in later life did not, in my opinion, redeem him from willingly joining Voldemort and bullying children.

I apologize for comparing Lupin’s and Snape’s acts of bravery that was unreasonable. Snape’s actions certainly led to the downfall of Voldemort he acted heroically, but for me, he did not redeem himself entirely. It’s as simple as that. I respect that some of you believe he did. That’s fine. But please don’t gloss over the fact that he did work for Voldemort of his own free will, any negative influence he had that led him to believe that muggles and muggleborns deserved to be killed, dominated and enslaved (which is what Voldemort stood for) should have been countered by knowing Lily.

I love the complex character that he is, but I do not agree with his actions in early life, or the motivation behind his actions in later life. And that’s allowed so please stop breathing down my neck.

If this was about JKR being a terf, then maybe this will help: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/resources/trevor-support-center/a-guide-to-being-an-ally-to-transgender-and-nonbinary-youth/

Sorry this was meant to be short but I am physically incapable of keeping things short. This is also the last post I will ever make with regard to my feelings on Snape because well, I’ve been doing it for years and I don’t really care anymore. You do you.

#harry potter #hp #severus snape #anti snape #marauders #jily #anti snily #my post

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helly-watermelonsmellinfellon · 5 years

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YGWYG ~ Characters

So it’s been a while since I started You Get What You Give and I’ve decided to redo the character’s of Bella and Prue to better represent them now that they’re 13. So here are their character’s now, compared to [MY LAST] post on them.

Belladonna Pandora Potter-Michaels:

Born: July 31 2000.

Heiress Black, Heiress Gaunt, Heiress Blishwick.

Twice Blessing: Natural Aptitude and Healing.

Has been cut much shorter and put up or braided now and then.

Age: 13 as of chapter 29.

Pureblood Witch - only recently learned. Lily was adopted and was born of Pureblood Squibs. Related to the Selwyns, Blishwicks, and Gaunts.

Needs glasses but wears contacts.

Left at the Dursleys - because she was assumed to be a Squib - until she was 5 and then left at an orphanage.

Got therapy for a few years and then was adopted.

Figure skater who constantly trains to join the Junior Division so she can participate in international competitions. Her coach is her muggle guardian.

Plays the piano very well but refuses to learn proper theory because a teacher in primary school tried forcing her to do too much at once and was manipulating talent shows to come out in Bella’s favor. So Bella does what she wants only.

Hard work ethic towards her interests.

Complete disinterest in things she finds boring.

Has issues with finishing things she starts like books, puzzles, and homework. They become too boring or easy and she cannot focus any longer.

Is the real GWL and now knows it, but plans to not say anything.

Greatly affected by the Horcrux inside her which is sabotaging her attempts at learning out of jealousy for her escaping her orphanage when he didn’t get to. The birthmark(Horcrux scar) on her chest hurts the same time a weird, droning voice fills her head, giving her intense migraines, making her lose focus on the world, and results in her rolling herself up in a blanket and rocking back and forth for hours as she tries to get through it. This started the moment she was adopted.

Naively trusts a book that talks back the moment she writes in it and doesn’t think it could possibly be dangerous because the Sorting Hat could talk too and it was considered good.

Will take no shit from bullies. Has defended herself a few times and gets a bit excited over tearing her attackers down. A bit susceptible to power trips and the rush of feelings they give her.

Plans to find a way for Squibs to access their magic when she’s retired from competitive figure skating. She’s very sensitive over the subject of Squibs and being abandoned because they can’t access the magic they do have.

Has made more friends.

Isn’t interested in going on adventures.

Blunt.

Slytherin.

Growing closer to her twin sister through mutual, unfortunate experience and a better understanding of each other.

Hates her blood parents.

Prunella Alula Potter:

Born: July 31 2000.

Heiress Potter, Heiress Selwyn.

Twice Blessing: Natural Aptitude and Healing.

Choppy red hair and green eyes that aren’t as bright as Bella’s.

Age: 13 as of chapter 29.

Pureblood Witch - only recently learned. Lily was adopted and was born of Pureblood Squibs. Related to the Selwyns, Blishwicks, and Gaunts.

Needs glasses and has changed her frames.

Got to stay with her parents in the magical world.

Was spoiled and never punished.

Forced by James to play only football(soccer) or Quidditch as a kid and got good enough to join the Chudley Cannons the moment she turned 11. Is aiming for a spot on the Welsh National Team when she turns 14.

Hard work ethic towards her interests.

Complete disinterest in things she finds boring.

Highly respects Molly Weasley and her family. Is beginning to respect Sirius and Remus. Will back talk without a thought to people who annoy her.

Has no sense of self-preservation in the form of pain and injury. Believes it doesn’t matter if she gets hurt if she’ll just heal immediately afterward. Why waste magic on fixing her up if her body will do it itself?

Has never been taken to the hospital as a result of the above beliefs from both parents as well as herself.

Is not the GWL and was told so by Voldemort. Has shared this information with her twin and taken Bella’s lead on what to do.

Greatly affected by her parents’ fighting as she grew up and escaped to the Weasley’s house often enough to shove money in random places to pay for her time there.

Has been taught that she deserves whatever she wants because she’s the GWL(only now she’s confused because she isn’t the GWL but she still wants nice things all the time). Mellowed out a bit in favor of more time as a kid than a celebrity.

Choppy hair is a result of an argument between her parents where Lily began cutting her hair, James walked in mid-way and threw a fit over not consulting him over it, and Prue escaped while they spent the day screaming at each other. She keeps it many different lengths and messy in protest to their actions.

Likes having money and always has new things after shopping.

Has an entitlement complex instilled in her by James but it is getting better as time passes and her focus moves on to other things.

Was not taught how to shop for herself and Molly Weasley had to teach her how to handle personal hygiene matters. If learning how to fix those issues though.

Struggles to make friends.

Isn’t interested in going on adventures.

Awkward.

Blunt to an extent but not very brave.

Gryffindor(just barely). Nothing like either parent though.

Not prejudiced against Slytherin.

Uncomfortable in taking the lead and prefers to let Bella be in control.

Hates her blood parents.

So yeah, I used LN again to get a better idea of what they look like now.

#Love Nikki #You Get What You Give #fanfiction #Watermelonsmellinfellon

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returquoise · 6 years

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Cracky Harry Potter theory for the masses: Sirius Black is Voldemort's son.

A lot of these pieces fit very neatly and logically together. Not all of them, but a lot. I don’t think this is actually true, but once I had the initial idea, I had a lot of fun coming up with the rest of it. Also, imagine all the drama if this was actually true.

Why? Walburga Black (Sirius’s mum) is a year older than Voldemort and without a doubt was in Slytherin. This means that they shared 5 or 6 years of school together (depending on Walburga’s month of birth, which is not stated). Walburga was from a Sacred 28 family, rich and influential – who wouldn’t want to be friends with her? Especially a poor but ambitious orphan boy who wants to make connections in a new world.

Voldemort stated in CoS that his closest friends already called him Voldemort in school and we could presume that he had also told them he was the heir of Slytherin (because what kind of Slytherin would take the possibility that Rubeus Hagrid was the heir seriously?). This prestigious background and clear intelligence would make him interesting to Walburga.

But would she get romantically involved with him? She married her second cousin Orion but I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t stop her from cheating on him in 1959 and 1960 (assuming Sirius and Regulus share a father, I somehow get the impression that they looked similar enough to have the same parents – of course they might also have different fathers). Riddle was handsome, intelligent and charming, I’m pretty sure he could talk himself into bed with pureblooded ladies if he wanted to and Walburga looks like a good catch. Maybe this way he could get extra support for his new movement. Walburga might have just been having fun and cheating just because (seems to happen in the real world too) or she and Orion might have had a fight and she did it out of spite.

There’s also the interesting detail of Death Eaters originally being called the Knights of Walburgis. It does have German and Dutch witch myth explanation floating around the internet, but I’m not totally sure Voldemort would go looking abroad for name inspiration. Although Voldemort in itself is French so maybe he would. Or maybe that’s just the convenient explanation he uses to cover up his relationship with Walburga Black.

Voldemort most definitely did not love her and would have been only interested in her resources; the family name, influence and money. Flattery will get you anywhere and all that, especially if the cause is named partially after you.

But are there any similarities between Voldemort/Riddle and Sirius?

Sirius was, I believe, at one point mentioned as one of the most handsome male characters in the books. Judging by the way Riddle was written, he was handsome too. Both have black hair and are pale, their eye colour does differ but nothing stops Sirius from inheriting Walburga’s eye colour so that covers looks. Both were very intelligent – Sirius became an Animagus during his fifth year at Hogwarts and Riddle opened the Chamber of Secrets in his sixth year and created a Horcrux. Both also have somewhat troubled relationships with their families; Sirius being an outcast and a disappointment and Riddle having grown up in an orphanage. There’s also this delicious contrast; Riddle growing up in a Muggle orphanage and coming to hate Muggles and being sorted into Slytherin, whereas Sirius grew up in a pureblood family, came to hate their ideologies and was sorted into Gryffindor.

Is Sirius a parselmouth? Well, we never see him with living snakes but he does hate the decor at Grimmauld Place. He could be and if he was, he would definitely hide it. He certainly didn’t seem bothered by Harry’s ability.

Was Regulus also Voldemort’s son?

Maybe, but probably not. Voldemort would probably have been a tad more interested about what was going on with him if he was.

Would they know of the connection?

I want to say yes.

It gives Sirius one extra reason to hate the blood purity ideology. Also his certainty that Voldemort would go after him to figure out where the Potters were hiding. Sure it could just be explanation he gave in the book, but if a Fidelius secret cannot be tortured out of the secret keeper… maybe he had an additional reason to not want to be the secret keeper? A Star Wars-y ”I am your father” scenario might be an extra incentive because Voldemort might be especially intent on torturing or turning him because of the connection in which case he would be at greater risk of revealing the Potter’s location.

As for Voldemort… well, Sirius being a Gryffindor would be a huge disappointment to him and it might make him extra interested in going after his friends personally. The Prophecy and Dumbledore’s explanation of it did imply, that the Potters had personally crossed wands with Voldemort three times. And while Potters appear to be an influential Light side family, having their best friend be Voldemort’s own son would make them extra interesting as targets.

Why would they hide it?

Well Sirius’ reasons for hiding this would be very obvious and has been mentioned above.

Walburga would probably keep her mouth shut to protect the Black family reputation – or at least her own reputation, considering how much time she spent complaining about Sirius’ affect on it. I doubt she would want to be known as a cheater. Blacks as a family never did officially, as a whole, join Voldemort so she or Orion must have seen something questionable about it. Maybe Walburga found out Voldemort is a half blood and now that one quarter Muggle blood had sullied Sirius oops. And keeping quiet about the connection would keep Aurors from investigating them and then revealing it to all and sundry who Sirius’ father actually was.

As for Voldemort… he doesn’t seem to care that much about families as a concept – probably the orphanage thing – and Sirius was a Gryffindor so telling about it would sully his reputation. And he only really started going all out with the blood purity campaign in 1970s when Sirius was at Hogwarts. So before that it might have been an ace in a hole sort of thing – there’s an heir lined up, awesome, but no need to tell anyone so they don’t try to kill you and hold your heir into whatever they want. And then said heir proved to be unsuitable.

Why to gloat about it to at the very least Harry? There was no reason to bring it up in PS, in CoS young Riddle didn’t know anything, in PoA Voldemort was MIA, in GoF there were more prudent things going on, and in OotP by the time Voldemort showed up Sirius was dead and Dumbledore showed up pretty much immediately. After that there was really no use bringing it up to Harry.

Did someone else in the Order know?

James Potter was a very potential knower, just due to how close he and Sirius were. I don’t think it likely that Wormtail would have known. Lupin, maybe. I’m a bit torn if he knew before 1981 – it would explain his readiness to believe Sirius was evil but then again, Sirius suspected Remus of dublicity due to the werewolf thing so not telling him is just as likely. I find it more likely that Sirius would have told Lupin during OotP, if he ever told him.

Dumbledore probably knew and here’s why:

He didn’t get Sirius a trial in 1981.

Bellatrix Lestrange – a huge Voldemort supporter – got a trial, Igor Karkaroff – who was somewhat inconsequential – did too. Sirius was an alleged huge Voldemort supporter, giving him a trial to air all of his dirty laundry would make sense. But it didn’t happen. Why?

Because Dumbledore, for some reason, wanted to be sure that he wouldn’t pull a Lucius Malfoy and use money or influence to escape punishment and abscond with his godson, the Boy-Who-Lived Harry Potter. If Dumbledore believed Sirius was the secret keeper and knew Sirius was Voldemort’s son, then he probably didn’t try as hard as he should have to get him a trial. He was probably still a bit scared of this fact – and Azkaban’s effects – after PoA, which is why Sirius didn’t get a trial then either.

#Harry Potter #voldemort #tom riddle #Sirius Black #theory #crack theory #fan theory #walburga black #Albus Dumbledore #I spent way too much time on this

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