Marauders

Harry Potter was so huge that fan works developed their own followings. Potter Puppet Pals racked up hundreds of thousands of followers and was nearly as relevant as the series itself. For fanfiction, Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality got so big that it has a Wikipedia page. The band Harry and the Potters spawned the wizard rock music genre. A Very Potter Musical developed a fanbase and launched Darren Criss's career.

Harry Potter also has extensive ties to fandom history. Everyone in my generation (millennials) remembers coming home from school to read Harry Potter fanfiction on the Internet. Today, most people just post their stories on Wattpad or Archive of Our Own. But at the time, the fanbase was splintered between fanfiction.net and dozens of individual websites and forums, some made for specific ships. Since they all had individual hosts, a lot of those sites have been lost to time.

And there's the infamous My Immortal fanfiction, which is an Internet legend with people still searching for the author. Everybody read that one (and laughed at it) in middle school.

Pre-social media, fan sites like The Leaky Cauldron and Mugglenet had massive followings because they were one of few sources for news, theories, essays and fan content. Some of these sites still exist after being around for over a decade and building their own legacy.

Before Deathly Hallows came out, fans were so desperate to know what happened that Mugglenet published a book called What Will Happen in Harry Potter 7: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Falls in Love and How Will the Adventure Finally End? Yep...Harry Potter was so big that people wrote separate books about what would happen in an upcoming book.

And that's not mentioning all the book release parties, Harry Potter-themed events, monuments, fan films, restaurants and even a theme park. A lot of fandoms have those, but Harry Potter infiltrated every aspect of popular culture.

Today, there's a thriving culture of "Harry Potter adults" with themed weddings, baby showers and Etsy stores. Putting your Hogwarts house in your Instagram bio is pretty much a prerequisite for joining the "bookish" community. Warner still produces new content, like the Fantastic Beasts series, although we've all seen what a disaster that's been.

Everyone has at least a few memories associated with Harry Potter even if it's just watching the movies. I had great memories associated with Harry Potter. But looking back at the subculture, history and thousands of fan works, it doesn't seem fun anymore. Studying the fandom or being part of it comes with an awkward tension because you don't want to seem like you're condoning JKR's bigotry but can't divorce her from the series. This subculture was spawned by a woman who turned her legacy of magic and wonder into one of abuse and hatred.

I don't expect people to write paragraphs about how much they hate JKR every time they post about Harry Potter, but it's still uncomfortable to see people make new content or wear their Harry Potter Etsy tote bags like nothing happened. Even if they clarify that they don't support her, it's just a weird, tense situation for everybody.

People dedicated years of their lives to running Harry Potter fan sites, writing fanfiction, cosplaying characters and making fan movies. If I were in that situation, I'd have a mild identity crisis. I'd ask myself "Did I waste all those years? Should I delete my content? Where do I go from here?"

So ultimately, JKR didn't ruin "just" a book series or even "just" a fandom. She tanked an entire culture, which inspired people to look at Harry Potter more critically. The issues that people brought to the light tainted the series's legacy even without JKR's personal issues.

quidditch (the real sport) has changed its name to quadball

the harry potter alliance (a nonprofit) has rebranded to fandom forward

the sub-subcultures that sprung up within the HP fandom have now distanced themselves from the main fandom and have become independent groups in their own right

HP was so integral to the development of early online fandom (as OP’s mentioned) that now there’s sort of just a weird... hole in the internet

for many HP fans, it took up a lot of their life. three conventions a year, wizard rock shows, HPA fundraising, granger leadership academy, nightly fanfic, podcasts, quidditch games.

when fans (rightfully) shunned JKR and began to leave the fandom, a lot of them (myself included) were left rudderless. how do you reconcile the fact that most of your friends, hobbies, sometimes even jobs, were due to the work of such a hateful person? as OP said, did i waste my life?

i’m obviously not saying that this is the worst part about JKR’s bigotry (the worst part is, of course, the bigotry) or that HP fans are the worst-done-by victims (who are of course trans people)

“…that was probably the news about the McKinnons; I cried all evening when I heard.” Lily’s letter to Sirius.

All grown up

after Sirius’ death.

-

The beginning of Deathly Hallows from Molly’s point of view.

Read on AO3

——–

It was meant to be easier once Harry arrived.

Molly had convinced herself of it. She would be able to see for herself that he was safe and well. But he’s arrived, and Mad-Eye hasn’t, and it doesn’t matter what hollow hopes she has sold herself. Harry isn’t safe.

And the war is inching closer.

It has been circling them for some time, these winds of war. Whispering in the breeze, it’s been gathering momentum until it’s building into a howling gust that rattles the panes and rams the door, shaking the foundations and threatening to upend everything they have built.

She had hoped (foolishly, she knew) that Harry’s arrival would finally bring about some answers regarding this mission of sorts that her youngest son and his friends are apparently about to embark on. Ron and Hermione have so far refused to discuss the matter with her, except to say that they won’t be returning to Hogwarts, and will instead be leaving on some secret mission with Harry. Ron has always been loyal to a fault, and now his loyalty is firmly and fiercely with Harry, and with a dead man who seemed to think it appropriate to send children out in a war to do his bidding.

“The war will begin in earnest now.” Bill’s tongue felt thick in his mouth, as if it knew he were about to betray his heart with words he’d much rather leave unspoken.

“I think you should go home,” he said, his heart pounding.

Fleur’s expression was unreadable. “I am home.”

“That’s not what I me-”

“I know what you meant,” she said, her voice sharper and bolder than it had been only moments ago. She crossed her arms.

“Do you think so little of me, Bill, that I should run back to France?” she asked, a fire burning in her eyes.

“I think the world of you, which is precisely why I want you to be safe. This war will get ugly and it will get dangerous.”

“Do you think I have so quickly forgotten what they are capable of? Cedric was my friend, you know,” she said quietly.

“And how do you think I’d feel if you went the same way?” Bill willed himself to keep his voice steady. “My family is going to be heavily involved in this war. I can’t bear the thought of something happening to you because you’re in it with me.”

Fleur uncrossed her arms, the harsh line between her eyebrows softening slightly. “I have chosen this place to be my home, and I will not abandon it now. I will not abandon you.”

Not many people had the privilege of knowing Fleur, really knowing her that was. Where others saw vanity and stubbornness, Bill saw the truth, that she was confident and determined and brave. No one would ever tell Fleur Delacour what to do, least of all Bill Weasley. She was staying, with or without him. Bill looked deeply into her piercing blue eyes, and had a moment of life-altering clarity.

“Teddy, can I talk to you about something?”

“Mhm!” he replied cheerfully. He carefully placed his crayon back in the box precisely where he had found it and looked up at Harry, making sure to give him his full attention. Even at 5 years old, Teddy understood the importance of making people feel listened to. It was very Remus-like, thought Harry.

“You know that Ginny and I are getting married soon.”

“Of course!” said Teddy, his eyes growing wide. “Is it tomorrow?”

“No, Ted, not quite yet,” said Harry, suppressing a chuckle. “It’s in the fall, so it’ll be when the leaves start turning yellow and orange.”

Teddy craned his neck, looking disappointed to find that the leaves were still very much green, his hair shifting to a bright orange at the same time. Harry smiled.

“Do you remember at Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey’s wedding how at the beginning they took turns walking down the the middle between the chairs up to the front?” asked Harry. Teddy nodded.

“Well, most of the time the two people getting married walk down with their parents, just like how Percy walked with grandma and grandad Weasley, and Audrey with her mum and dad. That’ll be a little different for me and Ginny. She’ll walk with grandma and grandad like Percy did, but my parents can’t be there with me.”

“Because they had to go away like my mum and dad,” said Teddy quietly, looking down at his lap.

“That’s right,” said Harry, feeling a lump form in his throat. “The great thing about weddings though, is that you can do things your own way, even if it's different from how others do things. What would you think about being the one to walk down with me?”

Teddy was quiet for a moment. “Do you think your parents would be ok with me doing that instead of them?” His little eyebrows were furrowed with concern, and Harry’s heart swelled with affection.

“You’re my family too, Ted, and my parents would have loved you just as much as I do. They would think it’s great, but only if you want to.”

“Ok that’s good because I’d like to very much,” said Teddy, smiling eagerly at Harry.

“I’m glad. I’ll be a little bit nervous, so it’ll be good to have someone brave like you to come with me.”

Teddy’s chest puffed up with pride. “Don’t worry Harry, I’ll do a really good job and I’ll hold your hand the whole way, I promise.”

“Thanks mate,” said Harry, grinning. Teddy grabbed a crayon and returned to his drawing.

“And then when I’m all grown up and I have a wedding, you and Ginny and Gran can all walk with me together,” he said, scribbling away happily as his hair shifted to black.

There were once three brothers who were traveling along a lonely, winding road at twilight. In time, the brothers reached a river too deep to wade through and too dangerous to swim across. However, these brothers were learned in the magical arts, and so they simply waved their wands and made a bridge appear across the treacherous water. They were halfway across it when they found their path blocked by a hooded figure.

tattoo series is finished!

In order; 

Harry

Hermione 

Ron 

Luna

Cho 

Seamus 

Dean 

Lavender 

Parvati 

Neville

September 1st but- what if? T.T

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