For a long time, I saw Sirius’s posters of Muggle women in bathing suits as a typical teen thing, with irritating his parents by sticking the posters on permanently (permanently for wizards with no imagination, anyway) as a bonus. But I wasn’t giving him enough credit. The girlie posters are direct threat the to entire value system and prestige of ( Read more... )

Kreacher tells us that Regulus joined the Death Eaters when he was sixteen. Which at first sounds unimportant. After all, Draco too (if we accept Harry’s prejudiced jump to that conclusion-but let’s do so for the sake of argument) took the Dark Mark at that age. And Voldemort seems to recruit most of his followers young, when they’re easier to ( Read more... )

[Harry wakes up the next morning in a sleeping bag on the floor]

( Kreacher is back!! )

And now for something ELSE completely different!

( Read Chapter 2 )

[Harry touches down in Dumbledore’s office]

( Read Chapter 37 )

Let’s think about the Black Family Tree for a moment-not the data in the possibly non-canonical display of Phineas’s branch that was created by JKR for a charity auction, but the hanging itself, that Sirius showed off to Harry, with commentary.  What does canon say, and what can we deduce, about the Black Family Tapestry?

It’s not a prepossessing ( Read more... )

[After that long, intense discussion, Harry and co. all go to their rooms to go to sleep.]

( Read Chapter 6 )

[When last we left our heroes, they were staring at an evil screaming portrait which Sirius claimed was his mother.]

( Read Chapter 5 )

( Read Chapter 4 )

Some of us have questioned why Harry had to continue to spend several weeks with the Dursleys each summer after Voldemort returned at the end of GoF. If sharing Harry's blood allowed Voldemort to touch Harry, then it seems logical that it would also allow him to bypass any magical blood protections on #4 Privet Drive. So here's an idea, inspired ( Read more... )