Page 21 ⊂ Voldemort's Children ⊂ Eli Dupree's website

A comic page; see below for a transcript

Snape kneels over the unconscious Goyle, while Harry, Crabbe, and Draco stand still at the top of the stairs.

SNAPE: Vulnera indico. { A non-canon spell; Latin for "Reveal the injuries". }

Magical energy appears on Goyle's body on the head, one arm, and one leg, as well as near Snape's wand.

SNAPE: He will recover... with time...

Snape turns to look up the stairs.

SNAPE: Potter! Return to your dormitory immediately. I will know if you do not. The Headmaster will see you as soon as he is available. Malfoy, Crabbe, come with me. It goes without saying that both your houses will be penalized for this incident.

We see Harry climbing through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor common room. This is one of the most well-lit rooms we've seen yet, although it is still shadowy. A fire burns in a hearth. There are two round tables with plush chairs around them, and a couch of a similar style across from the portrait hole. At one of the tables, Granger is breezing through a Transfiguration assignment involving turning glass marbles into beetles and writing about it (although it's probably too small for the average viewer to see that's exactly what's going on). Granger is facing away from Harry; at the other table, George Weasley and Angelina Johnson are standing and facing Harry angrily as ze enters the room. George is very pale and has short-cropped red hair; Angelina is quite dark and has more-than-shoulder-length black hair.

ANGELINA: Well, if it isn't the prat who just lost us fifty points!

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(content warning: depicts bullying and ableist language.)

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encourage me

That's Angelina Johnson, by the way (and George Weasley near zem). I originally had planned to make the two jerks here be Fred and George, but then I remembered how much Angelina had badgered Harry in the fifth book about getting in trouble by standing up to Umbridge, so I figured ze'd be perfect for this role.

I'm slightly concerned that none of my darker-skinned characters so far have been friendly ones. Lily Evans will be dark-skinned and friendly, though, or at least as friendly as you can get in a story as metaphorically dark as this one. (I don't know if Angelina's race is ever specificed in the books, but ze's black in the movies, and I consider the movies to be canon when they don't contradict the books – and I saw no particular reason to change it, since whitewashing my characters would be a jerk move too.)

On another note, I'd ask, “Do you think Snape is doing the right thing in this situation?”, but I think it's the wrong question. How about: Are Snape's actions here sufficient to address the wrongs we've seen? And what kinds of things could Snape have done earlier, to stop this situation from having happened in the first place?

Approximate readability: 10.64 (908 characters, 209 words, 9 sentences, 4.34 characters per word, 23.22 words per sentence)

Do you like this comic? Consider pledging a few $$$ on Patreon so I can keep putting cool things online for free. Posted February 29, 2012 · Last updated July 24, 2016 · Permalink

Comments

zfranchize · May 21, 2012 · Permalink · Reply

Love the story so far, as a huge harry potter fan, I tend to read (or listen) to the books frequently and as fate would have it (since I am currently reading the Goblet of Fire) I can offer some help as to the books offering of Angelina's race. In the 4th book, when Angelina places zir name in to the goblet of fire, ze enters the great hall and the narrative of the story describes zir as “a tall black girl who played chaser on the Gryffindor quidditch team” (chapter 16). Sorry for the lack of page number, I dont have to books with me, and rather found the quote in the audio book version I have on my computer.
Also, I'm not sure if you will be answering questions from these comments, but I must ask. With the morphing of the narrative is there a reason/explanation as to why Harry is still part of Gryffindor?

Eli Dupree · May 21, 2012 · Permalink · Reply

Thanks for the pointer on Angelina, and I do indeed answer questions from these comments!

I don't think the four houses are a very good division of humanity – and even canon Dumbledore agrees that it's a flawed system (“You know, I sometimes think we Sort too soon...”, book 7, page 680, at least in my American version). There are people like canon Hermione who seem to fit just as well in more than one house, and people like my Harry that don't seem to fit in any of the four houses. That said, by the end of this story, you'll probably be convinced that Harry belongs in Gryffindor (at least more than ze belongs in any other house).