(South) Indian Harry Potter Headcanons:
Harry knew he was Indian (mostly because the Dursleyâs used to say racist shit to him) but he didnât know where in India the potters were from until he went to Hogwarts. He finds out from the Patils, who were close with the potters because desis stick together.
The Patils are from the north and use Hindi to speak to each other. Neither of them knows Telugu/Tamil/Marathi/Malayalam/insert Southern language of choice here (I personally headcanon Telugu because itâs the only Indian language I speak and because thereâs a huge diaspora of telugumandi in the west, but feel free to choose whatever youâd like). So Harry has to rediscover his heritage language on his own.
He also studies Sanskrit, and it opens up a HUGE world of spells that they donât teach at Hogwarts (because of course Indian wizards donât do spells in Latin). He and the Patils know a bunch of spells that nobody else does.
Harryâs pleat game is ON POINT. It makes sense, since he had to do all the chores at the Dursleyâs and that includes perfectly folded and ironed laundry with the edges aligned neatly, or else he would risk being punished. But the result is that if you want your saree drape to pass the inspection of even the most judgemental auntie, you go to Harry to help with your pleats.
Even when theyâve graduated and all have their own homes, itâs a pretty regular sight for the Patil twins to come through Harryâs floo, half dressed, to have Harry pleat their sarees or their lehenga dupatta for them.
Harry LOVES spices. The dursleys only liked bland food, but Harry has always liked flavorful foods, and has no problem with (hot) spicy food either. He uses lots of spices in his own cooking now. His food is very flavorful, but when heâs cooking for himself, itâs too spicy for all his friends (even the Patils). So nobody can eat his leftovers unless he was specifically cooking with other people in mind. Ron learned this the first time he rummaged through Harryâs fridge after a night of drinking. Now Harry labels all his food as to whether or not itâs âHarry spicyâ.
James LOVED to buy Lily sarees. Heâd order them with custom, wizard-themed designs from weaving villages in south India. The women who made them assumed he was just very imaginative, so he wasnât violating the statute of secrecy since saree patterns are often vibrant and unique. Harry finds some of them in the old potter manor, and they still smell like the perfumes and scented oils his mother would wear when James took her to the local temple for Hindu holidays.
Indian witches often store extra magic in or enchant pieces of their copious jewelry with spells that can keep them safe if theyâre ever in a situation where they donât have their wands. stuff like, each bangle can function as an emergency portkey that can take you to different safe locations if you say the activation word, or ones that create an instant magical shield when you tap them. Harry finds some of his mothers gajulu, gives them to his female friends.
He ties Rhaki on Ron and Neville, and all the weasley boys. Ron was the first person he ever tied it on, because Ron was the first person who he ever bonded with, and his closest brother.
Harry always cooks idli sambar or dosa for his friends for breakfast the next morning after a night of drinking together, and itâs the perfect hangover food because it definitely brings you back to full alertness/knocks the last bit of post-hangover grogginess right out of your system.
Harryâs parselmouth abilities are valued in his native culture because of the sacredness of snakes in Hinduism, and it comes to be something heâs really proud of (personally I think the âparselmouth connected to the horcruxâ thing is dumb, so Iâve always imagined Harry was just naturally a parselmouth).
As the number of Indian immigrants/expats continues to grow after they graduate, Harry helps some of his students (heâs the DADA teacher) start the Hogwarts âSouth Asian Student Unionâ.
He always has snacks out for his students when they come to visit his office hours, and theyâre all Indian snacks and sweets. His personal favorite is kaju barfi, but he always has a good variety of both sweet and spicy treats, especially for stressed out owl and newts students.
He collaborates with Hermione, who works in the ministry, to make it mandatory for Hogwarts students to a âforeign magical languageâ course so they can broaden both their minds and their spell repertoires. Padma Patil becomes the âSanskrit Spellsâ teacher, and Seamus teaches âIrish Gaelicâ. (It took him a little longer to get his course started, since it turns out that at least 40% of Gaelic spells are just increasingly complicated and violent ways to repel the English).
Hermione and Harry also work together to make sure there are employees in the international magical cooperation department who specialize in post-colonial relations, because the magical world also has its issues with that colonialist mindset towards countries that were formerly part of the empire.
Just south Indian Harry embracing his heritage, learning about what was ripped from him, and using it to enact meaningful change in a multicultural magical society.
