#fic question

Hermione

Hermione isn't the biggest fan of sharks. She does find them rather scary as she is a child of the 90s and the fear of sharks is still quite prevalent in that era. However, Hermione loves to learn and she enjoys reading and discovering new things. For Hermione, her fear of sharks slowly changed into a fascinating curiosity after she overheard Aziraphale and Crowley (in their roles as Hogwarts Librarian and Professor at the time) arguing which of their preferred shark was 'the best'. Listening to them argue (or flirt, but Hermione wasn't even 13 at this point so she didn't grasp that aspect of their 'conversation') it was at that moment that Hermione herself realised something rather shocking and world-changing. She had never come across a single book in the school library that referenced non-magical creatures except in the same vein as folklore books in a non-magical library or bookshop.+++ Once that issue was resolved, however, it left Hermione to wonder about her own favoured species of shark — something she later brought to Harry and Ron's attention, as well as the rest of the students of their year, which eventually led to the rest of the school becoming curious and causing some intense 'disagreements' regarding which shark was The Best Shark. But that is a different tale for a different time (preferably when The Author has more time).

Anyway, for Hermione, it took quite a long time for her to devise a list of characteristics with which to measure each shark species by (which I shall not elaborate upon, please do not ask me, mercy is requested by this poor Author) and it eventually led her to narrowing down her selection to five species, in no particular order (links to wiki for images bc 10 image limit on posts):

Silky shark

Mako shark

Whale shark

Thresher shark

Nurse shark

Galapagos shark

Of those five, Hermione is still uncertain as to which is her favourite and thus it changes depending on the specific context of the question when she is asked.

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+++ Naturally, you can imagine how incensed this made Hermione and, once she brought it to aziraphale's attention the duo worked rather terrifyingly well together to ensure non-magical reference materials, educational texts, and fiction books quickly showed up on the shelves of the school library.

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Ronald

Ronald, once Hermione brought the existence of sharks to his attention, was both fascinated and incredibly terrified (though he tried not to show it) of the existence of over five-hundred types of shark in the world's oceans (not including magical sharks of which Ronald had no knowledge of prior to, nor after, Hermione introducing him to the existence of sharks in general). He, naturally, was somewhat overwhelmed by the sheer number of shark species and thus, as was rather typical of Ronald prior to the age of fifteen, simply picked one of the most 'popular' shark species and has steadfastly refused to change his mind even after several years of steadily increasing exposure to the 'Best Shark Battles'™ in the halls of Hogwarts that Hermione, inadvertently, was the cause of.

So, simply put, Ronald's favourite shark is the Hammerhead. What specific species of Hammerhead, you ask? "Just Hammerhead," Ronald replies, every time he's asked that.

Why the Hammerhead, just the Hammerhead, you ask him? "Because they look wizard," Ronald answers, simply and in the tone that conveys how obvious he considers his choice of Hammerhead as the best shark to be the Correct Choice.

It's usually at that point that Hermione gives up, often throwing the Encyclopedia of Sharks at Ronald (who, most frustratingly for Hermione, always catches it deftly: once a Keeper, always a Keeper, no matter the point in the timeline) before storming away to her room to, most likely, vent her frustration with the other Gryffindor girls about how uninspired Ronald's shark choice is.

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Harry

Harry... Well. Harry was exposed to the non-magical world more than he would have been in another... Uh... story-line, and as he was also raised by Aziraphale and Crowley, Harry had the opportunity to learn about sharks much sooner than Ronald or other magical children save those raised in non-magical households. So, for Harry, he decided upon his favourite shark species not long after he was rescued (it's not kidnapping if he consents, right? Harry doesn't think so, but he hasn't consulted any legal books though, even without doing so, Harry doubts Aunt Petunia ever even bothered to report his 'kidnapping' to the police so it's a moot issue, really) and simply didn't make much fuss about it until Hermione came flying++++ into the common room and shared her discovery about the school library lacking non-magical books on a wide range of topics she considered fundamental to an educational foundation for any student.

So, yes, Harry had a favourite shark species before Hermione ever broached the topic with him and Ron.

Incidentally, Harry's favourite type of shark is the Basking Shark. He likes how very blasé (a word Harry learnt to irritate Uncle Aziraphale with French terms at Uncle Crowley's sly suggestion) it appears and how it isn't like other sharks with its preferred diet and the fact that, really, it's more like a whale than a shark (not really, of course, but Harry likes it for this reason also).

++++ Not literally flying, it's a figure of speech, Hermione doesn't like flying, but she can certainly move so quickly that it sometimes seems like her feet forget to touch the ground in her haste: maybe levitation? Harry makes a mental note to discuss it with Uncle Aziraphale).

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Dumbledore

Albus has no idea what a shark is and remains ignorant of their existence until Minerva corners him in his office and orders him to choose one. Had she not cornered him in the way she did — complete with the vibes of a feline intent on achieving her goals and not at all concerned with whether blood might be spilt in the process — Albus might have been able to avoid learning about Muggle fish but, alas.

So, in the end, Albus decided that his favourite shark is the Cobbler Wobbegong Shark. When asked why by a very distressed Minerva, Albus simply replied with a twinkle in his eye and a half-smile that he found "their manner of camouflage and general appearance is wonderfully reminiscent of my late aunt's decor, I find it quite delightful for that reason, dear Minerva."+++++

+++++ Yes, Minerva hit him with the scroll she used to keep track of the bets of the staff on which shark each faculty member picked as their favourite. Then she stormed off and handed ten galleons to Crowley without a word and ignored his smirk at her irritation with him guessing the shark family of Albus' favourite shark correctly.

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McGonagall

Minerva... Well. She learnt about sharks as a result of Miss Granger's determination to add Mug- non-magical material to the library shelves and came across her own favourite species not long after. She admits that it's somewhat cliche of her, however, Minerva also doesn't care because she truly adores this particular shark species and won't hear a word of criticism against it.

The Small-Spotted Catshark is clearly the best shark species out there.

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Snape

As a half-blood who grew up in a non-magical home, Snape did learn of the existence of sharks but, due to his hatred of his father (justified, this Author shall readily admit), he eschewed all things Muggle and thus learnt only the most basic of information about sharks. Snape did, however, watch Jaws™ when it was released; out of overwhelming curiosity more than any real desire to engage with the non-magical world. Although, he learnt from his mistakes and the foolishness of his youth, Snape remains a largely unpleasant individual who struggles to separate his past and the damage inflicted upon him during his childhood from the present and the adult responsibilities he has. Of course, Crowley assisted Snape in separating those quite efficiently but it still remains a challenge for Snape. Thus, it is only when Minerva becomes invested in the additions to the school library by Miss Granger and Mister Fell, that Snape has to set aside his distaste for Muggle things and seeks out a shark species to select as his 'favourite' if only so Minerva will stop giving him the Feline Murder looks every time he informs her that he has not decided upon a favourite shark species.

Snape's 'favourite' shark then, is the Goblin Shark. He chose it due to its appearance, the fact that it is monstrous to look upon, seemingly deformed and terrifying to witness, and also because, he feels a reluctant kinship with a shark species that is so harshly misunderstood based upon characteristics it did not choose to possess.

But that, dear reader, is not something this Author will dig any deeper into because they really, really don't have the time.

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