prillalar | HP Minutiae

HP Minutiae

I'm amassing background for a story and so I've been reading. Re-reading, actually. I've finished PoA, I've started OotP, and I'm reading bits and pieces from GoF. A few things that came to mind:

* In PoA, Sirius has been trying the whole book through to kill Peter. But when it comes down to it, both he and Remus try to do the job. And thinking about it now, it surprises me that Remus was so nonchalant about it.

"Not at all, Padfoot, old friend," said Lupin, who was now rolling up his sleeves. "And will you, in turn, forgive me for believing you were the spy?"

"Of course," said Black, and the ghost of a grin flitted across his gaunt face. He, too, began rolling up his sleeves. "Shall we kill him together?"

"Yes, I think so," said Lupin grimly.

...

Black and Lupin stood shoulder to shoulder, wands raised.

"You should have realized," said Lupin quietly, "if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Good-bye, Peter."

* In GoF, when they're taking the Portkey to the World Cup, Mr Weasley asks Mr Diggory if anyone else is coming. "No, the Lovegoods have been there for a week already and the Fawcetts couldn't get tickets," said Mr. Diggory. Soooooo, if the Lovegoods are in the area, maybe they're close enough for a little Ron/Luna summer romance.

I don't *ship* Ron/Luna, but I'm fond of awkward fumblings between them.

* In OotP, I was struck by one scene in Grimmauld Place, where the portrait of Mrs Black had been screaming out in the hall, driving everyone mad. Once she got calmed down, Mrs Weasley went out in the hall and screamed at people. It made me smile.

* Just why was Hermione at Grimmauld Place all summer long?

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But still, I would have expected Remus to want Peter brought to justice, especially so that the truth could come out. I'm puzzled.

I think Remus was caught up in the moment - he's managed to retain enough calm/control to get Sirius to tell the story, but then he's all, "Yes! Let's kill the bastard!"

Which, of course, makes no sense for him to be, and is just ridiculously stupid.

but I think joy at seeing Sirius again and learning he was not guilty, and so having to completely alter his worldview left him a little off-balance.

Otoh, it's just a really big plot/characterization hole. *g*

I don't *ship* Ron/Luna, but I'm fond of awkward fumblings between them.

Ah, I do ship Ron/Hermione, but I like the possibilities Ron/Luna opens up. And Luna/Harry...

Ack. Get the plot bunnies away from me. I don't want to write the kids...

Just why was Hermione at Grimmauld Place all summer long?

having a torrid threesome with Sirius and Remus.

but I think joy at seeing Sirius again and learning he was not guilty, and so having to completely alter his worldview left him a little off-balance.

Yeah, I think that's the best way to go. And it's not like he's a marshmallow -- I believe he was totally capable of killing Peter. Maybe he also was feeling reckless because he'd been exposed as a werewolf to the kids. Hmm, maybe since he didn't take his potion, he wasn't thinking clearly.

Just why was Hermione at Grimmauld Place all summer long?

having a torrid threesome with Sirius and Remus.

Oh dear God sweet Jesus Christ Carl help me, NO.

I'm just going to go read some Hermione/Draco badfic now and try to forget you ever said that.

And it's not like he's a marshmallow -- I believe he was totally capable of killing Peter. Maybe he also was feeling reckless because he'd been exposed as a werewolf to the kids. Hmm, maybe since he didn't take his potion, he wasn't thinking clearly.

A combination of all three.

And wizards seem awfully okay with that kind of personal vengeance, you know?

having a torrid threesome with Sirius and Remus.

Oh dear God sweet Jesus Christ Carl help me, NO.

Oh, come on! I can't be the only one with a sekrit Remus/Sirius/Hermione kink.

In fact, I think you want to write it. You know you do. *g*

that's why she was able to tell her parents that staying at 12GP was educational.

I'm just going to go read some Hermione/Draco badfic now and try to forget you ever said that.

hee!

I also have a thing for D/Hr, but only the good stuff... of which there is sadly little.

Oh, come on! I can't be the only one with a sekrit Remus/Sirius/Hermione kink.

Oh, I think it's entirely possible. :)

Anyway, Remus would never get involved in a kinky threesome with an under-aged girl. Sirius, on the other hand... ~~How about Harry/Hermione/Sirius?~~ No, I'm sure Sirius wouldn't either. Unless he were bored.

It's funny -- to me, Remus is decidedly gay. Usually, I happily make most everyone I can bi (well, not all at the same time). But Remus, I just can't see as anything but gay. I'm not sure why.

I can easily understand why Sirius plans to kill Peter himself. I can understand why Remus would *want* to. But still, I would have expected Remus to want Peter brought to justice, especially so that the truth could come out. I'm puzzled.

Maybe I'm reaching, but it was a full moon, and he hadn't taken his wolfsbane... he could've been more susceptible to homicidal impulses.

Maybe I'm reaching, but it was a full moon, and he hadn't taken his wolfsbane... he could've been more susceptible to homicidal impulses.

If you're reaching, I blame JKR, not you. :) I think that's about as good an explanation as we can hope for.

And maybe I'm just too invested in my own fanon Remus. I think we all layer things onto canon and sometimes it's hard to remember which bits are ours and which are JKR's.

But still, I would have expected Remus to want Peter brought to justice, especially so that the truth could come out. I'm puzzled.

Well, Remus obviously isn't thinking clearly from the time he goes tearing off to the Shrieking Shack without taking the potion. I think it's been so much of a shock, first learning that Peter is alive, and then seeing Sirius again, and then understanding what really happened all those years ago, that his normal self-control is just not there. He's not thinking about the consequences of his actions. Remus does have a temper, I think; it's just that most people never see it.

Also, there's the question of what Remus was intending to do once he got the the Shrieking Shack and confronted Sirius, assuming Sirius really was a murderer. If he meant to bring Sirius to justice, the sensible thing would have been to bring some of the other teachers with him for backup, no? I wonder if he doesn't mean to kill Sirius, both to avenge James and Lily's deaths and because it's probably kinder than sending him back to Azkaban. And then when the traitor turns out to be Peter, he's already steeled himself to violence. Hmm.

Just why was Hermione at Grimmauld Place all summer long?

Possibility the first: because it's safer, given that she doesn't have Harry's protection from harm when she's at home. Now that she's mixed up in the fight against Voldemort, she's probably better off surrounded by the order than off with people who don't even know there's a war on.

Possibility the second: because it would drive her absolutely insane to know that terribly important things were going on somewhere else and she didn't even know what they were.

I always assumed Lupin's actions were a combination of being caught up in the adrenaline of the events, but also to show that Lupin can be a man of action and someone to be reckoned with, since most of the time he's calm and looking worn and weary. So even though a lot of people may take for granted that he's weak or a pacifist, *we* know he can and will kick ass when necessary.

I caught the Lovegood connection when listening to OotP the second time-had the same Ron/Luna thoughts, and wondered if she won't be hanging out with them some next summer if she's in the area.

~~How about Harry/Hermione/Sirius?~~ No, I'm sure Sirius wouldn't either. Unless he were bored.

*snerk*

It's funny -- to me, Remus is decidedly gay.

I wouldn't disagree with you there, though I've seen Remus/Hermione done beautifully. It fits. And Sirius is the one who ignores girls in canon, but still strikes me as bi.

I think JKR has a massive crush on Sirius and won't let other women near him. *g* Hey, that's why she killed him! "If I can't have him, no one can!"

I think JKR has a massive crush on Sirius and won't let other women near him. *g* Hey, that's why she killed him! "If I can't have him, no one can!"

You may be on to something there. *g*

Also, there's the question of what Remus was intending to do once he got the the Shrieking Shack and confronted Sirius, assuming Sirius really was a murderer. If he meant to bring Sirius to justice, the sensible thing would have been to bring some of the other teachers with him for backup, no? I wonder if he doesn't mean to kill Sirius, both to avenge James and Lily's deaths and because it's probably kinder than sending him back to Azkaban. And then when the traitor turns out to be Peter, he's already steeled himself to violence. Hmm.

You know, I *never* considered that. *lights come on* Good thoughts.

I wonder how much that's also mixed up with Remus's remorse that he's not told anyone Sirius is an animagus. If he takes care of this himself, then that won't have to come to light.

It's very grim, regardless. When it came right down to it, I wonder if he would have been able to go through with it. *ponders*

Remus Lupin, Man of Action! Good point -- maybe if we weren't always writing him with Sirius, we'd emphasize that more.

It's interesting how a particular pairing can produce a particular interpretation of a character. S/R, while producing plenty of good fics and plenty of diverse fics, does tend to extrapolate from canon in similar directions. I'm not a fan of the pairing[1], so I really tend to notice it. Going back to canon, I think I could perfectly well extrapolate in a different direction and make Remus completely straight. Sirius tends to stay a bit more similar (IMO) across pairings. Remus often has a similar portrayal when he's with Snape, but writers of other Remus pairings go in totally different directions. (Of course, it's been ages since I read much Remus fanfic, so I don't have any good examples to back this up with, so it's pretty much waffly personal opinion.)

[1] I know, I know, saying this around S/R shippers is worse than saying I don't like H/D around H/D shippers, but I've just never gotten into it. I like fics that have a lot of plot and aren't 140% on the angst-o-meter and I don't tend to find that with S/R. If anyone wants to try to change my mind, feel free.

Well, Remus obviously isn't thinking clearly from the time he goes tearing off to the Shrieking Shack without taking the potion.

The potion lapse! I still don't see enough *anywhere* to justify Remus forgetting that. How could he *ever*? Poor Lupin is being wronged by JKR's plot needs. (Unless there's some justification I missed...)

I agree about his temper.

I think you really have an interesting idea here:

Also, there's the question of what Remus was intending to do once he got the the Shrieking Shack and confronted Sirius, assuming Sirius really was a murderer. If he meant to bring Sirius to justice, the sensible thing would have been to bring some of the other teachers with him for backup, no?

Indeed.

I wonder if he doesn't mean to kill Sirius, both to avenge James and Lily's deaths and because it's probably kinder than sending him back to Azkaban.

That's a great question and really intriguing answer. Re kindness: Sirius wasn't going back to Azkaban, it was the Dementor's kiss and destruction of his soul this time, do not pass go, wasn't it? So killing him would very much appear to be a kindness.

I imagine Lupin expected Sirius to die in Azkaban, at least putting an end to the whole thing (as far as he knew). It must have been rather awful that he didn't.

I feel that with R/S the canon has really closed in around it, making it hard to go in many different directions. It's all leading to the same place so unless you want to be AU, you're constricted by the eventual outcome. The knowledge of Sirius's death is going to hang over those stories, even if they're set much earlier. Actually, over any story about Sirius.

And feel free to say whatever you want about the pairing. :) De gustibus and all that. I'm actually quite surprised that I'm getting so into it.

The potion lapse! I still don't see enough *anywhere* to justify Remus forgetting that. How could he *ever*? Poor Lupin is being wronged by JKR's plot needs. (Unless there's some justification I missed...)

This brings up a question that I've struggled with for a long time. Do we ever get to say, hey, that's not in character even if it is in the canon?

It's more applicable, I think, to long-running TV shows with numerous writers, but obviously we're questioning here as well.

Do we need to justify Remus forgetting or are we allowed to gloss over that? I think it's problematic to pick and choose, but still... Hmm.

I think it's that constriction that bothers me about the pairing, but not the death itself. The worst constriction that I see is that S/R stories always assume they got together while they were in school. While I can see why this is an attractive option, it doesn't interest me at all, and I don't see why they would have had to. To my mind, the lack of trust they had in each other suggests that they weren't as close at school as people think. If they really were together in some cheesy soul mate way, wouldn't Sirius have told Remus about his suspicions instead of assuming he was working for Voldemort? (I realize they could have had a crummy relationship based on sex rather than friendship and trust, but I don't think most S/R shippers see them that way.)

It seems far more plausible to me that Sirius and James were best friends and didn't really notice what anyone else was doing. They might have included Remus, but I doubt they really knew him that well. Sirius seems like the kind of character who is good at taking things for granted.

The death, while I dislike it in canon, is a godsend to a fanfic writer. It is the vaguest and least irrefutable death ever. Sure, some people want to play with the horribly angsty aftermath, and more power to them, but that's not the only direction one could go. I know JKR has said she won't bring Sirius back, but if fanfic ignores parts of canon (like no one being openly gay), then it can certainly ignore interviews that aren't even a part of the books.

Being a great fan of resurrection scenarios, the death actually set off more post OotP plotbunnies than anything else. I'm not a big fan of total AUs (i.e. ignoring the death), but I can think of dozens of ways of going forward from here. Sure, Remus told Harry that Sirius was gone, but we have no idea what the curtain really was and Remus doesn't know everything anyway.

Oh, come on! I can't be the only one with a sekrit Remus/Sirius/Hermione kink.

Not the only one. At least not after I read

fabularasa's SS/SB stories, wherein I discovered that Remus/Hermione can be extremely tantilizing. And Sirius...well, Sirius is like Cristal. He goes with anything, even (maybe especially) breakfast. [eg]

I also have a thing for D/Hr, but only the good stuff... of which there is sadly little.

I'd love some recs for the good stuff. The closest I've found is only temporarily D/Hr (though good, IMO). Email me (zoerayne at slashdom dot com)?

Well, yes, plus there must be a reason why only Harry (and Luna) could hear the whispers Beyond the Veil. At the very least, Sirius should be able to return in some Obi-Wan-ish capacity for Harry. Which REMINDS ME - I keep wondering if there's a portrait of Sirius somewhere. All the other members of the Black family had their portraits done. You'd think Harry could find a portrait of Sirius and communicate with him, Beyond the Veil, that way.

I've often wondered about those Wizard Portraits. Are they actually the person? Or a clone? They seem to be sentient -- do they have any rights? If Sirius had destroyed the portrait of his mother, would that be murder?

So many questions. :)

I've wondered about them, too. I could swear there was something in one of the books about the portraits not being *quite* the same as the person, which led me to think that they are the essence or spirit of a person, rather like a ghost. Just a different medium. Which leads to this thought- critics often discuss whether an artist captured the essence of their subject, so how do you think the talent of the artist affects the subject of a Wizard portrait? If it's of poor quality, is it less like the person is/was in real life? And if so, how trustworthy then are any interactions with that portrait?

I think it's totally legitimate to recognize that something does not fit with what an author has previously told us. Do we choose to call it OOC? Do we choose to expand our understanding of Remus' character? I think either is a valid response.

He seemed to be trying to remove it in any way he could. I don't get the feeling they have rights. OTOH, that doesn't say anything about their sentience or lack thereof: just look at house elves and werewolves.

Well, we don't actually know how they're made. It's possible that they aren't exactly just painted but are a result of a particular spell. We also see other paintings that may not be portraits of anyone real.

I think canon is rather unclear on this point. At the very least, I'd say the paintings are like twins or clones (different from the time of separation).

Loads of plot, not way up on the angst, *and* you said you enjoyed the idea of a resurrection fic down below there. If you haven't seen it before, go read Beyond the Veil, by Helene.
http://www.brightwanderer.net/writing.shtml (Scroll down a bit.)

It's fabulous!
(Sorry about sticking my nose in, but I couldn't help myself...)

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HP Minutiae

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Here's a good one: