Wizarding Studies

We are almost only doing this for fun. We are five people sharing the posting for this site.We strive to make people who are already inside the Harry Potter universe consider and reconsider structures, secrets, facts, elements from within the magical world. We promise to both entertain and enlighten. We solemnly swear that we are up to no good.  View My Stats

[hogwartscastle]

Harry Potter is authorless.

[what-even-is-thiss]

No. As an English major and a transgender person, no. We do not take this attitude.

Harry Potter is a culturally important work and JK Rowling wrote it.

So many culturally important works of literature were written by people with bad views by today’s and even their time’s standards. Shakespeare? Racist, sexist, islamophobic, xenophobic, anti-Semitic. But we don’t erase his name from those plays. Because if we try and claim that those plays were authorless it gives us an awfully convenient excuse to ignore all of the flaws within them and how we may or may not agree with those flaws on a subconscious level.

In the world of literary analysis these days the author is no longer dead. We don’t do that anymore. The author is a ghost hanging over your shoulder. You can interpret their work any way you want and they can have no say in it. But you as a reader must also acknowledge that their original intentions are there. Their personal history and the times they lived in are there.

JK Rowling wrote that series whether you like it or not. Whether that makes you comfortable or not. Harry Potter is one of the most culturally important book series of the last century and it was written by a transphobe. It was written by JK Rowling. Face up to it. Look it dead in the eye. Recognize its flaws and like it anyways if you still want to. But don’t. I repeat don’t. Do not claim that it is authorless. No work of literature is.

[dragonwitchlibrary]

We're holding JKR accountable like mature adults and embracing the reality though it hurts us to admit something we love was written by someone who continues to dig her grave but we must

[queenhelenblackthorn]

A relevant thread

[fearthewinchesters]

The fact that Daniel Radcliffe’s response to JK Rowling was published on the Trevor Project website. The fact that he knew her comments would affect fans’ views of the series. His claim and hope that the magic of the series is what we originally took away from it, regardless of her bigotry. I love one man.

[kidovna]

Evenings in the Slytherin common room 🐍🦑

[ashes-and-ashes]

James stops at the sight of Peter cradling Harry.

They’re both sitting by the fireplace, golden flames illuminating the dark room. Peter’s got one hand wrapped around Harry’s back, the other behind his head, the sounds of Harry’s quiet breaths filling the room.

“Thanks,” James says; he’s rarely ever seen Peter like this, holding Harry with such care. It was usually Sirius or Remus who did it - Peter was much more of the awkward cousin than the protective uncle. Still, there was something beautiful about the way he was holding Harry, as if it was the last time he’d ever see him.

Peter gives him a small smile; he seems almost melancholy, something like regret pouring off him in waves. James reaches over, brushes Harry’s head gently and leans back against the couch.

“You okay?” he asks. Peter jumps, as if he had been startled.

“What do you mean?”

James shurgs. “I don’t know. You just seem...sad tonight.”

“Ah.” Peter lets out a small chuckle. Harry burbles in his sleep and he gently cards his fingers through the wispy strands of Harry’s hair. “No. I’m fine.”

James nods; he knows not to push. They all had different ways of dealing with the War; Sirius’ rage, Remus’ quietness, Lily’s tears. He scrubs a tired hand over his face, his throat aching slightly. “God,” he says. “Just wish this whole war was over.”

Peter nods - he doesn’t look at James, his eyes fixed on Harry’s sleeping face. “Maybe you should go,” he says abruptly. “Take a vacation or something. Relieve some stress.”

James frowns. “Pete, what are you talking about. The Fidelius - “

Peter seems to deflate almost, his hand dropping down to curl around the arm of the chair. James watches as his fingers go white; Peter seemed tense in a way he had never looked before. “Are you alright?”

Peter shrugs. He looks at James, then looks down at his feet. “What would you do?” he whispers. “What would you do, to protect your family?”

“Anything,” James says immediately; he doesn’t even have to think. “Anything. Torture, death, whatever. I would do anything for you guys.”

Peter sniffs. His eyes look wet in the firelight. “You guys?”

“Harry. Lily. Remus. Sirius. You.” James smiles. Peter hardly ever cried anymore, though he used to all the time in First Year. “You guys are my family. I love you more than life.”

“Oh,” Peter says softly. His face twists, just for a moment, full of something anguished and sad. James bites his lip; he’s not sure what’s troubling Peter tonight.

“So,” he mutters, looking down fondly at Harry. “Halloween. His favourite.”

Peter cracks a smile. “Wonder how they’re doing without us.”

“Hogwarts?” James laughs. “No charmed floating pumpkins, or bats - “

“Orange hair - “

“Exploding pies - “

“Fake ghosts - “

“Haunted houses.”

Peter looks almost wistful. He stares back down at Harry, then back up at James. “Will Sirius and Remus be here tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” James says, and he could have sworn that same anguished expression crossed Peter’s face. “You sure you can’t make it? We have enough food and Harry would love it - “

“No,” Peter says. He slowly gets to his feet - it’s late, the clock striking 11 in the corner of the room. “I better go,” he says, gently handing Harry to James.

James nods. He cradles Harry against his chest, smiling as he yawned in his sleep. “Bye. Thanks for coming, Wormy. And for...for everything. I don’t know if I said that enough. Thank you.”

Peter nods. He reaches out, pulls James into a hug, brushes his fingers over Harry’s face.

“Goodbye, James,” he says, and then the door closes behind him.

[abstractundefined]

😭😭😭

[gnarf]

How dare you 😭

[morphmaker]

The Triwizard Tournament x The Great British Bake Off

[fanonical]

hey do you think you could expand a bit on separating the art from the artist? clearly you’ve done it with jk rowling but what are your thoughts on it as a general idea?

okay, but you’re not going to like the answer.

here’s the truth: you can’t separate the art from the artist. not entirely. HP Lovecraft was an incredibly talented, but much more incredibly racist man. It would nice to say you don’t agree with his views but you can enjoy his works without that leaking in but…. well, I’m afraid that would be misunderstanding his books entirely.

Consider, for a second, that Lovecraft’s works were horror stories about extradimensional alien monsters having mutant children with humans, they were about invasions from distant monsters, they were about the purity of quaint European towns being tainted. Consider how this may have all been inflicted by the fact that he just simply despised anybody who wasn’t white. Consider how is opinions on “mixing the races” might fight into this; consider why being unable to maintain the “purity” of white Europe was the scariest thing of all to him.

This extends to Rowling too.

I would love to say we can just acknowledge that she is an awful, racist, antisemitic, transphobic person and then say “but at least her books are good,” because, well, they are, aren’t they? I would say so, for sure. But to suggest that one can separate her from them is…. ridiculous.

Consider why an antisemitic woman wrote about a species of goblins who live among us, but who for the most part keep to themselvesand are maybe a little bit oppressed by the institution, but also hold all the cards, all the money, run the banks.

Consider why a racist woman would write about a species of slaves who loved being enslaved, who enjoyed working for no pay, and cleaning up after humans, with the only small caveat of that they didn’t want to be beaten. Imagine that only the most radical of their species wanted to be free, and he still spent the rest of his life working for no pay and helping out a little white boy and his friends wherever he could. Consider why the only person in the story who thought they should be free, that they should have rights, was treated as an overzealous joke, who was acting against the wishes of those slaves who really LOVE being enslaved. Consider that Rowling went on to say that she kind of considers that girl to be black, now.

Consider why JK Rowling, an open and proud transphobe, wrote Rita Skeeter as having a large square jaw, thick “manly” hands, and dressing incredibly gaudily with the most obvious fake nails and fake teeth and fake hair and fake everything. Consider why a woman who tweets about how trans women are “foxes pretending to be hens to get in the hen house” might write this Rita Skeeter to then illegally transform her body in order to spy on children.

Harry Potter is full of Rowling’s bigotry, start to finish. Not even tangentially, like, “oh the goblins are bad, Rita Skeeter is bad, the house elves are bad, but most of it’s good!” because the deeper you dig and the longer you think the more you realise the entire story is based on her prejudices.

Harry Potter pretends to be an aracial story about found family, but if that were true, why are Harry’s distant ancestors important to who he is today even in the seventh book? Why does Harry have to live with his cousin and aunt and uncle? Because magic inherently prefers blood ties. Whilst Rowling was writing a story that seemed to say, “your heritage is not that important and doesn’t make you better than others” she was still writing a story about a boy who got all of his money through his bloodline, who was protected by living with his bloodline, no matter how evil, who was uniquely able to stop Voldemort because his bloodline passed down the invisibility cloak for generations and generations. Any step Harry takes he is compared to his perfect parents who were exactly like him — he looks just like his father, but he has his mother’s eyes, you know! — consider WHY a woman who is racist might’ve written a story like this. A story that on its surface, condemns a blood caste, but still in every step it takes, validates the idea that blood is thicker than water, and your geneological origin is what makes you special.

You can enjoy Harry Pottwr, of course you can. There are fantastic parts. I love a small group of teenagers deciding to become anarchies rebels and train to fight against fascism in secret. I love the murder mystery plots, I love how the series tells kids that it’s a good thing to be brave, and a good thing to fight injustice, and a good thing to challenge the government. But I cannot separate it from its author because it is such a product of its author. All of the structures of the world, the way things work in the universe, and drenched in Rowling’s beliefs, her bigotries. Of course they are: she made them.

Again. This doesn’t mean you cannot enjoy it. But I think we are past the day where we can pretend that disavowing a bigoted author is enough, and that that somehow separates the text from its bigotry. I think we are past the day where we can pretend that Harry Potter isn’t a deeply, inherently bigoted piece of media. Even the bits we love. I think we are beyond the day where we can truthfully pretend to separate it from her, because she is present through all of it. We MUST recognise its flaws. We MUST admit that she is in every part of it.

[banrions]

#this is a brilliant post that sets up an answer the anon’s question#which is that separating art from the artist isn’t about ignoring who the author was#but rather ignoring what the author tells you their work means#rowling will never say her work contains the things rightful pointed out here#but she doesn’t get to make that call#we all have eyes and can look for ourselves#and who she is is part of what we must look at (via @ratherembarrassing)

[dajo42]

a muggleborn student coming to hogwarts with a thermos flask and filling it with tea in the morning so it stays hot all day and their pureblood friends are like “whoa what spell did you use for that” and they’re like “?????? it’s just a thermos???” and all the pureblood students start pointing their wands at cups and saying “THERMOS”

[colorfuloddity]

THERMOS

[athenavine]

plot twist: it works, mugs suddenly start keeping tea at the perfect temperature for the caster all day. students in muggle studies start experimenting with other muggle jargon and a new generation of magic spells are born, propelling the stagnated wizard community into the technological age

[susiephone]

*points wand at book* KINDLE!!!! *book propels itself into fireplace and bursts into flames* I FUCKED UP I FUCKED UP

[bisaster-energy]

I don’t believe it. I found the post.

[kyraneko]

“YEET” is like Wingardium Leviosa crossed with Locomotor crossed with Expelliarmus and it’s the best spell ever.

[valtsv]

sorry for acknowledging harry potter on main but one thing about the books that haunts me to this day is what happened to harry’s dragon miniature that he got in the triwizard tournament. the last time it’s mentioned he puts it down on his bedside and it curls up to sleep and then we never hear about it again. what happened to the dragon. nobody let jkr see this because i don’t want her to pull something out of her rancid ass but i need to know what happened to that dragon.

[teaboot]

I like to think it woke up and scurried away before Harry woke up, so the next morning he was like ‘huh must’ve been an illusion or some shit that just faded out’ and of course there was so much shit going on that nobody asked about it, and he forgot entirely.

After that, the dragon becomes a permanent installment of Gryffindor tower, stealing loose coins and trinkets and shiny candy wrappers inside the bottom of a sofa or hole in the masonry. Nobody thinks anything of it, kids being kids and losing things all the time, but some kids waking up in the night from nightmares or homesickness or insomnia will sit by the ever-burning fireplace and see a little silhouette shifting comfortably in the flames. If there are significantly less mice around, nobody takes note of it.

I like to think the other triwizard competitors got to keep theirs, too.

Fleur took hers to the Madame to return it, but was told that it was an enchantment of no real consequence and could keep it if she liked, so long as it didn’t cause trouble or distract from her classes. It sits at present in a lavishly-furnished terrarium with a miniaturized forest, complete with a castle to guard, a village to plunder, and a constant supply of crickets. Someday her grandchildren will inherit the responsibility of seeing to it’s care, and the tank will take a prominent place of honor for generations.

Krum in a similar position found himself growing fond of his, and often (against house rules, one of the few he can be tempted to break) smuggles it around in his big furry coat. It likes to snuggle in the fluff of his inner breast pocket, and only if you are very careful will you see him sneak a little scrap of meat or jerky into it. For many years after, there is a rumor that he has a familiar on him at all times, even if it isn’t seen, and there is some speculation on what it could be. It will only be in his old age that the truth comes out: when his grandchildren let it slip that Grandpa has a dragon, and the old folks down at the bar laugh because of course he does, it all makes sense, they’d forgotten all about the little thing he’d got from that competition all those years ago. Krum sits in a comfortable chair by the fire, wrinkled hands stroking delicate scales draped over his lap, and when his time comes to pass there is no trace of the little thing to be found: only his body laying in bed, peaceful as can be, and a puff of silver dust on the blanket above his heart.

After Cedric’s funeral, life is grey. Mr. Diggory, still quaking in his heart and teetering on grief and denial and pain but knowing he must collect his son’s things, gathers up all his strength and makes the trip up the castle. The Hufflepuff dorm is exactly the same as he remembers from his youth, right down to the smell of dandelion tea and warm sunlight, messy beds and half-scribbled homework left scattered about, but it’s different, now. Smaller. Less wondrous, less hopeful.

He sets about packing Cedric’s belongings (Cedric, his son, his baby boy, his wonderful, beautiful baby boy, gone) with a strange detachment. He won’t remember a second of it, later- the mechanical folding of shirts and binning of trash (not much, he’d always been such a tidy boy)- but he seems to wake from the fog when he grabs the small box hidden under the bed and feels the faintest wiggle.

Of course, he thinks when he opens it, when he sees what’s inside, snuggled up in a nest of thick socks torn to puffs of wool. Of course, he thinks, remembering his boy (much smaller, so much smaller) begging for a puppy, a cat, his first owl. (So lonely, being an only child). Of course, of course, how could he possibly be surprised? (His boy, his good boy, with such a heart in him).

Perhaps he smiles, then. Perhaps, because he can’t quite tell through the tears. Perhaps something fluttery and dead and broken feels the tiniest bit lighter on the journey home, too- which is strange, with the extra weight cradled gently in his arms.

[chilledmilk]

yknow the more jk rowlings world falls apart in america (race relations, international history, population, etc) the more i like to think that america just straight up doesnt have the statute of secrecy. european countries are falling over themselves hiding magic but come to georgia and theres a drunk redneck wizard wingardium leviosa-ing the shit out of a tractor to the delight of his drunk redneck muggle buddies in a walmart parking lot.

wizard on muggle violence is prevented by virtue of there being like a 50/50 chance that muggle is packing heat. muggle on wizard violence is prevented by knowing that wizard can give you boils spelling LIL BITCH on your forehead if you try to start something.

america is the weird redheaded stepchild of the magic world.

[chilledmilk]

im not gonna stop reblogging this until this is the next Hot Fanon

[roachpatrol]

english muggles come back to england and suspicious wizards meet them at the airport. 

‘did you witness any strange or inexplicable acts while you were in america?’ they demand. 

the english muggles just laugh in their dumb fucking faces. mate, it’s america. 

[jumpingjacktrash]

what’s the difference between a werewolf and an animagus?

english wizard: *two hour lecture on legal history*

american wizard: six beers

[chilledmilk]

@jumpingjacktrash congrats ive read hundreds of comments on this dumpster fire of a headcanon and yours is the best

[jumpingjacktrash]

thank you my patronus is a monster truck

[systlin]

I have reblogged this I don’t even fucking know how many times but I still completely lose it every time I see the words “My Patronus is a monster truck” because that is the most AMERICAN thing I’ve ever seen in 29 years of being ‘merican.

[kyraneko]

Variant: What with the International Statute of Secrecy being an international law, the American magical community suffered quite a bit at the hands of forcible attempts to make everyone conform to it, until anti-seclusionist magical forces got their hands on the sort of magics being used to hide the wizarding world from nonmagical society, and hid themselves and their communities from the magical government and its institutions.

That’s why Ilvermorny is “the only American wizarding school.” That’s why the American magical population feels like something the size of the British one pasted on something a couple orders of magnitude bigger. That’s why Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them is so white. That’s why nonmagical people have a persistent quiet willingness to believe in magic just enough to allow for the possibility of its existence, and fill their stories with it, and readily interact with the idea of it. It’s an elaborate homegrown smokescreen to hide hundreds of integrated magical communities from the magical community that demands magical communities keep themselves secret.

The forces behind the International Statute of Secrecy made themselves such an absolute nuisance that some 95% of the magical population of America stole their hide-from-the-muggles spells and locked them out of knowledge of their existence.

The International Wizarding Community: “You are now forbidden to let any nonmagical people know you exist.”

Six Gazillion American Wizarding Communities: *Jedi mind trick hand motions* “Fuck you, we don’t exist. Nothing to see here.”

The International Wizarding Community: “Looks like the problem’s been solved, I guess. Pip pip cheerio.”

Six Gazillion American Wizarding Communities And Their Muggle Friends: “OK I’mma cast Engorgio on my tires and invent Monster Trucking, hold my beer.”

[aglassroseneverfades]

this is the best addition to this post to date, headcanon absolutely fucking accepted

[time-travel-toke-up]

Omg, can you imagine parseltongue in Texas?

“Listen here, you fucking rattler, I do not have time to hear about the differences between hares and rabbits.”

“But the hares are sssssso tasty…”

[msfbgraves]

‘Pip, pip, cheerio’ - ya know, the reason why anything outside of the French wizarding world is so sketchily rendered, is that the rest of the world has done this trick too. Durmstrang is somewhere in Scandinavia with a German name and Russian customs? It’s a hoax and at least ten countries are in on it. The Irish have no wizarding school? Maybe Seamus has very loyalist parents! Here’s England thinking it is the centre of the world, using parchment and owls, for Merlin’s sake. The rest of the world has been doing its own thing for centuries, and some schools like to humour them at times. They haven’t noticed, and Estonia especially cannot believe their complete ignorance of IT-magic.

[fairy-anon-godmother]

This was delightful. I showed it to my workwife and we had tears in our eyes.

[boy-and-girl-crazy123456]

[katzynia]

In Chamber of Secrets when Harry confesses not knowing what floo powder is, Ron’s immediate reaction is “Sorry, Harry, I should’ve realized”. As in him, Ron, should’ve remembered that Harry’s life is different from his own. No “you should’ve told me!” or “Why didn’t you say anything?” The first thing out of his mouth is to assure Harry that he, Ron, is to blame here, not Harry for not knowing a thing that’s everyday and ordinary to Weasleys.

Ron is an awesome friend.

[weaver-z]

ATTENTION fake Harry Potter fans, the following works are NOT part of the Harry Potter canon: Harry Potter 1-7, Fantastic Beasts, The Cursed Child

The following works ARE part of the Harry Potter canon: A Very Potter Musical, A Very Potter Sequel, A Very Potter Senior Year, Potter Puppet Pals

[weaver-z]

My Immortal I’m so sorry my dumb bitch ass forgot to list you as canon oh my god

[virmillion]

never read or watched harry potter and all i know about it comes from fans posting content on here and i think that is very sexy of me

[sandersstudies]

Plz tell me all the things you know about Harry Potter

[virmillion]

-the weasels have red hair and adopted a kid who had Not Red Hair and his movie eyes don’t match his movie mom’s eyes like they’re supposed to

-there’s a dude named snape and he’s a prick

-there’s a magic map at some point

-there’s a goblet of fire with harry’s name in it that beardy is yelling about and no one’s happy about it

-he knows one spell and it’s compelling someone else to yeet their wand

-some dude named draco that seems to have a frenemy bromance situation happening with harry? idk he’s Blond

-there’s a teacher that turns into a cat sometimes

-there’s four houses and they break down into the good guys, the bad guys, the smart guys, and everyone else

-also what i’ve seen of harry’s not-dead family reminds me of matildas family

-some children drive a sky car at some point

-sky soccer also happens

-this universe’s version of skymall is Normal Human Things but just A Little Up The Y Axis

-i’ve seen some gifs of a musical version and if that counts then hermit one can’t draw

[bibbitybobbitybackoff]

Yeah, that’s just about everything you need to know

[bethboxin]

Ron just got his howler from his mom yelling at him for stealing the car. He seems super embarrassed and most of the Great Hall is laughing. But here’s the thing:

Ron is 12 years old.

Ron stole a car.

Ron fucking stole a fucking car at the age of TWELVE.

I would not be laughing at him. Ronald Weasley is a fucking bad ass. When was the last time you jacked a car Malfoy? That’s what I thought. Bitch.

[dinosaurrainbowstarfish]

Harry woke up at 3 am, wrote this, and went back to sleep.

[just-a-skinny-boy]

[jenwunhui]

Harry Potter as a teen comedy…

[thriftedcardigan]

maybe the best example of editing can portray a mood, tbh like this is really funny but it’s also just artistically amazing

[polaroidxirwin-deactivated20180]

i literally always reblog this because its soooo good

[iamnmbr3]

I think one of the most underrated drarry moments is the bit in Deathly Hallows when Narcissa has no idea if Draco’s alive but she just assumes Harry will know…and she’s right.

Narcissa: Is Draco alive?

Harry: Oh yeah definitely. Literally just risked my life to save him before I came here. I think he’s still in the 7th floor corridor. Love the new shirt he’s wearing btw. Really brings out his eyes.