HwaetWeGardena

Author of Antonin Dolohov fanfiction on Ao3. I am not especially active here but am using this space to share illustrations of Dolohov that I made, commissioned, or received as a gift.

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“It’s Time for Saying Goodbye”

On the Retirement of Hwaet

On April 18th, I finished my fiftieth fanfic: “Dangerous Creatures”, a four-chapter HEA Doomglitter. I included a statement of thanks in the notes beneath the first chapter, expressing gratitude to my readers for five years in the Potter fandom.

What I didn’t say until now is that “Dangerous Creatures” is not only the fiftieth fic to be published under HwaetWeGardena; it is also the last.

I have nothing of interest to report – “no dramas,” as my beloved Acacia might say. I am retreating from the Hwaet persona solely for reasons related to physical and mental health. To put it more bluntly, I have no axe to grind and no book to sell.

(I am never “re-skinning” anything for traditional publication. All the works you see under the HwaetWeGardena A03 name will remain there as long as the site exists.)

On a practical level:

I do not have an instagram, facebook, reddit, or TikTok presence. I will maintain this tumblr account solely as (a) a gallery for all the Dolohov art I’ve commissioned or doodled, so that others may still have access, and (b) a place to link visual aids/bonus materials for my longer fanfics. I will not be especially active here, though.

Furthermore, I regret to say that I might not be able to respond to A03 comments with any regularity going forward. Please know that I do read the comments and remain humbled by your feedback; I am simply prevented from engaging as often as I’d like because of offline obligations.

Nevertheless, I will be forever grateful to those who enjoyed my stories and imbued these creative spaces with kindness and authenticity, particularly during the period immediately following the pandemic.

The word Hwaet in Old English means “Listen!”, and I couldn’t have been more honored to discover people online who did indeed listen to my tales about my favorite Death Eater, the indomitable Antonin Dolohov. Being Hwaet for five years and fifty narratives has been a privilege – in truth, one of the most bountiful blessings of my life. This arena has changed me in ways both positive and permanent.

As the Anglo Saxons would have said:

Þancie þē.

Or as Antonin would say:

спасибо.

With love,

HwaetWeGardena

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Ugh I read your fic and came up with new art ideaaaa

Wait really? 🥹 Thank you so much for reading. That means the world to me. What was your idea?

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Was honored to have the chance to commission this Pansohov art from Sparklesmagiclightlove for “Dolohov Does Dragon Con,” my little ode to the best nerd convention in the northern hemisphere.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/35123743

Summary:

When Thorfinn Rowle first convinced Antonin Dolohov to start attending Atlanta's famous Dragon Con four years ago — packing enough liquor and snacks for a small army, of course — he never anticipated that the two of them would one day be donning their old Death Eater masks and robes, making their way through the Marriott lobby as the swirling mass of Muggles, amiable and clueless, guess the meaning of their costumes.

But one woman, dressed in a salacious cosplay of her own, does recognize those robes and masks. And, as it turns out, Pansy Parkinson is the only woman with the power to turn the "rehabilitated" Antonin Dolohov into something exquisitely feral.

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I had nothing to do with this; I just admired it from afar. This Antonin art by Lenivec really captured him at his most warlocky.

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This was a cover I commissioned for a story that never quite happened, in which Hermione doesn’t realize that her current landlord is actually her former enemy. But LunaP999 did an outstanding job with the art, and it deserves to be seen even if I wasn’t able to deliver the actual narrative.

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I didn’t commission this (it existed before I started as Hwaet), but this is one of my favorite Antonin pieces by the magnificent Bis__Art. Honestly, this aesthetic was pretty much the subconscious inspiration for how Antonin looks in my last Hannah Abbott/Dolohov story, “Broken Rules.”

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This was the first commission I ever initiated, and I could not have been more fortunate. Bis__art is a stylus goddess. She was in the internet vanguard of Dolohov illustration. I looked up to her immensely, and it was a colossal gift to have her talent and diligence gracing one of my projects.

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A little doodle I did of Detective Dolohov.

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Antonin/Hermione TikTok edit from my long-dead account. (I got thrown in TikTok jail in 2022 for showing clips of a Ukranian solstice festival with traditional fire-jumping, thereby “encouraging dangerous behavior amongst the youth.” 😂)

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Old Dolohov doodles (dolodoodles) by me.

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Cranky Dolohov sketch by me. (I didn’t get a chance to add the prison tattoo.)

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LunaP999 was kind enough to draw this scene from a chapter of “The Death Eater’s Daughter” for me as a gift (she even specifically depicted the brand of lingerie I’d described Hermione as wearing).

“The Death Eater’s Daughter”:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/56617243/chapters/143907505

Summary:

In the decade that Hermione Granger has been a Mind Healer, she has grown especially fond of one client: an ebullient, bombastic teenager named Natalya, the child of a manic American artist and a mysterious, unmarried doctor who pays for her therapy sessions, but never attends them. However, on the day before Hermione takes a hiatus from her job (worried by threatening letters from an anonymous stalker), she learns that Natalya’s father is none other than the sorcerer whose formidable magic once carved an aubergine wound in her flesh.

Their initial reunion in the office lobby has explosive results. But when a woefully intoxicated Antonin Dolohov shows up two weeks later on the doorstep of her flat – brandishing a bouquet of roses and begging Hermione for her renewed assistance with his rebellious child – she cannot find it within her heart to refuse. As she resumes her meetings with his daughter, she is increasingly drawn toward the handsome mage who was once her enemy – even as her real enemy still lurks in the margins, moving from ink into incarnate peril. Hermione and Antonin must work together to secure her safety, all while realizing they could become the family Natalya desperately desires.

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Michiel Huisman for GQ, 2015 – "The New Breed of Blue Suit" – photography by Anders Overgaard

This photoshoot in particular heavily inspired the aesthetic of how I pictured Antonin Dolohov in "The Otter and the Bear," so I thought it might be helpful to link these in the author's notes.

The New-and-Improved Blue Suit

Game of Thrones henchman Michiel Huisman throws shade after shade on the streets of America's bluesiest city: New Orleans

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Michiel Huisman in NOLA for GQ, 2015 [fancast inspiration footage for "The Otter and the Bear", linked in the notes for chapter 1]

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Not Antonin related, I know, but I was thrilled to have the chance to commission this from ArtemisDrcgon for Malfoyesque as an illustration for her brilliant Dramione fanfic, “Immaculate Misconception.”

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Art commissioned from LunaP999 by me as an illustration for my 2025 Ginny/Antonin one-shot, “Never a Game”:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/65860654

Summary: “Ginny Weasley has found true love with the last man she would have expected, but his past forces them to keep their relationship in the shadows. As the need for secrecy weighs more and more on her wizard, who yearns to be a husband and a father, Ginny plans a momentous birthday surprise which Antonin Dolohov will never forget.”

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Illustration commissioned by me from TeaandTapestry to accompany “To Have and to Hold,” an Antomione one-shot influenced by Wedding Crashers (2005):

https://archiveofourown.org/works/32359687

Summary:

By all outward appearances, Antonin Dolohov and Thorfinn Rowle should have had no difficulty on the dating scene, but an irreversible dark mark on the inside of their forearms tended to act as the strongest witch repellent imaginable – which is part of why, three years ago, Thorfinn first harangued Antonin into the wacky habit of crashing weddings, coming up with new identities for each event and reaping the benefits of the ceremonial romance every time. The reformed Russian Death Eater has grown tired of the charade, aching for something meaningful, but at the end of the season his Viking compatriot approaches him with “the greatest crash of all time”: the Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley wedding.

Unable to resist his friend’s cajoling, Antonin journeys to the Burrow in his best black tuxedo, unaware that the woman he has long regretted having harmed (who also started the program that got him out of Azkaban) is a member of the wedding party. Antonin is about to discover that this truly will be their greatest crash of all time – and that forgiveness tastes sweeter than he ever could have hoped.