4, 12 and/or 20? (for the rev meme!)
4. What was your muse doing when they heard about Harryâs death â and later Nevilleâs death and Harryâs resurrection? How did they react to the news? Did they attend either of the funerals or memorials?
As it was Halloween when Harry was killed, I think that Dove mightâve either been at a Halloween party or avoiding one, when she heard. As for the resurrection? She was there. Debating against it, but not strongly enough. She was most likely one of the first to hear about Nevilleâs death, due to being his kid. I donât really want to definitively answer the first question though eeep.
So letâs talk reactions.
Harryâs death was a devastating thing, of course. He was like an uncle to Dove, I imagine, a close family friend at the very least. Someone she knew. Someone she cared about. It was gruesome, horrifying, a scary thing, to know that someone like that could be murdered in such a way, just like that. It was hard --- to see everyone so in pain. Dove has never been especially good at showing compassion, but she does have a certain level of empathy, and I think Harryâs death wasnât just hard because someone she loved and looked up to died, but also because so many people she knew were affected by it.
When Neville died, the world shifted out from underneath Doveâs feet, and suddenly there was nothing left at all. At first, when she heard about it, she felt denial --- denial about the fact on its own, but also the idea that it had anything to do with what she and the Knights did just hours before. Then there was nothing, a gaping hole in her chest. Dove Longbottom felt resigned. A guilt weighed on her shoulders and chest and she had trouble walking, breathing, being. All she thought about was all she didnât do --- how she didnât tell her dad how she loved him enough, or how she looked up to him, or everything he did mean to her, even if she didnât always show it. How she didnât destroy one of the Hallows before any of this could have happened.
And then there was anger --- and anger cradled her like a blanket, comforted her, seemed to give her at least a little warmth. Anger didnât weigh down on her like guilt did. It lit a fire inside her frozen being in stead. And so Dove raged. She raged against the new Headmaster, like she had once done, but now it was reckless, ruthless, no longer a teenage rebellion but raw fury in stead.Â
She wasnât there much for Fawn or her mother. She didnât let them be there for her either --- Dove is no good at giving or receiving compassion, after all. In stead, she opened the door for rage and lost herself in it.
At Nevilleâs funeral, Dove didnât cry. She wore black and had a frozen face and wished to tear the entire place into pieces. She didnât speak. She sat and simmered. She was afraid that if she opened her mouth, all the broken pieces of her heart would fall out and she would not be able to stop crying. Dove was done being heartbroken --- she wanted to be furious in stead ( which was sometimes easier said than done ).
Most of the things Dove ends up doing after this -- defecting the Knights, starting the Erinyes -- are a reaction on Nevilleâs death, so I could go on and on and on, but this is mostly her initial reaction. I think. She feels so much! Damn it!Â
12. What is your museâs wand?
Blackthorn, dragon heartstring, 11 inches, inflexible. Blackthorn wands fit well with warriors, and will bond well with their owner after having gone through a great ordeal. Wands with a dragon heartstring core are easiest to turn towards the Dark Arts, which was a swaying point for me --- but also their temperament fits Dove well.
20. Are there any public figures or historical figures that your muse looks up to? Why?
A lot of the public figures that Dove looks up to, are people she knows quite well, which is kind of strange. But Hermione Granger comes to mind, for sure, as does her own father. Dove has a long list of historical figures the looks up to, most of them either activists, politicians or artists ( or all three at ones ), most of them women of color. Here are a few: Seraphina Piquery, Boudicca, Winnie Mandela, Frida Kahlo, Pussy Riot, Marsha P Johnson, Morgana, Audre Lorde, Nina Simone, Artemisia Gentileschi, Angela Davis, Atalanta, BeyoncĂŠ --- I could go on and on and on. Dove doesnât subscribe to these people 100%, doesnât support all of the things some may have done or may do ( she thinks stan culture is idiotic, for the record, lmao ), but these figures do inspire her, are people she looks up to.Â
