#mudblood

[gilderoy-lockhart-n1fan]

It was real fucked up of Lily to hide a laugh at Severus's assault, make fun of Severus's dirty clothes knowing damn well his family was so poor he had to wear his mother's, old, mismatched, ill-fitting clothes, and leave him to be tortured by the Marauders in front of everyone else.

She just came, told them to stop, got mad at Severus for calling her a Mudblood— despite having previously defended James to Severus's face after years of James and his friends abusing Severus four against one—, was classist, aided assault, and left.

Something about her character as a whole just feels kinda privileged to me, like, the type of character that believes they're always right and won't accept things to go any way that isn't their way, like she thinks nothing can touch her.

A bit like Hermione when she first appeared. In a sense. A bit like Draco when he's taunting.

Some 15 year olds are just like that, I think.

[wisteria-lodge]

Huh, I always thought the movie having Hermione explain the slur was weird, since we have no indication that she was ever called that before, and while she can tell it's an insult, it makes more sense for Ron, who grew up in the wizarding world, to understand the severity of it than her, who's just entered the world a year prior. Knowing a word is a slur and having baggage with can be different. And it is severe—Draco says it, likely parroting his father, but we don't see anyone else really say it until politics get more fraught later on. I don't think regular students like Lavender or Parvati are throwing that word around, and not to Hermione's face. Isn't her initial lack of friends due to her attitude, not her blood status?

I think this comes back to a worldbuilding question that the books don't reeeally answer. Which is: how widespread is anti-muggleborn sentiment BEFORE Voldemort comes back? Like outside of your extremists and your cult members, what does your regular wizard citizen think about muggleborns? And how taboo do they consider the term "mudblood."

We know that being Muggle-born is definitely a notable trait. It's the first thing Rita Skeeter brings up when she mentions Hermione in her articles, and there seems to be a sort of... social climber narrative there? "a stunningly pretty Muggle-born girl" "a plain but ambitious girl" - I wonder if that might be a muggle-born, stereotype? That they're "scarlet women" (as per Mrs Weasley)? I mean, with the power/money of the wizarding world pretty firmly with the purebloods, muggle-borns are definitely a disenfranchised minority, so maybe a lot of them do try to marry up.

I also wonder if being muggle-born fuels some of Hermione's intense know-it-all tendencies, psychologically. She probably has the feeling that she's constantly playing catch-up (so she better be insanely well prepared.) And a sense that - well she better not mess this up, because there's no safety net. Slughorn seems to have a sort of bigotry of low expectations around muggle-borns, seeming "much too surprised that a Muggle-born should make a good witch." Which would ALSO fuel Hermione's need to not just be good, but to be better, because that's the only way to get on even footing with the purebloods.

“Your mother was Muggle-born, of course. Couldn’t believe it when I found out. Thought she must have been pure-blood, she was so good.” “One of my best friends is Muggle-born,” said Harry, “and she’s the best in our year.” “Funny how that sometimes happens, isn’t it?” said Slughorn. “Not really,” said Harry coldly. Slughorn looked down at him in surprise. “You mustn’t think I’m prejudiced!” he said. “No, no, no! Haven’t I just said your mother was one of my all-time favorite students?"

It's clearly considered a bit rude to be too open about your muggle born prejudice - Slughorn doesn't want to seem prejudiced, especially after Harry doesn't respond to his subtle "Muggleborns, they're weird huh?" feeler. But Aunt Muriel, who has no problem being rude, is very happy to bring up anti muggle-born sentiment:

“Dumbledore’s mother was a terrifying woman, simply terrifying. Muggleborn, though I heard she pretended otherwise —”

and then when talking about Hermione:

‘Oh dear, is this the Muggle-born? (..._) Bad posture and skinny ankles.’

There's also Sirius' take that his parents were fans of Voldemort's politics, but not his methods:

They thought Voldemort had the right idea, they were all for the purification of the Wizarding race, getting rid of Muggleborns and having purebloods in charge. They weren’t alone either, there were quite a few people, before Voldemort showed his true colors, who thought he had the right idea about things. . . . They got cold feet when they saw what he was prepared to do to get power, though.

Durmstrang doesn't accept muggle-born students at all, and they're "mainstream" enough to be invited to the Triwizard Tournament and have celebrity alumni. So this doesn't seem to be regarded as a super out-there policy, culturally. And then there's just how fast people start complying with the ministry anti-Muggleborn polices.

“People won’t let this happen,” said Ron. “It is happening, Ron,” said Lupin. “Muggle-borns are being rounded up as we speak.”

The the term "Mudblood" specifically - it's clearly something that Draco and Lucius feel very comfortable using, although Lucius probably is smart enough to only use it in private. Alicia responds to it with a "How dare you!” but Madame Malkin has the more subdued “I don’t think there’s any need for language like that!” So it's rude, but there's still a range of reactions. From what we see, the Weasleys react unusually explosively.

Obviously the Gaunts, the Blacks, and the Death Eaters drop "mudblood" all the time, but there's something in how it seems to become a neutral, almost official term at the Ministry during the Voldemort occupation. We have Pius Thicknesse say “If you ask me, the blood traitors are as bad as the Mudbloods," quite casually at work. A random pamphlet-maker idly says “Will the old hag be interrogating Mudbloods all day, does anyone know?” And maybe that's not so surprising, since one of the official pamphlets is called "Mudbloods and the Dangers they Pose to a Pure-Blood Society."

My read on all this is that anti-muggleborn prejudice is pretty common, and while Lavender and Parvati aren't calling Hermione "mudblood" to her face or anythng, they probably came to Hogwarts with certain preconceptions about muggleborns being -untrustworthy, or slow, or whatever. Like they've at least heard it somewhere, even if that's not the attitude their parents have. I'm sure it didn't help Hermione make friends. Especially in year one - Hermione doesn't have the social buffer that is Harry and Ron, and she hasn't made herself a reputation as "the smart one" yet. I do think that she would have been hit with some anti-muggleborn prejudice, even if it was something subtle. And Hermione's got an investigative streak, if something weird happened to her, someone treated her oddly, someone said something that doesn't make sense, she would have done some follow-up.

It's entirely possible that Draco would still be first person to call her "mudblood" to her face - but it's also very, very possible that he's not.

[maxdibert]

The day Severus Snape finally called Lily Evans a mudblood, there was a party in the Slytherin Common Room. Evan Rosier came up to him and said, “Damn Snape, finally". Mulciber gave him a hug out of sheer excitement, and Avery commented that he thought the day would never come when Snape would finally tell that bitch to fuck off. Even Regulus Black, who usually never spoke to him, looked at him that day, nodded, and said “Took you long enough.”

Because if there was one thing the Slytherins of that time found harder to tolerate than a mudblood, it was a mudblood who acted like she was special just because one of their own had decided no one could touch her. That, and the fact the girl was toxic as hell, and just hearing her shrill voice near the dungeons made every single one of them feel like killing themselves.

[chaoticshitstick]

Like Tryin' To Start a Fire With Matches In The Snow ✧. ┊ 

Draco Malfoy x muggleborn! reader

aka: love knows no bounds

female reader

(( Y/N means your name // L/N means last name ))

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

It was a fact, whether spoken or unspoken, that Draco Lucius Malfoy was a major prick.

Everyone in the castle knew it. The students, the prefects, the professors. Hell, even Dumbledore knew.

The one thing nobody knew was how to stop it.

Anytime anyone would threaten some kind of consequence, it was the same outcome.

"My father will hear about this!" he'd scream.

But would his father hear about him falling in love?

Draco hasn't even grasped the fact that he was; he could never. Not with a mudblood.

Yet every time his icy, cold eyes land on her, his world stops. Everything freezes up, his breath catches in his throat, and he can feel his hands start to tremble. He's convinced himself these are all side effects of hate. The way his heart pounds against his ribcage when he gets the slightest whiff of her perfume, or when he can make out your soft giggle amongst a crowd.

It drove him crazy. Drove his friends even crazier. This... obsession he had with you, it was worse than his with Potter. You were all he could think about. Your soft features claw at the corners of his brain until he is overtaken by you.

It caused him to change. He got quieter, less likely to yell at passersby, but he was so much more irritable. Someone or something got him mad? He stayed mad. He lashed out at anything he found even slightly worthy of his anger.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Everything felt wrong. He felt wrong.

Normally when Draco wakes up, he's spry, dreading school but relishing in the fact that he gets to bully. Today was... different. Everytime he thought about nagging at someone, his stomach turned and his face grew hot.

Every time he thought about nagging someone, he thought of you.

He went on through his day, trying to act as if everything was fine and dandy. Though it just seemed fake. Draco seemed like a shell of himself. He walked past Harry Potter ALONE in the halls and didn't utter a single sound.

It was wrong.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Now here he sat, head collapsed in trembling hands, in the back of the library. His breath was shallow, each shakier than the next. He couldn't think. His thoughts ran amok in his head about the speed of light, all jumbled and barely cohesive.

Draco was so lost, he didn't stir at the pitter of soft footsteps approaching his table.

The girl stood and observed, taking in the disheveled man in front of her. Unlike most in the school, she held pity for him. Her father had multiple run-ins with the boys' own, and those never went well. Though she held him no disdain.

"Are you alright?" her voice was lilted, almost cheerful. The melodic and warm sound hit Draco's ears hard, and he jolted upwards, causing the girl to flinch.

Of course he recognized the girl's voice, it practically voiced his consciousness. He lived and breathed the sweet song of her vocal cords. He'd bottle it and drink it if he could.

Albeit lovely to hear, Draco grimaces at her voice, his eyebrows pulling together tightly. His eyes are obviously strained, heavy with lack of sleep.

He spits out a quick, "Bugger off," voice cracking as he spoke. His eyes quickly diverted from (Y/N)'s own. Draco's eyes held a distant, yet present, lick of longing.

He yearned so badly for the comfort silently offered in the eyes of the girl. Never once had (Y/N) ever reprimanded him. Draco has fully screamed in her face and openly trashed her blood-class, but she never held any hatred. Her eyes were still full of that kind warmth they always carried.

(Y/N)'s brows are furrowed, a look of confusion washing over her face. Draco looked off.

No.

He looked wrong.

He was paler than normal, and his blond hair was slightly stuck to his forehead via sweat. He looked sick.

Lovesick.

Your face pulls into a pout, and you ask again. “You didn’t answer my question, are you alright?”

Draco’s face pales, he wasn’t expecting you to double down. He doesn’t have the willpower to turn you away, to argue. All he wants to do is collapse and cry.

He opens his mouth to bark out an order for you to leave, but all that comes out is a pained, whimper like sound.

(Y/N) is visibly put off by the sound, very much not expecting it. She is quick to slide into the bench next to Draco. He flinches slightly, but fighting the inevitable takes too much energy out of his already weary body.

Draco gives in. His face contorts, and he collapses into (Y/N)’s shoulder, his entire body shaking with the weight of each sob. (Y/N) snakes her arms around him, pulling him into her chest for a more comfortable position.

The two sit there for the entirety of the feast. Draco pouring his heart out, (Y/N) listening. He told her everything.

About his life, his father, how his father treated him and his mother, the dark mark, about how exhausting it is trying to impress a father who refuses to look at you.

Worst of all. Draco apologizes. He apologizes about how he treated everyone, that he was projecting, and always hated how he was.

It was a fact, whether spoken or unspoken, that Draco Lucius Malfoy was a major prick.

but he didn’t want to be.

(Y/N) could feel her own eyes welling with tears. Draco has done so much harm, it’s not right of her to forgive him. But here he sits, sobbing hysterically in her arms, begging for forgiveness.

(Y/N), although hesitantly, pulls the boy into a proper hug. Her arms coiling tightly around his torso. Draco melts into her, his body conforming to his as if it was a missing piece to a puzzle.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

The following days, Draco seemed much more at ease. It had been almost a week since he ignited an argument with someone, and even longer since he yelled at someone. He began being actually friendly towards Crabbe and Goyle, tolerating Pansy, and even a lack of animosity towards Potter.

Draco Lucius Malfoy is a changed man. And to think, it’s all because of a muggle born, who he now proudly reps on his arm.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

this has been in drafts for like… 4 months?? i got broken up with and took a LOOONNNG writing hiatus, but we so back bay be

next post: EDWARD CULLEN X GN READER (REVERSE COMFORT)

[inthemoodforblastt]

Hi, what do you think of the way Hermione treats her parents? Besides the whole strange and bizarre thing with the memory erasure, Hermione progressively spends less and less time with her parents to the point of not wanting to go on vacation with them and not returning home for holidays. I always thought this would be dealt with and dismissed as irrelevant. Also, if I'm not mistaken, she was present at the scene with Mr. Robert (the Muggle from the Quidditch World Cup) and didn't say anything against the way the wizards cooked the poor guy's brain with memory spells.

I honestly think this is one of the most absurd things in the whole saga, because in what universe does a girl who’s an only child, has a good relationship with her parents, and comes from a functional family just turn 15 and suddenly stop spending holidays with them altogether?

First, I don’t get why her parents wouldn’t just put their foot down and tell her she’s doing what they say, she’s still a kid, and they barely see her all year. Second, I don’t understand how, if she supposedly loves them so much, she can just ignore them to the point where they basically become NPCs in her life. And third, it just feels like a straight-up plot hole. Like, if Muggles and Muggle-borns are so important and discrimination is such a big theme, how is it possible that all Muggle-borns end up completely abandoning not just their culture but their families to go live in the magical world and never look back? How are they okay with wizards messing with Muggles’ minds whenever they feel like it?

At the end of the day, it feels like the only thing that matters to them as Muggle-borns is what someone like Draco Malfoy says to them at school, not any real awareness of the political and cultural reality, or how incredibly paternalistic wizards are toward Muggles. Honestly, I’d rather have Draco Malfoy calling me a slur a thousand times than Arthur Weasley acting like an “ally” while talking about Muggles like they’re chimpanzees in a lab. And Hermione doesn’t seem to care, of course. But then again, Lily didn’t either, apparently. It’s something none of them seem to care about.

[cuckolded-by-the-king-of-dips]

“You’re certain that hair is hers?”

“…Positive.”

[alicenchanted]

⊹pov: she's a hermione granger girl⊹

"It’s sort of exciting isn’t it? Breaking the rules."

[fannedandflawless]

Mudblood: The Slur, The Snub, and the Silken Guillotine

📌 Disclaimer: This isn’t a hit piece—it’s a character study dressed in sequins and sharpness. I adore layered characters, and that includes Lily Evans. But just because we don’t villainise her doesn’t mean we can’t question her. If you’re here to defend her honour—darling, she’s already done that herself in heels.

Darling, we all know this was never just about a word—so no, I won’t say "let’s unpack it" like we’re in a cursed TED Talk. "Mudblood" is not some quaint slur from wizarding history—it’s verbal arsenic, sugar-coated in tradition, and served cold in the corridors of power. It doesn’t bruise; it brands. And in Lily Evans’ case? It detonated.

Let’s stir the cauldron.

⸻

Why Does "Mudblood" Sting So Deeply?

It’s not just a rude word, sweetie—it’s a full-scale character assassination disguised as heritage pride. "Mudblood" doesn’t mean you’re different. It means you’re defective. Impure. Unworthy by birth. The kind of word that doesn’t slap—it slashes.

And Lily? She walked into this glittering world with no family crest, no ancestral vault—just talent. She earned every ounce of respect. Which is why, when Severus Snape—her supposed ride-or-die—spat the word at her in public? The sting wasn’t just social. It was surgical.

⸻

Lily Evans: Ego in Silk Glove

Lily’s whole existence in the magical world was built on one thing: I deserve to be here. And she proved it, robes pressed and posture perfect. But when Sev called her that word—in front of everyone, while she was stepping in on his behalf—it wasn’t just hurt. It was humiliation with glitter on top.

She wasn’t just betrayed. She was embarrassed. And darling, if you’ve learned anything from women like Lily—it’s that they don’t do public shame. She didn’t just shut the door on Severus. She slammed it, locked it, hexed it shut, and embroidered the doormat with "no returns."

⸻

Forgiveness? Only When It Matches the Outfit

Let’s not forget who Lily did forgive. James Potter: schoolyard menace turned main character in her redemption arc. He hexed Severus for sport. He humiliated him. Did Lily cut him off? Oh no. She let him in, polished him up, and married the makeover.

Severus apologised until his throat ran dry. Waited outside Gryffindor Tower like a drenched Victorian ghost. But the girl with standards didn’t flinch. She wasn’t building bridges. She was curating her guest list.

⸻

And here stands Hermione Granger

Twelve years old—three years younger than Lily was when she heard the same word. Draco Malfoy hurled it—Mudblood—in front of Harry, Ron, and both the Gryffindor and Slytherin Quidditch teams. Did she cry? Yes. But her first instinct wasn’t rage—it was concern. She turned to Ron (who had just backfired a spell while defending her and was vomiting slugs), worried for him more than herself. Did she crumble? Absolutely not.

Hermione didn’t burn bridges. She built barricades—with books. She turned the insult into fuel. She didn’t retaliate with hexes or heartbreak. She just outperformed them all.

She didn’t wear pride like perfume. She wore purpose like armour.

Two Women, Same Word, Different Spells Lily’s response? Cut, burn, erase. Hermione’s? Absorb, alchemise, rise.

And while both are valid, one leads to legacy—the other, to legend.

⸻

What’s the Real Tea?

"Mudblood" isn’t just a slur. It’s a crucible. And how you respond tells the world exactly who you are. Lily responded like royalty denied a throne. Hermione responded like a queen who didn’t need one.

Lily wasn’t wrong to feel hurt. But let’s be honest—this wasn’t about justice. It was about ego in a velvet box. And when that box was cracked open in public? She shut the world out and refused the return address.

Forgiveness isn’t taught at Hogwarts, darling. But grace? Hermione brought her own syllabus.

Lily chose pride. Hermione chose power.

And oh, how the story could’ve changed if Lily had done the same.

⸻

As for me? I think I’d have done exactly what Hermione did. Because being Muggle-born doesn’t mean being lesser—it means magic found you worthy without a single drop of pedigree. And frankly, if I were standing there, I’d be proud enough to raise an eyebrow and ask: darling, aren’t you currently sharing a classroom with me? (backed by the subtle sass of “Yes, And?” by Ariana Grande)

⸻

Related posts from the Lily Evans character studies:

Lily Evans: Golden Girl or Something Sharper

The Role of Pride in Lily Evans’ Unforgiving Nature—Was It Principle, Ego, or Both?

Selective Loyalty and the Lily Problem