Literature Harry Potter Headcanons

[rae2nerdy]

UPDATE JUNE 12th 2020
So apparently this needs to be stated directly but I will not tolerate any demeaning headcanons that make light of issues surrounding marginalized communities. If you post anything misogynistic, homophobic, racists, and especially transphobic into this thread you will be asked to leave the thread and make no further contributions.

If you are unsure if something constitutes a demeaning headcanon please pm me and I will discuss it with you in private.

HP Activities
Listen to Harry Potter Podcasts
- - Unspoiled
- - #WizardTeam
- - Quibblr (find in podcast players)
- - The Fox & The Fox Hound
- - The Gayly Prophet

Read The Carry On Series (Drarry satire)
- - Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
- - Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell

Read Fanfiction
Harry Potter and the Lack of Lamb Sauce - Chapter 1 - imagitory - Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling [Archive of Our Own] (rec'd by Hella Downweather )

 

[rae2nerdy]

I'll kick us off with a simple headcanon: Ilvermorny. It's wrong. By a lot. So from what I've found there is supposed to be anywhere between 30 to 40 kids accepted into the school each year. This is supposed to serve all the kids in Canada and the US. Now because I'm a nerd I actually did the math. In 1991 (the year Harry goes to Hogwarts)

Hogwarts takes in 40 kids a year
Canada has 209 kids a year
USA has 1909 kids a year.

So as you can see that's a super big difference in population. Now even assuming we just had Ilvermorny be in Canada and serve that population (which is only a little bit larger than Beauxbatons [160] and Durmstrang [172] schools using the same math.) It's still difficult to think about how you would get it to run in an identical manner to Hogwarts. Each house would have roughly 52 kids per year in it. (52 first years, 52 second years, etc.) You would need significantly more teachers and a lot bigger castle.

Now in the books it says that Durmstrang (which also has a lot of kids) has a smaller castle than Hogwarts. I tend to take that to mean that they don't have all their classes in the Castle and their dorms are separate buildings. So it's possible that Canadian Ilvermorny does something similar.


Now the above doesn't really go into the US based on numbers cuz I honestly think JK just forgot how large the United States is as a country. Cuz no matter how I slice it nearly 2000 kids per year (1909 first years, 1909 second years, etc.) is not going to work in one school. It sure as heck isn't going to work with one school that takes in 30-40 kids per year.

So what I do for the US is I assume approximately every state just has its own very small school that teaches the kids. I tend to view them as similar to public high schools (you go to school in the morning and come home in the later afternoon). That's just because in America we don't really have a boarding school culture in the same way as Britain, and it also ties into my wider American headcanon (which I will talk about later).

It also accounts for a problem that JK forgot to contemplate about both Canada and US. That is the sheer geographical and regional differences. There is no way a parent in Texas is going to be comfortable sending their child to a school in Massachusetts. Both because it would be bananas to travel that distance and because there is a big regional difference between Texas and Massachusetts.

 

[defenderofberk]

Eh, I've got nothing better to do.

• Voldemort kept looking like a 30 year old forever, because... reasons other than I find it hot.
• Draco was far closer to Narcissa than Lucius
• Ron is a dick
• Sirius, although an awesome guy, would not have made a great parent
• Bella and Voldemort... you know *wink wink kill me now*
• Cocaine (or the wizarding equivalent) is really popular amongst the ministry and death eaters
• Narcissa loved gardening but was never really permitted to persue it
• Jk Rowling initially wanted to make Voldemort Harry's dad but then someone pointed out The Empire Strikes Back and how it would be a complete rip off.
• Ginny and Harry wouldn't of worked out, Harry and Luna would've been better once they both grew up a bit.
• Harrymort is epic for a laugh.
• The idea of doors asking questions instead of needing a password was actually a really good idea if you could tweak it for the different years.

I'll add to it as I think of others, but these are just some casual thoughts that came to mind.

 

[Hella Downweather]

• The OWLs and NEWTs are set up for students to pass them, even with a low grade (imagine having a pureblood fail everything...I wouldn't be the poor ministry official that has to deal with the family)
• Trelawney is a bit like a dumb Cassandra in the mythos. Her predictions are always true, but she phrases them in such way they are not clear enough/she often confuses two people in them
• Hufflepuff have a secret dueling club, they make sure the younger years know how to defend themselves since they are often seen as a weak house
• While Harry was in Hogwarts, by the third year, the only student that really tried to win house point was Hermione. The others didn't see the point since Dumbledore would always make them win thanks to Harry
• A lot of Slytherin hate towards Gryffindor during the books is due to the privileged treatment Harry got, and while yeah he was the chosen one and an orphan, it was also the case of a lot of students due to the war.
• Slytherin and Hufflepuff are very protective of their members. While Ravenclaw and Griffindor are more individualists. (Ie : Draco still had support even by non Death Eater children, while Harry was constantly rejected by his house peers. Same for Luna)
• Wizard children are over spoiled due to how rare they are

 

[rae2nerdy]

Hella Downweather I always saw the Newts/Owls as the same as America’s Standardized tests. Like only the Hermione’s of the world or the professionals take them seriously.

Like in canon the only jobs you need any kind of high score for is Cop and Doctor (and Cop was willing to take a lot of unqualified kids after the war to have bodies with badges keeping shit running)

So I feel like it’s more or less just a way to justify the education the kids are getting at Hogwarts. Cuz not gonna lie there are a legit 3 qualified teachers directly mentioned (Some of Hermione’s electives might have been taught by competent people but we don’t really see those classes).

But otherwise you have McG, Flitwick, and Sprout as competent everyone else is on a rapidly sliding scale of incompetence until you hit your Binns/Lockhearts which just seemed to be a case of needing bodies (or spirits) in a classroom.

And given Hogwarts is always bragging about how they’re the best school in the world I legit think they just pull that from people passing their Tests. So I can definitely see them making the tests easy. More for the administration than the students. Cuz I feel like most parents wouldn’t care what grades their kids got as long as it was better than the “undesirable” students. And smart kids could just lie.

(Like really Draco why does your dad know Hermione has higher scores than you? Cuz your dumbass told him. Jesus your supposed to be cunning. Just lie)

 

[Hella Downweather]

rae2nerdy 100% agree for everything exam related. And I still don't understand why the students aren't taught basic maths (just for daily life people! it's useful!).

I think Dumbledore ideology towards the light and dark really influenced school curriculum too. Like no curses are really taught, in contrary to Durmstrang, and dark magic is a big no-no. However, in my humble opinion, it just makes matters worse when students create their own curses and don't really know how to defend against them.

Like if Borgins and Burkes is a legal establishment, why the heck isn't dark magic at least taught to higher grades?

Anyway, on the topic of teachers...

Snape IS pretty good at potions, a shame he is not a good teacher. Firenze isn't so bad in Divination either, but I don't think we really see him in the movies It seems again that Dumbledore preferred to hire staff due to their political stance rather than talent. (Don't really like the man, so I may be biased here).

And the level difference is really apparent when you compare Cedric to Fleur or Krum. Durmstrang champion is one the most skilled Quidditch player in the world, Beauxbâton champion is part Veela (pretty rare and pretty op) who can charm a freaking dragon to sleep, Cedric is a very good student...but if he is really what best Hogwarts has to offer, we can already see the power differences.

 

[rae2nerdy]

Hella Downweather I think another part of it is that Britain doesn’t have teacher certifications. Or if they do Dumbledore didn’t acknowledge them.

Because he seemed to have hired people based on their skill in the subject. And just cuz your good at a subject doesn’t mean you’ll be a good teacher.

 

[FliesandSpiders]

1. I don't buy the Ilvermorny serving all of North America. I feel like Canada and Mexico would have their own schools.

2. Snape and James 100% had a similar rivalry to Draco/Harry

3. Snape was unpopular in school because of the friends he chose to keep. He probably joined in on them bullying their fellow students(like I look at how he chooses to treat his students as an adult, and I truly can't believe he wasn't an idiot at school)

4. I don't blame people for not wanting to teach at Hogwarts(like I reread Harry Potter as an adult and like that school is dangerous under Dumbledore man..)

5. Cursed Child was Rita Skeeter's first attempt at writing a novel.

6. The all Slytherins are evil thing is really really annoying.

 

[rae2nerdy]

FliesandSpiders so I’m a hella nerd so I actually calculated out the population and number of kids in each country for the book timeline.

- Hogwarts takes in about 40 kids per a year (ex. 40 first years, 40 second years, etc.)

- JK said that both Beauxbaton and Durmstrange are bigger schools than Hogwarts. I have them at 169 & 172 kids per a year.

- I think North America has a larger population in general because unlike Europe they don’t have Wars every few years decimating their population.

- So Canada has over 200 kids per a year but the US alone had nearly 2000 kids (1909) per a year.

- So yeah there is literally no way that Ilvermorny exists as JK envisioned it. At best it’s a single school for Canada and it’s more like Durmstrang/Beauxbaton than Hogwarts.

- The US most likely has smaller state schools or maybe a handful of regional schools. Just because population, geography, and regional differences make one school extremely unlikely.

 

[Hella Downweather]

Other headcanons/ reflections I want to share to my fellow HP nerds

-At one time during his teacher career, Neville became the head of Gryffindor

-I really wanted to see more of Andromeda and Ned Tonk relationship. I find the books put more focus on Sirius being the black sheep of the Black family...but this woman escaped the house and married a muggleborn (which is the biggest middle finger she could've sent really) and we need more of her x.x

-Slytherin portrayal as an evil house is solidified by the fact people only see the ambition or cunning part of the house and not it's loyalty toward it's members. In our time, ambition, arrogance and having confidence in one's capacities is often demonized or ridiculed, which really doesn't help the perception of the house members. In the books, a hero should be humble, only walking the just and straight path. Whereas in real life...it's not always possible, or even detrimental to do so (try being humble when negotiating for a promotion or trying to promote your company...bad plan).

-Similarly, Hufflepuff's are often considered as harmless weaklings because they are the so called leftovers...but we often see them excelling in Quidditch or during exams (heck the chosen champion for Hogwarts was a Hufflepuff) so it's once again people jumping to conclusions. People often say Ron should've been sorted into Hufflepuff, but I think he lacks the group spirit needed to be in the house.

-Really recommend this quiz to know more where you stand as far as houses go :
Sortinghatchats Official Quiz by ejadelomax

Feel free to comment with your primaries and secondaries I'm quite curious to see where people here stand

 

[rae2nerdy]

Yeah I really wish she hadn’t chosen the timelines she did to put her focus. I feel like she would have been better spent to flesh out the Marauders Era than the Next Gen kids.

And I’ll rant about Fantastic Beasts another day. tl:dr she should just change it to Dumbledore in the Before Times and be done with it. Leave poor Newt out of your shenanigans JK.

- As for Sorting I have always felt like too many people treat it like a buzzfeed quiz giving your personality type. When if you go by basic personality you should really fit all the houses cuz they all have good personality traits that you can use later in life.

I tend to look at it more as being sorted based on Potential and Personal Values. In my mind the houses break down thusly :

- Gryffindor value action and activism. These are people who will actively fight for what they believe in. In school this usually manifests as Sports obsession but they are also the house most consistently rising up to fight injustice when they see it too. The Twins are an excellent example, in a normal school enviornment they’re kinda juat troublemaking slackers. But when Umbridge shows up they aren’t afraid to say fuck our education this bitch has to go.

I feel like Gryffindor shines in adversity and probably later in life. They are an excellent house for people who believe strongly in justice but might need a little help with self confidence and finding their voice.

- Ravenclaws love learning. This is often dismissed as kind of academic know it all ism. But I don’t think they actually care about school work or grades. Some probably do but they value learning not accolades. So for Ravenclaws it’s all about finding that thing your passionate about and learning as much as possible about it. They’re the house with open minds who question everything. But they are also low-drama individuals who don’t really get involved in fights or drama of the other houses. I feel like it’s a good house for genuine nerds and people who just want to learn more about the world around them without being bogged down by practical matters.

- Slytherin I feel like these are your overachievers. They are the people who are constantly striving for recognition by their peers and superiors. This would be the house of the Academics I feel, as grades are a good way of judging yourself against other kids. They’re also a house that respects the status quo and is very socially conscious. Not in the advocate sense but more in the, I know how society views me and how I want society to view me.

This is also a house for people who feel isolated from the world and need a place to belong. But at the same time aren’t comfortable with Hufflepuff more easy going demeanor


- Hufflepuff are the inclusivity house. It’s seen as a snide remark “they take the rest” but what it really means is they don’t expect you to compete for your spot in the house. You don’t have to prove yourself to Hufflepuff they’ll take your exactly as you are. Moreover they’ll support you no matter what (well unless you go full Death Eater). This is a house that values fairness and trying your best. I think they’re seen as weak because both Slytherin and Gryffindor thrive on competition and the Hufflepuff are just content to play the game.

This is the house for people who want everyone to feel welcome. The kids who are maybe a little more timid but gain confidence with support.

 

[rae2nerdy]

- As for my sorting I am definately Hufflepuff Primary and Ravenclaw secondary.

Growing up I was convinced I was a Ravenclaw because I’m basically the Latina version of Luna Lovegood. As this thread shows I am super passionate about the things I’m interested in and I’m by nature a loner. I don’t really care about the opinions of others and am perfectly content being by myself or with a group of trusted friends.

But I would always get Hufflepuff sorting (when I didn’t stack the answers for Ravenclaw). And as an adult I think it was just my potential (or primary) shining through. I am hard working but I’m also very into fair and inclusivity. I hate the idea of people who are being left out and treated poorly. On the other hand I have zero patience with trolls or people stirring the pot for attention. If your gonna show your hateful ass you can leave.

So I think in reality I would have been like Harry begging for Ravenclaw but placed in Hufflepuff for my own good. Ravenclaw wouldn’t have been something I needed to nurture my secondary tendencies. But hufflepuff would have been vital in getting me to come out of myself and be more social. Plus I think I have enough stubbornness and independence not to get caught up in group think too.

 

[Hella Downweather]

I am totally on your side...Marauder Era seems so interesting! Shenanigans, characters we already love, tension and drama, a more in depth look at how Voldemort managed to rise in power. We were cheated out of a great story. (At least we can read fanfictions or RP around it...)

But yeah...I often feel like I was the only one who didn't like Fantastic Beasts...it wasn't as compelling as the original series, as a big part of what I loved what the discovery of new magic and things wizards could do...But these movies just looked like they took a Hagrid Class and decided to make it a 3 hour movie.

I always felt the Sorting Hat went with values and core principles more than personality (cause...who has the exact same personality than when they were 11 years old?). By the way, I really enjoyed reading your description of the different houses!

For my sorting I'm a Slytherin Primary and I model both Slytherin and Hufflepuff for my secondary.

I'm more of the spirit of me and my family/close friend before everything else. Which explains my primary. And while I try to help people when I can, I refuse to burn myself and my resources by helping everyone and anyone. I choose my battles.

While growing up, I wasn't really feeling like I belonged into either houses really. Sure I am smart, but I only enjoy learning about specific things, and I don't like putting constant effort to learn. I'm not the most brave person, and I didn't understand why it was supposed to be a quality when really, it's just going against your instincts of fight or flee. I wasn't an evil and ambitious person, even if I was used to hang out with multiple people and communication theories of manipulation were pretty interesting, so Slytherin was a no. Which left Hufflepuff...but it wasn't satisfying either.

And then I kept being sorted into Slytherin. In Pottermore. In every freaking quiz that wasn't : hey...are you evil? yes? Slytherin! In freaking RP forums where I really tried to aim for Ravenclaw.

I would've been the kid praying for everything but Slytherin, with the hat putting me in the house anyway. I like to think we would've been crying together the first day, lamenting why we didn't get into Ravenclaw.

Only to be wayyy happier in the end surrounded by people pushing each other to be the best they can be. Without the fear of judgement.

 

[rae2nerdy]

Exactly I think a lot of kids have a very incorrect view of where they’ll end up because they start out basing it solely on personality. Which is a super simplistic view of what the houses stand for.

So unless your just one house above the others (ie The Weasley Twins or Luna Lovegood) then it’s gonna be the case of the Sorting Hat putting you where you need to go to thrive and you figuring out why later.

I also think a lot of fans where kind of influenced by the plot of the series. Where they’re either Ravenclaw (cuz I liked nerdy things like magic books) or Gryffindors (cuz I wanna be like the heroes)

And they kind of followed the books reasoning that Hufflepuff is for lame-os and Slytherin is for the edgy loners.

- I often wonder if other schools do have a House System. I am pretty sure Beauxbaton and Durmstrang just have dorms. Ilvermorny does but it was deliberately modeled after Hogwarts.

- I feel like the idea is interesting but it only works for a small boarding school. Larger schools the logistics of sorting are a nightmare, and for day schools you have after school activities for socializing

 

[moogamoogamooga]

My headcanon is pretty simple:
Harry ended up with Luna. She was always so accepting of him, and sure, he thought she was odd, but at the end of Book 5, Harry walks away Luna "a bit lighter than before", if I'm remembering correctly.

 

[rae2nerdy]

My headcanon is pretty simple:
Harry ended up with Luna. She was always so accepting of him, and sure, he thought she was odd, but at the end of Book 5, Harry walks away Luna "a bit lighter than before", if I'm remembering correctly.

I can see it. I always got more platonic vibes from them personally but then I headcanon Luna as being on the ace spectrum.

 

[moogamoogamooga]

I can see it. I always got more platonic vibes from them personally but then I headcanon Luna as being on the ace spectrum.

Now, that's not to say that I didn't personally see Ginny as viable. I've had crushes hit me in the face out of nowhere before too, with as violent and crazy as Ginny hit Harry. BUT...I don't think it's a good idea to date your best friend's sister. And Luna... I dunno. She just seemed to UNDERSTAND how Harry felt as a outcast and she could relate to what it's like to lose a parent under horrible violent circumstances. She was odd, but she seemed so... even-keeled, which in my mind would be a great foil to Harry's roller coaster of mood swings.
(I wonder if she became more normal after growing up and moving away from her dad. I had a homeschooled friend once with INSANE parents whose life became much more once she married and moved out of that house. I like to think the same thing happened to Luna.)

 

[rae2nerdy]

Now, that's not to say that I didn't personally see Ginny as viable. I've had crushes hit me in the face out of nowhere before too, with as violent and crazy as Ginny hit Harry. BUT...I don't think it's a good idea to date your best friend's sister. And Luna... I dunno. She just seemed to UNDERSTAND how Harry felt as a outcast and she could relate to what it's like to lose a parent under horrible violent circumstances. She was odd, but she seemed so... even-keeled, which in my mind would be a great foil to Harry's roller coaster of mood swings.
(I wonder if she became more normal after growing up and moving away from her dad. I had a homeschooled friend once with INSANE parents whose life became much more once she married and moved out of that house. I like to think the same thing happened to Luna.)

Oh I never saw Ginny as viable but I put that solely at the feet of JK. She is just not great at writing romance I feel so when she tries to add it in it feels awkward.

For Luna I just saw her as a nerd, so I feel like her interest in things comes across as very genuine. As someone who grew up with weird hobbies, and who regularly researches strange things even in my thirties, I never saw it as a product of her upbringing so much as just a personality trait. She reminded me of myself, a loner who was very comfortable in her own skin just reading about her nerdy interests.

Like I feel like a lot of nerdy girl narratives focus on how much the person wants to fit into the popular crowd or them having low self esteem. Luna felt more authentic because she was just herself without worrying about what other people thought.

I feel like as a nerdy kid I resonated with that. I was also fine just sitting by myself reading books. I am also on the aro/ace spectrum so her lack of love interest was another point that felt really authentic.

Like of course she isn’t going to worry about all that stuff. That’s what the other kids worry about, Luna is happy just being herself by herself.

 

[moogamoogamooga]

-- "She is just not great at writing romance I feel so when she tries to add it in it feels awkward."
Ain't THAT the truth! =D When Harry arrives at the Yule Ball to meet with Parvati, and Rowling goes on for a paragraph about how pretty Parvati looks in her Yule Ball outfit, Harry's only reply is: " 'Err...you look nice,' Harry said awkwardly." =D

 

[rae2nerdy]

Yeah she is a great mystery writer. Not so much with the romance.

 

[FliesandSpiders]

FliesandSpiders so I’m a hella nerd so I actually calculated out the population and number of kids in each country for the book timeline.

- Hogwarts takes in about 40 kids per a year (ex. 40 first years, 40 second years, etc.)

- JK said that both Beauxbaton and Durmstrange are bigger schools than Hogwarts. I have them at 169 & 172 kids per a year.

- I think North America has a larger population in general because unlike Europe they don’t have Wars every few years decimating their population.

- So Canada has over 200 kids per a year but the US alone had nearly 2000 kids (1909) per a year.

- So yeah there is literally no way that Ilvermorny exists as JK envisioned it. At best it’s a single school for Canada and it’s more like Durmstrang/Beauxbaton than Hogwarts.

- The US most likely has smaller state schools or maybe a handful of regional schools. Just because population, geography, and regional differences make one school extremely unlikely.

It's not even just the population, I was also thinking about the conflicts between Canada and the United States(which I feel like she kind of ignored). Like the United Empire Loyalists and the War of 1812(like I feel like that would make canadians sending their kids to Ilvermorny somewhat awkward.

She does mention that their do exist smaller school and home schooling is always an option....but in the writings she's extremely dismissive of what they would teach(which I feel is unfair)

Other headcanons/ reflections I want to share to my fellow HP nerds

-At one time during his teacher career, Neville became the head of Gryffindor

-I really wanted to see more of Andromeda and Ned Tonk relationship. I find the books put more focus on Sirius being the black sheep of the Black family...but this woman escaped the house and married a muggleborn (which is the biggest middle finger she could've sent really) and we need more of her x.x

-Slytherin portrayal as an evil house is solidified by the fact people only see the ambition or cunning part of the house and not it's loyalty toward it's members. In our time, ambition, arrogance and having confidence in one's capacities is often demonized or ridiculed, which really doesn't help the perception of the house members. In the books, a hero should be humble, only walking the just and straight path. Whereas in real life...it's not always possible, or even detrimental to do so (try being humble when negotiating for a promotion or trying to promote your company...bad plan).

-Similarly, Hufflepuff's are often considered as harmless weaklings because they are the so called leftovers...but we often see them excelling in Quidditch or during exams (heck the chosen champion for Hogwarts was a Hufflepuff) so it's once again people jumping to conclusions. People often say Ron should've been sorted into Hufflepuff, but I think he lacks the group spirit needed to be in the house.

1. I always felt Neville should be head of Gryffindor. He'd be such a nice head of house.

2. Ted/Andromeda was always one of my favourite pairings in HP. I always wanted to hear more about them. Andromeda was the first one to give me faith in the not all Slytherins are evil thing. And yeah it's hilarious that she ran off and married a muggle-born(and had Nymphadora probably a very short time later).....especially given who her sisters were. Like I love Sirius too, but Andromeda was the original rebellious child of their generation. On a side note I also want to here more about Andromeda and Sirius's relationship before she was essentially kicked out of the family.

3. I'm not sure how anyone arrived at the conclusion as Hufflepuff as "useless leftovers" when the traits they value are hard-work, loyalty, and fairness.

Now, that's not to say that I didn't personally see Ginny as viable. I've had crushes hit me in the face out of nowhere before too, with as violent and crazy as Ginny hit Harry. BUT...I don't think it's a good idea to date your best friend's sister. And Luna... I dunno. She just seemed to UNDERSTAND how Harry felt as a outcast and she could relate to what it's like to lose a parent under horrible violent circumstances. She was odd, but she seemed so... even-keeled, which in my mind would be a great foil to Harry's roller coaster of mood swings.
(I wonder if she became more normal after growing up and moving away from her dad. I had a homeschooled friend once with INSANE parents whose life became much more once she married and moved out of that house. I like to think the same thing happened to Luna.)

I kind of low-key ship Harry/Luna sometimes. Like she did seem to understand him, and she was perfectly willing to leave him alone when he wanted to be alone.

I mean I did kind of understand what Rowling was trying to do with with Harry/Ginny. His book feelings toward her are kind of based around the fact that she likes quidditch, makes him laugh, and seems to be in general non-weepy.

-- "She is just not great at writing romance I feel so when she tries to add it in it feels awkward."
Ain't THAT the truth! =D When Harry arrives at the Yule Ball to meet with Parvati, and Rowling goes on for a paragraph about how pretty Parvati looks in her Yule Ball outfit, Harry's only reply is: " 'Err...you look nice,' Harry said awkwardly." =D

To be fair Harry is pretty awkward in the girl's department. He seems completely unable to deal with girls that are crying or experiencing rage(like he never knows what to when Hermione bursts into tears). Like he dealt with his relationship with Cho also very very badly(like not understanding her need to talk about the death of her first boyfriend and not understanding about not telling a girl in the middle of a date that you want to go meet another girl).

As for the yule ball he liked Cho at the time. and he seems not to like dances.


Some other headcanons

1. Dudley married a witch. Also his kids got into Hogwarts....I don't care what J.K. Rowling says about this...I want it to happen so bad.

2. I like the idea that at least some of the Slytherins went back to fight against Voldemort in the final battle.

 

[rae2nerdy]

FliesandSpiders Oh do not get me started on all the history she fucked up from America. Some of it I don't really blame her for (tbf few Americans really remember that we fought Canada once upon a time). But she mentions slavery exactly zero times, and that's a HUGE part of American culture. And I am like you don't even need to know anything about American history to know that was a thing.

She also contradicts herself, like first the European wizards where friends with the Native People for a hundred years (roughly a full wizarding lifetime) but then the second the European settlers came along they were suddenly, sucks to suck for you? Like that doesn't even make logical sense, especially when she was trying to pretend there were no conflicts/racism/etc. and everyone was buddy buddy.

So yeah I usually treat her entire Magic in North America (and the International Magic Schools) as old fashioned essays written by the Ministry. Because one of the things I noticed is that they were all written from a very "European/British" centric lens so it makes sense to me that they were basically Ministry propaganda about how inferior/exotic the rest of the world is to the UK. And the actual reality of each of the countries is wildly different, just no one from that country has cared enough to correct the Brits. Cuz they're like "listen they're always in Wars and honestly kinda racist so whatever keeps them from bothering us is good."


I always thought that Dudley (and perhaps even Petunia) really had a come to Jesus moment later in life and started to rebuild that relationship. I listen to a lot of podcasts and you really do start to see how dysfunctional the family is and the parts where the parents failed both kids. I think Petunia with some therapy could really make some headway into having a functional relationship with both kids. Vernon is a lost cause, his family dynamic is all the way fucked up and he is not a man who does self-reflection.

I feel like Dudley especially grows up to learn how abusive his family was, not just to his cousin but to himself. I also feel like after the War Harry is kind of over the whole Wizarding World so I can see the two of them connecting in that time, maybe Dudley helping him (Harry) remember the good parts about the Wizarding War, minus all that Voldemort drama.

 

[moogamoogamooga]

"listen they're always in Wars and honestly kinda racist so whatever keeps them from bothering us is good."
Lol

Yeah, I like the thought that Harry and Dudley were roommates after the War and Dudley moved out of the house. I doubt Dudley would want to live in Grimmauld Place or ANY wizarding apartment... but Harry has lived in mundane places all his life. Maybe an apartment on the Muggle street next to the Leaky Cauldron or something. Let me set the scene:
ONE YEAR AFTER THE WAR: Dudley and Harry are both 18 now. Dudley is on the couch, watching TV, still wearing his uniform from <insert job here>, while Harry stomps in, his robes soaking wet (even though it's a bright sunny day). Dudley casually looks up from the couch: "Oy, where you been, mate?" Harry grumbles: "I don't want to talk about it" and stomps off to change, knocking over Dudley's ugly little wizarding plant that Dudley has taken a liking to.

 

[rae2nerdy]

lol I feel like Harry rebuilt his childhood home actually and he and Dudley lives there. It would be a way for both of them to bond (over renovations) and also it’s in a muggle/wizard neighborhood already so I can see the two actually being neighbors once one or both get married.

 

[moogamoogamooga]

Wait... 4 Privet Drive was destroyed? Maybe I just missed that, but I don't remember that happening...? 4 Privet Drive