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Hi, Anon! Hope you don’t mind me answering it in a text post! Just better formatting, I suppose. Looks better on my blog, anyways. Thanks! 💜

About the question: well, no one knows for sure, but we can talk about wandlore and maybe we can get some answers. Shall we?

(It’ll probably have a thousand typos, because it’s a shitload of text, so forgive me, my buddies. Love you.)

To be honest, this is a subject JKR failed to explore, even though the Elder Wand was so crucial to the story. We don’t really learn that much about how they work or why they are needed, besides the basic of the basic.

As we know, the wand chooses the wizard. That alone can explain a lot about why certain wands work for people and others don’t. But it’s way more complex than it sounds like.

For example: Harry was chosen by the Holly wand with Fawkes’s feather. And it makes sense, because he’s a horcrux, so he has a part of Voldemort within him. But I wouldn’t say that’s the reason, even though it seems obvious. Because the wand recognises the nature of the wizard, what they intend to do with it, who they are and will be.

No one knows how it does that, not even wand makers, but it’s more than identification, especially at such a young age. That’s why most wands stay with wizards for a long time, unless they are broken or stolen. Because even though they change as people, the core (quite literally) is almost always the same, to the wand. The signs were always there. It’s practically divination, to be honest.

‘The wand chooses the wizard. That much has always been clear to those of us who have studied wandlore… if you are any wizard at all you will be able to channel your magic through almost any instrument. The best results, however, must always come where there is the strongest affinity between wizard and wand. These connections are complex. An initial attraction, and then a mutual quest for experience, the wand learning from the wizard, the wizard from the wand.’ - Mr. Ollivander

Now, if you take a look at each of the properties of the wands, you’ll be able to understand Draco’s wand, why it was so friendly to Harry and why it was able to help him kill Voldemort.

1. The wood

It’s chosen according to your birth tree in the Celtic tree calendar. Yes. This is something most people don’t even know, and it’s so important because it makes wandlore a bit easier to understand.

Why? Well, it obviously relates to Astronomy, Astrology, divination… So it’s easier to understand how it’s shaped to suit people’s personalities, their magic cores as wizards, etc. The wand is not the source of the power, it’s a channel to concentrate the power from within the wizard. So you could say the wood represents the nature of the wizard, what he’s already born with.

To understand how the wood alone can say a lot about a wizard’s nature, let’s take a look at what Ollivander has to say about Hawthorn, Draco’s wandwood:

The wandmaker Gregorovitch wrote that hawthorn ‘makes a strange, contradictory wand, as full of paradoxes as the tree that gave it birth, whose leaves and blossoms heal, and yet whose cut branches smell of death.’ While I disagree with many of Gregorovitch’s conclusions, we concur about hawthorn wands, which are complex and intriguing in their natures, just like the owners who best suit them. Hawthorn wands may be particularly suited to healing magic, but they are also adept at curses, and I have generally observed that the hawthorn wand seems most at home with a conflicted nature, or with a witch or wizard passing through a period of turmoil. Hawthorn is not easy to master, however, and I would only ever consider placing a hawthorn wand in the hands of a witch or wizard of proven talent, or the consequences might be dangerous. Hawthorn wands have a notable peculiarity: their spells can, when badly handled, backfire.

I think Draco’s whole storyline is in there. His conflicted nature (he’s a Gemini, for fuck’s sake!), his turmoils, how actually talented and powerful he is. 

(It’s also a sign Draco should become a Healer. Sorry, that’s my headcanon and I can’t shut up about it!)

Also, the reason Harry’s spell backfires is right there (because Harry was not evil nor wanted to kill Voldemort, he tried to save him until the end). And the fact Hawthorn is not easy to master. Keep that in mind.

2. The length and flexibility

Both aspects of wands are so underrated. 

Ollivander wrote, about the length: “longer wands might suit taller wizards, but they tend to be drawn to bigger personalities, and those of a more spacious and dramatic style of magic”. 

So it’s no surprise Hagrid’s is 16" and Ron is 14", because they are both tall and quite dramatic in their demeanour. Meanwhile, Harry is 11" and Draco, although slightly taller than him, is 10", showing how his magic is more introspective and he is more guarded, closed off. 

(Lol wands are so phallic, impossible not to giggle while you discuss lengths)

He also wrote, about the flexibility: “denotes the degree of adaptability and willingness to change possessed by the wand-and-owner pair”.

It’s no surprise, then, that Bellatrix’s wand is rigid or that Harry’s is flexible. Her wand was always intended for evil and madness, because it’s in her nature; Harry’s, on the other hand, was flexible enough to adapt to his nature, even though he was part-horcrux and could end up being evil. The wand knew better.

Draco’s wand is reasonably flexible. Which could mean it’s consistent, but if forced, adaptable. So again, it’s not in its nature to just accept changing allegiances. It will fight until the end not to be mastered.

So both its wood and its flexibility are huge indicators of how hard it would be for his wand to be mastered and change loyalties. Again, keep that in mind.

3. The core

The core is an even more complex aspect of wands. While the wood represents the wizard’s nature as a person (their body and heart), the core represents the nature of their magic. It’s in the way they use it, the potency, what they’re good at, etc.

Now let’s take a look at Ollivander’s comments on Unicorn hair, Draco’s wand core:

Unicorn hair generally produces the most consistent magic, and is least subject to fluctuations and blockages. Wands with unicorn cores are generally the most difficult to turn to the Dark Arts. They are the most faithful of all wands, and usually remain strongly attached to their first owner, irrespective of whether he or she was an accomplished witch or wizard.

Minor disadvantages of unicorn hair are that they do not make the most powerful wands (although the wand wood may compensate) and that they are prone to melancholy if seriously mishandled, meaning that the hair may ‘die’ and need replacing.

Wow. I mean, this is illuminating, isn’t it? First of all, even though Hawthorn is contradictory, it is balanced by the hair, making it a more consistent wand.

(Oh, and it’s a great property for healers, because the Unicorn is known to be pure and its blood can keep you alive. So, again, Healer! Draco, please.)

It’s also the most difficult to turn to the Dark Arts, and that is a clear sign that Draco was never a dark wizard by nature, he didn’t want to be dark. He wasn’t dark, otherwise this wand wouldn’t have chosen him in the first place.

And last, but definitely not least, they are the most faithful, and tend to remain attached to their first owner. 

Well, there’s that then. All the aspects in Draco’s wand are adamant to it being difficult to master and even harder to change allegiances. It would fight until the end to work only for its master, and the hair could even die from it. 

So why did it change masters that easily, then? That’s the question, innit?

Here’s what JKR has said about the whole Hawthorn wand business:

‘So one would expect a certain amount of loyalty from one’s wand. So even if you were disarmed while carrying it, even if you lost a fight while carrying it, it has developed an affinity with you that it will not give up easily. If, however, a wand is won, properly won in an adult duel, then a wand may switch allegiance, and it will certainly work better even if it hasn’t fully switched allegiance for the person who won it. So that of course is what happens when Harry takes Draco’s wand from him…’

Not trying to correct JKR because she’s the fucking author, but doing it anyway: Draco and Harry didn’t duel, dear Joanne. He only took the wands in a hurry. He never disarmed him. Proof?

As Ron ran to pull Hermione out of the wreckage, Harry took his chance; he leapt over an armchair and wrested the three wands from Draco’s grip…

Well, well, well. No duel. How… interesting.

JKR’s argument here is that, even though they didn’t properly duel, Draco was disarmed the muggle way, with a good old shove. Well, again, not trying to diss her own understanding of her world, but this pathetic wrestle doesn’t count. If that was all it took, then wands would be pretty useless, hm? Their allegiance should survive a shove. They’re expensive, God’s sake!

Let’s read JKR’s own canon a bit more, shall we?

Harry looked down at the hawthorn wand that had once belonged to Draco Malfoy. He had been surprised, but pleased, to discover that it worked for him at least as well as Hermione’s had done.

Pleased. Heheh. So gay. Anyway.

It’s funny that she included this in the book, because it contradicts her own laws of wands. According to them, if you steal/borrow someone else’s wand, it won’t change allegiances, obtaining only “fair results”. The allegiance only changes if it’s won.

Well, JKR, Hermione’s wand works perfectly for Harry even though he never disarmed her. Just like Draco’s, who he also never disarmed. So why do they change loyalties, or at least share loyalties? Harry sees both wands as friendly, and he naturally uses both with no problems.

So here’s my personal theory, from everything I’ve read and all the time I’ve spent overthinking the issue without being paid a single pound: 

Harry had their complete, absolute trust.

(Ok, it sounds stupid, but bear with me.)

People were part of the war for many reasons, right? For their families, their friends, themselves, for justice and all that. They keep their reasons until the end, hopefully. Right? Even those fighting for Harry, they had their own reasons.

Now, what was the main reason Hermione ended up in the middle of this war? It’s not in her nature to fight, she’s not a warrior. But she knew she had to help Harry. It was only Harry. She didn’t have family fighting alongside her. She didn’t have any other allegiance.

Why she never, not even once, mistrusted Harry? Ron did and they were so close. That’s because his primary reason for being there was his family, not Harry (that doesn’t mean he didn’t love or trust Harry, but he would choose his family, if he had to).

This absolute trust Hermione had for Harry has the same origin as everything good in Harry Potter: sacrifice. She gave up her own parents, her own story. She made a huge sacrifice for Harry. She gave up her doubts and any other loyalty she had to follow him.

What about Draco, you ask?

He had his family as his only loyalty throughout his whole life. But that went to shit, to be honest. His whole world stopped making sense. Everything he believe was a lie. He didn’t trust his parents anymore, even though he loved them immensely. He was so confused (“I love a good turmoil”, his wand said, happily).

And I think sacrifice is exactly what happened to Draco at Malfoy Manor. He made it by not identifying Harry, by betraying his own family and Voldemort and risking his own life (and he does that again in the Room of Requirement).

At that moment, his only hope, his only trust in the world was Harry. Because if Voldemort won, he was fucked. Not only because he didn’t want to live in that world he once thought perfect, but because he was a shitty Death Eater, he didn’t want to kill or torture. He didn’t believe in Voldemort anymore. He didn’t have anything else to believe, at that exact moment.

When he “lost” his wand to Harry, his allegiance had already changed in such a visceral way that it was easy for them to share his wand (and the Elder Wand, by proxy). Because he trusted Harry with his heart and soul. 

If that isn’t love, I don’t want to know what is, because it’s not good enough. 

I don’t even care if you believe in Drarry or not, if you think this love I’m talking about is romantic or platonic. Regardless, it was there. You can’t deny it. I won’t let you. Because otherwise, everything we know about wands IS A LIE. And the Wizarding World doesn’t live like that. Magic makes at least a little bit of sense.

(Even though what we’re discussing is fictional. Sorry, I’m that insane.)

And remember how Narcissa’s wand didn’t “understand” Draco? 

Her wand is unknown, but it’s said to resemble Lucius’s, so it was probably Elmwood, a wand considered desirable for purebloods. Imagine that. The nature of her wand was not the same as his at all. She was selfish and didn’t have any allegiances but her own family. Even when she makes that final sacrifice, lying to Voldemort, it’s for Draco. She couldn’t care less about Harry’s life. 

So her wand not adapting to him is a huge indicator that his loyalty wasn’t with his family at all anymore. They were with Harry now (the whole “DON’T KILL HIM! DON’T KILL HIM!” shebang is like a neon sign, innit?).

And loyalty means much more than just wands in Harry Potter. The two Death Eaters who betrayed Voldemort, Snape and Regulus, sacrificed their lives, reputation, love (doesn’t matter which kind). They were something so foreign to Voldemort he never once thought they betrayed him. 

Because loyalty free of ulterior motives is love in its most visceral sense.

And the same fucking thing happened to Draco, right? Voldemort never, not even once, was able to see what happened with his wand. Because pure loyalty was involved and he never understood it.

Love is always the answer in this series. Lily’s, Narcissa’s, Snape’s, Harry’s. And Draco’s, I would say, is just as meaningful. It matters just as much in the final battle. It was the reason Harry won in the first place. 

So again, that’s LOVE LOVE LOVE and not even JKR will change my opinion (sorry, boss).

I will never accept the Hawthorn wand changed allegiances, because we have proof it didn’t have any reason to, and it’s not in its nature to just do it. Furthermore, in Cursed Child Draco even uses this old wand again. 

He never lost the wand’s loyalty completely, he just shared it with Harry.

The school year in Japan runs from April through the following mid-March. The break between school years is about three weeks long, and there is also a long summer break in the middle of the school year from around July 20th to the end of August. 

So, Tohru and co. started their second year (and Momiji, Haru, & Machi started their first year) in April, in volume 4. 

Then they have a summer break around July - August, starting at the end of volume 8 and going through volume 11. 

When everyone starts back to school after summer in volume 12, they are still in the same year (second year for Tohru and co.) 

They continue to be in their second year for several volumes, passing time from September through the New Year (vol. 16), until in volume 17 we see that everyone in preparing for graduation (of the third year class above them - that characters like Motoko are in, for example) 

Graduation time and Tohru and co. entering their third (and final) year kind of comes and goes without much aplomb in volume 18 of the manga: 

We see in volume 19 that it’s already May, the second anniversary of Kyoko’s death, so everyone is a month into the new school year already:  

During the climax of the manga it’s the rainy season again (around June through Mid-July), a full year since Kyo’s true form was revealed: 

And after all that chaos finally dies down, we see that it’s right before summer vacation again. Students have some ‘final exams’ right before, which Tohru has to make up from missing them while in the hospital, and then a week or two before summer break officially starts. 

After that, there is a big time skip in the manga. Since summer vacation in the Japanese school year is in the middle of the year, Tohru and co. all still had the rest of the school year to complete from September through March. The manga skips from the start of summer vacation in July (ch. 135) to after their graduation from high school in March of the next year (ch. 136). 

I hope that helped clear up some of the school year timeline ^^ 

All of the Sohma typically attend Sohma approved/owned gender separated private schools. Yuki attended a more elite private school, at least in elementary school, than the others, but it was still an all-boys Sohma private school. Yuki notes that the school had a lot of other “outside” Sohma children attending it, who are the ones he sneaks into the main estate with as a child and it leads to their memories being erased. Yuki was the first one in the family to attend an “outside” school - the public school he is attending at the start of the story that Tohru goes to, which is called Kaibara High School. Yuki asked his mother if he could go to that school starting high school, and his mother says that they argued over it. Yuki wanted to attend this school to get away from the Sohma family by some small amount, in addition to him having come to live with Shigure. Likely, the only reason Yuki was allowed to attend the school at all was because of the bet Akito had made with Ren, which would have happened around the same time. 

After Yuki attends this school and Tohru comes to live with him and Shigure, Kyo also ends up attending the school per Shigure’s manipulations. Previously, Kyo had been attending one of the expected all-boys private schools, although it is implied that he was skipping regularly and not really attending school at all. Then the next year, Haru and Momiji also requested to attend the same school - Haru likely to be close to Yuki and Momiji to be close to Tohru, and they wanted to follow in Yuki’s footsteps of breaking outside of the Sohma family and their restricting rules.  Yuki, Kyo, Haru, and Momji account for the youngest cursed members of the family who are attending high school at the time. Every other cursed member of the Sohma had attended the Sohma-approved privates schools, including Ayame, Hatori and Shigure. Kagura and Isuzu were attending the same private all-girls high school (they both graduate before the end of the series). It’s possible that since the curse breaks before they will attend high school, Kisa and Hiro might also choose to attend Kaibara to follow in their older relatives footsteps. However, there’s no evidence about this one way or another - they could just as likely choose to still attend the traditional private schools. 

I know Yen Press will post the official translated chapters on the 23rd, but because I bought the mag especially for this chapter, can’t help but translate it. But please take this translation with a grain of salt, as I am not a pro 😅

EDITED A LOT OF STUFF SO JUST FEEL FREE TO REFRESH THIS LINK

Feel free to correct me if you see I mistranslated things! (I tend to do this, you see) Also please DO NOT REPOST ANY of the images, thank you! If you want to borrow my translation (as lame as it is), feel free to send me a PM!

This is the first chapter of my ongoing essay “Mapping the Drarry storyline”. You can find all the available chapters on this link.

Last week, I decided to start a series of posts discussing how the Drarry narrative is supported by the books, and how their character developments are tangled with said narrative.

Today, I’m going to talk about Philosopher’s Stone, specifically about Harry and Draco’s first interactions: how they met, why it matters, how their antagonism came to be. So let’s go!

itty bitty art analysis because both takaya and ibata are obsessed with drawing as many parallels between kyoru and akigure as possible and i love that for them:

kyo and tohru’s relationship is new and it’s exciting and it’s wholesome in a way only teenage first love can be. they are each other’s confidant, which is notable for tohru in particular, whose hubris lies in her selflessness. they are bathed in light here, utilizing the sunset motif that represents their unspoken feelings for one another. kyo, a character who is bad with words, is performing a simple act of kindness and expressing vulnerability in the ways he can, holding out a pure white flower to comfort tohru. it is also notable that in moments like these kyo and tohru are always on the same level, driving home the equality and willingness to compromise and radically accept one another for who they are that is the foundation of their relationship.

in contrast, shigure and akito’s relationship is dark and twisted and draws from decades of baggage on top of centuries of family history. they are shrouded in darkness and backlit by a simple, traditional lighting fixture. as always, akito forces shigure to lower himself to their level, establishing their power in the relationship. the flower is red: carnal, adult, passionate, blood-soaked. shigure begins the scene by offering akito the flower, commenting that they might not have seen one before (implying that akito may not have gone to high school, further ostracizing akito from mainstream contemporary japanese society) with the intent to evoke the childhood memory we see in the cold open. akito attempts vulnerability by asking about it and shigure takes this chance to assert his individuality by playing off akito’s insecurities, dismissing akito and grabbing power back. 

Fruits Basket anime episode 1 “The Strangest Day” covers Chapter 1 of the manga. 

The first difference I would like to point out between the anime and manga is simply this - Tohru has blue eyes. 

In the manga, Tohru’s eyes are brown. Not a big deal, although it seems an unnecessary change. 

The next difference between the manga and anime is actually a very significant one, which you see very early on.

i realised that film draco has moles on his neck, so uh..

The Complete List of Everything Death Note*

*so far excluding merchandising like figures, keychains, plushies, etc. A pretty good masterlist of that can be found on the website for the anime itself!

This list is being kept up to date to the best of my abilities, but reblogs don’t update the content. For maximum accuracy, please visit the source post. If any links are broken or you have something to add, please let me know!

All links for reading and watching are examples - other sources might be available and I encourage legally purchasing the media when possible.

Manga-related Media:

Manga (12 Volumes, 108 chapters) -  (x, x, x - English), (x - Japanese) The source canon and original story. The link contains high quality scans of the official English translation by VIZ. Many manga-reading sites display scanlations instead, which’s translation you should take with a grain of salt. It is known to be faulty.

‘The C-Kira Case’ / “Chapter 109″  - (x - English) A bonus one-shot manga, taking place after the manga’s finale. 

Death Note Pilot Chapter - (x - English) One-Shot manga that was published before the main series to test interest for the concept. It does not relate to the main manga.

2020 Oneshot / Special Chapter (x - English) An all-new special one-shot with a one-off plotline.

Death Note: Another Note - (x - English), (x - Japanese) A novel that is set before the manga, in the manga universe.

How To Read 13 - (x - Japanese only), (x - English) Bonus Volume to the manga, including character profiles, creator interviews and other special pages. The English version is not currently available online, but VIZ has published an official translation.

‘One Day’ (x - English) & ‘The Wammy’s House’ (x - English) - (x - Japanese) Two L-centric one-shots that were published in ‘L File No. 15′, a photobook for the third movie (see below). Since they were made as part of a movie-verse publication, I personally think they are movie!L not manga!L, but there are dissenting opinions, so I’m linking them here.

Blanc Et Noir (Artbook) (x - Illustrations), (x - Artist’s comments) Takeshi Obata’s artbook. It contains more than just Death Note, but Death Note is the majority of it. All his illustrations are printed here and given commentary. There currently aren’t any actual scans of the commentary, but I linked my own translations of them (based on the official German).

Full color Re-release - (x - Japanese) In 2012, Shounen Jump released some of its popular manga in full color. There is no otherwise new content and it is only available in Japanese. (There have been some efforts to typeset the official translation into them, but they have not been completed.)

Anime-related Media:

Anime (37 episodes) - (x) Animated adaptation of the manga. Fairly accurate, but cuts a lot of content in the second half. Available on Netflix.

Death Note /A Animation Official Analysis Guide (x) The guidebook for the anime production, including interviews, character profiles, design art, etc. There are tidbit translations in this tag.

Death Note Relight: Visions of a God (OVA) - (x) - OVA that is primarily a retelling of the first arc. There are few new scenes in it. It has an alternative ending and does not count towards the canon anime timeline.

Death Note Relight 2: L’s Successors (OVA) - (x) A retelling of the second arc that features a lot more new scenes and completely alters the timeline. Also non-canon.

Death Note Settei - (x) Design works for the anime that came extra with the DVD release.

Original Sound Track - (x - Tracklist & Booklet) 

Original Sound Track II - (x - Tracklist & Booklet)

Original Sound Track III - (x - Tracklist & Booklet)

Lol. It’s your lucky day. I was literally already in the middle of working on one discussing Shigure’s and Akito’s roles in the story before you sent this. So everything I had typed up for that post I’ll put here! I’ll talk about his love for her a little bit throughout!

A summary of all content that wasn’t in the movie.

The newest Death Note novelization, Light Up The NEW World, has received an official German translation recently. I have the pleasure of being German, so I was able to obtain and read it and I will now summarize to you guys all the content from it that is new or interesting. Spoilers: it isn’t much.

The novel is honestly… not good. It’s largely a play-by of the script and instead of delving deeper into the characters’ mindsets, it usually opts to simply describe the body language of the actors á la ‘he lifted his arms’ without any emotional prose surrounding it. It doesn’t really answer many questions either, it just raises a few more and largely calls it a day. Nevertheless, it’s content, so let’s dive into that content!

Lately more and more attention has been drawn to the fact that the DN manga and anime vary in various crucial points, making them both engaging and unique stories to enjoy and think about. On basis of this, I started wondering what exactly changed from manga to anime? In the sense of… which scenes were adapted straight from the text, what was added, what was removed?

Well, I sat through the entire anime and compared it to the manga counterpart.

What resulted is this. It’s a bare-bones scene inventory. It’s not an analysis of the different implications, it’s more meant as a reference post to help with starting to compare the two.  It also in no way means scenes not mentioned here are entirely unadapted - listing every small phrasing change was simply not within my capacity. And since this was a huuuge task as was, I also couldn’t pay much attention to minor alterations in body language and such either - let alone filmic mood-creating devices such as camera, coloring and music. 

What this does is compare the scene selection as such. It answers questions as ‘Was this in the manga like this?’ ‘Is this scene in the anime?’ and ‘How was this scene order altered?’ essentially. One day I would love to do an actual analysis on what some of this means for plot interpretation, but as is, this is just a plain comparison that I think more people than just me might find interesting.

(While I did give my best, please note I worked on this hours and hours sometimes in the middle of the night, so I don’t claim a full absence of mistakes. Double-checking for yourself when you want to work with comparison analysis is probably always the safest bet.)

So yes, all 37 episodes of the DN anime, compared to the manga. Go!