Guess what? More comments inspired by Harry Potter

1. I dislike fics in which Harry places his trust with the Goblins blindly. In the actual books I felt Harry was too trusting of most people including Dumbledore. While a certain amount of trust has to be given to everyone, for example trust that people preparing food are doing so properly, I am a believer that trust should be earned. Part of the reason I like the Harry/Hermione pairing is because she is really the only person who in my opinion has earned Harry's trust with Ron the second most trust worthy. They earned Harry's trust though Ron less so than Hermione. Harry trusting the Goblins with basically everything is very annoying.

2. Beyond the easily ignorable (because it occurred in one of the books I didn't find to be very good) betrayal by Griphook (because he wanted the sword and all goblin made items forever belong to the goblins) I don't really get fics in which Harry is extremely wealthy and decides to have Griphook manage his accounts. Just because he's the only Goblin whose name Harry knows doesn't mean a thing. Griphook was a clerk, I'd prefer someone with experience and knowledge to manage my accounts, especially if they are large.

3. The Goblin bank is often portrayed like a modern western style bank and government office (will readings, Realtor services, and lawyers can be found there in some fics for some reason). The actual books portray them more like an old style or some Muslim banks in which interest is not earned you have to pay for storage more like large Safety Deposit Boxes. Not every bank gives interest and some have very poor interest take Japan for example where it fluctuates but has generally been a negative interest (i.e. you pay them to store your money).

4. I find it very annoying for characters to constantly say things like Merlin this or Merlin that. It is especially annoying when done by muggle-born.

5. As I mentioned in an earlier post the way money is displayed is very annoying. How does Olivander make a living? The ingredients used, like unicorn hair said by Slughorn to be 10 galleons a hair, cost more than the wands he sells. Why is pretty much everything listed in galleons with very little mention of sickles or knuts (even more so in fan fics)?

6. I quoted Hermione about wizards not having logic and that remains a constant (as in it is basically the only legitimate excuse for some actions). Why did Dumbledore send the students back to their dormitories in book one when the troll was spotted? Wouldn't it have been safer to keep them all in the great hall where all the teachers can be around to watch them and not send any student toward the dungeons which is where the Troll was said to have been and is the place that some students like the Slytherins have their house?

7. Why is it that basically everyone seemed to know where Harry Potter lived? I mean the address was said during the court case, owls about misuse of magic where able to get to him, could be followed from the train station, house elf i.e. Dobby had no trouble finding him, the entire order of the phoenix knew where he was, a temporary flue connection was made to the house at one point, people would randomly show up and shake his hand pre-first book (mentioned in first book), etc. Whatever protections that were put on that house were crap the only reason Voldemort or the death eaters didn't kill him seems to be massive incompetence. Catching Harry outside those protections shouldn't have been hard at all. Yes Voldemort states, in the Goblet of Fire, that Dumbledore placed an ancient magic, to ensure the boy's protection as long as he is in his relations' care but really that didn't stop an elf nor does it stop muggles like say Petunia who was going to hit him with a frying pan (second book that occurred and they could be cursed via the mind control curse to kill him) or stop Dementors from attacking him nearby. Even if the protections worked to stop Voldemort, which I'll go ahead and say is true since he was defeated by Harry just touching him in the first year, why have Harry still go there after Voldemort used Harry's blood in the resurrection ritual? With them both having the same blood Voldemort should have been able to waltz right into the house and kill Harry in his sleep (which is another thing I didn't get why didn't Voldemort ever try and kill Harry in his sleep when he had the chance?).

8. Fics in which Harry or Hermione trust and can rely on Minerva McGonagall annoy me. She didn't approve of the Dursleys but she also didn't do anything like check up on Harry ever. She sent first year students to the forbidden forest for detention when it was known that something fast was killing Unicorns in the forest. She didn't help with Umbridge or when they went to her with concerns about the Philosophers stone. She didn't stand up for them when the Potter stinks badges where being passed out, Heir of Slytherin thing was going on, do anything about Snape's blatant favoritism, or do anything about Draco verbally abusing students even in the great hall (she should have taken points or gave detention or something - and about that why did she take so many points away from Harry and Hermione in the first book prior to giving them detention in the forest others did not lose as many points for breaking curfew). She didn't try to help during the Tri-wizard tournament. She like Dumbledore did not seem to check new hires credentials. I wouldn't even go to her for advice since the advice she did give was useless.

9. Should what happened in the books be used in a fic or should it be made to more resemble real life when possible? For example in the books Hedwig hoots but in real life Snow Owls are diurnal and silent they don't hoot (they do make a barking noise on occasion though). Another example Harry holds his breath while ascending during the second task. In real life that shouldn't be done. Instead he should exhale as he goes up to prevent lung damage.

10. There were a number of things that bothered me in the Goblet of Fire but what annoyed me the most was that Ron Weasley was Harry's hostage during the second task. I find myself very annoyed about how Harry (and even more so Ron) tended to treat Hermione (she was a much better friend to them than they were to her). The way I see it Hermione was a true friend of Harry's the type that he could trust, could be counted on, and would do what she believes is in his best interest even if it was detrimental to her. Ron was not that type of friend. He was a buddy who was fun to hang out and do stuff with like talk about sports, play games with, and just goof off with in general. Krum didn't really know her enough to be his hostage and Harry still should have been some what pissed at Ron (I really didn't like how quick he was to forgive Ron's betrayal - should have made Ron work for it some or at the very least hit Ron a few times before accepting it).

11. Ron Weasley. I don't much like this character. He is basically a normal kid (at least compared to Hermione and Harry) lazy, antagonistic, prejudiced, a jerk, tends to be jealous/envious of others, somewhat of a mommas boy, has an inferiority complex about his brothers as well as Harry, and seeks attention. Ron really is not very different from Draco (he was pretty bigoted and cruel on occasion, he caused Hermione more pain than Draco ever did, there are more similarities as well). He had a real purpose early in the books but not so much later (in that his role was not really vital). I did sort of feel sorry for him on occasion like having to work with a broken wand, being poor, being overshadowed by his other family members, etc. but I can't really relate with him though I probably should be able to more than I do.

12. Ron had to use a family members old wand and couldn't get a new wand quickly because his family is poor and he didn't think of/strangely too proud to just ask Harry to loan or give him the money for one. A wand is the single most important thing a wizard will ever have. If the Weasley's had trouble affording one what do poor muggle-born students do (like say the working homeless)?

13. Why didn't Harry or the others carry things like a bezoar (stone from the stomach of a goat that will save you from most poisons)? With someone actively trying to kill him you'd think some preventive measures could have been put in place.

14. Hermione Granger is my favorite character in the series and the one I can most easily relate to. The things I liked most about her was her loyalty and social conscience (which caused her to create S.P.E.W for the elves, try and prepare a defense for Buckbeak, and taking Crookshanks because no one wanted him). Though I dislike some aspects of her character such as how she trusted authority figures too much, wasn't as open minded as I would like, and her pushiness. I found myself sympathizing with and feeling sorry for her when I read the books. Harry had a pretty crappy life but I did not find myself sympathizing with him as much as Hermione for several reasons but I think the main reasons were because he was too much of a sycophant to Dumbledore, he sought out the trouble he encountered fairly often, he kept trying to take on wizards far older and far more experienced than him with no plans in place and fairly poor tactics, he didn't try and improve himself so as to better himself or just increase his chances of survival unless forced, and tended to blame Draco Malfoy for everything (to the point when it was actually Draco no one really wanted to believe him anymore).

15. The use of glamour charms and disguise magic is common in fan fics but doesn't seem to exist in the actual books beyond polyjuice potion. They never use any type of glamour magic and when disguised it is either via polyjuice or just dressing up (the wizards are not good at disguising as muggles). When Hermione tried to disguise Harry from the snatchers she covered Harry's face with welt rather than use any type of illusion and she out of anyone would have learned at least some basic ones had they existed. That said I believe it is shown at least once in the movies.

16. Reading the books I always felt that Hermione was more powerful and extremely more skilled than Harry (and that in the last books in particular she was nerfed to not overshadow Harry). She was smarter, shown to do spells from different years, learn spells faster than other students (on her first try often), very good at nonverbal spells (better than the vast majority of the characters), altered spells and was implied to create her own spells (the point me spell for example), was shown to practice at wandless magic (by jumping out of trees and slowing her decent wandlessly in the books, in the movies she is shown to do a few spells like the confoundus charm wandlessly), etc. Harry was not powerful or very skilled he was barely above average. I don't even see him as being more skilled than Hermione in defense against dark arts. He got special tutoring in that (Lupin, Snape -though learning to protect his mind didn't seem to really work well, and later Dumbledore but that mostly consisted of watching the equivalent to home movies on Voldemort) and preferential treatment because of who he was. Part of Harry's power may have not been his alone rather been Voldemort's since he was carrying part of Voldemort's soul and it did give him abilities such as the ability to speak snake. Hermione even taught him quite a few of them (for example in preparation for the tasks in the tri-wizard tournament and for the DA). Harry did not win his battles because of skill or power. Frankly Harry's tactics and strategy were atrocious. Harry should have been dead the only reason he survived at all is because luck, over confident and incompetent enemies, objects that show up exactly when he needed them, near dues ex machina things happening, help from others such as Dobby, Moaning Mrytle, Hermione, etc. The thing I really, really dislike about powerful, skilled, independent Harry fics (which are better than what he was in the books IMO) is that they tend to really nerf Hermione.

17. While I prefer Harry/Hermione to what was in the books (I really hate Ron/Hermione). I don't really like the book version of Harry all that much and feel that while better than Hermione/Ron it still is not a great match up. The reason for that is because Harry was not much better to Hermione than Ron was. He was a jerk that made her cry as well (like at the beginning of the fifth book). Blamed her when he really shouldn't have. Didn't stand up for her when he had the opportunity to as often as he should have and tended to side with Ron over her (and she was a much better friend to him than Ron was). Didn't really acknowledge Hermione's help didn't ever really thank her or apologize for hurting her (when she was crying in that stupid tent he could have at least tried to comfort her instead of ignoring her and being mad at her for accidentally breaking his wand while saving his life). He didn't really help her with things like SPEW unless forced by her to do so. Both Harry and Ron had fairly one-sided friendships with Hermione where they tended to use her (for example in the beginning of Deathly Hallows he thinks about how he should get Hermione to teach him some healing spells - he doesn't seem to ever think about ways he could help her). She tried to better them and help them all the time (even breaking rules and endangering herself for them) they didn't really do that for her very much.

18. Loyalty oaths (like the unbreakable one Snape made), Veritas serum, Magical contracts (like the one Hermione created or the goblet), etc. were underused and could have been extremely helpful. The order of the phoenix should have used those things.

19. I really don't like how Hermione cried so often. She was strong, independent (the most out of anyone in the series), brave, outspoken about her beliefs at one moment and then crying the next. I really don't get why the author had it that way. I don't even really get why she was crying on some occasions since by that point she really had no reason to cry.

Last 60 graphic novels I read

01. Batman and the Outsiders: The Snare
02. Batman and the Outsiders: Chrysalis
03. Simpsons Comics Dollars to Donuts
04. Big Brilliant Book of Bart Simpson
05. Simpsons Comics Madness
06. Batman: Joker's Last Laugh
07. Crankshaft
08. Simpsons comics Hit the Road!
09. Simpsons comics Get Some Fancy Book Learnin'
10. Simpsons comics Beach Blanket Bongo
11. Batman Gotham after Midnight
12. Wrapped-Up Fox Trot
13. FoxTrot Sundaes
14. Teen Titans Spot light Wonder Girl
15. Marvel Divas
16. Blood + Waterby judd Winick and Tomm Coker
17. Hound of the Far Side by Gary Larson
18. The Chickens are Restless by Gary Larson
19. The Curse of Madame "C" by Gary Larson
20. Batman Hush
21. Harvey Comics Classics volume one casper the friendly ghost
22. Get Fuzzy: Bucky Katt's Big Book of Fun
23. Get Fuzzy: Loserpalooza
24. The Potpourrific Great Big Grab Bag of Get Fuzzy
25. Unshelved by Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum
26. What Would Dewey do? (unshelved volume 2)
27. Tales of the Batman by Tim Sale
28. Batman Scottish Connection
29. Batman Going Sane
30. Batman Lovers and Madmen
31. The Dark Horse book of monsters
32. Ms. Marvel Dark Reign
33. Batman King Tut's Tomb
34. Batman Secrets
35. Jeremy & Dad - Zits
36. Batman: The Joker's Last Laugh
37. Superman Emperor Joker
38. Deadpool: Suicide Kings
39.-40. Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter Guilty Pleasures graphic novel
41.-42. Anita Blake Laughing Corpse graphic novels
43. Orange by Benjamin
44. Spiderman Red Sonja
45. Batman the black glove
46. Batman the cat and the bat
47. Batman R.I.P.
48. Batman Monsters
49. A God Somewhere
50.-54. Amelia Rules 1-2,4-6
55. Wonder Woman Warkiller
56. Doctor voodoo : avenger of the supernatural
57. Bart Simpson: Class Clown
58. Batman the resurrection of Ra's al Ghul
59. Batman International
60. Batman Rules of Engagement

Looking at this list it should be obvious that I enjoy reading (and the local library has a good selection of) Batman graphic novels. Of the listed graphic novels the best ones were the Amelia rules comics which I personally view as being worth buying. Simpsons is funny but the comics are not as memorable as the cartoon though a possibly reason for this could be because of how my brain stores memory since the cartoon has both audio and visual not just visual. The Anita Blake graphic novels are good as well as the first few books in that series but of the actual books only the first few books are worth reading the later books should be avoided. Fox Trot is probably my favorite newspaper comic and I was sad that it ended though the two books I most recently read are not as good as earlier strips (also annoyed me some because I kept wondering things like where is Peter's blind girlfriend Denise who didn't show up in them). I don't really like Spideman and that graphic novel did not change my opinion (I do like Red Sonja and Conan though which is why I took it out). Orange by Benjamin is very sad dealing with suicide. A god somewhere is an okay but not great graphic novel more serious than a lot of super hero type graphic novels are. Deadpool is funny I like how he breaks the fourth wall.

Collection of quotes from the internet on Harry Potter

This is a collection of quotes from Harry Potter fics, author notes from people who wrote Harry Potter fics, and possible a few other places I bumped into (like TVtropes, forums, other lists of quotes). I am not in the habit of collecting or saving quotes but recently did so for some reason (not really sure why I started to when I never bothered to do so before). None of the stuff below in this post was written by me and I have no idea as to who the original writers of these are (didn't keep track of that). I don't necessarily agree with the quoted parts but I did find them interesting or amusing at the time of reading them.

Cracked on Dumbledore
Fic titled Fair Trade that I'd quote most of it about Voldemort
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Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken . . . Magic is a tricky thing. It's very precise and exacting in its requirements.

Harry looked up at Wormtail, timing his next words very carefully. As the blood began to drip from the knife in Wormtail's hand, he shouted around the gag, "I give you that blood!"
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It was a cruel joke. The most powerful wizard in history brought down by a horde of house elves armed with enchanted kitchenware. He had expected to find Harry Potter here but instead found what must be every house elf in Britain lying in ambush. He couldn't apparate and somehow his Portkey had been negated.

He destroyed another three, but then his yew wand was knocked from his hand while pots and pans dumped scalding water on him from above. The pain was excruciating.

As the tiny creatures surrounding him closed in, sinister torchlight glinted off the deadly implements they wielded.

"Why? What have I ever done to you?"

The nearest one swatted him in the eye with a ladle while raising a gleaming meat cleaver. "Mistress Hermione Granger tolded the house-elveses that yous curseded Mistress Hermione Granger to makes her tries to free house-elveses. She-Who-Knits cannot be stopping in trying to free house-elveses until Dark Wizard Riddle be dying."
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Harry didn't look worried, merely holding up a hand. "Now, hold on, Death Eaters. What is this mook paying you, anyway?"

The Death Eaters looked nonplussed. "D'uh . . . pay us? We have to pay him!"

"Yeah, an' clean up after that snake of his!"

Harry nodded. "As I thought! How'd you like to come work for me instead? Five weeks a year paid holidays, medical and dental benefits, a retirement plan . . ." The Death Eaters ran forward and began kissing his hands and the hem of his robes. "I'll take that as a 'yes, we'd love to work for you.' See my secretary. Ginny, darling, draw up some more 'Crony of Harry Potter' contracts. And stick around after office hours, if you know what I mean, dear."
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The aurors stared at the scene which included a large grain thresher, three donkey corpses, a vast amount of cooking oil, a large pneumatic press, something that looked like two dead dragons and a extra large hamster that were all splinched together, some kind of unidentifiable ooze, a burning Volkswagen van, and the fragmented corpse of the former Dark Lord Voldemort, also on fire.

Tonks warily turned towards the new aurors portkeying on site. "Don't ask. Just... don't ask."
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A muggle author once wrote that there are four different kinds of homicide, Professor. Felonious, excusable, justifiable and praiseworthy.
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It's not something he would talk about. You should know that being good at chess doesn't make you a brilliant leader or strategist.
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Harry struggled to carry the two wet girls as he walked out of the lake to complete the second task in the tournament.

"Gabrielle," Fleur cried happily. "Oh thank you 'arrie. you 'ave saved my sister."

"No problem Fleur." Harry blushed when the older girl gave him a sloppy kiss on the cheek. "Happy to help."

"Where is Mr. Weasley Harry?" Dumbledore demanded.

"Back at the bottom of the lake," Harry replied. "Why?"

"And why didn't you bring him with you?" The old wizard prompted.

"Cause I could only manage two people professor," Harry said slowly, as if talking to a simpleton. "Hermione and a cute little French girl, let Victor rescue his own hostage."

"Mr. Weasley was your hostage Harry," Dumbledore sighed.

"What?" Harry asked in shock. "But . . . but you said the person I'd miss the most."

"And that's Mr. Weasley . . . isn't it?"

"I don't know what rumors you've been hearing but Ron a mate . . . not my mate."

"That's . . ."

"Don't get me wrong, he's a good bloke. But Hermione here supported me, helps me with my homework, and is an all around useful girl to have around. Ron? Well, he's fun but not irreplaceable. I would have rescued him anyway but it came down between him and a cute little girl, no gentleman would leave a defenseless little girl at the bottom of the lake and . . . well, I kinda thought that Ron was the person Victor would miss the most."

"And why would Mr. Krum miss Mr. Weasley?" Dumbledore asked, fearing the answer.

"Ron's a big Quidditch fan," Harry explained. "I just sort of assumed that he'd do anything for his hero . . . anything. Didn't want to think much about it to be honest."

IIIIIIIIII

"Harry," a dripping Ron yelled as he walked into the common room. "Why didn't you rescue me."

"Man code," Neville said simply.

"M . . ." Ron's eyes crossed. "Section sixty nine?"

"Yep and forty three."

"Sorry bout that Harry," Ron said with an embarrassed expression on his face. "Should have thought things through first."

"No problem Ron."

"So you're ok with the fact that Harry left you on the bottom of the lake?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"Course I am," Ron agreed. "You heard Neville didn't you?"

"I . . . but . . ." the girl sputtered.
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"You dropped S.P.E.W. like it had meant nothing to you even though you were clearly obsessed about the cause for two years. You broke the rules when hexed another student just so Ron could stay on the Quidditch team. I realize that you've bent and broken the rules before, but the times you've done that, people's lives were at risk. But this time, you broke the rules just to save Ron from embarrassment. And then you chastised me when you thought I might have cheated when I tricked Ron into believing that I gave him the Felix Felicis, doing the exact same thing you did: saving Ron from embarrassing himself. It also took you months to find out that Prince was related to Snape, something you normally would've found out in no time at all! Especially since you were so dead certain that Eileen Prince was somehow related to the damned Half-Blood Prince in my Potions Text. You only bothered to check on what happened to Eileen Prince after Snape admitted to being the Half-Blood Prince."
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"Remember, you told me the events of the cave. You panicked. Panicking is something you've never done before. But, when the Infiri attacked, you admitted that you completely forgot the simple flame hex. The same hex that Dumbledore had just reminded you about moments before. And then, when you were chasing after Snape and the Death Eaters, you couldn't land even one hex on Snape. In previous encounters with Death Eaters, you've always been spectacular. You were able to Stun or incapacitate several Death Eaters when Voldemort resurrected himself as well as during the battle in the Department of Mysteries. You should've been able to deal with the zombies without freezing up, and you should have at least singed Snape.
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many contradictions, plot holes, dropped plot points, retroactive changes in regards to previously published books, and the blatant character assassinations (of both her creations and her fans)
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Half Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows did not occur. So it should go without saying that this fic will not contain any "Tom Riddle, This is Your Life" Pensieve moments with Dumbledore and Harry. Neither will there be a Horcrux treasure hunt where our heroes meander aimlessly around a forest for MONTHS without food, money, or a clue! Also, this fic will not have Lobotomized-Hermione or Super-Ginny-Sue for that matter. And be sure that Parseltongue-Ron will NOT be making an appearance.
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"Anyone under the sound of a Rowling's voice forgets who their friends are, believes their worst enemies to be heroes, and their most precious allies to be scum. They hate people they should love and love people they should hate. It goes deep and lasts long, and only gets worse the longer you listen to one of them. You'd seek out and marry the absolute worst person for you, name your children after your worst abusers, and in general behave like a complete and utter madman losing all sense of right and wrong - and feeling depressed about it most of the time."
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They'd torture and brutalize each other 'For The Greater Good', get stalker like love affairs for girls that belong to groups you despise, save the lives of people who murdered your parents, commit suicide to please old men who'd kept you imprisoned and treated like a mushroom your whole life, go on long camping vacations while people who depend on you are dying, and act on all forms of insanity. You couldn't find a more effective way to destroy a nation. It's mass hysteria."
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Although he didn't share this with Hermione, Harry had become a victim of a common mental process – something occurs to you that you'd never thought of before, and suddenly you can't stop thinking about it. In this case, he'd never really paid much attention to Hermione's figure, but now that he'd seen her in this dress that showed off a bit of cleavage on her, he couldn't get it out of his mind. Oh, he'd been aware that she'd been developing over the past two years, but now it was abundantly clear that his female best friend had very nice looking breasts. His brain insisted on conjuring up an image of her in a bikini top.
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I am completely unable to tolerate Harry/Fan-girl (whoops! I mean Ginny) pairing based fics. I prefer stories with Harry paired with ANY girl whose feelings aren't based upon her hero-worship of the BWL. (In Ginny's case ever since she was a little girl.) I can't stand Ginny because the root/basis of her feelings are for the BWL first and foremost. It's disingenuous, shallow and disgusting for Harry, a boy denied love most of his life by an old-man using him as a weapon in a war, to wind up in a relationship with a fan-girl whose feelings are for the heroic image and fame of the BWL - NOT the real Harry Potter, a boy enslaved by the Dursleys and knowing little but "neglect and often cruelty" for most of his life. He needs love, not someone attracted to (lusting for) him because of his fame and/or wealth. Ginny was every bit as shallow as those young women that chase after sports stars, rock bands and/or pursue and marry 75 year old millionaire guys for their fame and money. Another reason I dislike her is that she is a textbook example of a "Mary-Sue" character - the sudden and "perfect" in every way soul-mate for the poor abused hero. However, the best argument against this pairing is to ask yourself who Ginny would have pursued and married had Neville Longbottom been the Boy-Who-Lived instead of Harry Potter. There is no denying the truth to that. Quite sad isn't it? And it proves my point entirely.

I am as equally unable to tolerate Ron/Hermione pairings. Ron had done nothing but abuse, belittle and/or hurt Hermione in some way all seven years because of her intelligence, hardworking and caring nature while hypocritically USING that same intelligence, hardworking and caring nature to help him with his homework or his own wants/needs. He did nothing but USE and ABUSE her and even in the last book he was still just as immature and uncaring of her feelings and well-being as he was in the first. He always put himself first in direct contrast to the very definition of love - where you put the happiness and well-being of the one you love before your own. Granted, Hermione was far from perfect but she NEVER intentionally tried to hurt anybody unlike Ron's own vicious verbal assaults against her where he knew and intended for it to hurt her. I reiterate, Ron was abusive and/or dismissive of Hermione and her feelings in EVERY book. So, why in the hell would this intelligent young woman suddenly be so stupid as to even date much less marry such an arse?

I can only guess that it was JKR trying to insert a little realism in that Hermione's lonely childhood because of her intelligent and assertive nature combined with 7 years of Ron's put-downs and abuse had destroyed her own self-esteem so badly that she figured that Ron was the best she could hope for. She had been reduced to absolutely zero self-respect and thus gave herself over fully to her abuser. Either that or it was the old good-girl goes for bad-boy routine in which case the stupid btch gets everything she deserves. Oh yes, he abuses me all the time so he MUST be a truly great male specimen! Let's make babies! That is one aspect of some women that I'll never be able to understand.

Whichever it is, the whole situation is utterly ridiculous for a series of books directed at children and teens. It tells them that shallow and abusive relationships are perfectly normal and a sound basis for lifetime relationships. If these pairings are JKR's idea of an ideal fantasy romance then I must truly pity her real-life experiences such that these disgustingly shallow and abuse ridden pairings are the best she can imagine. The epilogue of Book 7 proved that the ENTIRE story of Harry Potter was a tragedy to the bitter end and remained tragic for the rest of their lives.

It's also really quite sad that by the end of book 7 we learned that Harry was no "great wizard" or really even a hero at all. He was just a naive boy/young man brainwashed and manipulated by Dumbledore into suicide for a cause. It proved no different than like any other child brainwashed and manipulated by certain religious extremists into strapping themselves with explosives and blowing themselves up along with "the enemy." After all, in those adult's minds, it too is for "the greater good." I hope you'll pardon my extreme disgust with any adults using children in a war and knowingly setting them up to die. It is an ultimate evil to use a child like that no matter what the cause or reasons may be and it truly makes Dumbledore every bit as much a monster as Voldemort.

OotP, Chapter 37, Dumbledore to Harry:

“Five years ago you arrived at Hogwarts, Harry, safe and whole, as I had planned and intended. Well - not quite whole. You had suffered. I knew you would when I left you on your aunt and uncle's doorstep. I knew I was condemning you to ten dark and difficult years.”

HBP 3, Dumbledore to the Dursleys:

"He has known nothing but neglect and often cruelty at your hands." ...

"The magic I evoked fifteen years ago means that Harry has powerful protection while he can still call this house 'home.' However miserable he has been here, however unwelcome, however badly treated, you have at least, grudgingly, allowed him houseroom."

What Dumbledore did was no different than kidnapping a black infant and forcing the poor child onto a family of fervent members of the Ku Klux Klan with a threat to provide the child a home. Harry received the same treatment you would expect for that poor child assuming (s)he wasn't killed outright, don't you think? Sure, he survived but as nothing more than a horribly abused slave of the Dursleys. It was stated clearly that Harry's abuse was physical as well as mental and emotional. There was mention of Petunia striking him with a frying pan (presumably hot) in the kitchen as well as Vernon's comment about nothing being impossible to "beat" out of the freak implying that beatings were common. Then of course they also encouraged Dudley's "Harry hunting" and attacks on the freak.

Dumbledore could have done something to ensure that Harry's childhood wasn't dark and difficult but instead chose not to and in so doing he proved that "dark and difficult" childhood is in fact precisely what he really wanted Harry to suffer through. The wizarding world is rife with spells and potions compelling particular behavior. It would most certainly have been preferable and much happier for both the Dursleys and Harry if Dumbledore had at the least used a compulsion ward or charm to ensure Harry was at least accepted if not loved by the Dursleys. After all, his living with them was deemed by Dumbledore to be necessary regardless of their clearly not wanting Harry. Thus he proved by forcing Harry upon them that they lacked any real free-will in the matter; that what they wanted was unimportant anyway in the much greater need for Harry's safety. (Dumbledore's howler to Petunia "REMEMBER MY LAST!" when the Dursleys were about to throw Harry out along with prior statements peppered throughout earlier books proved that Harry's residence with the Dursleys was coerced upon the Dursleys in some way by Dumbledore.) So why then didn't he take the added step to ensure Harry grew up well since the Dursley's free-will didn't matter to him anyway? In fact, his coercion absolutely ensured the Dursleys would take out their resentment and hatred upon Harry. It was abundantly clear that he fully intended Harry's sufferance through an abusive and enslaved childhood because he needed the boy (and prophesied weapon) meek, weak and fully cowed into easy control by adults.

After all, Dumbledore fully admits that he knowingly subjected Harry to more than a decade of abuse and enslavement by his relatives with no such effort to ensure Harry's well-being. Is it any wonder that Harry trashed his office afterwards? It might be puzzling to some how later Harry did an about-face and was again "Dumbledore's man" despite the evil Dumbledore knowingly inflicted upon him. But all that was needed to fully regain and seal Harry's fervent loyalty was Dumbledore paralyzing and forcing Harry into watching Dumbledore intentionally martyr himself. He was dying already but was careful not to tell Harry that. He made Harry believe that he sacrificed himself to protect Harry and thus forever sealed Harry's zealous loyalty. It is a tactic called "martyrdom" and it has been used to seal fervent and zealous loyalty to a cause or person very successfully for more than a thousand years by cultists, Islamists and also to a historically lesser extent by Christians as well. It was also the very fate he had planned for Harry - to die as a martyr.

I strongly encourage everyone to read up on the subjects of brainwashing children, the effects of neglect and abuse on a child's personality and also children brought up in cults with figures/followings (such as Dumbledore was in the wizarding world). Only then could you truly understand how horrific of a monster Dumbledore really was in not only what he did to Harry but also how he used his position as Headmaster of the premier wizarding school in Britain to ensure generations of children (and later adults) awe of him and fervent belief in his apparent goodness and infallibility. That belief allowed him to do virtually whatever he wanted (ignoring laws at whim and even enslaving the infant hero of the wizarding world to hateful and abusive muggles) with little or no question from anyone. The only one who would have questioned Harry's placement was conveniently thrown in prison without a trial by Barty Crouch of the DMLE with the ASSISTANCE of Chief Warlock (aka Chief JUDGE), Albus Dumbledore. He admitted that he gave the DMLE "evidence that Sirius Black was the Potter's Secret Keeper" to ensure Sirius was sent to Azkaban. This is interesting since any such evidence would have to have been fabricated or exaggerated by Dumbledore since not only was Black NOT the Secret Keeper but according to canon Dumbledore himself actually cast the spell to "hide" the Potters. (It was later revealed that it was the 'Fidelius Charm' that hid the Potters, so Dumbledore would have most assuredly known who was the real Secret Keeper.) It's a very poor and/or very corrupt judge that sends people off to life-imprisonment and torture (Dementors are torture) without a trial. It was awfully convenient that the ONLY suspected Death Eater that was mentioned to have been sent to Azkaban without a trial just so happened to be the legal guardian of Harry Potter and Dumbledore's only obstacle to control of the prophecied weapon. Especially when known and confirmed Death Eaters walked away free and clear without effort by Dumbledore to ensure justice for them either.

Also, particularly take note the effect and effectiveness of isolating a child that has been exposed to extreme trauma - limiting their access only to an environment of people who hate and abuse them with the sole outside "friendly" contact and source of information being the one person who wants to control them. He ordered Harry's friends to cut off all contact for "security" reasons but there was NO reason whatsoever Hermione couldn't have remained in contact via phone or muggle post or that the Order guards couldn't have passed messages on for him at Grimmauld - EXCEPT that it would have given Harry other people he could trust and rely upon in his time of need. Dumbledore couldn't have that. He needed total control over Harry and so he blocked Harry from ALL other outside "friendly" influence except his own when Harry needed friends most in order to keep Harry dependent on him.

In essence all of this proved Dumbledore to be much like a wizarding world equivalent of Charles Manson or perhaps closer to being like Jim Jones with a touch of mafia behavior in ensuring obstacles to his plans are "out of the way." The sole difference being that instead of getting his followers to murder for him like Charles Manson and Voldemort had done, Dumbledore instead got them to die for him and his cause like Jim Jones. Harry and so many others essentially committed suicide at Dumbledore's mere "asking". Anyone up for some Kool-Aid? Do you deny that Dumbledore could have convinced a significant number of people in the wizarding world (especially many of the children) to drink? (If you are not familiar with the reference, google "Jonestown" and steel yourself should you choose to view any of the images.)

BOTH Dumbledore and Voldemort fought what is called a "proxy war" where they used others (cultish followers mostly, though in Harry's case he was simply a kidnapped and brainwashed child) to fight and die for them. BOTH of them manipulated, used and endangered or outright sacrificed the lives of others, often innocents and children - without those people's knowledge or informed consent. Just because one's ends may be deemed noble does not mean that such evil methods are acceptable to reach those ends. Why is it to be any more tolerated for Dumbledore and the "Light" to commit such atrocities than the bad guys that are doing it? In fact, Dumbledore often hypocritically used that very argument to discourage anyone from using lethal force against the Death Eaters but yet most of his own actions and intentional inaction proved equally vile and evil in result, if not intent. Knowingly enslaving an innocent one year-old infant to 15 years of hatred and cruelty as a means of shaping that child's personality for easier influence and control is but only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. How about discouraging his followers from properly defending themselves but rather instead let the enemy kill them? His total insistence upon stunning and releasing torturers and murderers only allowed them to be revived or released to later go off to torture and kill someone else. Something that is far more evil than putting down the rabid dog for what it is before it could hurt someone else. Note how the Malfoys among others were walking free at the end of DH despite the murders and tortures they had done. How many others have since then likely been tortured and killed by them in the intervening 19 years before the epilogue? Dumbledore operated under the premise that the lives and well-being of everyone else, particularly future victims, are unimportant compared to his belief in giving infinite chances of redemption to murderers and terrorists. Many good people died unnecessarily all thanks to Dumbledore's cult of personality.

I think the most telling difference between Dumbledore and Voldemort though was that Voldemort's followers had the choice whether or not to serve him. Dumbledore, on the other hand, kidnapped an infant boy and then conditioned (aka brainwashed) him through years of slavery and abuse followed by manipulation into suicide for Dumbledore's cause. In other words, Voldemort's followers had a choice whilst Dumbledore enslaved innocent children into his service. You can't get much more vile and despicable than that. Ultimately Harry Potter was nothing more than a poor kid that was kidnapped and brainwashed by the "good guys" into being a suicide bomber. (I would compare Harry to Jason Bourne but Harry had absolutely no choice in the matter and no special training or preparation beyond the brainwashing to die for everyone else.)

By the end of DH there is a huge amount of suffering, blood and death on Dumbledore's hands (arguably as much or even more than on Voldemort's and his Death Eaters) for his usage of others and refusal to use his own power (magical and political/governmental) to truly stop any of them from harming or killing others. It's much like a police officer that chooses to stand by and merely watch whilst someone rapes and murders a child - refusing to help for whatever his own personal reasons. Who is the bigger monster? The sicko doing the raping and murder or the person who has taken on the title, position and responsibility - trusted by all to protect the victim - but instead refuses to do so? Dumbledore even went so far as to not only protect such monsters from being rightfully killed in self-defense or justice but even worse invited such monsters into a school full of children. Equally as horrific was knowingly enslaving children to hateful monsters as a means of brainwashing and control. Not just the Dursleys, but also Snape. Ask yourselves about the "coincidence" of the only long-term professor outright abusive of Harry just so happened to be "promoted" to teaching Harry's best magical subject the year Harry would have left his influence in Potions class because he failed to meet the minimum grade Snape required. It was blatantly clear that Dumbledore used Snape to keep Harry abused and down-trodden while at Hogwarts and away from the Dursley's abuse. Harry was never given a reprieve from the bullying and abuse because that is what Dumbledore wanted and needed in order to shape him into a martyr who believed his own life had no value and was better to sacrifice for others more deserving of life and happiness.

That is what disappointed me most about canon. Ultimately, Harry Potter was revealed to have never been a hero at all. Instead he was nothing more than a severely used and abused victim, kidnapped as an infant from his legal guardian and brainwashed into his role of suicide for Dumbledore's cause. Those who read the series should heed its hidden warnings against adults in positions of authority over children exploiting children for their own purposes/ideals and the use of children in wars by adults indoctrinating them into certain views and then sacrificing their lives for the adult's ideals/goals.
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Grey Lord Dumbls…

Well all I can realy say was up until Harry told him about the resurrection using his blood he simply planed to have Harry March to his martyrs death and never bothered to tell him. He was at best manipulative off his rocker, but with a little circumstantial evidence and filling in all the WTF’s in the canon story line you could make a case for far worse than that.

How messed up in the head was Harry to name one of his kids after two of the people who fucked his life up the most. for the next kid why not Dolores Bella Potter, and Tom Cornelius Potter. Lets not forget Vernon they did part on good terms if I remember correctly.
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I'll never understand why so many fan-fic authors (& JKR) essentially let Dumbledore off the hook for crimes that were actually WORSE than what Voldemort had done.

All of Voldemort's followers had the CHOICE to follow and serve him. Even if the choice was 'serve or die' they still had a choice. Dumbledore on the other hand KIDNAPPED and ENSLAVED an infant boy from his rightful guardian (remember Sirius tried taking Harry but Hagrid refused him on Dumble's orders). He orchaestrated with full admitted knowledge and planning (in OotP) Harry's awful childhood of neglect and abuse as a means to shape Harry's personality. This is also known as BRAINWASHING and ENSLAVEMENT. Dumbledore even controlled Harry's contact with friendly people restricting them ONLY to himself after Harry suffered extreme traumas in 4th and 5th years - also well known tactics in brainwashing and control of victims.

One of Dumble's greatest and most powerful brainwashing and manipulations was the staging of his death. He at NO point ever told Harry he was dying anyway or what he had planned with Snape. Instead off stupifying and concealing Harry he paralyzed him and made Harry watch as Dumbledore valiantly gave his life for Harry so that Harry could complete his mission in defeating Voldemort. It's called 'martyrdom' and is a tactic that has been used for over a thousand years to seal zealous loyalty to a cause or belief. The most powerful brainwashing there is to a child raised to believe that his life is worth less than anyone else's and that he should die even for those that that hated and mistreated him because somehow THEIR lives are more valuable than his own.

In the end, Harry was no hero of any sort whatsoever. He was a boy controlled and programmed by an old man into committing suicide to defeat Dumbledore's enemy for him because he refused to even try truly fighting Voldemort or his DEs. Dumbledore not only refused to use lethal or 'hard' force against murderers and terrorists but also actively counseled others to do the same. Just let the murderers/rapists/terrorists go to hurt someone else. Both the past AND FUTURE victims' lives are meaningless when Albus Dumbledore wants to give monsters second, third, fourth, etc. chances. A hero CHOOSES to stand up to evil and fight it despite the personal peril. Canon-Harry was brainwashed/programmed and manipulated into his role and is thus not a hero at all. In fact, canon-Harry was reduced to being little more than a house-elf doing his mastah's every bidding - even unto his own death.

Ultimately, Dumbledore was every bit as much of a monster as Voldemort and had countless victims of his actions. (Particularly his preventing others from truly stopping DE's.) So why let such a monster "retire peacefully" and allowed to be known as something he is not. To conceal Dumbledore's montrosity is thoroughly disgusting. Past actions do NOT make later atrocities 'ok' just because he was some former hero. Defeating a dark lord does not make it ok to later go out and kidnap young children and make them your slaves. But that seems to be the implication you are giving here.
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“She wasn't perfect by any measure – no one was. She could get an idea in her head and worry it to death, without ever getting all the facts. She never did learn the truth about house elves during her lifetime. She had a problem about being right – she had real trouble admitting it when someone proved her wrong. It was rare that she did something wrong, but when she did, it was like getting a Malfoy to marry a Muggleborn to get her to admit it.”
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Lord Voldemort should have been competent, intelligent and charismatic; instead of a temperamental nutjob with a superiority complex.
2) A better backstory for Riddle, because I felt that the canon one is lame.
3) A serious and more focused Harry.
4) What's with the demonization of the Slytherins? Since when does ambition and cunning equate to racism and bigotry?
5) A better love interest, because the best friend's sister is cliche, not to mention the 'Lily and James Mach 2' or the 'Oedipus!Harry'.
6) Voldemort being bad-ass, casually batting away spells sent by lesser wizards or single-handedly slaughtering a group of Aurors in public without batting an eyelid.
7) Harry realizing that Snape had a creepy obsession with his mum. "You stalked my mum, you sick fuck! Die!"
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"Think about what you've seen in the Pensieve Hermione. What happened when I had to watch Dumbledore and Sirius be murdered? I was filled with such a blind rage that I chased after their killers with nothing but revenge on my mind, but when you fell at the ministry and I thought you were dead it was different."

"Harry, what does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything Hermione! Whenever anyone else is in trouble or gets hurt I try my best to help them out, but that night, I thought I had got you killed! It destroyed me; until Neville told me you were alive I couldn't function at all…"
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The wizards from Harry Potter always act as though they're far better than muggles. At best they're slightly more advanced. At their very worst they are culturally stagnant, have a Kangaroo Court for a justice system, a government as corrupt as any struggling Third World nation, Word Of God puts their combat abilities as inferior to even basic firearms, much less trained military, and their education facilities have downright pathetic safety standards which seems to be par for the course — making their purported superiority over the Muggles in every way a joke, which was probably the point.
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“The One with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches,” Harry began, reading from notes that Hermione had retrieved from her book bag. “Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… And the Dark Lord will mark Him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not… And either must die at the hands of the other for neither can live while the other survives.”

“And the two of you have been thinking about it and discussing it with each other?” Sensei asked.

Harry and Hermione nodded. “And using the dictionary a lot,” Harry added. “And that book that sounds like a dinosaur.”

“A thesaurus,” Hermione giggled.

“So what do you think it means?” Sensei asked.

“It’s rubbish,” Harry said.

“Could mean anything,” Hermione added.

“In order to come up with any meaning, you have to assume things.”

“To many things.”

“For example?” Sensei asked.

“The One,” Harry said.

“All we can know for certain it ‘the One’ is a male,” Hermione added. “We have to assume it’s a human or, better yet a wizard. For all we know it’s a lion.”

“Or a dragon,” Harry added.

Hermione giggled. “Harry likes the dragon idea.”

“And ‘power’ could mean loads of things as well,” Harry said. “All this tells us it the ‘One’ has it and this Dark Lord thingie knows it not. What kind of power? And the word is even more - ambiguous, Hermione told me - as it could mean a single power or many.”

Hermione then began listing things and seemed to be counting off on her fingers. “Physical? Mental? Intellectual? Magical? Economic? Political? Military? Electrical? Nuclear? Athletic? Charismatic? Persuasive? Logic? Er -” Hermione then blushed.

“Sexual,” Harry continued reading from their notes, “romantic, comedic, creative, literary, musical, destructive, constructive, deceptive, manipulative, cunning, stealth, love, the ability to make friends and influence people? The list could be endless.”

“Vanquish,” Hermione went on, “that could have several meanings as well such as: kill, defeat, drive away, scare away, frustrate and it could apply to the physical being, ideas, beliefs, philosophies and who knows what.”

“Excellent,” Sensei said. “Continue.”

“Is the title ‘Dark Lord’ unique to Voldemort?” Harry asked.

“He used it, or at least his followers did,” Sensei said, “but no. That mantle has been placed on many a leader or want-to-be leader of evil witches and wizards throughout history.”

“So it could mean a Dark Lord who has yet to show his ugly mug?”

“Indeed it could,” Sensei said with a grin.

“And approaches is wooly as well,” Hermione added. “I mean honestly? Physically approaches? Is coming soon to a theater near you approaches?”

Harry laughed. “I liked that one.”

“Approaches in time? Is growing in his power approaches? Could mean anything!”

“Very good. Next?” Sensei said encouraging his students.

“The next two phrases suggest birth,” Harry said. “As in I was born on my birthday. But that too is an assumption. I mean a legend can be born at some other time when others recognize him as a legend, right? There are other meanings as well, but these two result in far different interpretations given the rest of the words.”

“The ‘One’ was ‘born to those’,” Hermione continued. “This could mean parents. But it could also mean family, clan, community, country, a whole bunch of thoses. So, he could have been given birth physically or metaphysically by parents, family, clan, community or whatever, couldn‘t he?”

“Thrice is certain,” Harry said, “or as certain as any word in this waffle can be - three times.”

“Defied him is not,” Hermione continued. “Defied has a bunch of possible meanings and him could mean either the One or the Dark Lord!”

“Born as the seventh month dies is perhaps the most clear statement in this entire thing,” Harry went on. “The obvious choice is the end of the seventh calendar month. What calendar, though? July as we know it? But what if it’s the old roman calendar - that would mean late May or early June to us. What about the Celtic one - early July then…”

“The seventh month in the Celtic calendar, Duir. ends on July 7th in our calendar,” Hermione added.

“And all of this assumed a calendar is involved at all,” Harry said after smiling at Hermione then sticking his tongue out, to which she replied in kind. “I mean, it could mean the seventh month after some unspecified date of significance other than the beginning of a new year.”

“Excellent!” Sensei said. “Next?”

“And the Dark Lord will mark his as his equal,” Harry continued. “Well, we know this means some Dark Lord and whoever or whatever the One is, but mark as equal? Is this a physical mark? A tattoo? Is it a sign? A ring? A badge? Or is it more symbolic?”

“As in?”

“Well, let’s assume we are talking wizards, which there’s no clue whatsoever that such is the case. If a powerful wizard took on an apprentice or declared another his heir or something like that, would not that show that the other might be said powerful wizard’s equal in his eyes?”

“Bloody hell!” Sensei exclaimed. “I’ve been thinking about this rubbish for over one hundred and fifty years and I never considered that! That’s brilliant, Harry!”

Harry blushed. “Thank you,” he said softly.

“But he will have power the Dark Lord knows not,” Hermione went on, “and we are once again faced with the One, the Dark Lord and power, all of which have too many possible meanings. Next bit is the statement that this Dark Lord does not know the power the One has. What does that mean? Lacks knowledge? He does not believe in it? Ignorance? Intellectual incapability of grasping the concept? Does not understand or refuses to? It’s over his head? Could this be some non-magical power? Do wizards understand guns, for example?”

“Most do not,” Sensei said.

“So it could be technology, couldn’t it? But, then again, it could be anything.”

“Very good,” Sensei smiled.

“And either must die at the hands of the other,” Harry went on, “This one seems clear, but it’s not. It would seem to define the term ‘vanquish’ but it does not. The only thing that seems certain is one of them will die and the other will be the cause of that death. The clear reading suggests a duel. That’s what I thought at first.

“But then I remembered one of the only movies my Uncle let me see on the telly. It was “The Battle of Britain” about the Germans trying to bomb England and the Royal Air Force trying to stop them. Bombs killed people on the ground, but they were dropped from so high up that the Germans could not see who they killed. Yet did they not have a hand in the killing? Did not the pilot have a hand by flying the plane to London? Did not the bombardier when he dropped the bombs? Did not the fighter pilots when they protected the bombers from being shot down?

“A general plans a battle yet does not take part, does he not have a hand in the deaths that follow? A bad guy hires an assassin to kill a rival, does he not have a hand in that death? I read a book recently on the Norman Conquest. William was losing the Battle of Hastings when one of his archers got lucky and hit Harold Godwinson - leader of the Anglo-Saxons - in the eye, killing him. The Anglo-Saxons soon fled the field. Did not William have a hand in Harold’s death? Did not that archer have a hand in the conquest of England? The phrase does not necessarily mean to kill personally, but merely bring about the death of the other.”

“Outstanding!” Sensei said. “And the last bit?”

“For neither can live while the other survives,” Hermione said. “Harry and I agree this is the only bit that is not totally open to interpretation, but it still has more than one meaning.”

“One is that they both will die,” Harry said.

“But why the terms ‘live’ and ‘survive’?”

“We figured these words were not chosen at random,” Harry explained. “Survive means ‘live’ as in to be alive physically. I survive so long as I still breathe, right?”

“But,” Hermione added, “live can mean far more than just breathing. It can mean to have hopes and dreams and desires and ambitions and have the opportunity to bring them about.”

“So we figure,” Harry went on, “that what this means is each of them has some plans for the future, but neither of their plans can come about unless the other of them is dead and buried.”

“It’s the only bit of the whole puzzle that can have a somewhat certain meaning,” Hermione finished.

“Put it altogether and what do you have?” Sensei asked almost beaming.

“Honestly,” Hermione said, “you can have anything. It is what the hearer wants to think it is.”

“Yeah,” Harry nodded. “Rubbish is what it is.”
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I couldn't find any qualifications Dumbledore had aside from the fact that he defeated the previous Dark Lord and looking at the time line I found on the lexicon he did it while he was a professor at Hogwarts not an Auror
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Only you would consider hiding the thing Voldemort wants most in a school full of children and only you would protect it with lethal traps that endangered those same children. Did any of the other Professors think that was a bad idea?"

"Minerva might have said something," Dumbledore said weakly.

"Then there's the fact that you don't bother investigating things, the troll, the snake, etc." Harry went on, "you hire incompetents and death eaters . . . well, you get the idea."
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Polyjuice Potion is always treated as one of the most dangerous potions in the wizarding world. You need Restricted Section access to learn about it, which tellingly is usually reserved for students in Advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts. It takes months to make, and given that Hermione considers it tricky (albeit in second year, but it's Hermione) it's probably pretty easy to get wrong. And the ingredients are also very expensive.
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"Something is dangerous and needs to be restricted if you call it Potassium Hydroxide or Sulfuric Acid, but it's perfectly safe if you call it drain cleaner." Harry explained. "You just have to get into the habit of reading labels."

"I see," Albus said thoughtfully.

"It's stupid," Harry continued. "The only difference is in people's heads. The government requires me to get a licence to buy things that I can get in a grocery store so long as they have a different name."
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"Listen here, there is no fate but that which we make for ourselves. Prophecies are rarely clear unitl after they've been carried out and worrying about them is just the sort of idiotic thing that you shouldn't do."
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OMAKE: What Should Have Been

The Headmaster's office was silent as Dumbledore finished talking.

"I see," Harry said coldly. "May I have a piece of parchment? I'm also going to need a quill and a bit of ink."

"Harry I . . ."

"A simple yes or now will suffice," Harry interrupted.

"Here you are Harry," Dumbledore said in confusion. "But I . . ."

"Be silent please." Harry wrote a short note and handed it to the Headmaster, "since I doubt you respect my privacy enough to let this go without reading it."

"Voldemort, as I see it there are four people directly responsible for the deaths of my parents and godfather." Dumbledore looked up in horror. "Harry you can't mean . . ."

"Just read the rest of it," Harry said impassively.

"These people are Severus Snape, Peter Pettigrew, Bellatrix Lestrange, and Albus Dumbledore. If you will send me the heads of the first three and promise to make a sincere effort to end the life of the fourth and leave me and my friends in peace. I will in return send you the the contents of the prophecy and leave the United Kingdom to its fate." Dumbledore looked sick as he finished the letter. "Harry you can't hate me so much as this?"

"You're responsible for the deaths of my parents and godfather." Harry raised a finger. "You're responsible for my childhood." He raised another. "You're likely responsible for several other things that I'm unaware of." He raised a fourth finger. "And to top it all of you've been granting the murder of my parents sanctuary and employment here at Hogwarts where he abuses his position to torment me . . . I'm talking of course about Severus Snape. In light of all of that, how could I not?"

"I . . ."

"Now if you'll excuse me," Harry said as he stood and took the letter back. "I'd like to get this letter posted as soon as possible. Have a good evening Headmaster."
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"You thought I left because of the prophecy?" Harry asked incredulously. "Something that came from that fraud, it never occurred to you that it might just be a little bit too convenient that she gave it during a job interview to become the Divinations Professor? Soon as I found out who made it I realized that my chances of having to deal with Voldemort myself ranked up there with the Cannons taking the title."

"If not that then . . . the death of Sirius?" Dumbledore ventured.

"While regrettable," Harry sighed. "I never really got to know the man. I feel bad about his death but I'm not about to sink into a deep depression because of it."
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AN: It always bothered me that Dumbledore was the secret keeper for the Order Headquarters and was able to spend time there. One wonders why Lily or James didn't become their own secret keeper, so long as they stayed in the area protected by the charm then there wasn't any way to . . . ah well, just another plot hole that's been needling me.
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To my knowledge, there are no formal age limitations, or formal competency certifications required to teach here. We don't even have breathing requirements for a teaching position.
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Talking of She WMNBN and her obsession with people stealing her ideas, has anyone read Wizard's Hall by Jane Yolen? Published in 1991, years before Harry Potter, it features a messy-haired wizard called Henry, who doesn't think he's good enough, who gets sent away to wizarding school with moving, speaking and winking portraits and meets a red haired friend and they have to battle a dark wizard trying to destroy the school. Sound familiar Jo? - DOT org SLASH wiki SLASH Wizard's_Hall The Leaky Couldron condemn Jane Yolen for being jealous, perhaps they should try to find out if she has good reason for being annoyed at someone who seems to have taken quite a lot of her ideas unless you believe in an awful lot of coincidences. As someone with legal training I DON'T.

Or perhaps THE BOGGART by Susan Cooper, published in 1993 sounds familiar. After visiting the Scottish castle her family has inherited, Emily finds that she has accidentally brought a boggart (a malicious spirit) back to Canada.

Or how about The Secret of Platform 13 is a children's novel by Eva Ibbotson, and illustrated by Sue Porter, first published in 1994. The book has gained extra significance as many readers find it similar to the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, although the first book of that series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published in 1997, three years after this book was published. (They both mention a platform that leads to a different world.)

Harry Potter was a character in a 1986 movie called "Troll." In the movie "Troll" Harry Potter was a dark haired, ordinary boy that discovered magic and battled a troll. Gee, sounds a lot like Rowling's character.

Nachoman points to a certain high-budget film were a certain hotshot actor plays a blind man who takes a "tour of pleasures" in New York to then return to a campus town, the seat of a very famous boarding school. He then defends a youth who had apparently witnessed who had placed a cream-filled balloon on top of the headmaster's car. The names of the three guilty parties include the words "Harry", "James" and "Potter".

Or ( see geocities DOT com SLASH sayswamp SLASH worst DOT htm ... Many see striking similarities between "Harry Potter" and "The Worst Witch," by Jill Murphy. Murphy wrote the first "The Worst Witch" novel in 1974 when only 18. This book was made into a 1986 movie. There are so many similarities that I can't even begin to list them here.

"Comic book fans have noted that a comic book series first published in 1990 by DC Comics called The Books of Magic by Neil Gaiman shares many similarities to Rowling's book. These include a dark haired young boy with glasses named Tim Hunter who discovers his own potential as the most powerful wizard of his age after being approached by magic wielding individuals, the first of whom gifts him with a pet owl."

Warner bought the rights to Harry Potter, then later bought rights to "The books of Magic," along with television rights to "Sabrina" and "Worst Witch." With billions of dollars at stake, did Warner Brother buy off people that Rowling may have copied from?

And we won't mention the huge list of similarities between The Lord Of The Rings and Harry Potter books, will we Jo?

With so many things in Harry Potter "borrowed" without permission from other authors, I wonder how much of the Harry Potter stories are actually original. Methinks Jo doth protest too much, especially as she stopped a Russian publisher who tried to publish a book about a Russian wizarding school claiming it was based on Harry Potter.

Dmitry Yemets & Tanya Grotter and the Magic Double Bass Neil Gaiman's "Hunter" is a lot more like "Potter" than the Tanya Grotter book is. Supposedly the Russian author Dmitry Yemets plagiarized Harry Potter in his book Tanya Grotter and the Magic Double Bass because both main characters are orphans who attend wizard school and fight evil wizards. Harry Potter rides a broomstick and Tanya Grotter rides a double bass.

Now compare Potter to the "Worst Witch." Isn't Potter more like the Worst Witch than Grotter? If we follow the standard of Warner and J.K. Rowling, is she not a plagiarist? They were sure quick to sue Dmitry Yemets. Is there a double standard here?
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Flich seems to hate children, a very useful attribute for the caretaker of a school. But then, as a squib he is already an outcast in the wizarding world. Being a squib and living in a school full of children learning magic would most likely turn even the gentlest person into a kill-joy. So I'm not sure who suffers more from that arrangement, Filch or the Students. - why have him go around cleaning the muggle way instead of having the house elves or someone with magic like the say the students (that is how the Japanese do it) clean up.
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Looking back it should have been obvious how poorly those two were matched. Ron was lazy where Hermione was hard working. He was greedy and she was thrifty. He made messes everywhere while she was always neat and clean. Ron saw nothing wrong with himself whereas she sought constant improvement. But worse yet they couldn't stand each other's favorite hobbies. He hated to study and she loved nothing more, while on the other hand he obsessed over Quidditch and she could hardly care less about the game.
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Aye, he then goes on to comment how people are starting to think the job is jinxed and are wary of taking it. But you know, what Just Bugs Me about this is that Dumbledore is so indifferent to the quality of education at Hogwarts and/or so dogmatic in his adherence to traditional educational techniques and structures that he decides to hire Lockhart instead of stopping to think about a better way to deal with the situation. Hermione and Ron, when helping Harry prepare for the third task, demonstrated that a trio of motivated students can make significant educational gains in the practical Defense Against the Dark Arts subject by making use of the resources available to them (empty classrooms, free time, and a library) with no need for a teacher or traditionally structured class. Harry then goes on to show that an experienced and talented student can be a much better teacher than an unqualified adult when he spends the better part of the year instructing his peers in the ways of combat as the leader of Dumbledore's Army, and he does it for free. Hell, even that lame-ass dueling club Lockhart and Snape set up was probably a better way to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts than Lockhart's stupid class; at least students had the chance to spar with each other in a relatively safe environment. Dumbledore should have realized that hiring Lockhart would be a waste of resources and would do more harm than good and should have disbanded the class for the year and should have hired an older student who got Outstanding on his OWL on the subject to give seminars and instructions when possible (kind of like a T.A.), or he should have started his own dueling club at the beginning of the year to replace the class, or he should have left the class empty and let dedicated students use the free time to study the subject by themselves. As things stand, Dumbledore is wasting the school's money on an incompetent teacher and forcing students to lose several hours of their time per week listening to a blowhard who, by the way, forces them to buy his entire collection of works for the year (quite a financial burden on poor people like the Weasleys). The similarities with Real Life schools are depressing, to say the least.
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If Harry can buy it and it's crazy useful, OTHER PEOPLE WILL HAVE THEM TOO. I don't care if this is a belt that creates a magical shield. I don't care if it's a trunk that has a goddamn magic laser hidden inside. I don't care if it's a book that has ridiculous spells of holy hell enscribed within. I don't care if it's some super special wand custom made for Harry that instantly makes him Awesome™ at magic. If Harry can buy it or have it comissioned to be made in a place like Diagon Alley, ANYONE CAN.

There is no goddamn reason for Harry to have motherfucking blood wards on his trunk when someone like Draco Malfoy, who by all accounts has about a million times more gold to throw around on ridiculous shit than Harry does, doesn't have anything more advanced on his trunk than a lock that takes a key. CONTEXT, people. Context.

In fact, I'm going to coin a test right here and now. I'm going to call it The Draco Malfoy. This test is simple: Draco Malfoy is pompous, full of himself, arrogant, greedy, vain, and has a literal mountain of gold to throw around as spending money, with possibly more if it's something either of his parents thinks he genuinely needs. If DRACO MALFOY doesn't have it, then HARRY POTTER should not have it either. Harry should not be running around with a custom made wand if Draco isn't, because if anyone would have one, it would be Draco. Harry should not be running around with clothes that auto-transfigure into other clothes and have all sorts of enchantments like fireproofing and dirt-repelling if Draco isn't, because if anyone were to have clothes like that, it would be Draco.
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In book 1, Dudley hits Harry at the zoo (At the snake house, just before the glass disappears) and the Dursleys don't care. Later on, they flat out tell Dudley that it's okay to hit Harry with his walking stick.

Harry was glad school was over, but there was no escaping Dudley's gang, who viseted the house every single day. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm, and Gordon were all big and stupid, but as Dudley was the biggest and stupidest of the lot, he was the leader. The rest of them were all quite happy to join in Dudley's favorite sport: Harry Hunting.

Straight from the American version of the Novel, third chapter, second paragraph. Earlier in the book it also mentioned that Piers was the one who held people's arms behind their back's while Dudley punched them, so it seems like Harry at least has some experience being beaten up by the group. But we don't know anything about the reactions of the parents.

Pg 62, first book
'swore we'd stamp it out of him'
Pg 13 second book
but he still had to duck as she aimed a heavy blow with the frying pan
Third Book
Vernon threatened to beat Harry if he mentions magic near Aunt Marge

But you have to remember, there's a difference between taking a tire-iron to someone's head and smacking them around a little more than necessary. While Vernon never actually did Harry any permanent damage (from what I remember), there's nothing to say that he didn't hit Harry a little more than he should have.

But yes, I agree that the fanon level of abuse is insane-- Vernon wants his family to be perfectly normal more than anything else. He wouldn't come at Harry with a pipe (as I saw in one fic), or beat him within an inch of his life. He couldn't hide something like that.
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It was a thoughtful Harry who answered, "We may have hurried him along the road a bit but I think he would have gotten there anyway. When you look at some of the decisions he made, there really had to be something wrong with him. The whole 'trap Voldemort' stunt was doomed to failure, three first years were able to beat his traps. Then to give a twelve year old the ability to alter time was crazy, irresponsible and anything else you want to add in there. The heir of Slytherin / basilisk fiasco was followed by dementors around the school, don't even mention that bloody tournament. Then for a full year he doesn't speak to me but allows Snape into my head. I told him what Draco was up to, he put the safety of the entire school at risk trying to save one boy who'd already made his choice. His final gifts to us were all a sick joke, I can imagine him chuckling as we nearly got killed on numerous occasions trying to solve the bloody clues."

Harry's voice had gotten quieter as he'd went on, it was now barely above a whisper. "He'd arranged my whole life so I would walk into that forest and let Voldemort kill me. There was no back-up plan or 'what to do if you survive' in place. I had a piece of that bastard's soul in my head and he never told me, far less did anything about it.
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Harry Potter is one of those universes where catastrophe gets piled upon disaster for the main character and the abuse never seems to stop. Most of the victories he gains are just to have one source of pain or another stop for a short amount of time.

He is outnumbered, outclassed, not given space to maneuver, and those he counts as allies all turn on him to one degree or another: Dumbledore won't listen, Ron has gotten angry and/or jealous enough several times to cut lose their friendship, Hermione picks Ron over Harry, and Ginny is at best a minor character who has little impact, while all of the adults of their acquaintance are Dumbledore's servants first, and Harry's friends a distant second.

That is a world that requires serious powerups on the side of Light just to stay even, and I find it both wonderfully refreshing, and desirable in every aspect to see it happen.

Having Harry achieve something without getting hospitalized for weeks doing so is a wonderful change from the original material.

Of course, I love to see the light triumphant in any universe.
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Snape was Light or Dark, it's undeniable canon fact that he was a bully and loved lording his power over his students - just look at what he does to Neville.

QUOTE (Lord Raine @ Sep 30 2010, 07:06 PM)
QUOTE
Snape Being Cuddly And Misunderstood

The last book kind of shits all over this. Even Harry admits that it's true, which is why he names his kids after the guy. That's not fanon. That's you being a river in Egypt.

You should probably reword that to 'Snape Being A Secret Nice Person,' as opposed to 'Snape Being Misunderstood.' While he is in no way cuddly, he is indeed misunderstood.

He isn't misunderstood. The only reason he turned was because of Lily; he's not some pumped up crusader of light and justice out to avenge wrongs, he's a twisted, bitter man out for blood against his former boss for killing the woman he loved.

Harry doesn't acknowledge Snape as being misunderstood; he acknowledged Snape for being brave. Hell, he even tells Voldemort that Snape turned because of Lily.

Hell, his memories show that he isn't misunderstood. He was a bigot early on ("...you're just a Muggle..."; "...but she's just a..."), he willingly associated with Voldemort Youth, he took up the Dark Mark, he still hates Harry (the scene where he's confronting Dumbledore about Harry's role in the prophecy and when DD asks him if he's grown to care for Harry at all), he does not understand - or doesn't want to understand - Lily's sacrifice or her love for her family and brotherly love for Sirius (he tears out the Lily picture in the family photo in DH), he was incapable of seeing past his own hatred for James during the Occulomancy lessons to the point where Dumbledore acknowledged it as a fiasco, he taunts Tonks about Remus (Book 6, IIRC). This isn't Snape being misunderstood; this is Snape being the same man he was prior to the Potters' death, just turned against Voldemort for killing Lily.

Unless you can find canon evidence that shows he was misunderstood beyond him just being on Dumbledore's side, then he's still exactly what he was before Lily's death (just that he was out for blood and against Voldemort).

When did I say Snape wasn't brave? He was, but that doesn't change the fact that he's a bitter, spiteful man who only turned because Voldemort saw the bulls-eye he painted on Lily. What exactly are you trying to argue, LR? I never denied Snape's bravery, nor did I comment on whether he was or wasn't a hero (That's a can of worms I'm not going to open). I'm pointing out that for all Snape's bravery, he was a bitter and twisted bully whose own actions and personality caused him to be alienated and disliked by those he was supposed to work with; and that this cruelty, bitterness, arrogance and bullying character was an integral part of Severus Snape. They weren't masks or coping mechanisms; they were fundamental parts of his personality. They misunderstood which side he was on, but they didn't misunderstand his character or personality.

I mean, yeah, he spied for Dumbledore and was the 'bravest man I knew', but that doesn't mean he was misunderstood. Till the day he died, Snape hated Harry for living where Lily didn't, he hated James for loving and marrying Lily, he hated Sirius for having Lily's sisterly affection (and for his own - Snape's - actions in the Whomping Willow), he was more than happy to allow an innocent man to die (he wanted to see Sirius kissed, despite having the Map and being able to see Peter's name and wanted to take the credit of the Order of Merlin) and he hated Voldemort for killing Lily. He was misunderstood in the context of who he was working for, but he was never misunderstood in the context of his actions, character and personality.

Funny, beacuse it was Snape who followed James and the Marauders around, Snape who persistently harrassed them, Snape who kept attacking James in 7th year. I can find no textual evidence that the Marauders continuously sought out and bullied Snape.

Also, Lily specifically states that James "hexed people who annoy you." I can find no textual evidence that Snape was some woobie - the hatred was a mutual thing, and Snape had a gang of his own (Voldemort Youth). I can also find no evidence that the Marauders sought out Snape just to harrass him; the 5th year scene was one where the Marauders stumbled onto him, and the way Snape reacts shows that he isn't some poor victim; he's quite capable of his own nasty retaliation (wandless Slashing Curse when James isn't looking - a Dark curse). Hell, the spell the Marauders caught him with was his own creation - knowing Snape's character, do you honestly think Snape invented the Levicorpus curse out of benign reasons?

And really, Snape was the one who wanted to get Remus into trouble; Snape was the one who, despite suspecting a werewolf, went into the WW tunnel on the night of the full moon; all Sirius did was tell him how to get in. Hell, LILY rebukes him on this; for being obsessed with the Marauders ("What does Potter have to do with this?") If anything, it was Snape who was obsessed and jealous of the Marauders.

And every time I see 'James picked on Snape', I have to laugh. Snape was a vicious little bastard engrossed in the Dark Arts with a vengeful streak a mile wide; he wasn't some poor little woobie victim with no defenses against the mean ol' Potter. He bullied people too - he was even worse in that regard, see Mary MacDonald, whose attack by Mulciber (or MacNair) using Dark magic was laughed off as a 'bit of fun'. Also, the Potters - Lily and James - apparently had many friends who remembered them fondly; the only one who continuously badmouths James is Snape. Even Voldemort and the other Death Eaters, many of whom grew up with James in school, don't refer to James as a bully. Snape is the only one who continuously badmouths and berates James - to his orphaned son, no less.

What's with all the misgyny here? Must Lily continuously make excuses for Snape? Snape who places her on a pedestal, who attempts to control her ("I won't...I won't let you!")? Why is it Lily's responsibility to take care of Snape and excuse his actions? It's Remus who rebukes James and causes him to grow up, not Lily, but somehow Snape, who never listens to his best friend's worries, has to be coddled by Lily?

EDIT: Also, Sirius confirms that the reason James and Snape hated each other was because of a mutual hatred, because Snape was jealous of James and James despised the Dark Arts. Which part of this is "James persecuted poor Severus?"
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For The Evulz: This seems to be the motivation behind at least half the things done by members of Slytherin House — especially Malfoy. Seems rather bizarre when you remember that they're supposedly the House for the cunning, intelligent, ambitious, and rational.
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Now, in the hp series, the greatest plot hole, i feel is the weasly family strolling down right by Harry and happily saying quite loudly, the words muggle, and molly asking her sons if the platform number was right.

It makes it look a bit too much like D arranged it for Harry to meet the weasly Family. i mean having 7 children,shouldn't she know the platform and not have to ask her children if the platform was right? and she just happens to say it right when she crosses Harry.
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the biggest hole i noticed was in two books. in book 5 at the ministry fight; harry acted like Hr was the most important person in his life when she fell. Harry froze and did nothing until neville told him she was just wounded.

when sirus fell he MOVED to see if he could get his godfather back; he couldn't think when Hr was wounded and she was JUST a friend. he was able to move and think when Sirus fell, and he was his godfather.

three months later, Hr is a pariah to harry and harry barely shows any signs of grief. a year before, he was an emotional wreck over the death of a friendly rival.
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For all the twins supposed greatness, they rely far too much on the map, and their pranks are based on Humiliation and Embarrassment which quite frankly I’ve never found funny even if directed at someone I’ve never met.
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“We’ve found muggles selling ingredients that they don’t even know have magical properties. One place ships out salamander’s by the dozen, another sells valerian root and astragulus. There’s a site that sells Chinese herbs that’s going to be practically a one stop shop for us.
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At almost any part the series after book 1 to many things are happening and to many powerful people are against Harry for him to reasonbly make a difference without pulling out super godly powers from no where. Any logical, subtle actions done by Harry have to be started early, to many controlling curious people focus on every aspect of Harry's life for him to do anything once he reaches hogwarts.
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Next three meals at Grimmauld Place, she's eating on the floor," Harry explained. "Food in a food bowl, drink in a water bowl, and absolutely no hands
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Moments later Hermione stumbled out looking half dead, her hair sticking out more than usual, dark circles under her eyes. Crease marks from the pillow marred her cheek. She was wearing one of his button down white shirts that reached her knees. And to Harry she never looked beautiful.
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Harry Potter [HP] is a series of lengthy novels. Its entertainment, mostly meant for young teenagers, about growing up. There are cute details of England and English culture, some social commentary on racism, a great deal of creative anachronism, and overall a sense of wish fulfillment. The Potterverse, where Harry lives, is reasonably well peopled and while I personally disliked the last two novels, the first five were reasonably good stories. There are some problems with them. Reminding ourselves that these are Entertainment, and For Kids, authors like ourselves try to find the boundaries of the setting, find the rules so we can write stories and bring the first five novels to a good ending, unlike the actual "author" did. I'm still unconvinced that Rowling wrote a word of the last novel. I see the writing styles of four different people in Deathly Hallows and the character rape taking place speaks of several someones who really disliked the characters and has great indifference towards the audience who'd grown to love them. That's the real strength of the Potterverse. Reasonably well defined characters, and interesting setting, and interesting rules (magic) which is fertile ground for fanfic authors like us.

One problem I keep running into as I read story after story is many of them are based around things Rowling (or her ghost writer) published, making it canon for the series, which does a fine job of destroying the credibility of the world they use. Now, I can either ignore this problem(s) despite them cropping up again and again, or I can write a fic exploiting it. Many of these logical flaws (catgirl slayers) end up becoming common fodder for fanfic. Some of them even turn into seriously awful flaws, Deus Ex Machinas (DEMs), like the bottomless purse of holding used by Hermione in the last book. That's poor craft, in my opinion and I lost a lot of respect for Rowling's professionalism, especially considering all those teenagers are going to notice as well, and the 20 somethings who were 10 when they started reading the first novel 15 years ago, they definitely noticed. There are many videos of burning DH on YouTube. She's still filthy rich and she's still crapping all over her fans, which is why most of US in the fanfic world just ignore the last two books and start fics with Harry coming home after seeing Sirius die in the Veil.

What are some obvious catgirl killers? Invisibility cloaks. They work and then they don't. They're rare but then they're not. How about time turners? Loan one to a 13 yo girl so she can take more classes? And they declare them a dangerous and illegal device. How about Malfoy senior. Here's a man who seems trapped in the 1790's, the 1870's at the very latest. The Mary Sues are crying out to give him a digital watch or a calendar and remind him over and over that its 1995 or 1996 in the real world and to pull his head out. Maybe take him to a military outpost and show off an airstrike and tanks and really strike fear into him. He's not dumb, exactly, but he's bigoted and blind and not thinking well. In a true revolution, he's the weak link and easiest to turn because he always goes to the advantage and the muggles are going to win. A soon as he realizes that, he'll turn on Volyshorts. Especially if you can prove Voldy's halfblood status. That would end him. Catgirls, like I said. Rowling NEVER addresses this issue and while its fun to imagine the wizards stuck in 1870's Britain, there are people outside the wards with early cellphones, laptop computers with Pentium 2 microprocessors, Windows 95 has swept the world and the Internet is all about dialup modems with 56Kbaud (48K + compression software).

Harry and Hermione and Dean and several of the other Muggleborns rarely mention the real world much, nor do they mock the backwards wizards as they realistically would. Teenagers are like that. They'd destroy Malfoy Jr. and the other purebloods by asking them simple muggle questions and then point and laugh and crack indeciferable jokes with code words mocking their ignorance. Can you imagine what Severus Snape would do if faced with a simple Periodic Table of Elements? Never happens in the books, but would have been shocking, a hilarious scene I've NEVER read about in any fanfic.

Its the flaws in the series that lead to the Uber!Harry fics, the gary-stu's that mock the whole series and lead to stories which are initially funny but often shortly after quite tiresome. The sad truth is the plotholes and DEMs make the Harry Potter world leak like a sieve. You can ignore stuff and suspend disbelief and expand a character's backstory and still write a good story in that world. I've read many of them. The good ones I'm rather impressed with. Some of the authors are considerably better than Rowling, and developed the characters well beyond and more true to their subject matter than she did, too. Deathly Hallows was awful. Half Blood Prince was disappointing at best, and character rape at worst. Many people believe Rowling was just disgusted with her fans and thus did an insulting job with writing the final Potter novel. Its all a moot point now, and the Highlander Syndrome is still the sanest response to it, if you liked the characters at all.
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After book 2, I made it a point of pride to read each book, cover to cover, in one sitting, finishing even the longest ones in about 6-8 hours. It was fine (a lot of fun, really) with books 3 and 4, and even to a certain extent book 5, but 6 and 7 were just painful. I kept having to stop and let my mind rest from the blatant character rape, logical fallacies, and so on. I still feel that books 6 and 7 could be renamed "Severus Snape" and "Albus Dumbledore," both with the subtitle "With appearances by Harry Potter as he gets f**ked over."

I never understood why Harry never took his studies seriously, ESPECIALLY after the Department of Mysteries (and the whole DA thing had been going so wonderfully, too!). Not only did it not make sense that Harry, who, one would think, should be doing all he could to learn about the Magical World so he could get away from the Durselys, didn't really go out of his way to learn anything that wasn't obviously useful at that exact moment like the patronous, but the example set for kids by having not only the hero of the story, but also one of his best friends, be the poster boys for procrastination and academic laziness (to a certain extent) is just poor. Then portraying the one person in the group who actually studies their hardest as a bossy, annoying, know-it-all (and she does) paints a very poor picture of the worth of academic learning. Added to that, the way Hermione's character is blatantly raped in book six makes it even worse, and pairing her with the person most different from her, was bad too. Then to spend more time and detail on that romance than any other, as the pair fights, and argues, and fights, gives any kid who hasn't been scared away by now the idea that fighting like that is part of a healthy relationship.

AND THEN there's the fact that Harry and five other OWL and below students hold off twice that many death eaters in the DoM, but then they, and the entire Order of The Useless "Professionals," get horribly beaten a year later.

All I can say is that after book five, nerf bats were passed around, and used liberally on Harry and friends, but not on Voldemort and his Merry Men.
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Don't even start me on that trainwreck of a final book. I mean how could the ministry be that incompetant as to allow one of you department heads to be put under the imperius? The minister was even an ex-auror and he didn't even start any policies or mandatory searches with even the top officials in his government. He wasn't any better than Fudge.
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Minako glared at the two books before grabbing 'So you are a Witch?' , opening the cover. The book exploded in a short lightshow, while a voice sounded from the book and a holographic image of a stereotypical wizard hovered over the book.

"So you are a Witch?" the voice from the book came asking," This book will give you a rundown of the Wizarding World. All you need to know to forget the Muggle World and become a member of a better society."

With that the lightshow and the wizard disappeared leaving everyone staring at the book, before Minako slammed it shut.

Than she looked at Lesley.

"You got an Asperine?"

"Huh?" came Lesleys answer as he blinked.

Minako breathed in deep and closed her eyes, massaging her temples slightly.

"I don't know how, but that book just tried to get into my head. Some sort of compulsion to read the book and something else... Can't say what through..."
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Harry glanced down at the book in front of him. No, he downright stared down at it, like someone had written that small childred were best cooked in peppermint sauce and served with plum pudding.

To Harry the book came damned close to that. After staring down at it for a few minuted, his mouth open and leaking a little drool down on the table, he closed his mouth and slowly looked up at Hermione and Ron, who where looking at him very strangely, while looking up from their copies of the same book.

Harry breathed in deep and shook his head, before directly looking at Hermoine.

“Hermoine,” he finally asked,” What is the most powerful weapon known to 'muggles'?”

Hermoine blinked. And blinked again. Than she looked down at the book, a very short flash of something that looked like pain going across her face.

“Uhm...” she answered and put her finger into the book.” The trebuchet.”

Harry stared unbelievingly at her for a moment before looking down on his copy of 'The Ministry's Guide to the Muggle World'.

“What makes you say that?”

“It says so on this book,” she answered and pointed at it,” page twohun-”

Before she could finish, Harry reached over and closed her book.

“Look at me,” he said and pointed at his own eyes. “What is the most powerful weapon known to 'muggles'.”

“The trebuchet,” she answered again, once again the slight flash of pain going over her face, as if she had a very brief headache.

Harry breathed in deep and looked into her eyes, slamming his own copy shut, while Ron blinked from the sidelines.

“What about Hiroshima?” he asked.

The flash came back and lingered a little longer.

“What about it?”

“What destroyed Hiroshima?”

The flash was there once again.

“The Americans.”

“Not who. What?”

Hermione breathed in deep and slowly massaged her temple.

“An atomic bomb,” she finally answered after a few moments.

Harry breathed in deep. Something was very wrong here.

“How can the trebuchet be the most powerful weapon of the 'muggles', when the atomic bomb can destroy an entire town the size of Edinburgh, when a trebuchet can only destroy a single house.”

Hermione blinked. Than she blinked in deep and looked a little more pained as she massaged her temple.

“I... I... I got a headache...”

Harry slowly nodded. Yes, there was something very wrong here.

“What did you do?” Ron finally asked from the sidelines, sounding equally confused and protective towards Hermione.

“Just a question that popped up,” Harry answered and placed his hand on the book.” And this book is very much out of date...”
------------------------------
I actually knew far more than I wanted to about pureblood customs from my various acquired memories by now. And what I'd learned disturbed me.

Like most societies that had grown old, rich, corrupt and decadent, having worked itself into a really skewed values system, the Purebloods were into sexual deviancy in a big way. I suppose when marriage was just a carefully calculated move to make in a huge social strategy game of prestige and power, one where love for your spouse never entered into it, as it was all about forming alliances or climbing social ladders, that it had a corrosive influence on the family and traditional morality.

Thus, a low birthrate, as whatever it was they were doing to relieve stress or amuse themselves very often had little to do with what produced babies.

The Purebloods weren't dying off because their wars were killing them. They were disappearing because men weren't interested in their wives, having other habits more dear to them that I didn't even want to begin to speculate upon, as the mere thought made me sick.

They probably would not have made it this far were it not for the fact that there were spells for men who had no interest in women to artificially inseminate their wives, and this had been done by Lucius on Narcissa (to name one rather well known case as an example) solely because it was 'proper' and an advantageous social move to have an heir, just like it had been a cunning move in the social strategy game to marry her.

This sort of thing had been going on for generations now.

Poor families like the Weasleys amused themselves in a more traditional manner, and couldn't afford the costly ritual components of the artificial insemination spell even if they swung that way.

This was actually a good part of what stopped them from being 'proper' purebloods, at least in some minds.

Rich purebloods like the Malfoys, however, well, from what I overheard Lucius was more interested in Draco than his wife's company, and he'd barely tolerated Narcissa enough to let her live in the same house. Perversely, he also kept her under effective lock and key so she couldn't abuse his position, bringing a scandal down on them by getting together with someone else.

THIS was what was normal and respected! At least as far as the upper crust of pureblood society circles were concerned.

I was almost reminded of that once oh-so-prevalent Chinese tradition of breaking the feet of little girls, bending them in half, and then tying them so they healed that way. It rendered them decorative, and nothing else. Walking was almost impossible, so they became largely helpless and you didn't ever have to be concerned about the little critters getting uppity.

Some people accepted some pretty wiggy stuff as 'normal'.

Apparently the explosion of halfbloods came about as every pureblood who was even remotely normal got involved in a rush to marry muggleborns or full on muggles in attempts to escape the perverse tendencies of their kin (not that I could blame them, as I would've done the same in their place).

This rush had actually made what remained of pureblood society worse as all of the good ones practically fell over each other in attempts to escape it. But I could see why those who'd done it did do it, for all of their sneering at her Andromeda was the only one of the Black sisters to have anything close to a normal marriage.

Lucius had once boasted to Crabb that he'd never even seen Narcissa naked, nor did he ever intend to. I don't know what was wrong with the LeStrange brothers but they were so interested in their twisted little games they'd never bothered to do the heir thing to Bellatrix, not even via spell.

But then, the gossip went they were always into pain in a big way, and rumors held they had a way to rewire the brain to read pain as pleasure and vice versa. And, I had to admit, that could go a long way to explaining the behavior and attitudes of Bella in the series.

She positively adored Voldemort. Why? Well, that bastard did go around causing a lot of pain, and it was commonly known among the ancient families that the poor girl had always been something of an empath. So she'd pick up on not only her own, but the pain of anyone around her.

Ick. These guys really made me sick, you know that?

As a side effect of that, and the Purebloods' traditional control of most of the power in the Ministry through wealth and connections, there were very few laws about what was legal and what was not, as far as relationships were concerned. Although Aberforth had managed to cross one, not with anything HE did, but by casting spells on the goats of another family to get them to talk about what THEY did! Airing in public what everyone preferred to keep behind closed doors.

It was a sick, sick, screwed up pureblood world.

And, what was probably most frightening of all, these guys wanted to be in a position of control so they could call the shots and dictate to everyone else what they could or could not do.

And there could be no doubt they'd be doing so to amuse themselves.
-----------------------
They both looked back down at Voldemort's body. "I can't believe it ended that way. His curse bounced back on him." Hermione commented. "I mean he basically committed suicide."

Harry's eyes widened as they shot up and looked at his friend. "He killed himself? It wasn't by my hand." He whispered to himself. His eyes lost focus for a second and then he screamed "DAMN HIM!" He turned and ran out of the Great Hall. Hermione tried to keep up but Harry Potter was on a mission of rage and he left her way behind.

Harry passed the overturn Gargoyle and pounded up the steps to the Headmaster's office. The door was closed, but he didn't even bother to check to see if it was unlocked. A "REDUCTO!" from the elder wand turned it to dust before him. He only stopped when he was standing in front of the portrait of Albus Dumbledore.

Around the room all the portraits were yelling in celebration as word had spread rapidly through the castle. Albus looked down at the young man before him. Tears were sliding past the half moon glasses and into the long white beard. "I'm so proud.." the portrait started.

"DAMN YOU!" Harry shouted and every portrait in the office instantly fell silent. "DAMN YOU TO HELL!"

The portrait of Albus Dumbledore looked shocked. "Why? This is a time of celebration?"

"SHUT UP!" Harry yelled.

"Harry, what's going on?" the breathless voice of Hermione called from behind him.

"Yeah mate." Ron added also sounding a bit out of breath.

Harry kept staring at the Portrait in front of him. "YOU LIED TO ME!" and before the portrait could respond he continued. "Either must die at the hand of the other?do you recognize those words." He asked in a dangerous voice.

"Of course Harry.."

"HE DIDN"T DIE BY MY HAND!" Harry's voice was filled anger. "The prophecy was wrong." Some small expression by the portrait caught Harry's eye and for some reason Harry instantly knew what had happened.

"You bastard." Harry said. "If you weren't dead, I'd kill you a dozen times over for what you've done."

"Harry?Harry." Hermione was trying to get his attention.

Harry turned and looked at her. Rage filled his eyes emerald eyes making them as dark as Hermione had ever seen. The concern he saw in her eyes soothed him. Without the horcrux sucking life from his soul he could feel the emotions that had been buried all along. He barely noticed that Ginny had followed and now was in the room as well. He sat down heavily in a chair. Still looking at Hermione he explained. "It was all a lie." Tears filled his eyes as he thought of all the people who died. He could see the faces of Lupin and Tonks, of Fred and Colin Creevey. "It was all a lie." He repeated in a tear choked voice.

"What was a lie?" Hermione asked.

Harry had turned back to the portrait. He spent a few seconds as his tears melted away to be replaced by the anger he felt toward the Wizard in the portrait. "Wasn't it Albus? You lied to the world. Manipulated me, my friends, Voldemort, the whole damn Wizarding World."

Tears had stopped flowing down the former Headmaster's face in the portrait but he stilled answered in his grandfatherly voice. "Whatever do you mean my dear boy?"

"Shove it you old goat." Harry snarled. "You know exactly what I mean. There never was a prophecy was there? Not a real one anyway?"

"Harry?" Hermione asked as she glanced between the portrait and her friend. "What do you mean?"

"The damn prophecy Hermione, Voldemort did not die by my hand as it said he would."

"Of course he did..I mean.." Hermione started but Harry cut her off.

"In our fourth year when Draco and I exchanged spells and you were hit, did I hex you or did Draco?"

"Draco of course but..."

"But Draco's hex bounced off my spell." Harry explained. "Same as just now. VOLDEMORT WAS KILLED BY HIS OWN SPELL!" He paused for a couple of seconds before continuing. "If his curse had hit a Death Eater, wouldn't it have been Voldemort who killed him?"

"Of course."

"Then Voldemort died by his own curse, not my spell, it was his. I did not kill him by my own hand."

Hermione's hand shot to her mouth as she realized what Harry was explaining.
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I had been thinking that the HP stories were 'happy ever after' type fairy tales for children. Then I realised that actually they are stories about the mistakes people make in relationships and about how people get caught up in dysfunctional relationships with no end in sight. I no longer think that JKR somehow failed or made a mistake and misunderstood the cannon relationships, I now think that she did it on purpose.
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why did it take him weeks to tell me about the Horcruxes, when we could've covered the material in a day? And that would've included making notes
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You know it might be a good idea to get a set of pictures of the known and suspected Death Eaters.
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With respect to Ron: Any guy who is romantically interested in a girl, and who has her ask him out, then starts up a relationship with another girl in the most blatant way possible, by snogging her in full view in the common room, and then still doesn't get together with the first girl even after breaking up with the second girl, is either incredibly stupid or an incredible jerk. While I could make a case for Ron being either or both of the above, I choose not to. I prefer to consider a third possibility – that Ron just isn't romantically interested in Hermione. (Or if he once was, he isn't any more. Maybe he's realized that she just doesn't turn him on that way.)
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You know, I've always made a big deal of Hermione sticking with Harry over Ron, but never really addressed the other side of the equation; what that said about *Ron*. Yes ... he chose his own comfort over staying with the girl he supposedly loved!
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"They no longer needed him for anything" - yep, I'll certainly agree with that. Like you I've never seen much value in Ron, other than his holding Harry back with his "she'll be right mate, just stick with the status quo!" rationalisation.
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Hermione is a major hero in the books, but any more attention to her would draw attention away from Harry, who if you think about it is not such a major hero
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What this fic really does, though, is address my unhappiness and unanswered questions with HBP's "An Excess of Phlegm" chapter. Why would Hermione be as catty as Ginny making fun of Fleur? Why would Harry leave that cattiness unchallenged? What was Hermione doing at the Burrow, two weeks into hols…don't her parents want to spend time with her? Was Harry saving Fleur from an Imperious'ed Viktor any less life-debt generating than what he did for Gabrielle? And where were Fleur and Bill sleeping that summer? Wouldn't have been under Molly's nose, unless there was an underlying reason (At least not if I was Bill, and engaged to a part-Veela.
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Why was it safe to stay at the Burrow that year when they had to stay at the Black family house the year before for security reasons?
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Actual grades from the books I believe:
Hermione achieved high academic prestige when she obtained eleven O.W.L.'s in...

1. Charms,
2. Defence Aganst the Dark Arts,
3. Transfiguration,
4. Care of Magical Creatures,
5. Arithmancy,
6. History of Magic,
7. Herbology,
8. Astronomy,
9. Potions
10. Ancient Runes
11. Muggle Studies

She received 'Outstanding' marks on each of them, except Defence Against the Dark Arts, in which she received an 'Exceeds Expectations,' which she dwelt upon; Ron found it amusing that she actually seemed disappointed by this.

Harry got 7 O.W.L.s.

SCORES:

Astronomy - A
Care of Magical Creatures - E
Charms - E
D.A.D.A - O
Divination - P (failing grade)
Herbology - E
History of Magic - D (failing grade)
Potions - E
Transfiguration - E