Does she know McGonagall is a cat? Maybe protected Morgana from a cat by wacking it and it turns out to be McG?
Spells in Silence (Harry Potter)
- Thread starter Silently Watches
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TheMagister
Lord Magus
I'm always so happy when this updates.
I'll be really interested when the many pennies about Hazel start to drop for the teachers, all they need to do is ask the right question at the right time and suddenly everything they thought they knew is going to unravel itself all at once. Even if they find out though I'd lay money on them not having a clue how to handle anything.
I'll be really interested when the many pennies about Hazel start to drop for the teachers, all they need to do is ask the right question at the right time and suddenly everything they thought they knew is going to unravel itself all at once. Even if they find out though I'd lay money on them not having a clue how to handle anything.
She's cracking the code , and this is another point where creativity and not knowing what you can and cant do is good, because everyone else is busy learning spells, hand movements and such and she's out just using emotion,imagination and magic to get what she wants and I love when magic is portrayed like this where as long as your mind is strong enough and your creative you can do anything
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- They/Them/She/Her
Well, that (and thank you, by the way, for the other information), I'm not sure we should put down to the house rivalry, so much as the Malfoys and Weaselys being two old families with plenty of time to build up grievances even before the immediately preceding generations of them were on opposite sides of a civil war.kabs said:
And even if her first impression on him wasn't great, it was very definitely distinct. Canon Harry, who looked so much like his father, got sorted into Gryffindor, etc., provided a good surface for Snape to project a hated image of James onto. Hazel, here, the mute female Hufflepuff with the staff, the bird, the natural legilimency, and the interest in potions? Not so much!Mulisa said:
Furthermore, she's not just not James II: Now With Eyes That Remind You He Got Lily, she's an enigma -- and one with enough of a hint of danger to even further spur genuine consideration of her, past assumptions. After all, if nothing else, what other natural legilimens is likely most prominent in his knowledge? When he finds out that she's almost a total outcast among her peers, that she has strange magic and did something to Peeves...
Not, mind, that I think he'd need to get too far into looking into her before he started concluding that he did not just catch Britain's next Dark Lady sneaking around his potions lab -- but by that point, he'd know enough about her to be interested, and quite possibly concerned, for other reasons.
I think that Umbrage is actually one we can't blame the Dumbledore administration too much for -- she was forced on them by the Ministry, after all.Aunty Shi Ping said:
Even without her, though, they not only had Voldemort!Quirrel, as you mention, but also Lockheart and Crouch!Moody.
Then there's how Dumbledore handled Tom Riddle, from when they first met to when Dumbledore turned down his job application (thereby furthering his grudge and giving him plenty of free time out of Dumbledore's sight, instead of giving him a job visible to the public and even moreso to Dumbledore where any Dark-Lord-ing would have to be fit around classes, staff meetings, and grading and curriculum prep), the whole leaving Harry on a doorstep in November with a note and then not checking up on him enough to find out about how the Dursleys were treating him (or, worse, finding out and then not objecting) for a decade thing...
And Snape, of course, who may be a brilliant potioneer but even in the most positive portrayals I'm recalling (that don't go very AU) is rather nasty to at least the Gryffindor students, and more usually all non-Slytherin students. And who, of course, may in fact still be an unrepentant Death Eater for all Dumbledore knows, because, sure, he's pretty sure that Snape was loyal, but so was Voldemort; the one thing both Dumbledore and Voldemort should be sure about regarding Snape's loyalties is that he's successfully fooling at least one of them.
And there's Binns, who is noted as being pretty terrible at teaching, at least these days, Trelawny who's at best questionably competent...
...Yeah, it's been a long time since child-me read the books and took Dumbledore being the Goodest of the Good Guys at face value.
...Silently Watches said:
I don't know why I didn't, as far as I'm recalling, think of this before, but now I really want to see what Hazel and Luna make of each other.
Ehh. I think that probably depends on what sort of HP fic a given person reads; if a person mostly reads stories from a less-nasty-Snape-containing subset of the whole, and mostly finds new stories from links from within that subset, or the like, it would be a reasonable assumption for them to make that any given new story they're trying is likely to contain a less-nasty-than-book-canon Snape.Silently Watches said:
Or, for even more recursion, a primary base of other fanfic Snapes, which might themselves have had Movie Snape as their primary bases in many cases.Evaunit02mark1 said:
Kadath
Sinnamon Roll
- Location
- Somewhere
Oh, it's a horrible idea all around, but on the other hand I feel like it would result in Prof. Sprout being called in to discipline her, which would lead to Hazel actually getting an advocate when she explains herself.At least, assuming that Sprout isn't the type to say that disability is something that is overcome with a stiff upper lip and a good strong cup of tea...
That said, I do wonder why Hazel hasn't tried teleporting into the common room or even around the campus? Did she already get warned that she could get splinched?
- Location
- India
If I remember correctly, Hazel can feel the wards preventing her from jumping. She's mentioned it before, except she thinks those are there to protect the castle from malicious spirits (she might have mentioned that bit when in Diagon Alley actually, not too sure of that). But she basically feels a solid wall when she tries to open her little portal to the spirit realm.
I don't believe she's heard of splinching yet though. It's going to be an… interesting, conversation.
"It can do what?! What do you mean, leave body parts behind??!!!!"
punster lv1
Killjoy - cheerful shitposter - ignorant pedant
I don't exactly disagree with your points but technically not hiring someone you think has dark lord potential to teach young and impressionable children skills they could use to campaign on their behalf is not something we should condemn him for.
He then went on to keep Snape on retainer thereby losing the moral high ground but that's a separate issue.
That said he does have an excuse for Lockhart: when you're losing teachers as frequently as he does you probably can't afford to be picky.
(And, unless it's fanon, it sounds like he can't replace Binns without him passing on first and someone could argue that forcing the issue just to replace a Professor is immoral.)
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Roth963
If I become inactive with this massage, I died
I imagine it is a feeling like when I heard that there was a terrorist attack on a mall I was in two days ago, feeling of dodged the bullet there.
- Location
- Elsewhere
She definitely heard something about how Wizarding teleportation is dangerous, and I think she's at least acknowledged somewhere that her 'jumping' is similar to apparation.
Isiri Pudireach
Predictive text can go duck itself
It is worse because their neighbor was a squib that Dumbledore had placed there to watch them. Though at least for this fic I remember the author saying Hazel never really interacted with her, so she didn't know how bad it was.
NSMS
Probably evil, unfortunately.
- Location
- A rapidly widening tear in the fabric of reality
IIRC it's pretty much outright stated in canon that he knew the Dursleys didn't treat Harry well, and that he in fact suspected in advance he wouldn't exactly be happy there, but also that he valued Harry's safety over that. YMMV on how valid that concern was and how much he actually knew was going on- plus, a reminder that for someone as old as him the threshold for something to be considered 'child abuse' would be rather higher.
Though of course, this story could go in a completely different direction.
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It needs to be stated there were a lot of death eaters who got away with literal murder. Some known like Lucius Malfoy, some unknown like Crouch Jr and Wormtail. And its quite probable Bellatrix and co would have targeted Harry instead of Neville and Parents if it were possible.
And even the ones who didn't necessarily plan on resurrecting the dark lord at first chance were pretty dangerous. Remember in book 4 after the quidditch world cup when a bunch of them got drunk and decided to relive the good old days(untill barty crouch jr cast the dark mark and scared the daylights out of them).
And those protection came in very handy when young Harry met the shade of Voldemort, which is fairly likely thing to happen.
Its very likely those protections were what prevented him from being used as Fiendfyre test practice, at least in the very early years
As much as I like this story, the tension and the pile of misunderstandings are slowly becoming too much for me.
I understand that Professor Sprout didn't have time to look after her firsties yet, I understand that McGonagall is not responsible for Hazel and delegated the wand issue, I understand that Snape is and always will be an asshole who doesn't care about anyone but himself, I understand that Dumbledore has three jobs and is too busy to meet up with Hazel without a pressing reason, I understand that children can be cruel and stupid...
... but at some point someone should notice something is off and do something about it.
Why did no one check if all the new students have their wands? They are just 11 years old, you don't expect them to be responsible like adults. One would assume that someone would actually check if all students have the material they were told to buy, simply because the shops are a long way away. But that's more on canon than on this story, really. There's shockingly little oversight or support for the kids in the books, too.
On one hand I want Albus to come swooping in and clearing up all the misunderstandings, then work with Hazel to find a solution for her unique situation. But that would feel cheap and remove her agency somewhat.
On the other hand I don't see how this is going to go on much longer without running into some major conflict, which might end with Hazel leaving Hogwarts for good.
It would be somewhat funny if the Hufflepuffs notice the next morning that Hazel is missing, hasn't used her bed and the last time anyone saw her was when Professor Snape took 20 house points from her. I hope someone asks him what for exactly.
When I think about the whole situation, I have to say that I don't like Hazel as much as I should. She's definitely interesting and talented but she's so stuck in her worldview that she never even considered she might be wrong. Which makes perfect sense for her age, of course. She thinks she needs to keep her secrets to stay safe, she doesn't trust anyone much (and who would, if you could read minds?) and has no idea what she herself looks like to other people.
She also made a mistake, she didn't finish Peeves off. Hopefully the damage done to him will unravel and end him but if not this could come back to bite her.
I can see so many things that could go wrong for Hazel, I just hope we can get some sort of resolution for at least some of the issues soon because otherwise this is going to feel overwhelming.
I understand that Professor Sprout didn't have time to look after her firsties yet, I understand that McGonagall is not responsible for Hazel and delegated the wand issue, I understand that Snape is and always will be an asshole who doesn't care about anyone but himself, I understand that Dumbledore has three jobs and is too busy to meet up with Hazel without a pressing reason, I understand that children can be cruel and stupid...
... but at some point someone should notice something is off and do something about it.
Why did no one check if all the new students have their wands? They are just 11 years old, you don't expect them to be responsible like adults. One would assume that someone would actually check if all students have the material they were told to buy, simply because the shops are a long way away. But that's more on canon than on this story, really. There's shockingly little oversight or support for the kids in the books, too.
On one hand I want Albus to come swooping in and clearing up all the misunderstandings, then work with Hazel to find a solution for her unique situation. But that would feel cheap and remove her agency somewhat.
On the other hand I don't see how this is going to go on much longer without running into some major conflict, which might end with Hazel leaving Hogwarts for good.
It would be somewhat funny if the Hufflepuffs notice the next morning that Hazel is missing, hasn't used her bed and the last time anyone saw her was when Professor Snape took 20 house points from her. I hope someone asks him what for exactly.
When I think about the whole situation, I have to say that I don't like Hazel as much as I should. She's definitely interesting and talented but she's so stuck in her worldview that she never even considered she might be wrong. Which makes perfect sense for her age, of course. She thinks she needs to keep her secrets to stay safe, she doesn't trust anyone much (and who would, if you could read minds?) and has no idea what she herself looks like to other people.
She also made a mistake, she didn't finish Peeves off. Hopefully the damage done to him will unravel and end him but if not this could come back to bite her.
I can see so many things that could go wrong for Hazel, I just hope we can get some sort of resolution for at least some of the issues soon because otherwise this is going to feel overwhelming.
- Location
- Hell
There is little oversight and support for kids in the books because the books were written for kids, not the grown ups. Same as every other adventure story with a young protagonist. It is a necessary part for there to be a story at all.
The impatience I think is simply part and parcel of reading a good story written in real time. It has been all of four chapters since Hazel has gotten to Hogwarts.
Four Chapters. Just be patient.
The impatience I think is simply part and parcel of reading a good story written in real time. It has been all of four chapters since Hazel has gotten to Hogwarts.
Four Chapters. Just be patient.
First of all, I am not impatient. My issue isn't that I want everything to be resolved now, it's that I don't want to see a massive pile up of problems that leads to an explosion. If that means that at least someone somewhere starts to ask the right questions, then I'm all in favour.
Secondly, this particular arc started in chapter 27. That's 8 chapters. Not that Hazel's misunderstandings about wizards are anything new.
Last but not least, I am sure you didn't mean to sound condescending but I'd prefer a different tone in future communications. Thank you.
- Location
- Hell
I did mean to, because you are sounding impatient.
This is still the very first week of school for Hazel. The story from the very start has been about Hazel being different than her peers and considering her personality will not be resolved soon and will likely still cause more problems. Hazel does not have the habit of asking for help or explaining herself very well. She is also likely to look for solutions on her own so the problems will continue to be unnoticed because she "took care" of them.
Just chill out and let the story play out.
This is still the very first week of school for Hazel. The story from the very start has been about Hazel being different than her peers and considering her personality will not be resolved soon and will likely still cause more problems. Hazel does not have the habit of asking for help or explaining herself very well. She is also likely to look for solutions on her own so the problems will continue to be unnoticed because she "took care" of them.
Just chill out and let the story play out.
NSMS
Probably evil, unfortunately.
- Location
- A rapidly widening tear in the fabric of reality
Regardless of why you did it, being condescending is never a good way to communicate; even at best, you're probably going to put the other person off from actually listening to your point and encourage them to reject it out of hand.
Silently Watches
Professional Stalker
- Location
- Right behind you
…Yeah. People have noticed SEVERAL things are off by this point. Claiming that she can't use a wand is kind of attention-grabbing.
People should do something about it? Please recall that in-story, Hazel has been in Hogwarts for two. Days. The people responsible for "doing something" have barely had enough time to process the situation, let alone plan a response. At least give them until the weekend to get their ducks in a row.
I'm not asking this question to be sarcastic or condescending; I'm asking because I'm legitimately curious. What "correct" worldview should she have at this point? The wizards' worldview, which says that because she can't use a wand she is therefore so worthless that she doesn't deserve a place in their society? The worldview that what she does is unique and unprecedented, which translates to her being a magical freak who is doomed to be forever alone? I ask because I don't really see many other options here.
Compared to those options, believing that she is part of some other group, even if she doesn't know what that group actually is, is probably the most healthy of the three.
No, she doesn't trust anyone. Even when she objectively should. I didn't realize I needed to point this out, but Hazel is a fundamentally damaged individual. Despite what JKR might believe herself or want us to believe, abusive childhoods generally cause problems. Hazel doesn't trust anyone because for her entire life with the Dursleys, she had not the belief but the knowledge that the only person around her who she could trust was herself. We can see the results of that in her interactions with the werewolves and the hags. She likes both groups, was friendly extremely quickly with them in no small part due to her being that desperately lonely, but does she ever show that she trusts them? With her physical safety, yes, but not with her mental/emotional safety. She doesn't trust anyone with that.
Is her growing past that and healing important? Yes, it is. But it isn't something that is going to happen in one chapter or a couple of months. Her coming to understand that she can open up to and rely on select individuals without them stabbing her in the back at the first opportunity is going to be a multi-year character arc. I'm not going to rush it.
I for one enjoy the conflict between what Hazel does and what the Wizards do and wish Hazel was a skooch less subtle so we could have more, but it's only been two day so I can wait.
Honestly so many of the fics where Harry/Sirius Jr./Harriet/Hazel/Alt-Neville/etc. Find out about magic early have them become masters and prodigies of magic and dominate the school that just not doing that is a breath of fresh air on it's own. Here we get to actually look into the up and downsides of what learning an entirely different approach to things early is really like.
I'm really looking forward to people trying to study Hazel's methods.
Honestly so many of the fics where Harry/Sirius Jr./Harriet/Hazel/Alt-Neville/etc. Find out about magic early have them become masters and prodigies of magic and dominate the school that just not doing that is a breath of fresh air on it's own. Here we get to actually look into the up and downsides of what learning an entirely different approach to things early is really like.
I'm really looking forward to people trying to study Hazel's methods.
NSMS
Probably evil, unfortunately.
- Location
- A rapidly widening tear in the fabric of reality
If it were me I'd assume I'd just stumbled onto an older or rarely used way of casting witch/wizard magic (maybe whatever predated wands?), rather than that I was doing a completely separate thing. I'll admit to feeling some personal annoyance myself that Hazel doesn't seem to even be considering that as a possibility, even if I can understand the likely cause- she's grown up as unique and ostracised, so she's used to thinking of things in terms of her being 'other' first and foremost.
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Mal-3
Fun Tyrant
You mean... like a druid?
Swear to Catboy Satan, Hogwarts makes for an amazingly ironic mirror of certain posters' opinions of Hazel. She may or may not be doing something unprecedented (IMNAAHO there is precedent for Hazel, but it's much, much older than mere druidic practice) but goddamn if she can't immediately shoved back into Rowling's little box of classifications then we're gonna throw a titanic wobbly about it!
Silently Watches
Professional Stalker
- Location
- Right behind you
Two small problems with that assumption. First, the wizards themselves don't leave much room for her to draw such a conclusion. The way they paint their history, magic begins and ends with a wand. From chapter 27 and colored for emphasis:
I personally would be hard-pressed in Hazel's shoes to assume that I'm using pre-wand wizard magic when the wizards themselves don't appear to consider that such a thing is a possibility. Now from a logical perspective and reflecting on real-world history we can of course draw the conclusion that European wizards must have had contact with other peoples who used magic differently – Hazel even notes that to herself in the same chapter – so someone has to know that what is written in these books is a lie. Even so, their culture does not appear to place much importance on keeping the historical record accurate. They would, by all evidence she has found, much prefer to believe that theirs is the only way to practice magic.
Second, and I'll admit that this might come across as splitting hairs, I struggle to find a practical difference in assuming that she is using a completely different style of human magic versus assuming she is practicing the specific Western European pre-wand style of magic that the wizards would prefer to forget. It isn't like making one assumption instead of the other keeps her from having to adapt modern wizard spells to her personal method. It doesn't change the fact that she is bound to a staff instead of a wand and that the idea of breaking her staff so as to get a wand fills her with a deep-rooted sense of revulsion. It doesn't give her back her voice so as to speak the incantations that are by all accounts a necessity for casting magic. It doesn't negate the truth that several of the "fundamental rules" that modern wizards have to follow just don't seem to apply to her.
If the wizards say that they have their wand magic and that is the only magic, then fine. She will practice magic that is completely separate from the magic that wizards use. And by this conclusion, there IS a tangible benefit. She gets to stand up to the hags and werewolves like Fenrir and anyone else who would automatically hate her for being a magical human and confidently say, "I am no wand-waver. You have never met anyone like me before. Instead of making the assumption that I will act like a witch, open your eyes and see me for me".
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NSMS
Probably evil, unfortunately.
- Location
- A rapidly widening tear in the fabric of reality
Unless I've somehow managed to completely misread things, Hazel thinks what she's doing is completely separate from witch/wizard magic rather than a primal form of it. She's treating it like they're oil and water- both are liquids (magic), but they're not the same thing and they don't mix. And while that would be fine in and of itself, it's that she's stuck on that without even seemingly considering the possibility that she's just using witch/wizard magic via a different medium that bugs me. Yes, I understand why she thinks in that way (I'd even be fine with her being correct in her belief!), but it's still annoying when a character in a story doesn't even seem to notice a pretty obvious answer dangling right in front of them.
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Again, this isn't me being impatient, this is me seeing a trainwreck in the making. I don't mind waiting a couple of months, that's not the issue.
Resolving a single issue like her lack of a wand isn't too difficult. That changes when things start to pile up. If one problem turns into a dozen, then at that point people will consider more drastic measures.
It's not about being correct, it's about allowing for the possibility that you're wrong. Hazel holds a strong belief that she comes from a long line of druids whose magic is incompatible with wizards and wands, based on incomplete information. She knows she needs to learn more, that's her main reason to give Hogwarts a try in the first place (although more for the library than for the classes) but she never considers that her assumption about her own magic might be flawed.
Which is totally fine, she's just a child after all and rather more mature than others at her age (not that this is always a good thing).
My argument was less about the facts and more about Hazel's attitude. She's certain she's right, she believes she knows better and judges all interactions with wizards from that position. Which makes total sense in the story and for the character but it's aggravating to watch.
Yeah, that's obvious and I agree that this was kind of forgotten in the books.
I don't expect Hazel to actually trust anyone anytime soon (except for Morgan) but she's on a quest for knowledge here. She has shared a lot of what she can do with the hags and werewolves, she can share at least as much with the wizards. It's not like she's lying or obfuscating things when talking with the other students, she told them about living with outcasts and being outside the country etc. She showed off her her own brand of magic to them, too.
Maybe I should use fewer words next time I leave a comment because the main point of it boils down to, "I sure hope Hazel is not getting into too much more trouble before at least some of the current issues are resolved." And that's all it was.