FRIENDLY REMINDER THAT PERCY WEASLEY, WHO WAS THOUGHT TO BE STUFFY AND SERIOUS, WAS THE LAST PERSON WHO MADE FRED WEASLEY LAUGH.
FRIENDLY REMINDER THAT PERCY WEASLEY IS STILL A TITANIC ASSHOLE WHO DID NOT EARN REDEMPTION.
EXCUSE ME? YOU COME ONTO MY POST? MY POST ABOUT PERFECT PERCY AND YOU SAY THIS? OH NO HONEY, YOU’RE NOT GETTING OFF THAT EASY.
Percy Weasley 100% deserved his redemption and you want to know why?! Too bad, I’m going to tell you. For his whole life, Percy Weasley was made fun of, he was teased by all his siblings, constantly the butt of jokes. Whenever he was proud of his accomplishments, his family (besides his mother) shut him down. Prefect? Fred and George made fun of him for bragging, for being excited that he lived up to Bill and Charlie’s shadow. Head Boy? Fred and George teased him, stole his badge because they thought it was funny. Percy was so happy and proud of himself and his brothers tore him down. He was pushed aside for Bill or Charlie or even Ron and Ginny. Sure, his mother was proud of him, but his brothers made sure they made his life hell. When he got his job at the Ministry he was so excited. Right of school he got a job he loved, a job he was sure he was good at. He talked about it a lot but that’s what happens when you’re excited. His parents were proud, but again, his siblings made sure to tease him. When Crouch didn’t know his name, his siblings laughed, Fred and George sent him dragon dung.
Then he gets the job of Junior Assistant to the Minister. He’s proud because he’s 2 years out of school and has this prestigious position. Of course he’s going to want to share with his family. What do they do? Tell him his hard work meant nothing, that the Minister was using him (and sure, that was probably true, but Percy was so excited). He saw that he and his family shared two very different views and opinions, some words were said, and Percy left. Reminds me of another beloved character that never gets shit about leaving his family from the fandom. Any guesses who? If you said Sirius Black you are correct! Like Sirius, he left home and the family he clearly no longer saw eye to eye with. That’s not a problem. He felt as though he was in a toxic environment, and honestly he was. I do not blame him for leaving his family even if they were for the wrong reasons. (but why does Percy get shit for leaving a toxic family when Sirius doesn’t? interesting) Now we don’t know what happened when he was at the Ministry. He wrote a letter to Ron that was a bit rude, but we’re also seeing this from Harry’s limited POV. Maybe Percy regretted leaving, maybe he loved his freedom and never wanted to go home. We just don’t know. He finally does come home for Christmas in 1996 (HBP), where he openly welcomed by his mother. He was being used by Scrimgeour, but he went. While his mother was welcoming, his siblings are not. He leaves with mashed parsnips in his face. Did he want to be there? No idea, but he went. How do you think he felt leaving? Probably awful. He didn’t go to Bill and Fleur’s wedding, but it was clear from the way his family treated him the year before that even if he did go, no one wanted him there.
The Battle of Hogwarts comes and Percy comes back. Yes, comes back. He went back to the family he left, he apologized for leaving and for being ‘family disowning, ministry loving, power hungry moron’ (as Fred put it), which he takes full blame for being. What happens next? Fred welcomes him back. Then his parents. Then George. They did not need to do this, but they did because they were family and they still loved each other. Percy fights in the Battle and ends up going up against Pius. He makes the “Hello, Minister, did I mention that I’m resigning!” joke which shows that his limited view has been expanded. He finally saw what was wrong with this Ministry, with what was happening around him (though this may not all be his fault, he surrounded himself with people who also had very limited knowledge and views). When Fred is shown dead, it is Percy who is crying over his body, Percy who tries to protect his body and hide it. Wonder how guilty he felt after this happened because he made Fred laugh and then Fred dies. We don’t know what happens to Percy after this but we clearly know he has a very fierce love of his family and that he was really and truly sorry.
So TLDR; Percy loves his family and was very sorry and hurt by them. He 100% deserved his redemption even if you don’t think so. And if you don’t, don’t comment on other people’s posts about him saying rude things about Percy because you will be proven wrong. Thank you and have a good day.
Honestly, if my family shut me down for every single good thing that happened to me, that I earned, I’d leave too. Staying loyal to people who constantly ignore or make fun of your position is exhausting. I hated Percy at first too, but then I realized that if I was in his position, I wouldn’t act any different. No one needs that kind of toxicity in their life.
It’s very easy to understand why Sirius leaves his toxic family because most of his family members are arrogant racist classist shitlords and shitladies and the Weasleys are the antithesis to that. But it doesn’t mean their worldviews and attitudes are perfect, either.
As for Percy’s letter, from Harry’s PoV, it’s horrible. From the perspective of an older sibling? It is 100% understandable.
Let’s look at things from Percy’s PoV where Ron’s friendship with Harry is concerned:
Year 1: breaks into ultra-secret teacher-set booby traps designed to stop adult dark wizards. Almost gets killed by a monster-dog and by a giant chess game.
Year 2: Confronts a basilisk under the school. Nearly gets himself killed.
Year 3: Confronts a known serial killer. Winds up with a broken arm.
Year 4: Nearly drowns because he was The Thing Harry Would Miss The Most. (Students have died at the Triwizard Tournament, after all.)
Harry then shows up at the end of the tournament with the dead body of his classmate/rival, claiming that Voldemort, who everybody knew was dead, had somehow done it.
Honestly, Percy is kind of more than a little justified in wanting Harry to stay tf away from his little brother. And then you take into account the way that once he’s at the Ministry and not at school, the conversation around The Potter Boy takes on a much different tone. It becomes easy for Percy to look back on all their adventures and overlook the heroic things like saving Ginny, and to start seeing Harry Potter as dangerous. (Because the truth is, Harry is. It is very dangerous to be friends with Harry Potter.)
I’m not saying the letter was right, but it was incredibly understandable.
Especially if you take into account that, for all the crap they give him, Percy is actually protective of his family up until the point that they drive him away. Think about his early childhood–unlike Ron and the Twins, he’s old enough to remember some of the war, but unlike Bill and Charlie, he would’ve been too young to know details. Just that there were big dangerous things, and you had to obey whatever rules someone shouted at you very quickly and without question, because that’s what you teach young children to do in dangerous situations. When Ginny’s gone in CoS, Percy takes it the hardest out of all of them. And people say he got off light, that oh, he should’ve died instead, but no, man. He got the harshest punishment–his little brother dying right in front of him.
I also want to add that percy was the only one who apologised when he came back – his family DIDN’T. none of them owned up to what assholes they’d been and apologised to percy, they just let him take ALL the blame.
as someone who’s been in percy’s situation multiple times – taking the blame and apologising to my bullies for the sake of just getting over the issue and moving on – i can also guarantee that this is a recipe for CONTINUED BULLYING. it lets the bullies off the hook and signals that their behaviour is okay, so they continue to do it. we don’t know if this is the first time percy’s had to do this or not, but consider a) it’s not the first time and he did it anyway because he loves his family enough to want to be with them in this incredibly dangerous time, because losing them while on bad footing is the worse option or b) it’s the first time and he doesn’t know that after this, the family is very likely to fall back into the same behavioural patterns. these patterns are fricking hard to break, y’all. it’s the kind of thing that requires conscious effort and…sorry to say, but there’s nothing in canon that points towards that possibility.
percy haters can fuck right off.
excellent, excellent post!! one thing i want to add is that in CoS, percy is shown as constantly fussing over ginny. he’s so fiercely protective of his little siblings that the letter to ron, although misguided, could never be coming from anywhere other than the best of intentions. and percy’s actions at the battle of hogwarts and the way he refused to let go of fred’s body are very consistent with what we’ve seen of his diligence and protectiveness.
another thing in CoS—the one time percy does something for himself that doesn’t involve studying/leadership, getting a girlfriend, his younger siblings (yes, including ron and even ginny very briefly!) all make fun of him. he can’t even get away with a “normal teenager” kind of thing, because they’ve already decided their position on him. whichever way you look at it, that’s bullying.
also, percy is only a fifth year at the time the series starts! so at the battle of hogwarts, he’s 21. (his birthday is in august; he’s only about a year and a half older than the twins.) when he comes home and has parsnips flung at his face, he’s 20. when he writes that letter to ron, he’s 19. when he gets his apparition licence and shows off by apparating to breakfast, he’s just turned 18. when he gets his first job, he’s 17 and fresh out of hogwarts. of course it’s the coolest thing he’s ever done! of course he’s going to take a boss who takes him half-seriously over a family who barely takes him seriously at all. my point is, he’s young. he’s a kid, and he makes mistakes. give him a goddamn break!
one final point: while we’re on the percy love train, don’t forget he got twelve O.W.L.s. that’s the maximum number of O.W.L.s you can get! that’s divination, care of magical creatures, muggle studies, the lot! he must’ve been using a time turner all throughout the events of the first book (and for two years prior!) and yet there is no indication that he’s cracked under that pressure at all! go percy!
Here it is, canon evidence that Salazar Slytherin was NOT a racist bigot. He was concerned for the well-being and safety of the magical community, which could have been compromised by letting the “common people” know that wizards and witches existed.
Shoutout to this fine lady for bringing this to my attention. Let’s further the argument:
Hogwarts was canonically founded around 990 A.D. – The Christians were finally taking hold of Scandinavia, meaning that all of Europe was now Christian. It was towards the end of the Dark Ages, or else the Early Medieval Period, which (In Europe) was famous for its intolerance of non-Christiandom, which included the teachings of Ancient Rome, Greece, and of course any Eastern countries. People were publicly defamed and in many cases killed for as much as considering these old ideas and teachings. These teachings really didn’t come back to light until the Italian Renaissance in the 14th century.
So when people did things the Christians couldn’t explain, they blamed it on Witches; people they believed to be inhabited by the devil, sent to earth to wreak havoc on every God-fearing man, woman, and child. So what did they do? Imprison or kill those people.
Now, here comes Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, who all agree to take pureblooded witches and wizards and teach them. But then they have to discuss magical folk who aren’t born from magic folk.
Gryffindor is brave and brash, and imagines the glory of having an entire society of witches and wizards with great command of their powers.
Hufflepuff is kind and loving, and wants to provide a sanctuary for all those who are under duress from the population at large.
Ravenclaw sees the merit in bringing all these different people together – the amount of information regarding magic that can be shared is the stuff of her dreams.
Slytherin is cautious. He recognizes that there is a great possibility for individuals to play spy for the Muggle community, in hopes to gain favor by outing them all the while hiding their own powers from muggles. He sees them as a potential threat, and instead of risking the safety of not only their own lives,but the countless volumes and tomes of ancient wizarding knowledge tucked away in their castle (see The Burning of the Great Library at Alexandria), Slytherin says “I really don’t think we should allow people with connections to Muggles in here. We could lost *everything.*
Gryffindor calls Slytherin a coward, saying they would fight back and beat down any who try to oppose them. Slytherin suggests they do all they can to avoid confrontation. Hufflepuff can’t bring herself to deny that sanctuary she’s built. Ravenclaw sees endless potential in bridging that gap between worlds with learning. And this is what drives them apart. Future racists and pureblooded elitists will take and twist Slytherin’s words, having heard only the story that has been passed down for a thousand years. They use words of caution to justify their want for genocide.
Slytherin isn’t the bad guy, here. And I am so down for clearing his name.
To continue the crusade to clear the name of Salazar Slytherin, I have more evidence for your consideration. This is regarding the Chamber of Secrets.
Now, the scene pictured above is one of Harry’s slightly less dull History of Magic classes, in which Professor Binns is asked to talk about the Chamber of Secrets. What we get from him is that the Chamber is a myth. There is legend surrounding it, no one is sure if it exists, etc etc etc.
Here is the VERY NEXT PAGE in the book, in which Professor Binns again admits to the Chamber (as we know it today) to be a complete myth. We find out, obviously, that the chamber isn’t a myth, but I believe that the purpose of the chamber has been fabricated over a thousand years by misinformation and slander.
Let’s check it out. Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, and Godric Gryffindor all know Salazar Slytherin and say “yep, he’s an upstanding man. Let’s start this school with him!” For a number of years, they had a school together and it worked out great. What we know is that there was a falling out, not Slytherin declaring they needed to murder muggle-borns! A disagreement that may have ruined friendships but did little else, I think.
What we know is that one of Slytherin house’s key virtues is self-preservation. As I discussed earlier in the thread on this post is that Slytherin was afraid of muggle-born witches and wizards acting as spies for the larger muggle community during a time in which wizards and witches were killed for their “demon powers.”
And so, when it comes to the Chamber of Secrets, I believe Slytherin built a Panic Room, not an Evil Lair.
Think about it. Slytherin is horrified that any day there might be an attack on the school. So he builds a secret chamber that only he (or another parseltongue, an incredibly rare magical ability) can open. He doesn’t want any double agents or spies to know about it, so he tells no one. He hopes, of course, that he never has to use it, but in the event that there is an attack, he can get the school to safety while he sets the basilisk on the attackers.
But I’m sure you’re looking at the basilisk and thinking “what sane man would put a monster in a panic room?” Glad you asked. I can consider two possibilities.
1) Slytherin put a basilisk that was under his control in the chamber, a creature that he could set loose on his enemies, aka, anyone attacking the castle. The basilisk would annihilate any army of thousands just by looking at them, and what’s more, it could get almost anywhere in the castle through the goddamn walls! That kind of power is exactly what you need to defend your castle. And again, ONLY HE or an heir could control it. I’m sure at this point he was thinking about himself and his potential progeny, not Tom Riddle some thousand years later.
2) Slytherin didn’t put the basilisk there, and it was instead placed there later by Tom Riddle while he was at school. I don’t have evidence supporting or disproving this.
So how does this get so misconstrued to modern-day Hogwarts lore? Maybe toward the end, the founders did find out about the Chamber. Maybe Slytherin said something to them, maybe he let it slip…maybe as they were cleaning out his room after he left, they found some journal entries about it. It could have been anything. But perhaps, in their wisdom, seeing no way to access the chamber, felt it best that no one knew about the existence of a (now) useless panic room, nor did they want anyone to worry about the basilisk.
Maybe word *did* get out, though. And not one of the founders wanted to admit that Slytherin didn’t trust their students, and so to most of the student body, Slytherin’s departure was suspect. And the moment they heard about a secret room that no one was quite sure about, they started inventing campfire stories about it.
Fast forward ONE THOUSAND YEARS and now everyone assumes Slytherin was always evil (despite being a good friend and founder of Hogwarts with three other lovely people) and created a secret evil lair to murder muggle-borns, which he could have easily done without a lair if that was *ever* his intention.
Thank you so much! I’ve been looking for this post. I always felt like Slytherin being a horrible evil bigot never really made any sense historically speaking, and it just doesn’t add up. Although I have to say I don’t put much stock in option 2. The dude could talk to snakes. And as Hagrid will happily tell you, a creature being scary and “monstrous” doesn’t make it evil. Why couldn’t he be a Hagrid, with a fondness for big “misunderstood” creepy crawlies? Having a basilisk doesn’t make Slytherin evil in and of itself, any more than Hagrid having an acromantula makes him evil, even if most of wizarding society would condemn him for it. Obviously popular opinion isn’t always accurate.
The conservationist and history nerd in me feels a pang whenever I think about how much of a loss that basilisk was. I know it was being used for murder and that it needed to be stopped, but it’s a knee-jerk reaction to such a huge loss of knowledge. That thing was alive a thousand years ago. It knew one of the original founders of Hogwarts. Any parselmouth could have spoken to it and asked it what things were really like in those days and gotten a first hand account, but unfortunately the only person to speak to it in a millennium was an idiot who only thought about killing people. Did he even think to ask its name? Nagini clearly had a name, but he never refers to the basilisk by name. That’s just… really sad to me.
I think a lot of people forget that Slytherin house is more than just self-preservation too; loyalty is a core value. Slytherin’s message is about protecting your own more than nearly anything else. Slytherin pushes unquestioning acceptance of and loyalty to your fellows, regardless of blood status, even in Harry’s day, according to their welcome message on Pottermore. You very rarely see a Slytherin making a disparaging remark about another Slytherin. You do see even the most bigoted Slytherins (like the Malfoys) being supportive of Slytherins who are much lower on their little social hierarchy than them (like Snape). In Salazar Slytherin’s day, I think he would have extended that loyalty to the whole school and the other founders. They were “his own”, and he would have wanted to protect them.
In depth analysis about Harry Potter is what i’m here for
He arrives without much fanfare, only the sudden silence of
the forest announcing his arrival. For a moment, no creature dares to make a
sound.
And then the green-eyed man sighs, looking around the
ancient trees with fondness and not even doing a double take at the crossbows
and creatures with multiple eyes and pincers staring at him.
He bows in their direction and left without stirring a
thing.
After a moment, sound resumes again, all the more louder as
though making up for their silence.
“Mars is bright,” the centaur says, not nonchalant but very
much unnerved. “We must make more arrows.”
.
He is registered as Harrison Peters within two days.
The Ministry of Magic is full of the corrupt and the easily
bribed and five hundred galleons fabricate a story easily. His mother had been
a muggle, his father a two-timing bastard with a penchant for leaving a string
of women pregnant – except he had managed to track his uncle down and get a
stipend of money.
He buys a house in central London, an establishment on Diagon
Alley and another house in Hogsmeade, staffing it with three house elves per
house and tasking them to digging under the house a large basement that could
comfortably house three hundred people. It would house even more, since
Undetectable Expansion Charms were something.
He starts appearing in the ministry, a quiet, distinguished
gentleman. He is almost too old or too young to gain much attention, but if
someone were to point out Mr. Peters, they would remember his green eyes.
They would not remember the advice he gives the Minister
about new laws pushing for werewolf jobs – his voice is too quiet and generic
for that. They would not remember the little compulsion he spells the Minister
– the Elder wand is too great for that. They would not remember the subclause
he manages to make the Minister write in the Wizangamot laws, that no one under
the age of seventeen may be tried with a full court less the person doing so
will lose their magic entirely.
Harrison Peters, who had once been Harry Potter, does this
over the course of three months.
Harrison takes one day to gather information, one day to
learn his target, another two hours to plot a course of action. On the third
day, he successfully conned the Nott Family Head to sign over four orphanages
to him.
It is completely not in his plans, but needs must.
He buys eight other house-elves and bonds them. He sends
them to whoever needs it most. An orphanage with a leaky roof and almost no
insulation gets two house elves. The orphanage with a flooded basement and
almost rotted food stores gets three. The one he had visited gets one and last
one orphanage that just straight up pissed him off – because the matron had
reported the need for blankets – gets
two.
Harrison takes a breather after that just to calm down his
nerves. The very state of the magical children had given him flashbacks to his
own childhood and it had not been pretty.
His magic is volatile and did not like anything that made
him feel that angry. It had whipped his house-elves into agitation. He had
never seen so many pastries in his life. (His house-elves stress baked! It made
him laugh.)
“Fern,” he says to his personal house-elf. “Report to me the
state of the children every month, alright? All their needs must be met. They
must be in comfort, not just fine.”
The head house-elf nods seriously.
.
With the orphanage business out of the way, he focuses back
on his farms.
Profit is cut back given that he is now supplying the
orphanages with food. He is still earning, but not as much.
“We’ll need more land,” he announces to his elves.
They look gleeful at the prospect of more work and he shakes
his head ruefully.
“Maybe we can add animals to this operation, though we can’t
actually use magic to make them reproduce faster,” he muses. “Unless you guys
have a way to make the cows, sheep and goats give birth to twins and triplets?”
The elves exchange looks and they start shifting on their
feet.
“Well?”
The more outspoken elf says, “We can do it, but the mother
dies faster.”
Of course it would be detrimental to the health of the
mother. But he is a wizard and there is a potion for that. Still, he would have
to give the mother six months of peacefully grazing and nursing the baby.
“Alright,” he nods. “I can do that. But…it seems I’ll have
to hire a potions master for this. Or just buy the Rejuvenation Potion in
bulk.”
Harrison does not just buy another farm; he buys the entire
stretch of mountain and fifty hectares of the land by the shadow of its feet.
Half of the land is for grazing and the other half is for
farming. His elves are ecstatic for more work but are wise enough to admit that
more elf-power might be needed.
He hires ten more elves, bond with them, and leaves them at
the mercy of Fern who receives them with all the dignity of a seasoned general
with new troops.
I’ve spent some time wondering at Dumbeldore’s rational for hiring Gilderoy Lockhart and I’ve reached the following conclusion.
When Dumbledore met Lockhart, all he thought was “Oh, this is going to be hilarious.”
I always got the vibe that Dumbledore was like, “there is no possible way for this man to be a Death Eater,” and hired him on the spot.
I like the idea of Dumbledore overcorrecting all the time.
First professor was a death eater? Lets get one who definitely isn’t. That one was an egoistical jerkface? I’ll hire literally the most humble and unassuming human on Earth. Lupin got kicked out by a bunch of parents? Lets go for a man who is incapable of taking any shit from anyone…. etc.
In the 2014 additions to the UK Potter books, Rowling says part of the process to become an Animagus is to hold the leaf of a Mandrake in your mouth for a whole month.
Can you imagine. These boys in Minerva McGonagall’s classes for that month, hoping she doesn’t notice.
now that you pointed that out i’m 100% sure minerva knew about that
ok imagine all the marauders pretending to take a vow of silence for a month to keep that up. Like wearing chalkboards around their necks and writing out anything they have to say around teachers and coming up with another ridiculous reason every time someone asks why they’re taking a vow of silence like. We’re protesting the traditional student/teacher constructs and the unreasonable verbal requirements of school. We’re raising awareness of how funny we are and how much your lives are worse without our beautiful voices telling jokes. We’re in a very intense round of the Silent Game and we’re all here to WIN.
“So Remus, why aren’t you doing it?” (gives very fond look to the boys) “I’m not a moron.” “(deathglares)”
Okay but
What about when McGonagall did it.
YES CAN WE ALSO TALK ABOUT THAT
Other student: Minnie, why aren’t you talking? McGonagall: *scribbles on a piece of parchment* “someone bet me I couldn’t and mama ain’t raise no bitch”
The most hilarious thing about the fact Buckbeak had a trial and lost is that later on JKR resolves the issue by having Hagrid take him in again and renaming him Witherwings. That’s literally all it took. What if in POA, Hagrid simply said, “Sorry, Buckbeak flew away.”
“There’s a hippogriff right there, Hagrid.”
“A different hipprogriff.”
“I’m… pretty sure that’s the same hipprogriff.”
“Prove it.”
no dna tests we die like scientifically underdeveloped societies
Prisoner of Azkaban continues to be the most frustrating book
Someone should have just adopted Sirius and started calling him Gerald.
Remus: Erm… this is our new order member, my… cousin Gerald. Gerald White.
“Mr. Lupin that is Sirius Black with glasses!” “Oh come now Minister, Sirius Black doesn’t wear glasses. That wouldn’t make sense.” “Well have Mr. White take off his glasses then!” “He can’t he needs them to see.”
it got better
It’s honestly a miracle to me that wizarding society doesn’t collapse every other week because like
You’ve got this world full of people who can destroy whole buildings or turn people into beetles or make vehicles fly just by waving a stick at them
And there is literally no common sense
Anywhere to be found
Voldemort would never have had anyone find out he was back if he just went around calling himself Steve
Okay, see, I thought I saved this post to comment on it but I’d like to bring up
The Minister would NEVER EVER disbelieve in Gerald White. He’d buy it hook line and sinker. The wizarding world would buy it hook line and sinker. The GOBLINS wouldn’t but wizards have been shown to be pretty blindingly clueless. Still, Gringotts would grudgingly give Sirius access to the Black fortune.
But, but, but, you know the one person
the one person
who Gerald White would drive AB-SO-LUTELY FUCKING BATSHIT?
Severus Snape.
Snape would do everything, EVERYTHING, to get people to believe that it’s Sirius. But the Order would ignore it (they accepted Sirius as Sirius before anyway) and Remus would just be so… so affronted.
‘Severus, he is my cousin.’
And Sirius would love it. He’d love the fact that Snape just hated it. He’d be the BEST DAMN GERALD WHITE EVER b/c Snape is doing everything from dropping veritaserum into his firewhisky to capturing a dementor in a box and releasing it on Sirius when he least expects it
That one causes problems for a bare minute because SHIT A DEMENTOR ATTEMPTED TO GIVE GERALD THE KISS MAYBE SNAPE IS RIGHT except Harry comes forward and is like ‘excuse me, I’ve never committed a crime and dementors are ALWAYS attacking me, I think they’re attracted to glasses’
and the magical community is like ‘shit, yeah, you’re right’
Sol doesn’t know a lot about his parents. They died when he was a baby, so he only has second-hand accounts and a handful of letters.
Eighteen letters exactly, nine from his father and nine from his mother, all of them written in a period of three months. The last three months they were alive, when they started suspecting their warded-to-high-heavens-and-suppossedly-secret house might not be so secure after all and they should make arrangements for him, in case the worst happened.
He doesn’t know what their favorite colors were, what food they liked or disliked or even who their friends were. But if there is something about them Sol can say with absolute certainity, it’s that they tried.
The relationship of a muggleborn and an ex-Death Eater sounds like the premise of a terrible romance, and to this day Sol struggles to comprehend how he even came into being. Translating that kind of forbidden love to reality leaves him wincing imagining the explosions. Merlin knows Dolly and Kreacher have had enough of those (metaphorical AND literal) that he shudders at the idea of his parents on their place.
But, once upon a time, they had been. They had tried to take care of him as best as they could, and while they didn’t survive long enough to have the most spectacular kind of arguments (that is, the dreaded Sol should be brought up with these values), he supposses that trying to manage a relationship on top of caring for a baby more than made up for the minor blessing of not having to argue over his education.
And all of them had survived it. Their budding relationship, themselves, Sol, Kreacher, Dolly and the house. Though Dolly confessed once with much whispering and averting of eyes that some porcelain figurines and crockery might not have been so lucky.
It’s a daunting thought, because Sol has seen Dolly and Kreacher come close to blows more than enough (and shies away from the thought of how many times he might not have been witness to) to understand that the only reason they (marginally) tolerate each other is him. His parents might have loved each other, but from their letters and their House Elves’ stories, it’s obvious they didn’t figure on each other’s plans for the future (or at least their immediate future with the Blood War raging on their doorstep) until he was born.
It’s not something he was told, but hearing Dolly and Kreacher argue taught him to listen to all sides of an argument and to read between the lines. The line about his father being punched twice on the day he discovered he had had a son was particularly enlightening.
They had still tried, still set aside their differences and done as best they could for him.
In some ways, he is grateful that Kreacher despised his mother enough to tell him about her less-stellar moments and Dolly retorted with the ones from his father (the beginning of their relationship as hate-snogging he could have done without, though), because it makes them seem more real. Actual people and not the idealized images most orphans get. It makes him feel closer to them.
He doesn’t care that they had considered their ideals and plans more important than each other even when his father left the Death Eaters. He doesn’t care that his mother’s Hufflepuff loyalty to her family made her cold (as in premeditated murder cold) to other people, or that his father’s disillusionment with the Death Eaters didn’t make a dent on his contempt for muggles.
They had still loved each other, despite knowing that and probably a lot more. They had still loved him, to the point that they had completely scraped their plans the instant they knew he existed.
His mother had given up on trying to protect his Aunt Lily, who she admitted on one of her letters had been the most important person on her life until that moment.
His father had come out of hiding despite having faked his death and being persona non grata for both sides of the war.
His mother had been willing to raise him as a single woman (worse, a single muggleborn woman) on the Wizarding World and his father had been willing to risk discovery for him.
Even without the hundreds of I love yous on their letters (more on the final letters than the first ones, as they saw the danger coming and became more wary, more desperate and more and more contingency plans failed) he would have known he had been the center of their universe when they had been alive.
Their every action on that war was drenched on their love for him.
Like plotting the Dark Lord’s downfall because, as his mother so bluntly put it on her second-to-last letter, we wouldn’t involve ourselves on this thrice-damned war if we thought we could get away with it, but He will never let it go if He discovers that the Black Heir is a halfblood, so we’ll just have to find a way to permanentely kill that damn cockroach so you can be safe.
Of course, even the first time he read that letter as a child he knew that killing the Dark Lord couldn’t be so simple. And yet, his father had agreed on his letter, more or less confirming that they didn’t care at all for the ideology or the people who died and were dying. They just wanted to be a family and not live in fear, hiding forever.
It was an act motivated purely by their love for him (and, though he suspected they wouldn’t have admitted it at the time, for each other).
Like asking Great-Aunt Cassiopeia to act as intermediary with a Black squib that would be willing to take care of Sol far away from Magical Britain, hiding in plain sight as a magical descendant of the squib line of Blacks in France.
Like ordering Dolly and Kreacher to smuggle him out of the country when the location of their home was finally discovered.
Like casting simultaneous fiendfyres when the wards finally gave and taking as many Death Eaters as they could with them.
Like facing one of the Wizarding World’s most painful deaths (Kreacher spoke with something close to respect for his mother whenever that particular detail came up) just to ensure there wouldn’t be enough left of their home for anybody to suspect that Sol was actually alive.
I don’t know how this happened. I started thinking about the mothers that sent their children overseas during wars and before I realized it…
I’M SO SORRY, SOL! I DIDN’T MEAN TO KILL YOUR PARENTS, I DON’T KNOW HOW THIS HAPPENED.
PS: Please don’t make this canon Tsume-senpai.
It won’t be canon, Kohai, but thank you so much for writing this; I had no idea this was hiding in my messages and you’ve totally eaten into my short ‘reply to messages’ time, but I’m so glad because this was fantastic to read. *side-eyes AFB document* I should probably try and update I guess.
andtheytoldustotellyouhello 