Albus Severus Potter is boarding the Hogwarts Express for the first time today

[bettyandbob]

As my DD has informed me. I guess he's on platform 9 3/4 now.

 

The rest of will have less interesting ways to get to school.

[snowbeltmom]

Wow, where has the time gone?  It seems like only yesterday that his dad was on Platform 9 & 3/4 for the first time!

[Guest]

I still think that poor kid got saddled with the worst and longest, most awkward name. If only that final chapter had never been written.

 

Rants for another day, I suppose :o

[bettyandbob]

Wow, where has the time gone? It seems like only yesterday that his dad was on Platform 9 & 3/4 for the first time!

I guess that depends when you read book 1.

[3 ladybugs]

I thought the HP series was suppose to take place in the 80's. If so wouldn't his son have already been well into Hogwarts by now? I mean I graduated in 1995 and many of my friends are marrying off their children now. If I were born 10 years earlier, Albus would have to be starting wizzarding college by now! If not wizzarding grad school!

[Ellie]

I kept waiting for the owl to bring my ticket to me, but...no....

[Lady Florida.]

I thought the HP series was suppose to take place in the 80's. If so wouldn't his son have already been well into Hogwarts by now? I mean I graduated in 1995 and many of my friends are marrying off their children now. If I were born 10 years earlier, Albus would have to be starting wizzarding college by now! If not wizzarding grad school!

 

Nope. The 90s. Harry and his peers were born in the 80s and that's when Voldemort was at his peak, when James, Lily and the original OOP fought him, and when Harry got his scar, but the events of the books are set in the 90s.

Edited September 1, 2017 by Lady Florida.

[vonfirmath]

I still think that poor kid got saddled with the worst and longest, most awkward name. If only that final chapter had never been written.

 

Rants for another day, I suppose :o

 

That final chapter was exactly how I wanted to see Harry Potter end. I *loved* it :) 

 

(My husband and I discussed, before the final book came out, how we wanted it to end. I said I wanted to see Harry Potter settled, with a family of his own. And that is what I got.)

[frugalmamatx]

I'll have to tell my daughter this. 

 

And yes, she is ANXIOUSLY awaiting her Ivermorny Letter on her 11th birthday in 12 days. I'm very very tempted to make up a fake one :)

[Guest]

That final chapter was exactly how I wanted to see Harry Potter end. I *loved* it :)

 

(My husband and I discussed, before the final book came out, how we wanted it to end. I said I wanted to see Harry Potter settled, with a family of his own. And that is what I got.)

I'm just generally opposed to epilogues that feel like fanfiction. Something that far out was just not to my tastes but I'm glad someone liked it. In the circles I run in its pretty much universally hated :lol:

 

If it had been a year or two in the future and a little less "happily ever after tralalala" I'd have been on board :)

Edited September 1, 2017 by Arctic Mama

[JustEm]

I'm just generally opposed to epilogues that feel like fanfiction. Something that far out was just not to my tastes but I'm glad someone liked it. In the circles I run in its pretty much universally hated :lol:

 

If it had been a year or two in the future and a little less "happily ever after tralalala" I'd have been on board :)

Oh I hated it as well.

[Tanaqui]

If it had been fanfiction, Draco would have had all his hair.

[Farrar]

Well, more importantly, today's the day he meets the love of his life. Just sayin.

[gardenmom5]

If it had been fanfiction, Draco would have had all his hair.

 

or not. . . . depends if the author liked him or not.

[Farrar]

or not. . . . depends if the author liked him or not.

 

There are fanfic authors who *don't* like Draco? Well, that's news to me.

[Tanaqui]

I guess. But c'mon, we all know JKR only wrote that detail to get at the Draco fangirls.

[gardenmom5]

There are fanfic authors who *don't* like Draco? Well, that's news to me.

 

I don't read HP fic, but I'd be surprised if every single HP fic author loved/liked draco. . . . 

[Farrar]

I don't read HP fic, but I'd be surprised if every single HP fic author loved/liked draco. . . . 

 

Prepared to be surprised.

 

It's only a mild exaggeration. Of course there are some fic writers who don't love him, but Harry/Draco fic is by FAR the most prevalent ship in Harry Potter fanfic. And the whole Slytherin Pride movement. Really, he's possibly the most loved character in fic.

[aggieamy]

I still think that poor kid got saddled with the worst and longest, most awkward name. If only that final chapter had never been written.

 

Rants for another day, I suppose :o

 

 

I'm just generally opposed to epilogues that feel like fanfiction. Something that far out was just not to my tastes but I'm glad someone liked it. In the circles I run in its pretty much universally hated :lol:

 

If it had been a year or two in the future and a little less "happily ever after tralalala" I'd have been on board :)

 

Yes this. It felt like bad fanfic. I want to imagine my own endings for one. It was just too twee.

[aggieamy]

:ph34r: Also there's no way I believe that Hermione and Ron ended up together. Way too different. They would have dated for awhile, decided they were better off friends, and moved on to better matches. :ph34r:

[bettyandbob]

I never liked Harry and Ginny together and Ron and Hermione just seed ridiculous.

[BarbecueMom]

:ph34r: Also there's no way I believe that Hermione and Ron ended up together. Way too different. They would have dated for awhile, decided they were better off friends, and moved on to better matches. :ph34r:

DH is the resident HP fic reader, and I asked him to find me a Ron/Hermione fic from the point of view of their Magical Marriage Counselor. Because that would be hilarious.

 

I normally stick to canon ships in every fandom, but HP ones are so odd. Especially Ron and Hermione. It always felt like I was missing something that would make me say, "Oh, ok, that makes sense."

[gardenmom5]

Prepared to be surprised.

 

It's only a mild exaggeration. Of course there are some fic writers who don't love him, but Harry/Draco fic is by FAR the most prevalent ship in Harry Potter fanfic. And the whole Slytherin Pride movement. Really, he's possibly the most loved character in fic.

 

anyone who is reading that, is probably only going to be looking at what would be friendly to draco.

 

I've seen HP fic in the past, and draco was at best, ignored.

[Guest]

anyone who is reading that, is probably only going to be looking at what would be friendly to draco.

 

I've seen HP fic in the past, and draco was at best, ignored.

Oh there's some pretty strong Draco hatred in some, you just have to know where to look ;)

 

I can even deal with some of the pairings, but others were such head scratchers. And then making that ending just kind of locked the canon which is something most authors try NOT to do, because it tends to dampen fan enthusiasm. Happy but open endings inspire so much more fan love and creativity, but not here.

 

Rowling isn't as bad as Anne Rice, at least. Her persnicketiness over fanfiction was getting to downright petty levels back in the day. Oh well.

Edited September 1, 2017 by Arctic Mama

[aggieamy]

I never liked Harry and Ginny together and Ron and Hermione just seed ridiculous.

 

 

DH is the resident HP fic reader, and I asked him to find me a Ron/Hermione fic from the point of view of their Magical Marriage Counselor. Because that would be hilarious.

 

I normally stick to canon ships in every fandom, but HP ones are so odd. Especially Ron and Hermione. It always felt like I was missing something that would make me say, "Oh, ok, that makes sense."

 

I see I'm not the only one who doesn't see it. My DD and I had a long conversation about this and I almost have her convinced.

 

If I had to match make for them then I'd go with Hermione and Percy. (Commence tomato throwing now.)

 

Ron ... I don't know. Who would he be good with?

[Lady Florida.]

Prepared to be surprised.

 

It's only a mild exaggeration. Of course there are some fic writers who don't love him, but Harry/Draco fic is by FAR the most prevalent ship in Harry Potter fanfic. And the whole Slytherin Pride movement. Really, he's possibly the most loved character in fic.

 

While I agree that's true, there's also a fair amount of Snape/Sirius shipping as well. 

[Farrar]

anyone who is reading that, is probably only going to be looking at what would be friendly to draco.

 

I've seen HP fic in the past, and draco was at best, ignored.

 

Oh, I have too, but take the A03 stats - there are nearly 25k Drarry fics. The next most popular ship (Remus/Sirius) only hits 10k. And many of the others with high numbers, like Harry/Ginny or Ron/Hermione are only side ships that pop up commonly in Drarry fic. It's the dominant view in the fandom. Of course there are people who dislike Draco. I was being a bit cheeky about it though, since he is so overwhelmingly popular.

[Farrar]

While I agree that's true, there's also a fair amount of Snape/Sirius shipping as well. 

 

And Harry/Snape is even more popular. But, also, playing on the popularity of Draco, Hermione/Draco is very common. And, sadly, Hermione/Snape, though I think that's not as much of a thing as it used to be (thank goodness).

 

But all of this is an aside, because Albus met Scorpius today and those boys have a love that is pure and true.

 

"If I had to choose a companion to be at eternal darkness with, I'd choose you."

[Guest]

To be fair Archive Of Our Own always gets a lot of slashfic compared to other sites because they allow *ahem* higher ratings. It's been that way since FF.net abolished the adult ratings and started policing content like nazis. It seems like the pairings were a little more balanced a decade ago but that's true across many fandoms. The most enthusiastic fans tend to be the longest writing ones, and those who feel their pairing only gets justice in random because it isn't canon are among the most enthusiastic in general. I can think of many fandoms where this is true.

 

And yeah, lots of lots of Harry/Snape and Draco/Hermione. The latter has some truly twisted but brilliant entries.

 

*ahem*

 

And I think that's about enough geek hikacking by me for one thread :o. Carry on, OP! Albus Severus is a big kid now, because we are all old and time is passing :p

Edited September 1, 2017 by Arctic Mama

[Butter]

I thought the HP series was suppose to take place in the 80's.

 

Nope.  Lily and James were born in 1960 and so started at Hogwarts in 1971.  Harry was born July 31, 1980.  Voldemort tried to curse toddler Harry on October 31, 1981 and the next month Sirius was sent to Azkaban.  September 1, 1991 Harry entered Hogwarts.  The final Battle of Hogwarts happened in May of 1998.  And so we are brought to 19 years later, today.

[Farrar]

To be fair Archive Of Our Own always gets a lot of slashfic compared to other sites because they allow *ahem* higher ratings. It's been that way since FF.net abolished the adult ratings and started policing content like nazis. It seems like the pairings were a little more balanced a decade ago but that's true across many fandoms. The most enthusiastic fans tend to be the longest writing ones, and those who feel their pairing only gets justice in random because it isn't canon are among the most enthusiastic in general. I can think of many fandoms where this is true.

 

And yeah, lots of lots of Harry/Snape and Draco/Hermione. The latter has some truly twisted but brilliant entries.

 

*ahem*

 

And I think that's about enough geek hikacking by me for one thread :o. Carry on, OP! Albus Severus is a big kid now, because we are all old and time is passing :p

 

There can never be too much geek hijacking of a geeky thread. ;) 

[vonfirmath]

I never liked Harry and Ginny together and Ron and Hermione just seed ridiculous.

 

I thought Hermione and Ron were perfect together. Not so sure about Harry and Ginny but Harry NEEDED the Weasely family to be his and Ginny was the only daughter... and I do think it will work.  The whole thing about Harry all along was family. And the Weasely's are an awesome big family for him to be part of.

[frugalmamatx]

Prepared to be surprised.

 

It's only a mild exaggeration. Of course there are some fic writers who don't love him, but Harry/Draco fic is by FAR the most prevalent ship in Harry Potter fanfic. And the whole Slytherin Pride movement. Really, he's possibly the most loved character in fic.

Agreed. Love Draco. Followed by Snape. And Either one of them would have made a FAR better match for Hermione!

 

:ph34r: Also there's no way I believe that Hermione and Ron ended up together. Way too different. They would have dated for awhile, decided they were better off friends, and moved on to better matches. :ph34r:

 

Agreed!!! 

 

While I agree that's true, there's also a fair amount of Snape/Sirius shipping as well. 

 

 

I thought Hermione and Ron were perfect together. Not so sure about Harry and Ginny but Harry NEEDED the Weasely family to be his and Ginny was the only daughter... and I do think it will work.  The whole thing about Harry all along was family. And the Weasely's are an awesome big family for him to be part of.

 

But the Weasley's had already informally adopted both Harry and Hermione. They didn't need the family to be theirs because IT ALREADY WAS. 

[vonfirmath]

Agreed. Love Draco. Followed by Snape. And Either one of them would have made a FAR better match for Hermione!

 

 

Agreed!!! 

 

 

 

 

But the Weasley's had already informally adopted both Harry and Hermione. They didn't need the family to be theirs because IT ALREADY WAS. 

 

Its not the same as being married in for better or for worse. I've got a relationship with a family like that. And they did informally adopt me. But it still is not the same as being married into the inlaw family.

[Farrar]

Agreed. Love Draco. Followed by Snape. And Either one of them would have made a FAR better match for Hermione!

 

 

Lol. Actually, I'm one of those odd Draco haters. It's how I know Draco haters are weirdos. I'm more of a Remus/Sirius reader. ;)

 

I actually do think Harry and Ginny would have been good together - at least potentially. Ginny is much maligned in fic. I think it's because she's a strong woman and doesn't fit into an easily categorized box - she's both girly and athletic, she's a victim and a squeaky fangirl but she grows into someone who really speaks up for herself and doesn't take crap from anyone. I think all that makes her more real, but I think for some fans, it makes her harder to get a grip on. Or, it could just be that she's in the way of the Draco/Harry ship so people write her as a whiny, jealous, angry shrew.

 

I'm less sold on Ron and Hermione.

[bettyandbob]

 

But the Weasley's had already informally adopted both Harry and Hermione. They didn't need the family to be theirs because IT ALREADY WAS. 

 

 

This is exactly what I thought. 

[Guest]

Lol. Actually, I'm one of those odd Draco haters. It's how I know Draco haters are weirdos. I'm more of a Remus/Sirius reader. ;)

 

I actually do think Harry and Ginny would have been good together - at least potentially. Ginny is much maligned in fic. I think it's because she's a strong woman and doesn't fit into an easily categorized box - she's both girly and athletic, she's a victim and a squeaky fangirl but she grows into someone who really speaks up for herself and doesn't take crap from anyone. I think all that makes her more real, but I think for some fans, it makes her harder to get a grip on. Or, it could just be that she's in the way of the Draco/Harry ship so people write her as a whiny, jealous, angry shrew.

 

I'm less sold on Ron and Hermione.

Agreed. Ron and Hermione are hard for me to swallow mostly because he is just weirdly threatened by her competence and that's not easy to grow out of. His jealous streak is also way too wide. Ginny doesn't bother me nearly as much even as I haven't ever felt the pairing was really that organic on Harry's side, but oh well.

 

My husband and I joke that we are pretty much the Weasleys :p. They're our absolute favorite characters, along with Hagrid.

 

Now I want to pop in the audiobooks again even though I'm trying to slog through the boring parts of Eldest. Bad Hive!

[Farrar]

Agreed. Ron and Hermione are hard for me to swallow mostly because he is just weirdly threatened by her competence and that's not easy to grow out of. His jealous streak is also way too wide. Ginny doesn't bother me nearly as much even as I haven't ever felt the pairing was really that organic on Harry's side, but oh well.

 

My husband and I joke that we are pretty much the Weasleys :p. They're our absolute favorite characters, along with Hagrid.

 

Now I want to pop in the audiobooks again even though I'm trying to slog through the boring parts of Eldest. Bad Hive!

 

Hermione also has a massive jealous streak though. I see why they fell for each other. I'm just not convinced they would make it long term.

 

Molly and Arthur are awesome. Why is there so little Molly and Arthur fic? That would be a great fic, right? Molly and Arthur getting together, Fabian and Gideon being the coolest uncles ever to baby Bill and Charlie, everyone dealing with the world going to pot around them with the war.

 

We're relistening to Prisoner of Azkaban in the car right now getting ready for a trip to Universal in a couple of weeks. :D

[Guest]

I'm just generally opposed to epilogues that feel like fanfiction. Something that far out was just not to my tastes but I'm glad someone liked it. In the circles I run in its pretty much universally hated :lol:

 

If it had been a year or two in the future and a little less "happily ever after tralalala" I'd have been on board :)

Hated it. And I'm nuts about Harry.

 

Those names....

 

The only good name in the Epilogue was Victoire. Okay, plus maybe Scorpius. Malfoy would definitely name his kid Scorpius. But Harry and Ginny naming their kids James and Lily? That would not happen in a billion years. And "Albus Severus"? Ginny would say, "Over my dead body, Har."

[Rosie_0801]

Nope.  Lily and James were born in 1960 and so started at Hogwarts in 1971.  Harry was born July 31, 1980.  Voldemort tried to curse toddler Harry on October 31, 1981 and the next month Sirius was sent to Azkaban.  September 1, 1991 Harry entered Hogwarts.  The final Battle of Hogwarts happened in May of 1998.  And so we are brought to 19 years later, today.

 

This has completely weirded me out.

 

No way is Harry only six months younger than me. I have to readjust my world now.

[Farrar]

Hated it. And I'm nuts about Harry.

 

Those names....

 

The only good name in the Epilogue was Victoire. Okay, plus maybe Scorpius. Malfoy would definitely name his kid Scorpius. But Harry and Ginny naming their kids James and Lily? That would not happen in a billion years. And "Albus Severus"? Ginny would say, "Over my dead body, Har."

 

Most of the Next Gen kids have fine names...

 

Rose

Hugo

Molly

Lucy

Fred

Louis

Dominique

Roxanne

 

Honestly, the thing that weirds me out the most consistently is that Lily's name is Lila Luna. Like, why? In Pottermore canon, Luna's still alive and kicking. She had twins (now they have weird names - Lorcan and Lysander). I just don't get it. I love Luna and all, but why?

[Guest]

Yeah, but what I hated about Rose and Hugo was keeping those initials and flipping the genders - Rose as Ron's dd, Hugo as Hermione's son. I read an explanation by John Granger about the Rose having to do with Alchemy, and Hugo was something similar but I don't recall.

 

Who names their children directly after their parents who died when they were a baby? And yeah, why Luna? That's kooky too.

 

Luna would totally have twins and give them those names, though.

[Tanaqui]

Who names their children directly after their parents who died when they were a baby? And yeah, why Luna? That's kooky too.

 

Lots of people, I should think.

[Farrar]

Lots of people, I should think.

 

Yes, I don't find that weird at all. Like, I can imagine that it would feel too mournful and sad for *some* people. But I can also imagine that it would feel important or like you were honoring them to others. And they're good, solid names in this case.

[Guest]

Yes, I don't find that weird at all. Like, I can imagine that it would feel too mournful and sad for *some* people. But I can also imagine that it would feel important or like you were honoring them to others. And they're good, solid names in this case.

I do. Both kids? The parent's first names? Didn't Ginny have any names she liked? And then, the brother has the name of Lily's unrequieted love. There's something a little incestuous about those names.

 

I can see throwing some family names in there, but usually they are drawn from both sides of the family and not often as the first name. I would not name my kids Carol and Roger, even if I would name them After my parents in another way, like giving my kid the middle name Carolyn. (Didn't actually do this, but it was on the table.)

[Farrar]

I do. Both kids? The parent's first names? Didn't Ginny have any names she liked? And then, the brother has the name of Lily's unrequieted love. There's something a little incestuous about those names.

 

I can see throwing some family names in there, but usually they are drawn from both sides of the family and not often as the first name. I would not name my kids Carol and Roger, even if I would name them After my parents in another way, like giving my kid the middle name Carolyn. (Didn't actually do this, but it was on the table.)

 

My kids' names are all family influenced only from my side. Names are drawn from first names? I don't even understand that. Like are you saying it would be less weird if they had named one of their kids Evan or something maybe? I guess neither approach seems weird to me in the least. People have all kinds of approaches to naming and they all seem pretty normal. My parents only picked from family names for my brother and I, but dh's parents are both named after their own parents and they purposefully chose names they had zero other associations with but just liked the sound of. 

 

I get that people think Albus's name is odd though, or that Snape doesn't deserve the naming. I think they should have named him Albus Rubeus myself.

[Guest]

My kids' names are all family influenced only from my side. Names are drawn from first names? I don't even understand that. Like are you saying it would be less weird if they had named one of their kids Evan or something maybe? I guess neither approach seems weird to me in the least. People have all kinds of approaches to naming and they all seem pretty normal. My parents only picked from family names for my brother and I, but dh's parents are both named after their own parents and they purposefully chose names they had zero other associations with but just liked the sound of.

 

I get that people think Albus's name is odd though, or that Snape doesn't deserve the naming. I think they should have named him Albus Rubeus myself.

I'm saying I haven't ever heard of someone naming their son and their daughter directly after their own dad and mom. So, like my mother and father are Carol and Roger. I cannot imagine having my first child and naming her Carol, then my second child and naming him Roger. I can imagine giving them as middle names, or a family surname name or some variation on the name. So, like I could see Grace Carol. Or Caroline. Or Grace Robin (family surname), or using my parent's middle name as my kid's middle name, etc. but I wouldn't name them "Carol and Roger." That would seem very odd to me to call my kids Carol and Roger. I don't know of anyone who named their kids that way, even though I know a lot of people who used some element(s) of family names within their kids names.

[Farrar]

I'm saying I haven't ever heard of someone naming their son and their daughter directly after their own dad and mom. So, like my mother and father are Carol and Roger. I cannot imagine having my first child and naming her Carol, then my second child and naming him Roger. I can imagine giving them as middle names, or a family surname name or some variation on the name. So, like I could see Grace Carol. Or Caroline. Or Grace Robin (family surname), or using my parent's middle name as my kid's middle name, etc. but I wouldn't name them "Carol and Roger." That would seem very odd to me to call my kids Carol and Roger. I don't know of anyone who named their kids that way, even though I know a lot of people who used some element(s) of family names within their kids names.

 

Oh, I see. But he never knew them. So it makes sense to me. I can see why some people wouldn't do it, but it doesn't seem odd at all.

[Tiberia]

Here's a parody of Albus Severus and dad on the platform on this very day! (Studio C comedy):

 

 

 

 

[Lizzie in Ma]

sniff, sniff, tears, how I miss the magic of Hogwarts.