🦊 What if Sirius Black left more than grief behind? What if someone was waiting for him? 🪞 Fanfic. Foreshadowing. Family secrets. 📖 “The Vixen & the Dog” now posting.
Introducing the prologue of my story. If you’ll like it, read the next few chapters. More coming soon. I’ll greatly appreciate any feedback. I wish you a nice reading and a pleasant day.
The Vixen and The Dog - Prologue (on Wattpad) https://www.wattpad.com/1503480317-the-vixen-and-the-dog-prologue?utm_source=web&utm_medium=tumblr&utm_content=share_reading&wp_uname=Nilla336 Ivy Minkers leads a perfectly normal life. Home-learning. Chess matches with her twin sister. Hanging out with their muggle best friend. Sure, she's nervous about joining Hogwarts in third year - but Uncle Remus will be there, so what could possibly go wrong? One morning, she finds her mother - a sharp-tongued ex-socialite with French roots - crying over a newspaper. And everything unravels. Her world wasn't as safe as she thought. The people she trusted have been lying. Her so-called normal life? A golden cage in disguise. And now she has to spend the next ten months pretending everything is fine. The Sorting Hat separates her from the one person who understands. And, to top it off... she's starting to feel sympathy for a murderer. A traitor. Her father.
Hey, guys, so I'm back sooner than I thought, and my head is pulsing with new ideas! Our essay-day poll ended with a three-way tie, so let's have a rematch!
Which day should be an essay day?
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Remaining time: 2 days 9 hours
I know you're waiting for the movies analysis, but first I'm going to have a little surprise for you...No spoilers, but you should be satisfied ;)
Listen, folks, for the next ~2 months I'll be needing 100% of my creative energy to get an original short story ready for a competition. One of the prizes is publication, so I hope those of you who write will understand why at times like this fanfiction has to go down on the priorities list. Don't worry, this is what my lock screen looks like, so I won't be able to forget (also, I have "Ehehehe" as my notification sound and Hedwig's theme as alarm and ringtone. Yes, I am excited about such things and yes, I am in mid-20s). When I'll be back, I'll give you your movies essay.
Also, let me know if you'd be interested in reading my original fiction!
P.S. @notoriouswip, if you'll get sth done in your story, write me. I'm not going to move to the jungle until my story is done.
Okay guys, so the winning topic is "How did the movies do Sirius dirty". Thank you for every vote!
To be specific, I'm going to compare book and movie Sirius' character arcs, explain where are the differences coming from, how they change the receivers' reception and how they could be eliminated (from an aspiring screenwriter's pov).
As you can imagine, writing something like this takes time (I'd have to rewatch all the eight movies, take notes etc.). So, I can't promise you any specific date, but let me know on which day of the week you'd like me to publish it!
If we'd established that Sunday is a New Chapter day and Tuesday a Vote Start Day, which day of the week should be an Essay Day?
A question for those special people who already know and like my meta posts/essays. I have several ideas for them, but queueing them one after the other leaves me with too much pressure and as a result I don't write a word/post everyday for a short time and disappear. I thought I'd let you guys decide what you'd like to see the most out of my ideas and post rarer, but with better quality. When we'll be done with one idea, I'll redo the poll. If you have your own suggestions, let me know in the comments!
Which subject would you like me to cover next in an essay?
Were Orion and Walburga physically abusive?
Was Sirius a heartbreaker?
Why did Sirius have to be a single in canon?
Was Snape Draco's godfather?
How did the movies do Sirius dirty
Dementors' language
Muggle education's superiority over the wizarding one
Forget about the essays for now and focus on V&D's new chapter
What If Sirius Black Survived? | A Second Chance at Life
#hogwarts #fanfiction #siriusblack #marauders #whatif
Friendly reminder that today is exactly thirty years since Sirius died. On November 3rd 2026 he would turn 67 years old, which is fairly young in today's standards.
Like I said when I started this blog, it wasn't until I read Order of the Phoenix that I realized that words printed on paper can actually make you cry. I was ~12 back then. Now I'm 26 and I still can count books that made me cry on the fingers of one hand. And maybe it's weird, but I dream that one day I'll write something able to move people to tears.
Rest in peace, Padfoot. We'll never forget your sacrifice. You definitely deserved better.
I know it's just a book but blaming yourself for 12 years and not trying to escape the prison even though you can transform into an animal and get past Dementors is wild
"Just a book". It's through literature that we access emotions and experience situations that'd normally be out of reach. I mean, how many of you know people serving time for mass murder? One they didn't actually commit?
As for the rest of the post, I like to think that Sirius was aware all the time that he could transform into a dog, but he thought he didn't deserve freedom. Dementors are supposed to symbolize depression, right? And depression doesn't make you forget happiness - quite the opposite, you remember it vividly, but think you're unworthy of feeling it (I'm diagnosed with MADD and spent almost two years on being closely acquainted with antidepressants, so I know what I'm talking about, but I can speak only for myself). So, for these twelve years being aware that he could walk out any second was just another torture device for Sirius.
But all this time, he had one thought at the corner of his mind - that Wormtail had escaped. He trained his mind to focus on the negative aspect - he escaped, so he could enjoy freedom when Sirius was rotting among dementors - but there was a quiet voice at the very back of his head whispering "If he had escaped, he could raise his head. And when he will..."
So he waited. And waited.
And then - bam! Exactly the family Peter was hiding at did something that made them appear in the newspaper. What were the odds?
I think when Sirius saw that picture, he was silently happy crying. And later, when he got a hold of a wand, he could've casted a patronus (non-corporeal, but still) using that memory, if happiness wasn't mixed with blinding fury.
Don't lose hope, fox cubs. If Sirius spent twelve years with dementors and still got his moment, then who knows what's waiting for all of us around the corner?
The dog with red eyes and bloody teeth is both pretty and scary, as well as young Sirius with only whites visible. The whole picture has gothic/horror vibes that I absolutely love.
And, if The Prank was mentioned, I think it's as good moment as any other to talk about it. Okay, let's start.
Firstly, let me emphasize something: I'm not going to defend Sirius. Him sending Snape to face the werewolf was unforgivable, cruel and the worst thing he's ever done - especially that even as a grown man he didn't show any signs of remorse because of that. Let's face it, it was an oblique intent or depraved-heart murder at best. He should've paid consequences and Snape had every right to hate him and open a bottle of Firewhiskey after he died.
Y'know the next thing I'm going to say is "but", right? Let's do a read-more line for the people who prefer to see the Snape-Marauders situation in the shades of black and white. I encourage the rest of you to read until the end before you write a comment in which you'll accuse me of being tunnel-visioned and blinded by Sirius' good looks.
Let's look at what we know for sure. In the school year of 1975/1976 (evidence: in PoA Remus says the Marauders became animagi in fifth grade, and in DH Lily brings up the incident when talking to Snape, which means they were still on speaking terms when it happened.
Uh-huh! Lily brought it up, which means the students knew something happened, even if they didn't know what exactly. Remember that, ok? We're going to need that information in a second.
What else do we know for sure? James, Sirius and Peter became unregistered animagi - which, let me remind you, is illegal enough to be a valuable blackmail material (remember Harry's interview for Quibbler?). Hermione says it openly - you can go to Azkaban for that. Noted? Okay, moving on...
Our unregistered animagi were sneaking out to cosplay Dora the Explorer with a werewolf full moon after full moon. It'd be logical to want to keep it a secret (especially that you know you have an enemy who'd love to see you expelled), right?
So, what'd be the stupidest thing to do in that situation?
Handing said enemy your secret on a silver plate.
Which is exactly what Sirius did.
He spent three years of his life on animagus training.
There is no way in hell he didn't know it was illegal.
He knew that Snape was onto him and his friends.
And he just...told him their secret.
Sirius "You Should Have Died Rather Than Betray Your Friends" betrayed his friends.
Let's assume the worst case scenario - that he wanted to get Snape killed. Two questions:
What did Snape do to piss him off that much?
Didn't he know that if his plan - whatever it was - succeeds, his friends would be in the biggest trouble ever?
And if it doesn't, the result can be similar/the same?
I know the guys weren't too secretive about this - they were openly joking about Remus being a werewolf after their DADA O.W.L. - but he cut the jokes short, and during The Prank James ran after Severus as soon as he found out what Sirius did. The latter fact tells us two things:
Potter knew what the risk was.
Sirius' deed was his own initiative.
They didn't want their secret to get out, and it did to some extent (Lily, remember?)
Plus, one more remark - remember whose perspectives we have on what happened: Snape's, Sirius' and Lupin's. I wouldn't call any one of them a reliable witness. The first two are proud and see each other as the source of all evil, so if - hypothetically! - the case was that Snape was constantly nagging until Sirius snapped and was like "Okay, just poke the Whomping Willow with a stick and see what happens!", neither one of them would admit it.
Does such a scenario make Sirius any less and Snape more guilty of what happened? Most certainly not. As usual, I'm just encouraging you to look at things from a broader perspective.
Let me know what you think, especially if you'll notice I omitted something important!
I just love this picture. Padfoot is no longer the cuddly comfort animal that was lying on a meadow with Harry on a picture I shared a few days ago. It's the fierce, grab-Ron-by-the-ankle-and-get-Wormtail-at-all-costs kind of Padfoot. His alter ego, Grim (doctor Jekyll/Mr. Hyde kind of a situation. If I saw something like that at night, I'd get a heart attack.
And as for the young Sirius...What can I say? Only this:
He transformed into the great black dog before they left the cave, and they walked back down the mountainside with him, across the boulder-strewn ground, and back to the stile. Here he allowed each of them to pat him on the head, before turning and setting off at a run around the outskirts of the village.
think it is a Very Important detail that sirius as padfoot lets the trio give him head pats as they say goodbye after the cave scene in gof
more important padfoot things, during the king’s cross trip in ootp:
But the great black dog gave a joyful bark and gamboled around them, snapping at pigeons, and chasing its own tail. Harry couldn’t help laughing. Sirius had been trapped inside for a very long time.
he is this delighted after simply having stepped minimally outside of grimmauld place for a few seconds
It took them twenty minutes to reach King’s Cross by foot and nothing more eventful happened during that time than Sirius scaring a couple of cats for Harry’s entertainment.
sirius’s method of making his fifteen year old godson laugh is to scare cats. also i guess he doesn’t get along with ALL cats, crookshanks is an exception
“Nice dog, Harry!” called a tall boy with dreadlocks.
“Thanks, Lee,” said Harry, grinning, as Sirius wagged his tail frantically.
sirius wagging his tail frantically when when someone calls him a nice dog LMAO
For one brief moment, the great black dog reared onto its hind legs and placed its front paws on Harry’s shoulders.
trying to give harry a goodbye hug as a dog :(
“See you!” Harry called out of the open window as the train began to move, while Ron, Hermione, and Ginny waved beside him. The figures of Tonks, Lupin, Moody, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley shrank rapidly but the black dog was bounding alongside the window, wagging its tail; blurred people on the platform were laughing to see it chasing the train, and then they turned the corner, and Sirius was gone.
sirius coming as padfoot to privet drive to get a first glimpse of harry in poa vs literally chasing after the hogwarts express to get a last glimpse of harry as he’s leaving in ootp
You know what these quotes have in common, apart from beautifully showing the bond between Harry and Sirius?
They're non-existent in the movies. Every single one of them.
Soon - on June 21st, if nothing interferes with my queue - I'm going to prove that movie Sirius and movie Sirius have entirely different relationship with Harry. Therefore, I'm going to bite my tongue (sorry, but it'll be worth the wait) a bit. Let's focus on the quoted fragments and how their absence in the movies changes the story, and Sirius' reception by the viewers.
Goblet of Fire - Sirius is the person Harry turns to when his scar starts hurting, which shows the father-son kind of relationship. As soon as he finds out, he goes back to England, risking his life. Movies? Nah. Plus, Sirius is the one who told Harry, Ron and Hermione about Crouch (this was so fitting, he was in Azkaban with Junior, and Senior practically send them both there!).
And allow me to say how much I love the paw print moment. Like, Sirius could've written anything and Harry would feel reassured, but no, he turned into a dog and pressed his paw against the parchment. If that's not adorable, I don't know what is.
Order of the Phoenix - Sirius walks Harry off to the station and turns into a human (what? Excuse me, WHAT?!) to remember the good old days when Voldemort was killing his friends. No hugging, no emotions, no touching goodbye. Nada.
Plus, I haven't rewatched the movies in a while (I'm going to do some marathon-watching before my analysis), so correct me if I'm wrong, but I think throughout the whole OotP no one brings up the fact that Sirius was forbidden to leave Grimmauld Place. Maybe I'm tunnel-visioned and fixated on one character, but I think it's quite important detail.
On Christmas, the first season of the series comes out. They have a lot of fixing to do, but I don't think Sirius' subplot is the first thing that comes to your mind. But what you have me for, eh? Always ready to remind you that #siriusblackdeservedbetter.
Let me know if you'd be interested in my review of that first season and the following ones! You know my commenting style already, so...
Tell the difference between the picture above and this one (source)
Like, "Shawshank Redemption" (especially the scene in the movie where Andy is standing in the rain) is so Sirius-coded. I bet he would love this story, even if he'd be as pale as a sheet when watching/reading. He and Andy could be friends, change my mind.
Also, a little off-topic remark: "Redemption" is my comfort movie. I've watched it dozens of times and I'll do it again and again. Each time it lifts me up. I mean, if Andy survived Shawshank and got his happy ending, then why shouldn't I? Or all of us?
I'll leave you with that. Also, I have a new follower. Take a seat, mate. I'll do my best to make my yapping worth your while.
Lovely picture, but I don't think something like that would happen anywhere else than in people's reinterpretations?
Why? In OotP Sirius had a bit to say about his family. He said Walburga hadn't have a heart, that she was convinced that the last name Black made you a royal...What did he say about Regulus (source)?
"My idiot brother, soft enough to believe them..."
Come again?
"My IDIOT brother, SOFT ENOUGH to believe them..."
I confess - I'm a language geek and over thinker. I probably overanalyze this one sentence, but look at the words Sirius used. Idiot. Not "pure-blood supremacist". Not "an evil person". Idiot.
Walburga? Didn't have a heart. Regulus? Idiot.
See what I'm getting at?
What else do we know about Regulus (HP Wiki again)?
"They're all about Voldemort. Regulus seems to have been a fan for a few years before he joined the Death Eaters..."
"For years he talked of the Dark Lord, who was going to bring the wizards out of hiding to rule the Muggles and the Muggle-borns... and when he was sixteen years old, Master Regulus joined the Dark Lord."
So - if Voldemort was a pop star, Regulus would've had his poster over his bed. And we know such room decorations weren't forced by his parents (compare them with Sirius' ones if you don't believe me that O&W didn't give a damn about such things). AND, according to Kreacher - and why would he lie? - Regulus had been talking about Voldemort for years before joining him. Ergo - I'm 99% sure he did it willingly (to what extent it was his own decision and not a result of his family's indoctrination is a different story).
Once again, let's allow Sirius to talk:
"He was murdered by Voldemort. Or on Voldemort's orders, more likely. I doubt Regulus was ever important enough to be killed by Voldemort in person. From what I found out after he died, he got in so far, then panicked about what he was being asked to do and tried to back out. Well, you don't just hand in your resignation to Voldemort. It's a lifetime of service or death."
"I doubt Regulus was ever important enough to be killed by Voldemort in person". In loose translation: "I despise what you were doing and yet I'll point out you weren't even good enough at that".
To conclude, I think Sirius' hierarchy (and therefore relationships) with his relatives looked like this:
His parents/cousins excluding Andromeda: hatred.
Regulus: something worse than hatred (especially from a proud person's POV) - contempt.
One more thing - I don't believe Regulus was ever bad at heart. But when your whole environment keeps telling you that certain group of people since the day you were born, then no wonder you absorb that perspective. I believe if he was shown alternative, like Sirius did, his change of heart would happen much earlier. Btw, it's another point for "the Black brothers never got along enough to share smoke breaks" team. I think if Sirius ever tried to actually talk to Regulus, their lives could've been different.
Btw, Snape and Regulus knew each other both from the Common Room and the Death Eaters' circles. What do you think their relationships looked like?
Correction: the best friend, the best man and godfather. I think that Lily and James' wedding and Harry's baptism were one of these hurried war time ceremonies Molly Weasley mentioned in "The Half-Blood Prince", like "Okay, we can die tomorrow, so at least let's die married/with a baptized child and have a bit of fun/normalcy on the way".
By the way, have you noticed what, or who, was never brought up? Harry's godmother. Okay, she could've died shortly after the celebration - it was wartime after all - but don't you think it'd be logical for Sirius/Lupin to brought her up at least once, for instance "Oh yeah, XYZ was your godmother. She died shortly after you were born. It's a shame you never met her, she was really great"? I've heard the theory that James and Lily didn't have a female friend they'd be this close to, but I don't buy that - like, they were in the Order, James came from an old, respected family and there wasn't a single person?
Of course, I suspect why Rowling did this from a technical point of view (or what is the doylist answer as I like to call it): to keep the focus fully on Sirius and leave Harry with absolutely no family after he dies and therefore have the Dursleys as the only option.
However, as usual, I have my own theory/watsonian answer. There never was a godmother (as I read here , baptism with only one godparent is entirely possible), but not because of lack of the suitable candidates. Lily had one dream candidate, and after she said "no", she didn't want anyone in her place. Who was that, you ask? C'mon, take guesses.
Petunia Dursley.
Think about this. We know that the sisters were on letter terms and:
They went on a double date and Lily bursted into tears after James insulted Vernon.
Petunia didn't show up at Lily's wedding.
Lily send her sister a letter after Harry was born but she didn't answer.
However, it didn't stop Petunia from sending the Potters a Christmas gift.
Try to get in Lily's shoes. You have a sister who doesn't speak to you mainly because of the way you two were born. She didn't come to your wedding. You still want to fix your relationship. You just had a baby.
So what would be a better form of an olive branch than asking her to be a godmother? Sure, she may say no - but what you have to lose? There's a war going on, you can drop dead any day!
Your sister doesn't answer your letter, but you don't stop hoping. Your husband tries to gently propose other candidates, but you decline. You wait.
You wait until the last second during the baptism, hoping she'll show up. That she'll remember. She didn't show up at the wedding, but maybe...
When she doesn't come, you hold back your tears. You force a smile. But you cry at night, when no one can hear you.
And your son is stuck with only one godparent.
But like I said, it's just a theory. Let me know what you think!
I really love that drawing. The way Harry leans on Padfoot's side shows a really intimate bond between them. It's really a shame they couldn't spend more time together.
Btw, I'm one hundred percent sure that Sirius used to turn into a dog and play with his godson when he was a baby. What do you think?
With a few changes, that picture could be an illustration to my story. You know why, right?
